#with the way the street fighter series is going it has to end with ryu and ken admitting they're gay for each other

[silenthill2ps2]

who remembers the street fighter 2 anime movie where ken and eliza are driving and ken remembers training with ryu in a segment with an actual gay romantic love song playing over it and he nearly crashes the car thinking about him. and then the same song plays when ryu and ken are fighting m bison

[jcmarchi]

Street Fighter 6 Preview - Director Takayuki Nakayama Talks Akuma's Arrival - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/street-fighter-6-preview-director-takayuki-nakayama-talks-akumas-arrival-game-informer/

Street Fighter 6 Preview - Director Takayuki Nakayama Talks Akuma's Arrival - Game Informer

Street Fighter 6 is poised to wrap up its Year 1 character offerings with one of the franchise’s most iconic fighters. Akuma brings his Satsui no Hado mastery to the renowned title this week. Introduced in 1994’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Akuma represents the most classic post-launch character added to Street Fighter 6 during its first year of post-launch content, following Rashid (Street Fighter V), A.K.I. (Street Fighter 6), and Ed (Street Fighter IV/V).

In preparation for Akuma’s arrival, we interviewed Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama about bringing the Great Demon to the game. You can see our full interview below, ahead of Akuma’s release on May 22.

The introduction of Akuma has traditionally been a tricky thing for the Street Fighter series, as he is often not super balanced. Can you talk about the challenges of balancing Akuma and how you worked to address those challenges within Street Fighter 6? Akuma is a powerful character with a lot of moves in his arsenal, with many different approaches to try against his opponent. At the same time, players will need to be skilled with him in order to achieve consistent results. Similar to past iterations, we have decided to balance him by giving him many powerful techniques, while setting his vitality on the lower end.

Many of the additions in Year 1 have been newer characters to the series. What does having a character like Akuma, who dates back to the Street Fighter II series, do to round out the SF6 roster? New characters, and characters that have appeared in recent titles, are more difficult for people to become familiar with. The inclusion of an iconic character like Akuma helps bring cohesiveness to the lineup. We want Street Fighter 6 to be accessible to everyone, from players who have been playing for a long time to those who have only played the recent titles and those who are new to the series.

Given Akuma’s extreme in-universe power, are there ever any struggles with fitting him into the story in believable ways? Like Ryu, he is a bit of an enigma, but we thought this would be a good opportunity for people to get to know his feelings and thoughts, especially through World Tour. I didn’t find it too difficult to incorporate him into the story.

Back in February, you told me a fun anecdote about Ed’s importance to the development of Street Fighter 6. Does Akuma hold any special places in the hearts of developers besides being a very popular and long-running character? Yes, we consider him to be a special character. He was the first hidden character to appear in the Street Fighter II series, and his techniques and settings were shrouded in mystery. We believe that his appearance will make the game more complete.

When designing an updated look for Akuma, how do you go about ensuring longtime fans will enjoy his visual aesthetic while still showcasing the visual evolution you hope to portray? In Street Fighter III, the previous title in the chronological order of the series, his characteristic red hair had some white in it. This was a great way to express that even a character like Akuma is aging and has reached a higher level of mastery. In addition, the illustration of Akuma selling fruit to children, which was depicted in the Street Fighter Alpha series, shined a light on the unexpected aspect of his life. As we pondered how Akuma grew older and more powerful, and followed his life’s path, it led us to a more Ashura or Buddhist statue-like design. Our intention was to design him to be a fighter with the intimidating presence of a beast while transcending human existence.

Speaking of evolution from game to game, what differences should players expect from how Akuma plays in Street Fighter 6? Most of the techniques used in past titles have been implemented. An aggressive fighting style suits him very well, so take advantage of your opponent’s openings and defeat them. The match should conclude quickly.

With Akuma serving as the final character from the Year 1 pass, how has the process gone for selecting the characters for Year 2? I know you likely can’t go into specifics, but did the team identify any holes in the current roster that needed to be addressed or filled with the next batch of playable characters? Of course, I can’t make any specific comments yet, but I think you will find there to be some unexpected characters. Sorry, but the method of selection is also a secret (no fortune-telling or divination involved). We hope you’re looking forward to it.

Street Fighter 6 arrived on June 2, 2023, meaning its one-year anniversary is right around the corner. We don’t know when we’ll learn about what Capcom has in store for the game’s second year, but with the anniversary and Summer Games Fest right around the corner, we might learn about the next batch of characters coming soon. In the meantime, Akuma joins the Street Fighter 6 roster as the final Year 1 character on May 22. 

For more on Street Fighter 6, read our review here.

[alexis-dot-com]

Template nicked from someone else who didn’t give credit to OP

Quick reasons for each pick: Persona 3 is the perfect mix of JRPG, visual novel, hope and despair. It's my favourite game in a fantastic series. The story, characters, music and gameplay are all top-notch. You gotta play this game. Yakuza 0 is probably my favourite game in the series from a story stand-point. There's drama, intrigue highs and lows. One of the best stories in gaming. Muramasa The Demon Blade's art is just gorgeous. All hand painted with some vibrant colours that bring the Edo period of Japan to life. Atlus has a killer music team. Everything they touch is gold. Their soundtracks for the SMT series, Persona, Catherine, are all incredible. From jazz, to rock, rap to pop, it's all amazing. Castlevania is a difficult series at the best of times, but the third game on the NES is rough. The platforming, enemy placement, and stiff controls make for a frustrating mix. Definitely worth a play, though. The Jackbox games are all fantastic ways to spend an evening with friends. Whiplash, Drawful, Tee KO are personal highlights. Resident Evil 6 wasn't too well received by many, but I loved every second of it. Main issues people had with it were the focus on action over horror, and the over-use of Quick-TIme-Events, but it's a big, dumb action game that's a ton of fun to play. I don't have the energy to rant about Fortnite. It's just so mediocre. The World Ends With You is easily one of the best DS games. The story, music, gameplay are all fantastic. Absolutely underrated, and I can't wait for the sequel. Mortal Kombat is just okay. The amount of praised lumped on it is just not justified. Warner Bros. spent so much money on the latest entry and it does not show. The animations are stiff, which leads to limp feeling attacks. I highly recommend a series by SugarPunchDesignWorks on Youtube that go in depth on all the issues surrounding the bad animation in that series. The Last of Us is my pick for Best Voice acting for this one scene alone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Csw8G6yruE And while Resident Evil 1 has some absolute stinkers looking back, It's amazing to see (or hear) just how far acting in gaming has come. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbNvS1LYD8 Zagreus from Hades is such a great protagonist. The way he speaks to people is so chummy, calling everyone "mate". His voice lines also act as tutorials for the game, and with thousands of unique lines of dialogue, you really get to know his personality over the hours. Juri Han is a bastard but she's my bastard. She's one of the villains from Super Street Fighter IV, and she just chews the scenery. Her gameplay reflects her toying personality, with counters and a keepaway play style. Link is a silent protagonist so you might be wondering how he's my favourite one? His animations are top-notch. He's a complete dumb-ass, from happily eating rocks, to punching treasure chests open, he's an absolute idiot, but he's also the saviour of Hyrule. Sephiroth is similar to Juri in that he likes to toy with the heroes. He crops up everywhere through Final Fantasy VII just to mess with Cloud. He's menacing when he needs to be though, and terrifying as the story goes on. Ellie (from the Last of Us Part 2 specifically) suuucks. She went from my favourite character in the first game to the one character I couldn't stand in the sequel. She's so hell-bent on revenge that she's blind to everything else. She just makes the most idiotic decisions throughout the entire run-time. I remember playing Super Mario World at a cousin's house when I was around 4? It was a ton of fun and it really opened my eyes to a whole new medium of entertainment. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the developer of the Yakuza franchise deserve more recognition, and I'm happy to see them get it in recent years. The Yakuza series is (mostly) focused on one character, Kiryu, who was a member of the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia), but just wants a quiet life. Needless to say things don't go his way as he's roped back in with every new game. Rockstar games make highly produced games, sure, but I feel their attention to detail takes away from other aspects (like if the game's even fun to play). Red Dead Redemption's horses have balls that shrink in cold areas! But the game's an absolute chore to get through, with slow animations for everything from picking up ammunition to looting enemy bodies. I'd love to see them focus their attention to actual fun gameplay than horse nuts. The Walking Dead is depressing. The visual novels, the TV series, and the game. The latter is probably the most depressing however, as you control characters who are forced to make decisions nobody should ever have to. I've not even finished all of the series because I need to take a year-or-two break between them. There are a million horror games that could have taken the place of "creepy" but Bioshock has such a unique environment that it has to be here. The world of Rapture, being at the bottom of the ocean is terrifying because you can't exactly escape. It's oddly beautiful at times, however, with whales swimming by among the skyline, and schools of fish visible through apartment windows. Katamari Damacy is always there to liven things up though! In Katamari, you play as the Prince of All Cosmos who needs to roll up objects to make an even bigger ball to create stars for the universe. It's an odd, funny, and addictive game that never ceases to cheer me up. I don't spoil the ending to Metal Gear Solid 3, but I will say it was pretty cool to see one of the final frames of the game be used as its box-art. Kojima's Metal Gear series is too long to summarise here so I won't even try. The salute Big Boss gives at the end of the game, though was the perfect send off to a hugely enjoyable game. This is how you make a game packed with details and fun gameplay, Rockstar. If you read all of this, jesus, get a life.

[dereksmcgrath]

Nosu Koshu’s return combines the Black Mercy from Superman with a Dragon Quest isekai plot that doesn’t really deliver much in the way of innovative gags and, in terms of plot, only perpetuates vague hints at larger schemes by Uneras. But maybe Ren’s sister Rin is going to get to be more relevant, so that’s good.

“Nosu Koshu of Illusions,” Magu-chan: God of Destruction, Chapter 56

By Kei Kamiki, translation by Christine Dashiell, lettering by Erika Terriquez

Available from Viz

Spoiler Warning for the Dragon Quest animated film.

Nosu Koshu, the dream god, is like the Black Mercy from Superman mythos. First appearing in the comic “For the Man Who Has Everything” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, then adapted for Justice League Unlimited and Supergirl, it is an alien being that lets you dream of your most ardent desires–but usually with some catch, not just that, to remove the Mercy from yourself is to lose that perfect dream, but because even within that dream, like any utopia, there is always some dark side behind it. When Nosu Koshu popped up first in Magu-chan, she gave Ruru the dream of being reunited with her dead father, at the cost of being with Magu and living a healthier life of coping with loss and finding new opportunities despite that loss.

Nosu Koshu gave Magu-chan the best arc it has had up to this point–so bringing her back now for a parody of Dragon Quest and isekai storylines is tiresome. Hell, I hated that Dragon Quest animated film for its twist at the end regarding isekai stuff, so unfortunately that example tainted my appreciation for where this chapter was going.

I’m not being entirely fair to this chapter: there were details I liked. I admit some of those details were gags that I should have seen coming: Magu being reduced to a Dragon Quest Slime monster, or Uneras being shown as the final boss (which, as I’ll talk about in a moment, is potential foreshadowing to her being the Big Bad all along for this series). And I laugh heartedly when Ruru said they’ll just skip the maze level and thanks Muscar for the warning; as repetitive as their dynamic is, I do like the groove the series has set, Muscar struggling to be fearsome and intimidating and Ruru, not out of simpleness but kindheartedness, looking on the bright side and taking Muscar’s remarks as helpful rather than intimidating.

But isekai storylines have been done to death. “Magic technology goes out of wack” like Uneras putting Izuma to sleep, then having magic eyemasks to put the others into Izuma’s dream, are plot details I expect from some of the worst manga that repeatedly persist with that trope. If I want the mad scientist who keeps making magic-like objects that cause wacky hijinks, I’d get back to writing Mei Hatsume fanfiction, not sitting through G-rated To Love-Ru.

I’m trying to judge the series by its own previous examples: if you’re going to invoke a certain type of video game, even if it is an RPG, I am stuck comparing how this same series handled the fighting game tropes, offering a funny version of Smash Bros while also having more clever gags that invoke the invitation envelope from that franchise as well as even designing a bulkier headband-wearing Magu to look like Ryu from Street Fighter.

But even still, I think how another series would handle this kind of plotline about Dragon Quest-style RPGs and isekai plotlines–because I’ve seen Gintama do it, not only to parody the same content but to do the exact same plot, that being to get into someone’s body (more specifically for Magu-chan, someone’s mind) to help them through a health-related problem. And when there are so many isekai stories out there, it is ripe for parody–and there have been enough of such parodies in other series, or even isekai that are parodying their own genre and undermining their own narrative conventions.

The gags in this chapter also felt less impressive than those in previous chapters. The problem the series has had since depowering Muscar has been Uneras, and I hate saying that when she is, for better or worse, a character who resonates for manga and anime fans like us, someone portrayed as ostensibly a Western fan whose fixation on the tropes of Japanese comics and animation shows an outsider’s perspective that just gets details wrong and invokes cringe. Maybe it is naive for me to think this is all innocent: as a fan in the United States, who is going to misread cultural aspects of works that are created in cultural contexts outside of where I am, I really try to be aware and not make claims I cannot support.

So, maybe Uneras is a warning for people who think they are being reasonable and having good intentions but whose misreadings are doing actual harm. It’s not that difficult a way to measure her, given her other problematic behavior: her reaction in this chapter of thinking “hawt” upon seeing Izuma oppose her, after the series has already presented Uneras as a pseudo-maternal figure to Izuma, is all kinds of Oedipal squick that, no, ew, stop, please.

When you keep making Uneras’s behavior the instigation for the plot–creating the problems for the characters to solve–her role as the trouble-maker, as the troll, lacks the same complexities we saw earlier. When she first appeared, her antics inadvertently caused problems: if she had told Ruru that the cookies she ate would make her too powerful, then Ruru would not have accidentally blasted Izuma and Magu. In her subsequent appearances, she was carefully placed in alternative positions, sometimes purposefully trolling the characters, sometimes unintentionally causing problems that thankfully were harmless enough to be corrected by story’s end with minimal ramifications and no malice. Then she depowered Muscar, bringing the story back to square one in terms of giving him a potential redemption arc, and invoking colonialist imagery that shows her cultural ignorance is not necessarily amusing but dangerous.

If we don’t want to read something deeper behind Uneras’s behavior, within the plot of the manga itself, there is an easier understanding for why she is trolling people, tricking them, and now pulling such a dangerous Black Mercy god like Nosu Koshu into her ranks–and it’s been obvious since Uneras’s first introduction. When she premiered in unlucky Chapter 13, she made it clear that she is playing the humans and gods against each other, that she sided with the humans against her own kind to keep the gods in check. She is not the traditional notion of a hero, she is not a good-hearted cliche like Ruru: she is a puppetmaster, and that opens up more potential for what to do with her in this manga, and I tense up either because she will emerge as an antagonist in this story or because I am now attached to this idea and will feel disappointed if my prediction does not pan out that way (which, seeing as I am wanting to see every tiny cute creature as a potential villain–e.g., Nezu in My Hero Academia–may be my problem and not that of the stories’: “When you’re a hammer, and everything looks like a nail…”).

That leaves us with what the story does with Nosu Koshu. Since her introduction, she has been a passive character, fitting for a god whose ability puts people to sleep in the dream that best serves the reality they want to enter. That power gave Magu-chan the kind of storyline even the goofiest gag manga needs, one that showed how Ruru has mourned her father’s death and gave joke characters like Naputaaku a chance to rise to the occasion. But now that Nosu Koshu’s threat has been diminished, the manga is trying to figure out where to position her–and the conclusion they reach is to give Ren another god to look after. I had enjoyed how Magu-chan added more gods but made sure to give those gods their own human Pokemon trainer, so introducing Nosu Koshu but not giving her her own unique human is retreading whatever characterization we could get from Ren without developing a currently present human or a new human character we could add. It’s like when Transformers Prime introduced Smokescreen and gave him Jack as his human partner: Jack already has Arcee, and that choice diminished opportunities to give Arcee the spotlight, as her storyline faded more and more into the background while Smokescreen’s role got larger and larger. Diminishing the only woman-coded Autobot to the background didn’t help either.

But speaking of sidelining women characters, if we are going to have Nosu Koshu at the Fujisawa restaurant–and, as they do have a beach stand, it does make sense to apply this god’s talents there after Mother Fujisawa exhausted herself in an earlier chapter–pair Nosu Koshu with Ren’s sister Rin. While I have enjoyed Rin’s dynamic with Naputaaku, he is already Ren’s god partner, and Rin’s schtick has been rather stale: in the beach stand chapter, we did learn she desires to rise to the occasion to run the family business, belying her slacker demeanor. But if we’re going to move beyond the tiresome slacker schtick, having her be the partner to a literal sleepyhead like Nosu Koshu makes sense and could help both characters, contrasting how Rin’s passivity differs from Nosu Koshu’s, and showing that Rin has actual dreams she is trying to reach in her own way while Nosu Koshu has been content to force other people to literally dream without having any goal of her own. Like I just said, I tend to write ideas that I hope a story will take, then I feel disappointed when they don’t go there, and that unfairly influences my reviews. But I hope I got this one right, because after the previous chapter and now this one, it feels like Magu-chan needs an emotionally impactful chapter to give more direction to where the gags should go.

