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Street Fighter II V

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For the fifth numbered installment of the Street Fighter video game series, see Street Fighter V.
Street Fighter II V
Promotional artwork showing most of the main characters.
ストリートファイターⅡ Ｖ
(Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Bui)
GenreAction, Adventure, Drama, Martial arts
Anime television series
Directed byGisaburō Sugii
StudioGroup TAC
Original networkYomiuri TV, ABS-CBN, GMA Network, TV5 Philippines
Original run 10 April 1995 – 27 November 1995
Episodes29 (List of episodes)
Manga
Street Fighter II V Retsuden
Written byYasushi Baba
Published byKodansha
MagazineComic Bom Bom
DemographicShōnen
Original run1995 – 1996
Volumes3

Street Fighter II V (Japanese: ストリートファイターⅡ V, Hepburn: Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Bui),[1] is an anime series produced by Group TAC based on the fighting game Street Fighter II. Directed by Gisaburo Sugii (who also directed the earlier Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie), the series first aired in Japan in 1995, from April 10 to November 27, on YTV. An English adaptation of the series was produced by the dubbing group Animaze and Manga Entertainment in 1996, and was released in Australia and the USA as a series of VHS tapes in 1997−1998. In 1997, ADV Films produced an English dub exclusively for the UK market, also released on VHS. The Animaze/Manga dub had a DVD release on April 29, 2003 in a four disc set in North America and was then released on DVD in Australia.

Premise

The series chronicles the adventures of Ryu and Ken, two teenage martial artists who embark on a journey to improve their skills after experiencing brutal defeat at the hands of Guile. Along the way, they become acquainted with other Street Fighter characters such as the 15-year-old tour guide Chun-Li, martial arts movie-star Fei Long, Muay Thai champion Sagat, and Indian monk Dhalsim. Eventually, they find themselves in the crosshairs of the criminal syndicate Shadowlaw, led by the enigmatic M. Bison, after defeating one of their subordinate organizations (Ashura). Among the agents of Shadowlaw include Russian bear wrestler and hired muscle Zangief, seductive British assassin Cammy (who is unaware of her employer's connection to Shadowlaw), and Interpol double agent Balrog. The Spanish nobleman Vega also appears as an antagonist, although he is not connected with Shadowlaw in this series.

In contrast to Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, which hewed very closely to the original game's storyline, Street Fighter II V takes a number of liberties with its source material. It features radically redesigned versions of most of the game's characters, whose appearances, backstories, and personalities deviated greatly from their traditional depictions. While the show was set in 1995, the present year of its original airing, the ages of the characters were altered to make most of the cast younger than they were in the games (for example, Ryu's year of birth was changed from 1964 to 1977).[2] Out of the seventeen characters featured in Super Street Fighter II Turbo (the latest game in the series at the time), only Blanka, Dee Jay, E. Honda, and T. Hawk never appear in the show. Akuma makes several cameo appearances during crowd scenes, but he is not actively involved in the story.

