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DVD review: Fatal Fury 2 : The New Battle |
This review came at a price : there was a power struggle over the TV this evening in the family household, and though I won, many Bothans died trying to obtain it…
Every time I write a review like this I choke up and do a horrible job, for one, I never know where to start. So tonight, I will simply take the first words from my notes and provide you with the worst transition from introduction that Higher Voltage’s reviews have ever seen.
Quality up, budget up. Its quite shocking to see Fatal Fury 2 : The New Battle right after the first OVA release, as not only the quality of the art and the directing have gone up, but it seems even the respect for the source material has evolved from telling a story, to telling a story with style. And this is why I can tell you FF2:TNB is simply one of the best animes based on a game I’ve ever seen. Because this time, it actually resembles something more of a movie told with competence.
The crucial growth was definitely in terms of the directing, which seems just as focused as the first, but the team behind it took the liberty of telling it with more character. And that character is no doubt Wolfgang Krauser, the villain in this chapter of Fatal Fury. Having just dispatched Geese Howard, Terry and pals resume their everyday lives. For Terry this seems to include kicking steel beams in mid-air, eating (and choking on) foot-long frankfurters and befriending young street urchins named Tony. But before you can say “Shun!”, Terry is pushed into a fight with the enigmatic and seemingly invincible Krauser, and with a prompt victory, Krauser sends Terry reeling into depression. This sets up what will later become the heart of the movie, Terry slumping around, bereft of all hope, until his new friend Tony can remind him of why he fought in the first place…
Thankfully, things aren’t so simple. FF2 brings more meat to the table this time around, and the movie zips around from scene to scene quite briskly. And like I said, this time, there’s a lot more character. Consider Tony, who we are told is without a father, since he died in a street fight. No wonder the kid sticks to Terry throughout the movie, there’s that lack of fatherly love, and Tony looks up to Terry… well, that’s not really how the anime sees it (and in fact, we’re not watching it for any intellectual stimulation, so we don’t need to see it more than it is). The kid is another anime sidekick born from the minds of the animators, and follows the rules by being both annoying and sticking to the dress-code of bad 80’s fashion. I forgive Tony’s existence though, he never really physically interferes and is more like a whining conscience for Terry. At the same time, he’s sort of a mirror for him, reminding the Lone Wolf of his own youth.
I’ve probably called down the wrath of many by defending the one pants-leg wearing Tony, so I’ll move on to the rest of the supporting cast who you no doubt will know. Geese Howard, grand villain that he is, wouldn’t have died so easily, but his pride was scarred. He’s retreated to a private training ground it seems, and Krauser meets up with him to learn the name of the opponent who bested him. There are regular scenes of Geese intertwined in the movie, where its made clear that Geese has something prepared (he even tells Ripper to “set the plan in motion”), but sadly this is something that carries on into the motion picture and never gets explained or settled. Its a loose subplot that would’ve needed a fourth installment in the series, one would guess an anime based on Fatal Fury 3, but the game probably never made it out in time and the interest for the Fatal Fury franchise ran out of steam.
To everyone’s delight, this also marks Mai Shiranui’s entrance to the series, and what we have here is a lithe, young Mai, though the physical appearance might seem a little “light” compared to the well curved ninja we know, she still retains the proper attitude. In fact, her chemistry with Andy Bogard is great, one of the best anime/video game couples I’ve ever seen. She never shuts up and Andy gets annoyed and acts like a putz (except for every so often when Andy gets all bad-assed and kicks ass). Together this couple kicks the living shit out of that faggot Lawrence “Strong! Too strong!” Blood. I could tell you more about Kim Kap Hwan, Axel Hawk, Richard Meyer, Billy Kane and whoever, but that would mean less about Joe Higashi. Not only is he back, but he’s given some more screen time. Aside from warning Andy and Mai about what happened to Terry (so Joe says: “Be silent woman! Andy’s heart is burning with revenge!”), he gets kicked around like a chew toy when he goes up against Krauser. This provides the best line in the movie, said by Krauser, but still about Joe : “Joe, once again you are being far too loud. Die quietly, please, or I shall have to ask you to leave!”.
Krauser himself is a rousing success, and a joy to watch in this movie, not only for his mangled German accent, but for the sheer aura of villainy he exudes. Surprisingly, he shares very little resemblance with his video game counterpart, but its for the better. Comparing the two is no contest : the red trouser wearing dork is replaced by an armour wearing goliath. The anime seems to focus a great deal on him, and provides us with plenty of detail about his history. His rivalry with his step-brother Geese or the murder of his father are all told via gray flashback sequences that are both ominous and atmospheric. His bitter hatred for his father and the subsequent murder have left him devoid of any feeling, and that emptiness is filled by fighting, so in a way he has a common bond with Terry, but one that Terry refuses to accept.
I suppose you may find it odd that I’ve spent so much time talking about the characters and so little about the fights. Rest assured, they are years ahead of its predecessor. They have more focus, are more dynamic and competently animated, an improvement overall. You won’t feel cheated after the final battle against Krauser like most of us did for the Geese/Terry fight of the first OVA.
Watching this for the Nth time now, I seem to enjoy it more with every viewing. The anime is not for everyone, some will call it dumb, some will find it gay or what have you, but for any Fatal Fury fan, or even anyone who likes his movies with a tint of B-Movie or martial arts feel, will find a lot to like here. As Higher Voltage is a fighting game site, a vast majority of you reading this will already know what to expect : Fatal Fury 2 : The New Battle is probably the best fighting game to anime adaption so far. And to fighting game fans, that is something we know to be quite rare.
