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Makoto (Street Fighter)

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Makoto
Street Fighter character
Makoto in Street Fighter III
First appearanceStreet Fighter III: 3rd Strike (1999)
Designed byKeigo Chimoto[1]
Voiced byEN: Jessica D. Stone (Street Fighter IV)[2]
JA: Makoto Tsumura[3]
In-universe information
Fighting styleRindoukan Karate
OriginJapan
NationalityJapanese

Makoto (Japanese: まこと) is a character in Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series, designed by Keigo Chimoto and first appearing in 1999's Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. In the series, she is a young Japanese woman who utilizes her family's dojo teachings of Rindo-kan karate as her fighting style, seeking to restore glory to her deceased father's dojo. She has since appeared in UDON Entertainment's Street Fighter comic series, and due to her overwhelming popularity was included in Street Fighter IV's first upgrade, Super Street Fighter IV. Makoto is voiced by Makoto Tsumura in Japanese for both of her appearances, and Jessica D. Stone in English for Street Fighter IV.

The character has been positively received, in both location tests for the original game and a later official poll in which she placed second out of all the characters. Particularly, the staff of 1UP.com declared her as one of the key reasons they prefer 3rd Strike over the preceding Street Fighter III titles. Several outlets have declared her their favorite character in the franchise, and others have praised her design and character heavily in contrast of other series characters.

Conception and design

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Designed as a "masculine, fierce hot headed girl", the direction they took with Makoto caused significant discussion amongst the team.[4]

During development of Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, the development team was tasked to create a character based around the karate concept of ikken hissatsu, which they summed up as "simple, direct and powerful". Feeling other Street Fighter characters Ryu and Ken use a more "American" form of karate, they focused on Makoto having a more Japanese style, with a secondary focus to illustrate her determination to fix up her rundown dojo.[5][6] Designed by Keigo Chimoto,[1] Developer Hidetoshi Ishizawa noted that due to them running out of time to properly implement her, they were unable to add her to 2nd Impact before release and instead added her to its followup title, Street Fighter III: Third Strike.[7] Chimoto would later praise Ishizawa's "ability to adjust", feeling it benefited her development.[8] In order to give a "hot-blooded" tone to her character, her dialogue in-game is spoken with a Japanese Tosa dialect.[9]

Makoto stands 160 cm tall (5 ft 2 in) and has measurements of 80-61-87 cm (32-24-34 in).[10] During development many designs were proposed with a guideline to include a loose fitting karate gi though the amount of the outfit sometimes varied drastically from one design to the next.[6] The gi was intended to be the oversized and loose fitting on her due to it being her deceased father's.[7] According to the book All About Capcom Fighting Games 1987-2000, due to her behavior and attire she is commonly confused by players to be "Ryu's little sister".[11] Her finalized design consists of a barefoot muscular woman with short black hair wearing a white loose gi, a red halter top underneath her gi resting at her cleavage, a long flowing yellow ribbon around her neck.[9] The ribbon in particular was added by 3rd Strike's development team to demonstrate her speed and trajectory, as well as telegraph to the opponent certain moves Makoto performs.[12]

Years later, she was included in Street Fighter IV's first upgrade, Super Street Fighter IV. Game director Taisaku Okada attributed her appearances in the game to her wide popularity at Street Fighter III tournaments, and his own desire to include characters from that franchise.[12] While her outfit was carried over to game, so was the behavior of her neck ribbon, which necessitated the development team to create new code to handle the 'flutter' effect.[12] The development team had some difficulty pinpointing her character's appeal, feeling that her "feminine cuteness" and outfit were rather plain. Producer Yoshinori Ono felt that her appeal lied in the "exhilaration" she expressed when landing an attack, and focused particularly on her animations to convey this element.[13] In the game, she was also given four alternate outfits in the game, including a gardening outfit with gloves and apron and a schoolgirl outfit with a bandaged thigh, none of these retained the ribbon and were noted in developer comments as particularly hard to design. Her dialect also caused issues, causing Capcom to hire a professional in country dialects to oversee the sound recording team. This resulted in countless retakes, and the development team expressed their gratitude to her voice actor for not giving up.[3]

