Thursday, December 31st, 2020 

Buriki One 20th Anniversary Tribute Art by HIROAKI

  

In 2020, decorated fighting game artist HIROAKI, lead character designer / artist for SNK's Buriki One, celebrated the game's 20th anniversary by redrawing the entire martial arts-inspired roster in his superb art style. Throughout 2020, HIROAKI released a new illustration for every character on their canon birthday (via Twitter @Super_Hiroaki). As luck would have it, December 31st (today) is the birthday for the eldest character in the game, Song Xuandao. Without further ado, below is HIROAKI's latest and final Buriki One 20th anniversary character artwork of 2020, featuring the badass Tai Chi Chuan marital arts master!
 



 
HIROAKI's comment on Twitter accompanying his new illustration:
 
"Buriki One" Part 11 - Today, December 31st, 2020 on New Year's Eve, is the birthday of Song Xuandao. Happy birthday to all of you today!"



  Now, all I have to ask is...      
  WHEN'S BURIKI TWO?       

 
On that note, it would be cool to see a Buriki One team represented in KOF XV. Just sayin'. More recently, HIROAKI also worked on SoulCalibur VI and Street Fighter V, providing character concept artwork and story illustrations. Long-time SNK fans will quickly recognize HIROAKI's stunning art style from many installments of The King of Fighters and other titles. Below are some of HIROAKI's earlier 20th anniv. Buriki One character illustrations in case you missed them.
 



BONUS FUN FACT:  Art of Fighting's Ryo Sakazaki and TFG Webmaster Frank Joseph share the same birthday (August 2nd). It was cool to see this Ryo artwork on my birthday, this year. I also wore a black Gi to work for many years, teaching martial arts. So this art means something special to me. Thanks HIROAKI.
 










 
Earlier in 2020, The Fighters Generation was honored to welcome HIROAKI's Official Blog as a website affiliate. HIROAKI Hashimoto is also featured inside TFG's Artist Profiles where you can learn more about him and his iconic works throughout the years. As always, thanks for reading and enjoying the beautiful artwork of fighting games. And one more thing... HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021!
~TFG Webmaster | @FIGHTERS_GEN 
 
 
 Sources:  HIROAKI Blog@Super_Hiroaki (Twitter)

RELATED NEWS  |   DECEMBER 2020
SNK Announces New Console Coming in 2021

With new information on The King of Fighters XV and Samurai Shodown (2019) Season 3 coming in early 2021, SNK has the opportunity to start off the new year with a bang... and apparently that's not all SNK has up their sleeves. On Twitter, SNK Global just announced a new console from SNK is coming in 2021. SNK describes the upcoming console as "a system to bridge the needs between passionate fans and console gaming enthusiasts".
  Related News:  (12-23-2020): Fatal Fury: 1st Contact Now Available on Nintendo Switch,
   (12-16-2020): SNK Announces New Console Coming in 2021,
   (12-10-2020): GIVEAWAY! Samurai Shodown: NEOGEO Collection,
   (10-28-2020): Next Samurai Shodown (2019) Character is from The Last Blade,
   (10-14-2020): Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2 PS4 Physical Edition,
   (10-3-2020): Breakers Collection Coming to PS4, PC, XB1 & Switch in 2021,
   (9-29-2020): KOF 2002: UM Rollback Netcode Beta Begins October 2020,

   (8-4-2020): New Afflilaites: The Fighters Generation / HIROAKI Blog!
  Related TFG Links:  TFG Feature: Artist ProfilesBuriki OneRyoSong | TFG NEWS
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