The King of Fighters: Another Day
Encyclopedia
The King of Fighters: Another Day is an animated series based on the popular fighting game series The King of Fighters. It was produced by Production I.G, and revolves around the plot of the 3-D version titled The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, along with some touches of the current 2-D series storyline about Ash Crimson (e.g. Iori Yagami appearing powerless).
The anime was released in the brand-new ONA
format, with four episodes of six minutes each. It was released on DVD as a pack-in with the Japanese release of KOF: Maximum Impact 2
. The DVD is region two-encoded, but has English subtitles, as well as an English dub track.
The U.S. marketing strategy of King of Fighters: Another Day was far less accessible. Originally intended to be included with King of Fighters 2006 (KOF: Maximum Impact 2's U.S. title) as a pre-order / early buyer bonus for customers of EBGames and GameStop, the US arm of SNK failed to ship out the discs in conjunction with the then new release. Several weeks later, after some complaint from angry fans, the bonus DVDs started showing up at EBGames and GameStop brick & mortar locations and in many cases were obtainable for previous buyers upon request yet quantities were limited and many are still left without it despite their devotion.
The U.S. DVD comes in a square cardboard envelope. The DVD is region one encoded and includes both English and Japanese subtitles and audio, both in Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1. Special features include commentary on all episodes, character design galleries for major characters appearing in the series, one trailer for the animated series and three Japanese commercials for KOF: Maximum Impact 2.
The story starts after the events The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact. After the demise of Duke and his gang, Alba and Soiree Meira now spend their days protecting the citizens of Southtown. During the night, a fire breaks out in the city. With Alba away at the time, Soiree leads the rescue effort and rallies the rest of their gang to help. After she saves a young girl from a burning building, Soiree fights Iori Yagami
, who was searching for the cause of the fire. They continue their fight in a church until Soiree moves to shield the girl he saved earlier from the building's collapsing ceiling; they were rescued by the joint efforts of Athena Asamiya
and Mai Shiranui
. The scene shifts to dawn with Soiree digging through the rubble (trying to find Iori) until Alba informs him that Iori survived. Alba also shows that he had rescued the two last survivors of the fire - a couple of kittens. Relieved that everyone is safe, Soiree collapses, extenuated.
The second chapter begins with Rock Howard experiencing a nightmare of him fighting Terry Bogard
in a situation that mirrors Geese Howard
's death. He leaves the apartment he shares with Terry and sees the town in flames. A blue light beam fired over Geese Tower draws his attention, prompting him to head there to investigate. On the tower's rooftop, Billy Kane
and Lien Neville, who was sent to kill people related to Geese, are fighting. Billy hangs her beyond the roof with his pole when Rock arrives at the scene. Disagreeing with Billy's insistence to drop Lien, Rock fights with him and rescues Lien from losing her grip from the roof's edge. Billy then claims that Rock shames the legacy of his father and decides to kill him and Lien. However, Lien calls for reinforcements and the roof is fired with the same beam from moments ago. Rock asks her if killing him would free him from the shadow of Geese. She answers that it is up to him. Inside the building, they see the remains of a wall where a portrait of Rock's mother was presumably displayed. When Rock returns home, Terry leaves him for a nap and tells Rock to wake him when breakfast is ready. Rock notices the picture of his mother underneath Terry's jacket, muttering thanks to Terry for his kindness.
At the beginning of the third chapter, we see K' and Maxima sabotaging the underground tunnel system in Southtown (while the fire is raging), trying to find out the whereabouts of the "Kyo clone" and a kidnapped scientist called Makishima. However, Maxima trips some electric wires, plunging Southtown into a blackout and causing their covert activity to be noticed by Heidern and he sends Leona, Ralf
and Clark
to investigate. K' and Maxima attempt to elude their pursuers by boarding a subway train but Heidern's team catches up to them. Ralf accuses the duo of kidnapping the scientist and they start fighting. After 24 seconds of calculated fighting, Maxima grabs K' and escapes into another train going the opposite direction. There, they are reunited with the rest of their party, Whip and Kula.
