Notes: Eventhough Reflections was a one-shot deal, I decided to do a follow-up interview on Ryu.

(Capcom of Japan headquarters. We are on the set of Street Fighter IV. From what we heard, this game takes place between the events of Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter III. The set is that of a Chinese street. We see Ryu Houshi, along with his friend Ken Masters fighting. After several minutes, the fight ends in a draw. While Ken gets pampered by his wife, Ryu walks over to me. He shakes my hand as we both take a seat.)

Looking good, Ryu.

Oh, you're back. Came to do a follow-up interview?

Yup. Everyone is psyched about the release of Street Fighter IV, as well as the recent release of your autobiography, Reflections in a Dragon's Eye. What made you want to write your autobiography?

Aside from martial arts, I have a talent for writing. It was Ken's idea for me to put out my story. Ever since I was a kid, I kept journals, and I still got them. Of course, we're talking about over 12,000 pages of material, written in both English and Japanese. Ken and Chun Li were helpful in my task.

I'll bet. So far, your book is number one on all the best seller's list for the past month.

Everyone wanted to know about the real me, despite how Capcom portrayed me in the game as a man who wants to become the strongest.

I also see that you don't pull no punches in this book.

I love being blunt about things. I call it like I see it. I try and tell the truth...most of the time, anyway. I got some calls from some of the other fighters about the book. Some praised me, while others are jockeying to fight me. (grins) If they, as Ken would say, want a shot at the title, they are more than welcome. Besides, those that want to fight me, I asked their closest friends about how they act, not to mention seeing it for myself.

Well since we're on the subject of being blunt, maybe you would like to explain the tape.

You mean...that tape?

(Nods) The sex tape you made with Chun Li.

(Ryu shifts in his seat, but maintains his cool demeanor.)

That tape happened by accident. We were shooting the Animated Movie in Seattle. Remember the infamous shower scene with Chun Li?

How can I forget? That was one of the more memorable scenes in the movie. That scene was also repeated by Mai Shiranui in the Fatal Fury anime. But Chun Li's scene was much hotter. (Ryu looks at me questingly) My friend got a copy of the tape.

Hentai. Anyway, someone forgot to turn off the damn camera. Maybe they were mesmerized as to see what I go home with every night, I don't know. While everyone was out at dinner, Chun and I snuck back onto the set. This was when we were keeping our relationship a secret from everyone. We started kissing, and then it led to the shower. (smiles sheepishly) We should have been more careful. The next day, the director calls in me and Li and showed us the tape. He was smart enough to hand us over the tape.

But the tape did get out anyway. Who was responsible for that? Your estranged father or brother?

Someone more dangerous. My ex-girlfriend, Miyabi Tazikawa. Remember in our last interview that she betrayed me by sleeping with another man? I gave you the brief version of what had happened, since the issue is still a sensitive matter for me and it still makes me angry thinking about it. When I confronted her, with the other man, she had no remorse. She even laughed in my face, telling me that she was glad that she hooked up with what's-his-name and that I was a dumb jock of a ronin who wouldn't amount to nothing.

Then what happened?

I called her a despicable rotten bitch. I've heard rumors about her behavior from several folks who knew her. Turns out that she was pulling this crap ever since high school, picking on weaker people, manipulating events to make it look like that she was the victim. She even sent her newest boy-toy after me. The fight took place outside. Fortunately for me, there were plenty of witnesses who took my side once Miyabi's lover attacked me. Bastard came at me with a katana.

So much for honor.

As I've told you before, honor tends to keep you from reaching your full potential. As for myself, I wasn't bound to no honor code, given my ronin status. (grins evilly) So I didn't hold nothing back. He ended up in the hospital with a broken jaw. Compared to what I can do, he got off lucky. The police didn't arrest me, since it was self-defense. But Miyabi could hold a grudge and swore she would destroy me.

Which is where the tape came into the picture.

Yes. Turns out that Miyabi's cousin was on the editing staff for the Animated Movie. She made her a copy of the tape and gave to Miyabi, who tried to blackmail me, demanding that I pay her $30,000, or else. I paid her no mind and told her to fuck off. Then she said that she owned my ass and that I was going to pay. In Japan, that kind of behavior would be disgraceful and would have caused both Chun Li and myself to have been fired from Capcom.

