Street Fighter II V

Street Fighter 2 Victory

For the American animated series, see Street Fighter (TV series).

Street Fighter II V (ストリートファイターⅡ Ｖ, Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Bui^?, pronounced "two vee"), also known as Street Fighter II Victory, is an anime series based on Street Fighter II. Directed by Gisaburo Sugii, who also directed Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, the series first aired in Japan in 1995, from April 10 to November 27, on YTV. An English adaptation of the series was produced by Manga Entertainment in 1996 and was originally released on home video in North America and shown on television on SBS in Australia before being released on VHS (and later DVD) by Madman Entertainment.

Premise

The show is a loose adaptation of the Street Fighter II games, taking several liberties with the established storyline and characters from the games. The show follows the adventures of a young Ryu and Ken, as they go through a journey to improve their martial arts skills after they both experienced a brutal defeat at the hands of Guile. During the course of the series, Ryu and Ken become acquainted with other Street Fighter characters such as Chun-Li, Fei Long, Sagat, and Dhalsim. Eventually the duo find themselves involved with the criminal syndicate Shadowlaw, led by M. Bison, after defeating one of their subordinate organizations.

At the time of the show's production, Super Street Fighter II Turbo was the latest installment in the video game series. Out of the 16 characters appearing in Super Turbo, only E. Honda, Blanka, and Dee Jay were not featured in the TV show, T. Hawk appears in the Japanese opening. Akuma makes 10 cameo appearances during crowd scenes.

