Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist
| Image |  |
| Genre | Action Martial arts |
| Runtime | 12 minutes (web series) 22 minutes (TV series) 105 minutes (movie edition: TV) 145 minutes (movie edition: DVD/Blu-Ray) |
| Based On | Street Fighter by Takashi Nishiyama Hiroshi Matsumoto |
| Developer | Joey Ansah Christian Howard |
| Director | Joey Ansah |
| Writer | Joey Ansah Christian Howard |
| Producer | Jacqueline Quella |
| Starring | Mike Moh Christian Howard Akira Koieyama Shogen Itokazu Gaku Space Hyunri Lee Togo Igawa Mark Killeen Hal Yamanouchi Joey Ansah |
| Composer | Patrick Gill |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English Japanese |
| Network | YouTube Machinima.com |
| First Aired | 2014-5-23 |
| Num Episodes | 12 (web series) 6 (TV series) 1 (movie edition) |
| Related | Street Fighter: Legacy |
Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist is a British martial arts web series developed by Joey Ansah and Christian Howard. Based on Capcom's Street Fighter video game series, it is the third live-action adaptation of the game franchise. The story focuses on Ryu and Ken as they uncover the past of their master, Gouken, and learn the secrets of their dark art, Ansatsuken.
The web series was released on Machinima's YouTube channel on 23 May 2014. It was recompiled into a 6-episode television series and film, with IFC Films releasing the film on 7 January 2015.
A sequel series, Street Fighter: World Warrior, which would have seen Ryu and Ken come into conflict with M. Bison and Shadaloo, was in development, but was eventually scrapped in favour of Street Fighter: Resurrection, which served as a tie-in to Street Fighter V.
Cast
- Akira Koieyama as Gouken
- Shogen as Young Gouken
- Christian Howard as Ken Masters
- Mike Moh as Ryu
- Togo Igawa as Goutetsu / Goma
- Gaku Space as Gouki
- Joey Ansah as Older Gouki / Akuma
- Hyunri as Sayaka love interest of Gouki
- Mark Killeen as Mr. Masters
- Hal Yamanouchi as Senzo
Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono makes a cameo appearance as a fight promoter.
Production
The short film Street Fighter: Legacy, a passion project for Joey Ansah and Christian Howard, was released on YouTube in 2010 as a proof-of-concept. During San Diego Comic-Con in 2012 Capcom announced it had granted rights to the creators to go ahead with the project.
The series started a Kickstarter crowdsource funding campaign in order to source funds for production. The campaign was cancelled on 17 April 2013 when private backers stepped forward with the money necessary, removing the need for the crowdsource funds.
On 14 July 2013, production began filming in Simeonovo, Sofia, Bulgaria. On 24 August 2013, filming on the series wrapped. The music was composed by Patrick Gill with contributions from Ryan Ansah and Daniel Braine.
On 20 August 2013, in an interview with Gamereactor, Ansah talked about Ryu and Ken's story and said "a good analogy with Ryu is that he's not actually ever competing with anyone else; he's competing with himself. Whereas Ken is driven fiercely by competition. A lot of Ken's conflict comes from his relationship with his father. Without giving too much away, we learn in this series how Ken came to be in Japan, in Gouken's dojo".
On 1 November 2013 Content has sold worldwide online rights for Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist to a major global online channel for a short first window. On 14 March 2014 Capcom and Machinima.com announced that the series would be airing on Machinima's main channel.
Home media
Funimation acquired the home video distribution rights and released the web series on DVD and Blu-ray under their Giant Ape label. Madman Entertainment and Manga Entertainment released the series in Australia and the UK, respectively.
Episodes
"Alpha" (2014)
Season 1 (2014)
Reception
In contrast to the poor reception of previous live-action Street Fighter films, Assassin's Fist has been acclaimed as the best and most faithful adaptation of the franchise. On the review-aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, while there is no critics' ratings, Assassin's Fist currently has a 94% audience approval rating. IGN gave the series a positive review, stating that it was more authentic to the franchise than either of the larger budgeted Street Fighter feature films, as well as one of the best live-action video-game adaptations overall, rating it an 8.7/10.
