[TV Show Review] Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist (2014- )
Plot Summary: A multi-layered series that looks back to the formative years of Ryu and Ken as they live a traditional warrior's life in secluded Japan. The boys are, unknowingly, the last practitioners of the ancient fighting style known as "Ansatsuken" (Assassin's Fist). The series follows them as they learn about the mysterious past of their master, Goken, and the tragic, dark legacy of the Ansatsuken style. Can their destiny be changed, or will history repeat itself?
Director: Joey Ansah
Writers: Joey Ansah, Christian Howard
Runtime: 12 Episodes / 11-12 mins each (webisodes)
Original Channel: Youtube, Machinima.com
Main Cast:
- Akira Koieyama as Gouken
- Christian Howard as Ken Masters
- Mike Moh as Ryu
- Joey Ansah as Akuma
- Gaku Space as Gouki
Review: by Kendrick
Going into Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, I had high expectations. The mini-series was done through Machinima, and my opinion of that site was high after they successfully delivered Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Assassin's Fist was all Street Fighter fans wanted and more out of a mini-series that followed the training of Ryu and Ken. From the acting to the special effects, SF: AS looked as though a lot of time, money, and love was put into the production.
What I Liked:
First, the setting was absolutely beautiful. The Japanese forest and lake where Ryu (Mike Moh) and Ken (Christian Howard) trained was very scenic and really set the tone of the series. When one thinks of Japanese martial arts training, the deep mountain forest comes to mind, and that is exactly the setting. The second setting was even more appropriate plot-wise, due to Gouken (Akira Koieyama) taking his future to his past in order to break the generational curse.
The acting was excellent, and the casting was spot on, especially with Christian Howard as Ken Masters. If you look at his IMDB page, you would quickly write him off, but on camera he embodies Ken down to the attitude and mannerisms. It was a joy to see Ken Masters, my favorite character, come to life on screen.
All of the acting was genuine. I believed that Ken and Ryu were brothers tied together through shared training. I could clearly see the love in Gokken’s eyes as he watched his sons mature into warriors. Even Gaku Space shined as Gouki, you could see his heart break as he strove to be the best warrior he could be, even to the point of being consumed by dark hadou.
The best part of the series in my opinion was the fighting. When Ryu and Ken fought each other, or Gouki and Gouken, the choreography was some of the best I have ever seen. The hits felt heavy and the hadoukens powerful.
While the fighting was the best part, the small things and attention to detail were really good. I really enjoyed seeing how some Japanese people re-assimilated into society after the war, the old fisherman guy who playfully hated Ken because he was a foreigner (gaijin), the way they baited us into thinking Guile was going to be in the series (they go to an American base and literally street fight), and even the way we got to see that, even though Ryu and Ken were so different, they were still perfectly even with each other.
The special effects were a wonder to behold. Every single hadouken was so cool, but the metsu-hadouken followed by a flaming shoryuken literally made me shout OH SH*T !!!
What I Didn’t Like:
About the only thing didn’t like was Gouki and Gouken’s cousin Sayaka. She was used to humanize Gouki, but in my opinion the series was better off without her.
Summary
Overall between the great acting, special effects, and choreography, I would rate Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist a 4.7 out of 5.
Images courtesy of Collider
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