I like the 4th Snake, especially his Mortal Kombat/Injustice rants. He can lay out great critiques, but the guy’s storytelling abillities are kinda wack… There’s probably… one? maybe two of his Wasted Potential series I found good, which is even sadder considering that’s basically the main thing on his channel at the moment.
On specific point I want to point out is the “Guile’s first name” thingy… Guile IS his first name, right? If anything he would reveal his last name but who caaaares either way???
The funny thing is that achievement wise Karin has been what she should be, just a glorified $ponsor of the mission… i mean her hype moment has been beat up the megaphone bitch of the Dolls LOL
Problem is the amount of screentime she got and the retard way vet chars, some with actual war/interpol experience, seem to blind accept her as Leader
That’s the problem, i feel like people just like Chun and willl have liked her to get a “canon gift”
Tbh as much i can like Chun, fuck that
Considering only that trio of candidates, Nash got multiple reason to be the guy… the whole symbolism it’s there
Nash has even be portrayed as a ridicolous good fighter, he’s probably close to Ryu as ability (if we don’t consider the anime boost he get vs Bosses)… actually they made him draw with Ryu in character story (in RYU’s story while at it) exactly to show he’s still that sharp
They really wanted highlight the mutual respect between them, there you get the vibe they see each other as equals
He’s the SF image of the idealistic hero, and of the tragic hero
He fought Bison because not some selfish personal vendetta, but because the character has literally been designed to represent the sense of justice.
Dude is a genius and could have been rich or whatever he wanted (already was undisputed american martial arts Champ, before leave the throne empty and Ken took it), yet he chosen to throw a perfect life to follow his justice sense, to offer his abilities against evil
He gave his life for justice (Ser Davos should have said this line)
He surpassed a lot of limits
He (helped) surpassed death itself, just to have few more days of life to fight Bison one more time
He surpassed his own former (already very high) limits thanks to Illuminati’s energy
He got an ultimate card to play that will sacrifice his existence only to destroy Bison
All in SFV built up Nash as a beyond normal human living weapon with a only meaning, all in SFV make him a superior (to Chun) candidate
In comparision Chun is just like Guile, she want avenge dad just as Guile wanted avenge Nash… less gifted fighters, less “greater” motivation (of course they got strong sense of justice too)
They are literally more tied to theyr human individuality, “smaller” if you want
On other hand i feel so many are missing the importance of Chun Li saving Li-Fen
That’s her ultimate development in SFV
In a story where many others are already pushing the “fighters motivation” thing, they wanted to emphasize Chun’s femininity.
They made her show (discover?) a maternal side we never seen on her, and that was meaningful for her as character
I get many ignored it and thought it was a let down, specially in our current western media when if either slap in the “just as good as men!!” (as if every male can defeat Bison lol) or you damn msogynist lol
But thankfully SF is’nt western (still) and they gone for different path
They did’nt forgot Chun Li is the strongestwomanoftheworld as that youtuber keep cry, they actually remember it and chosen to give an higher meaning to her as a woman, in a story that already have plenty of wannabe warrior heroes.
She found a greater motivation
She found love as motivation higher than revenge
She literally grow up as character
It even link to her SF3 story and motivations
If anything i feel Chun Li fans should like Chun Li for what she is instead for the fanfiction image they got of her, with the delusion coming with it
PS: i know the SF3 Urien’s quote, i think ASF respect it
I think SNH in Ryu got awoked first time during the fight with Sagat in SF1
But i understand why Bison, who like most of other SF Masters ever got interessed into Ryu’s potential wanted to have him as final clash.
Specially as he likely know what kind of “evolve or die” fight was Necalli for Ryu
Seem like a lot of people are obsessed on why heroes want to fight Bison, and much much less of why Bison want to fight them (of course you do care)
Bison is not interessed in most of them, but he’s interessed on Ryu
And considering that ASF was Bison plan (or at least Bison plan+who want to stop it) is suprising how many ignore Bison’s pov
Ryu want to stop Bison
Bison want to fight Ryu
That’s the only scenario where BOTH side of the conflict agree
Alos SF ever owed a lot to anime world, and they really wanted have it as Kenshiro vs Raoh, something i can agree with
Only thing i truly disagree with is capcom’s constant overhyping of Akuma
I understand he’s the final fight for Ryu, but in SFV done as they did, interefere with the overall vibe, when only focal point was having them to look forward to face-off in future
Example have Akuma fucking up easily Ryu AFTER the Bison fight just downplayed the importance of ASF final clash… as if kids are pretending to be that great, while the real strong adults are somewhere else
Indeed, that’s why Guile becoming just Kanzuki’s chopter pilot feel epic BS to be lol
Imho a good sequence to justify heroes having to rely on Kanzuki should have been
Guile ASK for the army’s immediate full force intervention
v
Bison got corrupted officials (of rank higher than Guile) inside USA army, just like in old SFA days
These officials (Byron? Could have worked) obstacle Guille’s attempt to make his claim reach higher spheres
v
Guile understand if he insist he will only play theyr game, as even in case of success at reach higher spheres, it will be too late to stop Shadaloo plan
v
Kanzuki having the economy/technology power of a nation + being immediate avaible thanks to Karin, become the next best chance
Akuma is kinda reminding me of Beerus from Dragon Ball Super.