Shehzaan Abdulla from Continue-Play gave it a score of 8/10 and said, "Balancing in-jokes and fan service with humble, down-to-earth storytelling isn’t easy. Go too far in one direction and you end up with a hokey, pandering mess; go too far in the other, and you have a feature that feels disconnected, and uninspired by the source material. Assassin’s Fist walks this line almost perfectly."
References
- STREET FIGHTER: Assassin's Fist TRAILER!, YouTube
- Comic-Con: Street Fighter Live-Action TV Series In Development - Ken and Ryu get their own show., 13 July 2012, IGN
- Episode 62- Shane Carruth, Andrew Leavold, Joey Ansah, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, 15 April 2013, Film Pulse, 13 May 2013
- Street Fighter®: Assassin's Fist Unveiled at Comic Con 2013, 20 July 2013, 20 July 2013, 21 August 2019, dead
- Street Fighter Live-Action TV Show Starts Filming, Escapist Magazine, 20 July 2013, 25 August 2019, dead
- Filming on Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist live action series has begun - will feature Goutetsu, young versions of Akuma and Gouken, 19 July 2013, EventHubs, 19 July 2013
- Casting Child Roles in 'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'! -Taking Submissions Now!, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, Assassin's Fist Limited, 13 May 2013, 8 March 2021, dead
- Funimation Acquires Tokyo Ghoul, Street Fighter:Assassin Fist, Anime News Network, 2014-06-08
- Joey Ansah video message to SFAF fans 30th June 2014, July 2014, YouTube
- Timeline Photos -, Facebook
- GOUKEN ANNOUNCED!!!, Kickstarter, 2013-11-10
- NEW CAST! young Goken!!, Kickstarter, 2013-11-10
- 'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist' Younger age of Japanese characters for casting, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, 13 May 2013, 13 July 2013, dead
- RYU ANNOUNCED!!!!, Kickstarter, 2013-11-10
- Cast announcement! TOGO IGAWA, Kickstarter, 2013-11-10
- Gaku Space - Age, Birthday, Height and Bio, 9 December 2020, 2021-02-28, en-US
- GOUKI ANNOUNCED!, Kickstarter, 2013-11-10
- Hyunri Lee, Facebook
- 25 April 2013, Actress 'Hyunri' attached to play 'Sayaka' in 'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist', 2013-11-10, YouTube
- MR. MASTERS ANNOUNCED!!, Kickstarter, 2013-11-10
- Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist reveals Goutetsu and Senzo |, Videogamefilms.com, 2013-07-30, 2013-11-10
- Third time's the charm: Live-action Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist series announced, Joystiq
- Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist will be a TV and online series made by the Street Fighter: Legacy filmmakers., 8 April 2013, IGN
- Exciting News!, Kickstarter
- Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, Facebook, 2013-11-10
- Tijdlijnfoto's - Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, Facebook, 2013-11-10
- Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist Live Action Series Has Begun Filming, 20 July 2013, Siliconera
- Tijdlijnfoto's - Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, Facebook, 2013-11-10
- Patrick Gill - Music Composer., Facebook
- Patrick Gill
- Ryan Ansah, Facebook
- Ryan Ansah
- Ryan Ansah, SoundCloud, 10 May 2014, 5 November 2015, dead
- Papa Vinyard chats with director Joey Ansah about his web series STREET FIGHTER: ASSASSIN'S FIST!, Papa Vinyard, 29 May 2014, Aint It Cool News
- Gillen McAllister, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist Interview - Gamereactor UK, 20 August 2013, Gamereactor.eu, 2013-11-10
- Street Fighter Assassin's Fist Machinima Announcement, 14 March 2014, 7 February 2019, dead
- Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist Audience Rating, Rotten Tomatoes
- STREET FIGHTER: ASSASSIN'S FIST REVIEW, 26 May 2014, IGN, 2014-05-31
- dead, 30 May 2014, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist Review, 27 May 2014, Continue Play
External links
- (on Machinima.com's channel)
- Kickstarter Campaign for Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist
- (a short fan film)
Category:Ansatsuken
Category:Web series based on video games
Category:Films shot in Bulgaria
Category:Funimation
Category:British martial arts films
Category:Martial arts television series
Category:Martial arts web series
Category:Street Fighter films
Category:Street Fighter television series
Category:Works based on Street Fighter
Category:Works by Joey Ansah
Category:Live action television shows based on video games
Category:Japan in non-Japanese culture
Category:Live-action films based on video games