Yu Suzuki will feature on TV in Japan on 1st Feb, 2022 in a reunion of the developers who turned out revolutionary hits in SEGA's arcade division over the years.
"We'll go back in time 37 years & take a closer look at the behind-the-scenes development, never revealed before."
Short promo video:
Ahead of the upcoming premiere of Shenmue the Animation, the official Japanese-language website has recently been updated and integrated within are several pieces of superb scenery artwork that really show off an attention to detail and authenticity. Some of the locations are immediately recognizable from the game, while others are new. Enjoy the 7 backdrop images below!
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| Yokosuka Suburb (Sakuragaoka?) |
One of the pages on the official Japanese site for the Shenmue Anime contains a superb background of Dobuita St. These comparisons shows just how closely it portrays the real-life location by combining elements from both the present day and from the time in which Shenmue's story is set in 1986.
In our first comparison we can see an almost perfect match on the shape of shop fronts including and around the iconic military clothing store Kakita (on which the Kurita Military Surplus shop is based in the game) to shop light fixtures, the shape of the downpipe, position of the electric pole and even the wording of "HONCHO YOKOSUKA" on a shop awning.
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| Dobuita St: anime vs real life (2014 photo) |
A trailer with latest footage from Shenmue the Animation has now been released. Beginning with an account of the dramatic past of the protagonist Ryo Hazuki, it goes on to feature intense action scenes involving his sworn enemy, Lan Di, and a story filled with mystery. Set in the nostalgic and beautiful city of Yokosuka, it depicts the epic story of the protagonist as he grows stronger.
A spectacular piece of key art featuring main characters from the anime has also been released. The main protagonist features prominently, blazing with a passionate fighting spirit, along with a succession of distinctive characters who also appear in the games.
When the first game in the Shenmue series was released on the Dreamcast, along with the three game discs was a fourth disc called Shenmue Passport. This was a stand-alone piece of software which acted as a companion to the main game, containing additional content to enhance the player's experience such as music, guide videos and in-depth information about the characters, places and objects in the game. It even made use of the Dreamcast's ability to connect to the Internet to download data and display Shenmue related event news and other messages. (Unfortunately, the Shenmue Passport was not part of Sega's Shenmue I & II re-release in 2018, so the fan community has created an app called Suka Pass that recreates the experience for mobile devices).
In this post we will be translating a magazine interview from shortly after Shenmue's release in February 2000 with senior Sega developer Eigo Kasahara, who oversaw the Shenmue Passport in addition to his role as Planning Director for the main game.
The translation starts below.
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| Eigo Kasahara was head of the Planning section for Shenmue, overseeing things like the game maps, mini-games, and characters' daily cycles. For the Passport, he was in charge of content planning and organization. |
The Shenmue Passport uses the network to expand the game world. In the words of the developers themselves, you'll get a sense of the appeal of this software, which is filled with details you can't get just from playing the main game. It will surely inspire you to play the game a second time!
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| Shenmue Passport, Japanese version: entry screen (left) and Theater page (right) |
Ryo's trusty Timex watch is a familiar sight to players of the the original Dreamcast and Xbox versions of the first two Shenmue games (although in the Shenmue I & II re-releases, the Timex branding on the dial was replaced with the Sega logo for licensing reasons).
The design was closely based on an actual Timex Expedition T43371, which was released in 1999 just before Shenmue's publication. Hence it did not actually exist at the time of the game's setting of 1986 - something that is not unheard of in Shenmue, with the Sega Saturn at the Hazuki household being one example!
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| The Timex Expedition (left) served as a model for Ryo's watch in the game (center, right). |
The real-life watch is an unusual combination of analogue and digital: the alarm is set by rotating the bezel and triggered by physical contact of wires as the hands move, which triggers an electronic alarm sound.
Become a Patron!Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted in to help kick off 2022 is:
"Interview with Shenhua's Theme song vocalist IOLI" (translation)
Ys Net has continued their tradition of Shenmue-themed greetings this season with a new animated illustration, this time featuring Ryo and Shenhua. The image was shared on Twitter by Gameblog's senior editor Romain Mahut, who received the greeting card from Ys Net last month.
Shenhua is wearing a Santa hat in addition to her scarf and mittens, and her earring glistens in the snowy air. Ryo also has on gloves, and stands with his familiar bag-over-shoulder pose - but this time he appears to be taking on the role of Santa's helper by carrying a large sack, presumably packed with presents.
The Shenmue III logo is also present - hopefully the day will not be far away when we see a Shenmue IV logo in its place on new illustrations!
Here are other Shenmue seasonal greeting illustrations from past years that we have covered on the blog :