Street Fighter II V

Personally, I really liked the approach the staff did with this series by making Ken and Ryu teenagers. Putting them at that age gives better and more sensible opportunities for character development and sets things in a whole new perspective. OK, what I am going to say is a spoiler, but I need to mention it for multiple reasons, one of the reasons is to mention a negative and to inform those who are fans of those characters who want to see this series: T.Hawk, E. Honda, and Blanka are not in this series, and Akuma only has on screen cameos. So fans of those ... characters may find it disappointing. But I don’t see how they could fit at some points and it’s better to not have them, than have them and be useless which was a problem I had with Final Fantasy VII Advent Children which had many useless cast members. I also liked how the fights with Guile symbolized that Ken and Ryu only know what they have their training, and lack the reality combat experience Guile has on not just on the streets, but in the battlefield which defines that difference between them. And then, beomes a story of two young men trying to discover themselves goes on from there on how they must stop M. Bison, etc. But each thing is taken one step at a time to develop and connects very well. So because of the flow of the story and the liberties that was taken to open to new opportunities.

Some of the character design has been changed and is not what you’re used to. Ryu tends to look more like Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue except without his jacket, and his trademark bandana is not at all present. But it’s not the bandana that defines the man, it’s the man that defines the bandana, but in place of the bandana, Ryu wears a rosary given to him by a girl who worked with him at the island. Ken’s design is faithful to the game design. Guile’s haircut isn’t really that exaggerated. Chun Li is really cute, but doesn’t have her hair buns. But even if they are changed, they are still recognizable and I feel that this adds it’s own dose of originality. Afterall, this is Street Fighter II V, it doesn’t have to be the game to be great sometimes. The Animated Movie already served that purpose. However, my main beef with the art is of course is how the guys look like they’re on as much steroids as a pro wrestler.

The action is just superb. It’s nothing over the top by relying too much on the fireballs or other trademark moves, it’s pure raw martial arts high-octane action. Granted it’s not to the technical and dramatic level of the movie, but it does have it’s own sense of intensity and style that stands out. It’s really expressive in its own way and tells a story of what the fighters are fighting for, and how they’re struggling. The characters’ fighting styles are well represented in the series such as Guile’s experience, Ken and Ryu’s power and speed, and Chun Li’s agility. So fans will not be disappointed and those not familiar to Street Fighter will still be amazed regardless.

This anime can be viewable in both Japanese and English. The English cast is very good. Ryu is portrayed as someone that is young, but yet mature and serious. Ken is portrayed as a guy who likes to mess around at times, and Guile sounds like a seasoned veteran. So the actors play their roles in a way that you expect to play them in. And naturally, I will know more and tend to favor the Japanese cast if you are at all familiar with my reviews. The Japanese cast, like the English cast, do their roles the way you expect them to do it. For seiyuu buffs, Ryu is played by Tsujitani Kouji, the voice of Miroku in Inuyasha, Seabook Arno from Gundam F91, and Bernie Wiseman in Gundam 0080. Chun Li is played by Yokoyama Chisa who is also famous for Sasami in Tenchi, and Sakura in Sakura Taisen. And believe me, seiyuu buffs maybe don’t want to miss this one. Though you may like the Japanese voices better, the English voices, though not as big named as the Japanese cast, you have to give credit for doing their roles with accuracy to the personalities of their characters.

The music is also an awesome addicting trait this anime has. Unfortunately, the DVD set that I have released by Manga entertainment took out the Japanese themes which were in the subtitled VHS releases, but still keeps the weird Eastern esque techno songs which are pretty cool, but it also hurts what also defines anime by promoting great lyrical songs such as the opening theme Kaze Fuiteru, and Cry, the ending theme. Both songs are very energetic and inspirational and go along to those themes of the anime.

All I can say is, whether or you’re not you’re a Street Fighter fan, this is worth a shot. The story is a bit generic, but I still call it short being cliché. I mean, this starts out as a story about having fun, facing reality, conquering your fear, discovering yourself, and saving the world. But even though I describe the nature with negative labels, I feel I can describe this in a positive way that it does flow one step at a time, and the characters, at least the good guys, have excellent development, though it’s what you expect in martial arts media in addition to great action.

