By Mark Rodriguez
Udon comics have done an impressive job with the Street Fighter story. They put in as much lore from the games as they possibly can while quickly adapting to the next game Capcom puts out, and their art is so good, it's been used for the ending of Capcom Fighting Jam as well as Super SF 2 Turbo HD Remix and Ultra SF2 The Final Challengers. This 2017 annual is based on the on-going Street Fighter Unlimited series.
Before we go forward, I just noticed that the following short stories were originally bonus stories added in the hardcover graphic novels based on Chun Li, Sakura, Ibuki and Street Fighter 4. They all take place before the current comics storyline.
Chun Li in 'Miss Brutality'
We start in Hong Kong as the final 12 contestants in the Hong Kong Beauty contest are about to see who will win several prizes including a new car with a million dollars in it. Just then a boat smashes into the pageant, and Won-Won, one of the bosses from Final Fight 2, jumps in to announce that the Mad Gear gang is back, and to plug #MadGearRules. The host asks if he invaded the pageant just to plug his hashtag, and Won-Won says ruling through fear is all about social media nowadays, but they're also going to take the car full of money. Chun Li then steps up and asks them kindly to put the car and money back.
Opinions- It's a nice little story, and it was a surprise to see Won-Won make an appearance. Usually the only thing anyone remembers from Final Fight 2 is Maki, and her last appearance was way back in Capcom VS SNK 2 in 2001. It's also kinda funny/ironic to see Won-Won be all about the hashtags and tweets when Final Fight 2 came out back in 1993, way before Twitter, Facebook, hell, even before Myspace. The art style is cute and colorful and it's always cool to see Chun Li kick ass in her Street Fighter 4 alternate outfit.
The story starts with Ibuki sneaking into a Self-Defense Force Base in Tokyo. This is part of her ninja homework, which is extra credit because she's sneaking into an actual military base, and she might be able to retrieve sensitive information. Just then, Q breaks into the scene and starts attacking the military men. One of the men is handcuffed to a briefcase that he says they must protect, but Ibuki jumps in and knocks him out. As she tries to pick handcuff off the briefcase, Q attacks the rest of the men and starts to go after Ibuki.
Opinions- Interesting peak at Q. He's a complete mystery in Street Fighter 3, literally. His story is that he has no story, he just... is... and he may not even be human. In SF3 he is seen at the scene of several murders, and the CIA is looking for him. Here, it seems he was sent to get this briefcase full of military secrets, which means that at least in the Udon Street Fighter universe, someone must have hired him do this. Cool little story, and Ibuki treating her ninja training like regular schoolwork is always fun.
Juri Han in 'Warehouse Find'
Juri wanders around a warehouse full of boxes, saying how wasteful it is to have such projects just locked away collecting dust. She ponders smashing some up until she notices a human sized capsule. Juri goes to check it out when suddenly her ki reacts to it. Just then the capsule opens and Decapre leaps out to attack her. Juri recognizes her as one of Bison's Shadaloo Dolls and fights back.
Opinions- This probably explains how Decapre will enter the Udon series. Decapre was a failed clone of Cammy that doesn't remember her past, but is only concerned with killing Cammy. She was once just a cameo in Street Fighter Alpha 3, but she finally made her playable debut in Ultra Street Fighter 4. She was one of the new characters added to the update, but while the others were already seen in Street Fighter X Tekken, Decapre was hidden as a last minute secret as a new never-before-seen character. It was a bit disappointing that the new never-before-seen character was a Cammy clone, instead of.... well, anyone else, but she does have cool moves. This story had good fight scenes.
Dan, in a wheelchair with several casts and a sling, asks Sakura for help with training. He was offered a televised match against a mystery opponent 'like he's never seen before' and the prize money will be large enough to rebuild his father's dojo. Sakura agrees to help him train once he's all healed up, but Dan insists that the time is now, since the fight is a week away.
Dan practices flying kicks to hit boards that Sakura holds up, while her friend Kei is holding her up. Dan manages to kick the board in half, but when he tries to karate chop some cinder blocks... he's gonna need and ice pack for his hand... The next day Dan practices punching a pile of bricks, a large glass pane, and a pile of barrels. He then poses in front of oil drums, which he spilled more gas all over, and instructs Sakura to lit 'er up.