Appearances

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Makoto was introduced in the 1999 video game Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, inheriting her father's Rindōkan karate dojo which has fallen into disrepair and lost students. She enters the game's tournament to showcase and spread word of her fighting style, and by the conclusion of her story many people travel to try and join her dojo, much to the delight of her family.[14] In Street Fighter IV, a precursor to Street Fighter III, she discovers the rundown state of the dojo, and after reading about the Worldwide Fighting Tournament, decides to enter to use the prize money and repair it.[15] However Makoto walks away with nothing due to the tournament secretly being a trap by its organizer, and while repairing the dojo she considers making a name for herself may bring students, leading to her story in 3rd Strike.[16] In all appearances, Makoto's Japanese voice is provided by Makoto Tsumura,[3] while Jessica D. Stone provides her English voice for Street Fighter IV.[2]

Outside of fighting games, she is an available character Capcom's mobile game Street Fighter Battle Combination as well as TOPJOY's mobile roleplaying game Street Fighter: Duel, the latter of which features an alternate version called "Kimono Makoto" exclusive to the Chinese version.[17][18] The game SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash and its Nintendo DS counterpart also feature her as an available card,[19][20] as does GungHo Online Entertainment's mobile game TEPPEN.[21] In physical trading card media she appears in Versus TCG, a card game based on Card Fighters Clash, and Jasco Games' Universal Fighting System.[22][23]

In print media, Makoto is featured in UDON Entertainment's Street Fighter comic series, in which she is first introduced in issue eleven of Street Fighter II Turbo as the heir to her father's fighting dojo. Abandoned by his former students due to her age and gender, she challenges other dojos to try and restore glory to her own.[24] She later appears in UDON's Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki series, attending a school as a new student and immediately declares her intention to fight anyone to demonstrate the superiority of her fighting style.[25] After discovering another student, Ibuki, is a martial artist she challenges her, though they later come to an arrangement to postpone the fight after Makoto discovers she is a ninja and trying to keep it a secret. Afterwards Ibuki helps keep Makoto in line while the latter helps train the former.[26][27] After helping her fight off a rival ninja clan, Makoto requests they have their duel and the comic ends as the two begin to spar.[28] In Street Fighter Unlimited, both her and Ibuki are invited to self-proclaimed god Gill's fighting tournament, joining in on an impromptu dance party prior to said tournament.[29] After Gill reveals himself to be a villain, she fights alongside the other participants to take him down.[30] She later appears in a smaller role in the Street Fighter: Back to School Special comic, in which after wrestling with fellow Street Fighter III character Elena, they ponder what college to attend.[31]

Gameplay

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Described as a rushdown character, Makoto's gameplay revolves around closing the distance between herself and the opponent and quickly delivering fast blows. According to Capcom developers, unlike other characters in Street Fighter III she lacked the ability to produce large combos, forcing the player to consider each move and making it harder for beginners to use her.[12] Her walking speed is slower than average, however to compensate her dashes are faster and farther while several of her moves give her forward momentum, specifically her "Hayate" attack which consists of a high speed dashing punch that allows her to cross a large part of the screen instantly and can be followed up with another attack if it connects.[32] Her "Karakusa" grab attack is unique, in that unlike other grabs instead of instantly knocking down the opponent it leaves them standing a moment, allowing for a follow up attack.[12] The developers noted an intention to reference actual karate techniques with her gameplay, something that caused some difficulty for the development team.[4]