[wazafam]

In the video game movie subgenre, 2014's Street Fighter: Assassins' Fist is by far the best ever made. Video game movies are notoriously regarded with more disdain than appreciation among moviegoers and gamers alike, the latter in particular usually very reticent about getting their hopes up when one is on the way. Street Fighter itself has been right at the center of the poor reputation of video game movies with its first two cinematic outings, which makes Assassin's Fist that much more of a diamond in the rough.

Born out of the 2010 short film Street Fighter: Legacy, Assassin's Fist first debuted as a web series in May of 2014 before hitting home media as a complete movie. Written by Joey Ansah and Christian Howard and directed by Ansah, Assassin's Fist also saw Ansah portray the villainous Akuma, with Howard playing Ken Masters, and Mike Moh in the role of Ryu (replacing Jon Foo from Legacy). Assassin's Fist was subsequently followed up by the 2016 interquel Street Fighter: Resurrection, and despite grand plans for a Street Fighter: World Warrior series to fully bring the franchise to life, with Suicide Squad director David Ayer to helm the pilot and Ansah even having Scott Adkins as his first choice for Guile, a lack of studio movement led to the rights reverting to Capcom and World Warrior falling into limbo.

RELATED: Avatar: The Last Airbender's Street Fighter Cameo Explained

That's nothing short of a crying shame, given that Assassin's Fist set the stage for the planned story to grow and thrive in the complete opposite trajectory from where the reputation of video game movies currently sits. Ansah has also commented that a need to maintain creative control as showrunner on World Warrior is partly what led to a stall in movement in the series, and given how Assassin's Fist turned out in contrast to other video game movies, and past Street Fighter films in particular, he was anything but unjustified in standing his ground. Their poor reputation notwithstanding, video game movies aren't dying out, as last year's Sonic the Hedgehog, the reboot of Mortal Kombat, and the forthcoming Resident Evil reboot show. Yet despite the success of those films, Assassin's Fist stands apart for a number of reasons.

Street Fighter may be one of the longest-running and most popular video game franchises ever created, but as a cinematic property, it was damaged goods at best before 2010. As one of the first major films based on a video game, 1994's Jean-Claude Van Damme-led Street Fighter was an absurd, campy romp, though it admittedly has amassed a sizeable fan base for those very qualities. Raul Julia's ridiculously unhinged portrayal of M. Bison is as quotable today as it was when audiences first heard him proclaim Blanka to be "A beast born of my own genius!" and even that's just scratching the surface of how much scenery Julia chewed playing the dictator. Street Fighter may have been a trainwreck in adapting its namesake, but no action movie whose villain proclaims "You come here prepared to fight a madman, and instead you found a god?" will want for entertainment value.

Fifteen years later, the Street Fighter brand took another black eye with 2009's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, which had the opposite problem of being a dull, boring slog through chaotically edited fight scenes and a misguided attempt to use the dark-and-gritty approach on a property with such fantastical elements. No longer was M. Bison a Psycho Power-wielding, muscled up would-be dictator, but an Irish crime boss in a suit and tie played by Neal McDonough. Meanwhile, the titular Chun Li, played by Smallville's Kristin Kreuk, was a generic blank slate heroine who only donned her trademark ox horns and blue outfit from the games once in a fight scene that made poor use of the character's spinning bird-kick, in addition to a vast array of other problems. If nothing else, Street Fighter at least made a worldwide haul of just shy of $100 million, while The Legend of Chun Li only scraped together $12.8 million worldwide. With its first outing going down in history as The Room of video game movies and its second bombing on an epic scale, Street Fighter didn't seem to have strong prospects in movie form.

That perception changed overnight with the sudden arrival of the short film "Street Fighter: Legacy" in May 2010. In just three minutes, Legacy did what many believed to be impossible and delivered a genuinely great live-action take on Street Fighter, and the internet wasted no time in fervently asking when a feature-length expansion of the short was coming. Four years later, it finally arrived in the form of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, which had become more appreciated as an epic video game web series prior to the film's release. When it came to its cinematic track record, Street Fighter had nowhere to go but up, but Assassin's Fist was simply a great movie all-around, and the embrace it received boils down to several crucial elements it brought to the table.

Among the many problems that befell Street Fighter and The Legend of Chun Li was the effort both made to split the difference between bringing realism to their action scenes and still making use of the outlandish special moves from the games, with both failing in different ways. The special moves that made it into Street Fighter were more visual homages than the techniques themselves, with Ken's approximation of a Shoryuken and M. Bison's tech-based Psycho Crusher lacking the impact they had in the games. Legend of Chun Li brought more wire-fu into the mix while showing Chun Li developing her Kikoken under Gen's training, but the execution was consistently off, with Chun Li's Kikokens more resembling special effects thrown into a fight scene than a weapon of combat being unleashed.

When it came to Assassin's Fist, by the end of the movie, it'd be easy to believe that one could travel to Japan and actually train in Ansatsuken. Though Assassin's Fist had great action scenes, it was, first and foremost, a martial arts film, taking viewers in-depth into the fundamentals of Ansatsuken alongside Ken and Ryu and presenting the fictional martial art as matter-of-factly as actual kung fu or karate. More importantly, it made the superhuman side of their fighting skills seem realistic in a way that even many Street Fighter fans were stunned by.

Techniques like Shoryukens, Hadoukens, and Tatsumaki-sempukyakus were presented not as superpowers, but as legitimate fighting techniques based in chi (or qi). Though Street Fighter devotees were more familiar with this, it came across as more palpable since Assassin's Fist had presented the training in a fictional and highly ostentatious martial art with the same reverence as one would expect from, for example, the Kickboxer or Best of the Best movies. By the time of Ken and Ryu's climactic sparring match, in which they are permitted to wield the Hado-based techniques of Ansatsuken, viewers were invested in the time and effort the characters had poured into mastering the highest levels of their art. As impressive as it was for Assassin's Fist to portray a martial art like Ansatsuken as something that could be real, it also connected with viewers from another, equally deep angle.

RELATED: Max Cloud Is Scott Adkins Street Fighter (In A Good Way)

Being born out of a gaming franchise with a much more abstract story structure than Mortal Kombat or Tekken, Assassin's Fist was a martial arts epic to the core and one about the tragedy of aggression and excessive ambition leading practitioners astray. Not unlike the light and dark sides of the Force in Star Wars and Anakin Skywalker's fall to the latter, Assassin's Fist centered on the divergent methods of Ansatsuken training: Mu No Hado and the more aggressive Satsui No Hado. At first selling Ken and Ryu on the former as the "purer" method of developing skill in Hado techniques, Akira Koieyama's Gouken swiftly begs Ken to avoid Satsui No Hado and to keep it hidden from Ryu. Gouken has good reason to fear his young students being seduced by the power of Satsui No Hado and its quicker path to generating Hado, seeing firsthand what it did to his brother Goki thirty years earlier.

Played by Gaku Space in flashbacks, Goki's embrace of Satsui No Hado transformed an already unstable rising martial artist with a violent streak into a soulless killing machine. In contrast to Ken and Ryu's exciting and upbeat training montages, Goki's training in the wilderness after his exile from Gotetsu's dojo is more akin to a demonic kind of viral infection. Lumbering out of his cavern home (and now played by Joey Ansah), Satsui No Hado makes Goki into one of the most formidable fighters on Earth, but at the cost of his humanity, transforming him into the murderous Akuma, whose only goal is to slay all who could challenge him as the world's true master of Ansatsuken. Though Togo Igawa's Gotetsu is defeated when Akuma returns, he dies with some happiness, knowing that he trained a student who succeeded in fully mastering the power of Satsui No Hado.

As Ken and Ryu progress in the Street Fighter movie and Ryu shows signs of being overcome by Satsui No Hado, Gouken's knows his brother's inevitable challenge will come soon, leading him to send his young students on their warrior's pilgrimage and prepare to fight his brother to the death at last to spare Ryu Akuma's deadly pursuit. Alongside Ken's longstanding issues with his father and Ryu's troubled inner spirit, Assassin's Fist's story was one of what it really means to become a warrior. To Gouken, the greatest opponent one can ever face is themselves, and to Akuma, being able to defeat all challengers is the be-all and end-all of Ansatsuken. Though he imparts his vast wisdom to Ken and Ryu, Gouken could not pull his brother back from the darkness. Assassin's Fist ends as their final confrontation is about to commence with Gouken all the while hoping that Ryu can fight off the demons that his brother could not.

What finally sealed the deal on the success of Assassin's Fist was the fact that it was able to work on multiple levels for practically any demographic, and not just as one of the best fighting games. Gamers and Street Fighter fans had reason to cheer for a gaming franchise that had seemed all but impossible to do well in live-action hitting the bull's eye in Assassin's Fist. For general martial arts fans, Assassin's Fist also held worth in treating a fictional martial art with the same care as one would accord real-world fighting styles, emphasizing the training as the centerpiece of the story. Just as importantly, it connected with its audience on an emotional level, whether invested in it as a video game player, a martial arts practitioner, or simply a general viewer.

In two and a half hours, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist rescued the Street Fighter movie franchise with an excellent story and characters that resonated with viewers regardless of their experience or lack thereof with the games, and outstanding training and action sequences that felt real in a way that would've seemed impossible for a martial art involving fireballs and thirty-foot uppercuts. One can only hope that the Street Fighter: World Warrior series gets pulled off the shelf and greenlit. As a follow-up to the greatness of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist with the same creative team involved, one can only imagine how much it would bring to the world of video game adaptations by the end of season 1.

NEXT: Mortal Kombat 2021 Proves That Street Fighter Reboot Should Be Revived

  Why Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist Is The Best Video Game Movie from https://ift.tt/3eS5gnc

[nerdwithabirb]

what your ssbu main says about you (not including dlc)

01. mario: you’re either a basic bitch or really old.

02. donkey kong: you like cheap movesets like grabs because then you don’t have to put in actual effort.

03. link: you’re a basic bitch with a love of elven/fantasy type characters.

04. samus: you either really like metroid, or you just think the mech suit looks neat.

04e. dark samus: see above. possibly going through a divorce.

05. yoshi: you might eat a lot.

06. kirby: see above.

07. fox: you’re either a fox main because of his laser gun, or you’re a furry.

08. pikachu: pikachu is the only pokémon you actually recognise.

09. luigi: you were the underdog growing up. probably a younger sibling.

10. ness: from the bottom of my heart, fuck you. i will never be able to unhear “PK FIRE!!” in that FUCKING voice.

11. captain falcon: i’ve never seen a captain falcon main who was familiar with f-zero, they just thought the falcon! punch! thing is cool.

12. jigglypuff: jjiggly is broken like genuinely broken (especially in ssb4), so you must REALLY like the character.

13. peach: you are probably someone’s non-gamer gf and only picked peach because she’s cute.

13e. daisy: you’re probably at least somewhat familiar with the mario series, but you also probably think that being a daisy main makes you “quirky” somehow.

14. bowser: see entry for donkey kong. spamming grab attacks is cheap as fuck. stop it.

15. ice climbers: another game that most of the mains are completely unfamiliar with. also, having to fight two characters at once is annoying as hell. you like to watch the world suffer.

16. sheik: you probably think maining sheik makes you “mysterious” even though she’s been in the series forever and anyone familiar with legend of zelda knows she’s just zelda in disguise. however, she has decent melee attacks, so credit where credit is due i suppose.

17. zelda: you like the ~magical girl~ aesthetic but think wicca is demonic.

18. dr. mario: if you actually know dr. mario, great. if not, you probably wanted a “quirky” version of mario.

19. pichu: pichu is literally just a more asshole version of pikachu. so you either know that and use it to your advantage, or you just think pichu is cute.

20. falco: you got bored of using fox.

21. marth: you have a thing for slightly androgynous swordfighters.

21e. lucina: androgynous wasn’t doing it for you.

22. young link: you miss link’s old moveset.

23. ganondorf: your tabletop game of choice is d&d and you’re probably the dungeon master most of the time.

24. mewtwo: you think mewtwo is as close to goku as smash can ever get.

25. roy: you have a thing for redheads.

25e. chrom: you have a thing for emo kids.

26. mr. game & watch: you probably don’t know what a game & watch is and just like the huge assortment of attacks.

27. meta knight: edgelord supreme. you were probably a goth kid at one point and might still be.

28. pit: you main pit because his flight ability gives you plenty of mercy when you inevitably get knocked off the stage.

28e. dark pit: you think dark pit is somehow better because he is wearing black.

29. zero suit samus: you pause the game to masturbate to her when you’re playing alone. we all know this.

30. wario: you laugh at fart jokes a lot.

31. snake: you probably own one or more of the following: gadsden flag, something with a punisher skull, one or more guns.

32. ike: see entry for marth.

33-35. pokémon trainer: you like to think you’re unpredictable, but end up doing one of the same few things.

36. diddy kong: you’re one of the rare few who actually knows how the fuck to use diddy. please show me your ways.

37. lucas: like ness, but worse. fuck you but even more.

38. sonic: you’re a hardcore sonic fan and probably fall off the stage a lot. you might be one of the weirdos who lewd him.

39. king dedede: you’re annoying as hell and like to get in people’s way.

40. olimar/alph: you like to piss off as many people at once as you possibly can and just slowly sap away their will to live.

41. lucario: you’re either a hardcore pokémon fan, or you think the idea of a ninja fox dog looking thing is sensual.

42. r.o.b.: lol does anyone main r.o.b.? if you do, you probably have a massive retro game collection and i salute you for that.

43. toon link: you either like wind waker, or you just enjoy the cutesy aesthetic.

44. wolf: like the fox mains, but edgier. probably kind of a dick in real life.

45. villager: you were the kid who chased everyone around and perpetuated the cheese touch/cooties/etc. on the playground.

46. mega man: you are either insanely cool, or you like little boys. no in between.

47. wii fit trainer: you started to main him/her (depending on alt costume) as a joke, but it just grew on you. you’re probably a health nut.

48. rosalina and luma: you totally bought into the galaxy hair trend.

49. little mac: you like to convince people to play punchies.

50. greninja: you make up a lot of bullshit excuses to get out of things.

51-53. mii fighters: you either started using them for shits and giggles and have several miis of celebs and characters, or you’re so self-centred that you jumped on the opportunity to be in a game that wasn’t called “wii _____.”

54. palutena: you’re horny for witchy girls. that, or you started as a zelda main and then graduated, so to speak.

55. pac-man: you like minimalist interior design and probably have an oral fixation.

56. robin: you are, or were, a potterhead.

57. shulk: you probably just think his weapon is neat, admit it.

58. bowser jr.: you’re a HUGE nintendo fan, and can probably name all of the koopalings by heart. (so basically me in fourth grade, lol)

59. duck hunt: you like to fight dirty and then laugh in the face of your opponent after you use cheap tactics, both in and out of smash.

60. ryu: if you ever played street fighter, he was always your main. you’re probably a real ride or die type of person.

60e. ken: you think ryu is too mainstream.

61. cloud: you really like jrpgs.

62. corrin: again with the being horny for the same sort of character.

63. bayonetta: you either are a big tiddy goth gf, or you’re a slobby neckbeard with no hope of getting a big tiddy goth gf.

64. inkling: you probably took up painting as a hobby at least once.

65. ridley: you think dragons are awesome. sadly, ridley kinda sucks in smash.

66. simon: you’re either a deus vult sort of racist, or you have a bdsm kink.

66e. richter: you most probably have a bdsm kink and are very likely to be ex-religious. you probably still reference god in everyday speech because it’s hard to stop doing that (“oh my god,” “i swear to god,” etc.).

67. king k. rool: you laugh at “expand dong” in 2020.

68. isabelle: you enjoy cheap fighting tactics, but also the kawaii aesthetic.

69 (nice). incineroar: you’re a hardcore pokémon fan. shame that incineroar kinda sucks as a fighter.

[aion-rsa]

10 Best Fighting Game Movies

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Once upon a time, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, and John Saxon visited a crime boss’ private island to compete in a fighting tournament and it was awesome. The 1973 movie Enter the Dragon is basically the prototype for the fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. And when those fighting games became popular, they inspired their own movies that either tried to emulate Enter the Dragon or do something completely new.

The ‘90s gave us the cheesy live-action fighting game movies from Hollywood and the animated movies from Japan. There have been several live-action Mortal Kombat movies as well as a few animated ones. There have also been multiple Street Fighter movies, four attempts at Tekken, a trilogy of Fatal Fury films, and more.

Are most of them bad? Yes. But did we pick our 10 favorite fighting game movies anyway? You bet. Here are our picks:

10. ART OF FIGHTING (1993)

Eh…it’s harmless.

