Although you probably never got a chance to play it in the first place
The recent announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection has fans all over the world excited to finally get easy access to these arcade classics, although not everything will be the same as it was in the cupboards.
In addition to adding some nice new features to modernize the build, it looks like Capcom is going to cut perhaps the dumbest fighter they’ve ever made.
That would of course be the infamous but still rather obscure inclusion of Norimaro in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
Norimaro was a special guest character created by Japanese comedian Noritake Kinashi as a rather stereotypical cowardly/awkward high school nerd who asks the other fighters for their autograph and wants to take their picture.
Although it started mostly as a joke, former Capcom artist, writer and translator Katsuya Akitomo revealed that producer Yoshiki Okamoto said they had promised Kinashi to include Norimaro in their next Street Fighter release.
Okamoto himself was said to not have been a fan of the “mind-blowingly uncool” character, but legendary artist Akiman loved him and so he was made a reality for Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
“back on topic: MSHvSF’s most impactful character ended up being Norimaro – he’s a character created by Noritake “Noritaro” Kinashi with the TV show Tunnels no Namade Kurama Ikasete, and Okamoto-san thought he was mind-blowingly uncool, but. .. “https://t.co/FxMCf1tbLY
— GSK | https://cohost.org/gosokkyu (@gosokkyu) October 31, 2020
Unsurprisingly, Marvel themselves apparently weren’t against Norimaro at all, so he was made a Japan-exclusive character as a compromise.
As for the new MvC collection, it sure looks like the comedy guest has been done away with entirely.
“Marvel was fiercely opposed; naturally, they didn’t want some random underpowered hero clashing with their heroes. We desperately prayed and tried to reassure them – ‘we’ll only use it in Japan!’ – and so it’s missing from the overseas versions”https://t.co/UheWyNgZUj
— GSK | https://cohost.org/gosokkyu (@gosokkyu) October 31, 2020
While other hidden fighters like Cyber Akuma can now be unlocked via tweaks in the changes made to the arcade originals, there’s no mention of Norimaro’s removal — even though there’s no reference to him at all on the Japanese compilation website.
There is no entry for him on the character page for Marvel vs. SF (where even Cyber Akuma now does), and a screenshot of the fighter selection screen shows that Norimaro’s usual spot at the bottom has been replaced by the game’s logo, as in other versions of the game.
Norimaro’s absence probably comes down to licensing issues, as Capcom probably doesn’t want to bring Nippon TV and Arrival back to Marvel/Disney.
Or maybe the authorities just don’t like him yet and wanted to avoid jumping through extra hoops just to get him back.
Norimaro didn’t play like a normal fighter either, with most of his damage not coming from big attacks and combos, but comedically throwing random objects at the opponent from his bag and trying to push/kick them.
It seems that this unintentional fighting style probably helped inspire Phoenix Wright’s playstyle and mechanics years later in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
And while he technically remains a Japan-exclusive character, the localization and translation work for Norimaro really seemed to be mostly done and still in the code but unused.
Other English versions of Marvel vs. Street Fighter can be modified to use Norimaro, where it will be shown to have fully translated victory and ending quotes for the character (although he appears with the name of Captain America).
The new Marvel vs. Capcom collection could have been a fun way to make Norimaro officially playable and finally use this work officially, which would probably have confused a lot of players outside of Japan, although it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen.
It also won’t be the only content removal/fix in the build.
Comparison of Noritake Kinashi’s motion capture manipulations at Capcom HQ and the Marvel Super Heroes VS Street Fighter Norimaro sprites based on them. pic.twitter.com/NV1SotI8yC
— felineki (@felineki) February 15, 2020
The first title Marvel vs. Capcom is listed as having some stages that have been changed, possibly including Honda’s bathroom to remove the rising sun from the background, as well as potentially the pinup model in the calendar and the man wiping himself with a towel, though that’s not all not yet fully confirmed.
This new MvC Fighting Collection will not be released on Xbox at all, nor will it have its own PlayStation 5 version, and we recently looked at why that is.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will be released in 2024 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.
