BATTLE SPIRITS: RYUUKO NO KEN

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ONA ActionQuanhuang Mingyun

REVIEWS

• 

  MegaTheRealOne

  10/100
  And You Wonder Why Nobody Talks About These Games Anymore

  (Originally Reviewed on Letterboxd)

  These criminals actually took this rare, priceless jewel and hid it in some random guy's ice cube tray................. to be fair, that's actually pretty smart, but still, the fact that they did that sounds way too fucking dumb.

  Whenever one were to think about any of the fighting game franchises made by SNK over the years, several names would come up time and time again, such as Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and of course, The King of Fighters, as these are probably the most iconic series that they have ever made. However, one of their series that definitely did not get the same love, respect, and treatment that those other franchises got was Art of Fighting, and when looking at the games yourself, you can definitely see why. Out of all of their fighting games, these ones just seem like the most bland, basic, and boring games of the lot, being good enough to stand on their own and can be fun to play at times, but you definitely wouldn't play them over any of the other fighting games you have access to instead. But hey, despite how little many people (including SNK themselves) care about this series, it still did get a good number of entries before being forgotten to time, including three mainline games, and even its own animated TV special known simply as Art of Fighting.

  This special was made sometime after those two Fatal Fury TV specials that I covered a while back, so with that knowledge in mind, you'd think you would know everything about what to expect, right? It's probably just gonna be some cheap anime special that covers the first game, doesn't do anything too crazy or cool with the characters, but still manages to be fun regardless of all that. At least, that's what I thought I was gonna get out of this, considering that is what I got with those Fatal Fury specials. However, when I did end up sitting down and watching the thing for myself, I then came to a sudden realization............. this special is SO FUCKING BAD, oh my god! It is not only the worst of these anime specials I have seen so far, but it may also just be one of, if not THE WORST video game adaptation I have ever seen in my life, with little to no redeeming factors present here whatsoever to make it worth sitting through.

  The story pretty much follows along the main events of the first game in the series, more so in a very loose sense that could be seen as entertaining enough, but it more so comes off as being annoying and meandering most of the time, the characters are all unlikable and annoying, each one feeling like they were ripped straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon with how they act towards everything around them, and it is painful to watch play out, the voice acting is GOD AWFUL, with every single performance, especially that of the main character, Ryo, feeling extremely amateurish and phoned in, while also having those few occasions where it can also come off as very annoying as well, the animation is the cheapest that I have ever seen from this genre, where the designs of the locations and characters are... fine, I guess, but the way that they move around feels very stilted and on the cheap side of things, and the fight scenes, whenever they do happen, aren't exciting at all, are way too slow, and it makes you feel like you are losing all ability to think as you are watching it unfold.

  Now, despite how much I myself hated this special with a burning passion, I don't wanna just go out and say that this is an irredeemable piece of fiction that nobody should watch, because it isn't. It is definitely worse then those Fatal Fury specials by a long shot, but I will admire, it does still carry that same amount of cheap charm to it, where you definitely wouldn't say it is good by any means, but it would've been the perfect movie to watch when you were a kid, lounging around in your house on summer vacation, looking through the DVDs to see what you could possibly check out, and then you would find this one, put it in, and just have a good time with it. I can't ever see myself looking at this special like that ever, but hey, it is food for thought for those that enjoy cheap shit like this, because as for me, I can't stand it when it is done as badly as this.

  Overall, despite one or two "charms" to be found in it, this is definitely one of the worst pieces of anime or video game adaptations I have ever seen, being incredibly cheap in many areas, having terrible voice acting, annoying characters, a plot that is rarely engaging or exciting, slow-ass fight scenes, and having no real purpose to exist other then to just promote the fighting game that it was named after.... even though that series ended up crashing and burning as well. I would ONLY recommend this for those who are huge fans of the games, and I mean HUGE fans, because for everyone else, this is definitely one that you wanna avoid at all costs, as it offers nothing fun or cheesily-good to laugh at amongst all the mire. angry sigh.............. it's fine though, because unlike Fatal Fury, this one only managed to get one special, so at least we only have to deal with this one time. I mean, surely there can't be any other specials that were made based on one of SNK's OTHER franchises, riiiiiiiiiight?................... Please say right, I don't think I am ready for the next one.

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