Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

Video game series can be full of strange retcons throughout the years -- no company excluded! I remember the Super Street Fighter II games -- the ones that introduced Fei Long, Cammy, T. Hawk, and Dee Jay. Eventually, Akuma became a hidden character in Super Street Fighter II Turbo . As a child, I had this thing for Cammy more than Chun Li. I believe it was a result of the American superiority mentality going on -- never mind I actually dislike MOST American localizations of Japanese shows (and the vice-versa can be very true).  It's quite funny how Street Fighter II V and the American Street Fighter cartoon came out in 1995. The American Street Fighter live movie was in 1994. Cammy's first non-canon adaptation was in the  Street Fighter movie. Cammy had two different adaptations. I prefer the Japanese Anime due to its better execution. Cammy was somewhat of a love interest for Guile in the American cartoon. However, Guile was canonically a family man and Ken Masters' broth...

The Marvel vs. Capcom series is built on a What-If storyline. Interestingly, Charlie was brought into the Marvel vs. Capcom series instead of Col. William Guile. Guile made his debut in the Street Fighter II series. Charlie's story was set up in the Street Fighter Alpha series -- which took place after the first Street Fighter game but before Street Fighter II series. Charlie made it into X-Men vs. Street Fighter   with a slightly modified version of his fate. Street Fighter Alpha 3 gave some interesting details such as how Cammy was made as a female version of the Dictator (which is just bad writing IMHO) and Charlie's death.  X-Men vs. Street Fighter has some what-if endings. However, Charlie's ending was confirmed canon. Charlie went missing and was assumed dead. However, it turned out that the Dictator decided to turn Charlie into Shadow. Shadow was a secret playable character in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and a Special Partner in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of...

Street Fighter characters get revamped in the Marvel vs. Capcom series . One of the biggest revamps done was with the Dictator (Bison in the U.S., Vega in Japan). Bison was pretty much a charge-based character in the mainstream Street Fighter games. Playing as them can be challenging unless one knew the secret of holding downwards-back instead of just holding back to effectively use them. X-Men vs. Street Fighter and its follow-up Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter introduced the M. Bison incarnation that I love the most. After playing the Street Fighter Alpha series -- I felt that Bison's usage of a special move Psycho Crusher wasn't my style. Instead, having Bison use the Psycho Shot in its place and a Psycho Crusher as a highly damaging Super Move was the way to go. Sure, later games gave Bison a Psycho Crusher as a special move and a Super Psycho Crusher as a super move -- mostly for Level 3 only. The Marvel vs. Capcom series gave us an upgraded version of Bison from th...

Zangief's probably one of the most iconic characters from the Street Fighter franchise. It gets funny how Zangief became a bad guy in some of the Street Fighter adaptations (especially in the American adaptations) while he's really a good guy in the canon. It's probably due to some war with Russia that the American production made the decision -- especially the Street Fighter movie where Balrog (Mike Bison) was made a good guy and Zangief a bad guy who's unaware he's one. Zangief was added to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. In fact, he was a character in the first crossover namely X-Men vs. Street Fighter . Street Fighter characters got adjusted for better or for worse. Certain projectile super moves got a beam-type replacement. Ryu's Shinkuu Hadoken clearly mimics the Kamehame Wave from the Dragon Ball Z franchise. Chun Li's Kikousho formed a dome and it had bad recovery time. Zangief was added to the mix. Zangief lost his Aerial Slam Super Move and started o...

The name of the Boxer in the Japanese is really MIKE BISON. It's an obvious pun for Mike Tyson . Now, it's time to discuss another name called Vega. Capcom America renamed Boxer from Bison to Balrog, Claw from Balrog to Vega, and Dictator from Vega to M. Bison. I Googled what Vega meant and it's a very common Spanish surname (which was probably why the renaming of Claw to Vega happened). However, another meaning for Vega is the brightest star of the constellation Lyra or landing eagle.  The Dictator who went from Vega to Bison The design of the Dictator was based on Wakizashi from the Riki-Oh series. Wakizashi means EAGLE CAPE. Both of them wore a cape and had the same military theme going on. It might be very noticeable that Shadaloo had the symbol of eagle wings and a skull.  It would be noteworthy that the Dictator himself has a series of aerial attacks. Early on, his Psycho Crusher was a special move. Though the Psycho Crusher was later made a highly damaging super move...

