Riki (りき) is the the second most recurring character in the Kunio-kun franchise. Riki is a third year student and the banchō of Hanazono High School. He is Kunio's rival and best friend, and like him he takes the role of helper in various sport clubs at his school, which grants him praise from his peers and juniors. He is known as "Mach Punch Riki", and just like Kunio, is a righteous delinquent who fights for justice. However, when his anger reaches the boiling point, he snaps and goes berserk.
He was first featured in Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun as the first stage boss. In Downtown Nekketsu Story, Riki and Kunio join forces for the first time and become best friends. In his subsequent appearances in the franchise he would face Kunio in different sport competitions or become his ally.
Before becoming the banchō of Hanazono High School, Riki was the ace of his school's soccer club. After the story of him being arrested by the police following an altercation he got into while defending his teammates from harm gave unwanted attention to his school, Riki was forced to repeat his senior year and was removed from the soccer club. Soon after, he'd get into a fight with Sakata and overtake him as the school's banchō, thus starting his path into delinquency. Riki would begin to build up his legend as "Mach Punch Riki" and eventually took on the bōsōzoku gang Mushamonzen after getting involved with them. Sometime after this, Riki would have his first encounter with Kunio and was defeated.
In the Downtown Nekketsu series his full name is Riki Samejima (鮫島力, さめじま りき).
Appearances[]
Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun[]
Riki debuted in Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun as the first boss alongside other Hanazono High School students. In this game, he is given the full name of Riki Hibari (雲雀力, ひばり りき). After this game, the name is dropped in favor of being simply being known as Riki or by Downtown Nekketsu Story referred to as Riki Samejima.
Riki is able to punch faster than anyone else in the game and is able to grab a stunned Kunio to punch him multiple times. In the Arcade version, Riki and his men will attack Hiroshi outside of Nekketsu High School like the other bosses do. Riki is then seen waiting at the Shinjuku Station as Kunio fights a group of Hanazono students and will join the fight after a certain number of them are defeated. In the Famicom version, Riki instead faces off against Kunio alone after he fights off a second wave of Hanazono students on the train.
In the localization Renegade, Riki is replaced by Jack, a character that bears a resemblance to Luther from the seventies film The Warriors.
Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club[]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team. They serve as the first opponent for Nekketsu High School. According to Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Riki formed a dodgeball club at his school the instant he heard that Kunio had joined such a club.[2]
In the localization Super Dodge Ball, Riki is replaced by an unnamed captain representing the dodgeball team in Chicago. In the NES version, Riki is changed to be the captain of the Pro All-Stars team and is renamed to Jack, the same name he was given in Renegade.
Downtown Nekketsu Story[]
When Ryūichi and Ryūji Hattori start taking over the local high schools, Riki initially has no interest in the matter. One day however, his girlfriend Mami Shimada was kidnapped and he received a letter from Reihō Academy. Enraged, he prepares to storm Reihō Academy and rescue his girlfriend, but he has an unexpected encounter with Kunio just as he leaves his school. Kunio having heard Riki is off to the school offers to accompany him. Riki just tells him to do whatever he wants.
Riki and Kunio manage to fight their way across the city to Reihō Academy, defeating the students of the many high schools under Reihō's control that try to stop them. They defeat Ryūichi and Ryūji and successfully rescue Mami. However, it's revealed that the true mastermind behind the whole thing is Kunio's former schoolmate, Taiki Yamada. Riki and Kunio manage to defeat Yamada and break Reihō Academy's hold over the other schools.
Kunio and Riki are identical in gameplay in this game and are only distinguishable by their appearances. This was done to make the game similar to Double Dragon.
Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day![]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team. He is the strongest member of the team with the highest punch stat in the game, though he is the slowest when compared to the other three team captains. In the Battle Royal minigame, he will have access to the Mach Punch. Out of the Mach techniques, his has the most frames, making it the slowest.
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen[]
Riki and Kunio forcing Yūji Munakata to apologize to Hiroshi.
Riki and Kunio appear as the main protagonists. They are identical in gameplay and are only distinguishable by their appearance. Riki is controlled by the second player.
Hanazono Town is being threatened by the recent arrival of Munakata Industries. The chairman's only son, Yūji Munakata, has taken control of various schools and has been terrorizing the neighboring areas, including the local high school. As the school's banchō, Riki has had enough. When Hiroshi is beaten up by Yūji's men, Kunio decides to put a stop to Yūji, thus Kunio and Riki join forces once again. They proceed through the town and reach the top floor of the industries, beat Yūji in a fight and then drag him to the hospital to apologize to Hiroshi.
In the localization Double Dragon II, Riki is replaced by Jimmy Lee.
Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama![]
Riki plays the role of Rikigorō. He is given the Mach Punch and has a high punch stat by default.
Rikigorō appears as a selectable ally that will automatically appear if the player's current ally is knocked out following the defeat of Yonosuke and before Jinroku is beaten. This is only able to be done when playing alone, though if playing multiplayer the player is able to switch the game back to singleplayer to have Rikigorō appear. From this point on, Rikigorō is able to be selected freely at Bunzō's.
Go-Go! Nekketsu Hockey Club Slip-and-Slide Madness[]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's American football club and agrees to a hockey game against Kunio to help Nekketsu High School's hockey team train for their game against Shirogane High School. He alongside his teammates are each able to use a variety of powerful attacks such as headbutts, backdrops, and kicks. They each use Riki's trademark super shot, the Upper Shot.
Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! The Distant Gold Medal[]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team. In the Judo event, he is given a new signature move named the Gorgeous Punch.
