The Street Fighter film certainly chose the wrong person, Jay Tavare, to play Vega. However, Street Fighter II V manages to correct Vega by making him the blonde bishonen he was in the games. Yes, this was Vega the handsome evil villain. However, I always felt the artists couldn't hide the fact that he was evil by always painting that condescending, smug look that gave him off too easily as a Shadaloo henchman. It's like, look, I appreciate you telling us that beauty can be deceiving, but Vega looks too evil despite being handsome!
How does it work? Vega was introduced as a matador. The Japanese version called Vega as Balrog and Balrog as Bison. Heck, Bison was called Vega! It's also at the Vega arc where Bison himself slowly gets introduced in the flesh. Bison goes to Vega's mansion to watch the brawl. Ryu thought Ken was invited to a brawl. Ken says it's a fancy ball, but it turns out Ryu's mishearing was a dark premonition of what Vega was about to do.
Now, I'd like to talk about the creep factor. Vega lusts after Chun Li within the Anime continuity. The games don't imply it. The Street Fighter II OVA had Vega nearly kill Chun Li. But here? Like WTF! This is taking things too far, IMHO. Vega plants a "love potion" on Chun Li, causing her to become his puppet. This continuity implies Ken and Chun Li are a couple. However, the game canon later had Eliza (who is Guile's sister-in-law via Julia) as Ken's girlfriend and later wife. Vega seems to fit into the category that he's too bored with his own women, wants an Asian hotie, and Chun Li was still a teenager here and Vega was 18. The age gap is three years, so it's more like an impulsive, hormonal attraction!
One of the biggest improvements was changing the cage deathmatch from the movie
Sure, it can be extreme fanservice when Ken and Vega fight. Ken went shirtless, and we know he's also a bishonen. Is it fanservice for the ladies or not? I thought Ken vs. Vega was one of the best animated scenes for a series cut short by Crayon Shin Chan's Hentai no Hadou. Also, Akuma made a cameo here and as said, every cameo Akuma makes is an inside joke. Akuma was just a bonus character you could fight before he was given any backstory. So yeah, don't complain Akuma was just a cameo because he was still an inside-joke that time.
How did this work? The fight happens in a mansion. Sure, there's betting and that classic scene where Ken is given a weapon to fight Vega. In the movie, it was Ryu who was in the death cage. But here? I believe Ken was the right opponent. It's not just a battle of bishonens but because Ken is the perfect foil for Vega. Vega is handsome and evil. Ken is handsome and a good flawed guy. Plus, I felt that it was a good thing that Guile didn't wreck this fight with a truck like the movie! That's why we got that amazing cage deathmatch for Chun Li's heart. Ken was offered a weapon and he refused it.
Every attack Vega made here was like a DESCENDING EAGLE. Ken nearly died in this battle and barely survived. In fact, Ken LOST A LOT OF BLOOD. However, it was also part of the plot that would kick things in.
Some interesting notes
Some interesting notes
What gets pretty interesting IMHO is how Balrog was dealt with. Balrog was supposed to be a mindless boxer. However, here, Balrog is literally taking over Movie Dee Jay's role. This may explain why Dee Jay never got adapted in either. This Balrog isn't much of a fighter but he's an Interpol inside job agent for Shadaloo. Balrog would slowly move to try and get rid of Bison's enemies -- even make up stories such as what's about to happen next. A disappointment given the hype the intro had that he would be a big bad brawler. But as said, Crayon Shin Chan's Hentai no Hadou was too much for Street Fighter II V to take!
It was also the first time Bison was introduced on-screen. His previous interaction with the Anime-only Zochi was more "mysterious" unless you played a game. Now, honestly. I thought this Bison reminds me of the late Raul Julia. Julia fought with all his might to finish the game while dying from stomach cancer. The Japanese dub having Kenji Utsumi and the American-English dub Tom Wryner somehow nearly perfected the Julia impersonation. This Bison talked a lot, released bolts of electricity, and his laughing scene was very similar to the movie. I must admit, it's really sinister!
Not to mention, Ryu chose to perfect the Hadouken. This is basically the plot that can be criticized. However, given the game logic, special moves are a privilege not a right. A real fireball wouldn't just be a standard wound. Ryu had to learn to use the power of the Hadouken. This creates a Kamehama effect instead.
This just happens to be the lack of editing. I was wondering if editing technology in the 1990s was unavailable. Since this was a Japanese production -- Balrog's name was M. Bison. This makes it funny though because come on -- the PUN on Mike Tyson can't be avoided. Sure, Balrog was changed into a mole for Shadaloo. However, this piece of detail is so funny that the English dub failed to edit this or there was a lack of editing.
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