On the day of the big fight, the mystery opponent is revealed to be a car. Sakura says Dan doesn't have to do this, but he wastes no time in punching and kicking the vehicle. He actually sends it flying with his Shisso Buraiken, a more powerful version of the KokryuKen. However, as Dan celebrates... the car comes back down and crushes him. The host (that kinda looks like Dan) says that the car won the match.
Dan later wakes up, again in all sorts of bandages and finds himself in the smashes up car, with Sakura driving. She tells him that he gets to keep the car as a consolation prize from the producers. Dan is happy that he won.
Overall opinions-
It's a fun little read. These are a collection of short stories and they mostly exist to showcase new characters that weren't featured in the comics yet, or in Decapre's case, new characters just recently added to the lore. I liked the stories, though I mostly liked the Chun Li due to the super random and surprise appearance of Won-Won as the villain, and Dan due to all the callbacks to the bonus stages. The stories are short and sweet and I'm glad I bought it.
Did you get your chance to grab this book? What did you think about it? As always, comments and feedback and more than welcome.
Udon comics have done an impressive job with the Street Fighter story. They put in as much lore from the games as they possibly can while quickly adapting to the next game Capcom puts out, and their art is so good, it's been used for the ending of Capcom Fighting Jam as well as Super SF 2 Turbo HD Remix and Ultra SF2 The Final Challengers. This 2017 annual is based on the on-going Street Fighter Unlimited series.
Before we go forward, I just noticed that the following short stories were originally bonus stories added in the hardcover graphic novels based on Chun Li, Sakura, Ibuki and Street Fighter 4. They all take place before the current comics storyline.
 | |
| The annual has stories from the SF4 era but the characters are wearing their modern SF5 outfits to keep it fresh |
Chun Li in 'Miss Brutality'
We start in Hong Kong as the final 12 contestants in the Hong Kong Beauty contest are about to see who will win several prizes including a new car with a million dollars in it. Just then a boat smashes into the pageant, and Won-Won, one of the bosses from Final Fight 2, jumps in to announce that the Mad Gear gang is back, and to plug #MadGearRules. The host asks if he invaded the pageant just to plug his hashtag, and Won-Won says ruling through fear is all about social media nowadays, but they're also going to take the car full of money. Chun Li then steps up and asks them kindly to put the car and money back.
Won-Won tells her to go away, considering Chun Li to be a joke until she reveals that she's a cop and knows about their plans since they were bragging about it on an online message board beforehand. The Mad Gear member pulls out his meat cleaver and tries to attack Chun Li, but she quickly hits him with her Hazanshu flying kick technique. Won-Won says that attack didn't hurt him, but Chun Li hits him with a second Hazanshu. The sailor comments that the technique might work to break boards but it won't break him, not noticing that the boards he is currently standing on are about to collapse. Chun Li smashes him through the boards with a third and final Hazanshu. The host asks Chun Li about the car and money, but she says there are others who want the prizes more than the Mad Gear. The 12 contestants are all over the other two thugs, not letting them take the car since they all believe they were just about to win it.
Opinions- It's a nice little story, and it was a surprise to see Won-Won make an appearance. Usually the only thing anyone remembers from Final Fight 2 is Maki, and her last appearance was way back in Capcom VS SNK 2 in 2001. It's also kinda funny/ironic to see Won-Won be all about the hashtags and tweets when Final Fight 2 came out back in 1993, way before Twitter, Facebook, hell, even before Myspace. The art style is cute and colorful and it's always cool to see Chun Li kick ass in her Street Fighter 4 alternate outfit.
 |
| #MadGearRules |
Ibuki the Street Fighting Teenage Ninja Warrior in- 'Case Closed'
The story starts with Ibuki sneaking into a Self-Defense Force Base in Tokyo. This is part of her ninja homework, which is extra credit because she's sneaking into an actual military base, and she might be able to retrieve sensitive information. Just then, Q breaks into the scene and starts attacking the military men. One of the men is handcuffed to a briefcase that he says they must protect, but Ibuki jumps in and knocks him out. As she tries to pick handcuff off the briefcase, Q attacks the rest of the men and starts to go after Ibuki.
Ibuki leaps into the air and attacks with her Kasumi Suzaku, but among all the kunai she's tossing, one of them snaps the handcuff chain and Q manages to get away with the mysterious briefcase. Alarms start going off and Ibuki has to get away as she complains about her grade point average.