Characters

Character	Japanese Voice Actor	English Voice Actor	Notes
Ryu	Kôji Tsujitani	Skip Stellrecht	Ryu is the main protagonist. He's very dedicated to his martial arts and is always trying to better his own skills. He was raised in the Japanese countryside, and is as such a sort of country bumpkin. He and his best friend, Ken, have been training together since they were little kids. During their travels, he learns how to use a chi-based power called Hadō in the form of the Hadouken. Ryu does not wear a headband and sparring gloves throughout the series. Instead, he wears prayer beads on his hands, and has short spiky hair. Additionally, his personality is much more easy-going and light-hearted than his video game counterpart.
Ken	Kenji Haga	Jimmy Theodore	Ryu's best friend and the only son of the Masters family, said to be the richest family in America. He lives in San Francisco with his parents in a very large mansion - it takes twenty minutes to drive from the front yard to the main house! He too spends a lot of time training as well, but not as much as Ryu. Ken also rides a motorcycle. His mother is Japanese. Ken also learns to use the power of Hadō later on while being held captive by Shadowlaw. Only Ryu knows the Hadoken, while both he and Ken know the Shoryuken. Ken later upgrades the Shoryuken to the Hadou Shoryuken, and then shortens it to the Hadou Shoryu. Interestingly, in the English dub Ken still called the move Shoryuken while Ryu called it by its English translation; Rising Dragon Punch. Ken's personality and character design is extremely similar to his video game design.
Guile	Tesshô Genda	Kirk Thornton	Guile is a Sergeant in the United States Air Force. He has pride in both the Air Force and his men, and frequently goes out drinking with them whenever they can. He and his partner, Nash, have served together for many years in various missions and military conflicts. As a military person he is regularly found working out and lifting weights. He has won at least one boxing tournament and probably others not mentioned in the show. His martial art style that he uses in combat is loosely based on US Military Combatives, the official martial arts styles that the US military teaches to its soldiers.
Chun-Li	Chisa Yokoyama	Lia Sargent	Chun-Li first appears as a tour guide hired by Ken and Ryu upon their arrival in Hong Kong, however, she is soon revealed to be the daughter of the top inspector for the Hong Kong police. Her father trains her in the art of kung fu both as self-defence and as a part of her rearing. She accompanies Ken and Ryu throughout most of their journeys across Asia and Europe. While a formidable martial artist, she rarely engages herself in combat unless personally attacked or threatened. In the series, Ken becomes smitten with her to the point where he takes her on a shopping spree and buys her a ring. They develop something of a romance, especially during the Vega arc. Chun-Li is not seen in her blue mini-qipao and white boots until the final episodes, where she is captive at Bison's base. Also, changes to this outfit include the absence of her hair-bun covers as well as her pantyhose being replaced with kneepads.
Inspector Dorai (銅昴 Dōrai)	Rokuro Naya	Michael Forest	Chun-Li's father. His principal occuaption is as the Vice Squad Captain for the Hong Kong Police Department, and is routinely engaged in drug busts, sting operations, and various other police activities, and is no stranger to the risks of his work. His residence also doubles as a temple and training ground where he teaches his daughter and several other students. Shortly after a successful bust of a large cocaine-smuggling operation, as well the subsequent arrest of the Ashura kingpin behind it, Inspector Dorai is called to Barcelona to attend an Interpol conference concerning the investigation of the mysterious organisation called "Shadowlaw". During the investigation, Dorai is nearly killed by Cammy at the order of a Shadowlaw infiltrator, but his survival was kept secret by the Chief of Interpol until the person who ordered the hit could be identified. Unlike in the games, Dorai survives in the show.
Fei-Long	Kazuki Yao	Jim Taggert	One of Dorai's best students, he is now an up-and-coming martial arts movie star whose insistence on "making the fight real" rapidly becomes detrimental to production, due mainly to damaged props and public property as well as injuries to the stunt doubles. Ken Masters briefly volunteers to be his opposite in a fight scene while touring Hong Kong with Ryu and Chun-Li, but the destruction caused by the fight forced the director to halt the filming and cut the scene completely. Later, upon learning of his Master's supposed "death", he become distraught with grief and seeks to avenge him. While visiting the hospital where Dorai was taken, the Chief of Interpol informs Fei-Long of the charade. Later still, Fei-Long with the assistance of Cammy, after a brief fight with her in Dorai's hospital quarters, identifies Balrog as the Shadowlaw operative who ordered the hit on Dorai.
Sagat	Banjô Ginga	Peter Spellos	Sagat was the "King of Muay Thai", which is infamous as one of the most vicious forms of martial arts in the world. When he fought professionally, he was the champion of Thailand and everyone simply called him "Champ", but after refusing to throw a match for the Ashura syndicate, he was framed for selling drugs and was both imprisoned and disgraced. The Ashura syndicate's vendetta against Dorai, Ken and Ryu was carried out in a very poor manner by one of their men by planting heroin in Ryu's luggage at the airport in Bangkok, after which Ryu was imprisoned in the same prison with Sagat. The two of them gained each other's respect and were able to learn more about the Ashura from their experiences. After the Ashura kingpin was arrested, evidence of Sagat's innocence was "discovered" by the Thai police and he was released from prison. Unlike in the games, he does not have his trademarked scar on his chest, which he had since Street Fighter II, nor does he wear an eyepatch. His rivalry with Ryu is more of a friendly one in the show.
Dhalsim	Shôzô Îzuka	Steven Blum	Dhalsim is a monk who lives in a remote village in India. Sagat had earlier instructed Ryu to seek Dhalsim for advice about the Ways of Hadou. Sagat had been turned down years before when he sought Dhalsim's wisdom, but had figured that Ryu might be found more worthy. Dhalsim is a practitioner of yoga and has some psychic abilities, and although he knows much about Hadou, he was unable to train Ryu to use the Hadouken, which was inadvertently triggered in Ryu's body during a lesson.
Vega (Balrog in Japan)	Kaneto Shiozawa	Richard Cansino	His surname on the show is Fabio La Cerda. Vega is the popular, handsome bullfighter in Barcelona with a lust for blood and no value for life. Though he isn't as obsessed with beauty as his video game counterpart, he is still highly vain. He also moonlights as a cage fighter for rich socialites, and unlike his in-game counterpart, he is not affiliated with Shadowlaw or M. Bison. During a bullfight attended by Ken, Ryu, and Chun-Li, Vega develops an obsession for Chun-Li, whom is disgusted by his bloodthirsty nature, and plots to kill Ryu and Ken, whom he sees as rivals for her affections. He uses a strange "love potion" drug to induce a trance in her. While in the trance, she watches Vega and Ken fight each other in a steel cage at a secretive ball they were invited to attend. Vega offered Ken the option of using a weapon against him (implying that would be the normal rules), but Ken fights him barehanded. After grueling and bloody fight, Vega was defeated, despite having broken both of Ken's feet with his claws, along with giving him a number other painful slash wounds, and elsewise having the advantage of dropping down from above with his signature attack. The fate of Vega is not clearly known, but was last seen being carried out of the steel cage on a stretcher after having hung from the cage ceiling unconscious and then diving downward in a "final attack" where Ken caught him on his shoulders, instead of finishing him off.
Balrog (M. Bison in Japan)	Tomomichi Nishimura	Joe Romersa	Balrog is an executive officer of Interpol, but unbeknownst to the other members of Interpol he works for Shadowlaw as an informant. Suspicions had been raised when Inspector Dorai's failed assassination suggested that only a senior officer of Interpol would have been aware of his investigations into the Shadowlaw organization. Ultimately, Balrog's secret is discovered by Fei-Long and Cammy after his cover story's inconsistencies were compared. Before being placed under arrest, Cammy took revenge against Balrog for giving her fraudulent reason's for the assassination. Balrog isn't portrayed as a fighter in the show and only shows up in his boxing gear during the second opening credits.
Cammy	Yôko Sasaki	Debra Rogers	Cammy White is a former agent of MI6 who now makes her living as a mercenary assassin. Being a devout Roman Catholic, she always prays for forgiveness before and after each hit. She takes much pride in the quality of her work, and believes when she's hired for a job, the death of her target must come from her hand and not as an accident or incidental occurrence, to the extent that she will even protect her target from harm until she is ready to strike. Also as a matter of pride, she refuses to act on false pretexts for employment. Cammy's character design is radically different compared to any other appearance. However, her fighting style is very similar to her original conception, including the Cannon Spike and Spiral Arrow moves. She wears a black halter top, black spandex tights, a ponytail, and a choker decorated with a crucifix the latter which she used to conceal a deadly, retractable, metal wire to assassinate her victims. Her original design with her beret and pigtails is seen in her picture in her profile in episode 17 when she is first introduced.
Nash (Charlie)	Ryôichi Tanaka	Dean Elliot	Guile's best friend, who has served alongside of him in several combat situations. Nash dies during the mission to rescue Ken from Bison's fortress. Since the show was produced before the development of Street Fighter Alpha, he does not resemble his in-game counterpart at all. In the show, he holds an impressive similar appearance to Jean Reno. While Nash is known as Charlie in the English localization of the games, Nash retains his Japanese name for the English dub of the show, except in one scene where Guile calls him by Charlie. When Nash and Guile brake into Bison's fortress where Ryu and Ken are held, Nash is beaten to death by Bison.
Zangief	Yasurô Tanaka	Michael Sorich	Zangief is a Russian bear-wrestler who frequently works as one of Shadowlaw's strong-men. He doesn't seem to have any desire or inclination to injure or kill anyone(even preferring to ask nicely for Ryu to come), but he's not above using his strength in full against someone should his orders require him to.Apparently he doesn´t know Shadaloo´s true motives, similar to the Zangief from Street Fighter: The Movie. Zangief can be seen wearing a loincloth-like shirt, whereas in the games he appears topless. He also works for Shadowlaw, despite the fact that he is unaffiliated with them in the games. He is sent to kidnap Ryu, which he does easily since Ryu was exhausted at the time. Zangief later fights Guile when he breaks into Bison's fortress, and Guile manages to beat him after a hard fight.
M. Bison (Vega in Japan)	Kenji Utsumi	Tom Wyner	Very little is known about Bison, other than that he is the head of Shadowlaw. In contrast to Ken and Ryu's Hadou, which is based in chi, Bison's powers are based in his rage and hatred, and are referred to as his "Psycho Power". Usage of his "Psycho Power" usually causes him to lose his ability to reason, and in one instance nearly strangles Chun-Li while enraged only to regret his actions for a moment when he resumed his previous cognitive state... the only scene in which he ever shows a capacity for human emotion. As the leader of the secretive Shadowlaw, his only known goal is world domination, and most of his activities are financed through a variety of underground operations such as the Ashura syndicate. For all of Bison's power and ambition, it is suggested that much of his work may be the result of semi-telepathic influence originating from a silver idol in the form of an eagle's head, which is shown on at least two occasions to "communicate" with him. In the finale of the show, he is killed by Ryu after a hard and intense battle.