In the localization Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge, Riki replaces Raphael in story and is renamed to Crusher. In gameplay, Riki's spot is replaced by Todd, the captain of Washington High's team.
Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun[]
Riki appears as a playable character that is exclusive to multiplayer. He is controlled by the second player.
Riki and other Hanazono High School students would coincidentally take a class trip to Osaka at the same time as Nekketsu High School. Kunio would find Riki in Umeda and decide to work together as the schools were staying in the same hotel. Riki will occasionally speak during cutscenes and will fill in for any of Kunio's lines if he is knocked out, but otherwise he is uninvolved in the story and is completely absent from singleplayer.
Nekketsu Fighting Legend[]
Riki is looking for Kunio at Nekketsu High School and is wondering why he's been ignoring him lately. He then stumbles upon Kunio's invitation to a martial arts tournament that was dropped onto the floor. Riki has also received an invitation and decides to join the tournament now knowing that Kunio has also entered. Riki can be selected as a partner in the story mode or controlled in the battle mode. Completing the story with Kunio as your partner will unlock the hidden ending where Riki can briefly be seen in the post-credits scene after Kunio has already left. Riki questions who the masked guys were and then boasting that he would've been able to take them on himself. Toraichi and Toraji hear this and feeling insulted challenge Riki to a fight, to where he then runs off tired.
In gameplay, Riki is apart of the "Martial Arts" type with the Spin Attack, Mach Punch, and the Tornado Attack being available to him.
Kunio-kun no Dodgeball da yo Zen'in Shūgō[]
Nekketsu! Street Basketball All-Out Dunk Heroes[]
Kunio manages to win a free two week trip to the United States of America alone. Jealous of this, Riki sneaks onto the trip by strapping himself and Susumu Godai to Kunio's plane tires with Riki planning on winning a street basketball tournament. Riki, Godai, and Johnny from Oklahoma High School then play on a team as the Nekketsu team. The team then spend the rest of their trip relaxing after winning the tournament. Johnny arranges Kunio's flight tickets back to Japan, though because Riki and Godai forgot their passports they were forced to fly back by strapping themselves to the plane tires once again.
Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari: Yakyū de Shōbu da! Kunio-kun[]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team.
Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka[]
Riki appears alongside Kunio as the main protagonists of the story. The two are playable at all times.
During the intro of the game, Riki and Kunio are imprisoned at a juvenile correction facility in Nerima after the two are framed for a hit and run. The two are introduced to Takayama as he shows them their cell. Riki assists Kunio in his fight against the cell's proclaimed boss Gōji after he got into an argument with him. Later in the morning, the two are visited by Hiroshi who has come to beg Kunio to break out of prison and inform him on what's been happening at Nekketsu High School. Riki appears annoyed over Hiroshi's voice and acts rudely towards him. When he hears Hiroshi mention the rumor of Kunio's girlfriend Misako cheating on him with Daiki, Riki points out that he once told Kunio to not go out with her, in which Kunio tells him to mind his own business. The two then come to the conclusion that a pair of lookalikes were responsible for the crime after hearing Hiroshi mention that a Kunio lookalike was recently seen. During the night, the two's cellmates assist them in breaking out of the prison. They are chased down by Takayama and feeling annoyed by his persistence they decide to fight him. Outside of Nekketsu High School, Riki notices Takayama guarding the school's entrance and scolds Hiroshi for praising his work ethic. Kunio asks Hiroshi to stand by as a lookout for them which upsets him as he was looking to join the two. Riki gets angry with Hiroshi and points out that they have no idea what's going on inside the school and that it's safer for him to lookout for them in case something goes wrong. Riki then fights alongside Kunio through Nekketsu High School.
Upon reaching Daiki, Riki overhears him mention that he's messed around with Hanazono High School which immediately angers him. Riki asks Daiki what happened to his school, in which he claims to have torn up the school as the students weren't willing to obey his orders. After the fight, the two put back on their uniforms and are seen at the school's entrance. Misako catches up with them and is asked by Kunio about what reportedly happened between her and Daiki, though Riki impatiently breaks up the conversation and tells Kunio to not worry about his girlfriend at the moment as they're still wanted fugitives. Misako angrily brings up Kyōko and how Hanazono High School also had someone take over in his absence, which makes Riki begin to worry about what happened to both his girlfriend and his school. Kunio and Riki then come to the conclusion that their schools being in turmoil only after a few days of their absence is highly suspicious. Upon arriving at the school, Riki appears distraught that it's truly been destroyed and then runs into Nobu who is relieves to see that he has returned. He learns through him that Ryūta has taken over the school as soon as he got arrested and that all of the students from his school, Nekketsu High School, and the next town over have each been forced into working part-time jobs at an amusement park for them. After the protagonists fight their way to the school's rooftop, Riki witnesses Ryūta trying to get with Kyōko and makes his presence known after hearing Ryūta mention his name. Kyōko runs back to Riki as he asks her to step back so he can deal with Ryūta.
Riki explaining to Kunio that Ken being his brother is likely false.
