One of the most surprising gaming news stories of my lifetime was the return of Shenmue, which once seemed absolutely impossible. I still can't believe that Shenmue 3 exists, and our cups overflowed with joy when "Shenmue" was announced: The Animation, a collaboration between Adult Swim and Crunchyroll, is a game story The first season aired earlier this year.

Sadly, our journey ended midway through, a feeling familiar to Shenmue fans. The show was going so well that a second season was planned, but the cancellation was confirmed by Jason DeMarco, senior vice president of action and animation at Warner Discovery.

"I'm sorry, guys. It's come to this, and you can still watch all of the animated features on Crunchyroll, and you can still download them digitally." And it looks like there will be no S2 for Shenmue. Sadly, it worked well enough to get S2 ready. Maybe someday ......."

Please inscribe these last three words on my tombstone. Yutaka Suzuki, the creator of Shenmue, has thought about continuing the series in the form of a game ("Shenmue 3," surprisingly, ended unresolved), but there are still no plans for a fourth installment in the series. While "Shenmue" is absolutely beloved by fans, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recreate many of the reasons for it in a modern game without, realistically, a mega-budget that Suzuki and his team are unlikely to be able to conjure up in the future. The luxury of detail that once made the little world so special, so perfect, is now out of reach.

Oh well. The beauty of Shenmue is that no matter what happens to the series in the future, at least we get to visit a real-life setting and be struck anew by the ambition that Sega once had.