Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui (and other "KOF" characters) became especially popular among the young people in Hong Kong during the late 1990s, when their character design impacted on local youth culture, including the so-called 'MK look' that "has penetrated Hong Kong street fashion, action figures and martial arts comics". The character of Mai has become highly popular in the cosplay community around the world, including an early work of Francesca Dani. 1UP.com described Mai as "everyone's favorite cosplay choice", "GamePro" noted her as being "notable for being the favoured costume choice for cosplay attention-floozies", and eldiario.es called her and Chun-Li "true icons of cosplay". Her popularity among Chinese cosplayers increased after Mai's addition to "Kings of Glory". Mai was a subject of cosplay by Yuuri Morishita, a Japanese booth companion turned a gravure idol, and many mainland Chinese and Taiwanese models, actresses and singers. The host of Chinese version of the TV show "Cybernet" between 2011-2012 was too dressed as Mai Shiranui. Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft noted in 2012: "In Asia—especially China and Taiwan—models keep popping [up] in non-gaming related events", arguing that rather than showing a following for the "King of Fighters" games, the character became popular because "the outfit is skimpy and revealing and has become a uniform of sorts". Singaporean pop-culture site "Lollipop" commented: "[The] Mai Shiranui outfit demands a special kind of physique, which is probably why it seems to be the go-to cosplay of models". In the West, British entertainer Cheryl Cole appeared in a Mai-inspired costume on her 2009 television special "Cheryl Cole's Night In". Mai has additionally been depicted in dōjinshi fan comics (often erotic) and other fan productions, as well as in unofficial Japanese adult films.