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Ibuki (Street Fighter)

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Ibuki
Street Fighter character
Ibuki in Onimusha: Soul
First gameStreet Fighter III (1997)
Created byAkira "Akiman" Yasuda[1]
Designed byAkira "Akiman" Yasuda[1]
Kinu Nishimura (schoolgirl outfit)[2][3]
Toshiyuki Kamei (SFV)[4]
Voiced by
In-universe information
Fighting styleTaijutsu[6]
OriginJapan
NationalityJapanese

Ibuki (いぶき, Ibuki) is a character in Capcom's Street Fighter series, first appearing in the 1997 fighting game Street Fighter III: New Generation.

Conception and design

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During the development of Street Fighter III: New Generation for Capcom, the development team had implemented legacy character Ryu into the game, and wanted to include female character, but found a viable concept difficult to come up with. Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, a longtime character designer at Capcom then suggested "Let the girl be a ninja. Ninjas are absolutely cool!"[7] Producer Tomoshi Sadamoto recalled that because they were located in Japan in contrast to other new characters Ibuki was much easier to find reference materials for.[8] As koppojutsu as a martial art was getting attention at the time, Yasuda incorporated elements of it alongside ninjitsu into her character design and movements.[4]

Her initial design was drastically different, consisting of a short haired muscular girl with glasses, wearing an outfit similar to Guy from Final Fight, another character he had developed. However they felt this design looked "more like a martial artist than a high-flying ninja".[9] Another pass was done with a focus on a more traditional ninja, the next drawing giving her a full bodysuit and armor over her hands, ankles and crotch.[10] Her appearance and outfit were refined further,[1] giving her a look he described as cute "even though she looks shabby". Series artist and fellow character designer Kinu Nishimura took that statement to heart and emphasized that cute aspect of her art of Ibuki, as well as designing a school outfit for the character.[2][3] She was given a long ponytail, which proved a problem for the animation team as it caused her to have "1.2 to 1.3x the character data" of other fighters, requiring several months to complete with Sadamoto himself helping at the end.[8]

Appearances

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Ibuki is a young Japanese woman introduced in the 1997 fighting game Street Fighter III: New Generation. A ninja, she is sent by her clan to retrieve a document from an organization ran by the game's antagonist, Gill. She returns for the game's subsequent two sequels, where in 3rd Strike she prepares to graduate from high school hoping to enjoy a normal campus life and find a boyfriend.[11] By the game's conclusion she enters a university which is revealed to be a secret elite ninja training camp.[12] She additionally appears in Street Fighter IV, a precursor to Street Fighter III, with a storyline similar to that of 3rd Strike.[13]

Ibuki reappears as a playable character in Street Fighter V as one of the DLC characters released after the game's launch.[14] She was supposed to arrive in May 2016 but was delayed to July.[15] In her prologue story, Ibuki finally finishes her ninja assignment and is informed by her friend Sakura about the party invitation sent from her rival Karin Kanzuki. Arriving at the Kanzuki Estate, Ibuki fights and defeat Birdie and Karin. After the fight, Karin lets her stay at the party with handsome boys and gives her the contract which has been approved by the Shinobi village to work with her. Ibuki also appears in the end of R. Mika's prologue story, rejecting her offer in muscle training which angers R. Mika who beats her in a fight. Ibuki and R. Mika continue to argue and bicker through the course of the game's main story, "A Shadow Falls", which begins when they and Karin travel to the New York City to find out who is behind the activation of the seven Black Moons, eventually finding out it is a Shadaloo plot. During the first infiltration of the Shadaloo base, Ibuki fights Balrog but fails to beat him. She then uses her smoke bomb to distract the enemies and the two successfully escape with it until they reunited with Karin. They witness Zangief beat Abel, Ibuki watching in disgust while R. Mika idolizes him. In the final assault against Shadaloo, Ibuki and R. Mika fight off Shadaloo soldiers. Ibuki is last seen watching Shadaloo's destruction with the other fighters.[16]

A super deformed version of Ibuki is a playable character in the fighting game Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix / Pocket Fighter (1997),[17] in which she sneaks off from her ninja training for an ice cream in Tokyo.[18] Ibuki is playable in the mobile puzzle game Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits (2014),[19] and appears as a card in the browser-based social game Onimusha Soul (2012)[20] and in person in Street Fighter Battle Combination (2015).[21][22] Her cards also appear in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash (1999) and SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS (2007). She has a cameo in Capcom Fighting Evolution (2004).

