Who is the most surreal fighter who has ever played Street Fighter? Some electrocute, others have a very striking appearance, there are those who throw strange things and we even have a parody with legs of the saga Art of FightingHowever, we cannot overlook the fact that Capcom in the 90s also included real characters like Mike Tyson or Victor Zangiev, playing some (not at all subtle) tricks with the names. Norimaro It is all of the above and more, and if its name doesn't ring a bell, that's perfectly normal: never set foot in the west. What's more, Capcom itself had to promise that it wouldn't do it.
Defining who or what Norimaro is is complicated if you're new to the series. To give a quick description, we could say that he is a character created by the comedian Noritake Kinashi and that, broadly speaking, he is an extravagant guy who fights without fighting. Or, rather, that he tries to desperately confront his enemies… Dressed like a high school student!
To make an analogy, he would be the Japanese equivalent of Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean character. However, unlike Mike Tyson, this strange appearance in the games was made with the participation and consent of Kinashi. Something that, as we will see, will even make for a great little story broadcast on Japanese television. Which does not distract us from the really important thing: how on earth did someone like that end up in the Japanese copies of Marvel vs. Street Fighter?
The Japanese “Mr. Bean” is all about humor and little jokes
Norimaro He is not a character from Capcom or Marvel, and his entry into the crossover between the two companies is done without any backstory. Well, there is one thing: his animations clearly show that he is a huge fan of Chun Li and, furthermore, a true fan of superhero comics. It is understood that, in a mysterious way, he ended up making his way into the game's universe, and that is more than enough.
From here on, a note: the fact that he stumbles, cries or looks visibly overwhelmed by the circumstances during combat doesn't mean that Norimaro is a useless character: he has basic and special attacks, of course, as well as throwing random junk from his backpack, headbutting, pushing… He even has his own Raging Demon inspired by Akuma's. Far from using martial arts or brute force, he reacts impulsively and his lack of willingness to fight is always very evident unless there is a major force.
In case there is any doubt, Norimaro is a complete fighter. Unpredictable, but developed with its special attacks, its normals and hyper combos. In fact, he even has a special trick: if before combat we hold down the light and medium punch buttons along with the strong kick button, he becomes the only character with the ability to jump four times. And that, in a title in which aerial combos have such a presence, is an advantage to consider.
Playing with Norimaro is very different from playing with Ryu, Chun Li or Zangief since their animations obey the comedy itself. If you have ever seen, even in passing, a Made in Japan comedy show with colorful characters, you will recognize those kinds of bizarre gestures, poses and mannerisms in the character. But even in those he is a viable choice as a fighter. Not as intuitive as others, perhaps, but it is indisputable that he brings his own style.
Very special mention to Norimaro's visual style, which completely broke with the aesthetics of both the Marvel fighters and the World Warriors who, in fact, had been rescued from Street Fighter Alpha 2. The result was more aligned with what was seen in DarkStalkersbut even in those we could see both the Capcom touch and the technology of those machines with CPS2 that blew our minds.
That said, Norimaro's entry was not a break with the dynamics of the game: the combats of Marvel vs. Street Fighter They were in pairs and relays, and their specials, assists and Hyper Combos were arranged to work with the rest of the heroes and villains and add chaotic and unpredictable elements to each battle. Including a grateful additional point of humor between so much combo and explosion.
What's more, if we manage to defeat Apocalypse and Cyber-Akuma, the two final bosses of Marvel vs. Street Fighterat the end it simply says that he conquered the world and was a monarch who reigned with cruelty and an iron fist. Many years later, history books will define him as a truly despicable personality.
From this point on we have to address the big question: at what point did someone at Capcom come up with the idea of pitting this guy against their best fighters and the stars of the House of Ideas? The key is that Marvel vs. Street Fighter It was released in 1997, and that was a very special year for fighting game lovers.
How Capcom added Norimaro to Street Fighter and Marvel
What's significant about the whole thing is the creative process behind Norimaro, and everything was born from a promise from Yoshioki Okamoto, the producer of Street Fighterwho took what seemed like a joke to beyond the imaginable limits: Capcom and comedian Noritake Kinashi, known for his participation in the program Tunnel!, announced that the latter will appear in the legendary fighting saga. Being more specific, what was said is that he would be a fighter “from the next Street Fighter.”
