Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome

Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (, "Forbidden Method 1211: Eight Maidens"), also shortened as Ya Otome (, "Eight Maidens") or dubbed affectionately as the "Maiden Masher", is one of Iori Yagami's Super Special Moves in The King of Fighters series, and is one of the prime gifts given to the Yasakani-turned-Yagami clan by Orochi as one of their most deadly signature techniques.

Due to this proxy, Goenitz is able to access a stronger "true" version of this attack.

Description
Iori raises his arms in the air while saying "Asobi wa owari da!" (, lit. "Playtime is over!"). Then he dash-slides forward with his forward roll animation and upon connecting, attacks the opponent 7 times with a series of punches and claw swipes (often with the entire sequence actually being a claw-slash-fest), ending with grabbing his foe with a Hikiri Kine to explode them in a burst of purple flames.

The MAX version has Iori temporarily going berserk where he howls while rearing back before the dash. Upon connecting, he roars and grabs the opponent with his crouching heavy punch animation, to which he upon dragging them down to the ground then gouges at their body a bit (he gouges less times in 2002, Neowave and 2002 Unlimited Match compared to the Orochi Saga games). After then looking back behind himself at the camera, he then hammers the downed victim with both arms a few times before one final smash that causes an explosion and returns him back to normal.

Unlike most "ranbu-styled" supers, the sped-up animations just before the grab finisher have consistently in a majority of games been this in order just before the Hikiri Kine finisher: With only either the initial forward rush or the Hikiri Kine finisher, the attack adds up to 8 total strikes in ode to its name (some games do not have the Hikiri Kine grab count as a hit for the combo counter). However, there exist versions of the attack that exceed this total hit/strike count.
 * Close standing Neo Geo A Button.gif
 * Far standing Neo Geo A Button.gif
 * Close standing Neo Geo C Button.gif
 * Flameless 108 Shiki Yami Barai animation
 * Far standing Neo Geo C Button.gif/Yumebiki first input
 * Yumebiki second input
 * Far standing Neo Geo C Button.gif/Yumebiki first input

Stronger versions of the attack without involving Iori's Orochi Blood taking over (or lack of Orochi's existence being strong dream-game-or-not) often have Iori explode the foe a few extra times before one final burst of the Hikiri Kine.

Due to Ash Crimson stealing Iori's flames at the end of The King of Fighters XI, Iori's Ya Otome's finisher is slightly different in both The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XIII. Instead of ending with his Hikiri Kine, Iori instead lifts the opponent in the air akin to a cross-chokehold and rips them apart by the neck in an X-shaped motion as he leans back from the motion and slowly drags himself to return to his neutral stance. The flameless Yami Barai animation is also replaced with his Akegarasu animation.

Likewise, the stronger version of the attack used without his flames even has an altered ranbu animation sequence in this order just before the grab finish:
 * Close standing Neo Geo A Button.gif done twice
 * Far standing Neo Geo A Button.gif
 * Close standing Neo Geo C Button.gif
 * Akegarasu animation
 * Far standing Neo Geo C Button.gif/Yumebiki first input
 * Yumebiki second input
 * Entire Shougetsu/Tsuzuki animation
 * Nueuchi animation
 * Far standing Neo Geo C Button.gif/Yumebiki first input

Thus outside of niche cases like the GB port of KOF 96, KOF Neo Blood and Goenitz's variations, this version of flameless Iori's Ya Otome can go up to 13 hits in total, counting both the initial charge and the finisher.

In Capcom vs. SNK 1, 2 and for Orochi Iori in SvC Chaos and 2002, different explosions finishers have been involved:

While this is one of the more notable ranbus that has Iori and his victim completely stationary during the rapid sequence before the finishing explosion, the only instance barring the version performed while flameless where the foe is pushed back per blow with Iori moving forward slightly is in the Maximum Impact games.

Strategy
To be added soon...

Trivia

 * The name's original relates back to the "Legend of Orochi" folklore, where eight maidens were offered as a sacrifice to the Yamata-no-Orochi. Though it should be noted the kanji used for "otome" in this technique is written differently than the usual ones used (乙女 or 少女).


 * The King of Fighters XI and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum are the only games where the Hikiri Kine explosion for Iori's default color scheme is not colored purple, and instead is colored bright-orange akin to normal fire.
 * However, some of Iori's alternate colors in the latter game can cause the explosion to become purple once more.