When I first heard about this anime, I was highly skeptical about it. Although the idea of an anime based on Street Fighter was exciting to me, I had serious doubts as to whether it would be worth watching. Furthermore, when I learned that the anime was in English, it further deterred me from watching it. During my anime watching experience, I have always despised the thought of dubbed shows because IMHO it loses a lot of character originating from the Japanese language (subbed). Anyway, for weeks the title SF2V was persistently sitting at the back of my mind until I finally decided to watch ... the first episode. To my amazement, I was shocked to learn that all my preconceptions of this anime were wrong. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this is one of the best anime ever because it is not. But, it certainly exceeded my expectations and I must admit that I enjoyed watching this show till the very end.

STORY: 7/10
The premise of this anime revolves around Ryu and Ken's characters, who are 17 year olds btw. While training in Japan, Ryu receives a letter from Ken containing a plane ticket for the US, some money and the words "come to America" written in the letter. After giving it some brief thought, he decides to visit Ken. Upon arriving in the states, he is happy to have met ken after years and he is overwhelmed by Ken's luxurious lifestyle (yes, ken is very rich as expected). From this point onwards, the infamous duo get up to a lot of mischief, leading to major fist fights in a bar where they are confronted with a strong rival (I will not state the name of the character because it will spoil it for you). The conclusion of the fight motivates them to travel the world in pursuit of highly skilled warriors so that they can put their skills to the test in order to find out who the strongest fighter in the world is. The overall story has a nice flow to it and I am sure you will enjoy it.

ART: 8/10
To my amazement, the art was quite good. Please note that Ryu and Ken do not look like they do in the SF games so do not be disappointed when you find that their appearance is completely different. In my opinion, they were drawn very well and the fight scenes were nicely executed. The same applies to the rest of the characters.

SOUND: 7/10
I was expecting the anime to have music themes from the SF game, so I must say that this was quite a big disappointment for me :( Even so, the sound effects were good enough for the show but I think they could have easily included the original themes from the game which IMO would have improved the sound aspects of the anime considerably and would have probably received more of a fan base.

CHARACTER: 7/10
OK, first of all the chemistry between all the characters were quite strong. It is easy to see for instance the brotherly relationship between Ryu and Ken, so this was one of the strong points in terms of their characters. However, some of the dialog was quite corny and out of place at times but this is not a big deal. Also, for all you SF fans out there who are yet to watch this show, these are the characters that star in the show (other than Ryu and ken). Chun-Li, Guile, Balrog, Dhalsim, Cammy, Vega, Furlong, Nash aka Charlie, Sagat, M-Bison. If I have missed out any characters, then accept my apologies. Akuma does appear in the show but only as cameos so be warned that he does NOT have an active role in the show.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10
I found this anime to be fairly enjoyable. The story, character development, chemistry, fight scenes together with the overall presence to the show makes this a worthwhile watch. Overall, I score this anime 7/10. I must confess that I score quite strictly so a 7/10 for me may perhaps be an 8 for you. I am not sure but regardless of my score, I suggest that you watch this one especially if you are a SF fan. It is definitely worth a watch.

Time again to look at a nostalgic "classic" of the past. Street Fighter 2: the anime, had everyone in the 1990s absolutely PSYCHED! After the laughably bad American movie and an even worse American cartoon adaptation on the USA channel, Street Fighter was finally going to get the masterful adaptation it deserved and bring our favorite characters to the small screen.

