New preview video features iconic J-pop song from the climax of the Street Fighter II anime movie.

A lot of the early marketing for the upcoming Street Fighter 6 had an “out with the old, in with the new” sort of feel to it. Developer Capcom is positioning relative newcomer Luke (who didn’t make his debut until a late DLC update to Street Fighter V) as the new protagonist, and adding a slew of other youthful characters to the rosters. Returning characters like Ryu and Chun-li look decidedly older than when we last saw them. Heck, even the title itself is ditching the Roman numerals the franchise has been using since Street Fighter II and switching over to Arabic for Street Fighter 6.

But as SF6 gets closer to release, Capcom is proving it hasn’t forgotten about old school fans. Last week they showed the first preview of returning fighter Cammy, and anime fans let out a collective cheer as they saw how one of her new attacks synchs up with one of the most memorable sequences of the 1994 Street Fighter II anime movie.

And now Street Fighter 6 is throwing a full-on fierce punch of ‘90s anime nostalgia, with a new preview video set to J-pop vocalist Ryoko Shinohara’s “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa,” the theme song of the 1994 anime movie.

▼ “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa” in the 1994 Street Fighter II anime movie (vocals start at the 19-second mark)

At the time of the song’s release, the then 21-year-old Shinohara was a rising star in the J-pop world, with her powerful voice paired to the talents of legendary producer Tetsuya Komura, a.k.a. TK, as he was racking up hit after hit in the booming dance/pop genre. While it’s become common for major anime in the current era to feature theme songs from major recording stars, that wasn’t the case in the mid-‘90s, when the separation between mainstream musicians and anime musicians was more distinct. “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa” was one of the first crossover examples, and the fact that it wasn’t saved for the credits, but instead plays during the climactic fight scene in which best friends Ryu and Ken team up to fight against evil dictator Vega/M. Bison makes the song’s place in Street Fighter lore all the more iconic.

Sharp-eared J-pop historians might notice, though, that “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa” sounds a little different in the Street Fighter 6 video than it did in the anime. That’s because the video game preview uses a self-cover of the song, called “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa 2023,” that Shinohara and Komura recorded late last year.

▼ “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa 2023”

Capcom hasn’t said whether or not “Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokorozuyosa” will be featured within the game itself, which comes out on June 2 for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. If nothing else, though, it’s a sign that it’s still too early to count out the series’ veterans.

Source: YouTube/PlayStation Japan via Otakomu
Top image: YouTube/PlayStation Japan
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