The Shenmue curse had also been brought back.
The revival of Shenmue, which once seemed impossible, was among the most surprising gaming media articles of my lifetime. I still can’t believe Shenmue 3 exists, and when Shenmue: The Animation was announced, our cups literally overflowed. The anime, which has been founded by Adult Swim and Crunchyroll, adapted the story of the games, and the first season aired earlier this year.
Regrettably, our journey has ended in a way that Shenmue fans will acknowledge. The show apparently did well enough that a second season was planned. Even so, the cancellation was confirmed by Jason DeMarco, Warner Discovery’s senior vice president of action and anime.
“I’m sorry, guys,” DeMarco writes. “This took place. You can still watch all of the anime on Crunchyroll, and digital get will be available. And, yes, it seems that there will not be Shenmue S2, regardless of the fact that it was conducted well enough to justify S2. Maybe one day…”
Put those three consecutive words on my gravestone. Yu Suzuki, the creator of Shenmue, has voiced a desire to keep the series in game form (Shenmue 3, amazingly, ended on an unresolved note), but there are presently no plans for a fourth entry in the series. Shenmue is idolized by its fans, but many of the reasons why have become increasingly difficult to recreate in games today without the kind of mega-budget that Suzuki and his team are unlikely to ever raise. The luxurious level of detail that made it so distinctive, such a perfect little world, is now out of reach.
As is. One of the nice things about Shenmue would be that, regardless of where the series goes from here, you can visit its settings in real life and be amazed yet again by Sega’s ambition.
