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Mai

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"Yeah! Japan's Number One! (よ！日本一(1)！
 Yo! Nippon Ichi!?)"
—Mai (SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos)

"You must have been intimidated by my strength, attractiveness and beauty!"
—Mai (Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001)

"Show me what you have!"
—Mai (Street Fighter 6)

Mai Shiranui (不知火 舞 Shiranui Mai?) is a guest character from SNK's Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series who is also playable in the SNK vs. Capcom series. At Summer Game Fest 2024, it was announced that she would make her debut in the Street Fighter series in the second year/season of DLC for Street Fighter 6. She was announced alongside Elena, M. Bison, and fellow Fatal Fury and KOF castmate—and sometimes teammate—Terry Bogard.[3]

Biography

Appearance

Mai Real Bout Fatal Fury Special

Kof xv mai render

Mai is fair-skinned with long, waist-length brown hair tied into a ponytail in a tight and high topknot style with parted bangs. She has many admirers (both in-game and in real life) due to her face and figure. According to an issue of Neo Geo Freak, Mai's breasts were modeled after Fumie Hosokawa's while her bottom was modeled after that of the late Ai Iijima. Both women were famous idols by the time she debuted.

Her famous outfit is a red and white traditional Shiranui kunoichi (female ninja) dress with red tassels at the back fastened to an obi around her waist and forming a pelvic curtain at the front. Most of the time, she also has circular white ropes secured around her shoulders, with red and black colored tabi for footwear. However, in SF6, she appears as she does in Real Bout Fatal Fury Special – the ropes around her shoulders are not present, her heels and toes are exposed and her fingerless gloves are black. Furthermore, her outfit in the trailer has floral patterns that are seen in her appearances in New Age Saga King of Fighters games (The King of Fighters XIV and XV and also the spin-off SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy). She also usually uses a traditional white Kachō Sen or "butterfly fan" as her primary weapon, which she can also use as a projectile.

Mai FF COTW Render

Her second SF6 costume is her default outfit in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves: predominantly black leather biker gear with cherry blossom and red accents, plus boots and a partially unzipped top that also leaves her navel exposed.

Personality

Mai is a very cheerful and temperamental girl skilled in stealth, climbing and the use of fans in combat and with power over fire. She tends to also be somewhat of an airhead and admires any kind of beauty or attractiveness, which sometimes comes across as being vain. She is actually a classic Japanese beauty, known as a Yamato Nadeshiko, but her pride as a Shiranui ninja and her infatuation with Andy Bogard – her self-styled fiancé – usually keep her from fitting the mold completely. She can also cook – her specialty is Japanese bento, but she can also make osechi (traditional Japanese dishes for New Year).

Concept

Her Street Fighter 6 title of Best Kunoichi in Japan plays off of both her identity and one of her trademark greetings – "Yeah! Japan's Number One!" (不知火 舞 Yo! Nippon Ichi!?) SNK's nickname for her – Alluring Kunoichi or Alluring Ninja Girl (魅惑|みわく Miwaku no Kunoichi) – dates back to at least The King of Fighters XIII and KOF Maximum Impact 2.[4][5] She was also originally not included in Fatal Fury 2, but when SNK developers decided to include an idol character, they utilized a fighting style for a male ninja for her. Her characteristic "bounce" was loosely modified from a kunoichi method of assassination: to be sensual to their unassuming prey before they strike.

In an interview, current Capcom designer/artist and famous SNK designer/artist Shinkiro said that Mai was the most difficult character to illustrate, commenting, "I thought she was going to burst out of her costume..."[6]

Character Relationships

Terry

"I can't bear Andy not being here for much longer!!"
—Mai
"He's got his plate full with other things. And you can stop hitting me while you're at it!"
—Terry
(Corresponding Japanese version character-specific win quotes as teammates from Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001)

Mai is friendly to her boyfriend's brother, though sometimes she will be demanding to him whenever Andy is nowhere to be found.

As for Terry, he looks after her, being his brother's girlfriend, as well as a longtime ally. She has only officially been on Team Fatal Fury with him, Andy and Joe Higashi once, though, in The King of Fighters '99.

Chun-Li

Cvsgirls
"I'm glad that our team is brimming with fellow beauties."
—Mai
"I suppose so, especially with how it's an easy win after our opponents' eyes are led astray."
—Chun-Li
(Corresponding Japanese version character-specific win quotes as teammates from Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001)

Mai and Chun-Li are often featured together in official Capcom vs. SNK art considering that they respectively are SNK's and Capcom's original and most iconic female fighting game characters. Character-specific win quotes with her as a teammate or opponent (Street Fighter 6 and also CvS and CvS 2's Japanese versions) indicate that Mai respects Chun-Li's beauty but does not want to be outdone.