Street Fighter presents Balrog to be a bad guy - unlike the Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Balrog's real name was actually MIKE Bison. Sounds very much like Mike Tyson right? Balrog's special attacks involve names like Charging Buffalo. Now, think about it that Capcom actually took note of the crimes of Mike Tyson to create Balrog (Vega's Japanese name) under the name MIKE Bison. The Crime Museum gives this detail of Mike Tyson as a crook : Mike Tyson is a former heavyweight world boxing champion from Brooklyn, New York. Nicknamed “Iron Mike,” Tyson committed several crimes in his youth, including robbing stores, pick pocketing, and mugging people. In September 1991, Tyson was indicted on one count of rape, two counts of criminal deviant behavior, and one count of confinement. He was accused by Desiree Washington, a contestant in the Miss Black America Pageant, who claimed that Tyson forced himself on her in his Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson was convi...

Right now, I ask myself, "Did I waste money with my Tekken 7 purchase?" I felt I asked myself why I even bought the game. The game had potential but it was wasted . I felt Namco was about to redeem itself or outdo itself. However, it seems that Tekken 6 (a game I felt brought Mortal Kombat Armageddon another foot down the ground beyond six feet) and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 are tough acts to follow. Right now, I feel one of the biggest reasons why it sucks is the addition of AKUMA. At first, I found it cool but later, it just feels like it jumps the shark. Sure, Namco had some projects with Capcom become such as Namco x Capcom or Street Fighter x Tekken . However, this is the Tekken universe we're talking about so why is AKUMA SUDDENLY HERE? I feel Capcom and Namco have a lot to answer for even if there's no copyright infringement. I feel everything here is just too sudden. Sure, Akuma has been depowered (to a certain extent) to make him a little more balanced. Yet, on...

Adaptations will alter certain story elements, right? I would say that I'm pretty not much of a fan of LICENSED adaptations of Japanese media. It's no secret that I really dislike Power Rangers or any American localizations (which in itself is an adaptation in a business dictionary). Another thing I dislike is the American localization of Street Fighter . Guile may be a badass colonel but I felt Ken could've made the better American adaptation protagonist. One movie called Street Fighter also came up. There were two characters who had a side change namely Zangief AND Balrog. Yes, Balrog one of the top Shadaloo enforcers was made a good guy in Street Fighter the American movie. I think the reason had to be this. Balrog's Japanese name is MIKE Bison. The name change was presumably done to prevent lawsuits with Capcom due to the character could be a caricature. Instead, Balrog, in the movie, was made into Chun Li's cameraman. This was the only time we should see Balrog...

  Back then before Street Fighter fell down to a certain extent (such as with what happened with Street Fighter V which I wonder if I'll still get it) - there was a time Capcom released better.   The Street Fighter Alpha series came and the final installment was the third game. The third game introduced a notoriously powerful version of General M. Bison (or General Vega) as the final boss. It wouldn't be your typical Bison battle as he had a UNIQUE fighting style not selectable. The game cemented his status as a final boss character with SNK stats. Granted, I only played the console version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 way back with the first Playstation. Personally. it was my favorite of the series and the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology version   slightly falls down. This version of Bison is so DAMN TOUGH that you'd probably cry a lot. What made the boss fight frustrating (for the arcade) is that once you're defeated - you really can't continue. Woah, talk about takin...

I remembered playing Super Street Fighter IV on our PS3. Before that, I remembered saving up for a PS3 some time after Mortal Kombat (2011) came out but I felt needs came first. What I didn't realize (at first) was that Gouken was actually born from something from my childhood - the rumored character known as SHENG LONG. Back then, I didn't have a Super NES or a Sega system. I only had a PS1 back in high school which I often used as an escape from reality. Yeah, high school sucks under the old system! My grades did drop badly and my parents had to monitor my gaming addiction. College came and I had my computer game addiction under control. I may have not graduated with honors (since I took a short-term computer course to learn basic skills) but I never repeated any subject. The PS1 was still there, we soon had a PS2 bought under discount, and maybe I'm thankful I didn't have all the cool stuff as a child. I decided to buy some PS2 games that contained the games I wanted...

