R. Mika

R. Mika
Street Fighter character

R. Mika in Street Fighter V
First game Street Fighter Alpha 3
Voiced by (English) Bonnie Gordon (Street Fighter V)
Voiced by (Japanese) Junko Takeuchi (Street Fighter Alpha 3)
Hiromi Igarashi (Street Fighter V)
Fictional profile
Birthplace Japan
Nationality Japanese
Fighting style Professional Wrestling

Rainbow Mika (レインボー ミカ Reinbō Mika), more commonly known as R. Mika (アール・ミカ Āru Mika) is a video game character from Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series, introduced in 1998's Street Fighter Alpha 3, and later returns in 2016's Street Fighter V. Her real name is Mika Nanakawa (七川 美華 Nanakawa Mika) and is a professional wrestler. The character has received mixed critical reception regarding her character design, with additional criticism directed at her gameplay. A decision to censor Mika's animation in the North American release of Street Fighter V has also attracted controversy.

Character design and appearances

Mika was created to introduce a "tricky and technical character" into the series. Later, the team created Karin to provide a contrast to her.[1] Debuting in Street Fighter Alpha 3, R. Mika is primarily a grappling character, whose main weapons are high-priority command throws. Unlike other grapplers in the Street Fighter series, who are slow and heavy, Mika is fast and agile with a quick walk speed.

She is a personal favorite of the Street Fighter series' producer Yoshinoro Ono, and has tried but failed to bring the character in Street Fighter IV: "I'm a big Rainbow Mika fan, I don't know if you remember her. So I wanted to put her in Street Fighter 4 and I really wanted to put her in 'Super,' so I basically harassed the director.. Unfortunately he didn't listen but maybe next time..."[2]

R. Mika is a blonde Japanese girl planning to make her debut as a professional wrestler and working very hard to achieve her dream to become "Star of the Ring". To this end, she travels the world, fighting various street fighters to promote herself and meeting her idol Zangief along the way.[3] She receives rigorous training from her manager, Yoko Harmagedon, a large muscular woman who is seen in a few of her victory poses riding a golf cart and wielding a shinai.

R. Mika first appeared in Street Fighter Alpha 3, and later returned in Street Fighter V, where she is joined by a tag-team partner named Nadeshiko. R. Mika also appears in minor roles in the UDON's comic series Street Fighter II: Turbo, Street Fighter Legends: Sakura, and Super Street Fighter: New Generations. She also has a cameo in the Capcom game Startling Adventures and in Capcom Fighting Evolution in Felicia's ending. Her attire appears as a swap costume for Tekken character Kuma in Street Fighter X Tekken. After a long period of absence, Mika returned in Street Fighter V, sporting her original character design.[4]

Her primary outfit consists of a blue and white wrestling leotard with an eyemask and white boots. Her outfit slightly differed, depending on the game. In Alpha 3, her breasts were covered by two blue hearts, but in SFV the blue hearts were replaced by a heart-shaped hole in the chest of her leotard.

Reception

Prior to her return in Street Fighter V, R. Mika has been requested by Street Fighter fans and video game publications alike. R. Mika has been ranked twelth in the Japanese rankings of Capcom's official Street Fighter Character Poll.[5] Heavy.com listed R. Mika as their fourth most wanted character they wanted to appear in Ultra Street Fighter IV[6] while GamesRadar listed her as one of their preferred choices to appear in Street Fighter V.[7] Jahanzeb Khan at Hardcore Gamer listed her as one of five characters he wanted to see return in SFV, where he noted "Having a highly technical and badass female wrestler would spice up the roster and game balance of Street Fighter V, not to mention a nice alternative to the male heavyweights."[8]

Negatively, R. Mika was included in Complex's list of the "lamest" Street Fighter characters, reasoning "Street Fighter has never been shy with the gorgeous ladies, but they've always had full-figured back stories to go along with their full-figured backsides. Rainbow Mika on the other hand is the most blatant example of mysogynistic [sic] character design seen in the series."[9] However, this opinion is not shared between all critics, with Nadia Oxford of US Gamer disagreeing, finding R. Mika to be an example of positive female gender representation, writing "I can say that I have nothing against, er, voluptuous women in games. Or even scantily-clad women. My problem has always been women characters whom I'm expected to take seriously while they slay dragons/wander the desert/travel the frozen wastes while baring their midriff through the majority of their journey", and that she enjoys Mika's "silly" and "goofy" design.[10]

