Ryu has no bandana in his head, some characters don't appear at all, Sagat is Ryu's fried, Dhalsim is not a fighter, Chun Li is a 15 year-old girl and his father, being alive, is Fei Long's sifu. In abstract, this japanese series is not even faithful to the original plot of the game. If you're a Street Fighter fan you might say "Then this series sucks!". That affirmation is far to long from reality -and I myself am a Street Fighter fan. Street Fighter II V is probably one of the greatest stories in whole anime, and one of the the best martial arts plots ever. We're before a very realistic story, narrated in the very realistic way possible for a 90's anime (except for a chapter or two). No one here has special powers or unreal moves. They're just martial artists, as real as Jackie Chan or Jet Li can be (without special effects). And when the 'hadouken' makes its presence, is not in a fantastic way, but a real one. Not just a power up like a Kamehame (Dragon Ball) that you can do like you walk of talk. Is based on a real work of investigation from the production team. In this series, you get to know Bodi Darma, the spiritual basis of martial arts, an the principles of Kundalini. Also, you get to know some places in the world, being as faithful as they can be in anime. From USA to Hong Kong, to India and Spain. The character's are for real too, not too cartoonish (for their personalities). Ken, being rich, changes his cloths almost every day, while Ryu has only 3 shirts and 2 pants (count if you don't believe me); and a pair of "Jordan" shoes that Ken gave him. Bison is not just "the bad guy". He has some napoleonic spirit in him, and the power he has is no different from the one Ryu and Ken have (in the game, every character's power is 'different' or with different origins. In the real world that can't be true). I can say, with no regrets, that the all Street Fighter things out there (games, movies, comics), this was the one I enjoyed more. And the one with most value. Totally recommended!
Review of Street Fighter II: V
