Capcom has made it clear that they’re fully aware of the community’s anticipation for Akuma in Street Fighter 6. It was actually amusing to see Capcom teasing Akuma at the start of the new year even though, at the time, Ed was slated to be the next DLC character for the game.
Regardless, now that Ed has been released, Capcom is now ready to unveil even more details about Akuma. Much to everyone’s surprise, Akuma’s World Tour teaser trailer was showcased during yesterday’s Capcom Highlights stream.
Just like with how Akuma appeared in Street Fighter 5, the character’s appearance has seen drastic changes from what the fans are used to. During the aforementioned Capcom Highlights stream, Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama was briefly asked about how the upcoming fighter’s design has been updated.
“Street Fighter 6 is the latest entry in the long-running story of the Street Fighter universe,” responded Nakayama.
What Nakayama is basically referring to here is how all the returning characters in Street Fighter 6 have undergone drastic changes to their visual design. This really does a good job of indicating how Street Fighter 6 comes after Street Fighter 3 in the timeline, marking SF6 as new territory.
“Compared to the character we know from the previous game, Akuma now has a more striking presence, complete with gray hair,” continued Nakayama.
Of course, Akuma has always had a “striking presence” with every game he’s been in. Despite this, it feels like the developers have really succeeded at expanding upon this in Street Fighter 6 with Akuma’s updated look.
It also makes sense that Akuma would have gray hair at this point considering that he’s the younger brother of Gouken. As powerful as Akuma is, he’s still aging just like any other human character.
“The development team also used Buddha statues and animals as references for his musculature in an attempt to give the character a memorable aesthetic,” stated Nakayama.
