The series was planned to have a full 51 episode run, but because of underwhelming ratings (due to the show airing against Crayon Shin-chan on the same time slot), it was Cut Short to 29 episodes. As a result, the series underwent drastic rewrites at the last minute, with the most notable changes being Balrog's portrayal as an Interpol double agent without any fighting skills (despite the opening and earlier promotional art showing him in full boxing gear), in order to wrap up the show's storyline as quickly as possible. This also meant that the remaining four fighters from the games (E. Honda, Blanka, T. Hawk and Dee Jay) never got to show up.
As I thought about trying to resume to some regular exercise after some time -- I decided to rewatch Street Fighter II V. Yes, the Anime that wasn't meant for children but for OLDER AUDIENCES. Sometimes, I feel my bias against the Street Fighter 1995 cartoon may have caused me to watch this Anime. The now-defunct Hero TV once aired both Street Fighter II V and the cursed American cartoon. So yeah, both are licensed fan-fictions that could alter everything and not affect the MAIN CANON. Both shows took place after the Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and the late Raul Julia. However, this one practically seemed to have leaned towards the movie spirit more -- all the while making Ryu and Ken the rightful protagonists since hey, it's JAPAN!
I thought about how the Anime somehow managed to use the facial resemblances of Byron Mann Fung and Brandon Chapa to a certain extent. Ryu and Ken may not be con artists BUT they're actually reckless youths. They are given an age-down, where they are around 17-18 years old. The game canon actually had Ken sent to Japan to learn discipline and became friends with Ryu. Ken writes a letter to Ryu and Ryu goes to America. Yeah, the cycle's kind of strange if you think about it because in 1994 -- the American Street Fighter movie premiered BEFORE the Anime.
The movie didn't have the heroes firing projectiles like bullets. Instead, the Street Fighter movie had people using mostly raw fisticuffs. It's like setting Movie Ryu and Movie Ken as the main protagonists and they learn the power of Hadou throughout the series. Hadou is presented as an esoteric power that one must master to even fire a Hadouken. Yeah, I thought it was something. However, it was 1995, and it was that time when the Street Fighter II series made it difficult to do special moves. Was it a nod to that fact in the arcades?
The movie didn't have the heroes firing projectiles like bullets. Instead, the Street Fighter movie had people using mostly raw fisticuffs. It's like setting Movie Ryu and Movie Ken as the main protagonists and they learn the power of Hadou throughout the series. Hadou is presented as an esoteric power that one must master to even fire a Hadouken. Yeah, I thought it was something. However, it was 1995, and it was that time when the Street Fighter II series made it difficult to do special moves. Was it a nod to that fact in the arcades?
It's not enough that both Ryu and Ken are reckless youths. Is it me, or does this version of Guile scream Van Damme energy? Sure, Guile's NOT the protagonist. This version of Guile doesn't fire a single Sonic Boom, does some tough-talking Van Damme-style, and even uses a somersault kick without the ki. I was wondering if the movie Bloodsport was also made an inspiration. You know, Japan managed to make a lot of original stuff while getting inspired by American pop culture.
Guile defeating both Ryu and Ken early on, was a necessity. We can't have heroes who win all the time. Guile was a military officer, making his victory against Ryu and Ken important. Ryu and Ken aren't discouraged by the early-on defeat by Ryu and Ken. Both heroes-in-the-making treat their encounter with Guile as merely a stepping stone to their coming-of-age story.
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