E. Honda frustrates me.

Renowned Sumo-wrestler Edmund Honda enters Street Fighter 6 on a mission to convince the world of the greatness of his martial art and its culture. This time, he aims to accomplish this by showcasing Sumo in a restaurant that only serves Chankonabe, the most favored dish among Sumo practitioners. His arcade story is centered around him trying to find a fitting location for said restaurant and being advised by Manon to think of himself as the main attraction, rather than obsessing over where the place is built. He then settles on Metro City where we can find, fight and learn from him in World Tour mode.

In all fairness to the guy, the idea that Honda should think of himself as the main representation of how great Sumo is, instead of hiding behind the art and culture around it, is interesting and technically counts as him finding the meaning of strength for himself. It makes me wonder what a more liberated Honda would look like outside of World Tour. A shame we are stuck with the same “Sumo guy” instead. For decades now, Honda has been the most “stuck in his ways” character design in Street Fighter, never evolving past being an advertisement for his fighting style and certain aspects of Japanese culture. He has spent most of his existence trying and failing to convince dedicated martial artists to ditch their fighting styles for his own, and he rarely wins a fight without mentioning Sumo or Chanko afterwards.

Of course, there is somewhat of a second layer to his character. Next to Zangief and Blanka, Honda is probably the least serious SF 2 veteran. Given his expressions and moves, I am probably supposed to find him failing to attract people to his art funny. Instead, I honestly just want him to succeed. He should have a playable apprentice that is more similar to R. Mika; someone who is genuinely inspired by him and allows Honda to step out of the shadow of his own making that is his dedication to Sumo-wrestling. He would still be teaching Sumo to that person, but they would be aiming to replicate his style, maybe break convention more. I remember hearing that Sumo is a very strict and sanctioned martial art and way of life, so none of this is likely to happen. I just wish there was more to Honda than Sumo, Chanko and goofy faces.