You may know MaiMai as a commentator for Asians streams, especially for Heaven’s Battle or for SCWB last year. You may also know her as the creator of chibi SC arts. Or as someone who brought you the Introducing Japan series here on Portal. And now – now you can learn even more about her!

Twitter: MaiMai_art_
Twitch: MaiMai_art_
Birth Year: 1997
Country: Philipines

If you had to introduce yourself in three sentences to some SoulCalibur player who didn’t know you, what would you say?

I am the floofy overlord currently based in Japan. I draw cute stuff and press buttons with Amy. I do other stuff too like commentating, TO, streaming or translation. 

What is the origin or meaning of your nickname?

Maimai has always been my irl nickname growing up. My dad was sad that he wouldn’t get to name me, so he told my family he had the right to at least come up with a nickname for me. So when I was born, he said that I “looked like a Maimai”. I still have no idea what that means but Maimai has been my name ever since.

How did it happen that you ended up playing fighting games?

My dad likes video games, so he thought the best way to give me a happy childhood was to spoil me with as many video games as he could. He taught me to press buttons and not to press G lol. I would remember my mom and dad playing against each other in SC2 a lot, so I played fighting games casually growing up. I got into the competitive scene when I moved to Japan because I discovered my roommate was into them.

Who do you main in SC6 and why?

AMYYYYYYYYYYYY! She is so small and cute! Just like me! And she is a super fun and stylish character. I love the Amy mirror a lot.

What is your opinion regarding SC6?

The game itself can be really fun, but the bugs indicate a lack of polish. Movement feels great and graphics are amazing. I especially love the redesigns of characters when it comes to gameplay and appearance. I do think single player modes need to be more engaging though for the casual audience.

If you could change one single thing about SC6 what would that be?

Online in general. It isn’t the worst netcode ever, but rollback is becoming the standard. And dot calibur usually plagues a tournament stream. 

What do you consider to be your greatest SC6 achievement and why?

As a player, probably getting 65th at EVO Japan. It’s not much, but it was the first major where I didn’t go 0-2. I didn’t have the game for the first five months, and when I did get the game, I didn’t have the time to play it. I leveled up by going to Fighting Tuesday every week so when I think about how little I’ve played compared to everyone else, I think it’s good. And I guess carrying my team during that one team battle event because I beat all my rivals who gatekept me at locals.

But if we’re not talking about my gameplay, it’s definitely commentating the SC Online Challenge for Japan. I never thought I would be commentating ever because of my social anxiety but Obama pretty much thrust me into it. That first day was brutal – thank you Chromeknight for dealing with me for seven hours!

Honorable mention to TOing Heaven’s Battle. Farpenoodle is a god and I really hope Parsec opens more doors for my fellow Pinoys and other Asian players .

Please answer a single question that you were not asked but you would like to answer!

How is the SC dating sim going?

At this rate, it will be done by 2030. I’m sorry to all the Myloes fans.

Thank you for the interview!