Opinions- Interesting peak at Q. He's a complete mystery in Street Fighter 3, literally. His story is that he has no story, he just... is... and he may not even be human. In SF3 he is seen at the scene of several murders, and the CIA is looking for him. Here, it seems he was sent to get this briefcase full of military secrets, which means that at least in the Udon Street Fighter universe, someone must have hired him do this. Cool little story, and Ibuki treating her ninja training like regular schoolwork is always fun.
Juri Han in 'Warehouse Find'
Juri wanders around a warehouse full of boxes, saying how wasteful it is to have such projects just locked away collecting dust. She ponders smashing some up until she notices a human sized capsule. Juri goes to check it out when suddenly her ki reacts to it. Just then the capsule opens and Decapre leaps out to attack her. Juri recognizes her as one of Bison's Shadaloo Dolls and fights back.
Juri notes that she is faster than the other Dolls, and Decapre manages to slice her across the face. This pisses Juri off and she hits her with one of her Ultra Combos which sends her flying against the crates. Rather than continue the fight, Decapre leaps over Juri and gets away. Juri decides to erase the security footage so that Seth won't know that one of his toys got away.
Opinions- This probably explains how Decapre will enter the Udon series. Decapre was a failed clone of Cammy that doesn't remember her past, but is only concerned with killing Cammy. She was once just a cameo in Street Fighter Alpha 3, but she finally made her playable debut in Ultra Street Fighter 4. She was one of the new characters added to the update, but while the others were already seen in Street Fighter X Tekken, Decapre was hidden as a last minute secret as a new never-before-seen character. It was a bit disappointing that the new never-before-seen character was a Cammy clone, instead of.... well, anyone else, but she does have cool moves. This story had good fight scenes.
 |
| Try to pick Decapre out of the group |
Dan & Sakura in Nerves of Steel
Dan, in a wheelchair with several casts and a sling, asks Sakura for help with training. He was offered a televised match against a mystery opponent 'like he's never seen before' and the prize money will be large enough to rebuild his father's dojo. Sakura agrees to help him train once he's all healed up, but Dan insists that the time is now, since the fight is a week away.
Dan practices flying kicks to hit boards that Sakura holds up, while her friend Kei is holding her up. Dan manages to kick the board in half, but when he tries to karate chop some cinder blocks... he's gonna need and ice pack for his hand... The next day Dan practices punching a pile of bricks, a large glass pane, and a pile of barrels. He then poses in front of oil drums, which he spilled more gas all over, and instructs Sakura to lit 'er up.
The fire forms a circle of fire around Dan, but before Sakura can put the fire out with an extinguisher, Dan does his KokryuKen and gets out of the fire himself. He tells Sakura that he is ready.
On the day of the big fight, the mystery opponent is revealed to be a car. Sakura says Dan doesn't have to do this, but he wastes no time in punching and kicking the vehicle. He actually sends it flying with his Shisso Buraiken, a more powerful version of the KokryuKen. However, as Dan celebrates... the car comes back down and crushes him. The host (that kinda looks like Dan) says that the car won the match.
Dan later wakes up, again in all sorts of bandages and finds himself in the smashes up car, with Sakura driving. She tells him that he gets to keep the car as a consolation prize from the producers. Dan is happy that he won.
Opinions- I didn't catch it the first time I read it, other than the very obvious car, but this story is a great shoutout to a lot of the bonus rounds in the Street Fighter and even Final Fight games. Dan gets to practice on a wall of bricks, like the SNES Street Fighter games, as well as the wooden barrels and oil drums from Street Fighter 2, but he even hits the panes of glass as seen in Final Fight. Fighting the car was the icing on the cake.
The ending was funny. Yes, Dan did win in a way. He got to keep the car, and hey, other than the front bumper missing and a few bumps and dents from his own punches and kicks... it's A-OK. Dan has always been a funny character with anime cheesiness, and his antics got even better when he added Sakura as a sidekick/straightman to his comedy act. He reminds me of Ranma 1/2's Tatewaki Kuno, who's just as inept and extremely full of himself.
Overall opinions-
It's a fun little read. These are a collection of short stories and they mostly exist to showcase new characters that weren't featured in the comics yet, or in Decapre's case, new characters just recently added to the lore. I liked the stories, though I mostly liked the Chun Li due to the super random and surprise appearance of Won-Won as the villain, and Dan due to all the callbacks to the bonus stages. The stories are short and sweet and I'm glad I bought it.
Did you get your chance to grab this book? What did you think about it? As always, comments and feedback and more than welcome.
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