Toonami has gone all-in when it comes to creating original animated series, with the likes of Fena: Pirate Princess already running on the Cartoon Network programming block and the likes of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, FLCL, and Housing Complex C being just a few examples of future franchises. With co-creator of Toonami, Jason DeMarco, taking the opportunity to answer fan questions, he touched upon one of the biggest originals for the platform, Shenmue The Animation, and the rumors that have been swirling regarding a second season for the video game adaptation following the adventure of Ryo Hazuki.
The first season of Shenmue The Animation took a major opportunity in telling Ryo’s story to wrangle in viewers familiar with the beloved video game franchise, with the initial episodes numbering thirteen episodes total. With the video game series having three titles to its name, there are still plenty of stories that the Toonami series has yet to adapt. A second season has yet to be confirmed at this point, though fans took the opportunity to ask Jason DeMarco directly as to whether or not the video game adaptation would eventually be making a comeback. Whether or not Shenmue does eventually return, it’s clear that Toonami still has plenty of original series coming down the pike.
Jason DeMarco used his Official Twitter Account to walk fans through the chances of Shenmue The Animation returning for a second season, with the return of Ryo Hazuki seemingly having a chance of around 60-70% of making a comeback on the Cartoon Network programming block in the future:
Currently a 6 or 7, I’d say?
When it comes to the video game series that first arrived on the Sega Dreamcast decades ago, there are no current plans for a Shenmue 4 following the recent revival of the series via its third installment. The anime came about thanks in part to Toonami partnering with Crunchyroll, bringing on the animation studio Telecom Animation Film, which was a similar scenario to how Fena: Pirate Princess was created.
Do you want to see Shenmue The Animation return for a second season? Where would you want to see Ryo go if the anime series were to make a comeback? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of anime video game adaptations.