The Art of Fighting series is mostly defined by the twist that the first game’s final boss is the main character’s father and the second game’s final boss is a younger incarnation of the villain from Fatal Fury. Take away those aspects and you’re left with a rather lowkey storyline for a fighting game where a teenage girl is kidnapped by a mobster and is rescued by her brother and her boyfriend.

Wait, I said that weird. It’s two different people, I swear! Except in Capcom, where Dan Hibiki is literally both of them merged into one character.

In the 45-minute Art of Fighting movie about Ryo and Robert, who are like chiller and dopier versions of Ryu and Ken, we watch as the duo gets sucked into a plot about stolen diamonds, martial arts criminals, and angry police lieutenants. It doesn’t take itself seriously and it’s a fine, breezy watch.

Ryo’s incorrect hair color kind of irks me, though.

9. STREET FIGHTER ALPHA: THE ANIMATION (1999)

This movie suffers from the same problem as Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture. It features a cast of heroes from a fighting game taking on a villain created for the movie instead of the villains we actually give a shit about. But the movie does also have some brief but awesome cameos (Kim Kaphwan and Geese Howard from Fatal Fury and Dan Hibiki and Akuma from Street Fighter Alpha) to brighten up a less-than-stellar plot.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation does at least get by because the original characters play up Ryu’s whole fear about being overcome by “the Dark Hadou.” This leads to some cool animations where Evil Ryu looks like a mindless, shambling zombie but also an unstoppable fighting machine.

The movie’s main storyline is about a kid named Shun who claims that he’s Ryu’s long-lost brother. He too is a fighter cursed with an inner dark side, which is used as a red herring to suggest that Shun’s father (and presumably Ryu’s father) is actually Akuma. That ends up being bupkis and Shun is just linked to some scheme by a mad scientist or whatever.

Probably the funniest thing about this movie is the directors’ infatuation with Chun-Li’s midsection. She’s wearing her form-fitting Street Fighter Alpha costume and there are dozens upon dozens of random close-ups to her lower torso from the front and back. If this were a drinking game, it would kill you.

8. FATAL FURY 2: THE NEW BATTLE (1993)

Of the Fatal Fury movie trilogy, this one is easily the best, even if it makes all the good guys seem like a bunch of overly-serious crybabies. The basic story is that after having avenged his father’s death, Terry hits rock bottom, dusts himself off, and comes out the other end stronger. Good, good. Going Rocky III is the perfect direction for a follow-up.

The problem is that Terry comes off as a bit of a whiner and the other heroes try way too hard to vilify the movie’s main antagonist, who hasn’t actually done anything that terrible. Krauser shows up one day, challenges Terry to a fight, wins, and says, “Okay, when you get better, train and fight me again.” Krauser isn’t trying to take over the world or murder orphans or whatever. He’s just a dude with huge shoulder armor who wants a good fight.

But everyone acts like Krauser’s the absolute worst. Terry starts drinking and falls to pieces while his buddies hope to get revenge. What a bunch of jerks.

While a fun romp, the worst thing about this sequel is how they redesigned Krauser. Gone is his mustache and forehead scar for the sake of making him seem younger. Kind of a bullshit move, considering he’s supposed to be the half-brother to middle-aged Geese Howard.

7. TEKKEN: THE MOTION PICTURE (1998)

This hour-long anime is almost great but just can’t stick the landing. It runs into the same problem as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation where the game series tells a specific overall story but the movie cuts corners to tell the same story. Tekken: The Motion Picture covers the first Tekken while setting up Tekken 3 and skipping Tekken 2 completely.

It means that everything’s well and good until the confusing and rushed finale. Otherwise, the movie is a fine use of the Enter the Dragon formula. Heihachi Mishima has a special island fighting tournament and the entrants include his vengeful son, a couple of cops investigating the situation, a gigantic robot, an angry Native American girl, two feuding assassin sisters, and a bunch of awesome characters who only get about three full frames of appearances each. Really would have liked to see something from Paul, King, and Yoshimitsu, though.

Other than Kazuya being pissed at everything, the best scenes are the over-the-top ones. When Jack does crazy robot stuff, when dinosaurs show up and start eating people, and that memorable sequence where Heihachi catches a hatchet with his mouth and then shatters it with his jaw.

6. STREET FIGHTER (1994)

I know this movie is just a GI Joe script with Street Fighter names pasted over it. I know it’s a cheesefest of dopey ideas and Belgian accents. I’ve long accepted that. Thing is, the movie is still a total blast to watch. What it lacks in faithfulness to the source material, it makes up for with pure camp and ham.

The 16 characters from Super Street Fighter II are represented here, except Fei Long is replaced with the forgettable Captain Sawada. How ironic that the movie star character isn’t even in the movie!

In general, the movie features some head-scratching depictions of classic Street Fighter characters. All-American Guile is played by Jean Claude Van Damme, Charlie Nash and Blanka are the same character, Dee Jay is an evil hacker, Ryu and Ken are comedic conmen, and Dhalsim is a frumpy scientist.

It’s Raul Julia’s M. Bison who keeps this guilty pleasure afloat. He’s to Street Fighter what Frank Langella’s Skeletor was to Masters of the Universe. He gives 110% and his performance is easily the best reason to watch this movie. It’s truly a wonder to behold.

Read more

Games

The Forgotten Fighting Games of the 1990s

By Gavin Jasper

Games

King of Fighters: Ranking All the Characters

By Gavin Jasper

The movie is infamous for inspiring a fighting game based on it, but you know what nobody ever talks about? The Double Dragon movie also had a fighting game based on it made by Technos and released on the Neo Geo. And Double Dragon wasn’t even a one-on-one fighter to begin with!

Anyway, if you intend to sit back and watch Street Fighter, make sure to add in the RiffTrax commentary.

5. DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006)

Enter the Dragon meets Charlie’s Angels is a heck of a concept, but DOA: Dead or Alive is so confidently tongue-in-cheek that it succeeds as an action comedy that’s way better than it has any right to be. Part of why it works is that Dead or Alive has never had much of an overarching storyline, but is more defined by the individual characters (plus, you know, all the cheesecake). Enough of those characters appear in what’s your regular “fighting tournament on a mysterious island” setup.

The whole thing moves with such energy that it’s easy to get sucked in. It’s the opposite of the live-action Tekken movie, where even though the film features accurate versions of all the characters, everything is so drab and lifeless that you just can’t wait for it to be over. In DOA, the combatants spend their downtime playing cartoony action volleyball with Fake Dennis Rodman on commentary, while in Tekken everyone mopes about dystopian capitalism.

Other than Helena’s character being “important dead guy’s daughter,” most of the main characters are charismatic enough to keep your attention during the 3% of the movie when fights aren’t happening. It must suck for Ninja Gaiden fans that Hayabusa is depicted as a total dweeb, but he at least gets to do some cool stuff here and there.

The movie also has Kevin Nash playing a character based on Hollywood Hogan and he’s so likeable that I’m genuinely bummed that he peaces out about halfway into the movie. Luckily, the movie is entertaining enough that I didn’t even notice until after it was over. It helps that during that time, we get more of Eric Roberts, his amazing hair, and his special sunglasses that turn him into the ultimate martial arts master.

Spoiler alert, but the secret to defeating him is, get this, removing his sunglasses!

4. MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SCORPION’S REVENGE (2020)

It took a while, but Warner Bros. Animation is on fire these days. After that Batman vs. TMNT movie and Teen Titans Go vs. Teen Titans, the studio appears to be hitting more than they miss. That’s exactly the kind of team needed to put together the latest animated Mortal Kombat movie.

This is the umpteenth retelling of the first game’s story. Not only does it have to compete with the first live-action movie, but also the events of Mortal Kombat 9, which depicts the tournament in cutscene format. Fortunately, Scorpion’s Revenge has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it puts Scorpion in the forefront as the protagonist. He was barely a character in the original movie and the game just had him kill Sub-Zero and feel bad about it for the rest of the story mode. Now he feels like a character in a crossover, making a mark on the original story instead of being put in the sidelines.

We also have the wonderful stunt casting of Joel McHale as Johnny Cage. More importantly, Jennifer Carpenter plays Sonya Blade, which is such a step up from Ronda Rousey’s voice acting in Mortal Kombat 11.

This cartoon has a very hard R when it comes to violence. From the very beginning, Scorpion’s origins are gruesome and grisly. Once Jax is introduced, it doesn’t take long until we realize, “Oh, that’s how they’re dealing with THAT plot point in this continuity.” Then there’s a surprise villain death late in the movie that not only comes as a shocking development, but it’s so graphic and nasty that you can’t help but be taken aback.

Scorpion’s Revenge is a fantastic first chapter of what is hopefully a series of animated movies, but it does have its pacing issues. Scorpion being the protagonist may be a welcome change, but at times it does feel like a square peg being crammed into a round hole.

3. TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE (2011)

One of the best things about the Tekken series is the endings. While the cutscenes from the first couple games haven’t exactly aged well, these CGI epilogues have become a staple in nearly every installment. What better reward for your time and success than watching a rocking action sequence with Yoshimitsu and Bryan Fury killing each other in the jungle?

And so, to play to the series’ strengths, Bandai Entertainment released a Tekken movie that’s really just one big ending cutscene. It’s not canon, but it feels at home with the games.

Since Tekken’s main conflict is with two ruthless megalomaniacs (Heihachi and Kazuya) and a disgruntled nihilist (Jin), it’s hard to treat any of them as a real protagonist here. Instead, they go with Ling Xiaoyu, who is portrayed as the person who sees the good in Jin and wants him to see the light. She’s given a robotic BFF in Alisa Bosconovitch because Xiaoyu is kind of a tame character and needs someone with chainsaw arms and a jetpack to liven things up.

The first hour or so is good enough to keep your attention and its lightened up by a couple appearances by Tekken’s best character, Lee. But once it gets to the third act, it just becomes a completely awesome Heihachi vs. Kazuya vs. Jin fight, with Xiaoyu taking a backseat to watch all the crazy shit going on. It’s a full-on fireworks factory, as we not only see Devil forms of Kazuya and Jin but a very special final form for Heihachi that’s a true delight for Tekken fans.

2. STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE (1994)

Let it be said that for someone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, finding a faithful cartoon adaptation of a video game property was not easy. Link and Simon Belmont were unlikable sexual harassers. Mega Man was a more annoying sidekick than Scrappy Doo. Mario and Luigi teamed up with Milli Vanilli. Power Team was…a thing. When we got an animated movie based on Street Fighter II, it was mind-blowing. This was a movie where the very first scene was Ryu tearing Sagat’s chest into a bloody gash thanks to a well-animated Shoryuken.

There’s a lot going on in this movie, but at the same time, nothing is going on. By this point, there were 17 characters in the various Street Fighter II games, and outside of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Akuma cameo, it feels the need to include every single one of them. Some get minor roles, like Cammy and Dee Jay. Then there’s Zangief and Blanka, who fight each other for no reason other than for the sake of giving them something to do. Even Ryu vanishes for a huge chunk of the runtime.

Once everything funnels into the third act, this movie is great. And the earlier fight scenes are straight fire too, including the memorable Chun-Li vs. Vega brawl. Even though the movie already feels true to Street Fighter II, it’s even better when you realize that it’s all supposed to be a prequel to the game itself.

Or at least I hope so. Otherwise, all Sagat gets to do is get his ass kicked by Ryu and get chewed out by Bison.

1. MORTAL KOMBAT (1995)

The stars truly aligned for this one. Mortal Kombat Mania was at its peak, so it makes sense that this movie was a retelling of the first game’s story with added aspects from the second game, all while hyping up the arcade release of the third game. CGI was such a novelty in Hollywood in the ’90s that even if it looked primitive, it still looked cutting edge at the time. It was the perfect time to release this movie.

But Mortal Kombat isn’t perfect. Reptile is embarrassing. Scorpion and Sub-Zero being relegated to goons still stings. I still roll my eyes at the part towards the end where Sonya is suddenly the damsel in distress and Raiden flat-out verbally buries her by saying she couldn’t beat Shang Tsung in a million years. Otherwise, it’s the perfect storm of ‘90s action garbage.

There are so many over-the-top and charismatic performances here. Johnny Cage, Raiden, Shang Tsung, Kano, and even Goro are a blast to watch. All 10 characters from the original game are given something to do and, most importantly, they realize how uniquely weird the game’s story is and actually dive headfirst into it. The movie isn’t embarrassed to be a Mortal Kombat movie but handles itself well enough that we aren’t embarrassed to be watching a Mortal Kombat movie.

Even with a PG-13 rating, the movie was violent enough. Kano talked up seeing a pile of frozen guts in the wake of a Sub-Zero fight, Scorpion got his skull sliced apart with demon brain goo spewing all over the place, and Shang Tsung got impaled to death.

With the reboot being rated R, going for the gore could very well be the right route to go, but for the love of the Elder Gods, don’t forget to have FUN. All I’m saying is, if even Johnny Cage isn’t hamming it up, then what’s the point?

The post 10 Best Fighting Game Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[miximax-hell]

Happy Goku Day, everyone!!

I checked and, miraculously, I still have followers on this blog. In fact, I’ve gained some since the last time I posted, for some reason! I’m not going to question it, though. Just... bless. But, hey, long time no see! As usual!

This time, I’m going back to my roots. The first drawings I posted on this blog were meant to show my love towards original Raimon, and it’s never a bad time to remind you all that I still adore these kids. Especially now that my friend @dust-monsters-under-my-bed​ has reminded me of them. Go check her art, btw! She’s not very active on Tumblr, but you can find her art on Twitter right here: https://twitter.com/rachelmonart

Anyway, she’s watching Inazuma Eleven for the first time and she’s made me think again about how much love these kids deserve, BECAUSE THEY SURE GOT NONE FROM HINO. DAMN YOU, HINO. So, today, let’s talk about the one and only IE character whose feet are classified as mass destruction weapons, who decided to borrow power from someone who will make you all question me, my logic and my tastes: Yamhan (or, as he is known in the west, Tiencha), THE FUSION OF YAMCHA AND TENSHINHAN FROM DRAGON BALL.

Introducing ShoYamHan! More on him under the cut.

So, first of all, how have you all been? I suppose many of you, like myself, are being told to stay at home to fight this situation. I salute all of you who do your best to stay safe and not help spread anything. It’s a very necessary fight, even if it can be boring at times. Many of us have friends or relatives fighting on the frontline, though (unless you yourself are the doctor or nurse friend!), and we hopefully know that staying at home is a small price to pay.

As for me, I got a job in December and lost it last month, so... yeah. It’s not been great. Still, something I’ve been working hard on for a while should be released soon and that’s so exciting! MY NAME WILL FINALLY BE ON SOMETHING’S CREDITS AND I CAN’T WAIT FOR IT TO BE UP.

But, anyway, back to business!

Rachel suggested I talk about the reasons behind this particular miximax, and considering it makes for a perfect parallel with my first posts, where I talked about the reasons behind Max’s and Kageno’s miximaxes, I’m all up for it! But, this time, I will have to do something new: explain WHO THE HECK YAMHAN IS. So let’s start with a picture of this handsome devil.

As most of you hopefully know, this project is about miximaxing Inazuma characters with video game characters. No anime, movies or anything else. Only and exclusively video games. Dragon Ball has probably spawned all those things, but it started as a manga, so you’d be right to think it most definitely does not qualify for this project. And, indeed, Dragon Ball doesn't. What DOES qualify, however, are Dragon Ball characters exclusive, or first introduced, in a video game. And that’s exactly the case we’re dealing with here!

Growing up, I loved Dragon Ball games. Even before I watched the show properly, in fact! I would go to my friend’s house, who was a fan of the show, and we'd play the Dragon Ball Budokai games nonstop with absolutely zero regrets. Those were some great times. And once I came to know the source material, the game that blew my mind the most was Dragon Ball Budokai 2. Was it the best one? Not necessarily. Is it my favourite? Not by a long shot. Still, it was the most creative! Most games follow the story of DBZ, which, obviously, is always the same. But Budokai 2 wasn’t afraid to do new things. Its story mode resembled a tabletop game and it was more than happy to deviate from the source material in some really fun ways; most notably, with exclusive fusions.

Budokai 2 introduced us all to Yamhan, the fusion of Yamcha and Tenshinhan, two long forgotten characters in the series, as they (and especially poor Yamcha) didn’t do anything especially relevant past... well, past the original Dragon Ball. As a champion of the unloved, that blew my mind. There were other fun things in Budokai 2, but what fascinated me and stayed in my thoughts for years to come was Yamhan. It was just such a cool concept. Two underdogs who had fallen into obscurity fusing to create a much greater warrior!

