Anecdotes & Insights - Shenmue Devs Celebrate 25 Years | Famitsu Dec 2024 [Part 1]

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Shenmue's release on the Dreamcast in Japan, Famitsu.com invited several former project members to reminisce over dinner about their experience working to create the masterpiece that is Shenmue and reflect on the game's legacy.

Left to right: Takeshi Hirai, Eigo Kasahara, Makoto Wada, Keiji Okayasu, Kenji Miyawaki, Takashi Matsuda, Toshiyuki Kurooka

The participants were key members from the original Shenmue development team:

• Eigo Kasahara, who served as Planning Director for Shenmue I and II, and also worked on the Shenmue Passport and the PS4 remaster.
• Makoto Wada, a programmer on Shenmue I and lead programmer on II.
• Takeshi Hirai, the main system programmer on Shenmue I.
• Keiji Okayasu, the Assistant Director on Shenmue I, II, and III.
• Toshiyuki Kurooka, a programmer on Shenmue I, who focused on events around the Hazuki residence and the basement. 
• Takashi Matsuda, a CG designer on Shenmue I and II who created many of the game's NPCs. 
• Kenji Miyawaki, a graphic designer responsible for character designs and UI across the series.

The discussion is full of fun stories and inside jokes, while at the same time revealing just how intense the work environment was at the time, and the immense dedication shown by the development team to bringing the games to life. Not to mention the startling revelation that a PS2 port of Shenmue I was developed internally but never released...

"I didn't go home for two months." - One of the dinner participants.

"This isn't that kind of game!" - Yu Suzuki, upon discovering that the developers had implemented boob jiggle physics.

"We created Yokosuka from scratch in just one year - after the game's announcement (at the Shenmue Premiere)" - Takeshi Hirai.

The article translation starts below.

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World Guidance Guidebook - Shenmue Staff Developer Survey

Shenmue Chapter One Yokosuka: World Guidance

The World Guidance guidebook was published shortly after Shenmue I's original release in Japan and contains some of the most detailed and complete information about the first game of all the guidebooks published at the time.

As a special feature, at the end it includes an exclusive survey held with Shenmue developers themselves, and while the length of the survey is brief (in the form of a short six-question list), it is sure to give some fascinating insights from those who worked on the project.

The survey is introduced in the guidebook as follows:

Shenmue Staff Survey - 57 People!

The massive development team poured their collective effort into creating Shenmue: Chapter One ~ Yokosuka. To close out this book, we present the real, unfiltered comments from the staff themselves. Of course, this is only a portion of their voices, but it gives you a glimpse into both the hardships and joys of game development. Please read through with anticipation for what’s to come in the next installment. 

 

Note: Except for team leaders, all names are shown as initials, and honorific titles have been omitted.

Survey Questions

1. What do you like about Shenmue?

2. Who is your favorite character, and why?

3. What scene left the deepest impression on you during the game?

4. Are there any hidden “tricks” you secretly included in the game?

5. Do you have any interesting episodes you can share from development?

6. Shout out one thing you'd like to say!

7. Please give a short message for the players.

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Scenes from Kyoto: Temple Garden Features & Pink Telephone

A few pictures from a recent visit to the scenic city of Kyoto which had strong vibes of Ryo's hometown.

Temple Garden

Koi fish swim lazily in a temple pond, approaching hopefully if you happen to be standing near their usual feeding spot.

The tranquil sounds of a summer day... insects chirping and the sound of cool running water. Every few minutes, the shishi-odoshi bamboo fountain tips over and back with a distinctive sound as it strikes the rock.

Pink Telephone

Public phones are becoming harder to find around cities now, but here's one that hasn't changed for years, waiting for a 10-yen coin to be dropped in the slot.

Related Posts

• The Bamboo Fountain in the Hazuki's Garden | Shenmue Realism
• Rotary Phones & Milk Delivery | Shenmue Realism

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Kawabata's Renders, Final Part: Locations and Promo Renders

Welcome to the fourth and final part of our review of the art renders shared by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata (previous parts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three). This final post in the series will touch on some of the location renders and promotional CG art that was included in the collection.

The Original Karate Tournament Location: Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan

The first location we'll look at is one that once lived only in the imagination of fans: the stadium in which Ryo's high school karate tournament took place prior to the start of the first game, as revealed by Yu Suzuki in 2015:

Q: Where did Ryo get his band-aid?

Yu Suzuki: It didn't appear in Chapter 1, but there was a martial arts event. The scar is from the final match.

This response is from a Twitter event called "#YouAskYu" in 2015 - a transcript is archived on the old Shenmue Dojo forums.

This took on a concrete form in recent years, when a scene from this tournament was included in the first episode of Shenmue The Animation in 2022. For the anime, the tournament location was directly based on the real-life sporting venue, the Yokosuka Arena:

The location of the karate tournament in Shenmue The Animation: Yokosuka Arena

However, with Kawabata's collection of renders, another piece can now be added to the puzzle: a fully-rendered model of a stadium had been prepared back in the early days of the project, in April of 1996. 

Furthermore, it even shows two tatami platforms for the matches, set up inside the hall:

Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium: 30 April 1996

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Hideki Kawabata's Renders, Part 3 - Unused and Future Characters

Welcome to Part Three of our review of the art renders shared by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata (previous parts can be found here: Part One and Part Two).

In today's post, we will finish our coverage of character renders with a selection of some particularly interesting ones, including some who may even be potentially included in upcoming chapters of the story.

Unused Opponent for the S2 Duck Racing Event?

