Cancel and Regrettal: Shin Waku Waku 7

I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, so I haven't had the time to post anything substantial on Kiblitzing. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this. Sunsoft actually considered a sequel to Waku Waku 7, its silly send-up of anime tropes that doubled as a surprisingly solid fighting game. The proposed sequel was called Shin Waku Waku 7, and featured the cast from the previous game, alongside a few cast-offs from Galaxy Fight and a handful of new heroes. Some of these designs are pretty unremarkable, particularly the young girl armed with teddy bears, but then you've got more Waku-worthy fighters like a pancho-wearing duck and a Super Saiyan salaryman. These characters are brimming with promise, and make me all the more resentful that Sunsoft abandoned the Waku Waku 7 series for Astra Superstars.

image from Video Games Densetsu

Had Shin Waku Waku 7 been released, bunny girl Arina would have gotten a male counterpart, the vaguely ursine Arashi. (What's with Waku Waku 7's designers and bears, anyway? Not that I'm complaining, mind.) Fernandeath would have also taken a backseat to a new boss, based on the legend of Excalibur. Beat the other characters and you'd get the chance to pull a mighty sword from a stone. Unfortunately, the blade also happens to be attached to a frantic girl who attacks with bloody axes, mugs of beer, and... uh... hentai magazines. Fernandeath would have made an appearance, but as the steel-plated Mecha-nandeath, perhaps as a playable character but more likely as a hidden boss.

You can see more production sketches of Shin Waku Waku 7 on Video Games Densetsu. Unfortunately, that's all you're going to see, as Sunsoft hasn't expressed any interest in reviving the series beyond releasing the Neo-Geo version of the first game on the Switch. It doesn't help matters that Kouki Kita, the lead character designer for Waku Waku 7, died last year, but it wouldn't be hard to imagine another team taking this baton and running with it. Shin Waku Waku 7, by Skullgirls creators Reverge Labs? Hey, a guy can dream!