Of course, Yamhan isn’t the only videogame exclusive characters in Dragon Ball. He isn’t the first, nor the last. Yamhan isn’t the strongest, nor the weakest. But I haven’t played FighterZ nor Fusions (yet), nor pretty much any game that wasn’t on PS2 or GBA. And even if I had, I doubt Android 21 or any of the HUNDREDS of combinations available in Fusions would captivate me and my imagination as much as Yamhan did back in the day. Yamhan was a fusion, which is something that has always fascinated me to begin with. I MEAN, THIS ENTIRE BLOG IS ABOUT FUSING CHARACTERS, SO I THINK IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS LMAO But he wasn’t just one among hundreds. He was this very specific, never-seen-before, cool as heck and usable fusion. Like, wow. That was wild for me. Sign me up, man.

But, you know, I try not to let that sway me too much. Of course, I wouldn’t likely pick a character I hate for a miximax, but, still, my preferences aren’t everything. And choosing Yamhan begs a question that I have already alluded to: if Yamhan isn’t the strongest game-exclusive DB character out there, then, why him? Well, the answer to that is related to the biggest problem posed by the sheer concept of miximaxing with a Dragon Ball character:

Power escalation.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Goku is, pretty much, the strongest character that has ever played the lead in any manga, and one of the strongest fictional characters ever, period. By the end of the Dragon Ball Super anime, he has EXCEEDED THE POWER OF MANY LITERAL GODS AND IS (or has been) A CANDIDATE TO BECOME ONE. You may prefer One Piece, or Naruto, or anything else, but few things reach the astronomical, reality-bending scope of Dragon Ball. Not to say DB is the best series--I’m just saying that it’s so out of control at this point (and I love it). But, of course, the stronger Goku is, the stronger the villains need to be, and Goku ends up becoming EVEN stronger than said villains. Rinse and repeat dozens of times until you can make an entire universe disappear by raising your hand.

Now, imagine applying that out-of-this-world power escalation to a context where the power balance isn’t so outrageous. For example, Inazuma Eleven.

Goku wriggling in his sleep is more powerful than Zeus, and an accidental sneeze would smash all of Ixal Fleet to smithereens. Do you see what this would do to the balance? It would ruin it completely, as anyone who miximaxed with Goku would be immediately a one-person army able to defeat ANY opponent--and if the opponent were to be EVEN GREATER than Goku, well, the rest simply wouldn’t stand a chance. Ever. Remember: the point of this project isn’t to create perfect and unbeatable players, and I’m not trying to prioritize anyone or make them noticeably stronger than anyone else just because I happen to like X more than Y. That completely ruins the tension and the fun (and my attempts to create justice in this unfair universe). The point is to come up with a balanced team full of players with strong points, but with flaws, too, that complement each other when they play together against stronger enemies.

So, if we go with Dragon Ball, and I love Dragon Ball WAY too much to not include it in this project in some way, we have to be careful and avoid overdoing it. Balance is key. And now that you know why I didn’t just choose the fusion between Beerus and Whis or something crazy like that, I’ll move on to explain what makes Yamhan a very interesting option. I SWEAR THERE ARE SOME ACTUAL REASONS.

First of all, the very concept. You know, Yamcha and Tenshinhan fused to created Yamhan, and now, Shourin is fusing with a fusion. That’s just... hecking cool. I won’t lie--my preferences towards Yamhan didn’t tip the scales towards making this happen, but my preferences towards FUSIONCEPTION totally did. XD But there’s more, thankfully.

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted a fighting game character to miximax with Shourin because it fits his theme best. I’m not big on fighting games, though, so it was quite tough. Especially because just any fighting game wouldn’t do it. Shourin is a martial artist. As I mentioned at the very beginning of this post, his feet are his weapons. His entire body is a weapon, really. If I were to suddenly miximax him with some character who wields a sword or an axe, for example, it would be a complete disservice to Shourin. Original Raimon members don’t have much going on for themselves, and I’m going to cut or ignore the ONE thing that makes one of them special? Not in a zillion years. Shourin needs to fight with his body. That, of course, cuts many characters already: pretty much the entire roster of Soul Calibur, many members of Mortal Kombat, many from games like Skullgirls (which I still want to try to represent here in the future, because @lumaga worked on it and it makes me happy just because of that), etc. For a very long time, I considered someone like Ryu, from Street Fighter, but then it hit me: I have never played Street Fighter and I don’t want to include him just because I know what a Hadouken is. It’d be... cheap. And fake. Thankfully, as I also mentioned earlier, I played LOTS of Budokai back in the day and I am an actual fan, so I don’t have to pretend to know what the heck I’m talking about. XD And, thankfully, most of the characters in DB games fight with their bare fists and legs, so they perfectly fit my needs. Yamhan is, of course, no exception.

Now comes my favourite reason to choose Yamhan and not, well, literally any other DB game-exclusive character. And that reason is style.

Remember that power escalation thing I mentioned earlier? Well, it’s epic, but it comes with a big disadvantage: power ends up becoming much more important than skill. Early Dragon Ball was very focused on fighting styles. There was an ongoing feud between the Turtle School and the Crane School, who taught different martial arts to fight in different ways, and there was a big plot involving which one was superior. It wasn’t just about who was strongest, but about who fought better. With time, that disappeared, though. Even though battles became flashier, aerial and more spectacular, they were much more indistinct. Sure, there were gimmicks like “heh, I have a tail and I will sometimes hit you with it,” or “I will try to hit your face with the palm of my hand instead of my fist for some unspecified reason,” but that isn’t... much. You just see very fast people avoiding equally as fast punches to the face. And Goku, the main character, only shows some style when he adopts a fighting pose BEFORE fighting. Once the punches start flying, it’s all a race to see who can hit the other the hardest in the gut to make them spit blood. Cool nonetheless, but still.

Ironically, though, it’s two of the least relevant characters who never really lost those styles that made them unique when they were first introduced to the series. And those are, of course, Yamcha and Tenshinhan.

Yamcha joins the Turtle School and learns techniques as classic as the Kamehameha, but he had his own style way before that, based on attacking and tearing enemies apart like a wolf would. This is best represented by his signature move, the Rougafuufuuken or Wolf Fang Fist. He never drops this style, but instead builds up on it through his training to make it even fiercer.

Tenshinhan has different things going for himself. First of all, he is a hybrid between a human being and a civilization known as the Three-Eyed People, which grants him powers such as growing extra arms from his back or dividing in 4. Not just moving so fast that it looks like there’s four of him, but ACTUALLY dividing into 4 separate bodies. In terms of skills, he was a Crane School student, but when he realised the wrong of his master’s doings, he decided to start training and developing on his own. Basically, a path that mirrors Yamcha’s, but both lead to unique fighting styles unlike anyone else’s in this universe. And, most importantly, none of them depend on appendixes that are always there, like the aforementioned tail, so they totally work for us here!

Shourin is a proper martial artist. He wouldn’t want to make himself crazy strong as much as he would like to refine his technique and learn new moves and tricks. Martial arts are about discipline, self-control, skill and protection. He would take a cool-ass combo based on a wolf’s moves over earth-shattering strength any day of the week, hence why the fact that these two have so many techniques to offer is so appealing.

Finally, and probably least, is the design idea that immediately came to my mind when I thought of a miximax between Shourin and Yamhan. Historically, I have had to work with characters like Fudou, who are usually mostly bald and they miximax with someone with hair, thus making for some very... difficult things to figure out. But the idea of miximaxing Shourin, who is mostly bald, with Yamhan, who is ALSO mostly bald, was just golden and too good to ignore. And the fact that Yamhan has three eyes GIVES ME AN EXCUSE TO ADD A THIRD CROSS-SHAPED EYE ON SHOURIN’S FOREHEAD. IF A MIXIMAX BETWEEN BALD PEOPLE WAS GOLDEN, THIS IS OUTRIGHT PLATINUM.

Shourin would've probably looked a lot less like a joke if he had had hair covering his entire head or if I had at least given him proper eyes... but that would no longer be the Shourin I love. Not to mention that it’s very likely that Shourin willingly shaves his head to begin with (even if the ponytail ain’t doing him any favours--but that’s just Inazuma logic, so let’s not look too much into it), just like Tenshinhan or Krillin do, so he would probably be happier to keep that, uh, advantage. Relative advantage, but still.

As a side note, though, we can’t forget the balance. When Yamcha and Tenshinhan fuse, they undoubtedly become the strongest human being in the DB universe, overcoming the one who is usually strongest: Krillin. A fusion is always greater than its parts individually, and Yamcha and Tenshinhan aren’t so far away from Krillin to begin with, so that’s not even a question. Regardless, they still don’t have that overwhelming and surreal strength from other characters, so we still don’t get into absolutely OP territory. Yamhan is strong enough to provide Shourin with a power that can make a real difference without completely putting him above everyone else.

Sadly, Yamhan doesn’t really have a backstory, as he’s a game-exclusive character that, honestly, was probably only there for a laugh. That means there is no deep connection between them. We can, however, make obvious connections between Shourin, an aspiring martial artist whose dream, as stated in IE2, was to study at Manyuuji (Kogure’s school) for their focus on martial arts, and is now trying to become stronger to protect what he loves, and two skilled warriors who have been training nonstop under different masters and on their own for basically their entire lives to keep becoming stronger and more skilled in order to defend what’s precious to them and, simply, to be the best version of themselves they can be. Upon seeing such dedicated warriors and artists, Shourin would undoubtedly want to learn from them and, if necessary, borrow their strength too.

Or he might just fanboy and ask for their autographs, honestly. I sure as heck want Yamcha’s. And his baseball card.

[windless-hurricane]

Pennywise and the Dancing Girl

Chapter 8: Anything and Everything

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SUMMARY: Emma has been controlled and haunted by the clown of many names for as long as she remembered. However, that begins to change once she meets Henry Bowers, the local asshole.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I’d like to apologize once again for the long time hiatus. I’ve been quite busy lately and I haven’t had time to write. However, I’m trying to finish this series as soon as possible, so I can start writing the sequel series! Also, this chapter was meant to be a lot longer, but it ended up being too long, so I decided to split it into two parts!

WARNINGS: Explicit language and mentions of death.

WORD COUNT: 3.9k

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

PENNYWISE AND THE DANCING GIRL MASTERLIST

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“Let’s get outta here.”

Within those few moments, everything I felt about him changed. I didn’t know why; but all of a sudden, I felt this urge to run away with him. To do anything and everything with him.

Maybe it was because deep down, I felt like we were running out of time. Even though I had no reason to.

It was barely the beginning of July and we had plenty of time left before school started again. However, it still didn’t stop that feeling. This feeling that something was drawing closer and closer to us and when it finally came, we wouldn’t be able to stop it. Maybe it was my paranoia, my bad luck; but no matter what reason I told myself, I always knew that the true reason was because of Gray.

With him around, I could never be happy. I was even lucky to get this far, but now I knew. He was angry and he wouldn’t let me remain this way for much longer. He was ready to end it all. So, the only thing I could do now was take this opportunity with Henry and not let it waste away. I had to. I had to take his hand.

So, I did and I left him with little time to react as I pulled him out the library.

“Emma,” he called out. “Where are we going?” And I stopped. That was a good question. Where were we going? There were not many places to go to in Derry. It was a small town and we could literally scope out the entirety of it in a day. There was the arcade, the park, the theater, one of the dozen restaurants that we had, and the quarry. We had gone to all of them before, but this would be different. Now, it would just be me and him - sharing and experiencing it together. I did say that I wanted to experience anything and everything with him…didn’t I?

So, I simply turned to him and blatantly said, “Everywhere.” I searched his face for any sign of confirmation, but his eyes wouldn’t meet mine. They just focused on his shoes and I didn’t realize why until I felt the clamminess of his hand.

He was nervous, shy, and the closer I looked, I saw that his cheeks were flushed with color. It was then that I realized that I did this to him. I made him feel this way and it wasn’t until his eyes finally met mine that I also realized, he did the same to me.

We had touched plenty of times before, but never like this. At least not often as this. We had only done this two other times. The first time being the day he came to find me at the park after Patrick’s death. We had been standing close to one another, to the point where I felt his breath hitting my cheek and his nose barely grazing my forehead. He had been holding my hand in his as he gently traced the outline of my rug burn. I remember how my cheeks burned and my heart raced as he did so. And the second being just a bit ago in the library, when he ran his fingers down the scars of my neck. My breath had halted and I actually missed his touch when he pulled away. So, the real question was… Why did I feel this way? Why?

There was only one possible answer; but for some reason, it scared me too much to admit it. It would be too hard to. So, I just pulled my hand away from his and pushed the thought into the back of my mind, choosing to ignore it for now.

“How does that sound,” I asked calmly, and I waited until I got it what I was looking for - a small smirk playing at his lips.

“Where do you wanna go first?”And I couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto my own lips.

__________________________________________

We both decided to head to the arcade first, already making our way there. We were awfully quiet and I figured it was because we still hadn’t completely made up yet. I know he did admitted to wanting to become a better person, but he also didn’t apologize for being a dick the night of the party… Then again, I also didn’t apologize for punching him in the face. It was now or never, I thought to myself.

I glanced over at him and he looked surprisingly calm. It was very different in comparison to the usual bitch face he wore, and I quickly found myself liking this look a lot more than the other.

“Like what you see,” he questioned bluntly and I immediately turned away, trying to hide my embarrassment.

“No,” I answered. “Why would I?” And he didn’t seem convinced. Hell, I wasn’t even convinced. I knew that was a flat-out lie. Henry was always pretty to look at.

“Oh, cause you weren’t checking me out just right,” he mentioned, raising a brow.

“It’s not that. I just… I just wanted to say sorry for…well, punching you in the face I guess.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Say you’re sorry. I deserved it.”

I looked at him in disbelief as he said that. Did he really just say that he deserved it? The Henry I knew would have never allowed anyone to do that to him, even if he knew he was being a dick. He never liked getting hit, even if it was done jokingly. That’s why it surprised me so much.

“Well, I might have overreacted,” I added.

“Emma.”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve never felt bad about anything you’ve done before, so don’t now, okay? I deserved it and you knew I did, that’s why you did it. It’s nothing you should be saying sorry for. Got it?”

I gazed at him for a few moments before nodding, “Yeah.” There was a short pause of silence before he spoke up again.

“That was a pretty hard punch though,” he noted with a slight smirk. “Were you trying to knock me out?”

“No,” I giggled.

“You knocked me straight on my ass.”

“Well, I can do it again. So, don’t test me.”

“You wanna bet?” And at that, the both of us stopped in our tracks and gazed into each other’s eyes.

I thought he was just joking at first, but then I saw the cockiness of his smirk and knew that he was being dead serious. It amused me to say the least.

“And what exactly are we gonna bet,” I asked and he seemed to ponder for a bit before answering.

“Well, you said you wanted to do everything, right? That includes going to the movies then. Loser has to get all the snacks for when we go.”

I hummed softy, “Okay. So, all I have to do is knock you on your ass again to win?”

“Yeah…but in street fighter.” And my face immediately broke into a smile.

“Ohhh, I see what you’re doing,” I cooed. “It’s because you know that I suck at street fighter.”

“It’s not the only thing you suck at,” he teased. “But yeah, it is. So, is it a bet or not?” I bit my lip softly before nodding.

“Alright, Bowers. You’re on.”

__________________________________________

“Okay, you should be Ken,” I told him, gesturing to the screen, but he only gave me a look of disbelief.

“Why,” he questioned and I shrugged.

“Well, you kinda look like him. You both have blonde hair and blue eyes. You both wear red all the time and…you both have muscles. Yours aren’t as big, of course, but they’re still pretty nice.”

“You think my muscles are nice,” he smirked and I immediately froze. Did I really say that? Why the fuck would I say that? That’s not something he should know. The cocky bastard would never let me live that down. I had to think of an excuse quick.

“What? No,” I scoffed. “I just meant that other people might think they’re nice. Not me.”

“Uh huh,” he breathed, leaning in closer to me. “You know if I didn’t know any better, Emma, I’d say that you liked me.” His voice was low and smooth, and he was so impossibly close that could I feel his breath. It was enough to send a shiver down my spine, but I couldn’t let it get to me. So, I simply pushed him away and scoffed,

“Don’t flatter yourself. I much rather like Mr. Keene than you.“ He chuckled softly.

“Sure you would,” he remarked, now leaning over the dash of the machine and putting his token in. “I’ll be Ken.” I stared at him for a few moments, before leaning down beside him and pushing my own token into its slot. He glanced over at me and I could tell from the corner of my eye that he was started to stare. So, curiously, I looked back at him. To be honest, I half expected him to look away, but he didn’t. He just held my gaze, before dropping his eyes over the rest of my face and I let him. It wasn’t much longer till his eyes met mine again and he spoke up,

“Two out of three, okay?”

“Okay,” I smirked and his lips mirrored mine in seconds.

“Ready to lose?”

“Are you?” And we both turned back to the screen once we heard the game announcer yell ”Round One!”

I quickly placed my fingers over the buttons of the machine and wrapped my other hand around the joystick, waiting for the announcer to yell again. I have to win, I told myself. I know I suck, but I can’t suck now. Not against Henry. I said I would knock him on his ass, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to disappoint him now. Wait, what?

