Ryo's search for sailors continues in the latest trailer for the Shenmue the Animation.
The trailer provides another look at the new series, which will adapt the story of Sega's cult-classic Shenmue video game series. The 13-episode long series will cover the events of the first two games in the series, showing Ryo's journey from his home town of Yokosuka, Japan to the mean streets of 1980s Hong Kong. The series will be directed by Chikara Sakurai, who previously helmed One-Punch Man's second season. The show is being co-produced by anime streamer Crunchyroll and Adult Swim, and will premiere on both the streaming service and during the Toonami programming block on Feb. 5 at 9:30 P.M. PST.
In addition to the new trailer, Crunchyroll revealed both the Japanese and English dub casts for the show. Ryo Hazuki, the series' stoic protagonist, will be portrayed by Sailor Moon Crystal's Masaya Matsukaze in Japanese and Tokyo Ghoul's Austin Tindle in English. The villainous Lan Di will be played by Mob Psycho 100's Takuhiro Sakurai and Food Wars' Scott Gibbs. The series will also star Natalie Rial, Cat Thomas, Jeremy Gee, Greg Ayres, Bryson Baugus, Christine Auten, Cody House and Joe Daniels.
Shenmue tells the story of Ryo, a Japanese teenager who comes home one day just in time to witness his father, a martial arts master, get murdered by Lan Di, the leader of a shadowy criminal organization from Hong Kong. Seeking answers and revenge, Ryo gives up his peaceful life to hunt down the killer and unravel the mystery surrounding a set of ancient Chinese mirrors that his father left behind.
The original game was created and directed by legendary game designer Yu Suzuki, who originally rose to prominence in the '80s and '90s with highly influential arcade games such as Hang-On, Outrun and Virtua Fighter. Intended to be Suzuki's opus, the original Shenmue was infamously the most expensive game ever developed at the time of its release, costing publisher Sega a reported $70 million USD. While the game received a mixed reception and ultimately did not sell well enough to save Sega's final home console, the Dreamcast, it did attract a dedicated cult-following. A third game in the series was released for the PlayStation 4 and Windows PCs in 2019, following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $6 million USD to aid the game's development costs. The third game also failed to attract a wider audience, but Suzuki has since commented that he still hopes to produce a fourth game in the series.
Source: Crunchyroll, YouTube