- "
遊 びは終 わりだ！泣 け！叫 べ！そして、死 ねぇ！ (Playtime's over! Cry! Scream! And...DIE!)" - —Iori
Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (
Due to this proxy, Goenitz is able to access a stronger "true" version of this attack.
 +  or  ( OK) (KOF '95 - 96) |
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 + or ( OK) (KOF '97 onwards) |
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 + during Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (KOF 2001 - 2003, SVC Chaos, KOF MI series, KOF XIII [As Flames Iori])
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| + during Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (KOF XIV onwards)
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Description[]
Iori raises his arms in the air in a pose/stance while saying "Asobi wa owari da!" (
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, in a majority of games, the sped-up animations just before the Hikirigine grab finisher have often been in this exact order:
- Close standing
- Far standing
- Close standing
- Flameless 108 Shiki Yami Barai animation
- Far standing /Yumebiki first input
- Yumebiki second input
- Far standing /Yumebiki first input
With only either the initial forward rush or the Hikirigine finisher, the attack adds up to 8 total strikes in ode to its name (some games do not have the Hikirigine grab count as a hit for the combo counter). However, there exist versions of the attack that exceed this total hit/strike count.
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 upon grabbing them, before unleashing one final burst of the Hikirigine.
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 Hikirigine, 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. This is similar to how Goenitz ends the Shin Yaotome.
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 done twice
- Far standing
- Close standing
- Akegarasu animation
- Far standing /Yumebiki first input
- Yumebiki second input
- Entire Shougetsu/Tsuzuki animation
- Nueuchi animation
- Far standing /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:
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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 (barring the version for when Iori has no flames in KOF XIII), the only instance where the foe is pushed back per blow with Iori moving forward slightly is in the Maximum Impact games.
Furthermore, during the regular/base versions of Ya Otome in much of KOF series, Iori can follow-up with Ura 316 Shiki Saika (
Strategy[]
Before KOF 97, the only way to connect to this attack is using frame traps. Since then, it became a reliable comboable ranbu-type attack which is still very punishable if blocked as Iori must brake for a bit in that case. KOF 2001 introduced a follow-up that can be done after the base Super version called Saika, based on the prior Yami Sogi.
Of note, is that in KOF 97, if a person is jumping in towards a Ya Otome, the collision box of Iori's dash will prevent the enemy from jumping over him, resulting in a guaranteed hit in many cases despite how low he slides (which in some games allows him to slide under mid-or-high-height projectiles). This was fixed since KOF 98, but retained for Orochi Iori in 98 UM. All other versions had this oddity fixed.
Though in games where stronger meter-expending variations of the Ya Otome exist, the level 1/base version at the cost of being easy to combo into, is rather low in base damage compared to other supers; this is especially true games such as CvS2 and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.
In games where Iori can follow-up the base version of Ya Otome with the Saika, some timing is needed to properly input the button ender for the entire motion upon the Hikirigine explosion occuring. Thus, Iori can then properly land the entire Saika only if done as soon as possible, as if done too late, the victim will be already too far and the first claw reap will whiff (and Iori will have wasted his meter). Or, despite the hitbox sizes of the claw slashes, they may end up pushing the victim too far away for the final flame pillar to connect (requiring the corner to do so in both late-input cases).
In games such as SVC Chaos where Saika has a 0 meter cost (and uniquely no super startup flash), it as a trade-off instead requires near-perfect timing just as the Hikirigine finisher occurs to input the button ender to the x4 quarter-circle-forward motion, or otherwise it will not execute at all.
Trivia[]
- The name of the technique 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 Hikirigine 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.
- The King of Fighters '95 had his entire attack engulf the opponent in purple flames for the entire duration, as seen with flame trails in his movements (even though blood effects from claw-slashing are used as the special effects with no burning effect on the victim until the ender). This trait has been removed since '96.
- Ura 316 Shiki Saika and Mitsubachi are currently the only moves with Quadruple Quarter Circle Inputs ().
- Across various Japanese sources for the games, the furigana for "Ya Otome" varies between "Ya Wotome" (やをとめ) for the older games, or Ya Otome (やおとめ) for the later games.
Gallery[]
ver.)Similar Attacks[]
- Shin Ya Otome Mizuchi - A version used by Goenitz, and the "true" version of this technique out of 2 others.