A few months back, I reviewed the feature film adaptation
of Street Fighter II. A good friend of
mine mentioned that if I wanted more of what made that movie good, I would
enjoy the TV Anime, so I promised her I’d add it to the roster. And here we are. Now that the Summer of 2019 is starting to
close out, how about we take one more vacation around the world with Ken and
Ryu? Welcome to Street Fighter II V.
One complaint I had about the Anime Movie was the fact
that the central story wasn’t focused.
You had Chun Li and Guile teaming up to hunt down M. Bison while Ryu
searched for a missing Ken and got into some fights along the way. Sure both converged in the finale but I would
rather have gone with one way or the other in terms of which characters to
follow (and did wish we’d stuck with Guile and Chun Li all the way). SFIIV doesn’t look like it’ll have that
problem as it makes it clear from the beginning this is Ryu and Ken’s
show. It’s a simple set up too, nothing
complex at all: Ken invites Ryu to visit him in the States and after one little
fight, they decide to go see the world and get into more little fights. There isn’t a world to save (yet). There is just the fight…and the bromance
between our two leads.
Ryu and Ken are instantly likeable for more than just
their ability to kick ass all day and all night. Their brotherhood is genuine, from their
friendly spars to just rough housing around the apartment or dojo of their
choice. Ryu is very much in the Goku
vein of hero: super strong, dedicated to training and loves a good meal. Ken can match Ryu blow for blow but comes
with more charm for the ladies and a bottomless pit of a fortune that can land
him and Ryu a $20,000 a night penthouse suite for a week. But thankfully, Ken isn’t one to pay for his
victories with cash, he’s more than willing to back up a challenge with his
fists. I actually like that while Ryu
and Ken have no problem with low level thugs, getting their butts kicked by
Guile solidified that theyre far from the top of the Street Fighter food
chain. The pair have a ways to go before
theyre probably anywhere near what they are in the video game, especially since
Ryu doesn’t seem to know or have shown us he knows his signature Hadouken
technique.
Speaking of taking on Guile, if you’ve come here for
action you are gonna be right at home if these opening episodes are any
indication. Ryu and Guile’s battle is
full of fast paced, bone crunching action, as is pretty much every brawl in the
first four episodes. Much like SFII The
Animated Movie, it’s clear that the animators are carefully studying the video
game in order to recreate the fighting patterns and signature moves of the
diverse cast of characters. The end
result are a slew of crowd pleasing brawls including the aforementioned
barfight and Ryu’s endurance match with the worst of the worst in Kowloon
City. This is the kind of action 90’s
Anime was best known for and its so much fun to watch. Man I felt some of those hits and all I can
say is…ow.
This opening set isn’t without it’s drawbacks. The first is we don’t get to see what was
probably a really amazing fight between a furious Ken and a hungover
Guile. We see them exchange a couple of
punches and then cut to Ken recuperating back home. Really?
We watched an awesome fight with Ryu and Guile earlier on but are denied
seeing Ken get payback for his friends beating?
Makes me hope this isn’t the last we see of Guile, though Im sure some
familiar faces might only stick around for quick arcs before disappearing. The second is the latter half of the Kowloon
City arc. On the brightside, we get to
see Chun Li in this arc and even though she isn’t rocking her iconic video game
costume and is a bit younger than she was in the Animated Movie, Chun Li is
still a beauty to behold and a great addition to Ryu and Ken’s adventures. That said, Chun Li doesn’t really show much
of her incredible skill until the end of the arc when she defeats the big boss
of Kowloon City. Up until then, she’s
kind of a bystander and damsel in distress while Ryu and Ken clean house in
what turns into an Anime version of The Warriors/Escape from New York and
Streets of Rage all packed into one.
That doesn’t sound too bad given the setup of the arc itself. But still, I liked when Ken told Guile that
his and Ryu’s code was one on one fights.
Group battles seem a bit out of place but maybe ill get over that.
I’ll be honest, Street Fighter II V has been sitting on
my shelf for a long, long time and I feel like it’s overdue for both a watch
and review from yours truly. Some flaws
aside I think the series is off to a good start and should be packed with lots
of guest appearances from Street Fighter II’s roster, nicely animated fight
scenes and tons of 90’s cheese to enjoy.
Let the world tour continue…and bring on more Chun Li, I cant wait to
see her finally get into a match.
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