A Street Fighter 6 detail that was bugging me until now...

Believe it or not I finally have closure on a Street Fighter 6 detail that's been bugging me for years. It goes back to 2022 when I did a writeup on Manon (then called Mimi). Her design had been leaked for the Street Fighter 6 roster, and I talked about it as a chance to redo the character of Abel. I mentioned that her hair was very stylish, as she was presented as a fashion model, and fighter. One of my blog visitors named sparrowhawk made a comment about her hair being based on a Skinbird. The type of hair that girl skinheads sometimes wear. They shave all of their hair except for their bangs.  

Sparrowhawk also made another great observation. He said that Manon was similar to the character Sawada Keizaburo from the manga, and anime series Kengan Ashura. The series written by Yabako Sandrovich, and illustrated by Daromeon was published from 2012-2018. The story was in the vein of Baki the Grappler in that the characters represented the pinnacle of their particular fighting styles. Also that they were hyper muscular, and violent combatants. Aside from the muscular frame, and long bangs there was little that I could see of Manon in the look of Sawada. 

That did not mean that the design didn't rub off on Yusuke Hashimoto the designer for Street Fighter 6. The hair alone would be ported over to A.K.I.  Mr. Hashimoto was known for his fashion-forward designs. He produced Bayonetta, and directed Bayonetta 2. As I stated previously; his sense of color, and costuming worked well for the SF cast, and could appeal to international audiences. There was one thing that I simply could not figure out with the design of Manon. That would be her bangs. When I looked at Marisa it was obvious that her haircut was designed to look like a Roman helmet. I could tell that the cropped hair of Manon was feathered to look like a bird. But the bangs were too thin, and too long to be wings.

If Manon were a principal artist then she would always be ready to perform. I would argue that she carried the character of Odette, the Swan Princess off of the stage, and into the arena. The part that bugged me was why would her bangs would be like this, then I realized that they weren't bird wings, but styled after her arms. The length, and cut of her bangs represented the bras bas in ballet, this was how the dancers held their arms before the first position. I think this was the best reason why Mr. Hashimoto went with that haircut. I know it was a dumb theory but it made sense to me. I wish I could ask him if I guessed correctly. Were there any details in Street Fighter or any fighting game that bugged you, but you couldn't guess why? I'd like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!