Okamoto's statements were made with some mischief since the launch of Street Fighter III. The new numbered installment of the phenomenon that took arcades by storm, no less. Logically, these statements were a double bombshell for both their daring and their absurdity. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for everyone, they were referring to the Marvel vs. Street Fighter.
“We had promised to release it in a Street Fighter-related title that would be completed as soon as possible and fit into our schedule. I'm glad it didn't end up being Street Fighter III.”
The funny thing is that fighting game fans experienced something absolutely unusual for the time: the creation and development process of Norimaro was recorded and broadcast on the comedy show Tunnels' in which Noritake Kinashi participated, who not only helped with the characterization, voice, designs or ideas for his attacks, but he even put on a motion capture suit for the animations. For all intents and purposes she was his co-creator with one exception: the character's name was decided in a mail-in contest won by a 13-year-old viewer.
Behind closed doors, and as Katsuya Akitomo, one of the artists who worked on Capcom's fighting sagas at the time, told on his social networks, that such a daring idea was not a crazy idea proposed by Okamoto himself, who was not exactly a fan of adding such a character to the game. However, Akiman, the creator of Chun Li and legendary illustrator of the company, adored him and that was decisive in adding him to the Japanese version of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street FighterAnd that brings us straight to the final question: Where was Norimaro in the versions released in the rest of the world?
Norimaro, a guy too exceptional even for Marvel itself
The absence of Norimaro in the Western versions of Marvel vs. Street Fighter It was disguised without much fuss: in the panel of selectable fighters, a huge gap was left under Wolverine, in the central column, in which his portrait was replaced by the game's logo. Something that happened both in the original arcade and in the later home versions for Saturn and PlayStation. And it's a shame, given that in the latter there were no relays, so they were single combats with assists due to the limitations of Sony's 32-bit.
At this point it is time to make a reminder: as we mentioned, and as is clear from the distribution of copyrights on the loading screens of all versions, Norimaro is a character whose ownership is shared by Capcom, the Nippon TV network and Arrival. So the creators of Street Fighter, Mega Man or the saga resident Evil They do not have the freedom to use it whenever and wherever they want.
However, the real reason why this curious fighter never left Japan has nothing to do with any of these three Japanese companies. As Kinashi explained on his social networks, Marvel was not happy with the addition of Norimaro. The House of Ideas was the Final Boss of this crossover.
The reason given by Marvel is that such a guy would ruin the presence of Spider-Man, Hulk, the X-Men and the so-called Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Capcom's solution: the promise and commitment that it would only be available to Japanese players. No one else in the world would know about it. Remember, this is 1997.
Marvel objected violently; naturally, they didn't want some random, powerless joke character going toe-to-toe with their heroes. We desperately pleaded and tried to calm them down: “We'll only use him in Japan!”, so he doesn't appear in the overseas versions.
In fact, there are two main images of the game created by the artist Bengus in which all the characters are shown: one released worldwide and another for the Japanese market. And although Norimaro appears in the second, the truth is that you have to look for him intentionally. Definitely, Capcom didn't want any trouble.
Would history have been different today? To be fair, and with the inclusion of a Japanese character with such cartoonish appearances, his appearance would be a real double-edged sword: on the one hand it is a truly original and unexpected contribution in a title promoted with phrases like 'You Expected This? ' (Did you expect it?). On the other hand, and in all probability, in current times Capcom should give explanations -unnecessarily- about possible stereotypes to people who do not know where the character came from or who the comedian is who gave him life. And they probably don't give a damn about the game.
To no one's surprise, Norimaro was the only character from the entire Marvel crossover saga who did not return in the glorious Marvel vs. Capcom 2and he's not expected to return since then either. And there were two versions of Wolverine in that game! Does that mean he'll never return?
In 2024 Capcom announced the definitive compilation of the saga: Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection. A comprehensive review with enormous improvements and with fighters unlocked for the occasion. We know that, in the case of Marvel vs. Street Fighter, one of the two ROMs that will be used corresponds to the Japanese version. However, in the end we return to the same situation as in 1997: whether Norimaro appears or not does not depend on Capcom, nor on the “flesh and blood Norimaro”, but on the predisposition of Marvel and Disney. And we are not going to deny it, one of the distinctive features of this fighter is how repellent he can be, which does not work in his favor.
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