Ibuki is one of the characters representing the Street Fighter series in the crossover fighting game, Street Fighter X Tekken (2012), with Rolento as her tag team partner.[23] In it, she is persuaded by her village leaders to accept Rolento's request for a joint mission to the South Pole, serving as his advisor on infiltration.[24] In the story mode, Rolento initially addresses the very annoyed Ibuki as private but "promotes" her to the rank of sergeant by the end of the game. According to a backstory for the Street Fighter X Tekken DLC ninja costume-swap for the Tekken series' Asuka Kazama, Asuka was sent Ibuki's village to learn the ninja arts from her.[25] Ibuki's own Tekken swap costume is in the style of Yoshimitsu, with her latest assignment having her join his Manji Clan.[26]

Ibuki appears in Street Fighter comic books, including in Street Fighter: Unlimited.[27] Notably she received her own four-issue miniseries Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, written by Jim Zubkavich and drawn by Omar Dogan. It was published by UDON Entertainment in 2010 to coincide with the release of Super Street Fighter IV.[28] One alternative cover was drawn by Adam Warren[29] and the entire miniseries was later included in the compilation Street Fighter Legends: The Ultimate Edition.[30] In Ibuki, the character's fictional background was revealed: she had been destined to become a perfect assassin for the Geki clan (in to the comic, Geki is not an individual person but a clan that is rival to Ibuki's[31]), but one of them, Enjō, fled with the baby.[32] She also interacts with Elena, in addition to Makoto and Sarai.[33]

Promotion and reception

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In 2010, a Xbox Live Avatar costume of Ibuki was released for the debut of Super Street Fighter IV,[34] while a PlayStation Network avatar was released to support 3rd Strike's Online Edition.[35] In 2015, a figure of her was released by Kotobukiya.[36]

Ibuki was positively received since her debut, with Computer and Video Games magazine describing her as the most popular and powerful character of New Generation's cast.[37] Martin Robinson of AskMen stated that while ninjas were a frequent trope in video games, "none are as effortlessly cool as Ibuki" and added that she was one of a handful of characters worth salvaging from Street Fighter III.[38] Game developer Giovanni Simotti, designer of Akane the Kunoichi, based the character's appearance on both Ibuki and SNK's Mai Shiranui as a "small tribute to two of the most famous kunoichi from the history of the videogames".[39] However, gaming publications saw Ibuki as a replacement for series character Chun-Li "albeit a little more punked out" according to Next Generation,[40] and with Official UK PlayStation Magazine stating that this had caused the character to become despised in the first two Street Fighter III titles.[41]

Jesse Schedeen of IGN argued that Ibuki strayed significantly from ninja tropes in gaming in that she was portrayed as "not a musclebound brute, but a young, quirky girl still finding her way in the world", and felt similar to fellow Street Fighter character Dan Hibiki in that manner. He described her "eclectic nature" as making her a fun character, enjoying that the game portrayed her as both a serious ninja in training but also someone able to relax and partake in social activities.[42] Meanwhile, Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek praised her as "too fun not to like", noting her complex life specifically and giving additional praise to her role as the straight man to Rolento's eccentric behavior in Street Fighter X Tekken.[43]

The staff of Paste also voiced praise for Ibuki, and added that her design in terms of aesthetics and as a fighter was strong and helped make her the best ninja of the series by far, despite their voiced disdain for her gameplay in Street Fighter IV.[44] Retronauts on their podcast discussing Street Fighter III voiced similar sentiments, considering her one of the best designed characters in Street Fighter III overall for her gameplay, mobility and aesthetics, and felt she was a character they routinely gravitated to when playing the title. While they felt she was slightly over-engineered in terms of gamplay, they also felt a lot of love went into her character, and observed that very early on in New Generation's life she had developed a large fanbase.[45]

