User:Kung Fu Man/Mai Shiranui

Mai Shiranui (不知火 舞)

Conception and development
Introduced in the 1992 SNK developed fighting game Fatal Fury 2, the character was originally conceived as a male ninja simply named Ninja Master. However, after about the character's concept was about sixty percent realized, a request was put in to include a female character, and they scrapped their original idea, retaining the ninja identity while developing several character concepts. She was originally intended to be excluded from the game's sequel, Fatal Fury 3 and replaced with another female character, Alice Chrystler. However due to heavy fan request, Mai returned instead, and has since appeared in many later SNK-produced games including as a staple of The King of Fighters series. In terms of personality, they wanted her to be strong-willed woman who made most of her own equipment, and to have a taste in heavy metal music, particularly the band Pantera.

Standing 164 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall, Mai is a Japanese woman with measurements of 85-54-90 cm (32-21-34 in). Her long brown hair is worn in a ponytail style, with bangs that frame her face and an ornate hairpin holding it in place. Her outfit consists of a red uwagi with extended loincloth and decorative tails, while matching fingerless gloves and red tabi cover her hands and feet. Underneath her outfit Mai only wears a red thong, with a significant part of her body particular her buttocks, cleavage and the sides of her breasts exposed. While the development team originally gave her a more stern appearance in Fatal Fury 2, they softened it in her subsequent appearances. For Fatal Fury 3, several redesigns were considered, including a full armored appearance in heavy ninja gear, before changing her attire to incorporate a leotard. When asked if this was done to reduce the amount of exposure from her outfit, the development team responded there was "no reason in particular". Subsequent games however reverted back to her previous design, which has remained mostly consistent since with minimal changes.

As her design was refined for The King of Fighters, they aimed to emphasize her sex appeal, modelling her breasts after model Fumie Hosokawa, while her hips were based on those of media personality Ai Iijima. During work on The King of Fighters '94, the person working on Mai's sprites, C.A.C Yamaski, asked the development head if he could increase the number of sprites for her standing idle animation. The development head agreed due to having extra space on the game's ROM, but was surprised upon seeing the results: while in earlier games her breasts were given a slight amount of jiggle in her animations, the sprite artist had emphasized the movement of her breasts dramatically. While the animation was censored in Western releases of the game, this aspect endured into subsequent titles and the team felt this was a significant factor in her enduring popularity.

For her portrayal in The King of Fighters XIII, character artist Ritsu Yamaguchi wanted to recreate the atmosphere of her Fatal Fury series appearances. He noted that while The King of Fighters often placed emphasis on her breasts, hips and buttocks to depict her as a character that exudes sex appeal, he saw her character in Fatal Fury as portrayed "stoic" motions and as a serious fighter even though her clothing was still revealing. He felt her outfit alone would illustrate her sex appeal, so he focused on the stoic aspect to give her a "more sensual atmosphere", downplaying many of her more sexual animations by comparison. Meanwhile, for The King of Fighters Online, Triple A Games CEO Yan Yongjun noted that the development team had trouble implementing Mai in the game, stating that while she was a popular character in Korea and Western countries, they struggled with her "scantily clad" appearance.

Critical reception
Main has been well received since her introduction. The staff of UGO.com described her as a mascot not only for The King of Fighters but SNK as a whole, and felt the character's role as an "unapologetic sex symbol" was a driving force for sales of the King of Fighters franchise. Mai has been cited as an example of SNK's rivalry with Capcom over the latter's "Street Fighter" series, particularly in regards to the character Chun-Li, with Joystiq's Richard Michtell stating "rest assured that there's one thing Street Fighter will never have, and that's Mai.". Games Tribune Magazine writer Javier Bello meanwhile felt the comparison was due to both being female characters introduced in a similar time period that brought "a sexy and pleasing touch to the eye" in contrast to a cast of "squads of fighters with plenty of testosterone and muscles", with Mai's emphasis on exposure pushing her popularity further in his opinion.

A thesis for the Federal University of Bahia cited Mai as an example of how female fighting game characters hypersexualize the breasts and hips, drawing comparisons to portrayal of the mythological Venus. It additionally cited her as an example of how such games tend to portray Asian women as inherently sexual through their use of traditional clothing and how much of her body it exposes.

In regards to her appearance in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, Jean-Karlo Lemus and Heidi Kemps of Anime News Network noted the emphasis on fanservice, particularly emphasizing how she was introduced "boobs first" in the production, and felt it had a lasting impact on how the character was perceived. She compared it to her portrayal in the Fatal Fury 2 video game, and observed while her appearance in the game was attractive, she was not "as over-the-top as she eventually became" in her later King of Fighters '94 appearance. Lemus agreed, feeling elements anime character designer Masami Ōbari had inserted supported this theory, such as a dance number focusing on Mai. However, he criticized the story's portrayal of her routinely chasing Andy and undermining herself to make him jealous, feeling the character deserved better.

Gavin Jasper stated while emphasis was often placed on her breasts, he felt her "optimistic spirit helps balance her into a fun character who is always a blast to play as". He further praised how she owned her sexuality, integrating her sex appeal as an intentional part of her character's battle strategy. Jasper also added that while she is often portrayed as chasing after Andy, he liked that she was not content with simply being a side character and someone that deserved to be his partner over other characters, her role in The King of Fighters' Women's Team "ultimately her way of showing him up and teaching him a lesson." Meanwhile the staff of Chinese website 163.com emphasized that while the King of Fighters series later introduced sexier characters, they were often ignored in part thanks to Mai's "exaggerated style" and personality, the latter of which they felt was a vital aspect to a character's enduring appeal.

Cultural impact
The animation of Mai's breasts in Fatal Fury 2 has been cited as one of the earliest examples of breast physics in video games, a conception that later games have steadily tried to refine, thought Mai has remained the most prominent example in 2D animation of the concept. Brett Elston of GamesRadar+ emphasized that while female fighting game characters were prominent in the 1990's, with each new game often trying to out-sexualize the others, gaming periodicals were "abuzz with commentary on what Mai's bobbing bosom meant for the industry", with Elston comparing it to "witnessing (half-naked) women entering the workplace for the first time." The Mary Sue's Princess Weekees meanwhile cited her as one of the most prominent examples of women in fighting games, emphasizing it was in large part due to Mai's sex appeal keeping her in the public consciousness moreso than the games she originated from.

Mai and other characters from The King of Fighters have been cited as especially popular among the young people in Hong Kong during the late 1990s, impacting local youth and Mong Kok culture in the country. Mai has also been cited as one of the most popular subjects of cosplay worldwide,  and has appeared on more mainstream media such as worn by the host of China's Cybernet television broadst. Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft observed Mai's outfit was particularly popular among models in Chila and Taiwan, appearing at non-gaming events such as book signings or car shoes dressed as the character. He attributed this trend less to The King of Fighters, and moreso due to the simplicity and acting as a "uniform of sorts" as an "easy go-to choice" for cosplay. Singaporean pop-culture site Lollipop meanwhile felt the outfit demanded "a special kind of physique", and attributed this to why it was popular with models. Mai has also been the frequent subject of explicit third party works, including fan-made doujinshi, erotic cosplay, and pornographic films.

In 2019, when discussing Terry Bogard's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, producer Masahiro Sakurai explained while Mai was widely popular, she would not be able to appear in the game in any context as the game was made for "good boys and girls of many different ages." The statement rapidly became a meme on social media platforms, with Dead or Alive developer Team Ninja taking the opportunity to advertise her inclusion in their game and to welcome players to "the world of adults". The development team later clarified it was out of concern that her presence would increase the game's age rating.