The two were also compared in media and online before Mai was announced for Street Fighter 6, including in the following:

  • In June 2002, French magazine Hardcore Gamers compared the two in a spread.[7]
  • In June 2003, Frederick Badlissi of Diehard Gamefan remarked that one of the appeals of Capcom vs. SNK was "The question of 'anatomic supremacy' between Mai Shiranui’s breasts (the 'North') and Chun-Li’s thighs (the 'South') would finally be answered."[8]
  • In 2011, Rooster Teeth pitted the two against each other in Episode 16 of their Death Battle YouTube video series.[9]

Juri

Mai vs Juri SF6

Mai and Juri share a birthday (New Year's Day), but Mai dislikes Juri's lack of manners. Juri is also characterized as a spider, which Mai hates; because of these parallels, the two ladies have a meeting at the start of Mai's Arcade/Story mode, with an already irritated Juri itching to fight Mai. Mai simply wanted directions to Pao Pao Cafe, but Juri grabs her face, further provoking her and prompting Mai to teach Juri a lesson in manners.

E. Honda

Mai mistakenly thought he would led her to Pao Pao Cafe, but after some sparring, she knows the hard truth, where Honda took her isn't Pao Pao Cafe, instead, she's been taken to Edomon, where she's promoted as the main attraction and is given the chance to become a Yokozuna, for Mai's shock and dismay.

Kimberly

Mai appreciates how Kimberly's ninjitsu is quick but deadly, and her second Master Mission involves her going to Enma's Hollow to face Kimberly and pit the Shiranui style against the Bushin style. After the fight, the two respective kunoichis showed sportsmanship and acknowledged their unique styles.

Andy

Mai fell in love with Andy while they were both training under her grandfather Hanzo, which is also addressed in Mai's World Tour dialogue. Andy, though, is so focused on self-improvement that he can seem distant from her. However, he does care for her and maintains their relationship regardless. Her Street Fighter 6 maximum Bond image reward features her dream wedding to him including both other Street Fighter girls such as Chun-Li, Cammy, Kimberly, Manon, Marisa and Sakura and Fatal Fury girls such as Blue Mary, Li Xiangfei, Tsugumi Sendo and Hotaru Futaba.

Blue Mary

Blue Mary is one of Mai's best friends, as Mai and Andy usually have double dates on vacations with Mary and Terry. In the King of Fighters series, Mary took Mai's place on Team Women Fighters when Mai joined Team Fatal Fury in The King of Fighters '99. They have only been teammates once in The King of Fighters 2003.

Story

Fatal Fury Series

Mai first appears in Fatal Fury 2 as the only woman to enter the new King of Fighters tournament held by a mysterious nobleman. The nobleman is revealed to be Wolfgang Krauser von Stroheim, who has been searching for the person who defeated Geese Howard.

The King of Fighters Series

Mai is the one of the founders alongside Yuri Sakazaki and King, both from Art of Fighting 2, of Team Heroines (also known as the Women's Team or Team Women Fighters), which competed for England in the original King of Fighters title, The King of Fighters '94. She also has led the team in two KOF games: The King of Fighters 2000 and non-canonically The King of Fighters 2002.

Most of her, Yuri and King's teammates over the years on this team are female fighters who are either from South Town or someone related to those who are famous in that city, with the exception of Chizuru, Hinako and Athena:

Street Fighter 6

The successor of Shiranui-style ninja arts. A charming kunoichi who is as dedicated to love as she is to training. Loves cooking, Japanese dressmaking, flower arrangement, and traditional Japanese dance.

Arcade Mode

Mai: Where's the Pao Pao Cafe!?

Mai reads a letter from Andy Bogard and stating that he went off to find Terry Bogard. So she decided to find him at Metro City where Pao Pao Cafe was located. She started to find a location in Pao Pao Cafe by asking a lot of people as she encounters Juri whom she calls her as annoying. After defeating Juri, Mai continued on to find the cafe and was met by E. Honda who was promoting his Chanko restaurant business and she asks him where Pao Pao Cafe is. After defeating E. Honda, he shows Mai his restaurant which he mistook it as a cafe and to Mai's disappointment and annoyance stating that this is not the cafe she was looking for while she was forced to work on his Chanko restaurant business and being happily cheered on by his customers.

