Weekly AM2 Vol. 4: Shenmue New Year's Card Giveaway | 4th Jan 2000

In this series we translate Shenmue content from Weekly AM2, the official online magazine published by Sega's AM2 development team back in the day. News and information about the Shenmue series could be found regularly within these pages from the end of 1999 through to 2001 with the release of Shenmue II.

Vol. 4 was a fairly brief update posted at the start of the new millennium, shortly after the official release of Shenmue in Japan on December 28th. While not much news is contained, we do learn the nickname of Megumi Yasu, the actress playing Nozomi (read on to find out!). A lucky draw is announced for Shenmue-themed New Year Cards - of which only two were available. Let's hope they were kept and treasured by the winners.

-Switch

 

Vol.4: 2000.1.4

Happy New Year to you all.

This is Takuan.

I hope you're all well and enjoying Shenmue.

Let's have another great year!

This week's contents:

• New Year's Greetings from the Shenmue actors
• Outtrigger Event [omitted from translation]
• Shenmue New Year Card Present

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Shenmue Tree? Cherry Tree? | Shenmue 3 Translations

Something that has led to a lot of discussion among fans is the nature of the tree that stands gracefully in full bloom at Ternary Spring, outside the house of Grandmaster Feng in Shenmue III. When Ryo visits the area, the tree is mentioned in conversation with both Shenhua and Grandmaster Feng, but nothing is said that would remove doubt about its identity - is it supposed to be an actual Shenmue tree?

The tree at Ternary Spring

This question is not as easily answered as it may at first appear, since the tree is treated inconsistently between Shenmue II and III, as well as between the Japanese and English language versions.

In this post we'll attempt to bring together the known evidence to help judge the tree's true nature.

The Shenmue Dojo forums served as a useful reference for this post, with various theories and discussions made on this topic.

Shenmue Tree Hypothesis

An obvious place to start is by examining the tree's appearance, in particular the pattern of its bark and the shape of its flowers, and compare this to the tree at Shenhua's house which we know from Shenmue II to be a Shenmue tree.

Complicating matters, the Shenmue tree in the third game was considerably reimagined. This is how it looked in the second game:

Appearance of the Shenmue tree in Shenmue II (roots, whole form and blossom)

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for September 2021

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic for September 2021 is...

" Interview with Shenmue sound staff: Yuzo Koshiro, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (January 2000)"

We will be translating an early magazine interview with two legendary music composers who were part of Shenmue's Sound team: Yuzo Koshiro and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. Among the numerous games for which Yuzo Koshiro has composed music are the Ys series in the late 1980s and the Streets of Rage series in the 1990s, while Takenobu Mitsuyoshi has been composing for Sega games since the 1990s, including work on the Virtua Fighter series and the theme song for Daytona USA.

This interview was published in a January 2000 edition of the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine, soon after Shenmue's release in Japan.

Watch for it on the blog in the near future.

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Weekly AM2 Vol. 3: Shenmue Triathlon | 28th Dec 1999

In this series we translate Shenmue content from Weekly AM2, the official online magazine published by Sega's AM2 development team back in the day. News and information about the Shenmue series could be found regularly within these pages from the end of 1999 through to 2001 with the release of Shenmue II.

Vol. 3 was released on 28th December 1999, one day before the official release of Shenmue in Japan on the 29th, and announces a speed run competition named the Shenmue Triathlon. The Weekly AM2 logo has also been revamped with the tagline "Always bringing you the hottest topics" (complete with three exclamation marks at the end!).

-Switch

 

Vol.3:1999.12.28

Hello! This is Takuan.

Another year comes to an end, and with it the release of the long-awaited "Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka".

This is the last Weekly AM2 of the year, and I'll be bringing it to you with the utmost enthusiasm!

This week's contents:

• "Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka" Releases at Last Tomorrow!
• Shenmue Strategy Guide Releases on January 7th!
• Announcing the Shenmue Triathlon!
• Commencing the Shenmue Original Wallpaper Download Service!

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