Street Fighter Masters- Kimberly

 By Mark Rodriguez

The next character to get their own Masters one-shot is our music-loving, spray-painting Bushinryu Ninja, Kimberly! One of the quicker and more energetic new characters in Street Fighter 6, let's see what adventures await Kimberly in this issue.

The issue opens with Kimberly narrating to the reader about her current mission, as well as her love for 80's music. It was all her uncle used to play so she got hooked. Living in Metro City, the last remaining part of town that still looks like it did when she grew up in an area named Old Burgh. She says when Cody was mayor they remade West Side, Uptown and the Bay Area. Now they plan to fix up Old Burgh and Kimberly will not stand for this. Kimberly starts spray painting all over the side of a skyscraper.

Later that day, Belger is in his limo telling one of his employees that he wasn't really building a community center and only told the media what they wanted to hear. He gets another call from Tower Security that tells him that the media arrived early and they have a big problem. When Belger arrives he sees that his presentation has been vandalized with graffiti for the worldwide media to see.

Belger gets questioned by the media on how this is embarrassing the Belger Corporation. He's asked about allegations regarding intimidation towards local house owners to sell for his expansion project. He's also asked about his previous criminal convictions and if he's really changed. Kimberly watches the news on her phone from a rooftop of the Belgercorp building (while resting in the giant O of the Belgercorp logo). Belger tells the media that he's a businessman and only cares about the future of Metro City.

Kimberly isn't buying this and says he doesn't really care about Old Burgh and his project is just a money laundering scheme to cover up his illegal operations. He's tearing down the only affordable housing left for low income families. He's tried this before in Okinawa before he was chased out by Bushinryu Ninjas as we see an image of Zeku, Guy and Maki. She wishes they could see her now and her 'zorro moves'.

Some distance away, Zeku and Guy are seeing the graffiti laid across Belger's building. Zeku finds the attack to be childish and jokes about if the person will try blackmailing Belger with memes next. Guy doesn't know what memes are. Zeku says he really needs to get a cellphone someday. Guy says no self-respecting ninja needs a cellphone. Zeku remarks that the same can be said about sneakers, and they've been working out for Guy.

Zeku checks the news and sees that Belger's stock has dropped ten percent in the last hour and is still dropping. He says whoever made the graffiti hated Belger as much as they do. He says it's uncanny how that person chose the same day to rain on Belger's parade, so now they can help turn it into a perfect storm. He says it's time to 'set off the fireworks'.

Kimberly is still chilling in the giant O as she hears beeping. She finds a bomb on the side of the oversized letter. She quickly latches a rope on the side of it and leaps off the building seconds before the logo explodes. Belger, Guy and Zeku all see Kimberly leaping away from the explosion and wonder who she is.

Zeku and Guy realize that the girl is the graffiti artist and head over to help. Belger sends his men after her. Kimberly is trying to lower herself slowly with the rope, but it catches fire and snaps. Kimberly lands hard against the building's glass wall and starts to slide downwards. She is able to find a ledge just barely thick enough for her to plant her feet on it to stop her fall.

Zeku takes control of a crane and Guy uses it to swing towards the side of the building where Kimberly is trapped on. The crane smashes into the side of the building and Guy and Kimberly leap through the shattered window to make it safely inside. Kimberly thanks Guy for the help until she realizes who she's talking to. 

Belger's security barges in, drawing their weapons. Kimberly takes a quick selfie with Guy, since he is her hero. Guy takes the phone and tosses it the way a ninja would toss a throwing star and smacks one of the guard's gun from his hand and into his face. Guy stands corrected when it comes to ninjas using cellphones. The guards run towards the ninjas, and Guy and Kimberly take them down with their special attacks.

Kimberly is about to attack another guard with her spraypaint, but finds out that she's out of paint. The guard socks her in the face but she manages to flip back to her feet and land next to Guy. Guy and Kimberly knock all the men back using the Bushin Senpukyaku at the same time. Guy is impressed that she also knows the technique.

Zeku has better control of the crane now and swings it back into the building, but now it's lifting a platform the ninjas can use. More guards charge into the room and Kimberly is ready to fight them. Guy grabs her and tosses her onto the platform, saying it's better to live to fight another day. Guy leaps onto the platform alongside her. 

Later on, Guy asks Kimberly how she knows Bushinryu moves. She says she learned them off the internet but it's not the same as actual training. She loves Bushinryu Ninjas, but her main reason she did her graffiti is because she hates what's happening to Old Burgh.

Guy senses she's being genuine and says she made an impact today. Kimberly wants to join them, but Guy says she is still young and unschooled. Guy says they do need help from someone that knows the city inside and out, so when they need her they will reach out to her from the shadows... or she can just exchange numbers with Zeku. Kimberly says if they call, she's answer for she's a future Bushinryu Ninja on the scene.

My Thoughts-

This issue tells us a bit more about Kimberly, one of the newer characters from Street Fighter 6. The first thing we find out about her, is that she got her love for retro music from her uncle. When we first saw her character design, Johnny, William and myself wondered why a modern day teenager would still be using a walkman. 

The other thing is that Kimberly isn't really a disciple of Guy. She's pretty much self-taught in the ways of Bushinryu and finally got to actually meet Guy during this adventure. It's kinda funny how in the world of Street Fighter the younger fighters like Sakura and Kimberly can learn these attack moves just being seeing someone else do it or looking it up on the internet. I know the internet was way different back in 1999 (when Third Strike was released) but maybe that's how Remy learned how to do the Sonic Boom.

One thing to note, which I'm pretty sure Capcom either retconned or the Udon Comics ignore, is that Belger is still alive and running things in Metro City. We all thought he died at the end of Final Fight, and there was even a zombie version of him in a non-canon Final Fight fighting game. He has made several cameos in games here and there, so now it's questionable if his appearance in Street Fighter 5 counts.

You gotta love how much Capcom loved Final Fight and Metro City. Thanks to people like Jamie and Kimberly (as well as Street Fighter 6's World Tour Mode) we get to see a more modern-day version of the city and more locations than just those five stages. I liked Kimberly mentioning the Bay Area, Uptown and West Side in this one. 

Overall a fun read and a good issue. We get some insight on Kimberly and her overall vibe, and get to see some flashy moves. The only thing that didn't make sense was when both Kimberly and Guy did their Bushin Senpukyaku at the same time so close to one another. It's a spinning kick. I'm not sure how two people can do that so close to each other without kicking each other. Maybe they had 'friendly fire' turned off.

I have to say, I did enjoy seeing Kimberly use both of her pre-fight quotes on the final page. I also like that Guy is so serious about a ninja, that even his older master Zeku is more modern and light-hearted. However, Guy still does love those sneakers though.