World Tour

The Shinobi Girl. Freeform. A Bewitching Dance. (忍者ガール。自由なフォルム。妖艶な舞。 Ninja gāru. Jiyūna forumu. Yōen'na mai.?)

"Don't worry! I instilled you with all my knowledge, you'll only get stronger from here! "
—Mai's advice after completing training & achieving Mastery

In World Tour Mode, Mai disguises herself as "Ichiko Kureno" during a nighttime second Knockout Festival in Metro City, where she ask the Avatar to help her win team-up matches to gain entry to Metro City's newly opened Pao Pao Cafe, where Joe, Blue Mary and the Bogard brothers – especially Andy – are. Mai reveals herself and she and the Avatar spot Terry and Andy talking, having just sparred, before Andy quickly leaves. Mai is unhappy to just miss Andy, but Terry reassures her, and considering that the Avatar wants to learn her Shiranui techniques as well, she invites the Avatar to Aokigahara to train there.

In order to unlock Knockout Festival 2 and eventually become Mai's student, players must first become Terry's student (complete Chapter 11–4, become Ryu's student and then win the first Knockout Festival event and the subsequent matches at Pao Pao Cafe 6).

Quotes

Mai/Quotes

Gallery

Mai/Gallery

Sprites

Mai/Sprites

Gameplay

Street Fighter 6 introduces Flame Stocks for Mai, which she can gain while using her Level 1 Super Art, Kagerou no Mai. These Flame Stocks empower her special moves and her Super Arts outside of her Level 3 Super Art.[10] Mai gets more damage and safer pressure while enhanced, giving her incentive to use her Level 1 sooner than most characters would. While Kachousen can be struck down with normal attacks and beaten by other projectiles, it becomes much more threatening when fully charged, clashing with other projectiles normally and bouncing on contact with the opponent.

Trivia

  • Street Fighter is the second fighting game/series where Mai is a guest character, after the Dead or Alive series via Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and Dead or Alive 6.
  • Mai and Terry are both the first 3rd-party characters to appear in a mainline Street Fighter game.
  • Compared to Chun-Li, Mai is nearly 6 years younger. Fatal Fury 2 was released a year after Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, but she was 19 when she made her first appearance.
  • In Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, Mai has a special introduction against Chun-Li. In it, Mai cosplays as Chun-Li before revealing who she is by taking off the cosplay, making her laugh at the flashy entrance. Vega also has a special introduction against her, but she reacts no differently.
  • In Terry's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate presentation,[11] Smash director Masahiro Sakurai justified the absence of Mai by jokingly stating that "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is for good boys and girls of many different ages". The statement quickly gave rise to a widespread meme making fun of the exclusion of Mai due to her costume.
    • In the Japanese version of the presentation, Sakurai additionally mentions that Mai's omission complies with Ultimate's CERO A rating. This mention was removed entirely in international localizations.
    • Because of this, Mai's exclusion from her cameo background in Smash indirectly serve as a response for the creation of her new default outfit in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
    • This meme was later referenced in Mai's teaser trailer for Street Fighter 6, where Mai told the Avatar they shouldn't "keep a good girl waiting"[12] and in another SF6 in-game line.
  • Both she and Ryu dislike spiders.
  • She shares her birthday (New Year's Day) with Juri Han, who ironically has a spider motif.
  • Street Fighter 6 is the second time where both Mai and Terry are included in a same DLC pack for a single game, with the first being Fall Guys.
    • Both Mai and Terry have also been featured in the SNK games Metal Slug Defense and Metal Slug Attack, but Mai is the only one who returned for Metal Slug Awakening.
  • Her cameos include Samurai Shodown, where she appears in both Haohmaru's and Genan's endings, However, the special dialogue between her and Haohmaru in The King of Fighters XV confirms that the kunoichi in Haohamaru and Genan's endings is not Mai, as Mai lives in the present day and has not met either of them.
  • Unlike in Dead or Alive 5 and 6, Street Fighter 6 marks the first time that Mai gains a proper new English voice actress, but ahead of upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
  • Mai is the Japanese word for "dance", while Shiranui is the Japanese term for "phosphorescent light" – light that glows softly in the dark and that does not produce heat.
  • Mai was announced for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves on August 20, 2024, the opening night of Gamescom 2024, when Terry's Street Fighter 6 gameplay trailer was also released.[13] Her voice was previously teased when a brief gameplay trailer of COTW was released.
  • Her teaser trailer is set in an updated version of Aokigahara, her stage from Fatal Fury 2.
  • Her theme is an SF6 arrangement of Enryuujin (Flame Dragon God), her original theme from Fatal Fury 2. The theme also appears in the Summer Games Fest Season 2 trailer and her teaser trailer.
    • This makes her the third character in the game to have their theme based on an existing one, following Luke and Terry.
  • As part of exchange DLC character collaboration between Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and Street Fighter 6, Mai's City of the Wolves appearance appears earlier in the latter game before the former game is released.
  • Her casual wear including dolphin shorts and a tank top that she wears in the Street Fighter 6 character select screen before being selected originally appears in Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers.
  • Mai is currently the only character within the World Tour whose character introduction start from secondary outfit (namely from City of the Wolves), and has another playable character (Terry) in it.
  • Mai's idle stance during Burnout is based on her original stance from Fatal Fury 2 and The King of Fighter '94.