“Fight!” My eyes shot open and I rapidly began to press the buttons, hearing Henry do the same. My Ryu was able to punch his Ken a few times before he overwhelmed me, blocking every one of my punches and punching me whenever I left an opening. He continued to do this until my health bar was nearly empty and I was only able to get one more punch in until he completely destroyed me.

“Shit,” I groaned. What was I thinking? I’ve never won against him before, so what made me think I could do it now? It was only one loss, but it was enough to remind me that I was terrible at Street Fighter. I should just give him my wallet right now.

I sighed softly and glanced over at him. It looked like he was having the time of his fucking life. All cocky with that damn smirk. What I wouldn’t give to wipe it off his damn face? And then, it hit me. I once beat Richie Tozier and he was practically the king of this game and almost everyone knew it. Yet, I beat him. I did have Eddie to cheer me on; but this time, I had to do it for myself. This time my motivation was to wipe that damned smirk off Henry’s face and beat him at his own game.

“There’s still two rounds left, Bowers. Don’t get ahead of yourself just yet,” I warned, but he only laughed it off.

“There’s only two more rounds left, if you can beat me in the next one,” he informed and while he wasn’t wrong, I didn’t plan on losing again.

“I’ll beat you.”

“You’ll beat me, huh?”

“Shut the fuck up.” And he laughed again, getting back in position beside me. He was closer than before, his arm and hip pressing against mine, but this time I didn’t care. All I cared about was winning these next two rounds and this damn bet.

“Round two!” I took a deep breath and stared intently at the screen. Focus, Emma. Focus.

“Fight!” This time, instead of rapidly bashing my buttons, I waited for him to attack first. I decided that my best bet was to use the same strategy that I used to beat Richie, so that’s exactly what I did. I kept blocking his punches until I saw an opening and once I did, I punched him as many times as he would allow. Then when he finally went to block, I jumped over him and punched him in the back numerous times. I kept alternating between these three techniques until I finally won.

Feeling a sense of achievement overwhelm me, I cheered a bit too loudly as he simply groaned out in frustration. I thought he would have stopped me to be honest, but he didn’t. He actually waited before asking-

“You done?” He sounded solemn and serious, but it didn’t quite reach his face. It was like he was pretending to be annoyed, but his eyes and lips just wouldn’t cooperate.

It almost seemed like he wanted to smile, but didn’t. He just was holding it back. Then, his eyes were filled with something I’ve never seen before. I couldn’t tell what it was at first, but the deeper I looked, the more I thought I saw…adoration?

I gulped softly at the thought before answering him,

“Nope. Cause I know I’m going to win the next round too.” And I did. It was shocking as hell, but I was damn proud. So much so that I cheered again. Even if it was annoying to the other kids there. At least Henry didn’t find it annoying. __________________________________________

“Why are you grabbing so much shit,” he complained.

“You lost the bet, remember? How many times do I have to remind you,” I remarked smugly before placing another candy bar in his arms.

“Yeah, I remember, but I also remember you sucking too.”

“Yeah, I know. Good thing it wasn’t the same as you remembered,” I chuckled as I spotted a basket beside us, picking it up.

“Don’t go feeling all smug now just because you won one game of Street Fighter.”

“I think it’s a bit too late for that,” I smirked, showing him the basket. “After all, I consider beating you quite the accomplishment. Especially since I get a bunch of free snacks with it.”

He scoffed softly as he placed the snacks into the basket, a small smile plastered on his lips.

“It doesn’t take a lot to impress you, huh?”

“No, I guess not,” I shrugged and he took the basket from me.

“That’s alright,” he confessed. “That’s one of the reasons why I like you anyway.” I gazed up at him with wide eyes, but he simply shot me a smirk before walking away completely. However, that didn’t stop my eyes from following him.

Did he actually mean that or…was he just joking? Either way, I couldn’t help the rate that my heart was beating at or the warmth that was currently flooding my chest.  

This felt…unreal. Everything about this felt unreal. How could I be here? How could I be with Henry? How could I be happy? How could I live? Could I stay like this? Forever? I sure hope I could. I wish I could. Please. I want to stay. I want to stay with Vic and Reggie. I want to stay with Eddie. I want… I want to stay with Henry. Always.

I can’t imagine going on in a world without him. Without his temper. Without his cockiness. Without his sweetness and stubbornness. Without his pain. Without that stupid mullet. Without his beautiful cloudy blue eyes. Without his beautiful…everything. I just can’t. I need him and I always will.

A smile unknowingly made its way onto my face as I watched him put a few more candy bars in the basket. He had no idea that had been watching him and still didn’t know until he looked back in my direction. His smile matched mine as he tilted his head slightly.

“Why are you looking at me like that,” he questioned.

“It’s nothing,” I lied. “You can keep looking.”

With that, I turned away and continued searching through the store. I already picked out my snacks, so I might as well look around as Henry picked out his.

I somehow drifted into the clothes section of the store, the bright colors of shirts and pants catching my eyes. While they were appealing, they’ve never been my style. I always wore denim, denim, and more denim over simple shirts and tainted converse. That was my style, but I stopped once I spotted a dress.

It was different compared to most of the dresses I saw girls at school wear. It wasn’t skanky and didn’t leave little to the imagination. It was quite pretty and modest and while it was off the shoulder, it still had thin straps to hold it up. I could actually imagine myself wearing it. I was starting to like it that much.

“I never pegged you to be the dress type,” a voice interrupted behind me, and I immediately recognized it as Henry.

“I’m not,” I agreed.

“Well, it sure looks like you want it.”

“I don’t,” I lied, still staring at it.

“Why don’t you try it on?”

“Huh,” I asked in surprise.

“You should try it on,” he repeated.

“No, I shouldn’t,” I shook my head. “I’ll just look goofy.”

“You can never look goofy,” he uttered, and it wasn’t until I felt my cheeks burned that I saw his light up as well. “At least to me anyway,” he finished shyly, and his comment was enough to reassure me that with him, I was always safe and would never be judged.

So taking his word for it, I turned around to grab the dress, looking it over once more before surveying the store for a fitting room. Already knowing what I was thinking, Henry decided to give me the answer himself. “There’s one in the back,” he stated and I nodded slightly, before gesturing him to follow me as I started to walk over.

There was only one room with a chair by the wall. It was pretty isolated, but I preferred that. I didn’t really want anyone other than Henry seeing me.

So once we got to the fitting room, I knocked on the door twice just to make sure no one was in there and luckily, there wasn’t.

I glanced back at Henry and he was already sitting on the chair with the basket beside him. He must’ve known I was staring because his eyes met mine almost immediately.

“Don’t make fun of me,” I told him and he breathed out a laugh. I knew he wouldn’t. I just felt like saying it.

“Don’t worry,” he uttered, “I won’t.”

“Alright,” I smirked. “I’m trusting you.” And with that, I stepped foot into the room and locked the door behind me.

There was only a mirror in the room along with my own reflection. Most of the scars that I had acquired over this past month had faded, except for the one of course. My hair was a bit longer and my eyes didn’t look sunken for once. I actually looked…alive and happier. And just the thought of that made me smile a bit more.

Within seconds, I had stripped of my clothes and put them off to the side. And with a few more, I had already stepped into the dress and pulled the straps over my shoulders. Now, I could see more qualities that I didn’t before.

The dress actually stopped mid-calf and hugged my waist quite a bit. However, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. I was also never a fan of plain white, but this along with the red, yellow, and pink flowers was quite nice. I actually wouldn’t mind wearing this out anywhere.

“Are you almost done,” Henry asked from the outside and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He didn’t sound irritated, but he did have the habit of being impatient.

“Yes, I’m coming out now,” I called out, before grabbing the handle of the door. I took a deep breath and tried my best to ignore the nervousness that was washing over me. There’s no reason to feel nervous, I told myself. It’s just Henry, but then again. It’s the fact that it is Henry that makes me nervous.

I sighed quietly before turning the handle of the door and stepping out.

HENRY’S POINT OF VIEW

I tore the wrapper of the chocolate bar open and snapped a piece off before sticking it in my mouth. I chewed on it silently as I waited for her to come out… but should it really take that long to put on a dress?

“Are you almost done,” I asked and she responded fairly quickly.

“Yes, I’m coming out now,” she called out and she sounded a bit irritated. Did she not like the dress or was she just getting annoyed by me? Knowing her, it was probably the latter.

I smirked to myself as I snapped another piece off. I was this close to putting it into my mouth until I heard the door click. Now, all my attention shifted to the door.

She came out slowly, then all at once. Even if she did decide to come out all fast or all slow, I wouldn’t have been prepared either way. Because I had no idea that I’d be sitting in the presence of someone so perfect.

When did I deserve something like this? What did I do to deserve something like this? What did I do to deserve someone like her coming into my life?

The simple answer was that I didn’t…and that I probably never would. But I wanted to deserve it. I needed to deserve it. I would make sure that I deserved it. That I deserved her. Cause if I couldn’t have her, then what would be the point of anything? To me, a world without her in it wasn’t a world at all. It just wasn’t. Wherever she is, wherever she goes, that’s where I want to be. Always and forever. Because it’s her that I need and always will need.

BACK TO EMMA’S POINT OF VIEW

I stepped out and his eyes immediately widened. I didn’t expect them to, but they did. I also didn’t expect him to completely ignore the piece of chocolate that he had been holding in his hand and drop it to the floor carelessly.

He stayed like that for a few seconds, just staring in silence. I felt compelled to break him out of it, but before I could, he had already decided to speak up,

“Wow.” It was short and simple, but it made me impossibly happy and sent my heart fluttering. “You look…you look beautiful.”

“Do I,” I asked softly, almost not believing him.

“Yeah,” his cheeks started to redden. “I mean-I mean you look good.” And at that, I crossed my arms in displeasure and decided to get him back for changing his answer so quickly.

“Are you blushing, Bowers?”

“What? No,” he denied, rather unconvincingly.

“You know if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you liked me.”

“You wish,” he scoffed and that stung. I knew it shouldn’t have. I was equally as petty when he told me the same thing earlier, but then again. Did he really like me as much as I…as much as I liked him? I sure hope he did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

END OF CHAPTER 8

[waezi2okko]

Top Ten OK KO episodes

In the "Incredibles" movie, the bad guy Syndrome plans on staging a fight to become a famous superhero. And when he eventually becomes too old for that, he plans on selling his technology so anyone can become super, arguing that if EVERYONE is super... no one is.

"OK KO, Let's Be Heroes" has a different view on this. In the show, EVERYONE is super, so everyone are AWESOME!

"OK KO" is one of those shows that are so wholesome and fun that you stop thinking about logic and just accept this strange world of heroes and villains who takes inspiration from video games, comicbooks, action movies, mangas and more stuff hero-related. It has a feel of a game being played in a sandbox by kids who brought their random toys and are just going with it.

In the show, our main character is KO, a 6-11 year old kid who wants to become a hero. In order to get experience and be more familiar with the world of heroes, KO takes a job in a bodega run by his idol Mr. Gar. KO befriends Enid and Rad, the teens who works in the store as well, and assists them in running the bodega as well as defending it from destruction whenever the evil scientist Lord Boxman(who lives at the other side of the street) attacks the bodega with his evil robot children.

Yeah, it's kinda silly:P But in an awesome way.

Besides the humor, the creative character designs and the many references that will make you feel old if you get them, it is also the modern cartoon show that I think does the best relationships as well developing said relationships(sorry Steven Universe). Anyways, made this blog because I feel my main one has too much OK KO stuff, so I will start of this one with a top ten of the best episodes of the series.

Number 10: We Messed Up.

I HAVE to include this episode on the list since it was the first I watched.

Mr. Gar is out, and he has SPECIFICALLY told his employees to stay away from his office.

... So they go to his office. And breaks his stuff. The three friends must figure out how to stall their boss as well as how to replace the picture of KO's mom(that he for some reason has) so Mr. Gar won't be... disappointed!

I HAD to include this episode on the list since it was the first OK KO ep I watched. Also, a lot of lore was revealed in this episode, leading up to future episodes and storylines as we learn that Mr. Gar used to be on a superhero team with KO's mom Carol AND that Mr. Gar apparently used to be a masked wrestler. That, and the episode is just plain funny, mostly because of Mr. Gar being extra as heck!

Number 9: Whacky Jaxxyz

When KO gets introduced to the game and toy Whacky Jaxxyz by his cool classmate Nanini, KO jumps aboard the trend and even enters a tournament with Nanini.

Buuuut then they meet other people who play Whacky Jaxxyz as well and realize that the game's fandom is rather toxic.

And by "rather", I mean "VERY".

As a kid from the late 90s and early 00s, I can relate to this episode since I collected stuff such as Bayblades, Yugioh cards and such. I still feel cheated sometimes by the Yugioh franchise as well as being irritated by the fans of it who can sometimes ruin it for me. This episode shows how something fun can get ruined by both the people who provides it as well as the people who obsess over it.

Also, famous YouTuber ProZD is guest star:)

Number 8: Let's Watch the Boxmore Show

When KO and his friends are about to defend the bodega against another robot attack from Boxmore, they realize that they don't have to lift a finger since the robots are fighting EACH OTHER. Wanting to know what is going on, Mr. gar gives his employees permission to use his monitor room since he has hacked the surveillance cameras of Boxmore, allowing them to see what is going on in the robot factory. Our heroes realize that there is a competition in Boxmore, EXTREMELY similar to a reality TV-show. KO, Rad and Enid ends up getting addicted to watching the "show", even rooting for their favorite robot and ends up quarreling about who deserves to win or lose.

I grew up in the golden age of reality TV-show and can recognize the stereotypes WAY too well, both the contestants as well as the fans who obsess over the shows. This was just such a stupidly hilarious episode to watch. And Christopher Niosi who voices minor characters was on the top of his game in this episode.

Also, if you don't know Christopher Niosi, you should check out his YouTube channel.

Number 7: My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad

KO gets in an insult contest with another kid named Chameleon Junior. And like all kids, Chameleon Junior argues that his dad could beat up KO's dad. And this specific insult gets to KO since... well, he DOESN'T have a dad. So he tells CJ that he might not have a dad, but that his mom Carol can beat anyone up. The two boys part ways to get their parents to fight to prove who has the stronger dad/mom. Carol tries to teach KO a lesson about talking things out, and... yeah, things escalate when a godzilla-sized chameleon dad is involved.

I was tempted to place this episode on the number one spot imply because watching a very angry hand-to-hand fighter mom beat up a giant lizard was amazing. But the ending twist that is a reference to old Godzilla movies was clever as heck. Chameleon Senior is revealed to actually being a giant man in a lizard costume, kinda like how old Godzilla movies had a man in such a costume.

Number 6: T.K.O.

KO is frustrated since he still doesn't have powers like Rad and Enid and worries that he will never become a true hero.

But then he meets a shadowy figure who tells him that he can help him reach his true potential.

... Yeah, KO shouldn't have trusted the guy.

I kinda knew from the start that KO would end up having an evil side that made him powerful, especially since he looks so much like Ryu from Street Fighter. But the way his dark side(AKA Turbo KO) is introduced is actually rather creative. It isn't anger that makes KO go dark, it is a combination of a whole lot of negative emotions that appears when he feels insignificant. That means that TKO has much more potential than just being a little angry monster, he is all of KO's negative emotions, including sadness, frustration and depression.

Number 5: Red Action To The Future

One of Enid's friends is a timetraveler called Red Action. When Red is getting a call from her Power-Ranger like team that tells her to return to the future, Enid is too proud to tell her not to go, fearing that Red would think less of her for being "clingy." But all Enid gets out of it is that Red is busy fighting a war in the future, and whenever she sees her again, it is only for short visits, and Red has aged months and years every time Enid sees her. Red ends up having lived a whole life in what was minutes for Enid.

With a show like OK KO where timetravel is a thing, you can have episodes that tackles with friends who doesn't say things to each other due to a mix of pride and shame, then realize that they missed their chance and a lifetime has passed. Enid gets to experience this much faster since Red is in the future, so time is relative.

Number 4: Rad Likes Robots

After an intense battle between the bogeda workers and the evil robots, one of the robots named Shannon gets hit by lighting and then falls in love with Rad who quickly becomes infatuated with the robot as well.

So, yeah. This is the Romeo and Juliet episode. But unlike other cartoon shows, this one does Romeo and Juliet right, if you ask me.

I actually mad e a whole blog about the episode that you can read RIGHT HERE.

Number 3: Know your Mom

KO's mom Carol is one of the strongest people in Lakewood next to Mr Gar. So it is sort of weird that she isn't a big-time superhero and instead just runs a fitness center.

When KO does research on his mom for Mother's Day, he finds out that she actually USED to be a big-time superhero. She was known as Silver Spark and was a member of the world's greatest superhero team POINT(Powerful Operatives Investigating and Neutralizing Trouble). But then she decided to quit the team 6-11 years ago. KO is horrified since HE is 6-11 years old, so he believes that he might be the reason to why Carol left POINT. So KO decides to call her archenemy and make him come fight her as the perfect gift.

