The choice of Guile as protagonist reflects American action genres' traditional attraction to seasoned, battle-hardened authority figures in the tradition of John Wayne but with a touch of the maverick, à la Rambo. The Japanese versions, however, follow the traditional use in anime of youthful heroes who undergo training and rites of passage, with older mentor figures acting as teachers and guides but never dominating the action.

Street Fighter on USA Networks. © Invision Entertainment.

The Japanese Movie
The Japanese animated theatrical movie, Street Fighter II, focuses on young Japanese martial artist Ryu, who undertakes a personal journey in search of knowledge, wisdom and the improvement of his fighting skills. He becomes the focus of a struggle between criminal mastermind Bison, who has brainwashed Ryu's American blood brother Ken Masters, and Interpol agent Chun Li and her American military liaison Captain Guile. These five become the film's main characters, while the other game characters make cameo appearances, incorporated into the action at key points in a plot that follows Bison's attempts to locate and abduct the world's top street fighters and brainwash them into working for him.

There's a clear narrative progression and a sense of character development as Ryu makes his way across South Asia, looking to hone his skills by fighting local champions and achieve some sort of spiritual understanding of the powerful inner energy he possesses. The battles are often modeled after those in the video game and boast the kind of detailed movement and choreography absent from most similar animated fare (even in Japan). For instance, a back alley street match witnessed by Ryu in India pits Indian "rubber man" and yoga master Dhalsim against Japanese sumo wrestler E. Honda in a fight that employs several of the characters' moves from the video game; it is animated with spectacle and realism, but given a much larger canvas and greater intensity due to the animators' ability to get closer to the action.

Street Fighter II was directed by veteran director, Gisaburo Sugii (The Tale of Genji, Night on the Galactic Railroad), and features the lush visual style often noted in Japanese animated features. The character design is generally quite realistic, unusually so for Japanese animation. It is deliberately paced, with quiet stretches between the action scenes, as mood and setting are carefully established to allow the viewer to keep track of the comings and goings of the various characters.

The Japanese TV Series
Street Fighter II V, the Japanese TV series, was also directed by Sugii and adopts the darker, more intense tone of the animated movie. Depicting events which are supposed to predate those in the feature, the series is marked by a continuing story line, which contains a number of plot threads that string out over several episodes each; they all follow an arc beginning with the journey of young martial artists Ryu and Ken Masters to seek out other "street fighters" in a far-flung effort to improve their skills.

Ryu and Ken are both 17-years-old in this story and are accompanied through much of the proceedings by Chinese martial artist Chun Li, the 15-year-old daughter of Royal Hong Kong Police Inspector Dohrai. The eventful story line begins with the reunion of Ken and Ryu in San Francisco years after their childhood training together at a martial arts dojo (school) in Japan. Their defeat in a barroom brawl at the hands of Guile, here a US Air Force sergeant, humiliates the cocky youths and leads them to realize the need to travel and perfect their skills.