After Ryūta's defeat, Riki learns that he was acting under Shinji's orders who is additionally rumored to be backed up by the Sanwakai. Kyōko joins the party and the four then head over to the amusement park where Riki spots Ryūsaku at the entrance. He mistakes Kunio for being his lookalike, in which the group then learns that Kunio's lookalike is a guy called Ken who comes by to talk to Shinji. Riki asks Ryūsaku for Ken's whereabouts, though he is unsure and instead mentions that Shinji was last seen at the Ferris wheel. The protagonists then fight their way through the amusement park and eventually find Shinji at the kart tracks. Riki is seen getting angry with Shinji over his taunting before the fight starts. Upon being defeated, the group chases after Shinji on Kunio's motorcycle to the Blue Emperor's hideout. Riki senses danger ahead and tells Kunio to keep his guard up as they're going to have to continue fighting. The protagonists find Shinji hiding in the warehouse with Riki vowing to put an end to all the trouble he's caused. After being defeated for the second time, Shinji warns the group that they'll end up being killed if they continue looking into Ken. Outside of the warehouse, Takayama informs the protagonists that Sabu is the mastermind behind the entire scheme and that Ken is rumored to be Kunio's twin brother. Kunio is stunned by this information and begins to dwell on whether Ken being his brother is actually true, though Riki believes the rumor to be false as he thinks that Kunio's real brother would never do such horrible things to set him up. The protagonists then head over to Roppongi as Ken was reportedly last seen there.
Outside of the disco club in Roppongi, the group fight against Lisa and Joe as they were ordered to kill Kunio. After the fight, Lisa runs into the club to look for Kinji which confuses Riki on what she is talking about, though Kunio assumes that Kinji was the one who gave her their orders. The group find Kinji inside of the club and fight against him and Lisa after he refused to give out any information on Ken's whereabouts. Following the battle, the protagonists are told that Ken is currently at the pachinko parlor in Shinjuku. Later inside of the parlor, Riki spots Misuzu on one of the pachinko machines and immediately begins to feel worried. When Misuzu comes up to talk to Kunio, Misako asks who Misuzu is and calls her weird, in which Riki tells Misako to be quiet so she doesn't upset Misuzu. The group then face off against Misuzu as she was looking to let off some steam after her losing streak on the machines. After the fight, the protagonists head upstairs where they find Sabu and Ken. Riki and Kunio witness their girlfriends get shot by Sabu during the meeting as he and Ken depart. In a panic, Riki runs over to Kyōko and watches her pass out in his arms as she pleads with him to stop crying and to keep his act together. The two meet Takayama and Mamoru outside of the parlor as Takayama informs them that Sabu and Ken are headed for Izu and offers to lead them there while Mamoru takes the girls to the hospital.
In Izu, Riki and Kunio fights the enemies on the bridge leading to Sabu's villa until they reach Ken, where he then proceeds to burn the bridge in order to prevent them from continuing any further. The two fight off more waves of enemies along the water until they eventually find the entrance to a cave that they were able to use to get back up into the villa. Riki and Kunio fight their way through the villa until they're stopped by Misuzu who has since been hired by the Sanwakai as a bodyguard. Riki expresses his disappointment in how she had to show up again at the worst time. Following Misuzu's second defeat, the boys fight two more yakuza goons before facing off against Ken. After Ken is beaten in the fight and is shot by Sabu, he reveals that he wasn't actually Kunio's brother, to which Riki restates his earlier assumption in how an actual brother of Kunio would never commit a hit and run. Sabu activates the villa's self destruction system shortly after and the boys proceed to run after him. Upon defeating Sabu, the boys escape from his villa and are later seen watching it burn from afar as Takayama arrives to inform them that any of the escaping Sanwakai members have been arrested and that Kyōko and Misako have survived the gunshots. Feeling relieved at the news, the three head back to Tokyo.
Kunio no Oden[]
Riki appears in the versus mode as the first opponent when playing against CPU and is instead randomly chosen if there is a second player.
Nekketsu! Beach Volley dayo: Kunio-kun[]
Super Dodge Ball[]
Riki appears as one of the playable captains. While he shares similar moves and a counter technique to Kunio, both of his special moves are rush techniques that are harder to use more effectively. His special moves are the Hanazono Counter, Skylark Shoot, Mach Shoot, and the Burning Upper.
Riki is voiced by Masaaki Ōkura.
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari EX[]
Riki appears in the same role as he did in the original versions of the game. New to this version, Riki will start with the Mach Punch by default and is able to recruit Tōru Maeda when playing as him alone. When playing as Kunio alone, Riki will will be seen waiting for him outside of the Kobayashi Industrial Factory site regardless if Masao Kobayashi was defeated yet. Depending on Kunio's reputation, Riki will ask him if he'd like to fight for old time's sake or will attempt to avenge his previous defeats to Kunio. If Riki wishes to fight on friendly terms, the player is free to not fight him.
Nekketsu Kōkō Online: Yamada no Fukushū[]
Super Dodgeball Brawlers[]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team.
River City Super Sports Challenge[]
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team.
Downtown Nekketsu Dodgeball[]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special[]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special is a remake of the original Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun and acts as a reboot starting from a new continuity.
Riki confronting Kunio for the first time at the Shinjuku Station.
Following Wataru Sasaki's second defeat to Kunio after he had attacked his teacher Madoka, he runs to Riki to tell him about the beatings he took from Kunio. Furious over his friend being beaten up, Kunio is given a warning from Hiroshi that Riki is looking to fight him. Riki meets Kunio with a group of Hanazono High School students at the Shinjuku Station and explains why he's angry with him as Kunio brings up what happened to Hiroshi and Madoka. The two have a back and forth argument with each other and then proceed to fight. Riki is bested in battle and gets back up shortly after to admit Kunio is strong, though he underplays his loss and claims that he only gave up. He is then given a lesson by Kunio on how power should only be used to protect what's important to a person and not as something to hurt others with. Riki angrily asks that if friends are supposed to follow him if he has the power, though Kunio points out how his "friend" Wataru ran away when he needed him the most. Riki then asks Kunio to leave Wataru to him as the two part on friendly terms. Sometime after, Riki forces Wataru to apologize to Madoka and Nekketsu High School's Principal for what he did.