Unfortunately, Street Fighter 2V really dropped the ball in my opinion. I had already seen Street Fighter get two butchered adaptations, so I really wanted this version to actually stay true to the story of the games and the personality of the characters. It ... isn't like Street Fighter was a literary masterpiece, but if you want to change everything about the plot and characters, then why bother adapting Street Fighter? Why not just make your own series with your own characters? Ryu is always dead serious in the games and never smiles...not....once! In the anime they turned Ryu into a Goku clone who is absolutely giddy that he gets to fight the next strong opponent and beat him up. Bison was always portrayed as a military mastermind who was like a mix between Napoleon and a 3rd world dictator with super powers. Yet in the anime, he takes his orders from a magical statue! Bison don't take shit from anyone! They turned Street Fighter into the Jacky Chan cartoon! It only gets worse. Instead of Vega and Sagat being Bison's 2 henchmen, the anime copied the American movie and made Zangief Bison's main minion. Why is this a problem? EVERY LINE Gief says is Russia this and Russia that. He is a diehard patriot that even invites Gorbachev to his victory if you beat the game as him. Why would he work for Shadowloo, who is at war with Russia? Zangief is stupid as shit, but he is NOT supposed to be evil, let alone a traitor to his country! They completely murdered his character! They try to pass Guile off as a legit badass with no tongue in cheek or comments about "taking care of your family". What is worse, he doesn't do the sonic boom. Not once. That's like the ONLY move he has! Yet the anime wanted to create a bullshit rule in which only Ryu and Bison can use Ki attacks. What the fuck? At least they didn't make Balrog a computer hacker who types while wearing boxing gloves for no reason. I guess 2V is still slightly less silly than the American cartoon. However, in retrospect at least the US toon was so stupid it's funny. Street Fighter 2V is mostly just boring.

Animation: 3/10

So you think you know bad 90s anime art right? You've seen recycled animations, lazy use of still shots and key frames with a ridiculously low number of frames per second. You may not have seen animation quite as lazy as Street Fighter 2V. I mean this shit actually stands out as notably bad by even the low standards of 90s anime OVAs. At least the 2V movie looked awesome. It wasn't a good movie by any means, but the animation looked spectacular!

Overall: 5/10

If you grew up playing Street Fighter as a kid, or if you are younger and are simply curious about cheesy, old anime, you owe it to yourself to watch a few episodes of this show. At least you might get a few laughs. I'm still going to give it a fairly generous score because I REALLY liked the Street Fighter games and this was still amusing for me despite its...flaws. Street Fighter 2V gets a 5 out of 10.

This was a great anime, regardless if your a street fighter fan or not its worth a look at.

I personally love street fighter, and got hooked with this anime for sure. Its true to the story and the character representation is on point. What i like about this series it shows when Ryu was younger so he was not as serious as we see him to be in the games, but through his travel and experience and encouters with other characters, like Dhalsim and Sagat he matures, and grows as a person and character as well. The animation is really good, and the voice acting ... is nice as well

The thing i really love the music for this anime as well, particular the theme song, and motivational them they play from time to time, also a scene were ryu fights guile at a bar and the music in that particular scene is amazing.

Its one of my favorite anime of all time.

Ahhh, "Street Fighter II V"... this brings back memories! I watched this series (dubbed) in my ignorant youth when anime, to me, was all about badassery and hot blooded action. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this series: it had "Street Fighter II" connections, and the action seemed uber cool, making most western cartoon seem tame in comparison. Despite being vaguely aware of the corny-ness of the dub and the atrocious amount of reused animation, it was everything that anime meant to me at the time.

Now, this trip down memory lane might seem out of place in a review, but (in addition to being ... self indulgent,) there's actually a point buried within my ramblings: while I now look back and acknowledge that this probably isn't a great anime, it's tricky for me to judge it properly through the rose tinted veil of nostalgia. So with that in mind, time to move on to the meat of the review.

"Street Fighter II V", unlike "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie", is not a faithful adaptation to the storyline established in the games. In fact, it takes an approach not too dis-similar to that other "Street Fighter" movie, you know, that awful live action one featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue. No, I don't mean that "Street Fighter II V" features Jean-Claude Van Damme (not as far as I know anyway). Nor Kylie Minogue. The two are similar in their treatment of Ryu and Ken - in both they're portrayed as a couple of brats running around causing trouble. Unlike that Van Damme movie though, the two of them (and not Guile) are still the main characters, and the series follows them on their journey to become stronger fighters, and gradually maturing in the process.