The development team for Street Fighter IV commented that characters from III were harder to implement due to that game's parry system, a game mechanic that allows the user to negate an attack and counterattack in a brief window, which is not present in IV. This was particularly problematic in the case of Makoto. Moves such as her "Tanden Renki", a power up super attack that greatly increases her strength for a short period of time, but prevents her from being able to block attacks when using it had to be modified, allowing her to block attacks while reducing the increase in the strength of the power up. Several other moves were also changed with the intention of giving her more variety, such as her anti-air attack "Fukiage" which now has her stepping forward in all variations of the move and allows for easier follow up attacks. However, the lack of parry in the game leaves her more vulnerable to projectile attacks, something that Okada did by design and feels makes her a harder character for beginners to use.[12]

Promotion and reception

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Capcom noted Makoto as the most popular character in location tests of 3rd Strike in both North America and Japan,[7] and in their 2018 worldwide poll, she was voted second most popular Street Fighter character.[33] She has been also featured through many figures and other merchandise items, such as a bust by F-Toys to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Street Fighter series.[34] A stationary miniature was also released by Jasco Games, as part of a Street Fighter III character pack.[35]

Makoto was met with mostly positive reception. Martin Robinson of IGN described her as one of a handful of characters worth salvaging from Street Fighter III, adding that it was not until her introduction that "Capcom's bold vision for its prize series found its real star," and called her possibly his favorite character from the whole series.[36] Basim Usmani of DualShockers praised her design, stating "Her character design, which is focused on realism, is quite forward-looking for a game from the 1990s," and described her reliance on straightfoward, physical attacks as "timeless and without gimmicks".[37] The staff of 1UP.com, in their Retronauts podcast, heavily emphasized Makoto's inclusion in 3rd Strike as one of the game's best aspects, with Ryan Scott stating "You have some weird characters, then you have characters like Makoto, who are basically like...this is pure Street Fighter right here." The other hosts agreed, with Jeremy Parish stating it was one of the reasons people preferred the game over the preceding Street Fighter III titles.[38]

Further praise was given to her personality and storyline. Suriel Vazquez and Eric Van Allen of Paste stated her "brash, intense fighting style perfectly suits a teenager trying to make her mark on the world", comparing her to fellow Street Fighter character Sakura in that regard. They further described Makoto as her polar opposite due to her being "someone who dreams not of finding a mentor and emulating them, but of forging her own path", adding that her story was "as motivating as Ryu's globe-trotting adventures, and it doesn't get the play it deserves in the series' storyline."[39] Den of Geek's Gavin Jasper however felt that when her fighting style was removed from consideration she was somewhat tame compared to the rest of the Street Fighter III cast, stating unlike the other characters she was just "a girl in a karate gi", and in regards to her storyline "at the end of the day, she's like Dan played straight(er), and that doesn't measure up."[40]

In terms of gender representation, Becky Chambers and Amanda LaPergola of The Mary Sue both heavily praised Makoto for her story in light of how other women in the series were often portrayed as obsessed with finding romance, with LaPergola stating "I will forgive Street Fighter III all its flaws because they introduced Makoto to the world." Chambers in turn complimented her practical outfit, with LaPergola stating she felt that Makoto was an exception to how many female characters in Street Fighter were designed for the male gaze thanks to the masculine aspects of her appearance.[41] Meanwhile, in a dissertation given at the SBGames simposium in Brazil, Tiago Oviedo Frosi and Felipe O. Frosi examined how Makoto's character design deviated from how female characters were often depicted in fighting games while portraying karate accurately. In their view while she still projected aspects of "the ideal woman", she also reflected traits of the Nio, figures in Buddhist religion, through her prominent hands and feet. While they emphasized that these aspects were often more common in masculine characters, they felt Capcom had avoided the "athlete's 'compromise of femininity'" through her poses and how her karate gi illustrated her developed abdomen and breasts, presenting her in a sensual manner.[42]