What really sells this episode is Carol's old enemy Succulentus who is voiced by Jonathan Davis, the leading vocalist of the nu-metal band Korn. Most of his dialog has references to nu-metal songs, most of them I actually caught, making me feel old, especially since Succulentus is an old fart. Sure, he is old because he is a cactus, but it is still funny to be reminded of music you grew up with that is now considered "old".

Number 2: You're in Control

This was an awesome season one finale! Not only did it have an epic battle, it had been built up to through the whole season, making it that much more satisfying to watch. And it even had one heck of a cliffhanger that made me even more hyped about season two.

Number 1: Special Delivery

Enid and Rad are KO's best friends and pseudo older sibling. But they are also each others' best friend. So "Special Delivery" is an interesting episode since it focuses on Enid and Rad relationship without KO involved.

Someone has ordered a package from Mr. Gar's bodega, so Rad and Enid have been given the task of delivering it while KO stays in the store. The one who ordered it is in a town far away, so it is roadtrip time!

Rad and Enid actually has fun being together while driving to Neo Riot City... But Enid ends up having too much fun on Rad's expense.

Best friendship episode of the whole series since it focuses on communication and what the lack of it can cause since you can end up unintentionally hurt someone who is important to you. Also has the awesome and cliche song "I Wanna Get Out of Here" written by William Gibbons who is songwriter for the band Kara's Walk Home.

[tokiro07]

There’s two DLC slots left (assuming there’s only going to be one season pass), and there’s a lot of ways it can shake out, so I’m gonna cast as wide a net as I can so I have a decent chance of being right

The one thing that we can say for absolute certain is that the two characters will either be from a Nintendo property (1st or 2nd party) or from a 3rd party property that has been on a Nintendo system before

Since this post ended up getting kind of messy, I’m going to be highlighting the ones that I think are the most likely from each developer or category

If it’s from a Nintendo property, then it’d either be:

Someone from a relatively long-standing Nintendo franchise that doesn’t have a fighter or Assist Trophy yet; the best I can think of would be the Wars franchise (probably Andy), the Excite franchise (probably Excitebiker), Chibi-Robo, Custom Robo (one of the models of Ray), or Rhythm Heaven (if Spirits are out, then probably Tibby or Marshall, but if Spirits are in, Karate Joe or the Chorus Kids)

A character from a recent game or series such as BoxBoy (Qbby) or Ever Oasis (Tethu) which have been gaining some attention lately, or upcoming Nintendo game, like Astral Chain (Akira Howard), Daemon x Machina (either the pilot or the mech), or some other game that we don’t know about yet

A character from an older Nintendo game that may have only had one or two games, like Balloon Fight, Mach Rider, StarTropics (Mike Jones), or any others that don’t have a fighter or Assist Trophy

For 3rd parties, it could be from a developer already represented in Smash:

Of the 3rd parties already in, Bandai-Namco is the only one that only has one series as opposed to two (not counting Bayonetta, technically 2nd party, or Banjo, a former 2nd party), which is especially odd given their involvement in the creation of the game itself; their new series could be Dark Souls (most likely the Chosen Undead), Klonoa, Katamari (the Prince of All Cosmos), Dig Dug (Taizo Hori), Tower of Druaga (Gil), Tekken (Heihachi), Soulcalibur (Nightmare), or the Tales franchise (probably Lloyd). Alternatively, Bandai specifically could get in on the action with either Tamagotchi (Mametchi) or its more action-oriented counterpart Digimon (probably Agumon), which both started out as Game-and-Watch style digital toys and evolved into video game franchises in their own right, though Digimon had a much greater focus on that

Sega, who technically only has one (Sonic), since Persona was an acquired property rather than an original property, could get Alex Kidd, NiGHTs, Super Monkey Ball (AiAi), or Virtua Fighter (Akira Yuki, who already has a Mii costume), though their most likely addition would probably be Puyo Puyo (most likely Arle), as despite being another acquired property (from Compile), it is most heavily associated with Sega and is currently one of their most popular franchises. They could also get other Sonic characters, like Tails or Eggman, but I’m mostly leaning towards new franchises. Also, though I don’t believe it has any real shot, Sega does make the Vocaloid rhythm games, Project Diva, so there’s a non-zero chance that we could get Miku.

Capcom, who already have Megaman and Street Fighter, could potentially get Monster Hunter (as the Rathalos is already a boss), Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright), Devil May Cry (Dante), or possibly even Resident Evil (Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, or most likely Leon Kennedy, since he has the closest ties with Nintendo)

Konami, who already have Metal Gear and Castlevania, could potentially get Frogger (an icon of arcade gaming), Silent Hill (unlikely, but Pyramid Head is a horror icon, so it wouldn’t be too far-fetched), Mystical Ninja (Goemon), or Contra (Bill Rizer/Lance Bean). If Bomberman weren’t already an Assist Trophy, I’d say he was a strong contender as a Hudson rep, though Bonk is still in the running there

If you consider Banjo-Kazooie a Microsoft property, then it’s possible that Microsoft allowed Nintendo to use it on the condition that they get another character in as well, though this seems unlikely. If that’s the case, though, they’d most likely go with Minecraft (Steve/Alex), since as far as I know that’s the only property of their’s that’s ever been on a Nintendo platform outside of other Rare properties, though maybe that hypothetical deal would open the gates for series that have never been on a Nintendo console, like Halo (Master Chief)

Square Enix most likely won’t get another one, but they do own Taito, formerly a major studio in their own right, and thus could reasonably get Bubble Bobble (Bub/Bob) or even Space Invaders, though I’m not sure how viable that would be. For Square Enix themselves, the Mana series (likely Randi) or even Kingdom Hearts (Sora) would be good choices, but I don’t see it happening

If Nintendo wants to keep bringing in other companies, though, there are still four more of the top 10 biggest gaming companies in Japan that aren’t in yet:

Tecmo-Koei has pretty close ties with Nintendo, co-owning the Fatal Frame franchise, which already has an Assist Trophy; chances are good they’d go with Ninja Gaiden (Ryu Hayabusa), since that’s one of the iconic classic Nintendo games, though they could also potentially go with Dead or Alive (Kasumi) or Dynasty Warriors (though for the life of me I don’t know who they could go with. Lu Bu?)

Level-5, who frequently gets help from Nintendo with international publishing, would most likely go with Professor Layton or Yokai Watch (likely Jibanyan), though Inazuma Eleven (Mamoru Endou) or Ni no Kuni (Oliver, Evan, or Roland) would also work in a pinch. Interestingly, Level-5 also owns Comcept, so Mighty no. 9 (Beck) is a possibility, but an exceedingly slim one

Sony, Nintendo’s most major rival, doesn’t have much to offer since most of their first party games aren’t on Nintendo systems, and their most significant viable IP, Crash Bandicoot, is currently owned by Activision, so even if Crash got in, it’s hard to say that it would be as a Sony rep. Still, Crash is a gaming icon and former mascot of Sony, which would heavily symbolize the rivalry between Sony and Nintendo even if ownership has changed hands. If being on a Nintendo system isn’t an issue, Little Big Planet (Sackboy), Sly Cooper, or God of War (Kratos) would all be excellent choices. Interestingly, everything I’ve said so far has been developed by Sony’s American or European subsidiaries. For Japanese studios, their most likely reps would probably be Ape Escape (Spike) or Gravity Rush (Kat). Sony also currently owns Q*Bert (formerly owned by Gottlieb), who would be a perfect representative of arcade gaming, though I don’t imagine Sony would pick Q*Bert over any of their original IPs if given the choice.

Marvelous, who happens to be making Daemon x Machina with Nintendo, frequently releases their games on Nintendo platforms; by far their biggest series is Story of Seasons (likely Pete with Sara as an alternate costume, though other player characters such as Mark, Pony, Toy, Claire, Henry and Holly would also work), or its spinoff, Rune Factory (likely Raguna), but Muramasa (Momohime/Kisuke) would be a fairly strong contender if only because of popularity. They also own Senran Kagura (Asuka), which got its start on Nintendo consoles and still remains there to this day. Its risque nature makes me hesitant to call it viable or likely, though that certainly didn’t stop Bayonetta, but either way Story of Seasons feels a lot more likely. There’s also Little King’s Story (Corobo), but that’s a fairly niche title, I think

More in line with Microsoft, there are also a number of particularly big Western companies with a lot of support for getting into Smash

The biggest is probably Ubisoft, who is definitely the Western company on the best terms with Nintendo; they would most likely use Rayman, especially since he’s had a trophy and a Spirit, though a Rabbid is also possible. Assassin’s Creed (probably Ezio or Altair), Prince of Persia, or even Starlink (Mason Rana) may all work, but Rayman is definitely the best bet

A representative from Bethesda, another major Western company which seems to be on at least friendly terms with Nintendo; since Bethesda owns Id, I’m inclined to say Doom (Doomslayer), though I would think that Bethesda would want to use one of their original properties, so potentially Elder Scrolls (Dovahkin). Fallout (likely Vaultboy) may work too, but that’s also an acquired property

Though mostly inactive now, Atari was once one of the pillars of the video game industry. Unfortunately, they don’t really have many iconic characters that are particularly viable, but as I’ve said in the past, the Centipede would make a really interesting fighter

Activision Blizzard doesn’t have much that’s been playable on Nintendo, though there are games from both Activision and Blizzard individually: Activision could potentially contribute Call of Duty (Private Martin?), but they did acquire Spyro and Crash from Sony, so that would probably be a better fit for Smash, though it’s hard to say if they’d use someone else’s mascot; on Blizzard’s side, Overwatch (Tracer) was recently announced to be coming to Switch, and Diablo has gotten a lot of attention from Nintendo, what with the Diablo variant Switch and the Loot Goblin amiibo, though I’m not sure who would be a viable representative

Warner Bros. Interactive doesn’t really have a ton to offer since it mostly does licensed games, but it does publish NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat (Scorpion or Sub-Zero), one of the most iconic fighting games of all time, and 5th Cell’s Scribblenauts (Maxwell). The latter certainly isn’t as iconic as Mortal Kombat in terms of video game history, but it’s at least a lot easier to associate with WB

The Tetris Company doesn’t explicitly have any characters of their own as far as I know, though Tetrominos are a surprisingly popular choice. I however propose that they could use Tee from Puyo Puyo Tetris, as he is the closest thing to a Tetris character that there is. Unfortunately he’s probably considered a Sega character since he was designed by Sonic Team, but who knows, maybe the Tetris Company co-owns him

EA has...uh...the Sims, which used to belong to Nintendo? Dr. Wright from SimCity is already an Assist Trophy, but Nintendo never lost the rights to the character, so that doesn’t really count. They don’t really have much else that’s useful. Plants vs Zombies? Need for Speed? Dragon Age...? Regardless, EA has said that they are distancing themselves from the Switch (though they immediately backtracked on that statement), which seems evident since they don’t appear to be putting the new PvZ on Switch, so it feels unlikely that they’d get any representation in Smash at all

CD Projekt Red is getting Witcher III on Switch, and people really love Geralt, so maybe? Doesn’t seem super likely, but not impossible

Take-Two Interactive has GTA and LA Noire, but I’m not sure if those are viable

Epic Games has Fortnite which...I guess could just have eight different outfits? I don’t know anything about Fortnite

Some smaller Japanese studios (smaller than the top 10, not necessarily indie) may also be decent choices, since they have games with enough history to warrant being in Smash:

SNK has King of Fighters/Fatal Fury (Terry Bogard or Mai Shiranui) and Metal Slug (Marco/Tarma). SNK has officially gotten Fatal Fury’s Terry in Smash, seemingly to represent the Neo Geo system, which honestly I should have considered would make SNK a stronger contender

Cooking Mama Limited has...Cooking Mama

Nippon Ichi Software has Disgaea (Laharl)

ArcSystem Works has BlazBlue (Ragna), Guilty Gear (Sol Badguy), and iconic beat-em-up series Double Dragon (Billy/Jimmy Lee) since acquiring Technos Japan from Data East

Grasshopper Manufacture has No More Heroes (Travis Touchdown), which has had pretty much its entire history on Nintendo systems

Natsume is probably the least likely of this entire post, but they have what is currently called Harvest Moon (Farmer?) and their more well known original title, Medabots (Metabee or Rokusho) which is surprisingly still going

And of course, there’s the indies, both Japanese and Western:

Nicalis currently has the rights to indie forerunner Cave Story (Quote), and are the current publishers of classic SNES series Umihara Kawase, but the real star for them is definitely Cave Story

WayForward’s Shantae is already a Spirit in Smash, so of indies, I think she has the best bet, but only if Spirits don’t preclude fighter status

Not technically indie, but Inti Creates broke off from Capcom several years ago and released Azure Striker Gunvolt (Gunvolt) before teaming up with various indie developers to help them with their projects, so I’m gonna go ahead and count them. They also have Gal*Gun (Ekoro), Dragon: Marked for Death (likely Empress) and now have the rights to Blaster Master (Jason) from Sunsoft. If they only have the license and the rights still belong to Sunsoft though, then chalk Sunsoft and Blaster Master up in the smaller studios category above

Toby Fox’s Undertale (Frisk) has a lot of demand, so it only seems fair to put it on this list

For the sake of acknowledgment, Yacht Club’s Shovel Knight is the only indie to have an Assist Trophy, so while I doubt Shovel Knight is going to be in the DLC, he could come up in a future Smash

Devolver Digital is getting pretty big lately and has a ton to offer, and with their flagship series Hotline Miami (Jacket) confirmed to be coming to Switch, their chances have certainly improved. The Messenger and Enter the Gungeon would both work too, but Hotline Miami is definitely the go-to for Devolver

Gears for Breakfast’s A Hat in Time (Hat Kid) is the latest indie darling making the rounds, and with its imminent release on Switch, its chances have only gone up

Similarly, Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight is gaining a lot of traction, to the point that its sequel had its own segment at E3 this year

Brace Yourself Games’ Crypt of the Necrodancer (Cadence) has a crossover with Legend of Zelda, an honor that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an indie game get from Nintendo before

Choice Provisions’ Bit.Trip (CommanderVideo) had a trophy in Smash 4, making it the first indie to be acknowledged in Smash, although CommanderVideo did not receive a Spirit in Ultimate. They’re also the current publishers of Bubsy, which...I would hope doesn’t get in

Edmund McMillen has at least two successful indies, Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac, and while I don’t think either of them will make it, I felt that they were at least worth mentioning

StudioMDHR’s Cuphead is on Switch and ostensibly getting a physical release soon, and from what I’ve seen is one of the most hotly requested indies for Smash

Similarly to Cave Story, Kikiyama’s Yume Nikki (Madotsuki) was wildly influential for the indie scene and would be very interesting, though highly unlikely, for Smash

Speaking of influential indies, Team Shanghai Alice’s Touhou Project (Reimu Hakurei) is one that I see a fair bit of clamor for, especially now that it’s getting console games

Supergiant Games’ Bastion (the Kid) is yet another influential indie game, and also interestingly enough was published by Warner Bros. Interactive, so if Mortal Kombat doesn’t work out, this is another good option

And of course, how could I forget Matt Makes Games’ Celeste (Madeline), a game with tremendous pull by fans to get into Smash

If I think of any I missed that I think have a decent chance, I’ll add them in later

[nintendocafe]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct Unleashes New Details

In the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct video presentation before the game launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch system on December 7th, Nintendo blew the lid off of many new modes, fighters and gameplay features of the massive video game crossover event, including details about upcoming DLC. With the reveal of new fighters Ken from the Street Fighter series and Incineroar from the Pokémon franchise, all playable fighters at launch – all 74 of them! – have been unveiled. But more fighters, stages and music tracks will be coming in the form of DLC, which was also announced in the video presentation.

Watch the Nintendo Direct here: https://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct.

Nintendo also announced an incentive for fans to pre-purchase the digital version of the game (and avoid long lines and the holiday rush!). My Nintendo members who pre-purchase the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game in Nintendo eShop or on Nintendo.com will earn a bonus of 300, or double, Gold Points. This limited-time offer runs now through 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 6. The bonus points will be issued on the game’s launch day.   

“There are still elements of today’s presentation that hold a lot of secrets for players to discover, but with the launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate only a little more than a month away, this Nintendo Direct presentation is a final look at one of the most massive games Nintendo has ever produced,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “With so much to experience and discover in this game – and with a huge library of other games to choose from – we believe fans are going to be playing a lot of Nintendo Switch this holiday season.”

Some of the highlights revealed in the video include:

HadoKEN!: Hailing from the Street Fighter series, Ryu’s rival Ken joins the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster as an echo fighter. This Ken is based on his appearance in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. While he has some similar moves to Ryu, Ken is a slightly faster fighter and has a different shaped Hadoken.