Being a purist at heart, I wasn't initally keen on the story deviating so far from the one in the game, but I warmed to it - it ends up as a more sophisticated story than the original, which was only intended to be an excuse to have a brawl. The show's treatment of Street Fighter side characters is also a pleasant break from tradition: instead of just throwing them in cameo scenes, they get a lot more focus and are properly worked into the main story, giving them a greater sense of depth. The roles of these characters deviate somewhat from the original but not without certain similarities: here, Sagat is a former Muay Thai champ wrongfully imprisoned after refusing to cooperate with a crime syndicate; Cammy is a former MI6 agent turned mercenary assassin; Akuma is... well, he still only appears in cameos. Presumably, they couldn't find a role badass enough to suit a guy with flaming red hair and glowing, demonic red eyes. Most of the role alterations in "Street Fighter II V" work out pretty well, but inevitably there are some stinkers - Balrog's pretty damn lame, for one... he can't even fight!

Character design wise, there are some puzzling changes - why does Ken have ginger hair, for example - and overall it's a bit of a mixed bag. Ryu and Ken aren't particularly interesting, but at least they get some development. Chun Li is annoyingly like a typical anime school girl, and Bison's psychotic personality is criminally over done - he must have spent over an hour of screen time doing his villainous laugh (which also creases his face up like a hundred year old coffin dodger) and another hour strangling people (to the point where I wanted to strange HIM). He features more towards the later part of the series, and as you probably guessed from my description just now, his scenes kinda dragged.

The problem isn't just with him though - while "Street Figher II V" was never what anyone would call fast paced, it slows down terribly towards the end. The episodes are filled up mostly by the characters dicking around, such as Bison laughing, Ken having recurring nightmares, Bison laughing some more, etc. The amount of reused animation and general meandering completely kills off any tension the anime is trying to build up in the climax. It seems likely that by then, the series was desperately trying to stretch its shoe string budget and the over extended story to cover the whole 29 episodes... god knows why they needed so many when the material could barely cover 20.

Some of the fights themselves can be quite good when they're not being prolonged/recycled too much. There are some thrilling moments and the anime makes good use of tricks such as colour inversion to heighten the drama of the fights. One major complaint I have is that the special moves from the games are used sparingly, some of them not at all, and some of the ones that are used are toned down to give the fights a more down to earth feel. It's all very good watching Ryu and Ken learning their hadoukens and dragon punches and whatnot, but the problem is, when you're watching an anime based off a fighting game and you don't see the characters pulling off their signature moves with a certain amount of regularlity, then something feels severely lacking. Perhaps this makes "Street Figher II V" more accessible to those who unfamiliar with the game, but it's a bit of a let down to those who are. After all, why else would I be watching this show? For the story??

It's hard to judge the audio department of "Street Fighter II V" fairly because I watched it in dub and the dub is very cheesey. Though it's possible that the original Japanese performances are better, at least some of the cheesiness is contributed by terrible script. In terms of music, the series has a few nice tracks, the most memorable of which is often played when Ryu is gathering up his hadou (some sort of spirit energy) - you know it's good when it can make these half hour training sessions tolerable. For the most part, the background music is handled well, though there were some very dodgy tracks that stuck out.

"Street Fighter II V" tries to find middle ground between satisfying fans of the game and those who know very little about it, and ends up not doing too well at either. But hey, though it has its share of problems, at least it doesn't suck sh*t like the Van Damme movie. Though I guess that's not saying much...

