Sakura’s face as it appears on the Street Fighter 5 character select screen has been a point of contention ever since she was added to the fighting game in January 2018, with some criticising her “bug eyes” and “alien” look. The update changes Sakura’s character select stance, and so we see her face from a slightly different angle and with different lighting. This makes all the difference, and her face on character select now doesn’t have that bug-like alien look. Fans are trying to work out exactly what Capcom has done here. Some reckon the change brings Sakura’s character select model in-line with the model used in a match. Others aren’t entirely sure the face has changed much at all, rather it looks different because of the changed character select animation, stance and lighting. There’s also an ongoing debate about which Sakura face looks “better”. I’m not sure of the answer on this one, but what I do know for sure is that Ken’s character select face remains monstrous. The tweak to Sakura’s match selection animation feels a little random, coming as it does so late in the life of Street Fighter 5. Why do this now? And why not do it to other characters? Only Capcom knows. Today’s Street Fighter 5 update, by the way, adds playable DLC characters Oro and Akira from Rival Schools.