R. Mika's return to the lineup of Street Fighter V was praised by Jason Shreiser of Kotaku, who wrote that "She looks fun to play—check out those wrestling moves — but this is an odd choice given Mika’s lack of pedigree. Cool throwback, though!" Shreiser, however, declared her outfit as "ridiculous."[4] However, after the game's released, her gameplay has subsequently been criticized for being "cheap". At Eurogamer, Wesley Yin-Poole labelled Mika as STV's "most hated character", writing "I've seen people criticise R. Mika players for doing nothing but going for this Passion Rope Throw over and over again until it lands. Some within the fighting game community believe this move, as well as the "vortex" style, is not a "high skill" strategy", and as a result R. Mika has been labelled "cheap" and a "troll character" that is frustrating to play against.[11]

Controversy

R. Mika slapping her buttocks. This was removed from the North American version of the game, causing controversy.

In debut footage of Street Fighter V, the character is seen performing a "butt slap" as part of her Critical Art attack.[12] The decision to remove the animation in the North American[13] version of the game was a subject of controversy, leading to a petition to restore it.[14] According to producer Yoshinori Ono regarding the removal of her butt slap, "Those changes came up internally. We decided to remove that because we want the biggest possible number of people to play, and we don’t want to have something in the game that might make someone uncomfortable."[12] Some other shots, including the entrance animation for Cammy, was also censored.[13]

Jonathan Holmes from Destructoid questioned the controversy over the decision by stating "While there are surely plenty of folks who adore seeing their screen filled with frilly thong shots, I imagine there may be even more players out there who'd find the sudden prioritization of arse in their fighting games to be little out of place."[15] Chris Carter at Destructoid commented "It's still a bit weird that something this goofy was removed, especially with the design Laura has in general," and noted that a character like Necalli is "probably far more harmful" for children's eyes.[16] In another article by Destructoid, Carter stated "It's such a weird thing to me, because R. Mika's butt is still very visible, she just doesn't lightly tap it a few times per match."[17] Likewise, ND Medina at iDigitalTimes expressed confusion over the change, noting that her "entire ass" was still being exposed.[18] The butt slap was later restored as a mod for the PC version, albeit in a different pose.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Staff (February 1999). "An Interview with Noritaka Funamizu". Game Informer (70): 10.
  2. ↑ "Ono really wanted R. Mika in Super Street Fighter 4". Eventhubs. 2010-03-29.
  3. ↑ Capcom. Street Fighter Alpha 3. Capcom. Level/area: R. Mika arcade introduction profile.
  4. 1 2 Schreier, Jason. "R. Mika And Her Ridiculous Outfit Join Street Fighter V". Kotaku. Retrieved May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Street Fighter Character Poll". Eventhubs. 2013-04-02.
  6. ↑ "Ultra Street Fighter 4: Top 10 Characters We Really Wanted in the Game". Heavy.com. 2013-07-16.
  7. ↑ "Street Fighter 5 - Who we want in the roster". GamesRadar. 2013-07-12.
  8. ↑ "V Characters that Should Return in Street Fighter V". Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ Justin Amirkhani (17 April 2012). "6. Rainbow Mika". Complex. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Street Fighter V's Rainbow Mika: A Force for Women in Games?". May 2016.
  11. ↑ "Why R. Mika is the most hated character in Street Fighter 5 right now". Eurogamer.net. 5 April 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  12. 1 2 GameZone. "Street Fighter 5 developer explains why R.Mika buttslap was removed". Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Street Fighter V modders have already brought back R. Mika's 'butt slap'". Digital Trends. Retrieved May 2016.
  14. ↑ Andy Chalk. "Street Fighter 5 mod restores R. Mika's ass slap". pcgamer. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ Kyle MacGregor. "R. Mika butt-slap close up removed from Street Fighter V". Destructoid. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Kyle MacGregor. "This Street Fighter V mod returns R. Mika's butt slap". Destructoid. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  17. ↑ Kyle MacGregor. "R. Mika's butt slap was removed in Street Fighter V because it would make people 'uncomfortable'". Destructoid. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  18. ↑ ND Medina. "R. Mika Butt Slap Censorship On Street Fighter V: Is This Really The Hill We're Going To Die On?". iDigitalTimes.com. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
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