Street Fighter III series was introducing mostly different characters. Gill was no exception to the series. The only older characters that returned in the III series are Ryu, Ken, and later Chun Li and Akuma. Gill was presented as a new character with a half-red, half-blue design which made me think that he was a cyborg. Instead, it was some genetic manipulation as this so-called benevolent villain is. Apparently, Gill is delusional and believes what he does is for the good of humanity - unlike General Bison or Shadaloo that has been somehow operating purely For the Evulz one way or another. I felt the design was probably to show the power of duality. Instead, it was also done to show off the power of the CPS-3 board. Street Fighter III during its first release is still in the arcade. It was called Street Fighter III: The New Generation . There were no console versions yet as the game had TOO MUCH POWER. Who can remember how Killer Instinct was widely depowered for the Super NES back t...

I could remember how I previously wrote about how Scorpion in Mortal Kombat had an interesting development . What I've ignored in my blogging (due to how my relationship with Capcom has become rather stormy) is Sagat's rather cool development as an anti-villain turned anti-hero. Yes, Sagat was initially a villain for a good portion of Street Fighter until his redemption. He was once part of M. Bison's Shadaloo Kings along with Balrog and Vega. Yet, Sagat overtime became a good guy. The idea was somewhat placed in the Street Fighter movie and the failed American cartoon. The failed American cartoon had Sagat eventually defecting after finding out how M. Bison had gone "too far". The games did start to explore his role as a character manipulated by the bad guys like Scorpion was in Mortal Kombat .  Sagat did have his status as the champion of Muay Thai and the main antagonist of the underappreciated first Street Fighter game. Adon was also a character in that rather...

The Street Fighter series as a lot of interesting retcons (and bad ones such as Cammy's origins which came some time AFTER the Street Fighter II V Anime ). One of them is the addition of Evil Ryu - Ryu's variation that didn't come in until the Street Fighter Alpha series. The form made its debut in Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold which was an update to the original game. Evil Ryu was basically a variation for Ryu like how Chun-Li had her Street Fighter II variation in the same game. The form of Ryu had nearly the same moves except he had a teleport, his shoryuken had more hits (which could potentially override Ken's superior flaming shoryuken), and he gains the Messatsu Gou Shoryu.  The retcon of Ryu's victory over Sagat (who was still a noble villain at that time) was changed. It turns out that Ryu himself was starting to succumb to Satsui No Hadou (Surge of Murderous Intent) which was the power Akuma had. Akuma was a bonus character in Super Street Fighter II Turbo wh...

While Ryu's Hadouken is better than Ken's -- Ken's Shoryuken is better than Ryu's. Ken was the first of the two to use a Shoryuken-based super-attack. Ken's first Shoryuken-based super was his Shoryuu Reppa and later added the Shinryuken. Ryu instead focused his energies on improving his Hadouken such as the birth of the Shinkuu Hadouken (which Ken could perform in a duo with Ryu in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter ) and the Denjin Hadouken (from the Street Fighter III series). The Street Fighter III series also introduced Ryu's first Shoryuken-based Super Move in the Shin Shoryuken. Shin Shoryuken would translate as True Rising Dragon Fist while Shinryuken would translate as True Dragon Fist.  Ryu's Shin Shoryuken was introduced in the Street Fighter III arcade games - a game series that didn't enter until the sixth-generation consoles. The variations did appear in several other games such as the Street Fighter EX series and non-canon spin-offs su...

Who can remember the first time Ryu and Ken appeared? My first remembrance of them was in the  Street Fighter II series where the two characters played very much alike. They had their three basic moves namely the Hadoken, Shoryuken, and the Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku with very little difference. The Street Fighter II series had me picking Ken (at first) though over time - I was more tuned in to Ryu himself. It was probably due to Ken being ore cocky. Over time, the Street Fighter II series started to evolve in both arcades and consoles. There was Super Street Fighter II and later Super Street Fighter II Turbo which started to differentiate them even more. The differences were spelled out even further in the prequel trilogy called the Street Fighter Alpha series - games that took place before Street Fighter II came to light. So, how did the differences take place? Ken was made master and more juggle-friendly. Ryu was made to be more of that heavy hitter. Ryu eventually had his focus on ...

