A rare Street Fighter II educational anime that was only released in limited quantities 26 years ago is now viewable on YouTube with English subtitles.
Bearing the translated title Street Fighter II - Return to the Fujiwara Capital: The Fighters Who Leapt Through Time, the 22-minute short, produced by Studio Pierrot, was released to coincide with a 1995 exhibition in Japan's Nara Prefecture. Street Fighter II developer Capcom was a partner for the exhibition, which celebrated the city of Fujiwara, which was the Imperial capital of Japan from the years 694 to 710.
Starring Street Fighter mainstays Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and E. Honda, the anime sends each character back in time to Fujiwara through a mysterious vortex. Once there, Ryu and Ken venture out on a tour of the capital, pointing out features like its notable grid pattern, which was based on Chinese cities of the era. Meanwhile, Chun-Li travels with an envoy to Tang dynasty China and Silla, one of the ancient kingdoms of Korea, and E. Honda is forced into harsh manual labor.
At the end of the short, all of the World Warriors miraculously return to their own time period and stare out upon the former site of Fujiwara. Chun-Li recites a famous poem by Empress Jito, the 41st ruler of Japan, describing the city at the dawn of summer: "Spring has passed, it seems, and now summer has arrived; For this, they say, is when robes of pure white are aired on heavenly Mount Kagu."
Initially only available on VHS, Return to the Fujiwara Capital fell into obscurity in the years after the exhibition and was only re-released in a Japan-only DVD box set in 2004. The translated version was uploaded by YouTuber RageQuitter87, who obtained a copy of the DVD and commissioned shmuplations.com, a site that regularly translates obscure Japanese video game interviews and magazine articles, to subtitle it.
"I'm afraid there's no fighting, but it does look good!" RageQuitter87 tweeted, pointing out that they had worked with shmuplations.com to release the subtitles as a fun nod to Street Fighter II's 30th anniversary.
Street Fighter II debuted in Japanese arcades in 1991, hitting consoles one year later. The game received a critically acclaimed anime adaptation with Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie in 1994. Return to the Fujiwara Capital uses the same art style as its longer animated forebear, and the newly subtitled YouTube version includes several behind-the-scenes glimpses of the anime's character designs following the conclusion of the short.
Source: YouTube