By Mark Rodriguez
Sakura lives a busy life. She's inspired by Ryu and wants to fight like him, already learning his moves and . Dan follows her around claiming to her sensei, and by default, that makes her a friend of Blanka. She's friends with a girl named Kei and Hinata from the Rival Schools series (Sakura even cameos in that game), and she has a rival named Karin. Let's see what adventures Udon has in store for her.
The issue starts with Dan challenging Sakura to a fight, saying he has a lot to teach her. Sakura beats the living hell out of him, while Dan in his usual delusions considers that he gave her the win. Dan ended up in the hospital after that match... We see that Dan is telling this story to some kids... that are even wondering why he's talking to them. He says he must have a rematch with Sakura and possibly make her his student... and then he rolls away.
The next day, Sakura is speeding on her bike being late for school. Sakura barely makes it on time and goes on through her usual school day. She falls asleep during history class, since she trained until 5 in the morning... and when her friend Kei tries to wake her up, they both get in trouble. Sakura and Kei have to stand in the hallway while holding buckets of water. Kei complains that Sakura should be learning how to get guys to ask her out, instead of beating them up... and says that Ryu doesn't count. Kei reminds her that she has a chat session with Ryu soon and that wakes her up. As Sakura heads off, we see Dan is stalking her.
The next morning Sakura chats with Ryu. Ryu is in a cyber cafe in Hong Kong and has a hard time understanding all the LOLZ, OMG, and BRB acronyms Sakura is using, and the other slang like 'scrubs' and 'fo sho'. He replies that he has fought with several other fighters of different styles and learned that he must adapt to all the different fighting styles he encounters so he can be a better martial artist. He then signs off ad his time has run out.
Sakura lays in bed, taking Ryu's words to heart. She stares at a poster she has of Rainbow Mika and gets inspired. She calls Hinata up and decides they're going to a wrestling match with Kei. Outside, Dan shoots an arrow issuing a challenge to Sakura. A kid (Sakura's brother??) sees it and Dan tells him to call Sakura, but now she doesn't care and is already rushing out to meet up with Kei and Hinata. Sakura gets on her bike and is in such a hurry she runs over Dan and doesn't even notice.
Later on, Sakura and Kei find Hinata fighting some muscular guy. Hinata calls Sakura and they both take the guy down using their Feet of Fury team-up attack (I assume from Rival Schools). Sakura wonders who the guy was and Hinata tells her he was selling fake tickets to the kids and not giving them their money back. They rush to see the wrestling.
At the arena, the girls cheer on Ranbow Mika as she fights against Zangief. Sakura takes pictures and plans to study her moves and learn from her. Kei jokes that she won't learn much since wrestling is fake anyway. Mika smashes Zangief with a chair and wins the match. With the fight over, Mike will be outside signing autographs. Sakura and Kei will stick around but Hinata will be heading off to finish homework. Zangief wakes up and wants to continue the fight against Mika.
Kei complains that Sakura spent so much money on a fake wrestling belt, which again, she jokes is as fake as the wrestling. Sakura tells her not to talk that way when they get to meet Mika. Sakura finally gets to meet her and has her belt autographed. She tells her she's been studying her moves and wants to use them with her fighting style. Mika is flattered and Sakura eagerly shows off some of Mika's holds on poor Kei. Sakura tries to do a flying drop kick but lands on her butt. Mika is impressed and says she'd be a good tag team partner.
Just then Zangief spins his way through the crowd and finally finds Mika. He challenges Mika to a rematch, with Sakura and Kei watching on.
My Opinions:
This was a fun issue and I liked the fact that the series took the time out to give some stories focused on certain characters. While Sakura is one of the many side-characters in the games, she does have a good supporting cast with Kei, Hinata, Karin and Dan, so she's the perfect character to start a mini-series off with. Here we see her meet Rainbow Mika, the wrestler babe from Street Fighter Alpha 3 who finally made a comeback in Street Fighter V.
The comic is full of humor and references to the games and characters. There's a running gag in the series that Zangief is a REAL wrestler, and is unfamiliar to the more showy pay-per-view American wrestling style AKA Sports Entertainment. He came looking for a fight and is confused by all the lights and glamour. Of course Dan's running gag is that he totally and completely sucks at fighting, and yet prances around as if she is the greatest ever, always coming up with some excuse for his embarrassing loses. He is the Mr. Satan of Street Fighter.
As for Ryu... seeing Ryu in a cyber cafe and trying to chat with Sakura is priceless. Not only is it funny since Ryu is a man that has literally forsaken all forms of modern luxury to just wander the world training and perfecting his Ha Do Ken and would be the last Street Fighter character you'd imagine being in a cyber cafe... it also reminds me that this internet jazz sure as hell wasn't around when Street Fighter 2 first hit the arcades. Or at least it wasn't available to the general public.
As always, Udon's art syle is very close to the in-game graphics and character portraits we see in the Alpha games and such at the time, which always make it a joy to behold. The comic also features an interview with Omar Dogan and you can just tell he had so much fun working on this comic and was a major fan of the franchise. Let's see what happens when Mika and Sakura take on Zangief!
My only question is... why is Kei so damn bitter and complainy all the time? I know Sakura is wild and crazy and always seems to drag her around, but if she's such a whiner about it, then why does she keep going along with her antics? I mean... she didn't HAVE to join Sakura and Hinata for the wrestling ya know... it didn't look like she was a fan of it anyway.
I love the signs Sakura was using to root for Mika, which were based on some classic WWE Superstars.
