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 Fighting. However, we cannot ignore that Capcom of the 90s also included real characters like Mike Tyson or Victor Zangiev doing some tricks (not at all subtle) with names. Norimaro It is all of the above and more, and if its name doesn’t sound familiar to you, it’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 are new. To give a quick description, one could say that it is a character created by the comedian Noritake Kinashi and who, broadly speaking, is an extravagant type who fights without fighting. Or, rather, who tries to get out of trouble by facing his enemies… Dressed like a high school student!
To make an analogy, it would be the Japanese equivalent of the character of Mr. Bean by Rowan Atkinson. Of course, 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 what is truly substantial: 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 either Capcom or Marvel and his entry into the crossover between both companies occurs without there being a background. Well, there is one little thing: from his animations it is clear that he is a huge fan of Chun Li and, furthermore, a true lover 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 so much presence, is an advantage to consider.
Playing as Norimaro is very different from playing as Ryu, Chun Li or Zangief, as his animations are all about comedy. If you’ve ever seen a Japanese comedy show with colorful characters, even in passing, you’ll recognize the character’s outlandish mannerisms, poses and mannerisms. But even in those, he’s a viable choice as a fighter. Not as intuitive as some, perhaps, but he definitely brings his own style to the table.
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 you 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 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 it all started from a promise from Yoshioki Okamoto, the producer of Street Fighterwho took what seemed like a joke beyond imaginable limits: Capcom and comedian Noritake Kinashi, known for his participation in the show Tunnel!they announced that the latter will appear in the legendary fighting series. To be 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 They 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 our schedule. I’m glad it didn’t end up being Street Fighter III”
The curious 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 even got involved a motion capture suit for the animations. For all intents and purposes, he was its co-creator with one exception: the character’s name was decided in a mail-in contest won by a 13-year-old young 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 I adored him and that was decisive for them to add it to the Japanese version of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. And that brings us directly to the last question: Where was norimaro in the versions released in the rest of the world?
Norimaro, a guy too exceptional even for Marvel itself
Norimaro’s absence in the Western versions of Marvel vs. Street Fighter It was hidden without giving too much thought to the matter: 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 logo. Something that happened both in the original arcade and in the subsequent home versions for Saturn and PlayStation. And it’s a shame, given that in the last one there were no relays, so they were individual fights 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 to the saga Resident Evil
However, the real reason why this curious fighter never left Japan has nothing to do with any of these three Japanese companies. According to Kinashi, on their social networks, Marvel was not happy about the addition of Norimaro. The House of Ideas was the Final Boss of this crossover.
The reason given by Marvel is that a guy like that destroyed 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. Let’s remember, this is the year 1997.
Marvel violently objected; Naturally, they didn’t want some random, powerless joke character to come face to face with his heroes. We desperately beg and try to calm them down: “We’ll only use it in Japan!”, so it doesn’t appear in the overseas versions.
In fact, there are two main images of the game created by artist Bengus that feature all the characters: one released worldwide and another for the Japanese market. And although Norimaro appears in the second one, the truth is that you have to look for him intentionally. Definitely, Capcom didn’t want any trouble.
Main illustration of Marvel vs. Street Fighter (left) in front of the Japanese girl (right) with Norimaro hiding in front of Dhalsim
Would history have been different today? To be fair, and with the inclusion of a Japanese character with such cartoonish looks, his appearance would be a real double-edged sword: on the one hand, it’s a truly original and unexpected addition to a title promoted with phrases like ‘You Expected This?’. On the other hand, and in all likelihood, in this day and age, Capcom would have to give explanations -unnecessarily- about possible stereotypes to people who don’t even know where the character came from or who the comedian who brought him to life is. 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 huge 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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