Here is where the previous chapters' stories intertwine with Kyo Kusanagi
rising from the city's rubble and rescuing a victim. He sees a green flame and knowing the source to be Ash Crimson, he gives pursuit. Watching atop a building, Ash drops a radio antenna from up there, forcing Kyo to defend himself with his flames. Alba arrives on the scene and, after witnessing this event, concludes that Kyo started the fire and fights with the supposed criminal. Amused, Ash watches them until Iori attacks him. Frustrated by the intrusion, he escapes with the fire in the city also vanishing along with him. Heidern's team of Ikari warriors watch Alba and Kyo's fight, which continues despite the fire's disappearance. Confusing Kyo for a clone, Ralf plots to attack him until Iori arrives and says that it is the real Kyo, stopping the fight afterwards. After he learns that Ash was the real arsonist, Alba apologizes to Kyo and the three fighters part ways. As the sun rises, Alba is shown finding the two kittens that he rescues in the first episode. The final scene shows Ralf asking if Kyo isn't really a clone while lighting a cigarette. Kyo, lighting his flame, asks Ralf if he would like to find out.
After the credits of this episode, there is a cutscene to the crumbled down church (where Alba, Soiree and the little girl are at the end of the first episode), in which Luise Meyrink appears (hinting the story will continue onward to KOF: Maximum Impact 2
).
The voice acting for the characters is the same that is supplied to the games (including the update for Billy's performance, voiced by Seijirou).
The anime was released in the brand-new ONA
Original Net Animation
An original net animation is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animation, a term that has been used in the anime industry for straight-to-video...
format, with four episodes of six minutes each. It was released on DVD as a pack-in with the Japanese release of KOF: Maximum Impact 2
KOF: Maximum Impact 2
KOF: Maximum Impact 2, released in North America as The King of Fighters 2006, is a 3D competitive fighting game produced by SNK Playmore and released for the PlayStation 2 in...
. The DVD is region two-encoded, but has English subtitles, as well as an English dub track.
The U.S. marketing strategy of King of Fighters: Another Day was far less accessible. Originally intended to be included with King of Fighters 2006 (KOF: Maximum Impact 2's U.S. title) as a pre-order / early buyer bonus for customers of EBGames and GameStop, the US arm of SNK failed to ship out the discs in conjunction with the then new release. Several weeks later, after some complaint from angry fans, the bonus DVDs started showing up at EBGames and GameStop brick & mortar locations and in many cases were obtainable for previous buyers upon request yet quantities were limited and many are still left without it despite their devotion.
The U.S. DVD comes in a square cardboard envelope. The DVD is region one encoded and includes both English and Japanese subtitles and audio, both in Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1. Special features include commentary on all episodes, character design galleries for major characters appearing in the series, one trailer for the animated series and three Japanese commercials for KOF: Maximum Impact 2.
Plot summaries
- Chapter 01: All Out (Released on December 2, 2005)
The story starts after the events The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact. After the demise of Duke and his gang, Alba and Soiree Meira now spend their days protecting the citizens of Southtown. During the night, a fire breaks out in the city. With Alba away at the time, Soiree leads the rescue effort and rallies the rest of their gang to help. After she saves a young girl from a burning building, Soiree fights Iori Yagami
Iori Yagami
is a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the...
, who was searching for the cause of the fire. They continue their fight in a church until Soiree moves to shield the girl he saved earlier from the building's collapsing ceiling; they were rescued by the joint efforts of Athena Asamiya
Athena Asamiya
is a character originally from the former SNK's video game Psycho Soldier and a descendant of Princess Athena in its Athena. She later appears in The King of Fighters series of fighting games as a female fighter character and has appeared in each of its thirteen editions...
and Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
. The scene shifts to dawn with Soiree digging through the rubble (trying to find Iori) until Alba informs him that Iori survived. Alba also shows that he had rescued the two last survivors of the fire - a couple of kittens. Relieved that everyone is safe, Soiree collapses, extenuated.
- Chapter 02: Accede (Released on January 6, 2006)
Terry Bogard
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable...
in a situation that mirrors Geese Howard
Geese Howard
is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury fighting games series. Debuting in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, Geese is the local crime boss of the fictional city of South Town. Geese hosts a fighting tournament named "The King of Fighters", in which he faces the...
