Battle Fighters Garou Densetsu 2

I've been an SNK fan since the early days of Ikari Warriors and Athena. I like a majority of the games for the NeoGeo and that's why I was excited when I first heard about the Fatal Fury anime. Well, I wasn't too disappointed with it, but it definitely could have been better. The animation is good, but not great. The fight scenes should have been a lot better(seeing Axel Hawk get knocked out with one punch just isn't right). Even the last fight was lamed. Wolfgang never even hit the ground, but he just assumed he lost and then falls out the window in his castle, WTF? Well, at least this was better than the first one. I would recommend this for a rental at best. I wouldn't mind seeing an anime version of Fatal Fury 3, or Real Bout, but that might not happen.

Not a revolutionary animated movie by any means but this sequel to Fatal Fury has a reasonably good story and interesting characters. The color scheme is bright and easy on the eye and the animation style is better than most Japanese anime in which everyone looks like Asian/American to appeal to both audiences.

I thought that Krauser was a cool bad guy and, for once, one that I doubted the hero (Terry Bogard) couldn't defeat so easily. His costume was a bit excessive and it is hard to believe that he could be so agile under such a suit but one can overlook such a flaw easily.

Terry's brother Andy returns and so does Joe Higashi but it's the 2 new characters that are the best thing about this movie. Kim is a teenage boy who idolizes Terry and considers him to be a real role model. But he is gutted when he discovers that Terry is just a burnt out drunk and will do anything for him until he gets back on his feet. The other new character is Mai and she is a very "bouncy" character if you know what I mean.

The fight scenes are very well thought out and vivid. Every punch and kick looks painful and the other heavies look pretty mean too. But we all know that in the end Terry is gonna beat the crap out of them. Just like the video game says…Terry Bogard is the King of Fighters.

But at 68 minutes you feel a little cheated. But with such a short running time there is no room for fat.

That just about describes it. Good fight scenes and good character's but (even though the story had a plot) it just seemed like an empty lead in. The best thing is 2 of the subplots: The relationship between Andy and a beautiful and tough female martial artist (more of a comedy bit at times), and Terry taking in a boy inspiring to be a fighter. Fun for fights but over all empty.

I think this is the best of the three Fatal Fury movies, although the third one clearly had the biggest budget and effort expenditure by far.

In terms of the music, you get more of the same but better. Teiou Yabou, Krauser's theme song here, is absolutely magnificent, as is the orchestral piece played during the train scene. "Keep on Calling", while emotionally starkly different from "Fly Away", is an excellent high-energy rock song that's undeniably catchy, if not as memorable.

The plot is, again, melancholic martial arts tripe, but it's not done badly. Terry Bogard loses his confidence and has to regain it throughout the length of the film in order to have a rematch with the murderous Krauser.

Krauser is a compelling villain in his own right. A fabulously rich nobleman from Europe, he enjoys fighting to the death simply because he was raised into it and because he was bored. He also shows the scars of being raised in a cold and brutal family environment while still yearning for that proximity to others. A surprisingly complex character.

Terry is also rounded out a bit more. His ending message is also not entirely hypocritical as it usually is in these movies. You don't get the impression that fighting accomplishes much in these movies. It usually leaves even protagonists hurt and is more about maintaining some sort of status quo or testing one's own abilities rather than about gaining glory or defeating some evil threat. It almost does feel as if Terry would rather not do it if he had a choice.

Once again, you get all the cameos you would want but, unlike the first movie, all of the moves are represented more faithfully to the game.

Short and simple, but a good time with good music.

Honourable Mentions: Kavinsky Night Call Album Art. There's a scene where Krauswer gets red eyes in the darkness. It looks very much like the artwork from this single. I wonder if it was inspired by it.