Akira Kazama from Rival Schools is coming to Street Fighter V: Champion Edition as one of the season 5 DLC characters, but who is she, and what is Rival Schools?
What is Rival Schools: United by Fate?
Capcom’s Rival Schools, or Justice Academy in Japan, is a 3D fighting game series set in the same universe as Street Fighter. Players select two characters to face off in 2v2 battles and build meter, or vigor, to perform powerful team moves.
Rival Schools: United by Fate features an eclectic cast of students and teachers from different schools that set out to solve the mystery behind kidnappings and attacks on local schools.
Who is Akira Kazama?
Akira Kazama is a first-year transfer student at Gedo High School, one of the targets of the recent attacks. She is Daigo Kazama’s younger sister but poses as his brother in order to infiltrate the all-boys school and search for clues behind his disappearance. Akira befriends Edge and Gan Isurugi, members of Daigo’s gang, fights other schools to find her brother, and uncovers the secret behind Justice High School’s fiendish plot.
Akira returns in the sequel, Project Justice and embarks on a journey to investigate Daigo's sudden personality shift. Cue more school rumbles and another sinister scheme.
How is Akira Kazama connected to Sakura Kasugano?
Sakura appears in Rival Schools: United by Fate. This directly ties Akira into Street Fighter’s main timeline. Her story will only develop further when she releases Summer 2021 alongside a Rival Schools Street Fighter V: Champion Edition stage.
Akira Kazama Moveset and Arcade Mode Gameplay
Learn Akira’s story and get a taste of her possible Street Fighter V moveset. Cyclone Dance was one of her signature special moves that might return.
| Cyclone Dance | Spinning kick attack. |
| Releasing Dance | Launches the opponent into the air. |
| Elbow Gate | Charge forward and knock opponents into the air. |
| Leaping Smash | Forward flip in the air. Can follow with a knockdown kick. |
| Fractured Heaven Stance | Triggers one of the following combos: Dragon Fang Slash, Spinning Swallow Storm Dance, Nirvana Charge, or Phoenix Wing Sky Kick. |
| Reverse Inside Gate | Elbow thrust. |
| Sparrowhawk Chick’s Shoulder Plant | Shoulder/headbutt strike. |
| Energy Focus Cluster (Burning Vigor) | Unleashes a large sphere of energy from her hands. |
| Heaven’s Barrage (Burning Vigor) | Backflip kick followed by mid-air kicks. |
| Destructive Barrage (Burning Vigor) | String of kicks. |
| Destructive Heaven’s Stealth Kick (Burning Vigor) | Launch leg-first toward the opponent. |
| Destructive Pair Attack (Burning Vigor) | Series of kung-fu moves. |
| Combination Barrage (Team-Up Technique) | Active character grabs the opponent, then both characters deliver a series of kung-fu-based blows. |
| Synchronized Kick Chain (Team-Up Technique) | Active character uppercuts the opponent, then both characters do a sequence of flips, kicks, and punches. |
Rival Schools OST - At the Riverbed in Front of Evil High School (Theme of Akira Kazama)