(Note: I just copy+pasted this from my review at tv.com)
(Also note that I watched the English dub)

"There was a Street Fighter anime?" I thought to myself when my sister had three Street Fighter DVDs in her hands; a Street Fighter movie and the complete first season of Street Fighter II: V. I watched the movie first; it was nothing special, and somewhat boring. A couple of weeks after that I started watching the anime. The theme song and opening was pretty lame... I would have preferred some Jpop or Jrock for the theme song over some sort of rockish song that's trying to be cool... ... and that opening sequence just went on and on... I was like, "When does the show start?".
So the show started, and almost everyone's personalities were very suiting for their characters. The show had a few funny moments. There were quite a few cool fight scenes, and there was some pretty intense emotion a few times. When they introduced Vega... man, they did him perfectly. Vega and Ken's fight was pretty intense; the way how Vega stabbed his claws right into Ken's foot, and those brutal slashes he marked Ken's body with. I was hoping to see some of the Izuna Drops Vega does in the game, but then again the series used basically any special move as a huge deal. Who would have thought a simple Hadouken would be such an intense move? Anyhow, Vega and Ken's fight... That Shoryuken was beautifully executed.
My main problem with the show was that they repeated scenes way too much... ESPECIALLY Ryu's practicing Hadou and Chun Li being hypnotised by Vega. Those things really interrupted some important parts of the show, which was very annoying. Overall a great show though, definitely worth watching.

As a long time Street Fighter fan, I had high hopes for this anime revolving around the teenage life of Ryu and Ken. I also eagerly awaited certain episodes where they interacted with other Street Fighter characters in a new light (ie. Ryu being friendly with Sagat, Ken sparring with Fei Long).

Unfortunately, this series ultimately failed to live up to my hopes all because of one major flaw: PAINFULLY SLOW PACING. It's almost as if after every sentence is uttered, there's a dramatic pause in between to lengthen the show. It also takes an entire episode for a hadouken that Ryu is charging to ... finally fire; until then, it's just a horribly slow build up where they're staring down, and any viewers nearby have a mental monologue of what they think about the situation. That, right there, is bad editing and directing at its finest.

SF2V had a lot going for it. Its premise is good, it's art style is excellent, and when some fighting scenes do happen, they're riveting. But the pacing was so abysmal, I actually dropped the series halfway through, then convinced myself to finish it just so I could write this review.

I don't know, maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did. But if anyone had something to complain about Log Horizon and Attack on Titan's pacing, they might want to watch this show to get a better perspective of how bad a show's pacing can truly get.

Story: 7
Art: 8
Sound: 7
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 2
Overall: 3

