The King of Fighters: Another Day

The King of Fighters: Another Day is an animated series based on the popular fighting game series King of Fighters. It was produced by Production I.G, and revolves around the plot of the 3-D version titled KOF: 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 Original Net Animation (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.

Plot summaries

 * Chapter 01: All Out (Released on December 2, 2005)

The story starts after the events KOF: 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 he 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 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)

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 calls his attention and he goes 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 shade 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 clones" and a kidnapped scientist called Makishima. Their covert activity becomes 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 crane from above, 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. Bored 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.
 * Chapter 04: All Over (Released on March 3, 2006)

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).

Voice cast
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).

Music

 * Ending Theme: "Regret" by Dakota Star

Trivia

 * Although the anime bridges the gap between the two Maximum Impact games, it also brings to light sub-plots carried over from King of Fighters XI by introducing them through its main setting: the fire that broke out through Southtown. Some of them may include Iori's search for Ash Crimson, who stole his power in KOF XI, Mai's search for Andy, Rock and Billy being target for assassination, and the confrontation between K's team and the Ikari Warriors.


 * The series had been target of criticism from anime fans especially because of two facts: the short length of each episode and, much because of this, the long wait between the release dates of each episode. It's a consenting feeling that, with the time it takes for the episodes to be released, a better background story could be developed, with a longer running time.


 * In the end of the fourth episode, we see Ash leaving Southtown on a motor boat together with Elisabeth Blanctorche -- although this is just a visual hint, it evidences the connection between them.


 * When looking closely at the outfits of all characters in the series (excluding the Maximum Impact originals), it was only Kyo who used his attire for KoF: Maximum Impact 2/KoF 2006. Everyone else used their outfits from the 2D series. It is also noteworthy that Terry uses his Mark of the Wolves-era for default, even though he appears in his classic outfit in Rock's nightmare sequence at the beginning of the second episode.