I know I asked this question a while back on Reddit & I've been needing to get your opinions on the matter, but I've been trying to get the wording right since ResetEra started. With that said, here goes.
Street Fighter is host to a number of unique character designs. Some are hits, some are misses, though what constitutes as a hit or a miss can depend on the eye of the beholder. But as far as the female character designs go, Street Fighter has been relatively tame with the fan service with a few exceptions like Cammy, Rainbow Mika, Juri, & Poison. And in the case of Juri & Poison, the sexiness of their designs lines up with who they are as characters (Rainbow Mika is a pro wrestler, so the fan service makes sense for her from a marketing perspective within the lore of Street Fighter). And with characters like Ibuki, the sex appeal in her old design was just enough to where it didn't dominate the entirety of her design (I'm referring to the exposed hips of her classic SFIII outfit). Transitioning into Street Fighter V, the game has leaned pretty heavily into the sex appeal with some of the alternate costumes as well as some of the general character designs for the veterans & newcomers (namely Laura, who mostly has sexy costumes beyond her Sports costume). While I'm not here to say that sexy = bad character design, I have noticed some reactions towards this move for the series. And with Street Fighter becoming a more prominent esport, it does raise the question of how Capcom should handle its character designs going forward (especially with the likes of ESPN asking for specific costumes). We've already seen Capcom start to react to this with Juri's new design being toned down as well as a few tamer alternate costumes (like Laura's Sports outfit & Cammy's CPT & School outfits) being introduced. Even Menat, one of the new characters in Season 2, is pretty tame as far as her default outfit goes. But my question to you is this, ResetEra. How should Capcom handle fan service with Street Fighter character designs going forward, for both the default costumes & the alternate costumes? I'm genuinely curious to hear your opinions on the matter.
As an aside, I should also mention that the sex appeal isn't limited to the females alone, but it also extends to the guys (Hot Ryu, some of Alex's costumes, Urien's Loincloth Code....even though it is his classic outfit, Ed's Battle Outfit, etc.).
Warning from the Mods
Street Fighter is host to a number of unique character designs. Some are hits, some are misses, though what constitutes as a hit or a miss can depend on the eye of the beholder. But as far as the female character designs go, Street Fighter has been relatively tame with the fan service with a few exceptions like Cammy, Rainbow Mika, Juri, & Poison. And in the case of Juri & Poison, the sexiness of their designs lines up with who they are as characters (Rainbow Mika is a pro wrestler, so the fan service makes sense for her from a marketing perspective within the lore of Street Fighter). And with characters like Ibuki, the sex appeal in her old design was just enough to where it didn't dominate the entirety of her design (I'm referring to the exposed hips of her classic SFIII outfit). Transitioning into Street Fighter V, the game has leaned pretty heavily into the sex appeal with some of the alternate costumes as well as some of the general character designs for the veterans & newcomers (namely Laura, who mostly has sexy costumes beyond her Sports costume). While I'm not here to say that sexy = bad character design, I have noticed some reactions towards this move for the series. And with Street Fighter becoming a more prominent esport, it does raise the question of how Capcom should handle its character designs going forward (especially with the likes of ESPN asking for specific costumes). We've already seen Capcom start to react to this with Juri's new design being toned down as well as a few tamer alternate costumes (like Laura's Sports outfit & Cammy's CPT & School outfits) being introduced. Even Menat, one of the new characters in Season 2, is pretty tame as far as her default outfit goes. But my question to you is this, ResetEra. How should Capcom handle fan service with Street Fighter character designs going forward, for both the default costumes & the alternate costumes? I'm genuinely curious to hear your opinions on the matter.
As an aside, I should also mention that the sex appeal isn't limited to the females alone, but it also extends to the guys (Hot Ryu, some of Alex's costumes, Urien's Loincloth Code....even though it is his classic outfit, Ed's Battle Outfit, etc.).
Warning from the Mods
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