's death. He leaves the apartment he shares with Terry and sees the town in flames. A blue light beam fired over Geese Tower draws his attention, prompting him to head there to investigate. On the tower's rooftop, Billy Kane
Billy Kane
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as the sub-boss from the game. In the Fatal Fury series Billy is the right-hand man from Geese Howard, the crime lord from Southtown...
and Lien Neville, who was sent to kill people related to Geese, are fighting. Billy hangs her beyond the roof with his pole when Rock arrives at the scene. Disagreeing with Billy's insistence to drop Lien, Rock fights with him and rescues Lien from losing her grip from the roof's edge. Billy then claims that Rock shames the legacy of his father and decides to kill him and Lien. However, Lien calls for reinforcements and the roof is fired with the same beam from moments ago. Rock asks her if killing him would free him from the shadow of Geese. She answers that it is up to him. Inside the building, they see the remains of a wall where a portrait of Rock's mother was presumably displayed. When Rock returns home, Terry leaves him for a nap and tells Rock to wake him when breakfast is ready. Rock notices the picture of his mother underneath Terry's jacket, muttering thanks to Terry for his kindness.
- Chapter 03: In the Dark (Released on February 3, 2006)
At the beginning of the third chapter, we see K' and Maxima sabotaging the underground tunnel system in Southtown (while the fire is raging), trying to find out the whereabouts of the "Kyo clone" and a kidnapped scientist called Makishima. However, Maxima trips some electric wires, plunging Southtown into a blackout and causing their covert activity to be noticed by Heidern and he sends Leona, Ralf
Ralf Jones
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . Ralf has made appearance in several games from the company, premiering in TNK III as a military tank driver. The Ikari Warriors series also emphasized Ralf's role as a soldier with him becoming the partner of Clark Still...
and Clark
Clark Steel
is a player character in video games produced by SNK, primarily in the The King of Fighters series of fighting games, although he was originally from the military-themed action game Ikari Warriors, and has also appeared as a character in certain installments of the Metal Slug series.- Character...
to investigate. K' and Maxima attempt to elude their pursuers by boarding a subway train but Heidern's team catches up to them. Ralf accuses the duo of kidnapping the scientist and they start fighting. After 24 seconds of calculated fighting, Maxima grabs K' and escapes into another train going the opposite direction. There, they are reunited with the rest of their party, Whip and Kula.
- Chapter 04: All Over (Released on March 3, 2006)
Here is where the previous chapters' stories intertwine with Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
rising from the city's rubble and rescuing a victim. He sees a green flame and knowing the source to be Ash Crimson, he gives pursuit. Watching atop a building, Ash drops a radio antenna from up there, forcing Kyo to defend himself with his flames. Alba arrives on the scene and, after witnessing this event, concludes that Kyo started the fire and fights with the supposed criminal. Amused, Ash watches them until Iori attacks him. Frustrated by the intrusion, he escapes with the fire in the city also vanishing along with him. Heidern's team of Ikari warriors watch Alba and Kyo's fight, which continues despite the fire's disappearance. Confusing Kyo for a clone, Ralf plots to attack him until Iori arrives and says that it is the real Kyo, stopping the fight afterwards. After he learns that Ash was the real arsonist, Alba apologizes to Kyo and the three fighters part ways. As the sun rises, Alba is shown finding the two kittens that he rescues in the first episode. The final scene shows Ralf asking if Kyo isn't really a clone while lighting a cigarette. Kyo, lighting his flame, asks Ralf if he would like to find out.
After the credits of this episode, there is a cutscene to the crumbled down church (where Alba, Soiree and the little girl are at the end of the first episode), in which Luise Meyrink appears (hinting the story will continue onward to KOF: Maximum Impact 2
KOF: Maximum Impact 2
KOF: Maximum Impact 2, released in North America as The King of Fighters 2006, is a 3D competitive fighting game produced by SNK Playmore and released for the PlayStation 2 in...
).
