At the time this post is being written, the first episode of Series One of Shenmue The Animation, called Thunderclap, has now been released worldwide - outside of Japan - on CrunchyRoll, which has the Japanese voicing with English subs, and on AdultSwim in the US with the English dub.
The opening theme sequence is impressive, with a dynamic flurry of characters and images set to the catchy beat of the official Opening Theme by Kashitaro Ito, which is named "UNDEAD-NOID" - we are curious about the meaning behind this name! This was in fact played at the end of Episode One, but will presumably play at the start of each episode going forward, together with the (yet-to-be-heard) official Ending Theme called Sympathy.
From our point of view, the Japanese-voiced first episode did not disappoint! All the key story beats were covered, while much of the slower-paced exploration scenes were condensed or skipped to keep the story flowing smoothly, and this worked well for an anime. Noticeably, Ryo's human side was allowed to show through more than in the game, including some nice additional interaction with his father.
For a deep-dive review of the first episode, check out Stuart's great post on Shenmusings.
Shenmue Forever has also produced this summary of the overwhelmingly positive reactions in a poll on Twitter. A great deal of positive feedback has been reported from the wider anime community.
#ShenmueTheAnimation Episode 1 is 🔥 at 94% (429 votes) according to the #Shenmue fans!
— Shenmue Forever (@ShenmueForever) February 7, 2022
Consensus: A fresh, fast-paced, nostalgic episode that sets the stage for an epic journey. Feels like home.
Get ready for Episode 2 “Daybreak”, this Saturday February 12, at midnight (ET)! https://t.co/Xw7hG5Qt7S pic.twitter.com/cqx63vwVto
Episode Two, which is called Daybreak, will follow within the week:
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