Posted in: Crunchyroll, TV | Tagged: Adult Swim, anime, Crunchyroll, shenmue the animation, streaming
Shenmue The Animation Hits Crunchyroll, Adult Swim/Toonami in February
Shenmue The Animation, an adaptation of the cult martial arts video game, premieres on Saturday, February 5 at 9:30 PM PST on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. The English dubbed version will air in North America on Toonami (Adult Swim's signature anime block) and Crunchyroll will stream the subtitled version worldwide outside of Japan and China.
A story of revenge and self-discovery, Shenmue debuted first as a video game by SEGA for the Dreamcast on December 29, 1999. Since then, it has accrued a cult following around the world. It was an early example of open-world action games, its gameplay design pioneered a lot of ideas that have since become commonplace in action video games. The Yakuza game series is a successor to its genre and many of its game design ideas such as Quick Time Events and 3D character animation became commonplace in games afterward. Its goofier elements launched a slew of memes. Now over 20 years later, the 13-episode anime adaptation will recreate the same essence of mystery and thrilling martial arts. The saga of teenage martial artist Yu Hazuki and his epic quest to avenge his father's death at the hands of a rival martial arts master that takes him on a journey through a somewhat stereotypical and oddly nostalgic and analogue 1980s Asia to learn the martial arts techniques that would transform him into a kung fu master.
Shenmue The Animation is a Crunchyroll and Adult Swim original series directed by Chikara Sakurai (One Punch Man Season 2) with animation production by Telecom Animation Film and production management provided by Sola Entertainment. Original opening music "UNDEAD-NOID" will be performed by Ito Kashitaro. Video game creator Yu Suzuki is credited with the original concept. Kensuke Ishikawa (Tower of God) will serve as Chief Animation Director, with scripts from Kento Shimoyama (We Rent Tsukumogami and BLEACH) and original character design from Udaka.
Shenmue The Animation premieres on Crunchyroll on February 5, 2022.