Mai Shiranui
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is a character from both the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK (now SNK Playmore).In her mind, Andy Bogard is her fiancé who studied Ninjutsu with her grandfather, Hanzo. The relationship between the two is often unclear and subliminal, usually on Andy's part, who at times seems to suppress his feelings for her in favor to treating her like a little sister.
Story
Mai Shiranui is the granddaughter of Hanzo Shiranui, master of Ninjitsu and Kopo-ken. Mai has learned from her father the secrets of Ninjitsu, and as such, she is an expert in stealth and other sneaky tricks. Although she was a very beautiful girl, she rejected all the boys who proposed to her, considering them "weak." Unknown to her, one day, she would be obsessed with a young boy by the name of Andy Bogard.Andy had came from Southtown in the United States to train under the orders of Hanzo Shiranui in Kopo-ken. Mai then had to take alternate courses from his grandfather's friend, Jubei Yamada in Ninjitsu. However, far from hating him, Mai fell instantly in love with the American kid, since he was so strong and so handsome. However, Andy paid little attention to Mai, too absorbed in his training. Mai, on the other hand, had even made plans as to when Andy would marry her!
After they grew up, Andy became a good-looking young man, and Mai a very attractive woman who received marriage proposals from dozens of men. However, Andy decided to travel back to the United States, and reunite with his brother Terry to exact revenge on Geese Howard, the man who killed their father.
Mai was infuriated by this desertion, but had no choice but to stay and keep training. She knew that Andy would come back one day, and he did. Not much time later, Andy returned to Japan in order to continue his training. Andy found out that he has been fighting in Southtown for the wrong reasons—not for the real sense of fighting, but for personal vengeance. In addition, Andy left Southtown with unresolved emotional problems and a resolve to gain an honor in fighting. Mai did not care for any of that, she just wanted Andy to be close to her again. So, when Krauser decided to go out in search of worthy fighters, she follows Andy to fight Krauser. After the journey, Mai felt even closer to Andy, and thought it was the time to wrap things up. However, the new King of Fighters tournament was announced around this period. The fights would take place between teams of three persons each. Mai felt it a sure bet to make a team with Andy, but he thought otherwise: he would team up with Terry and his friend, Joe Higashi. Mai was left out, but she promised Andy that she would be in the tournament as well. Once she found out that the Southtown bouncer King had received an invitation as well, and had no assembled team, Mai immediately proposed herself as a team member, along with Yuri Sakazaki. King was not expecting this, but accepted them anyway. During the next two tournaments, the Gorgeous Team was seen as a beautiful, but deadly team.
However, by 1996, Yuri was obliged to take her father's place in the Kyokugenryo Team, and King and Mai were left without a third team member. Mai was disturbed at this, since she wanted to see Andy again badly. When all seemed hopeless, a strange woman attacked Mai out of the dark. Mai avoided the attack and prepared to fight. The woman laughed and praised Mai's skills. She introduced herself as Kasumi Todoh, the new third member of the Gorgeous Team! Once again, the Gorgeous Team was back in action. By next year, King and Mai were in trouble once again. Kasumi suddenly disappeared, and there were no prospective replacements. They resigned themselves to losing the tournament this year. King had to take care of her brother, Jian, anyway. However, Chizuru intervened, and tells Mai and King that she would gladly be the third team member, and that she would take care that Jian would go with them.
Mai used the two year recess to go back to Japan and perfect her Ninja skills, and to spend some more time with Andy. Mai insists in that next time, she would team up with Andy, which he takes more as a joke (after all, there had been four tournaments where she intended to, and they didn't). However, a stroke of luck enabled Mai to finally accomplish her wish: an invitation for another King of Fighters tournament, with a new four team member rule! Mai lost no time in joining along with Andy, not minding the presence of his brother Terry, or the bothersome Joe. However, after the tournament, Terry disappeared under the ruins of Krizalid's base (the tournament's host). Mai's high spirits were dampened by the task of trying to reassure Andy that Terry was not in fact dead.
Even though it hurts to leave her beloved one once again, Mai has decided to abandon the Lonely Wolves team. After finding out that Terry was in fact alive, Mai and Yuri reunited after a long separation. They decide to team up once again, since they miss the fun times way back when the King of Fighters tournament was just beginning to grow. They also decided to accept Kasumi along as well, but this left one gap in their four person team. The final member appeared soon enough, during a local martial arts tournament in Japan, where they saw a peculiar little girl practice the unusual art of Sumo. They later discovered that her name was Hinako Shijou. Mai was so impressed with her skills, that she was taken in as the fourth team member.
Trivia
- For the first time the King of Fighters series, Mai is absent in The King of Fighters XI. Mai does not appear in The King of Fighters XI because apparently she is angry at Terry for not telling her the whereabouts of his brother, Andy. Thus, not joining Terry and Duck for this year's team instead they convince Kim Kaphwan to join. Also, the Ladies' Team, which Mai was in throughout most of The King of Fighters series, had been dissolved in The King of Fighters XI. Because of fan protest, Mai was later added as a character in the home ports of King Of Fighters XI in a similar manner to when fans reacted negatively to the omission of King in King Of Fighters 2002, where King was also brought back in the home ports of the game.
- Mai is very popular because of the way she is portrayed. She is seen by many as a prime example of large-breasted depiction of women in video games and anime. She typically wears exceptionally low-cut blouses, dresses, and clothing to maximize the exposure of her cleavage. Most fight scenes involving Mai include several shots that focus especially on her chest and butt. Predictably, Mai's breasts appear larger in art than her printed measurements.
- In her win poses, Mai says "Nippon Ichi" (roughly translated: "Number one in Japan" and translated to "Japan's Best!" in ). In North America, it has often been misheard as "Me bouncy" among fans. Ironically, there are those who feel that "Me bouncy" perfectly fits Mai, as her breasts bounce while she says the phrase.
- Mai also says "Ryuenbu" when she casts her flaming reversal attack. Some mishear it as "Ulysses" and some KOF players, who use strategies with heavy uses of the reversal call it the "Ulysses Grant" or just "Ulysses" for short.
- Mai was rated #4 in GameSpy.com's ["Top Ten Babes in Games"] feature.
- Mai was rated #5 in Game Informer's "Top Ten Hottest Girls of the 16-Bit era."
- In the American and European SNES version of Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury Special, Mai's thong was replaced with mini shorts and her breast bounce was removed.
- In the 1993 motion picture, Mai was voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi in Japanese. In the 1994 sequel, Kotono reprises her role while Lisa Ann Beley does Mai's voice in English. In the games, Mai has been voiced by Akoya Sogi since her debut.
See also
External links
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