Trailers

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fatal Fury 15th Anniversary profile
  2. ↑ The King of Fighters 2003 character profile
  3. ↑ Street Fighter 6 Year 2 Character Reveal Trailer
  4. ↑ KOF Maximum Impact Regulation "A" character profile
  5. ↑ KOF XIII official website
  6. ↑ Interview on KOF 10th anniversary website
  7. ↑ Hardcore Gamers Issue 7 (June 2002) Scans (French)
  8. ↑ The Gamer’s Conscience 06.30.03 by Frederick Badlissi
  9. ↑ Death Battle Episode 16: Chun-Li vs. Mai Shiranui (Street Fighter vs. King of Fighters) (YouTube)
  10. ↑ Mai brings the heat wave to Street Fighter 6 on February 5! Steam
  11. ↑ Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Mr. Sakurai Presents "Terry Bogard"
  12. ↑ Random: Did Street Fighter 6's Next DLC Just Reference Sakurai's Famous Smash Quote? Some Fans Think So - NintendoLife
  13. ↑ Fatal Fury: CotW: Mai Shiranui SNK on YouTube
Street Fighter series Playable Characters
Main Series
Ken · Ryu
The World Warrior Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Zangief
Champion Edition Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
Super Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
Super Turbo Akuma
Ultra Violent Ken
Alpha Adon · Birdie · Charlie Nash · Dan · Guy · Rose · Sodom
Alpha 2 Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Shin Akuma
Alpha 3 Cody · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika
Alpha 3 Upper Eagle · Maki
Alpha 3 MAX Ingrid
New Generation Alex · Dudley · Elena · Gill · Ibuki
Necro · Oro · Sean · Yang · Yun
2nd Impact Hugo · Urien
3rd Strike Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
IV Abel · C. Viper · El Fuerte · Gouken · Rufus · Seth
Super Hakan · Juri
Arcade Edition Oni
Ultra Decapre · Poison
V F.A.N.G · Laura · Necalli · Rashid
Season 2 Abigail · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
Season 3 Falke · G
Season 4 Kage · Lucia
Season 5 Akira · Eleven · Luke
6 Jamie · JP · Kimberly · Lily · Manon · Marisa
Year 1 A.K.I.
Year 2 Mai (Guest) · Terry (Guest)
Spin-offs
Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber · Sawada
Cyborg
EX Allen · Blair · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark
Hokuto · Kairi · Pullum · Skullomania
EX Plus Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Garuda
EX2 Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon
EX2 Plus Area · V. Rosso
EX3 Ace · Bison II
MSHvSF Cyber-Akuma · Dark Sakura · Mech-Zangief · Shadow
MvC Shadow Lady
Shin
Street Fighter 6 Characters
Original Blanka · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dee Jay · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Jamie · JP · Juri · Ken · Kimberly · Lily · Luke · Manon · Marisa · Ryu · Zangief
Year 1 A.K.I. · Akuma · Ed · Rashid
Year 2 Elena · M. Bison · Mai (Guest) · Terry (Guest)
CPU Only Albert Jackson · Andore Family · Antler · Axl · Azam · Bosch · Bred · Carlos Miyamoto · Carol · Chandi · Damnd · Eliza · Eternity · F.A.N.G · Fair Libra · G. Oriber · Gerald Golby · J · Kalima · Keiko Asano · Kenichi Kakutani · Li-Fen · Max · Mel · Retsu · Rewancha · Roxy · Rudra · Sheng Long · Somsak · Yua