Japanese cast
- Kouji Haramaki as Soiree Meira
- Masahiro NonakaMasahiro Nonakais a Japanese seiyū , born on October 15, 1968 in Hiroshima, Japan. He is affiliated with Vozator Voice Production. Nonaka has been excessively famous for his role as Kyo Kusanagi, as well as the two Kyo clones, Kyo-1 and Kyo-2, in The King of Fighters fighting game series...
as Kyo KusanagiKyo Kusanagiis one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and... - Kunihiko YasuiKunihiko Yasuiis a Japanese voice actor. Also, he graduated from Aichi Prefecture. He is employed by the talent agency 81 Produce. He is also asked by SNK to participate as a member of SNK's character image band, King of Fighters, under the role of Iori Yagami.-TV anime:...
as Iori YagamiIori Yagamiis a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the... - Hiroyuki Satou as Alba Meira
- Akoya SogiAkoya Sogiis a Japanese voice actress currently associated with the Ricomotion voice actor agency. Sogi is noted for her role as Mai Shiranui in the Fatal Fury, Capcom vs...
as Mai ShiranuiMai Shiranuiis a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games... - Eiji TakemotoEiji Takemotois a Japanese voice actor. His name is sometimes mistranslated as and also sometimes credited as being Hidefumi Takemoto . Takemoto's nickname is Takepon...
as Rock HowardRock Howardis a video game character appearing in various games from SNK Playmore . Rock makes his first appearance as a playable character in the fighting game Garou: Mark of the Wolves, the last chapter in the Fatal Fury series, as the new lead character from the series... - Fumiko Inoue as Lien Neville
- Haruna IkezawaHaruna Ikezawais a voice actress born in Athens, Greece, but raised in Kanagawa Prefecture. She was formerly affiliated with 81 Produce, but as of 2002, she is affiliated with Oscar Promotion...
as Athena AsamiyaAthena Asamiyais a character originally from the former SNK's video game Psycho Soldier and a descendant of Princess Athena in its Athena. She later appears in The King of Fighters series of fighting games as a female fighter character and has appeared in each of its thirteen editions... - Hiroko Tsuji as Luise Meyrink
- Katsuyuki KonishiKatsuyuki Konishiis a Japanese voice actor from Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture. He is currently affiliated with Ken Production. His debut role was Volfogg/Big Volfogg in GaoGaiGar....
as Maxima - Monster MaezukaMonster Maezukais a Japanese voice actor currently associated with the Clutch voice actor agency. Maezuka is noted for his roles as Benimaru Nikaido, Ralf Jones and Choi Bounge in the Capcom vs...
as Ralf JonesRalf Jonesis a video game character created by SNK Playmore . Ralf has made appearance in several games from the company, premiering in TNK III as a military tank driver. The Ikari Warriors series also emphasized Ralf's role as a soldier with him becoming the partner of Clark Still... - Satoshi HashimotoSatoshi Hashimotois a Japanese voice actor currently affiliated with the Cube Group voice actor agency. Hashimoto is noted for his roles as Terry Bogard and Kim Kaphwan in the Fatal Fury, Capcom vs...
as Terry BogardTerry Bogardis a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable... - Seijirou as Billy KaneBilly Kaneis a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as the sub-boss from the game. In the Fatal Fury series Billy is the right-hand man from Geese Howard, the crime lord from Southtown...
- Sonosuke Nagashiro as Ash CrimsonAsh Crimsonis a video game character in The King of Fighters fighting game series developed by SNK Playmore. His first appearance was in The King of Fighters 2003 as the leader of its Hero Team. Ash is a teenager participating in the series' titular fighting tournaments employing pyrokinetic powers as part of...
- Yoshinori Shima as Clark Still
- Yuuki MatsudaYuuki MatsudaYuuki Matsuda is a seiyu famous for his part in voicing K' from SNK Playmore's King of Fighters franchise. His real name is Takehiro Matsuda . He was born March 3 in Tokyo, Japan. On October 20, 1997 he changed his legal name to Nezumi Miki...
as K'
The voice acting for the characters is the same that is supplied to the games (including the update for Billy's performance, voiced by Seijirou).