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 that has been voted for this time is:
"Influences & parallels of the 1980s manga Kenji on Shenmue"
Kenji is a popular martial-arts based manga series in which several similar elements to those in Shenmue can be recognized.
Published in the years prior to the development of Shenmue, from 1988 to 1992, it follows the journey of a boy named Kenji, a teenager passionate about the Chinese martial art Bajiquan. The series encompasses a wide array of martial arts styles, drawing inspiration from the author's own expertise.
Kenji explores other martial arts to enhance his skills, and his journey takes him to Hong Kong and China, where he encounters various martial arts masters, forms friendships, and faces challenges.
Given the overlap in the subject matter with Shenmue and the period in which it was published, it would not be surprising to find its influence within the game. However, mention of Kenji is not readily found among past interviews with Yu Suzuki.
In this post, we will be examining parallels and similarities between this popular manga and Shenmue, and tracking down any interviews available with development staff in which its influence may have been mentioned.
Coming in a future post on the blog.
