Street Fighter II V Vol-1 (1996)
Released by: Manga Entertainment
Episodes: 1-7
By Keith "JC" Hayward

Introduction

If you’re a serious martial artist and/or kick flick fan like our friends over at a ZeroGravity (they rock!!!), then this just might be the anime for you.

I first entered the Street Fighter II mythos, like many of us did at my local arcade, where I learned the honorable practice of arcade bushido. The code of honor that taught winning by knocking an opponent out of bounds was no real win. That a quarter up on the game case screen, signified who was next. And lastly, never finish off an opponent with a foot sweep.

It was the first game where you really got invested in your favorite fighter, who came to represent you and your skills as an arcade martial artist. With Street Fighter II's success came a slew of sequels and successors to the thrown of video game fighters. From the Japan Hero fan favorite King of Fighters (featuring the much loved Kamen Rider Girl herself, May Lee), to the gritty and bloody Mortal Kombat with its awesome first movie and ill fated sequel, and lastly the great looking newcomer to the fighter arena Guilty Gear X.

Story

While away training on the remote Island of Mikunai, Ryu receives a letter from his former training partner and best friend, Ken Masters. They are reunited at Ken’s estate in America and pick up where they left off, looking to best the other in martial art combat and seeking out fights to test their skills. They meet their match in an Air Force bar at the hands of the street fighter known as Guile. Having never met another that could match their prowess (much less beat them outright!), Ryu and Ken set out on a quest around the globe, seeking to become stronger and improve their martial art technique by challenging the world’s greatest champions. Their first stop: Hong Kong.

Review

This is the anime series for anime fight fans who like good martial art choreography and LOTS of it! Especially Street Fighter II fans. This is no fantasy or science fiction epic, with the world on the line and beings who can tear apart the sky, this is about kicking, flipping, punching, countering, throwing, and kicking some more! This is about exploring the backgrounds of how our most distinguished and recognizable video game fighters came to be what they are and how they all met. You get to see Ken and Ryu reunite, their first run in with such staple Street Fighter II heroes such as Guile, a 15 year old, pre-secret agent days Chun Li and even Fei Long. Rarely is a frame of animation wasted or skimped upon as the limbs start flying and it’s only in the heartbeat moments in between fight scenes that you get a moment to catch your breath. Street Fighter II V succeeds in being what it’s meant to be. Your favorite Street Fighter II All-Stars and butt-kicking by the truck load.

The animation is from 1996, but it definitely holds its own. I could see it easily airing on Toonami and not looking out of place for a nano-second among such likes and Dragonball Z and Yu Yu Hakasho. This anime manages to be on par with just about anything out there is when the fights start. I can’t say enough of how well detailed an animated each of the fight scenes are choreographed, “shot” and directed. The unblinking eye can see a startling amount of well thought out detail in each kick, block, counter, and back fist to where you might just flinch if you’re paying that close of attention. If you’re a kick flick fan like I am, you’ll definitely have your fair share of bursting into cheer as one of our heroes turns around an attack and makes his finishing move to take down the bad guy. One aspect that is a slight disappointment is that the characters don’t look like a direct enough take on their Capcom character designs. Where the anime OAV Night Warriors captured the pure essence of the Capcom look, feel and movement from character design right down to the bizarre special attacks. The animation studio behind Street Fighter II V, on the other hand, seemed to have their own style of animation that they used. It’s nothing major. Ken still looks like Ken, and you won’t miss Guile at all, but Ryu, while you can definitely tell it’s him… he’s got spikey hair and to my overly picky knowledge Ryu’s never had spikey hair like that in the video games. Fei Long too was a bit off, also sporting a kind of knife edge spike hair-do as well. So while the character designs are not dead on like we see in Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II Alpha or Night Warriors, it’s still obvious as to who’s who and I guess that’s what matters most when it comes down to it. And blow for blow, the fight animation in Street Fighter II V is a match for anything to date.

Voice acting is also very well done on both Japanese and English tracks. The English track though gets taken down a grade, from the mere fact that you don’t get to here them shout out the Street Fighter’s trademark special attacks. That’s like 50% of what’s great about Street Fighter. One is the characters and two is hearing that oh-so satisfying, “SHO RYU KEN!!!” I mean that’s what we pay to hear! Japanese track though, brings every special attack along with it. So when the time comes, and you can feel your favorite fighter gearing up for his trademark special attack you can shout it out loud along with him. Soundtrack is alright, but nothing work remarking.

The DVD comes with a whopping 7 episodes or so per volume so you definitely get your dollar’s worth of action. Episodes in this volume include:

Episode 1 - Departure. An Invitation to San Francisco
Episode 2 - Mr. AirForce Exploding. Incredible Military Combat
Episode 3 - Destination Hong Kong
Episode 4 - Escape from Kowloon Castle
Episode 5 - Fei Long, the Hot Blooded: Filming a Super Action Movie
Episode 6 - Unveiling the Secret Power: Spiritual Energy, The Incredible Power Wave
Episode 7 - The Revenge of the Ashura Gang: Attack of the Mui Thai Assasins

The overall story found in Vol. 1 centers around Ryu and Ken, trotting the globe looking for a reason to fight and that’s all you need out of a Street Fighter II anime. It’s told in classic wandering martial artist style as well. Characters travel, fight wave after wave of thugs, until they reach the boss or mini-boss or mini-bosses. By the final episode, Ryu is taught his first lesson, by an old kung fu master, on how to harness and use his Chi, in a technique the old man calls, Hadou, which we all know will lead him to master his trademark, Hadou Ken!

Final Thoughts

If you’re a die-hard Street Fighter II fan, you’ll want to check this out. You get a full fleshed out story, of the training Ryu and Ken went through to become the renowned fighters we know them to be today. The action is detailed, expertly choreographed and animated on a level, which easily stands the test of time. It never gets too “special attack” oriented, which I know pleases some of my martial art friends. The first volume just begins the journey and there’s still a slew of Street Fighter All-Stars for Ryu and Ken to face in the coming volumes. This anime’s mainly for those who know what “Quarter-Circle, Down to Forward, Punch” mean, but would also serve as good entertainment for those who like a good anime “Fight Club”.

Keith "JC" Hayward