Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

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...

I've already expressed my dislike for what's going on with Mortal Kombat 11 not especially with the Aftermath package. Maybe, I'm too stuck with the hype of the previous two reboot entries. Now, for another obvious fanservice is the arrival of the movie skin pack. It wasn't enough for Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa to return as Shang Tsung (and he also did in Mortal Kombat Legacy ). We ended up having, yes, Brigitte Wilson-Sampras, Linden Ashby (and I feel that the older Johnny Cage look was based on his current appearance), and Christopher Lambert as extra voices. So, I guess the paid DLC is JUSTIFIABLE now because of the royalties.  This also reminds me of how I actually BASHED Ronda Roussey . I felt her voicing Sonya was UGH. Fortunately, Sonya's face got FIXED into the more refined Brigitte Wilson-Sampras look. Though, who can't forget how Sonya was in Mortal Kombat (2011) with a look that was too similar to the movie actress? Yup, it was so easy for me to point out h...

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 ...