Battle Spirits: Ryuuko no Ken

The 1992 arcade game "Art of Fighting" is a classic fighting game from SNK. In it a player picks between fighters Ryo and Robert as they go to the criminally infested city of "Southtown" in search for Ryo's kidnapped sister Yuri. The player fights one on one with various bad guys as you go through each section of the city uncovering Yuri's whereabouts, who the kidnappers are, and why.
Now how does this anime adaptation hold up on representing this classic fighter....well not very well :(
There are many factors that made the game great and unique that the anime heavily lacks.

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1.) FIGHTING

This is the ... most important subject.
The video game had many ways of making their fights badass. With the camera zoomed up on the action capturing every moment, character's faces getting more bruised and bloody with each strike, along with animations such as characters puking after a gut punch and apparel breaking with a fierce blow, the game does a fantastic job of showing a gruesome street fight.
So then why does the anime not show any of these features?
The anime fights don't feel good to look at, as with the game. The animation is mostly cheap with poor animations that provide a lack of force with their strikes. This and the short and few fights throughout is sad coming from the source material being all about fighting.
No one even gets a jacked up face after a fight let alone a scratch, a special move like Robert's "Genreikyaku" would've been nice to see at least!

2.) CHARACTERS/ PORTRAYAL OF THEM

Art of Fighting has a lot of characters in its roster, however the anime only had 3 out of 8 bad guys for the main characters to fight. It would've been 4 but the anime decided to make one of the bad guys (Ryuhaku Todoh) into a annoying chief of police good guy spaz......like why?
I also didn't appreciate John Crawley (another enemy) being portrayed as a knife wielding creep, whereas in the game he was more like a chill bad guy who used his fists and skill to win.
Ryo and Robert's relationship to one another was spot on, as they cracked jokes towards one another in a friendly way while still having a bit of rivalry. Though I don't know why they changed Ryo's hair.
King was fine, though I wished she was a little sympathetic towards Yuri and made John back off.
Mr. Big was ok, they even included his two fighting sticks combining into a staff for a moment so that was cool. Though his goal to have all gems is stupid and unclear as to why.
Mr. Karate.......wasn't in it........ :(

3.)SETTING

The anime doesn't show the city of Southtown really, as in the game where each enemy had their own detailed background corresponding to each city's section, giving it life and giving an idea as to how the people live in this crime filled place. The anime doesn't show any of the locations in the game nor the background characters reacting to what is suppose to be a violence filled city. The game made this fictional place seem real, whereas the anime made it bland and forgettable. A setting should always enough aspects to it that it essentially is its own character (Mega-City 1 from Judge Dredd for example), and this anime failed to make Southtown what Southtown is suppose to be.

4.)STORY

The game is more then just saving Yuri, for along the way Ryo and Robert befriend and learn from their opponents while cleaning up the city on their path. It shows how determined these men are as they face enemies stronger then them in a big hostile area without hesitation and despite how much they get wailed on or even killed. It is a journey of limits that these guys must break to save someone. The game even has a cliffhanger ending which made the player want to play more and become more engaged as they wait for the next game.
But the anime instead focuses on a diamond missing plot, that really takes away from what Art of Fighting really is.

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In conclusion this anime fails to be an Art of Fighting adaptation, but is a short average film on its own that wouldn't hurt to check out. Hopefully this has at least peeked someones interest towards the video games or at least look at them with a new perspective.

Rate a 6
English dubbed
Genre: action, comedy

Story
Make sure you pay attention to detail for you never know when the story will use it on. The word choices at some moments are comical. Introduction and conclusion both had their 'explosive kick starts' (inside joke). No important questions remain.

Art
No complaints. If you are looking for blood and gore there is only a tiny amount in a brief moment.

... Sound
no complaints

Character
Basic information, which works.

Enjoyment
Movie is simple to follow without anything too frightening. Make sure you stick around after the movie ends you get a little extra footage with a nice rock song to boot.