No one was surprised when a Shenmue anime was announced because everything is getting an anime. But there’s reason to be especially excited about a Shenmue adaptation: the series has always been character- and narrative-driven, and considering what a cliffhanger Shenmue 3 ended on (despite an 18-year wait) there’s a lot of people eager for more. The third and most important reason is that Shenmue is awesome. That should be enough.
That’s the trailer above, and sadly there’s not a forklift in sight. The footage suggests the anime is leaning into the harder-edged side of the Shenmue universe, ie, the parts where people beat the shit out of each other. That makes better TV than turtle races and goose catching, I guess.
The production is a joint Crunchyroll / Adult Swim effort, with Shenmue executive producer Yu Suzuki involved as an executive producer. One Punch Man director Chikara Sakurai is directing. The 13-episode series is expected to launch next year.