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Crunchyroll, Adult Swim Announce Shenmue Anime Series
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Crunchyroll announced during the Crunchyroll Expo event on Friday that it is collaborating with Adult Swim to produce an anime series adaptation of Yū Suzuki's Shenmue game series. Crunchyroll will stream the 13-episode series worldwide outside of Japan and mainland China, and Adult Swim will air it on its Toonami block in the United States. Crunchyroll did not announce a premiere date for the show.
Chikara Sakurai (One-Punch Man season 2, Magimoji Rurumo, Lost Song) is directing the anime at Telecom Animation Film. Sola Entertainment is credited for production management. Shenmue game series director Yū Suzuki is the executive producer for the project.
SEGA released the first Shenmue game on its Dreamcast console in Japan in 1999, and in North America in 2000. The company released Shenmue II on the Dreamcast in Japan in 2000, and in North America in 2001. Shenmue II also received an Xbox version in 2002. The series was originally planned as a trilogy.
Sega released the Shenmue I & II game collection in North America and Europe for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in August 2018.
Shenmue III was originally slated for release in December 2017, but was pushed back to the second half of 2018 and then to 2019. The game was then slated for release in August 2019, but was delayed again before finally debuting last November. The game was initially funded through a Kickstarter campaign in 2015, which set a new record for the highest funded video game Kickstarter campaign at the time. The campaign closed after raising US$6,333,295 from 69,320 backers.
Crunchyroll and Adult Swim previously announced a collaboration anime project in July titled Fena: Pirate Princess that will premiere in 2021. The two companies are also collaborating on the Blade Runner: Black Lotus anime.
Source: Crunchyroll (Kyle Cardine)
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