Virtua Fighter (バーチャファイター) known specifically as Virtua Fighter Animation is a Japanese anime television series based on the Virtua Fighter series of video games made by Sega. Produced by TV Tokyo, Yomiko Advertising and TMS-Kyokuichi, it was directed by Hideki Tonokatsu, with Tsutomu Kamishiro handling series scripts, Ryō Tanaka designing the characters, Satoshi Katō serving as sound director and Kaoru Ōhori composing the music. Targeted towards children aged 6 to 15 years old, the series originally aired on TV Tokyo from October 2, 1995 to June 27, 1996. The episodes take place before the first game in the series, and accordingly portray the characters as slightly younger than they are in the games.

Plot

The series follows Akira Yuki and his quest to see the eight stars of heaven after he had gotten overconfident in his Bajiquan skills from his days training with his grandfather. Initially traveling to figure out how to see those stars again, he learns that Sarah Bryant was kidnapped by robotics scientist Eva Durix as part of Eva's quest to create the "Perfect Soldier." Akira joins up with other characters in his journey such as Pai Chan, Jacky Bryant, Lion Rafale, Kage-Maru and Shun Di to save Sarah.

Characters

Some of the following characters who appear in the show are based on those in Virtua Fighter and Virtua Fighter 2, while some were created solely for the show. Akira Yuki (結城晶) Pai Chan (パイ・チェン) Lau Chan (ラウ・チェン) Jacky Bryant (ジャッキー・ブライアント) Sarah Bryant (サラ・ブライアント) Kage-Maru (影丸) Wolf Hawkfield (ウルフ・ホークフィールド) Jeffry McWild (ジェフリー・マクワイルド) Lion Rafale (リオン・ラファール) Shun Di (舜帝) Liu Kowloon (リュウ・カオルン) Oni-Maru (鬼丸) Gaô (ガオ) Voiced by: Kaneto Shiozawa Nio Voiced by: Unknown Eva Durix (エヴァ・デュリックス) Dural (デュラル)

Episode list

Licensing

Virtua Fighter had been aired in various television stations in Argentina, Chile, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines and the Arabic part of the Middle East, dubbed in their national languages. The series had been licensed for distribution in North America by Anime Works. Due to falling sales, Anime Works had ended its distribution of the Virtua Fighter anime after dubbing 24 of the 35 episodes, and no other licensor would pick up the series until 2022 when Discotek Media announced they picked up the rights for the anime and will release it on Blu-Ray. This will include the first 24 episode that have the English dub while the rest will have Japanese translations. RetroCrush announced that the first season would be streamed with English subtitles provided.

Reception

Hanami Gumi had praised the Virtua Fighter anime series, calling it "one of the best among those anime series that had fighting-game origins". The review said that the show had a clear, non-confusing plot, along with good characterization and background music. Asian Stuff has praised the series for its plot, saying "the fights don't drag on and that it doesn't resort to repetitive tournament crap". An EX review had commented highly on Ryo Tanaka's character designs in the series, as they are "simple yet very effective in revealing the nature of the characters."

Legacy

A tie-in home exclusive game based on the series, Virtua Fighter Animation, was released in 1996.