Thanks tostreaming services like Crunchyroll and Netflix, anime has never been as easily accessible to western audiences as it is today, nor has it ever been quite as popular outside of its home country. A big part of this is down to how varied the medium can be, with just about every conceivable topic covered in some way, shape, or form.
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Among the plethora of options are countlessanime series based on video games, with more and more franchises being developed with each passing year. Perhaps due to their simplified storylines, there are surprisingly few anime based on fighting game series, though that’s not to say that there aren’t still one or two good ones for those who know where to look.
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Streaming Availability
Netflix
Street Fighterhas received numerous adaptations over the years, though not all of them have been good; particularly those which originated in the west. The live-action movies are considered by many to be among the worst video game adaptations of all time, andStreet Fighter: The Animated Seriesalso failed to wow criticswhen it aired on the USA Network in late ‘95.
Thankfully, there have been a fewdecent anime adaptations ofStreet Fighterover the years, the best of which is arguablyStreet Fighter II V. Produced by the now-defunct studio, Group TAC, the series is loosely based onSuper Street Fighter II Turbo, which had hit Japanese arcades just the previous year.
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The three-part series follows Ryu and Ken as they travel around the world to improve their skills after being easily defeated by Guile. Along the way, they encounterthe likes of Chun Li, Dhalsim, and Zangiefand also draw some unwanted attention from M. Bison’s evil Shadowlaw syndicate.
In addition toStreet Fighter II V,there have also been three animated movies as well as an OVA inspired byStreet Fighter Alpha. Most considerII Vto be the pick of the bunch, though they’re all pretty good in their own different ways and are considerably better than any ofthe adaptations to come out of the westthus far.
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Amazon Prime Video
When Yu Suzuki’sVirtua Fighterfirst hit arcades in late 1993, it helped to revolutionize the fighting game genre. Being the very first 3D fighting game, it laid the foundations onto which several other popular series were built, including the likes ofTekkenandSoulCalibur. This was only the beginning, however, withSuzuki going on to use military-grade hardware to make the game’s sequel even better.
Given the popularity of the series in both Japan and the rest of the world, it didn’t take long for an anime adaptation based on thehugely influential fighting game franchiseto be greenlit.Virtua Fighterwas produced by TMS Entertainment, the studio behind theAkiraandGolgo 13movies as well as the hugely popular and long-running anime series,Detective Conan.
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The story follows series protagonist and face of the franchise Akira Yuki as he embarks upon a quest to see the seven stars of heaven. While on his travels, he learns that Sarah Bryant has been kidnapped by an evil scientist and must team up with variousotherVirtua Fightercharactersin order to save her.
Interestingly, a video game based specifically on the 35-episode anime series was also developed.Virtua Fighter Animationwas available on the Sega Game Gear (and, due to the console’s popularity in South America,the Master System in Brazil) and loosely followed the story of the anime. This meant forcing players to control certain characters at certain points, however, which didn’t go down too well with some players.
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Crunchyroll
Followingthe fairly underwhelming performance ofShenmue 3,Shenmue the Animationcame as something of a surprise to many, including longtime fans of the embattled franchise. More surprising, however, was what a fantastic job Chikara Sakurai and his talented team did of adapting the franchise’s first two installments into a single 13-episode cour.
Though the pacing ofShenmue the Animationcan at times be a little inconsistent, leading to certain sections of the story feeling a little rushed, the anime covers all of the narrative’s pertinent moments, and even adds in a few newstory beats and scenes that failed to make it into the games. As such, most fans were delighted with how it turned out.
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Unsurprisingly, perhaps,fight scenes make up some of the series’ best moments, but the attention to detail and the extra emphasis placed on some of the series' many side characters also deserve a lot of praise. The likes of Joy, Wong, and Nozomi all feel much more fleshed out as a result of the team’s diligence, while the main protagonist, Ryo Hazuki, also comes across as being a lot less one-dimensional than he does in the games.
Whether or not a second season of the anime ever happens remains to be seen, but,with the first one having managed an average weekly viewership of more than 240 thousand on Toonami, it’s difficult to see the decision-makers at Crunchy Roll and Toonami calling time on this fledgling anime series just yet.
