(English and Japanese)
As part of our interview series, our next is with Japan’s resident Clark and Ralf specialist, Myu, talking about character love, running tournaments and extra special cosplays. He also plays Third Strike!
1. Hello Myu-san, what’s happening with you?
I’m doing well and playing. My local arcade just closed, so I’m wondering where I should play from now on.
2. On your bio, you list your favourite characters as “Shermie and Clark”, the same as Gunsmith! I think that means he is your soul mate lol ;p You also list “XIII Ralf and female characters” Why XIII Ralf? Is he much better than the other versions?
I’ve used Shermie and Clark in past iterations of the KOF series. I like the way they move, and seeing Ogosho’s gameplay in Tougeki/SBO’s KOF2002 really had an impact on me. As for KOF13’s Ralf, t he character has quite a bit of significance to me because most of my combos and setups were things that I discovered on my own.
3. Why do you continue to use Ralf when everyone said he was mid/low tier?
When I first saw him, I saw that he was a character with pretty interesting moves, and his potentials weren’t being pulled out. I really got into him after I started to use him. I think Ralf is a character that can go into the top tiers as long as you take advantage of his strengths.
4. So do you like every female character?
Yes, all the female characters in KOF are charming.
5.What was the hardest thing about learning KOF XIII?
When KOF13 first came out [meaning Vanilla], I thought it was a game where going on the offence was strong, while defence was weak. Also, Raiden was a total pain. After the console version, backsteps were improved and there’s no characters that are as broken, and I think it’s pretty well balanced.
6. Did you play XII and do you think going back to the old system was a good idea? If you could change something about KOF XIII what would it be?
Sorry, I’ve never played KOF12. I’d balance its (XIII’s) damage. It’d also be good to have some additional characters!
7. Which is your favourite KOF and why?
KOF13. I’ve played it the most, and I’ve become friends with many people through the game.
8. Do you like wrestling?
8. Sorry, I don’t watch much wresting.
9. What is your favourite move?
I like KOF2002UM’s Shermie F Capitude the most. I want to get sucked in by it.
10. The scene in Tokyo has many strong players and regular tournaments but has there been any events to expand it, eg. a tournament for beginners?
Yes, for example Dune hosts console sessions and an “KCE Fight Club”, and I run a beginner & intermediate tournament. If there was also a coaching session for beginners, I think that will help things even more.
11. How is that going?
Console sessions will make you new friends in the scene, which I think is a huge plus. The KCE Fight Club raised its student’s motivations and also raised their skill levels. The beginner & intermediate tournament got a lot of participants and it was really exciting. I think it’s very important that these kinds of events will keep on taking place.
12. Cafeid will run a tournament which is only for players who have never been in a tournament. Orochinagi is thinking about using this idea. What do you think about it?
That’s a pretty interesting idea! It’s hard to say how it’ll turn out until it takes place, but I think it’s a good opportunity to have more people get interested into participating in tournaments. However it’ll be full of people who’ve never entered a tournament, so running it might be a tad of work.
13. It can be stressful to run a tournament. How do you feel about entering and running a tournament at the same?
Running the tournament needs to be given first priority, so concentrating to win matches might be difficult.
14. Is there a country + tournament would you like to visit?
I want to enter EVO, so America. Also Chile, because I have a lot of friends there. However my workplace has changed, so right now it’s hard for me to get days off.
15. What made you start playing fighting games?
The first fighting game that I played was Street Fighter 2 that my nephew owned. I started playing in the arcades from KOF94.
16. What are your favourite gaming moments (in games or in real life).
It’s really awesome when heat of excitement gets high at tournaments.
17. How do you train?
I try to study my opponent’s habits when I play them.
18. What do you think is more important and why? : playing people with bad netcode, training combos on your own.
Combo practice will never fail you, and if you get used to lag, it’ll hinder your gameplay in lagless matches. So I think combo practice is more important.
19. You were recently married (congratulations again), and there was something special about the wedding, that SNK fans would appreciate. Can you tell us more?
Thank you very much! It’s already been an year since I’ve got married. The marriage ceremony was standard, but we cosplayed as Athena and Kensou during the after-party. We also had some casuals and a tournament at the after-after-party. We had a lot of KOF players participate too.
20. Are there any photos we can see?
Please check attachment.
Wowwwww thank you so much, Myu-san!!!
21. Has your KOF life changed since you were married?
It was expected, but my playing hours have dramatically decreased. To cover for that, I concentrate on thinking a lot more during my matches.
22. If you had children, at which age would you start training them?
I don’t have a kid yet but if I do, I’d like to train my kid from around age 5.
23. There may be a 3 on 3 tournament in April (1 character per player). Who would you like to team up with?
It’ll depend on what character my teammakes would pick, but… I’d like to use Ralf. I’d want to team up with Haregoro and Hisa, but I’ve already done so at the 6th KCE Cup tournament, so it’d be interesting to team up with other people too.
24. When did you start playing 3s, and why?
– I’ve played it a few times in the arcade but it wasn’t until about a year and 4 months ago that I got into it with the Online Edition on Xbox. – I got interested in it because a friend of mine was playing it. I had the opportunity to play with a top level player when I started off, and that got me going.
25. Why do you think 3S is still a popular game?
I think that 3rd Strike’s game system is more simple compared to recent games, but every chracter has a chance of winning because of the strong parrying system, And because if it, you can have really dramatic turnarounds like the famous Justin Wong vs Daigo match. It’s probably the thing that gets the player’s interest.
26. What would you change in 3S?
The game can be enjoyed aplenty even as of now, so I don’t think it really needs major changes, though it’d be good if the bug(s) that breaks the game’s PCB can be fixed.
27. Are you interested in SF4Ultra?
I’m not sure if I’ll play USF4. I’ll check some videos and play it if I feel up to it.
28. How can we know when you are streaming?
– I stream on Niconico. I make tweets when I stream, so please check my account. Also, you’ll get a notice on Niconico’s site if you’ve already joined as a member of my community/channel.
29. Who should I interview next? And what question would you like me to ask?
I’ve rarely seen Haregoro use female characters. I’d love to know why.
30. Do you have anything you would like to say to the readers?
Thanks for reading my interview! KOF13 is a really fun game, so let’s play together!
Thank you very much Myu-san!
Here’s the Myu Concept Match Video, where you can watch premium Ralf and Clark in action!
Thanks to Professor of http://MMCAFE.com for the English translation
Japanese version:
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