Street Fighter's run in anime may have been a commercial success, mostly due more to Capcom's monsterous marketing as opposed to making any kind of sense whatsoever, but I feel cheated. I expected a lot more from an animated adaptation of the most popular fighting game ever made. SF: The Animated Movie, while it towers over the rest, isn't satisfying, and the Alpha movies are just wretched. So I thought I'd put a retrospective on what may be the most forgettable Street Fighter rendition since the U.S. Saturday morning cartoon, Street Fighter II V, from Manga Entertainment.
[STORY 5] I felt this TV series ... had a lot going for it. Where the other movies failed is that we already know that Ken and Ryu are good friends, but very little is emphasized on that aspect. Audiences are kind of robbed of the bond that they share and negates character development or a reason to care. I know that sounds like asking for much, but it's the best thing this series had going for it. Watching a sort of backstory on the friendship of Ken and Ryu reuniting for the first time since training as little squirts and reuniting as rascal teens was incredibly refreshing and fun, like a pre-Alpha alternate universe, with a cute-as-a-button 15 year old Chun Li, and teen action star Fei Long. No other fighting game adaptation pulled it off this well in the beginning. However, midway through the series, the plot an M. Bison-esque turn for the goofy. Maybe it's just me, but this villian doesn't fit in with Street Fighter. (What's the connection with the martial arts buddies in karate pajamas and the Megalomanic?) Lots of things make no sense, some characters are rewritten for what feels like no good reason, and it gets fairly boring about halfway through. Ryu is just learning the power of Hado, so you're subjected to watch him practice this skill, which takes about as long as Goku charging up the Spirit Bomb, and it's the same footage looped over and over. It gets tedious, and bogs the series down considerably.
[ART 7] The art is very good. I like the way some of the characters look, with the exception of Sagat and Cammy. First off, Sgat has two distinct features that signifies his appearance and he has NEITHER of them. Cammy just looks like a blonde assassin lady. I wasn't asking for a turtleneck thong ensemble (but I wouldn't be opposed), but she trots out in just boring black leather (yawn), she doesn't wear her hair in even remotely the same fashion, and she fights and kills with wires (remember her piano wire skill from Alpha 3? Me neither.) For a mid-to-late 90's anime, the action scenes are on par with Samurai Deeper Kyo or Outlaw Star in terms of animation. Lots of recycled footage gets noticable reather quickly and becomes grating. You'll find yourself saying, "she just did that kick!" a lot. Keep a close eye on Akuma cameos in the backgrounds.
[SOUND 7] I've only heard the Animaze dub, so I'll only judge the track off of that. The music is good, the voice acting is kind of cheesy, but cheesy-good. Nothing really spectacular about the score or the BGM, it gets the job done for the most part. Listening to Richard Cansino shriek as Vega was nails on a chalkboard for me.
[CHARACTER 4] While the central cast of Ryu, Ken, Guile, and Chun Li are represented alright enough (except for Ken proposing to a jail bait Chun Li), most of the cast from the game just show up to less than their console counterparts. Sagat is in prison, Balrog doesn't fight, Zangief is...well Zangief. Dhalsim seems to be the only other character that serves a direct purpose, a mentor character, but it becomes an afterthought rather quickly. And Vega probably has the best story arc in his battle with Ken. Other names aren't present, E. Honda, Blanka, etc.
Even without forced cameos from other members of the games, there was so much lost potential as to what to do with this cast. Guile is practically kicked out of the show until the final arc, where his beef with Bison is seemingly slapped together with the clumsy introduction to Charlie (Nash) who looks like Edward Norton crossed with James Lipton in this show. Cammy is wasted and disappears. Fei Long is useless anyways, but serves no real assistance in the fight against Shadowlaw. And M. Bison is just a pain to sit through. You're waiting to see this villian show up, but he really ruins everything, and has a completely classless scene with Chun Li that could've ended ten minutes sooner. I can only assume the author hates women.
[ENJOYMENT 4] This show starts on such a high note in the first nine episodes and then just cascades into boring really fast. Goofy subplots, cookie-cutter villians that don't belong in a Street Fighter storyline, underused characters, and a few throw-away episodes in the middle that could've been utilized better. The first couple of episodes are incredibly fun until the heroine cartel comes in and becomes a long-winded PSA about drug use. I'M NOT KIDDING.
[OVERALL 4] Street Fighter II V feels like the longest 29 episodes I've ever watched. It's not the worst I've seen, but there's so much lost potential, it's just deflating. I'm not sure why so many directors have failed with this sub-genre. It's just not satisfying, but it's not Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture.
Pros: Good fight scenes. Good voice acting.
Cons: Slow, not very interesting story. Poorly used cast.

This is a show, i feel, that was made for Fans of the Street Fighter games who are already familiar with the characters and their affiliations. Though there are some interesting threads such as learning how Ryu and Ken harness their Hadou power, and learning who trained Chun-Li and Fei Long in Martial Arts
for the most part the story is quite light and flighty with very little character development or plot-twists or turns. This is where the show falls flat the most for me as i was looking forward to learning more about who trained Ryu and Ken how to fight and how they deal ... with obstacles differently in their own way.
I also feel that Chun-Li, who is a great fighter in her own right, never got her time to shine in the show like she did in the Street Fighter II Movie.
If you are looking for a more in-depth look into the backstory or lore for Ken and Ryu id recommend the movie, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist instead.

That being said this show is a good time if you are looking to see more of the brotherly interactions between Ken and Ryu as they travel the world seeking new opponents and challenges. The action is entertaining for the most part (as well as surprisingly bloody) and the art and music ranges from ok to really well done. I think the highlight of the show by far is it's portrayal of the famous Hadou-Ken and Shoryu-ken and the sheer power both these moves possess, as well as how these moves feel for Ryu and Ken respectively when they learn to harness them.

