Shenmue The Animation will premiere first of 13 episodes on February 5th

But where’s the forklift racing?

Shenmue The Animation is a co-production of Cartoon Network’s adult-oriented spin-off Adult Swim and anime streaming service Crunchyroll. It’ll begin airing on February 5th with 13 episodes produced.

I have regrettably been RPS’s resident anime guy for a long time, but I’m not so excited about this. The animation looks pretty rough to me, at least when compared to Netflix’s increasingly swish productions. Plus, a lot of what made Shenmue weird and interesting was its unusual commitment to simulating the world. Stripped of its interactivity, I worry it’s a fairly straightforward martial arts revenge story - not exactly new ground for anime.

For example,Shenmue 3’s “laid back rhythm"enraptured Matthew for chunks of its running timeby lulling him into a state of “extreme zen/boredom”. If the anime doesn’t aim for that same state, can it really call itself Shenmue?

If you do want to hop into the game series now, Shenmue 3 is currently 75% offon Steam, making it £6.24/€7.49.