Mai Shiranui/Trivia

Mai Shiranui

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Trivia

• Due to Mai's vast popularity among fans around the world, she has been in most promotional arts, game arts, themes and merchandise out of any character, making her the main female mascot and main sex symbol of SNK. Mai was rated #4 in GameSpy.com's "Top Ten Babes in Games" feature and #5 in Game Informer's "Top Ten Hottest Girls of the 16-Bit era." Along with the many figures and merchandise that have been made in her image, she has made an outside game appearance in the spin-off series Queen's Gate. Her great reputation has also influenced other female fighters in other fighting games, mainly Dead or Alive in which Mai herself makes two DLC appearances (in the fifth and sixth installments).

• In the Neo Geo Freak's 1997 Volume 8 character poll, she was voted as the third favorite character with a total of 1,604 votes. 199 votes from the male fans and 1,405 votes from the female fans. And in Neo Geo Freak's August 1998 issue, she was ranked as the 7th best character. In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, she was voted as the fifth favorite character with a total of 2,380 votes. On Falcoon's SNK 40th anniversary page he states that both Mai and Terry are his favorite SNK characters.

• In Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mai does not appear among the important characters from the Fatal Fury universe. According to Masahiro Sakurai, the game's developer, this was due to CERO (the rating board in Japan) seeing her to be too suggestive for an A rating game. The English translation for this reasoning was stating that Mai "wasn't for good boys and girls".
  • This decision led to a surge of memes. Some memes depict Mai paired with Waluigi from the Super Mario franchise, being kicked out by Kirby or Sakurai, or failing to enter Smash. Others imagine her joining the villains as a worst-case scenario. In Japan, however, the memes often portray Sakurai as a hero for shielding children from such risqué characters at an early age, while overseas, some fans expressed disappointment or frustration with the decision.
  • Because of this, Mai's exclusion as a cameo background in Smash Ultimate indirectly serves as a response for the creation of her new default outfit in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.

• Mai was born in January 1st, on New Year's Day. This is highlighted in her favorite foods and hobbies.

• One of Mai's most striking features, the swinging boobs, has been censored several times in other countries outside of Japan. In these situations, the swing remains only in its victory poses, for a brief period of time.
  • In the KOF XIV's Chinese version, her boobs and butt are censored, with larger panties covering it. The same censure in the game occurs with Alice Nakata, Zarina and Ángel. The same situation occurred in the Chinese version of KOF XV.

• In SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy, during the boss scene with Nakoruru, Mai breaks the fourth wall when she mentions the fact that both are the "SNK's most famous female fighting duo."

• Mai's current voice actress, Ami Koshimizu, is particularly known for providing voice for younger male characters and borderline tomboyish females, especially those with strong personalities. She is also the voice actress for a younger Rock Howard in The King of Fighters: Destiny.

• Mai's absence in The King of Fighters XII particular was extremely controversial among fans, leading to the catchphrase "No Mai, No Buy".

• Mai's outfit in the trailer for Street Fighter 6 Season/Year 2, where Terry also appears alongside Elena and M. Bison, is unique to this game, which itself derived from her Real Bout Fatal Fury Special look, with the flower patterns originating from the New Age Saga of The King of Fighters series.

• Mai shares her birthday with Juri Han, from Street Fighter.

• Following Mai's inclusion in Street Fighter 6, a Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero mod was made for her and released on the same day as her release in Street Fighter. She received a moveset, introductions, and dialogue based on her appearances in The King of Fighters XIV, The King of Fighters XV, and Street Fighter 6.

• Metal Slug Awakening would mark the first time Mai Shiranui becomes fat since her debut in Fatal Fury 2, 32 years early.
  • Coincidentally, a similar case ocurred with Princess Peach and Princess Daisy in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, who also became fat for the first time since their game debuts (Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Land, 38 and 34 years early respectively), having around a year of difference between the game's release date and Mai's inclusion to the game.

• Mai's default outfit in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves shares a similar visual design to Miharu from Metal Slug Attack.