Riki finding Shinji outside of the hospital.
In the third chapter, Riki witnesses an altercation going on involving some Hanazono High Scool students and discovers that Kunio was at the forefront of it. Hiroshi backs Kunio up and mentions that he was attacked by the Hanazono students for no reason, to which Riki apologizes for the incident and promises to take care of the rest as the two of them leave. Riki is then seen beating up each of the students that were involved in the attack. On the final chapter, Riki is seen arriving at the hospital as Shinji finds him on his way out. The two catch up with Shinji then telling Riki that he was there for some guy who got stabbed by the yakuza, to which Riki immediately begins to worry and ask if it was Kunio. After being told that it was Hiroshi who got stabbed, Riki asks Shinji if he knows of Kunio and is informed that he has took Shinji's bike to chase after Hiroshi's assailants. Shinji tells Riki to go home and leave the rest to him, though Riki refuses to leave as he wishes to go with him. Sometime after, the two arrive outside of the Sanwakai office on their motorcycles where they witness Kunio tied up surrounded by Gen and his goons. Riki and Shinji fight Gen and the others in the area as Kunio breaks himself free and heads back into the building.
During the ending of the game, Riki and Shinji wait outside the Sanwakai office patiently for Kunio to come back. After seeing him step out of the entrance, Riki checks on Kunio to see if he's hurt at all, in which Kunio assures that he's fine and jokingly asks if Shinji is okay. Shinji angrily states that he doesn't need to be taken care of and asks Kunio if his bike is untouched, though Kunio admits that it's slightly dented which upsets him. The three of them then race each other back.
Riki Densetsu[]
Riki Densetsu is a prequel to the events of Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special. Riki appears as the main protagonist of the story and is the only character controlled by the player.
Riki confronting the punks that attacked his soccer club teammates.
While at soccer practice, Riki is informed by a Hanazono High School student that his teammates are currently being attacked. Riki rushes over to save his teammates from any further harm and fights off the group of thugs that attacked them. A police officer spots the whole ordeal and places Riki under arrest for fighting on the streets. With the story gaining lots of traction, Hanazono High School starts to receive a lot of unwanted attention which leads to the school's principal Megumi and Riki's teacher Gonda informing him that he'll be repeating his senior year and was to be removed from the soccer club. Sometime after this, Riki is seen on the school's rooftop where he notices two students attempting to bully another student. Riki intervenes and beats up the two bullies, though unbeknownst to him, he had just attacked two of Sakata's followers who would later tell him about the incident. On the following day, Riki is confronted by Sakata who then orders his men to attack him. After clearing out the enemies, Sakata continues to run away from a fight until he is chased onto the rooftop where Riki faces off against him and more of his goons. With Sakata defeated, he initially attempts to partner up with Riki, though his offer is declined as Riki hits him with an uppercut that knocks him to the ground. The bullying victim from the previous day witnesses the fight and stunned by Riki's fighting prowess, he labels him as Hanazono High School's new banchō and runs off to tell everyone else about the news. Riki is initially unsure about being pushed into this position, though he shrugs it off after the student ran off.
Riki being handed the black handbag by Wataru Sasaki.
In the second chapter, Riki's influence has spread around the school after his fight against Sakata. While lying on the rooftop, Riki spots Wataru looking for him and questions why he's been following him around, to which Wataru re-explains that he's been feeling enamored by him after seeing how cool his show of strength was during the fight with Sakata. Riki then tells Wataru to do whatever he'd like and allows him to continue following him. Wataru then asks Riki if he's ever had the thought of getting a foothold over Tokyo as he believes that it'd be a waste of a time for a banchō at a school their size to be living in such a small world. Thinking that it'd be fun, Riki agrees to Wataru's idea and the two head to Ikebukuro to build up Riki's status. At the station, Wataru hands Riki the black handbag that is passed onto each of the school's banchōs. Riki disregards it as it just being a regular bag with white tape all over it, though Wataru explains to him the bag's significance. The two are then approached by a group of thugs who notice the bag and fight Riki over it, though they are all easily defeated. Wataru proceeds to take Riki to a variety of shadier spots within Ikebukuro in order to gain more exposure within the delinquent world.
Riki and Wataru Sasaki coming across the Mushamonzen.
After a fight against a group of Taiyō Academy students, Riki and Wataru head back to Shinjuku and come across a mob of bikers riding outside of the station. Annoyed by all the noise, Riki questions who the bikers are, to which Wataru states that they're bōsōzoku. Riki then mentions that the people within the area should be part of Blue Emperor and believes that the group currently there are from somewhere else. The bōsōzoku group's leader spots Riki and attempts to extort him for money, though Riki instead asks him where he's from which angers him. The leader orders his men to attack Riki on their bikes, though after they're all defeated he notices that he's at a disadvantage and flees the scene vowing to get back at him. Shinji then arrives to ask Riki if he just got into an altercation with Okada, to which Riki asks Shinji if he knows him. Shinji informs Riki that Okada is a member of the Mushamonzen and warns him to keep a low profile for the time being as he may try something.
Riki fighting off Mushamonzen members at the Shinjuku Station.
