Plot: What’s it about?
As if the adventures shown in a few animated movies, a live action feature film, and a slew of video games weren’t enough, now you can check out more action from the Street Fighter characters. This series is made up of half hour episodes, each of which is packed with new and old faces, all in search of elements to make them the best. Of course, the series goes down many different paths, but the main focus seems to be on Ryu and Ken, as they trek across the lands to improve their skills and learn from those willing to teach them. As you can imagine, the two often bicker with each other and various others, which means some butt kicking is always bound to surface. But the action never ceases here, from fights, to difficult journeys, to mystical forces, it seems as though time stops for no man, even in a cartoon series. This disc includes the series’ first seven episodes, which are The Beginning Of A Journey, The King of the Air Force, Landing In Hong Kong, Darkness At Kowloon Palace, Hot Blooded Fei Long, Appearance of the Secret Technique, and The Revenge of Ashura.
I’d never seen this series before and was unsure of what to expect, but I was pleased with what I saw. I had seen a couple animated films and of course, played the video games, but this show had eluded me until now. I think the storylines are pretty good, given the nature and length of each episode, plus it was nice to see a wide variance between episodes as well. It was fun to see the characters in action again also, even if some of my personal favorites weren’t featured here. The animation is on the same level as most morning cartoons, which means decent enough, but by no means dazzling to the eyes either. I also like the treatment given to this series by Manga, which includes both English & Japanese language tracks, as well as a total of seven episodes. Not much in terms of extras to be seen, but with three and a half hours of content, you have to be pretty pleased in the end. I know this series has hooked me and I look forward to more episodes, so I am giving this release a solid recommendation, especially for fans of Street Fighter who need a quick fix.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are shown full frame, as they were intended to be seen. The image looks very good and in the end, seems sharper than you’d expect from a television show. The colors seem rich and never subdued, with no signs of bleeds or smears evident. I saw no problems with the contrast either, black levels seem dead on and never too dark. No real compression errors to speak of either, this is a fine visual treatment here.
Audio: How does it sound?
This disc houses stereo tracks in both English and Japanese, with English subtitles available if you should need them. As usual, the English voice workers aren’t that impressive, which makes me recommend the Japanese track. As far as technical specs though, both tracks seem to run on the same level, no real differences I could detect. I imagine this is what they’d sound like on television, which is all that matters here, I suppose. The music is clean and solid, sound effects distinct, and dialogue is loud and clear at all times. Not the most powerful tracks by any means, but given the origins of this series, not too bad at all and better than I expected.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes a remix of the series’ theme song, a promotional trailer, some Manga information, and some weblinks.