But instead, it did the opposite.

(smiles sardonically) Ironic what a 15-minute sex tape can do to one's career. Not only Chun and I was popular with the younger crowd because of Street Fighter II, we even became more popular with the hentai crowd. There was however, an internal investigation as to what had happened. Eventhough Chun Li and I were both found not to be at fault, Capcom still suspended us following the completion of the Animated Movie.

How long was the suspension?

Two months without pay. Capcom may have been harsh, but even they see a good investment. And rather than to lose us to either Tecmo, Midway or even SNK, they decided to keep us around. During the time we were suspended, I found out that Miyabi was responsible for what had happened. Chun Li was furious. Since we were suspended, we decided that it was open season on one Tazikawa Miyabi. When she found out that we both were still employed and that we were coming for her, she made the first move. Miyabi was a executive with a company who sponsored several karate clubs, some of which Akuma has a bad habit of fighting at once.

Miyabi sent them after you and Chun Li?

Yup. Two against forty hardcore karateka, kendoka and biker gangs. Hardly fair, right? The karate teams thought the best vengeance was to take out Gouken's pupil. What I wasn't expecting was the backup that we both received.

I remember that brawl. It was in Shujinku. Ken, Cody Travers, Guy and Guile were there, as were Akuma, Sagat and even Bison were there to help. Miyabi had that taped too, so she could watch you and Chun Li get beaten down.

Instead, it was the bad guys that gotten schooled in the martial arts. When you get into a fight like that, the few against many, the adrenaline really gets pumping, everything happens so fast. It's one hell of a rush, which is why I love my job here at Capcom.

And Miyabi?

Miyabi herself is an expert in Judo. I wasn't going to fight her, but Chun Li sure as hell did. Once everything was settled down, she was stripped of her position and was fired for abusing it. The last I heard, she was somewhere in Brazil.

That fiasco in Shujinku also boosted Street Fighter II's popularity.

That it did.

You have been a maverick your entire career. You picked fights with other martial artists from Tekken, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters and even Dead or Alive. Care to comment?

I have been something of a rebel, yes. But most of the time, the fighters from said videogames challenge me to a match. I mean, what better way to boost your career than to defeat Ryu Houshi. Liu Kang challenged me during the O-bon festival, Hayate found me while I was in Brazil training, and my personal favorite, Geese Howard attacked me while I was in my hotel room.

You kicked him out of the window?

And right into the swimming pool 10 stories below. Lucky for him he fell into the deep end.

And the rumors that you were something of a ladies' man?

False. I flirt with women, yes, but I'm nowhere near as bad as Ken. He is the real playboy between the both of us. Guile and I are still amazed that he is still loyal to Eliza. Maybe he knows a good thing when he sees it. I don't know.

Does Chun Li know?

She does. Usually, I let the woman flirt with me first before I respond. But after Chun Li and I got married, I toned it down. Even after all of the crap I've been through, Chun Li was there to help me get back on my feet.

I've got to ask you this, Ryu. What made you wear the headband? Did Ken really give it to you?

He did. That scene in the Animated Movie did happen in real life. When I was seventeen, Ken kicked me down a flight of stairs and I busted my head. After getting my head stitched up, he gave me the headband to hide the scar. (Ryu undos the headband. Over his right eyebrow, is a scar, a small mass of scar tissue) Stone steps are sharp as hell, should you land on them the wrong way. My head was throbbing for the rest of the week. But I like the headband regardless. (puts it back on)

It suits you well. Your comments on family honor in your memoirs has turned several heads.

You mean it made some people angry.

It did.

Those people haven't experienced the life of a ronin. Now you read in novels and watch films that shows ronins as being disgraced and shunned from everyone they knew. One cannot sprout the honor code if they are abusing it themselves. That is hyprocrisy. We Japanese tend to take honor too seriously and that forces us to make some really bad decisions. You can't use honor as an excuse if you screw up. But there are some out there that do agree with me about my comments on honor.

After all this time, you and the rest of the bunch are working on Street Fighter IV. Care to give some little tidbits?

Aside from myself, Ken, Chun Li and Guile, Honda and Blanka are in it, as well as Dhalsim. I can't give out all the details, but you won't be disappointed.

Let's hope so. Good seeing you again, Ryu.

You too.