In the third chapter, Riki is called by Gonda to go to the Principal's office after class. Megumi mentions the fight that Riki got into with the Mushamonzen the other day, to which Riki claims that he wasn't at fault. Megumi explains that she was already aware that the group was being a disturbance and that Riki only cleared them out, though expresses that him getting into a fight is still nothing to be proud about and asks him to talk things out next time rather than resorting to violence. Wataru is then seen waiting for Riki outside of the Principal's office as he asks him what happened. Riki doesn't give a direct answer and instead asks Wataru if he'd like to go to Ikebukuro to get something to eat, in which Wataru gracefully accepts his offer. Later in Ikebukuro, the two witness Sakata harassing a Nekketsu High School student and pretending to be Riki. A group of Mushamonzen goons arrive in search of Riki and attach Sakata as they believed he was the person they were looking for. Riki enters the scene and reveals him as the actual person they're looking for. After clearing out the enemies, Riki demands one of the Mushamonzen members to go tell Okada to leave him alone, though he learns from them that Okada has launched an attack at Hanazono High School. Riki and Wataru rush back to the school and encounter another wave of Mushamonzen goons at the Shinjuku Station. Upon arriving at the school, Riki faces off against a group of goons and is later informed by Wataru that they're going to be attacking in Kabukicho next. Riki entrusts the protection of the school to him as he leaves for Kabukicho.
While in the area, Riki spots a group of Mushamonzen members harassing two Hanazono girls and rescues them. He asks the girls if they know Okada and is initially told by one of the girls that they have no idea who he is, though the other girl informs him that his goons were supposedly talking about meeting up outside of the arcade. At the arcade, Riki fights off a group of Okada's men and passes along a message to Okada that he'll be waiting for him outside. Riki is then seen waiting in an alleyway as Okada and his men arrive to fight him. Upon being defeated, Okada attempts to make an escape and accidentally bumps into Misuzu who happened to be passing by. Okada calls Misuzu big which enrages her as she picks him up and repeatedly slaps him. Following the incident, Riki waits for Okada to get back up as he hits him with an uppercut. Riki then checks in on the two girls from earlier and is thanked for his work, though one of them asks why the Mushamonzen are acting this way. Riki states that he isn't sure himself and then asks the two girls to head home.
Riki fighting off Maezawa's men at a vacant lot.
On the final chapter, Mushamonzen's leader Maezawa catches word of the past few incidents after overhearing Okada talking about wanting to crush Riki before Maezawa finds anything out. Thinking that there'd be a great fight if they chose to go against Hanazono High School, Maezawa confronts Toyoizumi and passes a message to him for Riki requesting him to meet him in Ikebukuro. Meanwhile on the school's rooftop, Wataru is talking to Riki about the previous day and how the strength he showed in his fight against Okada got him excited for when they get back to getting a foothold over Tokyo. Riki appears disinterested in the matter which has Wataru ask him if something is wrong. He then gets up from the ground and tells Wataru that he feels like he's the cause for what's been happening and that if they continue acting so recklessly they'll only keep causing incidents like before to happen. Riki thinks that he's gotten too many people who don't care about their antics involved for no reason and that he should stop, though Wataru decides to give him a speech on how inspirational and important Riki's actions have been on others which motivates him to continue building up his name. While walking outside of the school's entrance, Toyoizumi spots Riki and informs him of his encounter with Maezawa. Riki then leaves for Ikebukuro where he meets up with Maezawa at an empty lot. Maezawa briefly introduces himself before he orders his men to attack Riki. Upon clearing out the enemies, Maezawa comes to the conclusion that Riki truly is worth his time and decides to let him off for the time being vowing that he'll crush him in their next meeting.
Riki arriving to assist Shinji in the fight against Maezawa in Yokosuka.
On the next day, Riki and Wataru are seen on the school's roof waiting for the Mushamonzen to strike back. They head down to the entrance after hearing a noise coming from outside. Riki spots Mikoto of Blue Emperor knocked out on the ground and checks in on him until a group of Mushamonzen goons arrive both on their motorcycles and on foot to fight Riki. After clearing out the enemies, Mikoto gets back up to inform Riki that Maezawa has made his move on the Blue Emperor's turf in Yokosuka and that Shinji has asked him to go into hiding. Mikoto gets ready to head back to Yokosuka in order to help Shinji, though Riki refuses to let him go and decides to head over there himself. Riki takes Mikoto's bike and heads for Yokosuka until he is stopped by Okada who was waiting for him in the middle of the highway. Okada blames Riki for his current situation and how he was kicked out of the Mushamonzen as he starts a fight against him. After being beaten, Riki appears annoyed by Okada's persistence and gets ready to leave, though Okada gets back up to warn him about Maezawa's strength and tells him to be careful. Riki thanks Okada for the advice and leaves. He then arrives to the port in Yokosuka to the sight of Shinji tired out after having beaten a large amount of Maezawa's men. Shinji is shocked to see Riki and asks why he's there, to which Riki tells him that he found out about what was happening through Mikoto and that he has come to help him. Riki proceeds to fight Maezawa and waves of his men in a long battle until he is finally defeated. He then forces Maezawa to apologize for what he's done, in which Maezawa gets down on his knees in an attempt to land a cheap blow on him. Riki dodges his attack and then punches him into the water using his signature Mach Punch. Shinji thanks Riki for helping him out and warns him that more people are going to be out for him following this incident. Riki states that he's looking forward to it and says goodbye to Shinji.
During the game's post-credits cutscene, Riki is seen at the Shinjuku Station waiting for Kunio to arrive, which is where the two would fight each other for the first time.