References

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  1. ^ a b Chimoto, Keigo [@CHIMORINSHOGUN] (14 June 2023). おはざす 私がC社退社後に知った事実 ・ストIIIのまこと ・餓狼MOWのマルコ ・堕落天使の鬼瓦 が「空手を突き詰めたキャラ」って同じコンセプトで 偶然CAP/SNK/彩京の3社で同時期に作っていた事に 凄くびっくりした [Ohazasu I learned the following facts after I left Company C: ・Makoto from Street Fighter III ・Marco from Garou MOW ・Onigawara from Fallen Angel all had the same concept of "a character who has perfected karate" and by coincidence, they were made by CAP, SNK, and Psikyo at the same time. I was really surprised.] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 23 July 2023 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b Stone, Jessica D. [@JessicaDStone29] (23 March 2021). "Hey @JascoGames! Any way I can get one if the Makoto mini figurine player pieces from your game without getting the whole game? This voice actor for Makoto wants to know!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c スーパーストリートファイターIV オフィシャルブログ [Super Street Fighter IV Official Blog]. Capcom (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  4. ^ a b Street Fighter III - Fight for the Future: Conclusion Step/Master the Secret (in Japanese). Vol. 194. Gamest. 1999. p. 4. ISBN 4881996274. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  5. ^ "The Making of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike". shmuplatations.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Mementos #006: The Birth of Makoto". Capcom. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "Street Fighter III". Capcom Secret File (in Japanese). No. 25. 1999. pp. 8, 10. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023 – via The Arcade Flyer Archive.
  8. ^ Chimoto, Keigo [@CHIMORINSHOGUN] (25 December 2021). あの頃のリレー漫画式作業は私は好き。①企画「こんな技っほしい」⇒②キャラ「こいつならこんなアクションでその技を出す」⇒③企画「こうきたか。じゃあこの辺にアタリ出して調整しよ」③の企画負担がでかいけど、その分自由に作れたからね。少なくともまことはNeo-Gの調整力に助けられた。 [I like the relay manga style work of those days. ①Planning "I want a move like this" ⇒ ②Character "This guy would do this move with this kind of action" ⇒ ③Planning "I see. Let's make a rough estimate around here and adjust it." The planning burden of ③ was big, but it meant we could make it freely. At least Makoto was saved by Neo-G's ability to adjust.] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 25 December 2021 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ a b Street Fighter III: Portal Step/Build up Arts (in Japanese). Vol. 185. Gamest. p. 124. ISBN 4898296661. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Capcom: Ultra Street Fighter IV". Capcom. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  11. ^ All About Capcom Fighting Games 1987-2000 (in Japanese). Denpa Shinbunsha. 2000. p. 341. ISBN 4885546761.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV｜スーパーストリートファイターIV オフィシャルブログ". Capcom. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  13. ^ Street Fighter IV: Official Complete Works (in Japanese). Capcom. 2010. p. 121. ISBN 9784862332622.
  14. ^ Capcom (12 May 1999). Street Fighter III: Third Strike (Arcade). Scene: Makoto Story Ending. Makoto's Brother: Masaru... Our dojo's popularity has skyrocketed since Makoto's return! There are more people interested in learning our style than ever before!
  15. ^ Capcom (27 April 2010). Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox). Scene: Makoto Story Intro. Makoto: This is no good. I need to do something to save this dojo—and quick! It could collapse at any minute! The world's most furious fighters will be at this tournament. That must mean the prize money is a pretty penny. That cash could be just what we need! It could fix up the dojo in no time! Alright then, here I go!
  16. ^ Capcom (27 April 2010). Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox). Scene: Makoto Story Ending. Makoto: Man it looks like I screwed up this time. I beat the pants off the other fighters in the tournament, but walked away empty handed. [...] maybe if I could get this old Rindo-kan dojo back up and running...maybe if I could make a name for myself an' - Wah! Whoah!