The God of Destruction Beerus was an enemy unlike anyone they’ve ever encounter. His power was far above imagination. Not even merging could stop him. Dude was bent on finding the perfect challenge after being sleep for 39 yrs. If he couldn’t find someone worthy to fight, he’d just destroy the planet.
Goku eventually became Super Saiyan God to combat Beerus. Even though Beerus was still too strong, Goku was able to satisfy his appetite for a good battle. The original assessment based on statements was that Beerus used 60% of his power to take on Super Saiyan God Goku’s Full-Power. With that, we were able to deduce that difference between them.
Since then, Goku has reached Super Saiyan Blue, learned how to apply the Kaio-Ken x10-20 (increasing his abilities by 10 or 20 times), merged with Vegeta to become Super Saiyan Blue Vegito, unlocked Ultra Instinct, basically defeated a guy (Jiren) stated to be beyond God of Destruction tier, mastered the form before losing it, and became much more powerful overall.
The end result? Beerus is still comfortably ahead Why? Because his power is a moving goal post. He doesn’t train. He just likes to eat and sleep for the most part. While there are beings (Angels) that are superior to the Gods of Destruction, when it comes to Goku’s path, Beerus is written to be the standard.
Dragon Ball Super opened with him presenting a power level that could never be reached by a mortal. After acquiring Super Saiyan God, Goku saw him as the one he needed to surpass. When applying the newer information to what was shown in Battle of Gods, Beerus would’ve been using like 1% of his power against Super Saiyan God Goku. The same Beerus said he used 10% of his power to stop Rageta (Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta powered-up through rage), and we know that Vegeta is literally dimensions behind Super Saiyan God Goku.
So logically speaking, under normal power-scaling circumstances, Goku would’ve been beyond Beerus ages ago. The story just isn’t ready for this, so they keep pushing Beerus’ power the more Goku progresses. I see the same with Ryu and Akuma. The main difference here is at least we know Akuma is always training to surpass his limits.
Agree. This is what is currently good in modern SF that Capcom always give something to expect in the future with Akuma not as a new power up but a new technique previewed in endings.
It’s very easy for the writer to say that Bison loves Ryu, but that does not make a story.
As you say, the whole Ryu x Bison is lost on me, I always forget they have the slightest kind of relation, but in my defense that’s because it never had any meaning beyond being a hastily designated fight based on fantasy powers only. As in, “Oops, we made Bison the leader of this evil empire that Chun Li and Guile are fighting for real reasons and we need some story for the Japanese hero… umh… yeah, let’s say that Bison wants Ryu for his magic, that’ll totally make a great story!”. It never meant anything for Ryu and it never meant anything for Bison.
Personally i hate the ugly ass look they gave to nash in sfv. Huge ass staples, greyed out skin.
There could have been more subtle ways of implying someone has come back from the dead or whatever. Personally I would have gone with reddish skin (kind of like a burn victim) without the staples. Just imply that the fake organs naturally attached without the need for huge ass frankenstein staples.
Well, for M. Bison it meant something, he always saw Ryu as his ultimate Spare body, but yeah from Ryu’s perspective I get your point; for example, Ryu sees a lot more value/purposse (for a lack of a better term) in his rivalries with say, Sagat and of course Akuma.
I enjoyed Shadow Falls, but the non-existent build up to the showdown with Ryu and Bison was disappointing. Ryu was basically doing his own thing (training, purging Kage, etc) and then he ends up confronting Bison with Guile and Chun-Li.
Not so sure I’d agree about Bison being the genius behind Ryu’s significant improvement. With the introduction of Kage, we can see that Ryu’s willpower winning out in the struggle with the SnH played a big part in his drastic change. I’d say that came down to Ryu more so than Bison.
