Yeah, I agree there's little chances it will be released on schedule, based on the fact they're not going to E3, but I'm glad they told us before it. Sure, it's a bit disappointing, but I trust Ys Net are already doing their best. I just want Suzuki to make SIII the best he can, so he'll be finally able to go back to AAA development in the future.
About the new character, don't forget that Shenmue, just like Yakuza, was never about very realistic characters: they always were stylized and that's why they still hold up today. If anything,
I think it looked too "plastic", like an action figure, but we shouldn't worry about it because they're clearly still working on it