River City: Tokyo Rumble[]
After Wataru and Sakata attack Hiroshi, Kunio gives chase and proceeds to beat the crap out of them. Sakata swears that Riki gave the order to give Hiroshi the business, and although Kunio is skeptical, he is still angry and decides to meet Riki in Shinjuku to confirm this. Riki is spending time with his girlfriend Kyōko and when confronted by Kunio, agrees to settle the matter in Ikebukuro, claiming he had nothing to do with the attack on Hiroshi. The two meet again in a vacant lot there and are ambushed by Ginjishi and the treacherous Wataru and Sakata, who have turned on Riki to join the Kanto Lion Alliance with Ginjishi. Kunio and Riki defeat the three and aware of the threat that the alliance poses, agree to join forces.
Riki can travel together with Kunio as an ally controlled by CPU. He starts the game with the Mach Punch and as he levels up, gains additional moves. On a second run of the game using clear save data, speaking to his girlfriend allows Kunio to switch with Riki. Although the player can control Riki, they cannot teach him any moves purchased in the game's shops, but they can equip him with any of the game's special items.
River City: Knights of Justice[]
In this game, Riki plays the role of Ricky Break.
He is searching for Cooney (Kunio) to fight him. When defeated, Cooney can kill or spare him. If the former, Ricky never appears in the game again. If spared, he will join Cooney as his ally. However, at a crucial moment during the game, Ricky will turn on Cooney and the player will have no choice but to kill him.
Although Riki was Kunio's enemy in the original Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun and Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu, this is the only game in the franchise where Riki is a villain from the beginning to the end[3].
Nekketsu Taisen Kunio-kun X[]
River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~[]
This remake of Super-Awesome Field Day re-imagines the events of that game. The story takes place after River City: Rival Showdown.
In the story mode, Riki is first seen alongside Hikaru Saotome after the first game of the preliminaries. Riki spots Wataru and asks what he's doing, though the two suspect that something is up after he continues to act strange. Tsuyoshi Gōda and Godai arrive afterwards and point out how they're also suspicious of Wataru after passing by him and noticing that he looked upset. During the second round of the qualifiers, Riki finds Kunio to tell him that he heard of what happened to Sanjūrō Sugata and warns him to be careful believing that more bad things will happen. Kunio jokingly tells Riki how what he said isn't something that he should be saying to his opponent which puts Riki at ease. The two then express their wishes to have an honorable fight against each other.
After the semi-finals, Riki is seen with Gōda at the School Union's booth as Kunio and the new freshman arrive. Kunio asks what happened to their booth as it's been torn down, to which Riki explains that a conflict between Wataru's followers and Gōda's followers likely sparked as Hanazono High School and the School Union are to be competing against each other in the next game. Riki then asks Kunio if Nekketsu High School is now waiting for the finals, which Kunio and the new freshman confirm that they are and are confident that they'll win. Riki is hopeful that they won't lose to Reihō Academy. During the finals, an announcement is made that Hanazono and the School Union are set to participate in the finals against Nekketsu and Reihō as the other remaining teams have dropped out of the competition. Riki, Saotome, Gōda, and Godai are seen getting pumped up as they get to have another shot against Kunio's team while also being able to crush Reihō.
Once the tournament comes to an end, Riki is seen talking with Saotome about how tough Nekketsu High School's team was, in which he agrees with Saotome and believes that they'll need to train the juniors more. Wataru then apologizes to Riki for the problems that he's caused and is told by him that having high ambitions is not a bad thing and to not worry about it. Saotome then suggests that the team should go out together for the night in celebration for doing well in the tournament. Riki agrees to the idea and decides to take everyone out to eat for their hard work, though he appears confused when Saotome tells him that the bill will be on him.
Riki appears as the captain of Hanazono High School's team, a member of the Historical Drama team in the role of Rikigorō, and as a member of the Nekketsu Magical Story team in the role of Ricky. Riki is able to use the Mach Punch and the Tornado Punch, Rikigorō is only able to use the Mach Punch, and Ricky is able to use Mach Bash and Mach Punch.
Kunio-kun no Nekketsu Dodgeball ALLSTARS!![]
Kunio-kun no Nekketsu Street[]
Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki[]
Riki reprises his role as Rikigorō.
River City: Rival Showdown[]
River City: Rival Showdown is a remake of Downtown Nekketsu Story. The game takes place after River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~.
Kiyofumi Taira confronting Riki at Starpark Café.
During the first day of the game, Riki is out looking for his girlfriend Mami, is able to be talked to in the arcade, and eventually ends up finding Mami later in the day. On the second day, Kiyofumi Taira planned to have Hanazono High School and Senridai High School fight each other in an attempt to weaken them and eventually have them knuckle under to Reihō Academy. To do this, Taira initially was going to target Mami, though because Yorikazu Minamoto did not show up he instead moved to his backup plan which was to attack Riki directly. Kunio is told of Taira's plans by Minamoto and heads to Starpark Café right on time to intercept Riki's fight with Taira. Riki and Kunio then successfully take down Taira and his hired backup. After the brawl in the café, Riki makes his way to Hanazono High School to break up the fight about to happen with Kunio coming in to read Taira's text messages after Kaoru Sonokawa demanded proof that Hanazono wasn't responsible for attacking Senridai students.
Riki and Kunio on the courtyard of Reihō Academy.
On the final day, Riki is seen at Reihō Academy's entrance getting ready to rescue Mami and then sees Kunio, in which they then team up and fight through the school together. Riki and Kunio end their fighting after defeating Ryūichi and Ryūji on the top floor. With Mami being rescued, Riki chooses to wait with her and Kazumi Hasebe for Kunio to finish his fight against Yamada. When Yamada later attacks all of Kunio's allies outside of Reihō's entrance, Riki takes Mami and Hasebe to safety while Kunio fights Yamada for the last time.