Personally i feel the show is a bit long winded, instead of 29 episodes i would have preferred around 24 but i didnt mind too much since i was having a good time. If you are looking for a similar experience i would recommend the alternate iteration of the show which is Street Fighter II: The Animated movie, which is a lot shorter but just as enjoyable as the show.

Overall I would recommend the show to fans of the games or fans of 90's anime, i think there is enough here to keep both of those audiences entertained for the most part. If you are not a fan of the games though i do not think this show will get you more invested in the games or the characters.

A simple yet thoroughly addictive piece or work.I watched this a few years back,and have watched quite a few anime since then but few comes across as being anywhere near as entertaining as this is.Ryo and Ken are long time buds.Ken is the son of a rich billionaire father in the USA while ryu live a more humble life in Japan.One day after many years ryu gets a letter from his friend ken asking him to visit him.Ken decides that the two should ''hit the town'' and '' live it up''.While getting into a bar fight over a woman {surprise,surprise !}lol. they get the worst ... beating of their teenage lifes as their opponent shows them how pitiful their skills truly are.

They then decide to embark on a journey to travel the world and gain strength by fighting new opponents.Along the way they get themselves into all kind of trouble with gangs,internatinal crime syndicate and bad guys of all kinds.

Now I know what you're thinking this is just another bad guy come,bad guy gets but kick,mindless beat em up right,Wrong .This anime is fast paced entertainment as the fights scene are just awesome,every move is well choreographed and the sound affects gives the fights a intensity that draws you in.

The characters whether good are bad have their own unique style and individuality that makes them fun to watch.The cast are very realistic in their attitude and dont act strange or overly cutsey in a quest to come off as original.There is also some nice humour in this anime.

The opening and closeing thems are the same,an energetic rock/techno beat that goes well with the feel of the anime and you'll just love to hear .

The animation is also wel done,having good detail along with good background
scenes.If you love action with great characters this anime is for you.it will make you. GOTTA BURN SOME MUSCLE !

I finally decided to see this anime after trying firsthand and finishing Street Fighter II on my Switch for the first time (a unique emotion).
I would say it helps a lot to understand the story behind the game and the reasons that push these "street fighters" to face each other.
I state that I watched it dubbed in my language, but I was still positively surprised to hear the correct names of the moves and their reproduction. I'm just sorry that the designs of some fighters are not very faithful to those of the original work, but I was very amused by the way they make ... Akuma appear in different scenes, in a totally random way, and I would really like to know why (not is present in the game).
Byson's style drives me crazy and scary at the same time: he has a superhuman build and even those vampire fangs don't help. 😆
I'm looking forward to see the movies too.

Okay I'll admit I'm a little biased when writing this review I'm a huge fan of the street fighter video games so it would be obvious that I would like the anime as well.
Story- I felt the storyline was good considering what it is based off I mean beat em up as they come matches the style perfectly.
Art- I was really impressed actually given when this was made the animation and art was pretty good.
Sound- I loved the sound effects and I loved the opening my only problem is that no existing copy of the opening's name seems to exist to my disapointment. I didn't ... like the voice actors though...go figure.
Character- All your favorites from street fighter are here so yes enjoy.
Enjoyment- I love martial arts and I love street fighter so I enjoyed this anime a lot.
Overall- It's good I mean it's not liquid gold and it most certainly will not be enjoyed by most people who are not a fan of street fighter but for those of us who are we will find gratification in watching it.

It's Street Fighter but know as we know it.