Gallery

Heroes

Charlie (Nash in Japan)

Chun-Li

Dhalsim

Fei Long

Yang Zhan-Hai (楊占海)

Guile

Ken Masters

Ryu

T. Hawk (appear in the Japanese opening only)

Dorai

Villains

Akuma (Gouki in Japan)

Balrog (M. Bison in Japan)

Cammy White (later been set up by Balrog)

Evil Ryu (Brainwashed Ryu)

M. Bison (Vega in Japan)

Sagat (later good)

Shadow Lady (Brainwashed Chun-Li)

Vega (Balrog in Japan)

Zangief

Akuma's Background Appearances

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 13

Episode 15

Episode 16

Episode 17

Episode 21

Themes

Japanese

• Opening Themes

1. "Kaze Fuiteru" by Yuki Kuroda (eps 1-19)
2. "Ima, ashita no tame ni" by Shuji Honda (eps 20-29)

• Ending Themes

1. "Cry" by Yuki Kuroda (eps 1-19)
2. "Lonely Baby" by Shuji Honda (eps. 20-29)

The American and Australian release of the Manga/Animaze English dub uses an untitled instrumental theme music by Mike Egan composed specifically for the dub. The European release by ADV Films retains the original Japanese theme songs and uses a different dub.

Italian

• Opening Themes

1. "Tra cielo e terra" by Dhamm

• Ending Themes

2. "E Pace Sarà" by Dhamm

Trivia

• As seen above, Akuma makes a cameo appearance in many of the episodes, in the background.
• The only Street Fighter II characters missing from this entire series are Dee Jay, E. Honda, and Blanka. Some characters who were to appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha games were first teased in this series as well such as Akuma, Sodom, Charlie Nash, Gen and Evil Ryu.

External links

• Street Fighter II V project
• Street Fighter II V at the Internet Movie Database
• See all episodes in Portuguese at Street Fighter RPG Brazil