‘Shenmue’ series in works at Crunchyroll & Adult Swim

WarnerMedia-owned animé streamer Crunchyroll and US cable network Adult Swim are teaming up for a 13-episode original animé series based on the Sega video game franchise Shenmue.

The series is being directed by Chikara Sakurai (Magimoji Rurumo) and produced by Telecom Animation Film, with production management by Sola Entertainment. Shenmue creator and game designer Yu Suzuki is also attached as executive producer for the project.

This will be the third collaboration between the two WarnerMedia-owned businesses, following the recently announced Fena: Pirate Princess and Blade Runner: Black Lotus. It will stream worldwide outside of mainland China and Japan on Crunchyroll and air on Adult Swim’s Toonami in the US.

Shenmue follows the story of Ryo Hazuki, who dedicates his life to finding the man responsible for the murder of his father and encounters mystical forces as he trains to become the ultimate martial artist.

“The first Shenmue video game was released more than 20 years ago and we’re so excited to be working again with Adult Swim to bring this franchise to life through anime,” said Sarah Victor, head of development, Crunchyroll. “We’re eager to show our fans more of this action-packed adventure series as we move through production.”

“The world of Shenmue is fascinating and unique, and we are so excited to partner with Yu Suzuki to bring his epic creation to anime- and make a kick-ass martial arts epic” added Jason DeMarco, SVP and creative director on-air for Adult Swim.