In the story mode, Riki is only able to be controlled by the second player in co-op play. Riki functions the same as Kunio with the only difference being their appearance. When playing in co-op, Riki will be on-screen with Kunio at all times during gameplay though will be completely absent from any cutscenes he's not normally apart of.
River City Melee: Battle Royal Special[]
Riki returns as the captain of Hanazono High School's team and is involved in the story mode. Riki is able to use the Mach Punch, the Tornado Punch, and the Gorgeous Punch.
River City Girls[]
In this continuity, Riki is kept as being Kunio's rival and best friend, though is made to be the boyfriend of Kyōko. He is described as being more calm and stoic than Kunio, though he is known to lose his cool when his emotions run high. Riki and Kunio serve as the main catalysts to the game's story. He is voiced by Kaiji Tang.
During the beginning of the game, Misako and Kyōko receive a mysterious text while in detention that shows a photo of the boys supposedly being kidnapped. The girls run throughout all of town fighting anyone that gets in their way in search of any information on their whereabouts. Many faces they come across during their adventure, most notably their love rivals Hasebe and Mami, hint at or outright claim that the boys are not in love with Misako and Kyōko. The girls eventually reach the Sanwakai Tower thinking that their boss Sabu was responsible for the kidnapping of Riki and Kunio, though they'd eventually realize the Sanwakai had no involvement and would fight Sabu's daughter Sabuko as she wanted to set an example out of them for storming through the tower. The girls defeat Sabuko and kick her out of the window where they then crash into the sauna nearby. Inside of the sauna, Riki and Kunio are able to be seen together relaxing until they spot the girls.
Riki and Kunio getting ready to leave the sauna.
In the game's bad ending, Kunio notes the two as being the crazy girls they've met before and struggles to remember their names. He then suggests to Riki that they go see Hasebe and Mami which enrages the girls and leads to them punching the boys through the roof. In the game's true ending, the boys get ready to leave the sauna to get something to eat with Kunio asking the girls if they'd like to join them on a burger date. Upon completing the game once, Riki and Kunio are both unlocked as playable characters. The story does not change with any of them present and will act as if they are not present.
River City Melee Mach!![]
Riki's Mach Punch would be changed to use the Mach Punch A equivalent.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms[]
Riki plays the role of Sun Quan, the first emperor of the Wu.
Sun Quan during his meeting with Zhuge Liang.
In the story mode, Sun Quan is first seen during the final chapter as Zhuge Liang (Misako) heads to Chaisang alone to convince him, Zhou Yu (Kyōko), and Lu Su (Mami) to join forces with Liu Bei (Gōda) in order to defeat Cao Cao (Yamada)'s army. Sun Quan explains that he has no intention of letting Cao Cao defeat his army and mentions that he wanted to fight him for himself. He agrees to Zhuge Liang's proposal for an alliance and asks her to go and inform Liu Bei of the news. An officer pleads with Sun Quan to not fall for Zhuge Liang's supposed tricks, though Sun Quan smashes a table and orders the man to be silent. The Brothers of the Peach Garden arrive in Chaisang with Zhuge Liang afterwards and head to the castle to meet with Sun Quan. During the meeting, Sun Quan suggests to the group that they instead write their ideas down in case if there's a spy listening in on them. In a sidequest, Sun Quan asks Guan Yu (Kunio) to spy on Cao Cao's army in Xiakou to see if they're strengthening their navy. Guan Yu later informs Sun Quan that a general has been brought in that specializes in naval battle, to which Sun Quan states that they'll now go into the final battle knowing that Cao Cao's navy is no longer his weakness. Zhou Yu joins the conversation and suggests that they spread a rumor within Cao Cao's army that their new general is a spy with secret connections to Liu Bei, which Sun Quan then writes this out on a letter and asks Guan Yu to deliver it to where Cao Cao's troops would see it.
Sun Quan vowing to beat some sense into Guan Yu in the Comedy route of the finale.
After preparations are made for the final battle, Sun Quan assembles everyone in Lukou to inform them that they'll be making a move on Cao Cao's army at night. During the ending of the Romance route, Sun Quan appears upset with Guan Yu and his allies for letting Cao Cao go and angrily asks why they're celebrating while denoting them as an army of airheads. Now calmed down, he thanks them for being a great help in overcoming the odds and expresses his gratitude in being able to have them as allies, though he is uncertain how things will be when they cross paths in the future. In the Hot-Blooded route's ending, Guan Yu will lie to everyone and claim that he's dealt with Cao Cao for good. Sun Quan is relieved over the news and assures that they'll leave the Han to the brothers so long as they don't turn out like Dong Zhuo (Sabu) or Cao Cao. When playing on the Comedy route, Sun Quan finds Guan Yu in Wulin and scolds him for letting Cao Cao flee back to Jingzhou after Guan Yu had fought off his entire army. Guan Yu admits that he hasn't seen Cao Cao around, which his recklessness enrages Sun Quan as he gathers up his troops to beat some sense into Guan Yu.
In the China Heroes gamemode, Riki is able to be unlocked by completing the gamemode once. Riki is able to use the Mach Punch, Gorgeous Punch, Overhead Kick, Table Slam, and the Aura Gatling.
River City Girls 2[]
Riki returns as a playable character and is now available from the start. Kaiji Tang returns as the English voice actor with Chiaki Kobayashi voicing him in the newly added Japanese dub.
Riki and Kunio head off to get lunch with Misako and Kyōko right after the girls found them at the sauna. With the Sanwakai taking control over River City in retaliation for Sabuko's defeat in the previous game, Riki joins the girls to assist them in their battle for bringing the city back to normal.
