Kiriko, the new fox ninja support for Overwatch 2 was the first hero to receive an animated short for the new game.
Kiriko, the fox ninja girl is the first Overwatch 2 hero to receive the animated short treatment as Blizzard unveils the first of the game’s side content. Released today (October 8th), the short, entitled Kiriko, shows off some of the hero’s backstory and personality in this exciting animated feature.
Animated shorts were some of the highlights of the original Overwatch’s life cycle, and their absence is largely missed. The original Overwatch has over one and a half hours of animated shorts, with heroes like Bastion, Soldier 76, Winston, and Tracer all receiving a lot of love.
The return of these much beloved animated shorts is one of the bright sparks of an Overwatch 2 launch that’s struggled with huge queues, DDoS attacks, and a mixed reception. However, if there’s one thing that’s still appealing about Overwatch, it's the characters and their backstories. And the Kiriko short brings all that to the center stage once again.
Kiriko’s animated short
In this brief intro to the hero, we learn that Kiriko recently moved away from home. She’s living in an apartment building when her mother makes a surprise visit, concerned with her safety. However, Kiriko quickly shows she doesn’t need any help when it comes to protecting herself—The fox spirit already does the job plenty well.
After dispatching some mean looking yakuza-style thugs Kiriko manages to convince her mother that she’s safe after all. And that she’s inherited the powers of the fox spirit.
Overall, this is a great little dive in the background, lore, and personality of Overwatch’s latest support hero. There’s so much charm and life in the animation. If just a fraction of this energy gets transferred into the single player and PvE elements of Overwatch 2, then we’re in for a fantastic game.