And the First team article goes to the team that has had the most roster changes in KOF history, The Womens team. As the name obviously implies, this team in most cases is the only all female team in any KOF installment with KOF 2003 being the only year when there was two all female teams ( High school girls team, Malin/Athena/Hinako). The Women’s team has been a staple of KOF since it began in 1994. as of today the Womens team has only failed to appear in one cannonical KOF (XI) due to all the Members either being on different teams or not participating.
Odd fact: in KOF 1994 when each team represented a country (I am glad they did away with this) the womens team represented england. which did not make sense considering the team: King is of french nationality and both mai and Yuri are japanese
Team themes/Background music: The womens team themes have mostly leaned toward big band and swing style jazz tunes. however they ventured from this once awhile. namely their 94 theme “NE!” and 2000 theme “come up smiling”. these songs went for a more pop rock sound. while not as memorable as their jazz tunes, these themes are still fun tracks to hear during the game.
theme list:
1994-NE!
1995-ground creeping bass
1996-get’n up
1997-team themes were not used
1998-fairy
1999-sha la la
2000-come up smiling
2001-the queen of fighters
2002-masquerade
2003- I’m hot for you
XI- team was not present that year
XII-team themes were not used
XIII-who is queen?
Roster: for the first installments of KOF the womens team stayed the same with what is considered the core of the Womens team. 1996 the third installment began a trend of consistant member changes for the womens team.
Core members:
King(pictured on left) first made her appearance in the first art of fighting video game as a bouncer in the L’amour club. After battling with Ryo sakazaki she then joined the search for Ryo’s kidnapped sister Yuri. She has always been one of my favorite characters to use in KOF. A player could easily switch between Zoning tactics or rush in to unleash devasting combos. Next up is Mai Shiranui (pictured right/top) the self proclaimed fiance of Andy bogard. Mai first appeared in Fatal Fury 2. Much like King , Mai can easily go from Zoning to close quaters combat with ease. I primarily use mai in KOF 98. After that installment i barely touched her. Then we have Yuri Sakazaki (pictured right bottom). Yuri has a interesting story. From damsel in ditress in The first art of fighting to trading punches with the best of them. Yuri was a case by case character for me personally. There was installments that i never used her, then there were some that she was a character I frequently used.
after KOF 95 the womens team roster began a trend of consistantly swapping out a member.
Kasumi Todoh was the first of the new recruits for the Womens team. Kasumi made her debut in the third art of fighting game and is the daughter of AOF 1 character Ryuhaku Todoh. Kasumi would fight on the women’s team three times. The first time in KOF 96 when Yuri was force to fight on the Kyokugen karate team in place of her father. The second and third times was in KOF99 and 2000 due to the new four man team rule introduced in KOF99. However in a interesting twist, In KOF XI kasumi instead fought along side the Anti-Kyokugen team with Eiji Kisaragi and Malin.I heavily favored Kasumi everytime she was in a KOF game.
Chizuru Kagura was the 1996 tournament host and one of that year’s boss characters. Chizuru is a member of the third family that aided in the defeat of the god Orochi and is trying to convince Kyo and Iori to put aside their rivalry and prepare to stop orochi again. Chizuru fought on the womens team in KOF 97 so that she could keep a eye on Kyo and Iori. She would not appear again in the series until KOF2003 where she fought alongside Kyo and Iori to find out who was disturbing the seal of Orochi. I barely used Chizuru at all. Her playstyle however seem to lean more towards ranged attacks.
Li Xiangfei made her debut in Real bout fatal fury 2. Xiangfei has fought on the Womens team twice, once in 99 and and again in 2001. Xiangfei was a close range heavy hitting character. I wish i would have actually put more time into using her.
Blue Mary was another fatal fury female that somehow found herself on the womens team. She would fight for the womens team twice. Once in KOF 99 and again in 2003. Mary first appeared in fatal fury 3. Mary was a odd mix of grappling and close quaters combat. despite this i found her playstyle very fun and amusing. Mary had previously fought on the KOF 97 special team with Ryuji yamazaki and Billy kane.
Hinako Shijou was by far the most out of the ordinary character ever placed on the Womens team. making her debut in KOF 2000, Hinako cought a lot of players off guard. A petite girl that useds Sumo as her fighting style. Snk definitely got points for originality with her. Hinako had two KOf appearances. the second one being on the High school girls team in KOF 2003 with Malin and Athena Asamiya.
Final thoughts: The Womens team has always been around in KOF. I was overjoyed to have them brought back for KOFXIII. A KOF without them should not ever see the light of day. I definitely think they could use a rival in the KOF world. A secondary Women’s team of young upstarts would be a interesting choice. Especially since their Story mentions a article where B.Jenet was interviewed and labelled part of the new “Queen of fighters” and the original womens team getting furious over the idea of being considered a thing of the past.