English Dub Season Review: Shenmue the Animation

Based on the cult classic Sega franchise of the same name by Yu Suzuki, and co-produced by Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. The story takes place in 1986 Japan where the Heir of the Hazuki Karate Dojo, Ryo Hazuki, witnesses a sinister & well-dressed Kung-Fu master called Lan Di attacking the Dojo and proceeds to straight-up interrogate and torture his father. Ryo attempts to fight against Lan Di in retaliation, but he is easily defeated…

Ryo dedicates his life to finding Lan Di which takes him from the streets of Yokosuka, Japan to the sprawling metropolis of Hong Kong, and beyond. Soon he will learn that larger, mystical forces are at play as he trains to become the ultimate martial artist in his quest for revenge.

On the technical side, the anime adaptation of this beloved Sega game franchise was first announced on September 4, 2020, at the virtual Crunchyroll Expo. The series was directed by Chikara Sakurai (Who directed Season 2 of One-Punch Man). Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki was an executive producer on the series, while Kento Shimoyama wrote the series’ scripts, Kensuke Ishikawa designed the characters, and Kana Shibue composed the music with some music taken from the videogames mixed in. The series was animated by Telecom Animation Film with production management by Sola Entertainment, and the opening theme is “UNDEAD-NOID” performed by Kashitarō Itō, while the ending theme is “Sympathy” performed by Narudora with the English dubbing of the series provided by Sentai Filmworks.

Never have I imagined for years that they’d make a Shenmue adaptation that manages to capture the key moments of the games in the series, both big and small while carefully taking out the negative and boring aspects of the game and streamlining the storylines of the first two games in such a way that everyone can understand. I’m sure it also feels very cathartic for long-time fans to have waited 20-plus years for the story of Shenmue to finally receive the care and attention it deserves since the first two games originally came out for the Sega Dreamcast (And also the second game on the Original Xbox) and both of them didn’t even get an HD re-release until 2018.

The animation is bright and colorful, the English dub is passable and has actual emotion compared to the stiffness of the game’s original English Dub (And that speaks volumes), the music is emotional and at times majestic and the attention to detail is carefully handled with a level of accuracy while expanding upon the elements of the game with new/sound details. They’re even more SEGA cameos/references like the Tails figure on Ryo’s desk, Fantasy Zone poster and Virtua Fighter arcade machines, etc. And the pacing while not feeling rushed up until the season finale, doesn’t skip over the small things that matter.

Overall, this was a surprisingly fun and cohesive adaptation. My hope is that this series will attract a new generation of fans and see what a groundbreaking series this game was and we get to see season 2 become an actual thing and adapt Shenmue 3, or at least give the plot a proper conclusion. But given that this was a joint effort between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim, and currently no word if Yu Suzuki is working on any future Shenmue game sequels, that remains to be seen…