Shenmue Anime Merchandise: Stamp Sets (with Pins or Hand Cloth)

SEGA / Shenmue Project has released a set of stamps themed on Shenmue The Animation through Japan Post. They are named "Frame Stamps" which is the registered trademark for Japan Post's customizable stamp creation service.

Each set has 5 genuine large-size stamps of 84 yen value each which depict the following characters from the anime: Ryo, Lan Di, Shenhua, Nozomi and Ren.

(During the recent Shenmue The Animation livestream in Dobuita, Yu Suzuki commented that, although he had not been aware of this merchandise being planned, he has always wanted a set of Shenmue themed stamps).

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Shenmue x Yokosuka: Livestream with Yu Suzuki, Yu Kiyozono, Masaya Matsukaze and Esra Krabbe

Tune in 29th April at 6pm JST for a special livestream in which Yu Suzuki and other special guests will be talking about Shenmue The Animation!

Featuring special guests:

• Yu Suzuki (anime executive producer, YS Net)
• Yu Kiyozono (anime producer, Telecom Animation Film)
• Masaya Matsukaze (voice of Ryo Hazuki, Japanese voicing)

and with Esra Krabbe (MC, IGN Japan) as MC.

According to the stream description:

"We have invited some illustrious guests related to the anime series to talk about what makes Shenmue The Animation so appealing, as well as details of the Shenmue ✕ Yokosuka Anime Commemoration Project promotion".

Watch: 

Note: the livestream will be in Japanese, but we plan to provide English subtitles, or a summary, in the near future after the stream has ended.

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[Part Four] The Secret of Miao Village: Temple Screenshots Analysis

Welcome to Part Four of our analysis of cut-content screenshots of the mysterious "Miao Village" and temple that were revealed in 2002 on the Shenmue.com website by AM2, Yu Suzuki's development team at Sega.

Parts in the series:

1. Village Screenshots Analysis
2. Village Content Left Behind
3. The House in Xiuying and Ziming's Flashback
4. Temple Screenshots Analysis [this post]
5. Temple Content Left Behind 
6. The Original Plan for Miao Village in Shenmue II
7. Content Reborn
8. Dialogue Revelations & Sequence of Events
9. Dialogue Revelations & Sequence of Events (Cont.)
10. Extra Dialogue & Facts Collected
11. Cut Scene Discovered!

In this part, we will now turn our attention to the remaining four screenshots of a temple location:

The four "cut content" screenshots of a temple

Order of the Screenshots

We saw previously with the village screenshots, that the images originally presented on the Muecas page are not necessarily in time sequence order; keeping this in mind, we will consider whether any change in order may be appropriate.

Temple Screenshot 1/4: Exterior

The image of Ryo outside is clearly the first in the sequence.

Screenshot 1: temple grounds

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Shenmue The Animation vs Real Life: Kowloon Walled City

"There's this guy I know of, Yang, who worked for Yuanda."

In Episode 10, Ren gives Ryo a possible lead in Kowloon - a location which is introduced with a panning shot of a crowded high-rise blocks of apartment buildings with a plane soaring overhead.

Although Kowloon Walled City was demolished in 1993, this scene is in fact directly modeled on a location which exists today. It is an apartment tower called Montane Manion, which is located on King's Road in Quarry Bay.

Thanks to George Kitchen for identifying this location and for sharing the photos below, which were taken by George on a visit to the same location.

Montane Mansion, Quarry Bay (photos by George Kitchen)

The crowded, run-down aesthetic is certainly strongly reminiscent of the Kowloon Walled City that once existed. 

Other Shenmue The Animation vs Real Life comparisons:

• Dobuita Street
• Yokosuka Road Tunnel
• MOUNTAIN Shop & Tunnel #2
• Karate Tournament Venue: Interior
• Karate Tournament Venue: Exterior
• Ryo Farewells His Teammates
• Mikasa Park
• Yokosuka High School
• Motorcycle Ride Tunnel
• Peninsula Hotel
• Xuhe Hall Exterior
• Xuhe Hall Interior

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Online Gacha Gacha Commences | Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project

Today marks the official start of the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion, with real-life Yokosuka playing host to a number of special activities such as exhibition of anime and game materials at certain shops associated with Shenmue.