Incineroar: The final fighter to join the battle in time for  the game’s launch is Incineroar, the advanced evolution of Litten, who made his first appearance in the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon games. Incineroar uses pro-wrestling moves, culminating in an epic Final Smash called Max Malicious Moonsault, based on his Z-Move from the Pokémon games.     

Spirits: In the world of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, many video game characters lose their forms and become “spirits” that serve as a power-up of sorts for a player’s main playable fighter. There is a massive number of wildly different spirits, ranging from Chibi-Robo to Dr. Wily to Tails to Revolver Ocelot, with the giant list of characters going on and on. Players can equip primary and support spirits to power up or add additional abilities like speed or strength to their fighter during battles. Mixing and matching spirits will help players get the upper hand against certain opponents, adding quite a bit of strategy to battles. Equipping a spirit is similar to equipping a charm or accessory in an RPG. It’s a way for players to enjoy a massive amount of additional video game characters outside of selecting them as playable fighters.

Spirit Battles: The main way to acquire spirits is to win Spirit Battles. After winning a Spirit Battle, players will have to complete a roulette challenge to acquire that spirit.

Leveling Up Spirits: By battling with spirits by their side, players can level up spirits, giving them extra power and sometimes unlocking enhanced forms. The more leveled up and trained spirits are, the more powerful and useful they are.

Spirit Combinations: With an insane amount of spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, thousands of combinations can be formed. Players will be constantly surprised and excited by all the spirits that pop up in the game. Because players might collect an abundance of spirits, the game will offer recommendations for primary and support spirits, making the selection process a little bit easier.

DLC: New fighters, stages and music will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate through the end of February 2020 in the form of paid DLC. For only $5.99, players can purchase one set, which includes a new playable fighter (not an Echo Fighter), a new stage and a variety of music tracks. By purchasing a Fighters Pass for $24.99, players will get access to five yet-to-be-announced sets, which is five new fighters, five stages and multiple music tracks, as they release. Players who purchase a Fighters Pass will also receive an in-game outfit based on Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 starting Dec. 7. Pre-purchasing the digital version of the game with the Fighters Pass in Nintendo eShop or on Nintendo.com before 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 6 will earn My Nintendo members 425 bonus Gold Points, or double the usual amount. The bonus points will be issued on the game’s launch day.

Early Purchase Bonus: Piranha Plant takes root! The iconic enemy from the Super Mario series is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for early purchasers. Players can purchase the digital version of the game or register their physical game card on a Nintendo Switch device by Jan. 31, 2019, to gain access to this new fighter when it is available around February 2019 at no additional cost. Piranha Plant, together with a new stage and music tracks, will be available for purchase as DLC in the future. Fans can pre-purchase the game and secure the Piranha Plant reward starting today!

New amiibo: All the new fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – including DLC! – will get their own amiibo figures. This includes Ken, Incineroar and Piranha Plant, as well as the recently announced Simon Belmont and King K. Rool. The currently scheduled release timing is as follows, with details about future figures on the way.

Adventure Mode: World of Light: There may not be a single-player adventure quite like Adventure Mode: Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but something has caused the numerous video game characters in the game to lose their bodies and transform into spirits. While today’s Nintendo Direct video provides some sneak peeks, Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, wants to keep parts of this new adventure mode secret until the game launches…

Assist Trophies: In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, assist trophies do exactly what their name suggests – they assist players in battle! Each assist trophy is based on a recognizable video game character and unleashes a variety of different powers, both offensive and defensive. The total number of assist trophies in the game is 59, representing characters like Guile from the Street Fighter series, Isaac from the Golden Sun RPGs, the Fly Swatter from Mario Paint and Spring Man from ARMS.

Mii Fighters: When playing as a Mii Fighter, players can customize their outfits and voice options. Some new Mii Fighter outfits have also been added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Wireless and Online Play: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lets players battle together with friends and family members via local wireless* or online**. “For Fun” and “For Glory,” which existed in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, are no longer options. Instead, matchmaking is based on three factors: Preferred Rules, which lets players choose their rules for battle and pair up with others with similar preferences, Global Smash Power, an online leaderboard that pits players against others with a similar score, and Proximity, players who are close to each other geographically.

Two-Player Co-op: Two fighters are better than one! When playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online, two players can team up on one Nintendo Switch system online and take on other teams with the same setup.

Smartphone Features: With the Nintendo Switch Online app*** on smartphones, players can voice chat with others in battle arenas. A mobile service called Smash World is also being developed. Instead of focusing on stats, the new service allows players to post and watch videos, as well as other fun features. More details about the service will be revealed in the future.

Elite Smash: Once a player’s Global Smash Power is high enough, she or he will be invited to compete in elite in-game battles. These VIP matches are for the best of the best and offer some serious competition.

Smash Tag: Everyone who competes online will need to create a unique Smash Tag. By beating a fellow fighter, players will receive their Smash Tag to display on their profile. Collecting a bunch of Smash Tags is a great way to show off high-level Super Smash Bros. Ultimate accomplishments

Short Messages: Players can select pre-determined short messages, assign them to the control pad and send them to other players before and after battles. The game offers a wide selection of varied preset messages.

Spectator Mode: As in previous games, players can watch other players battle in Spectator Mode. Analyzing the battles of other players can be helpful in learning new strategies and techniques.

Background Matchmaking: Players can play other modes while they search for an online battle. Not every mode will be available while waiting, but it’s a great way for players to keep occupied between online battles.

Battle Arenas: Players can create custom battle arenas when playing online that allow them to compete against other players in a more intimate setting. In a battle arena, there are options to join a battle, wait in line or spectate.

Other Features: There is a wide variety of other modes and settings in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including:

Early Hands-On Events: Fans can check the game’s site for information about a variety of upcoming hands-on events. At these special events, players will have the chance to choose from all 74 fighters.

Inkling, Ridley and Wolf – Dec. 7, 2018

King K. Rool, Ice Climbers and Piranha Plant – Feb. 15, 2019

Isabelle, Pichu, Ken, Young Link, Daisy – 2019          

               Help – Living in the easy-to-access dashboard, Help mode offers in-game guides and tips.

Mob Smash – This mode lets players battle an army of fighters on different stages. Players can even select the music tracks associated with a given stage that they want to listen to while battling.

Replay – Players can save replays of their battles and even create shareable videos from them.

Tips – This menu offers quick tips and tricks that players will see on loading screens. When viewing, the tips can be sorted by category or fighter.       

Challenges – By completing specific challenges, players earn in-game rewards. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the challenges are arranged to look like a comic book.

Battle Records – The Records menu tracks battle history, with the option to view battle data separately for online and offline play.

Shop – Players can redeem in-game currency for music tracks, spirits and a variety of different items.

Language Support – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate supports 11 different languages. Applicable fighter voices and names are specific to whatever language is selected.

Custom Balance – When battling against other players on the same system, players can adjust the strength of their fighters. This completely optional feature comes in handy if players want to adjust strength to ensure a fair fight.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate only on Nintendo Switch! | Buy-Now!

[satoshi-mochida]

Nintendo announced various new information about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during the game’s final Nintendo Direct broadcast today, including playable fighters Ken from Street Fighter (echo fighter) and Incineroar from Pokemon, Piranha Plant from the Mario series as a free limited time offer downloadable fighter due out a couple of months after launch, a Fighters Pass including five paid post-launch downloadable fighters, and much more.

Get all the details below.

-HadoKEN!: Hailing from the Street Fighter series, Ryu’s rival Ken joins the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster as an echo fighter. This Ken is based on his appearance in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. While he has some similar moves to Ryu, Ken is a slightly faster fighter and has a different shaped Hadoken.

-Incineroar: The final fighter to join the battle in time for the game’s launch is Incineroar, the advanced evolution of Litten, who made his first appearance in the Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon games. Incineroar uses pro-wrestling moves, culminating in an epic Final Smash called Max Malicious Moonsault, based on his Z- Move from the Pokemon games.

-Spirits: In the world of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, many video game characters lose their forms and become “spirits” that serve as a power-up of sorts for a player’s main playable fighter. There is a massive number of wildly different spirits, ranging from Chibi-Robo to Dr. Wily to Tails to Revolver Ocelot, with the giant list of characters going on and on. Players can equip primary and support spirits to power up or add additional abilities like speed or strength to their fighter during battles. Mixing and matching spirits will help players get the upper hand against certain opponents, adding quite a bit of strategy to battles. Equipping a spirit is similar to equipping a charm or accessory in an RPG. It’s a way for players to enjoy a massive amount of additional video game characters outside of selecting them as playable fighters.

-Spirit Battles: The main way to acquire spirits is to win Spirit Battles. After winning a Spirit Battle, players will have to complete a roulette challenge to acquire that spirit.

-Leveling Up Spirits: By battling with spirits by their side, players can level up spirits, giving them extra power and sometimes unlocking enhanced forms. The more leveled up and trained spirits are, the more powerful and useful they are.

-Spirit Combinations: With an insane amount of spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, thousands of combinations can be formed. Players will be constantly surprised and excited by all the spirits that pop up in the game. Because players might collect an abundance of spirits, the game will offer recommendations for primary and support spirits, making the selection process a little bit easier.

-DLC: New fighters, stages and music will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate through the end of February 2020 in the form of paid DLC. For only $5.99, players can purchase one set, which includes a new playable fighter (not an Echo Fighter), a new stage and a variety of music tracks. By purchasing a Fighters Pass for $24.99, players will get access to five yet-to-be-announced sets, which is five new fighters, five stages and multiple music tracks, as they release. Players who purchase a Fighters Pass will also receive an in-game outfit based on Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 starting Dec. 7. Pre-purchasing the digital version of the game with the Fighters Pass in Nintendo eShop or on Nintendo.com before 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 6 will earn My Nintendo members 425 bonus Gold Points, or double the usual amount. The bonus points will be issued on the game’s launch day.

-Early Purchase Bonus: Piranha Plant takes root! The iconic enemy from the Super Mario series is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for early purchasers. Players can purchase the digital version of the game or register their physical game card on a Nintendo Switch device by Jan. 31, 2019, to gain access to this new fighter when it is available around February 2019 at no additional cost. Piranha Plant, together with a new stage and music tracks, will be available for purchase as DLC in the future. Fans can pre-purchase the game and secure the Piranha Plant reward starting today by visiting http://smashbros.nintendo.com/buy/.

-New amiibo: All the new fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – including DLC! – will get their own amiibo figures. This includes Ken, Incineroar and Piranha Plant, as well as the recently announced Simon Belmont and King K. Rool. The currently scheduled release timing is as follows, with details about future figures on the way:

Inkling, Ridley and Wolf – Dec. 7, 2018

King K. Rool, Ice Climbers and Piranha Plant – Feb. 15, 2019

Isabelle, Pichu, Ken, Young Link, Daisy – 2019

-Adventure Mode: World of Light: There may not be a single-player adventure quite like Adventure Mode: Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but something has caused the numerous video game characters in the game to lose their bodies and transform into spirits. While today’s Nintendo Direct video provides some sneak peeks, Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, wants to keep parts of this new adventure mode secret until the game launches…

-Assist Trophies: In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, assist trophies do exactly what their name suggests – they assist players in battle! Each assist trophy is based on a recognizable video game character and unleashes a variety of different powers, both offensive and defensive. The total number of assist trophies in the game is 59, representing characters like Guile from the Street Fighter series, Isaac from the Golden Sun RPGs, the Fly Swatter from Mario Paint and Spring Man from ARMS.

-Mii Fighters: When playing as a Mii Fighter, players can customize their outfits and voice options. Some new Mii Fighter outfits have also been added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

-Wireless and Online Play: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lets players battle together with friends and family members via local wireless* or online**. “For Fun” and “For Glory,” which existed in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, are no longer options. Instead, matchmaking is based on three factors: Preferred Rules, which lets players choose their rules for battle and pair up with others with similar preferences, Global Smash Power, an online leaderboard that pits players against others with a similar score, and Proximity, players who are close to each other geographically.

-Two-Player Co-op: Two fighters are better than one! When playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online, two players can team up on one Nintendo Switch system online and take on other teams with the same setup.

-Smartphone Features: With the Nintendo Switch Online app*** on smartphones, players can voice chat with others in battle arenas. A mobile service called Smash World is also being developed. Instead of focusing on stats, the new service allows players to post and watch videos, as well as other fun features. More details about the service will be revealed in the future.

-Elite Smash: Once a player’s Global Smash Power is high enough, she or he will be invited to compete in elite in-game battles. These VIP matches are for the best of the best and offer some serious competition.

-Smash Tag: Everyone who competes online will need to create a unique Smash Tag. By beating a fellow fighter, players will receive their Smash Tag to display on their profile. Collecting a bunch of Smash Tags is a great way to show off high-level Super Smash Bros. Ultimate accomplishments.

-Short Messages: Players can select pre-determined short messages, assign them to the control pad and send them to other players before and after battles. The game offers a wide selection of varied preset messages.

-Spectator Mode: As in previous games, players can watch other players battle in Spectator Mode. Analyzing the battles of other players can be helpful in learning new strategies and techniques.

-Background Matchmaking: Players can play other modes while they search for an online battle. Not every mode will be available while waiting, but it’s a great way for players to keep occupied between online battles.

-Battle Arenas: Players can create custom battle arenas when playing online that allow them to compete against other players in a more intimate setting. In a battle arena, there are options to join a battle, wait in line or spectate.

-Other Features: There is a wide variety of other modes and settings in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including:

Help – Living in the easy-to-access dashboard, Help mode offers in-game guides and tips.

Mob Smash – This mode lets players battle an army of fighters on different stages. Players can even select the music tracks associated with a given stage that they want to listen to while battling.

Replay – Players can save replays of their battles and even create shareable videos from them.

Tips – This menu offers quick tips and tricks that players will see on loading screens. When viewing, the tips can be sorted by category or fighter.

Challenges – By completing specific challenges, players earn in-game rewards. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the challenges are arranged to look like a comic book.

Battle Records – The Records menu tracks battle history, with the option to view battle data separately for online and offline play.

Shop – Players can redeem in-game currency for music tracks, spirits and a variety of different items.

Language Support – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate supports 11 different languages. Applicable fighter voices and names are specific to whatever language is selected.

Custom Balance – When battling against other players on the same system, players can adjust the strength of their fighters. This completely optional feature comes in handy if players want to adjust strength to ensure a fair fight.

-Early Hands-On Events: Fans can check the game’s site for information about a variety of upcoming hands-on events. At these special events, players will have the chance to choose from all 74 fighters.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is due out for Switch on December 4.

Watch the latest set of videos below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fccgHnBQ0YM

Ken and Incineroar Reveal Trailer

https://youtu.be/cpuBNp27jVw

Piranha Plant Early Purchase Bonus Reveal Trailer

https://youtu.be/o_D8pzASxyw

World of Light Reveal Trailer

https://youtu.be/WShCN-AYHqA

Character Highlight Series

Ken

https://youtu.be/9_tQRugeXik

Incineroar

https://youtu.be/eE6Agn9d89U

Piranha Plant

https://youtu.be/3sZsk8VHY2g

[smashmusicideas]

November 2: Fighter 60ᵋ - Ken

I was going to start this - and I suppose I am, anyway - by discussing Ken’s history as the “first” Echo Fighter. Truthfully, clone characters and their equivalents of all sorts have been in video games forever, even if Ken is their most iconic representation in the world of fighting games (Luigi is, as Sakurai insinuated, the most overall). It’s all true. Ken seems more than fun, but he also does carry not just history of his own, but history of a concept Sakurai wanted to explicitly highlight. In many ways, he’s is just as important to Street Fighter as Ryu, a position of relevance in the cast which only Chun-Li also hits. The former two are an indirect martial arts twist on Mario and Luigi; they’re as stylistically different as they are mechanically similar and represent the genre as both hardcore and affable. Ken’s always been friendly, jokey, the part of Street Fighter that has stretchy yoga masters and obese mustachioed acrobats and a powerful sense of humor. I don’t think many Smash fans unfamiliar with his series were as cognizant of that, and it’s an element that deserves representation.

But that led me to thinking about Smash and Street Fighter. Sakurai’s put in a good number of references to Capcom’s arcade classic in his own games: Mario’s specials noticeably mimic Ryu’s, a plethora of other characters have grand and fiery uppercuts, Incineroar is pretty clearly at least partially a take on Zangief, and that emphasis on accessibility is a big part of why SFII had the power it did. Sakurai’s often betrayed a dear love of fighting game many sorts: King of Fighters (though that led to his greatest personal shame), Virtua Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom, and Tekken have all been explicitly referenced, and I’m certain there are dozens of others my lack of fighting game knowledge has missed. As much as Smash posits itself as distinct from traditional fighting games - and it absolutely is - I don’t think it’s ever been a denouncement of them. It’s more an attempt to explore the values of fun, competition, and pleasing violence in a different way. The truth is that by the late Nineties, there was a need for something new, untethered to the dug-in mechanical tropes was needed. It took a while for Smash to cement itself as the light alternative, but it’s set, to the point where there’ve been multiple Smash clones of varying quality. Disappointingly, none of them seem to have a low-rent take on the Mario Brothers in the way SNK had “Ryo” and “Robert” in Art of Fighting (which led to the recursive “shotaclone” pastiche Dan Hibiki. Fighting games are...odd).