This character render is simply named "Female Martial Artist". She is dressed in a sleeveless red tunic-style dress that features a high collar with decorative fastenings down the chest. A gold hairclip or comb holds back her hair on one side, and she has a green sash around her waist.

"Female Martial Artist" (29 March 2000)

This character was unused in the games, but the text does hold a clue about her development background: part of the description reads "Okabayashi Special-Order Hidden Character".

It is probable that "Okabayashi" refers to Yoshihiro Okabayashi, who managed the Event Planning team responsible for creating in-game events - in fact, he was responsible for secretly creating and including duck racing in Shenmue II if the player follows an intricate set of steps to unlock it.

Okabayashi's name has cropped up elsewhere in past posts too, when it was hinted (many years later) by a fellow project member that he was fond of ponytails on female characters:

"The reason the rejected Izumi Takano appeared in Shenmue II was due to strong campaigning by Mr. O from the Planning team. He is a big fan of ponytails!"

The description indicates that Okabayashi may have made a special request to Kawabata to create a 3D model of a martial artist, with the words "hidden character" suggesting that she was planned as an unlockable character rather than featuring as a main storyline character.

It would seem likely that this female martial artist model was created as a candidate for one of the opponents Ryo needs to fight to access the duck racing in Shenmue II (in the released game, Ryo fights the characters of Izumi Takano and Eileen Edelweiss instead).

Shenmue II: Ryo needs to defeat Eileen in order to access the secret duck racing event

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Hideki Kawabata's Renders, Part 2 - Shenmue I Characters Deep Dive

In this continuation of our review of the renders by AM2 developer Hideki Kawabata (if you haven't yet read the introductory post, go here for the overview), we will look at several Shenmue I characters that are of particular interest - as well as some early unused characters.

Former Student of the Yūki Dojo: Masayuki Fukuhara

Fuku-san's character render sheet contains a table of information relating to the model which is similar to the one found on the other characters in the collection. This includes key information such as:

• Character Name:  Fuku-san / Masayuki Fukuhara
• Filename: FUK_M
• Skeleton type for the model: OHS
• Polygon count: 1200
• Fingers sway: Completed - this may refer to a checklist task to ensure finger movement animations are provided for the character
• Swaying objects: Belt - items that require special information, in this case the belt on his gi
• Submission date: 27th October 1998 - approximately one year before the Japan release

Render dated 27th October 1998

Interestingly, we can see written on Fuku-san's gi in the above image the dojo name of "Yūki" (結城), suggesting that even at this somewhat late point in the development process, the renaming of the protagonist from Akira Yūki to Ryo Hazuki had not yet occurred.

Also included in the set of renders is one showing Fuku-san in casual clothes - complete with "Fuk-san" embroidered on the breast of his jacket! The model information specifies that the "skirt" (hem) of his jacket is something that should sway as he moves.

Render dated 20th May 1999

The above image of Fuku-san is the one that was revealed at a live-stream event promoting the release of Shenmue I & II at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2018. The news that Fuku-san had originally been planned as the Mad Angels kidnapping victim came as quite a surprise at the time, followed by an amusing comment from a member of the development team: "When Yu-san saw it, he said, 'No one would want to save this guy!'"

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Sacred Spot Guide Map - Shenmue The Animation (English Version)

The superb Shenmue Sacred Spot Guide Map is a multi-page tourist pamphlet highlighting locations of interest to Shenmue fans around Yokosuka, created through a collaborative effort between Yokosuka City and SEGA.

The guide map was first released at the end of 2017, impressing fans with its high quality and thoughtful detail.

Original version (Japanese)

An updated version of the map followed in 2018 at the Tokyo Game Show, featuring a new cover and other small changes to commemorate the release of Shenmue I & II.

Shenmue I & II version (Japanese)

The updates didn't stop there - another revision was released in June 2022, themed around the new anime that had premiered earlier that year: Shenmue The Animation.

Shenmue The Animation version (Japanese)

Not only that, but versions were produced in both Japanese and English, catering to a wide range of tourists and fans visiting the area.

The most recent version is the Shenmue The Animation English version, printed some time after the Japanese edition and its existence is perhaps not as widely known.

In this post, we'll summarize the differences between the three versions - along with download links - so you can find them all in one handy place.

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An Archive Unearthed: Hideki Kawabata's 3D Renders, Part 1

Earlier in the year, a discovery was made of a stash of online Shenmue content: an archive containing over 120 3D rendered images from the development of the first two Shenmue games. These images were posted on a personal webpage belonging to one of the 3D Character Main Designers for the original titles.

Some of the many newly-found renders

The webpage was first archived by the Wayback Machine in February 2022, which suggests that access may have changed - perhaps unintentionally - from private to public around that time.

How the Website Was Discovered

This year, a large collection of original Shenmue development artworks and design documents was acquired at auction by a small group of dedicated fans. These materials were generously made available to the wider community. While reviewing the contents, one name appeared repeatedly: Hideki Kawabata. Further investigation into his background led to the discovery of a historical page on his personal website - and it is here that an entirely separate treasure trove of 3D character and promotional renders from the Shenmue development era was found.

This series of posts will focus specifically on these images, as posted on Kawabata’s website, rather than the extensive auction-sourced materials housed on the Shenmue Dojo which will be a separate future topic.

The collection on Kawabata's page includes a wide range of 3D renders featuring main characters, NPCs, and a small number of locations. While many of these designs appear in the first two released games, others do not. This hints that some may have been cut during development, or potentially, they may even provide glimpses of content planned for Shenmue IV and beyond.

In this blog post, we will give an overview of what the collection contains, and subsequent posts will take a closer look at some of its most interesting and surprising items.

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