Hiya!

Last week, I went through some of the redesigns Capcom opted to give some of the characters returning in Street Fighter 6. I gave Ryu, Luke, Chun-Li, Guile, Juri and Ken’s new looks a rating based on if they look better or worse when compared to their earlier looks and how much they appealed to my personal aesthetic ideals.

Well, it’s now time to go take a gander at the rest of the returning cast. We still have 6 more characters to go through now, namely Blanka, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Dee Jay, Zangief and Cammy. Let’s not waste any more time and let’s go check them out.

Blanka

I have been a Blanka fan for a long time so I was one of the rare few fans to see him coming back in Street Fighter 6. However, my being a Blanka fan also means I will have a stronger opinion than most when it comes to his new look. He’s still the green-skinned beast he was in previous games but Capcom did tweak him a lot for the latest game. For one, Blanka is more simian looking than mutated monster. I do think that’s what he was supposed to be even way back in Street Fighter 2 but, in order to get it to that point, they shrunk his head. This looks weird to me because Blanka’s face used to be large and expressive. It’s still expressive in Street Fighter 6 but it’s harder to see since his head is much smaller.

Capcom did try to add more personality to Blanka as they now gave him more clothing to wear this time around. Instead of his classic brown pants, the nature-loving fighter is now sporting overalls, which does make sense as he needs more room to carry all those leftover Blanka-Chan dolls he has in stock. Other nice touches include a bandana he wears around his neck to add more character to his, well, character. Overall, however, I don’t really like how Blanka looks in Street Fighter 6. I’ll probably get used to it but I just don’t like how smaller his head is now.

Rating: 5 shrunken heads out of 10

Dhalsim

Among all of the returning characters, it seems as if Dhalsim is the one who got the least modifications. In fact, I had to struggle and really look from any changes Capcom did with the character when compared to his Street Fighter 5 incarnation. The most evident would be him not sporting a turban anymore, choosing to show off his head tattoos instead. Other minor changes would be him ditching the tattered shorts and opting to wear something like a tattered robe to cover the lower part of his body. Dhalsim also seems to be wearing less child skulls around his neck. That’s a good thing because that always creeped me out.

I do wish Capcom tried a little harder with attempting to add more design elements to Dhalsim but, at the same time, what could they do to him without destroying his character? He’s supposed to be a humble man who is searching for enlightenment so adorning him with kitsch wouldn’t suit him. This does mean I have to give Dhalsim a pretty low rating when it comes to his redesign because, well, he didn’t really receive a substantial one, did he?

Rating: 3 child skulls out of 10

E. Honda

I have never really liked any of E. Honda’s previous designs. I get he’s a sumo wrestler and they’re supposed to be wearing the traditional mawashi, the towel thingie E. Honda has worn ever since Street Fighter 2. However, it’s just plain boring! Thankfully, Capcom changed his outfit in Street Fighter 6 as he’s now sporting a yukata but with only one side properly fastened as the other side is tucked into his belt so he does have more arm freedom. To make sure his nether region bits don’t come flying out by accident, he also wears sensible shorts underneath the robe.

After that, however, Capcom opted not to do anything else to E. Honda’s overall look. He still has his hair tied up in a chonmagi manner. He still hasn’t foregone wearing his kabuki facepaint as well. I guess they did tweak his overall musculature as E. Honda doesn’t look as ripped as he did in previous games. I always found it weird E. Honda would have really cut up arms and shoulders as well as a visible 6-pack despite him being a sumo. I just kind of assumed he was like Marvel’s Kingpin. As the biggest change they made was making him wear something different and I really do like that he’s not wearing a tower, I give E. Honda’s makeover in Street Fighter 6 a rather half-hearted thumbs up.

Rating: 6 non-towel wearing sumos out of 10

Dee Jay

Dee Jay’s original kickboxer design never really struck me as appealing so I’m super glad Dee Jay is being given a radical redesign in Street Fighter 6! He’s now looking more like an actual spinner of records instead of a fighter and it’s is a perfect reflection of his happy-go-lucky personality. He’s ditched the flat-top with mouse ponytail and chose to grow his hair into dreads. He’s also wearing sunglasses and is wearing a headband sporting the Jamaican flag’s colors to show how proud he is of his heritage.

In fact, Dee Jay is clad from head to toe with the Jamaican flag colors and, while I think it would gaudy in real life, it suits the character for the simple reason that the colors are bright and colorful, much like the way Dee Jay is! Dee Jay is supposed to be a fun-loving character and the loud colors really show it. I do kind of wish the pants were a little more colorful but, then again, it might’ve clashed with the already multicolored unbuttoned shirt he’s wearing. It’s still a very inspired redesign despite this minor gaffe.

Rating: 8 colorful shirts out of 10

Zangief

I’ve always wished I could play grapplers efficiently. I just never liked how slow and lumbering they are but I do love landing a command grab and causing huge damage to my opponent. I don’t think the Street Fighter 6 version of Zangief will change my mind buy I do have a lot to say about his redesign. For one thing, he’s wearing pants! Okay, more like long wrestling tights but he’s finally changed from wearing those wrestling trunks for something more modern!

The other, less evident, change to Zangief is his overall physique. In previous entries, Zangief was huge and super cut. He seems to have eased up on his diet a little bit since, while he’s still huge, it looks like there’s a little more fat to him. I like it! He looks more like a powerlifter than a bodybuilder now and it suit him. It looks like he really focused on training to get stronger instead of just trying to look physically intimidating. I do think it’s a missed opportunity that he’s not wearing the mask as shown in the trailer. It would’ve really defined his new look.

Rating: 7 luchador masks out of 10

Cammy

Capcom saved the best for last as, in all honesty, Cammy has the best redesign in Street Fighter 6. She’s not a green leotard wearing Delta Red operative anymore as she’s dressing more like a real person now! For one thing, she’s wearing pants! They’re really sleek looking runners or yoga pants but pants nonetheless! While her legs are covered up, Cammy is now sporting a very sexy midriff while wearing something akin to a sports bra. To cover her bare arms, she now wears a cropped jacket with the British flag embossed on the back. It looks really nice!

While I think Cammy’s new design is pretty much straight fire, the only thing and on and off about is her new hairstyle. I do like she’s not wearing her red beret as it would clash with her new look, the shorter hair does throw me off now and again. At certain times, it looks really well, framing her face in a flattering way. However, there are some angles where it looks like Cammy’s forehead it too prominent, making it look like she’s balding. I also have to add that, besides still retaining the cow-lick, her new hair resembles Dragon Ball Z’s Android 18’s haircut of the King of Fighter’s Blue Mary classic do. A part of me wishes she, at the very least, retained one long ponytail dragging from behind her head.

Rating: 9 Android 18 haircuts out of 10

Byee!

Who do you think has the best redesign in Street Fighter 6? Why is it Cammy? Let me know why in the comments section below!