Examining Shenmue II Storyboards | Design Documents

In the Spring of 2022, a promotional event was held on location in Yokosuka to celebrate the anime adaptation of Shenmue, Shenmue The Animation, which was organized by Yokosuka City in collaboration with SEGA and IGN Japan. Various pieces of concept artwork were exhibited at a number of shops in the area, some being from the anime while others were sketches and illustrations from the time of development of the first two games.

Among the artwork were reproductions of certain storyboards from the game, detailing the camera shots and spoken lines to guide creation of cut scenes in the game. 

The three storyboards exhibited at the event which we will cover in this post are from Shenmue II and are entitled:

1. "Encounter with Joy"
2. "Xiuying's Tears"
3. "Encounter with Shenhua"

We will be looking at these in more detail and translating any written notes and characters' lines, noting differences of interest between the storyboards and the final implementation of the cut scenes in the game.

Become a Patron!

Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for January 2025

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 this time is:

"Photo shoot: Megumi Yasu as Nozomi Harasaki + Mini Interview [Dreamcast Magazine March 2000]"

The March 2000 editions of Japan's Dreamcast magazine featured cosplay by Megumi Yasu, the voice actress who performed the voice of Nozomi Harasaki in the Japanese version of Shenmue.

Accompanying the Nozomi Harasaki cosplay photos was a brief interview with the actress, which we will also be translating.

Coming soon to the blog!

Become a Patron!