Because of that, Ryu and Ken’s presence isn’t just as an explicit incorporation of fighting game history, it’s an odd sort of torch passing between the older way of doing things and the newer. I don’t really think Sakurai had that particular part in mind, but it does just by design acknowledge how far Smash has come in the genre of “fighting games.” Many of the other third party characters have that in a way - Sonic represented the end of the Nintendo / SEGA rivalry (even if Mario & Sonic came out a year before Brawl), Snake showed how far this "guest fighter” thing could go - but with Ken and Ryu it’s different. It’s a relationship specifically within the realm of fighting games, and I do think that carries a bit more. I know Ken was anticipated by some with a certain degree of resignation. But while I think his distinct spin on Ryu looks rather fun on its own, I also love that thematic wealth he adds. He was the iconic “clone character,” one of the two mandatory Street Fighter icons, and ultimately, he and Ryu really are a double act. That laconic charm is a necessary counterweight to his friend’s intense stoicism, and a worthwhile point that Street Fighter is a lot more than scowling martial arts masters. He’s great, more than I necessarily expected. And he feels earned in a way not ton of characters necessarily do. As expected as he was, he’s lived up to that history.

(Link to my writings on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

[bittenappletv]

Capcom Live Concert Review; 9/29/18 Gramercy Theater NYC

Mega Man 2 on the NES was that video game for me. The one that made me realize video games can be art. The music! The graphics! The music! Doctor Wily's Castle! The music! The ending! Oh and did I mention, the music! Because... THE MUSIC!  I've been a lifelong fan of Capcom ever since. Mega Man used to be my favorite Capcom franchise. Eventually it became Street Fighter and later in life it became Devil May Cry. So it's almost like I've grown up with Capcom throughout the years. As I've matured so have my interests. So of course I’m going to attend a concert that features music from Capcom video games because… Just in case I haven’t mentioned this before… THE MUSIC!

The Capcom Live Band spun out of Video Games Orchestra. Video Games Orchestra has their own show called Video Games Live where they play music from lots of different video games. I've seen them perform twice and I definitely recommend checking them out if they come to your neck of the woods!

The members of the Capcom Live Band originate from Boston. They made the Chrono Trigger song that was performed at Video Games Live and is available on one of the Video Games Live CDs. Well they have broken off into their own thing just to perform Capcom music but they will still get down with Video Games Live when the occasion arises.

On to the performance! I also saw Capcom Live perform at Anime Next in 2017 so I will be comparing both performances.  Spotlighting what was different between both shows when I can.

So first up at the New York show was an arrangement featuring a lot of classic Capcom video games while they displayed video footage of said games. The first one was Commando, the first Capcom game I ever played in an arcade a long time ago! Followed by Trojan, Sonson, 1942, Strider, the NES version of Bionic Commando and wrapping up with Ghosts 'n Goblins!

On to Street Fighter! They played the intro song from Street Fighter II. You may be more familiar with it as Ryu's theme in the first Marvel vs. Capcom game or the intro song to the American Street Fighter cartoon. "Ba Da Da Da Daaaa Da Daaaa!" You know that song! While the track played we got to see Ryu face off against a lot of the Street Fighter II characters finishing up with his confrontation against Master Bison! The next track was a medley they also do at Video Games Live. Ryu, Guile and Ken's themes mashed together as a rock song. When they did this at Anime Next they showed images from the HD version of Street Fighter II, essentially the new imagery from Studio Udon that you can currently see in Ultra Street Fighter II The Final Challengers on the Nintendo Switch. For the New York show they stuck with imagery from the original version of Street Fighter II. While I fig both versions and Udon did an amazing job, I liked seeing the older version at a show like this. Events like these are even better when they evoke nostalgia.

Now for something new! They played the music you hear in Street Fighter V when you are in the mode select screen or waiting for an online match. Now if you've upgraded to Street Fighter V Arcade Edition it is no longer the first song that plays,  but if you stay on mode select long enough you'll hear it. It's the song that starts off with a Spanish guitar. You know, I never even gave too much thought to the Spanish guitar that comes on during the track until I heard it live. I'm Latino so naturally my heritage woke up WORD! What was cool is that a performer who looked kind of like Reuben Langon (AKA Dante's voice and motion capture actor in the Devil May Cry series) just with longer blonde hair and a smaller frame sang English lyrics to that Street Fighter V song! The singer's name is David Vives by the way.

So yeah we got a Dante look alike IN THE HIZOOOOOOUSE so OF COURSE he's going to sing something from Devil May Cry! When the beginning of Devil May Cry 4's "We Shall Never Surrender" (AKA my current smartphone ring tone heh heh heh) started playing David Vives yelled for everyone to get up! I was sitting down and normally don't get up and dance,  pretty much ever unless I am drunk out of my skull. But I love Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition. I played that game until I finished Bloody Palace Mode with Dante and Vergil, and I still fire it up now and again. So if you tell me to get up and dance during a Devil May Cry 4 song MAAAAANG I'm gonna be on my feet dancing all night and that's how I spent the remainder of the concert! So David sang the lyrics to the song and the New York venue had two levels. When he got to the middle part of the song that sounds like a prayer sermon he got up on the balcony level and looked down at those of us on the lower level. For the third part we all sang "Come With Me. We'll Fight Until Eternity..." We all raised our arms and waved them left arms right. So much fun. Felt like I was part of the game for a bit. I didn't get Lady's phone number though. D'OH!

"Go Tell Aunt Rhody!" You guessed it! David Vives sang the main song from Resident Evil VII. He did this at Anime Next too and when I went to the bathroom at that event someone in the stall near me asked me if David was the original singer of that song in the game. Um nah it's a cover the song is sung by a female in the game, Jordan Reyne. That just goes to show how talented David is!

Monster Hunter time! At Anime Next the band was surprised that there were a lot of Monster Hunter fans in the audience since the franchise is a lot bigger in Japan. Well it wasn't a shock that there were even more Monster Hunter fans in New York since this year we saw the release of Monster Hunter World, which has become the highest selling video game Capcom has ever made! We got to hear three Monster Hunter instrumental tracks while seeing images of warriors, Felynes and Monsters on the screen!

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney time! I didn't hear any OBJECTION to that! First they played the famous arrangement from the first game followed by some music from the latest game. The music from part 6 was accompanied by footage and anime cut scenes from the game!

Video Games Live has this great set that includes the Mega Man 2 intro song, the Mega Man 3 intro song and the famous music from Doctor Wily's castle from Mega Man 2. I wish we did hear that track at Capcom Live, but I've been to two of their shows now and that hasn't happened yet. The tracks they do play are really cool though. First up is a rock version of Cut Man's theme from Mega Man 1. I'm still dancing at this point so I can cut a rug to Cut Man's theme word! After that there's a Spark Mandrel theme from Mega Man X!

SENGOKU BASARA OH MY GOD! I knew that it was part of their show in Japan since it's way more popular there but I never expected to hear any of it in the US. It wasn't at Anime Next but New York definitely had my fam Date Masamune, Sanada Yukimura, Kasuga and more up on the screen while they played the main track of the last game we did get in the US, Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes. Myself I'm a huge fan of the series but it's not always at the top of my mind when I think of Capcom because I always have to import the games to play them. Playstation 3 and 4 are region free systems and there are lots of online guides to help you play the games so this isn't extremely difficult to do at least. As an aside, the current Gakuen Basara anime airing on HiDive is hilarious and makes me laugh every week! Check it out if you can,  the Sengoku Basara franchise needs all the love it can get in the West!

That's not all for Sengoku Basara! Following that track they had a special song for Ii Naotora! Wait a second hang on, she debuts in part 4 and has never been on an American console. So this must be a track just for their Japanese show right? Wrong! They played her main theme while David sang lyrics to the tune, AND THE LYRICS WERE IN ENGLISH! THE SONG WAS JUST FOR US! WE WENT NUTS AAAAAH!!!!! I guess this is how young women felt in the 60s when the Beatles performed! The footage on the screen was a lot of Sengoku Basara part 4 with a bit of 3 mixed in. Anyway,  go ahead and import some games. The universe said it's okay!

Two Okami tracks! One instrumental and another with English lyrics. For the one with lyrics we were asked to hold up our smart phones and wave them from side to side. So a few days prior to the show my Samsung S4 got water damaged and I upgraded to a Samsung S9. The flashlight button on my S9 is much easier to locate and a lot brighter than my S4, so it was way better for this candlelight... or smartphone light vigil! Big up to the Okami God Amaterasu for messing up my S4 to make me get an S9 so I could be concert ready word!

Since this was the first time the Capcom Live Band played in New York City they wanted to play something special for us. At Anime Next, since it's an anime convention we got to hear the One Piece "We Are" song in English and The Attack on Titan original intro song in it's original language. Well us New Yorkers got something a little different. David Vives noticed that some of us went nuts and jumped up and down during the Sengoku Basara songs. That was me of course! So they played the Van Halen song "JUMP" for us! I guess it didn't have much to do with Capcom, but  if you hear it you can think of Bionic Commando 2 Rearmed where they added the jump feature. Only maybe pretend Rad jumped into a barbershop and got rid of that stupid mustache! Not a fan of that mustache! The Shinkiro design from Grin's first Bionic Commando Rearmed game is my favorite.

The show closed out with a Resident Evil 6 song with English lyrics! 6 is not my personal favorite Resident Evil game, but it's a good song to close things out with! Also 7 is such a departure from all of the previous games so it was nice to see a few familiar faces up on the screen.

ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE! We all chanted for an encore and we got it! David Vives sang the first Attack on Titans intro song in Japanese and German, "Feuerroter Pfeil und Boge" for us just as he did in Anime Next! And hey this one is kind of Capcom related since Capcom almost made an Attack on Titan Japanese arcade game! Something fell through the cracks and it didn't happen. However it's probably for the best since Arthur from Ghost 'n Goblins would sneak into the arcade machine and defeat all of the Titans in two seconds. Oh hey I saw a documentary called "Wreck-It Ralph." Stuff like that is possible I tell you!

Suffice it to say I had an amazing time both times I attended the concert,  but I had more fun at the New York show. Mainly because the energy was different and there were a lot more of us dancing and having a good time. There's things I'm leaving out like how each member gets introduced to us and they get to shred on their instruments. The was also stage diving and fun stuff like that but those are the parts you are better off experiencing yourself.

Final grade: I give the concert 5 Felicias from Darkstalkers performing in front of a live audience out of 5! If you're a fan of Capcom music and games or if you just want to hear some cool music accompanied by nice imagery and have a good time I definitely recommend checking out Capcom Live! - Anthony

http://www.capcomlive.com/

[recentanimenews]

Check Out October's Crunchyroll/Funimation Home Video Releases!

  Crunchyroll and Funimation have teamed up to release collections of anime series on Blu-ray and DVD in North America. The newest slate of titles are now available for pre-order for release in October 2018. The new releases include:

  Taboo Tattoo- BD/Fun Digital Standard Essentials Edition

A tattoo is an ancient weapon that enhances the physical ability of its user, known as a Sealed, allowing him to bring forth supernatural phenomena when activated by his own unique trigger. When Justice Akatsuka—a.k.a. Seigi—saves a man from some street punks, the man gives him a strange stone as a token of gratitude. The moment Seigi accepts it, a mysterious tattoo appears on his palm. And so the battle begins, framed by a web of conspiracies and centering around Justice Akatsuka—the boy who obtained a tattoo by complete chance.

  91 Days - The Complete Series - BD/Fun Digital Essentials Edition

  Prohibition—a lawless era where bootleggers prosper and mobsters prowl. In this murky world, blood is shed without regard or regret and for Angelo Lagusa, it’s all he knows. After the Vanetti Mafia murders his family, Angelo is left alone, the burn of revenge just a flickering light until he receives a letter that holds the key to vengeance in the form of a hit list. But there’s a catch—he’ll have to get close to the Vanetti family by befriending the don’s son, Nero. Working side-by-side with the future don, Angelo becomes Avilio Bruno, a loyal hired gun with a talent for pickpocketing and quick planning. As the days dwindle away, Avilio and Nero grow closer and the kill list gets shorter. But between two families at odds and every target on Nero’s head, the two find themselves in a world of trouble. When it comes down to it, will Avilio—no, Angelo—pull the trigger on a man who considers him family?

  Orange - The Complete Series - BD/Fun Digital  Essentials Edition  

  What if you could write to the past? Second-year student Naho Takamiya thinks it’s a joke when she receives a letter from her 26-year-old self, forewarning the tragic future of a boy named Kakeru. But the advice proves true when he transfers to her school—just like the letter predicted. As their lives intertwine, Kakeru’s dark past keeps him from opening up to anyone, and every day becomes a challenge for Naho to change his future. Fortunately, she isn’t all alone in her task. Surrounded by a close group of friends, there may be more hope than Naho expected. Will their combined efforts be enough to prevent the greatest regret of their lives?

  JUNI TAISEN - The ZODIAC WAR - Season One BD/DVD/Fun Digital Essentials Edition 

Eye of a tiger, head of a boar—there’s plenty of death in store! Everyone, clap your hands! The time has come for the deadly Twelfth Juni Taisen Tournament to begin. In a barren city, twelve proud warriors will go head to head in a bloody battle royal for the sake of a single wish. Bearing the name of a zodiac animal, these fighters are far more terrifying than beasts, possessing their own special moves and motives. Ready to cut through anything and anyone for victory, they’ll put more than pride on the line—but there could be more to this bloodbath than they could ever realize. From unlimited ammunition to raising the dead, the skills of these fighters will prove deadlier than anything they’ve ever faced, and only one lone champion will be left standing.

  Yamada-kun and The Seven Witches - The Complete Series - Essentials - BD+Fun Digital

  Suzaku High School has a big secret. One that punk student Ryu Yamada finds himself tangled in after a literal run-in with honor student Urara Shiraishi. The two find themselves in a bizarre body swap caused by…a kiss?! A convenient albeit weird new trick, the two keep switching places (and kissing!) until they’re found out by student council member Miyamura. Rather than give them away, he has a better idea—reform the Supernatural Studies Club. A great cover up…except for the fact that Yamada keeps kissing everyone! Soon they learn they that aren’t the only two with abilities. In fact, school legend speaks of seven witches—female students gifted with different powers. But when they start seeking out the witches, they find themselves in a situation more dangerous than expected. Secrets kept by the student council, the powers that lie with the witches, and the possibility of losing everyone he’s grown close to—are the answers Yamada seeks worth the cost of everything he holds dear?

  Recovery of an MMO Junkie  - The Complete Series - BD/DVD/Fun Digital

Moriko Morioka is logging out of real life and into the online world of gaming! After a less than ideal experience working in the real world, Moriko is ready to give up. Tired of the day-to-day grind, she’s giving in to the NEET lifestyle by devoting her time to the online game, Fruits de Mer. With this exciting fantasy world, her handsome character Hayashi, and a guild of devoted friends, her new life is set! But when Hayashi meets the sweet and cute Lily, Moriko falls into a complicated relationship. Even more so when the player behind Lily is the kind and good-looking salaryman, Yuta Sakurai. With new friends and a newfound love, Moriko is about to gain an epic amount of life experience!

  NANBAKA Part 2 - BD/DVD Fun Digital

After the drama with Jyugo, it’s time to set things back to easy mode. After all—this is a comedy anime! But before the boys of cell block 13 can get too comfortable, trouble begins to stir in Building 5. A powerful former guard, imprisoned for killing an inmate has suddenly escaped—along with some deadly allies. While the warden is out and the guards imprisoned, it’s up to the group of goofs to figure out how to save the prison. But in their mission, they’ll face unexpected trouble—like Nico’s missing medicine, possessed guards, and a giant in a pig mask!

Making their way through the prison continues to unearth more secrets and dangers. Can the idiots survive Nanba or will they finally meet their end?

  Re:ZERO - Starting Life in Another World - Season One Part Two - BD/DVD+Fun Digital

After suffering a humiliating beating and possibly ruining his relationship with Emilia, Natsuki Subaru begins acting rashly. Determined to be by her side once more, he does whatever it takes but the consequences are severe. Over and over he sees her dead, sees Rem completely wrecked until finally…he snaps. Repeatedly facing death, seeing everyone he cares about die—it finally takes its toll. Shoved into a corner, he must decide: does he give up or finally own up to his failures? Up against the legendary white whale and the evil Witch’s Cult, Subaru will be forced to do whatever it takes to stop a dark, cold future where everyone he loves dies. But is his power to “Return by Death” enough to save everyone? Or does the darkness looming over him have other plans?

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com