In a retrospective of the Street Fighter series, Amanda LaPergola and Becky Chambers of The Mary Sue praised her status as a ninja, but criticized the emphasis of her story on her story on meeting boys. Their disdain came from seeing it as a perpetuation of the "normal girl" trope, something they felt was too common among younger female characters of the Street Fighter cast.[46]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c @akiman7 (January 8, 2018). "会社員の時に描いた、いぶきデザイン画" [Ibuki design drawings I drew when I was a company employee] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2023-05-19 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b @nishi_katsu (August 11, 2021). こんなん描いてたのか…まるで覚えてなかったスケッチちょっとかわいすぎたんでエンディングデモの絶妙にダサい制服にしたんでしょうかね？あきまんさんがいぶきの事をみすぼらしい格好なのにめちゃくちゃ可愛いとおっしゃっててかわいく描こうと必死だった感があります [I wonder if he was drawing something like this... The sketches I didn't remember were a little too cute, so I wonder if they made the uniforms in the ending demo look exactly like an exquisitely uncool uniform? Akiman said that Ibuki was in a shabby outfit but was incredibly cute, so I felt like he was desperate to draw it in a cute way.] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2021-08-11 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b @nishi_katsu (April 15, 2022). 当時出た食玩でお菓子がついてたはず なるべく自分がキャラデザインしたり関わったキャラを選抜したところ（いぶきの制服など）だいぶ地味なラインナップにデビロット姫とジンサオトメ、いぶきがとくに出来が良くデビロットは畳をつけてヴィネット風にしてもらったり大変よくしていただきました [It must have included sweets from the candy toys that came out at the time. I designed the characters as much as possible and selected the characters I was involved in (such as Ibuki's uniforms), and the lineup was quite plain, with Princess Devilotte, Jin Saotome, and Ibuki, which were particularly well-made, and Devilotte was made with tatami mats and made into a Vignette style.] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2023-05-19 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ a b How To Make Capcom Fighting Characters: Street Fighter Character Design. UDON Entertainment. October 2020. pp. 124–129. ISBN 978-1772941364.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Ibuki Voices (Street Fighter)". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  6. ^ "Street Fighter III 2nd Impact character introductions (waybacked)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 1998-12-05.
  7. ^ Street Fighter III: New Generation (Soundtrack) (Liner notes) (in Japanese). Victor. 1997. p. 3.
  8. ^ a b "Round 4: Tomoshi Sadamoto Part 3". game.capcom.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  9. ^ "Street Fighter III - New Generation". Capcom Secret File (in Japanese). No. 10. 1997. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  10. ^ @takanakayama (June 7, 2016). "いぶきさんのアニメパターンの原画です。セクシーな事になってますね。 #シャド研" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Official Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike Ibuki character biography (in Japanese): Ibuki is about to graduate from high school. She strongly hopes to go on to an ordinary university instead of getting a school-recommended job. To do so, she must pass a rigorous graduation exam. Just the thought of meeting someone new and having a sweet love awaiting her makes her put a lot of effort into her bitter polishing. I'm definitely going to enjoy campus life with a wonderful boyfriend!
  12. ^ All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Games 1987-2000, page 300.
  13. ^ "Ibuki Cinematic From Super Street Fighter 4". KAT STEEL. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  14. ^ "Capcom Confirms Alex, Guile, Balrog, Ibuki, Juri, and Urien in Street Fighter V". Shoryuken.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  15. ^ Gel Galang (2016-06-06). "Capcom addresses issues with 'Street Fighter V' Ibuki release, confirms fewer incidents of rage quitting". Ibtimes.com.au. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  16. ^ "Street Fighter V's story mode is a little disappointing". Lazygamer.net. 2014-06-20. Archived from the original on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  17. ^ "The History of Street Fighter: Ibuki". Archived from the original on 2010-01-30. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  18. ^ "Ending for Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix-Ibuki(Arcade)". Vgmuseum.com. Archived from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  19. ^ "Capcom Announces New Street Fighter Mobile Title with Puzzle Element". MMOsite. October 12, 2014. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  20. ^ "Galería: Onimusha Soul". SOSGamers. 2012-03-17. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