  17. ^ カプコン、『モンハン 大狩猟クエスト』で大狩猟祭「月光・月影」を2週連続開催 『ストリートファイター バトルコンビネーション』とコラボ第二弾も [Capcom to hold "Moonlight/Moonlight" Grand Hunting Festival for two consecutive weeks in "Monster Hunter Great Hunting Quest" Second collaboration with Street Fighter Battle Combination]. Gamebiz.jp (in Japanese). 7 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  18. ^ 《街霸：对决》手游预约站 [Street Fighter: Duel Mobile Game Pre-order Site]. Tencent Games (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  19. ^ SNK (21 November 1999). SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (NeoGeo Pocket Color). Scene: Card Gallery.
  20. ^ Now Production (24 April 2007). SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS (Nintendo DS). SNK Playmore. Scene: Card Gallery.
  21. ^ "CORE Card Pack". TEPPEN. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  22. ^ VERSUS TCG SNK vs CAPCOM カードファイターズ マネージメント ac-043U [VERSUS TCG SNK vs CAPCOM Card Fighters Management ac-043U] (in Japanese). Wanted Internet Group. Archived from the original on 19 January 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Makoto*". Carte Blanche Hobbies. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  24. ^ Ken Sui-Chong (w), Omar Dogan (p). "Bonus Story" Super Street Fighter II Turbo, no. 11 (January 2010). UDON Entertainment.
  25. ^ Jim Zub (w), Omar Dogan (p). Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, no. 1 (March 2010). UDON Entertainment.
  26. ^ Jim Zub (w), Omar Dogan (p). Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, no. 2 (April 2010). UDON Entertainment.
  27. ^ Jim Zub (w), Omar Dogan (p). Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, no. 3 (June 2010). UDON Entertainment.
  28. ^ Jim Zub (w), Omar Dogan (p). Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, no. 4 (August 2010). UDON Entertainment.
  29. ^ Ken Sui-Chong (w), Edwin Huang (p). Street Fighter Unlimited, no. 7 (June 2016). UDON Entertainment.
  30. ^ Ken Sui-Chong (w), Joe Ng (p). Street Fighter Unlimited, no. 11 (October 2016). UDON Entertainment.
  31. ^ Matt Moylan (w), Genzoman (p). Street Fighter: Back to School Special, no. 1 (April 2021). UDON Entertainment.
  32. ^ Hendershot, Steve; Lapetino, Tim (15 November 2017). Undisputed Street Fighter: The Art And Innovation Behind The Game-Changing Series. Dynamite Entertainment. p. 277. ISBN 9781524104696.
  33. ^ 第1回 キャラクター人気投票 | CAPCOM：シャドルー格闘家研究所 [1st Character Popularity Poll | CAPCOM: Shadaloo Fighter Research Institute]. game.capcom.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  34. ^ "Street Fighter Makoto Street Fighter Heroes Round1 Bust Figure (1P ver.) Capcom Character JAPAN GAME". Japanimedia. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  35. ^ "Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game Character Pack 2: 3rd Strike". Jasco Games. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  36. ^ Robinson, Martin (25 November 2009). "Five Fighters We Want in Super Street Fighter IV". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  37. ^ Usmani, Basim (22 December 2022). "10 Unannounced Street Fighter 6 Characters Fans Want To See". Dualshockers. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  38. ^ Parish, Jeremy; Mielke, James; Ford, Greg; Scott, Ryan; Li, Richard (20 October 2007). "Retronauts Episode 33". 1UP.com (Podcast). Archived from the original on 19 September 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  39. ^ Vazquez, Suriel; Van Allen, Eric (28 March 2016). "Ranking Every Street Fighter Character: The Top 20". Paste. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016.
  40. ^ Jasper, Gavin (22 February 2019). "Street Fighter Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  41. ^ LaPergola, Amanda; Chambers, Becky (21 September 2012). "Amanda and Becky Talk About Street Fighter, Part 3: Street Fighter III". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  42. ^ Frosi, Tiago Oviedo; Frosi, Felipe O. (November 2010). "As Rainhas Da Luta: Representações Das Mulheres Karate-Ka Nos Jogos Digitais" [The Queens of Fighting: Representations of Karate-Ka Women in Digital Games] (PDF). Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital-SBGames [Brazilian Symposium on Games and Digital Entertainment-SBGames] (in Portuguese) (9): 42–45. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
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