Characters

Ryu is the main protagonist of the show. He is 17, extremely dedicated to martial arts, and is always trying to improve his own skills. He was raised in the Japanese countryside, on the fictional island of Mikuni. His best friend is Ken Masters, with whom he has trained in the same dojo since childhood. One day, while visiting Ken at his mansion in San Francisco, the pair head downtown on Ken's motorcycle and sneak into a bar (since Ryu and Ken are both underaged), where they are attacked by several of Guile's soldiers after Ken seduces one of the women accompanying them. Although they are able to defeat the soldiers, Guile himself shows up soon afterwards and beats Ryu within an inch of his life. Enraged and humiliated, Ken tracks Guile down at his army base the next day and challenges him to a fight, hoping to even the score. Just like Ryu, however, Ken is brutally defeated.
Their encounter with Guile humbles and inspires them to go on a journey to improve their martial arts skills, in the hopes of one day challenging Guile to a rematch. During their travels, Ryu learns how to use a ki-based power called Hadō in the form of the Hadouken. Unlike his in-game counterpart, he does not wear a headband and sparring gloves throughout the series. Instead, he wears prayer beads on his left hand, and has short spiky hair. Additionally, the stern and stoic personality he exhibits in the games is replaced with a more giddy, upbeat personality; simple-minded, but always on the lookout for a good challenge, similar to Goku from Dragon Ball.
Ken is Ryu's best friend, and the only son of the extremely rich Masters family, who are said to be even wealthier than the Rockefeller's were in their day. He lives in San Francisco with his parents (a Caucasian-American father and Japanese mother) in a large mansion - it takes twenty minutes just to drive from the front yard to the main house. Unlike Ryu, Ken's personality and backstory are mostly unchanged from the original game's storyline; he is still the brash, cocky, womanizing, wealthy son of the Masters family that he was in the games, although he is much younger than his in-game counterpart (like Ryu, he is 17-years-old). Eventually, Ken learns to use the power of Hadō while being held captive by Shadowlaw. Only Ryu knows the Hadouken, while both he and Ken know the Shoryuken. Ken later upgrades the Shoryuken to the Hadou Shoryuken, and then shortens it to the Hadou Shoryu. In the English dub, Ken still calls the move the Shoryuken while Ryu calls it by its English translation: Rising Dragon Punch.
Guile is a Sergeant in the United States Air Force who is currently stationed in San Francisco. He takes pride in both the Air Force and his men, and goes out drinking with them whenever they can. He and his partner, Nash, have served together for many years in various missions and military conflicts. He is regularly found working out and lifting weights, and has won at least one boxing tournament, and probably many others which are not mentioned in the show. The martial arts style that he uses in combat is loosely based on US Military Combatives.
He first encounters Ryu and Ken at Fuji's (a bar that he and his soldiers frequent) in San Francisco, after the former had badly beaten all of his men in an open brawl. A horrified Guile admonishes Ryu and Ken for their actions and orders them to leave the bar, but Ryu refuses and attacks Guile. The Sergeant responds by brutally beating the young Ryu into a near coma. A humiliated Ken visits Guile's army base the next day and challenges him to a fight, but he is defeated as well. Guile is not seen again until the second half of the series, after Ken, Ryu, and Chun-Li are kidnapped by Shadowlaw and Guile is sent on a mission to rescue them. Although he defeats Shadowlaw agent Zangief and successfully reaches the compound where Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li are being held, he fails to find them and is instead greeted by Bison, who brutally murders his partner Nash and nearly kills him as well. Bison flees the scene and commands Chun-Li (who is now under Bison's mind control) to fight Guile, although he initially hesitates in fighting back out of fear that he might harm her. Guile eventually reunites with Ryu and Ken, who are shocked to see him, as they are about to confront Bison. Although they are never able to challenge Guile to a rematch, the Sergeant concedes that he had greatly underestimated their abilities when they first met, since they were able to defeat Bison (despite his terrifying powers) whereas he could not.
Chun-Li is 15-years-old and first appears as a tour guide hired by Ken and Ryu upon their arrival in Hong Kong. It is soon revealed that she is also the daughter of Dorai, the top inspector for the Hong Kong police. Her father trains her in the art of kung fu, both as self-defense and as part of her rearing. Like Ken, Chun-Li comes from an extremely wealthy, privileged background, although she is much friendlier and more humble than Ken. She accompanies the pair throughout most of their journeys across Asia and Europe, but rarely engages in combat unless personally attacked or threatened. Eventually, Ken becomes smitten with her to the point where he takes her on a shopping spree and buys her an expensive ring and clothes from many fashion houses such as Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, and jewelry from Tiffany's, although it is never revealed if she reciprocates his feelings. Chun-Li is not seen in her blue mini-qipao and white boots until the final episodes, where she is captive at Bison's base. Changes to this outfit also include the absence of her hair-bun covers, as well as her pantyhose being replaced with kneepads.