And the final panel is kinda funny cause it looks like Kei is filming Zangief's junk. Anyways, I'm anxious to work on the second issue and see what happens from here.
Sakura lives a busy life. She's inspired by Ryu and wants to fight like him, already learning his moves and . Dan follows her around claiming to her sensei, and by default, that makes her a friend of Blanka. She's friends with a girl named Kei and Hinata from the Rival Schools series (Sakura even cameos in that game), and she has a rival named Karin. Let's see what adventures Udon has in store for her.
The issue starts with Dan challenging Sakura to a fight, saying he has a lot to teach her. Sakura beats the living hell out of him, while Dan in his usual delusions considers that he gave her the win. Dan ended up in the hospital after that match... We see that Dan is telling this story to some kids... that are even wondering why he's talking to them. He says he must have a rematch with Sakura and possibly make her his student... and then he rolls away.
The next day, Sakura is speeding on her bike being late for school. Sakura barely makes it on time and goes on through her usual school day. She falls asleep during history class, since she trained until 5 in the morning... and when her friend Kei tries to wake her up, they both get in trouble. Sakura and Kei have to stand in the hallway while holding buckets of water. Kei complains that Sakura should be learning how to get guys to ask her out, instead of beating them up... and says that Ryu doesn't count. Kei reminds her that she has a chat session with Ryu soon and that wakes her up. As Sakura heads off, we see Dan is stalking her.
The next morning Sakura chats with Ryu. Ryu is in a cyber cafe in Hong Kong and has a hard time understanding all the LOLZ, OMG, and BRB acronyms Sakura is using, and the other slang like 'scrubs' and 'fo sho'. He replies that he has fought with several other fighters of different styles and learned that he must adapt to all the different fighting styles he encounters so he can be a better martial artist. He then signs off ad his time has run out.
Sakura lays in bed, taking Ryu's words to heart. She stares at a poster she has of Rainbow Mika and gets inspired. She calls Hinata up and decides they're going to a wrestling match with Kei. Outside, Dan shoots an arrow issuing a challenge to Sakura. A kid (Sakura's brother??) sees it and Dan tells him to call Sakura, but now she doesn't care and is already rushing out to meet up with Kei and Hinata. Sakura gets on her bike and is in such a hurry she runs over Dan and doesn't even notice.
Later on, Sakura and Kei find Hinata fighting some muscular guy. Hinata calls Sakura and they both take the guy down using their Feet of Fury team-up attack (I assume from Rival Schools). Sakura wonders who the guy was and Hinata tells her he was selling fake tickets to the kids and not giving them their money back. They rush to see the wrestling.
At the arena, the girls cheer on Ranbow Mika as she fights against Zangief. Sakura takes pictures and plans to study her moves and learn from her. Kei jokes that she won't learn much since wrestling is fake anyway. Mika smashes Zangief with a chair and wins the match. With the fight over, Mike will be outside signing autographs. Sakura and Kei will stick around but Hinata will be heading off to finish homework. Zangief wakes up and wants to continue the fight against Mika.
Kei complains that Sakura spent so much money on a fake wrestling belt, which again, she jokes is as fake as the wrestling. Sakura tells her not to talk that way when they get to meet Mika. Sakura finally gets to meet her and has her belt autographed. She tells her she's been studying her moves and wants to use them with her fighting style. Mika is flattered and Sakura eagerly shows off some of Mika's holds on poor Kei. Sakura tries to do a flying drop kick but lands on her butt. Mika is impressed and says she'd be a good tag team partner.
Just then Zangief spins his way through the crowd and finally finds Mika. He challenges Mika to a rematch, with Sakura and Kei watching on.
My Opinions:
This was a fun issue and I liked the fact that the series took the time out to give some stories focused on certain characters. While Sakura is one of the many side-characters in the games, she does have a good supporting cast with Kei, Hinata, Karin and Dan, so she's the perfect character to start a mini-series off with. Here we see her meet Rainbow Mika, the wrestler babe from Street Fighter Alpha 3 who finally made a comeback in Street Fighter V.
The comic is full of humor and references to the games and characters. There's a running gag in the series that Zangief is a REAL wrestler, and is unfamiliar to the more showy pay-per-view American wrestling style AKA Sports Entertainment. He came looking for a fight and is confused by all the lights and glamour. Of course Dan's running gag is that he totally and completely sucks at fighting, and yet prances around as if she is the greatest ever, always coming up with some excuse for his embarrassing loses. He is the Mr. Satan of Street Fighter.
As for Ryu... seeing Ryu in a cyber cafe and trying to chat with Sakura is priceless. Not only is it funny since Ryu is a man that has literally forsaken all forms of modern luxury to just wander the world training and perfecting his Ha Do Ken and would be the last Street Fighter character you'd imagine being in a cyber cafe... it also reminds me that this internet jazz sure as hell wasn't around when Street Fighter 2 first hit the arcades. Or at least it wasn't available to the general public.
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| That's basically how I type |
My only question is... why is Kei so damn bitter and complainy all the time? I know Sakura is wild and crazy and always seems to drag her around, but if she's such a whiner about it, then why does she keep going along with her antics? I mean... she didn't HAVE to join Sakura and Hinata for the wrestling ya know... it didn't look like she was a fan of it anyway.
I love the signs Sakura was using to root for Mika, which were based on some classic WWE Superstars.
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| CAN YOU SMEEEEEEEELL WHAT THE 'BOW IS COOKIN'?! |
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