Fresh off the streets of Evo 2022, two more characters have been announced for Street Fighter 6, the next evolution of the Street Fighter franchise, launching in 2023. Juri returns with her playful sadistic ways along with the new ninja Kimberly! We sat down with Game Director Takayuki Nakayama to ask him how Kimberly and Juri were designed, along with fast bios for the duo.
A new era is here
Get out some beats and shake your aerosol cans to welcome the latest ninja to Street Fighter 6. Kimberly invited herself to become Guy’s student, the 39th successor to Bushinryu after defeating his master Zeku, the 38th successor. Kimberly has had an ordinary upbringing, but she is a child prodigy who graduated early and now wants to become a full-fledged ninja. She’s in love with 80s pop culture when the portable cassette player was at its peak, which is why she always carries one with her.
Takayuki Nakayama: As for Kimberly’s design, we wanted to create an outfit suitable for her fast and acrobatic moves, as she excels in sports like athletics and cheerleading. Pair her brightly colored gi with sneakers fit for fast movement, and you’ve got Bushinryu-esque ninja outfits, don’t you think? We tried to make her haircut and outfit show her striking silhouette beautifully as she is an expert at running and attacking from the air. The spray can and portable cassette player on her waist are also used for special moves.
The music she listens to comes from a certain person, but you’ll have to wait for the story to find out who that is. Let’s see how Kimberly, the Ninja + Pop Star = Ninja Star, performs.
According to Nakayama, Kimberly’s arsenal of techniques takes advantage of her high physical strength and allows her to open up opponents in a variety of ways. Kimberly is a feisty new ninja and has an urban twist to rethink what Bushinryu means to her. She uses Genius at Play to stock up on an aerosol, which can then be thrown to the ground like a Shuriken bomb. During Hidden Variable, Kimberly hides herself in colorful smoke before immediately appearing in front of an opponent for a surprise attack. Finally, she has the signature ninja Sprint, which can be followed with kick options or Arc Step where Kimberly launches herself from the opponent.
Something bad is coming
First appearing in Super Street Fighter IV, Juri remains a sadistic thrill-seeker who enjoys the suffering of others and takes immense joy in destroying her enemies. Previously, her main motivation was revenge on M. Bison, but since his fall in Street Fighter V, she’s now wasting her time in a gloomy haze. What awaits her now?
Takayuki Nakayama: For Juri, this costume retains the image of her Super Street Fighter IV costume, but has been rearranged to match the Street Fighter 6 aesthetic. There is also a change in the hairstyle, which I think gives it extra personality.
Under her jacket, black tape imitating the appearance of a spider covers her body. The colors of her Feng Shui Engine are purple, black and white and accented with emerald green. Also keep an eye out for her helmet, as you may have seen in the trailer when she shows up on her bike, as it matches her design. Her smartphone also reflects her personality and style, don’t you think?
Fans of Juri will be thrilled to know that she now retains many of her past moves with different traits. Fuhajin returns where Juri performs an upward kick and stocks Fuha shares upon completion. Saihasho, Ankensatsu, and Go Ohsatsu are new special moves, but may be visually familiar in the form of the low projectile or jump axe. While these can now be run without spending Fuha stocks, they can be chained together and powered if a Fuha stock is available.
Finally, Juri’s Shiku-sen, a flying dive kick, returns from Super Street Fighter IV, which can be followed by a series of flashy air kicks. This opens up more creative options for Juri’s playstyle and can overwhelm an opponent.
Here come two new commenters
In case you missed it, Street Fighter 6 has a new Real Time Commentary Feature where household names in the fighting game community lend their voices to comment on your matches. Previously, Vicious and Aru were revealed in June as the first two Play-by-Play Commentators. Now we can confirm two more legendary commentators.
First, let’s take a closer look at the real-time commenting feature. In tournaments, usually two commentators work together: the Play-by-Play Commentator, which specializes in describing the action with clear and fast delivery, and the Color Commentator, which provides greater insight and analysis into the match. We mirror this concept in Street Fighter 6 where you can select both a Play-by-Play Commentator and a Color Commentator in the settings!
Tasty Steve joins Vicious and Aru as Play-by-Play Commentator, bringing his signature energy, charisma and hype to his performance. Our first reveal from Color Commentator is none other than fighting game historian James Chen. We’re honored to have these two legends part of Street Fighter 6’s history and can’t wait to hear them in-game. We will reveal more voices in the future!
This completes our Evo 2022 announcements. We’re thrilled that Kimberly and Juri have brought their unique personalities to the character roster, while James Chen and Tasty Steve lend their voices to Street Fighter 6. We’ll see you later in the year for our next reveals! Anyone dare to try?
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