Chun-Li's father, who was unnamed in the original games. He is the Vice Squad Captain for the Hong Kong Police Department, and is routinely engaged in drug busts, sting operations, and various other police activities. His residence also functions as a temple and training ground where he teaches his daughter and several other students, including Fei Long. Following the successful bust of a large cocaine-smuggling operation and the subsequent arrest of the Ashura kingpin behind it, Inspector Dorai is called to Barcelona to attend an Interpol conference concerning the investigation of the mysterious organization called "Shadowlaw". He is appointed to lead the investigation, but is nearly killed by Cammy on the orders of a Shadowlaw infiltrator (later revealed to be Balrog). His survival was kept secret by the Chief of Interpol until the person who ordered the hit could be identified. Unlike his in-game counterpart, Dorai survives Shadowlaw's attack and is never killed throughout the series.
One of Dorai's best students, Fei Long is now an up-and-coming martial arts movie star whose insistence on "making the fight real" rapidly becomes detrimental to production, due mainly to damaged props and public property as well as injuries to the stunt doubles. Ken Masters briefly volunteers to be his opponent in a fight scene while touring Hong Kong with Ryu and Chun-Li, but the destruction caused by the fight forced the director to halt the filming and cut the scene completely. Later, upon learning of his master's supposed "death", he becomes distraught with grief and seeks to avenge him. While visiting the hospital where Dorai is staying, the Chief of Interpol informs Fei Long of the charade. Later still, Fei Long identifies Balrog as the Shadowlaw operative who ordered the hit on Dorai, with the assistance of Cammy (after a brief fight with her in Dorai's hospital quarters).
Sagat was the "King of Muay Thai", which is infamous as one of the most vicious forms of martial arts in the world. When he fought professionally, he was the champion of Thailand and was known simply as "Champ", but after refusing to participate in a match for the Ashura syndicate, he was framed for selling drugs and was both imprisoned and disgraced. Later, the Ashura syndicate's vendetta against Dorai, Ken, and Ryu was carried out by one of their men by planting heroin in Ryu's luggage at the airport in Bangkok, leading to Ryu's imprisonment in the same facility as Sagat. The two of them gained each other's respect and were able to learn more about the Ashura from their experiences. After the Ashura kingpin was arrested, evidence of Sagat's innocence was discovered by the Thai police and he was released from prison. In contrast to his video game counterpart, Sagat does not work for Shadowlaw, still has both of his eyes, and lacks a chest scar. Thus, his rivalry with Ryu is portrayed as more of a friendly one in the show, and is not based on any prior resentment against him.
Dhalsim is a monk who lives in a remote village in India. He is a practitioner of yoga who possesses many psychic abilities and is able to see the future, to the point where he was able to predict the eventual arrival of Ryu and Ken before either of them were even born. Sagat had earlier instructed Ryu to seek Dhalsim for advice about the Ways of Hadou. Sagat had been turned down years before when he sought Dhalsim's wisdom, but had figured that Ryu might be found more worthy. Ryu and Ken are initially turned down as well, with Dhalsim describing them both as "beasts", although the monk changes his mind after seeing them overcome the challenges within the village temple. However, he was unsuccessful in training Ryu to use the Hadouken, which was inadvertently triggered in Ryu's body during a lesson.
Vega's full name in the show is Vega Fabio La Cerda (or Balrog Fabio La Cerda in the Japanese version), even though his full name is never revealed in any other media. He is a popular, aristocratic 18-year-old bullfighter who resides in a large mansion in Barcelona, where he moonlights as a cage fighter for rich socialites. He is noted for his sadistic, bloodthirsty (he is literally shown drinking his own blood, and the blood of his opponents, on several occasions throughout the show), cold-hearted, ruthless personality. Although he is not as beauty-obsessed as his in-game counterpart, he is still highly vain, and will lash out in a violent rage at anyone who damages his face. When cage fighting, he wears an expressionless mask (presumably to protect his face from scarring) and wields a three-pronged claw gauntlet on his left hand, allowing him to pierce the flesh of almost any opponent. In combat, he is known for his considerable speed, strength, and acrobatic prowess.
During a bullfight attended by Ken, Ryu, and Chun-Li, Vega develops an obsession for Chun-Li, and plots to kill Ryu and Ken, whom he sees as rivals for her affections. Chun-Li is initially attracted to Vega, but soon becomes terrified of him because of his cold-hearted demeanor and sadistic tendencies. He breaks into her hotel the following night and uses a strange "love potion" drug to induce a trance in her. While in this trance, she watches Vega and Ken fight each other in a steel cage at a secretive ball they were invited to attend at Vega's mansion. Although Ken eventually defeated Vega by dragon punching him into the chandelier above, Ken nearly dies from the injuries inflicted on him during the battle. Vega's fate is not clearly known, and was last seen being carried out of the steel cage on a stretcher, along with the gravely injured Ken, after having hung from the chandelier unconscious and then diving downward in a final attack. Weeks later, as the mansion is being investigated by Guile and Nash, it is completely abandoned, indicating that Vega is either still hospitalized or has long since fled. Unlike his in-game counterpart, Vega has no affiliation with Shadowlaw or M. Bison.
