Those who were there back in Overwatch's heyday will remember how Blizzard hyped up its hero shooter by releasing animated shorts. These shorts had high production values and delved into the nuances of the game's heroes. The animated short "Dragons", for instance, put the spotlight on the Shimada brothers Hanzo and Genji by showing how they dealt with the fall of their clan and the consequences of their life choices.
Overwatch 2 carries on the tradition Blizzard set all those years ago. Now known as Activision Blizzard, the company has released 3 animated shorts for the sequel. The first was the "Zero Hour" announcement cinematic that was shown during the Overwatch 2 reveal at Blizzcon 2019. The second was Junker Queen's "The Wastelander" animated short. Finally, the newest and most recent trailer to compliment Overwatch 2's early access launch is "Kiriko" - aptly named after the new Japanese support hero. A lot was shown in Kiriko's animated short, but eagle-eyed viewers will be able to uncover more about what makes this hero tick.
Kiriko's Favorite Foods
Kiriko's animated short begins with her exiting an elevator with 3 boxes of Fox Festival Donuts (with Spirit Sprinkles, of course). Upon chatting with one Mr. Yoshida, viewers discover that Kiriko plans to eat the desserts for dinner. Taking a look inside Kiriko's apartment also reveals multiple empty pizza boxes and a box of Lucio's iconic Lucio-Ohs cereal on her shelves, as well as a plate of uneaten cookies on her dining room table.
It doesn't take a detective to figure out that Kiriko doesn't eat healthily; a fact that her mother points out to Kiriko. Despite her mother's complaints, Kiriko shrugs off the negativity by saying that the fox spirit that watches over her protects her from bullets and balances her blood sugar at the same time. While it is highly doubtful that it does this, no one but Kiriko and her grandmother know how fox spirits work.
Kiriko's Relationship With Her Mother
Quite possibly the most important character in the "Kiriko" animated short (aside from Kiriko herself) is her mother, Asa Yamagami. Asa is a blade master who used to run Yagami Blades with her husband Toshiro. She was the one who taught Hanzo and Genji Shimada how to use a blade with Kiriko learning alongside them. While it was Asa's wish to have Kiriko become a full-fledged warrior, her daughter ended up taking a mixture of her mother's warrior path and her grandmother's spirit-healing one.
Kiriko's choice to walk her own path has occasionally put her at odds with Asa. Asa worries that Kiriko can't protect herself and makes routine visits to her apartment to clean her daughter's abode and provide her with groceries. She also constantly pesters Kiriko to move back with her and resume her weapons training. Asa's tone changes during the course of the animated short when she discovers that Kiriko can defend herself as well as those in need (as seen when she protects Mr, Yoshida and his granddaughter from the Hashimoto clan).
Kiriko's More Subtle Nuances
Speaking (or not speaking) of Mr. Yoshida's granddaughter, she, Kiriko, and Mr. Yoshida appear to be fluent in Japeaese sign language. This is their main method of communicating with each other since Mr. Yoshida's granddaughter appears to be mute and deaf. Being able to converse with the deaf and mute community seems to be a useful skill for Kiriko as it lets her connect with more of the citizens of Kanezaka - the place she protects.
Kiriko is also very aloof and can be seen barely listening to her mother's rants and worries. Despite her apparent airheadedness, Kiriko knows when to take things seriously. When she takes action against the Hashimoto clan, Kiriko turns her from a mild-mannered young adult into a no-nonsense defender of Kanezaka. This is what convinces her mother that Kiriko is all grown-up and, as she says at the end of the animated short, "a superhero".
There are other smaller tidbits of information strewn throughout the animated short. Kiriko's hair, for example, isn't naturally green. Viewers can see pictures of Kiriko in her younger days sporting black hair. Kiriko's eyebrows are also black, alluding to the true color of her hair. It's quite refreshing to be reminded of how much detail Activision Blizzard puts into its Overwatch animated shorts. If "Kiriko" is any indication of their quality, then viewers will be just as delighted for new Overwatch animated shorts as they were years ago.
Overwatch 2 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.