The adaptation will never be canon to the source material, right? Street Fighter II V is an Anime series that had deviated greatly from the video games. It was a 1995 cartoon that came in way before Cammy's rather bizarre original as a modified clone of M. Bison in Street Fighter Alpha 3 - a game that came AFTER this series. Amazing was that the American Street Fighter cartoon was also aired in 1995 with Guile as the protagonist. This was one series that de-aged the main protagonists Ryu and Ken to just teenagers, Chun Li isn't even a detective (yet) and is still a struggling reporter. Other non-canon elements include a Ken and Chun Li shipping all the while the former is married to Eliza (Guile's sister-in-law) in the games. You don't see the Hadouken used UNTIL the series end.  What's the whole point of having ONE SEASON before the Hadouken was used? Granted, this isn't game canon. Notice that many of the projectile-based characters here DO NOT use their proje...

The variations between the adaptation (or remake) vs. the video games really do differ a lot, right? A good example is how Zangief who's a HERO in canon ends up becoming a villain in non-canon Street Fighter media. How he appeared as a villain varied from adaptation to adaptation. The failed Street Fighter movie which made Guile the protagonist over Ryu made him a naive villain. He had no idea that M. Bison was REALLY a bad guy. He had his funny moment when he said, "Quick! Change the channel!" when a truck was about to hit their base. He had no idea that Shadaloo was a villain organization. Ironically, Balrog who is a VILLAIN in the games was a good guy in the movies.  After the failed movie - two more series followed. One was the Street Fighter II V cartoon and the American-exclusive Street Fighter cartoon. Zangief played as a dumb muscle antagonist in both versions - something he doesn't become in the Anime movies.  Why did this happen? There hasn't been a clea...

While General Bison happens to be Street Fighter's recurring antagonist - one can't forget that Akuma is indeed the series' beloved menace of a villain. The name Akuma means demon. You may notice that the name Akuma has been used in other franchises such as Kamen Rider where the final antagonist of Kamen Rider Super-1 is known as Admiral Akuma or Grand Marshall Demon. Gouki (his Japanese name) means Grand Ogre with the characters 豪鬼 depicting it. He's true that Grand Ogre would continue to be one of the most popular villains in the franchise. The character first appeared in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a hidden character. You could use him (but he didn't have a super move back then but he had very DAMAGING moves) and would also be that bonus final boss IF you met the really ridiculous requirements. I mean, the CPU of SSFIIT is really that ridiculous so getting to fight Akuma is really a chore. He was probably created in response to the Sheng Long rumor. Sheng Lo...

I remembered playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 and one of the weirdest things that caught me off-guard is Cammy's ending. Her ending in the game has it that after you beat Super Bison - you'll discover Bison's own words that Cammy is a clone of him. I find the idea to be that Bison is actually either lying or he's telling the truth. Cammy is intended to be one of his many clone bodies (Abel and Seth are among them). I just find the plot to be so stupid since her original introduction didn't give such a plot until SFA3 . So, what's with the plot, and how does Bison have a female clone? Again, quack science. In X-Men Evolution - we had the first cartoon later ported into the comics character X-23 as a modified female clone of Wolverine. Though, it seems that Wolverine's DNA wasn't alone in the process and maybe, just maybe, DNA of a woman was also created. I was thinking also of the possibility of Cammy as a MODIFIED clone of Bison probably had other DNA mixe...

Canonically, Ryu doesn't seem to have a girlfriend or love interest. In the non-canon media, you may seldom end up having Guile without his wife and daughter (though in canon, Ken is his brother-in-law). In Street Fighter II V cartoon - Ken once had a romantic interest in Chun-Li in contrast to him being married to Eliza in the canon. Now, there's some Ryu x Chun-Li shipping out there but there's also the rather feels just wrong (that's unless Sakura turns 18) with Ryu x Sakura. I was thinking about Sakura's introduction in Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SFA2) . Her canon introduction had her having a crush on Ryu - something the latter may not be aware of. What can be seen in her ending in SFA2 is that she does have a crush on Ryu. The non-canon Pocket Fighter also seems to hint on that one in her ending. Then in SFIV series - her crush on Ryu is further developed. I'd assume that by the SFIV series - Sakura had become an adult so it's already A-OK for them to go ...