Excitement levels are naturally high for Street Fighter 6’s most anticipated DLC character yet as we draw nearer to Akuma’s yet to be revealed Spring release date. We did get to see some footage of him in his latest form thanks to the teaser trailer that dropped earlier this month, and now an upcoming Udon comic may have more in store for us.
Street Fighter Masters: Akuma VS Ryu #1 arrives in stores next week, and Udon has shared a few panels showing off the latest clash between the long time rivals.
The tension between Ryu and Akuma started all the way back in the days of Street Fighter Alpha as Akuma, noticing the incredible potential of the Satsui no Hado in Ryu, allowed the young fighter to live under the stipulation that he’d give himself over to the dehumanizing power so they could eventually clash again in an ultimate battle.
Since that time Akuma has more or less just continued to train as he himself aims to ascend beyond his own humanity, but Ryu has gone through a much greater arc. The Street Fighter poster boy wrestles with balancing the allure of powerful Satsui no Hado with the Power of Nothingness in various ways through various chapters of Street Fighter lore.
Long story short, Ryu realized the potential of the Satsui no Hado in Alpha, figured out whether or not he wanted to solely pursue it in Street Fighter 4 (he chose not to), and synthesized it with the Power of Nothingness in Street Fighter 5.
This last move increased Ryu’s abilities immensely as he ultimately garnered the best of both worlds. On one hand he’s got the ability to use great force when necessary, but on the other (and unlike Akuma) he has the ability not to resort to force or violence, and instead be gentle and mild in his approach.
This means Ryu has unlocked the maximum number of available paths forward through any given situation. He can fight, he can talk, he can walk away; whatever the best tool for the job is, it’s at his disposal. The problem? Akuma’s promise from the Alpha days included the threat that if Ryu didn’t give himself over to the Satsui no Hado (essentially become Evil Ryu) Akuma would murder him.
The rematch between these two has long been bubbling, and now it can happen once Akuma joins Street Fighter 6. Even in the evil warrior’s teaser we saw snippets of a coming conflict with Ryu, and though Udon doesn’t necessarily get to present lore, they work closely with Capcom to ensure the “spirit” of the story gets communicated.
This coming comic and these early images likely foreshadow the coming fight, and make us that much more excited to see how this longstanding thread of Street Fighter storytelling will finally play out.
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If you’d like to order this comic you can do so over at the Udon store