  21. ^ "「ストリートファイター バトルコンビネーション」，イベントで「いぶき」が新登場". 4Gamer.net. 2015-03-30. Archived from the original on 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  22. ^ "カプコン、『ストリートファイター バトルコンビネーション』で、さくら、いぶき、エレナの3人が可愛くて甘い「バレンタインアーツ」になって登場 | Social Game Info". Gamebiz.jp. 2016-01-30. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  23. ^ Fletcher, JC (2011-08-15). "Street Fighter X Tekken trailer reveals Ibuki, Hugo, Raven". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2015-02-10.
  24. ^ "CAPCOM：STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN｜Character: Ibuki". Capcom.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  25. ^ "Street Fighter X Tekken: Asuka (Swap Costume)". Store.steampowered.com. 2012-07-20. Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  26. ^ "Street Fighter X Tekken: Ibuki (Swap Costume)". Store.steampowered.com. 2012-07-20. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  27. ^ ""Street Fighter Unlimited" Takes On "The Walking Dead" In Parody Variant". Comic Book Resources. 2015-12-01. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  28. ^ Jesse Schedeen, Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki #1 Review Archived 2010-03-14 at the Wayback Machine, IGN, March 11, 2010.
  29. ^ "IBUKI issue3 alt-cover colors". DeviantArt. Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  30. ^ Siu-Chong, Ken; Zubkavich, Jim (2011). Street Fighter Legends: The Ultimate Edition - Ken Siu-Chong, Jim Zubkavich, Omar Dogan. ISBN 9781926778228. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  31. ^ Retro Gamer Book of Arcade Classics, page 98.
  32. ^ Brigid Alverson, Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki Archived 2012-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ "Ibuki 3 pg 2 colours". DeviantArt. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  34. ^ Crecente, Brian. "Xbox 360 Avatars Get Super Street Fighter IV Costumes". Kotaku. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  35. ^ Nichols, Scott (2011-08-23). "This week on PSN: 'Street Fighter III: Third Strike'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  36. ^ "Kotobukiya Previews Upcoming Superhero and Game Bishoujo Figures". Crunchyroll. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  37. ^ "Arcade: Street Fighter III". Computer and Video Game. No. 184. March 1997. p. 86. ISSN 0261-3697.
  38. ^ Robinson, Martin (2009-11-25). "Five Fighters We Want in Super Street Fighter IV". AskMen.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  39. ^ "Amazing Princess Sarah Game Review". Jellyfish Station. 2014-07-20. Archived from the original on 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  40. ^ "Street Fighter III". Next Generation. Vol. 3, no. 28. April 1997. p. 69. ISSN 1078-9693.
  41. ^ "Street Fighter Family Tree". Official UK PlayStation Magazine Beat 'Em Up Special. 1999. p. 71. ISSN 1752-2102.
  42. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (2012-06-16). "Players Wanted: Street Fighter IV". IGN. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  43. ^ Jasper, Gavin (2019-02-22). "Street Fighter Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  44. ^ Vazquez, Suriel; Van Allen, Eric (2016-03-21). "Ranking Every Street Fighter Character Part 3". Paste. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08.
  45. ^ Feit, Diamond (2022-05-30). "Retronauts Episode 458: Street Fighter III" (MP3). Retronauts. Event occurs at 1:00:59. Retrieved 2025-05-27. MP3 archive
  46. ^ LaPergola, Amanda; Chambers, Becky (2012-09-21). "Amanda and Becky Talk About Street Fighter, Part 3: Street Fighter III". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
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