Other games[]
Bakura no Koshien! Pocket[]
CODE SHIFTER[]
Riki appears as a playable character. A remix of the second theme heard in the Famicom version of Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun is played when playing as his him in the Story Mode.
Baseball Superstars 2020[]
Super Smash Bros Ultimate[]
Riki appeared in the "River City Smash" Spirit Board event as one of the spirit battles. Riki's battle was represented by a Little Mac on Saffron City with an increased attack power after a while and neutral attacks being favored.
Mighty Fight Federation[]
Riki appeared as a playable character on November 4th, 2021 as part of the "Kunio & Riki Pack" DLC. He is voiced by Kaiji Tang.
In Riki's Arcade story, he is out on the streets looking for Kunio and is told to look for the new crime boss that showed up in town. Upon reaching Hyperion on a school's rooftop, he comments that Riki truly is an equal to Kunio and offers him the chance to prove that he's better than him. Not interested in playing games, Riki suggests that he can instead knock out Hyperion instead. Hyperion instead takes Riki's comment as confirmation for him to enter the tournament and states that if he does well enough, he'll have the chance to fight him.
When Kunio comes across Riki, he appears confused that he's also participating the tournament. Riki is interested in showing Kunio how strong he really is, to which Kunio laughs off the comment and begins to fight. Upon finding Tunestone, Riki appears disappointed that he has to fight a skeleton and calls him a grandpa, to which Tunestone takes offense and begins to fight. On the final fight, Hyperion taunts Riki by claiming that he's always been the second-best and believes that he has no chance in beating him, though Riki tells him to step forward so he can find out.
During the ending, a portal opens back up to their world and Riki and Kunio head back home. Kunio thanks Riki for helping him out, to which Riki then states the reason why he entered the tournament was that he wanted to win it and prove that he should've been chosen first by Hyperion. Kunio takes this as Riki wanting a rematch and the two begin to fight each other.
Speed Rush Runners[]
Riki appears as a playable character unlocked by completing quests in the "Treasure Hunt" event.
The Battle Cats[]
Other media appearances[]
Ore wa Otoko Da! Kunio-kun[]
He is one of the protagonists of the manga, appearing in almost every chapter. He debuts in the first chapter, taking control of the Nekketsu soccer team.
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (4koma Manga Kingdom)[]
Kunio-kun! Nekketsu Battle![]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (TV Series)[]
A, Nekketsu Kantai Gayuku![]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-Kun Ranto Enbu-Hen[]
Riki was played by Takeshi Terayama.
Inugami Korone x Kunio-kun[]
Riki and Kunio were featured in a Kunio-kun themed merchandise collaboration between Arc System Works and Hololive's Korone.
Pop Team Epic[]
In Season 2's "Bump-Boo Crusaders", Popuko and Pipimi appear dressed as Kunio and Riki in a parody of an old-school banchō anime.[4]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Gaiden River City Girls[]
Riki was to be played by Haruto Sakuraba, though the play would be cancelled due to one of the cast members testing positive for COVID.[5]
Localized versions[]
- In Renegade, Riki was changed to a character named Jack, who bears a resemblance to Luther from the seventies film The Warriors.
- In the NES version of Super Dodge Ball, he is also known as Jack, a captain of Team Pro All-Star.
- In River City Ransom, Riki was renamed Ryan.
- In Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge, Riki was renamed Crusher (shortened to Crush in-game), a member of Team Thornley, who replaces the character named Raphael in the original game.
- In River City Ransom: Underground, Ryan's full name is shown as Ryan Samejima in the school's year book on the file select screen.
Trivia[]
- His nickname is "Mach Punch Riki". The inspiration for the Mach Punch comes from the Speed Racer manga (which was known as Mach GoGoGo in Japan). Animating the Mach Punch in the original arcade game (when Riki grabs Kunio and punches him) reminded Kishimoto of the Mach GoGoGo anime[6].
- According to Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Riki's name originates from a notorious yakuza in his youth.
- Riki has had at least two confirmed girlfriends in the games: Mami in Downtown Nekketsu series, and Kyoko in Kunio-tachi no Banka.
- The character Kazuma Kuwabara from the anime Yu Yu Hakusho bears a close resemblance to him due to his pompadour hairstyle and uniform color.
- In Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun, Riki's surname was Hibari. Samejima was introduced as his surname in Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari. However, according to Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Riki is simply named Riki[7], just like the rest of the characters that debuted in Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun (Wataru is one exception). It is unknown if Riki is his surname or given name.
- Kunio's catchphrase, "Namen'nayo!" (なめんなよ!, roughly translates to "Don't mess with me!"), originated from Riki in the original arcade game as well as in the Famicom version. He originally said "Namen'nayo kono yarou!" (なめんなよ この やろう!, roughly translates to "Don't mess with me, punk!").
- Riki shares many traits with Kunio, such as his roughed up appearance and his deep sense of honor. Unlike his rival, however, he has a more serious, quiet and down-to-business personality, as noticed in Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka where he's the character that speaks the least.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
.jpeg "Riki Samejima (Chou Nekketsu Daiundoukai).jpeg (615 KB)")
Sprites[]
Screenshots[]
Other Media[]
References[]
- ↑ Riki's height
- ↑ Kishimoto answers questions for fans during the development of Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special
- ↑ Spoilers for Knights of Justice (Japanese)
- ↑ Kunio and Riki in Pop Team Epic
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SOLIDSTAR_P/status/1599946734976671744?s=20
- ↑ Kishimoto on the Mach series of attacks (Japanese)
- ↑ Kishimoto on Riki's surname (Japanese)