Fans around the world can also take part in a virtual capsule toy game, which is now available for play!

Four of the collectable digital scenes that can be obtained from the gacha gacha game

Rules

Players get 20 free turns per day, and the aim is to collect a full set of 20 15 digital stills of scenes from the anime and the game.

Once you have completed the full set, you qualify to enter into a draw to win a physical greeting card.

One entry per person.

Sample of one of the 15 scenes to collect (translations added)

I Should Try It

The gacha gacha game is live now! It can be played from this page.

(Personally, I still need four to complete my set: #8, #10, #11 and #14 but I've run out of turns for today...)

Related post: an overview of what is planned for the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion:

• Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced

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Mirror Pouches | Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project

The Yokosuka City tourism office has announced some new Shenmue merchandise that has been created for the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion which starts officially tomorrow (23 April, 2022).

The items are embroidered drawstring pouches, which come in both Phoenix Mirror and Dragon Mirror designs. The Shenmue logo appears underneath, and the fabric used is special to Yokosuka, being the same material as used for the "Sukajan" jackets.

Size: 250 x 180 x 20 mm

Price: 2,420 yen each (including tax)

Purchase limit: one of each design, per person

The pouches will be available at MIKASA Vol. 2, the Sukajan jacket shop on Dobuita Street. However unfortunately, there are no online sales. But if you have the chance to visit, you won't want to miss checking them out.

MIKASA Vol. 2 information:

• Open daily from 11 am to 6 pm.
• TEL：046-823-0312

Related post: an overview of what is planned for the Shenmue x Yokosuka: Anime Celebration Project promotion:

• Shenmue x Yokosuka: Animation Promotion Announced

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[Part Three] The Secret of Miao Village: the House in Xiuying and Ziming's Flashback

Welcome to Part Three of our analysis into screenshots of the mysterious Miao Village revealed in 2002 on the Shenmue.com website by AM2, Yu Suzuki's development team at Sega, showing content that had been cut from the game before release.

Parts in the series:

1. Village Screenshots Analysis
2. Village Content Left Behind
3. The House in Xiuying and Ziming's Flashback [this post]
4. Temple Screenshots Analysis
5. Temple Content Left Behind 
6. The Original Plan for Miao Village in Shenmue II
7. Content Reborn
8. Dialogue Revelations & Sequence of Events
9. Dialogue Revelations & Sequence of Events (Cont.)
10. Extra Dialogue & Facts Collected
11. Cut Scene Discovered!

In the previous post, we identified several object models from the first few floors of the Yellow Head Building in Kowloon that are likely to have once been part of the Miao village seen in the screenshots.

In today's post, we will investigate another location in detail: the setting for the flashback showing Xiuying as a child with her brother Ziming inside a house that shares many similarities with the houses seen in Miao village.

The House in the Xiuying and Ziming Flashback 

The flashback occurs when Ryo goes to bid farewell to Xiuying at Man Mo Temple, informing her that he will be leaving to follow Lan Di's trail to Guilin.

The flashback plays just before Ryo travels on to Kowloon.

Xiuying gives him a stone that makes up half of a yin yang symbol, and after doing so, the flashback scene plays.

The flashback shows Xiuying and her older brother (Ziming) as children, sitting together on the floor of a dark interior that is illuminated by a fire that heats a pot over the hearth. Xiuying receives the stone from Ziming who tells her to keep it safe. 

Flashback scene with Ziming and Xiuying.

Due to the limited visibility during the flashback, it is hard to distinguish details of the environment. 

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Shenmue Anime on Japanese TV from May 2022

The official Twitter account for Shenmue The Animation has announced that the anime is scheduled to be broadcast on Japanese TV!

Episodes will be broadcast on TOKYO MX, a free-to-air channel serving the Tokyo metropolitan area, from early May.

The TOKYO MX website provides the following coverage information:

Targets approximately 15 million households (as of August 2017) throughout Tokyo and part of Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, and Ibaraki prefectures. Parts of Tochigi, Gunma, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka prefectures can also be viewed on cable TV.

Shenmue The Animation broadcast schedule on TOKYO MX:

• Weekly on Tuesday evenings at 7 pm, starting 3rd May, 2022.

 

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