Going by Bison’s win quote, he seemed annoyed at the idea of Ryu suppressing the SnH and considered him useless because of it. This implies that what he wanted, or anticipated, was a battle with Ryu utilizing the SnH to its full-extent. Bison’s smart, but there’s no way he could’ve anticipated Ryu acquiring the Power of Nothingness during that time.
Ryu Vs Bison is something I always wanted to see. I just wish the bridge to the battle was better handled.
Especially about Chun-Li. She chose love over vengeance. She had her vengeance and paid her respects to her father after SF2/A3. She clearly after her SF4 story has moved on from that and by SF3, it’s clear she became more interested in the future of justice rather than holding on to a personal grudge.
But from a pure fanboy perspective it would’ve felt good to see her take down Bison (Aftermath trailer anyone?), even though it is not reasonable or realistic to the canon when all things are considered.
That is ultimately the failing of that Wasted Potential video. It deals with the superficial problems of the story without understanding why things were the way they were, regardless of the quality of the execution.
I think Capcom heavily powered down Akuma in recent years. Ryu is a few years away from winning and Akuma is a few arrogant miscalculations away from losing.
Bison expected Ryu to succumb to the SNH to defeat Necalli. He was surprised to find out it was something else that Ryu unlocked within himself. Either way, he did expect Ryu to give him the fight of his life and in that he was happy.
But Bison definitely planned to expedite Ryu’s development, and everything else was a sidenote.
One could argue that Bison’s plan was as far back as SF4 as referenced by Seth in Ryu’s SF4 ending after he was defeated by Ryu. Capcom/Bison were definitely thinking about this from that time and setting it up. Unfortunately, their execution left a lot to be desired clearly.
Again, this completely ignores the fact that Bison was a total asshole to Ryu and brought out the worst in him leading to years of internal struggles and turmoil. Yes, there may or may not have been a flash of SNH in SF1 but Ryu first became fully aware of the darkness within when he fought Bison.
Ryu defeating Bison also falls in line with the whole “great power, great responsibility” thing that Ryu IS about.
Ryu and Bison are also a philosophical battle between two equally valid but opposing view points. Both Ryu and Bison value the will to power more than anything, but their means and motivations differ dramatically and puts them in direct inevitable opposition to one another. Unstoppable force vs immovable object etc.
Oh no Im not ignoring that, I actually agree with you in all counts, all Im saying (and this is not a complain on the story by any means, just an observation) is thar there is more investment / consciusness on that relationship from Bisons perspective than from Ryus, wich is completely understandable, while Bison is being an asshole to Ryu either trying to untap SNH / capture him, Ryu is going through a lot of shit to really pay attention to Bison, still dealing with Gouken “murder”, his rivalry with Sagat, his internal SNH struggle and not to mention Akuma continuous tormenting him.
You are correct but this stems from Ryu’s position of ignorance more than anything. I mean, even Bison’s inner circle seem oblivious to his true ambitions. We know because we are the audience, but those closest to him are clueless. Like FANG doesn’t understand Bison enough to realize his true plan or intentions as demonstrated by his reaction to Necalli and to the power up Bison was getting from the Black Moons.
None of the kings even knew Bison could switch bodies until after the first fall of Shadaloo. Sagat did not know why Bison wanted Ryu too and left the moment he grasped some or all of that reality for the first time.
More importantly, I don’t think Bison wanted anyone but Ryu to know. Probably because they are not worthy of his truth and are mere pawns in his game to get to where he needs to be get ultimate power/fighting.
By the way, did Capcom completely retconned out Akuma SGSd Bison? According to Vipers aftermath, shortly after the WW2nd tournament, the warriors attacked Bison all at once and he commits suicide via self exploding; the other possibility Im thinking is that they retconned it to him simply surviving Akumas SGS but frankly I think that scenario to be less likely as Bison looks to clean and dandy while fighting the warriors in the aftermath and I dont think that moment is supposed to be to far removed time wise from the end of the WW2nd tournament.
Yeah they did retcon it out. Bison and Akuma never had an official encounter, and the dramatic entrance in ST is pure theatrics now rather than actual as-it-happened canon.
Why? Because his power is a moving goal post. He doesn’t train. He just likes to eat and sleep for the most part. While there are beings (Angels) that are superior to the Gods of Destruction, when it comes to Goku’s path, Beerus is written to be the standard.