Following on from the success of the Street Fighter II Animated Movie in 1994, animation studio Group Tac and director Gisaburō Sugii would return to Street Fighter in 1995 with Street Fighter II V, or Street Fighter II Victory as it's also known, a 29 episode TV series (the show's title being a play on this as 2 V sounds like TV) that unlike it's movie predecessor which was a somewhat faithful adaptation of the Street Fighter II video game would take many liberties from it's source material, particularly with the characters in terms of their ... designs, personalities and back stories.
For example, Ryu is 17 years old who is more happy-go-lucky and simple minded as opposed to his more stern and stoic personality he's known for. His design has also been significantly altered with his trademark headband now being traded for a prayer bead bracelet and he now sports spiked up hair which makes him look more like Akira from Sega's Virtua Fighter.
Ken, also 17, is a red head instead of blonde and Chun Li is now a tour guide instead of an Interpol officer seeking revenge for her the murder of her father, who is very much alive in this series.

Like the Street Fighter II movie, Street Fighter II V is primarily based on the game Super Street Fighter II Turbo and features most of the game's roster of characters. Only Blanka, E.Honda, Dee Jay and T.Hawk do not appear in the series. Though Akuma does make a few background cameos here and there.

The series follows Ryu and Ken who after suffering a brutal defeat at the hands of Guile after a run in with some U.S. Air Force officers at a bar one night, decide to go on a globe trotting journey to improve their martial arts skills, meeting various other characters from the Street Fighter game along the way such as Chun Li, Fei Long, Sagat and Dhalsim, eventually leading to a run in with the organisation Shadowlaw and it's mastermind, the evil and enigmatic M. Bison.

Story wise, Street Fighter II V isn't anything all that special. Most of the first half of the show's episodes consist of Ryu and Ken getting in some situation, a fight happens and the situation is resolved. That being said there are some good storylines in the first half such as Ryu being framed for drug possession while in Thailand leading to him being imprisoned with Sagat who has also been framed for the same crime while Ken tries to prove Ryu's innocence.
The characters aren't boring but they aren't anything special either as they don't really have much in the way of development and are rather one note (Ryu is the cheerful goofball who like a challenge, Ken is the cocky American rich kid, Chun Li is the peppy girl who can kick ass when she needs to, etc.). That being said the music in the series is nothing short of a masterpiece and contains many great music tracks that can easily be listened to outside of watching the show and the opening theme song, Kaze Fuiteru (The Wind Is Blowing) by Yuki Kuroda is a joy to listen to and oddly fits the series. Incidentally, the song was composed by J-Pop musician Ryo Aska who performed a song with his now defunct band Chage and Aska for the 1994 live action Street Fighter film.
The animation is also very well done with some fairly fluid fight scenes. Naturally it doesn't hold a candle to the Street Fighter II movie given that it's relegated to TV budget but it's certainly very impressive.

Interestingly, the series would receive two different English dubs. One dub produced by Animaze and Manga Entertainment which would be released in the U.S. and Australia that used a new instrumental theme for the opening and ending and a dub produced by ADV Films that was released exclusively to the U.K. that used the original Japanese opening and ending songs. Both of which where released on VHS in 1997. The Animaze/Manga dub even has many of the cast from the Street Fighter II movie return to reprise their roles from the film.
However, only the Animaze/Manga dub would see re-release on DVD with the ADV dub not receiving any kind of re-release, making the ADV dub something of a lost commodity.

Do I recommend Street Fighter II V? Absolutely! Especially if you're a fan of the Street Fighter franchise as a whole. However the changes made to the characters may throw some fans or people familiar with Street Fighter off as they are pretty drastic changes. All I can say is try to look past the deviations from the source material and try to look at it from the perspective that it's different to what you already know and just roll with and who knows, you might just find yourself having a good time with it.

When I first watched this, I was INSANE over “Street Fighter II V.” I was in love with it! It all surely began as I watched what would very soon become my favorite episode of it: “The Bloodthirsty Prince.” Yep, you heard THAT right, Vega was in the episode, and he completely made the episode a lot better than what I was going to expect. I also blasted off into space, and I was screaming “Vega!” while I was blasting off. I landed down to Earth an hour later, with a HUGE smile on my face, and I would say that it was my ... super all-time favorite. My heart would ALWAYS flutter like a little butterfly whenever I see Vega. This also syndicates that I consider him to be my favorite video game character. So, yeah. “The Bloodthirsty Prince” is a fantastic episode, in my book.