Balrog is an executive officer at Interpol, but unbeknownst to his colleagues and superiors, he works for Shadowlaw as an informant. After an Interpol conference in which Inspector Dorai is appointed to head the investigation into Shadowlaw, Balrog hires Cammy and orders her to assassinate him, telling her that Interpol secretly ordered the hit and that Dorai is actually a double agent who replaces every drug cartel he shuts down with a new one, with himself as its leader. Although the assassination attempt initially appears to be successful, Dorai ultimately survives the attack. Furthermore, suspicions are raised when it is suggested that only a senior Interpol officer would have been aware of his investigations into Shadowlaw. When it is revealed to Interpol that Dorai is still alive, Balrog orders Cammy to finish the job. She visits Dorai in his hospital room, where she is attacked by an enraged Fei Long and eventually captured. Ultimately, Balrog's secret is discovered by Fei Long (with the help of Cammy) after his cover story's inconsistencies were compared. Before being placed under arrest, Cammy took revenge against Balrog for giving her fraudulent reasons for the assassination. Unlike his in-game portrayal, Balrog is depicted as highly intelligent, crafty, deceptive, and even cowardly, as opposed to the thuggish, greedy, and unintelligent Shadowlaw enforcer he was in the games. Despite retaining his large build and intimidating stature, Balrog does not participate in any fights (and even begins to sweat nervously as he is about to be attacked by Fei Long and Cammy) and only shows up in his boxing gear in the ending credits of the second season.
Cammy White is a former agent of MI6 who now makes her living as a mercenary assassin. Being a devout Roman Catholic, she always prays for forgiveness before and after each hit. She takes pride in her work, and believes that when she's hired for a job, the death of her target must come from her own hand and not as an accident or incidental occurrence, to the extent that she will even protect her target from harm until she is ready to strike. Also as a matter of pride, she refuses to act on false pretexts for employment. Cammy's costume design is drastically altered from her appearances in other media. She wears a black halter top, black leather pants, and a choker decorated with a crucifix which she uses to conceal a deadly, retractable, metal wire to assassinate her victims. Her original costume with a beret and pigtails is briefly seen during her introduction in episode 17. Despite being British, Cammy speaks with an American accent.
Guile's best friend, who has served alongside him in several combat situations. Nash is murdered by Bison during the mission to rescue Ken, Ryu, and Chun-Li from Shadowlaw. Since the show was produced while Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams was still under development, he bears no resemblance to his in-game counterpart. In the show, his appearance is similar to Jean Reno. While Nash is known as "Charlie" in the English localization of the games, Nash retains his Japanese name for the English dub of the show (except in one scene during episode 26, where Guile shouts out his name and calls him "Charlie" just before his death).
Zangief is a Russian bear wrestler who frequently works as one of Shadowlaw's strong-men. He does not seem to have any particular desire or inclination to injure or kill anyone, although he's not above using his strength in full should his orders require him to do so. He can be seen wearing a loincloth-like shirt, whereas in the games he appears topless. He also works for Shadowlaw, despite the fact that he is unaffiliated with them in the games.
Very little is known about M. Bison, except that he is the enigmatic head of Shadowlaw. In contrast to Ken and Ryu's Hadou (which is based in ki), Bison's powers are based in his rage and hatred, which are referred to as "Psycho Power". Usage of "Psycho Power" usually causes him to lose his ability to reason, and in one instance nearly strangles Chun-Li to death while enraged only to regret his actions for a moment when he resumes his previous cognitive state, which is the only scene in which he ever shows a capacity for human emotion. His only known goal is world domination, and most of his activities are financed through a variety of underground operations, such as the Ashura syndicate. For all of Bison's power and ambition, it is suggested that much of his work may be the result of semi-telepathic influence originating from a silver idol in the form of an eagle's head, which is shown on at least two occasions to "communicate" with him. Unlike most other characters in the show, Bison's personality, appearance, and backstory do not deviate much from his in-game portrayals. The only notable difference is that his outfit is now blue, whereas in the games, it is red. Also, Bison has a variety of bases throughout the world, and the final battle against him takes place in Barcelona, whereas in the games, his only base is in Thailand.

Episodes

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# English dub title (top)
Japanese title (bottom)		 Original air date

Themes

Japanese

  • Opening Themes
  1. "Kaze Fuiteru" by Yuki Kuroda (eps 1-19)
  2. "Ima, ashita no tame ni" by Shuji Honda (eps 20-29)
  • Ending Themes
  1. "Cry" by Yuki Kuroda (eps 1-19)
  2. "Lonely Baby" by Shuji Honda (eps. 20-29)

The American and Australian release of the Manga/Animaze English dub uses an untitled instrumental theme music by Mike Egan composed specifically for the dub. The ADV Films version kept the original Japanese intro and outro themes.

Notes

  1. ^ Pronounced "Street Fighter Two Vee".
  2. ^ Street Fighter II V: Original Soundtrack (Media notes). TOCT-9195.
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