Mami (真美, まみ), full name Mami Shimada (島田真美, しまだ まみ), is a second year student at Hanazono High School and is a recurring character in the Downtown Nekketsu series that was first featured in Downtown Nekketsu Story. She is the girlfriend of Riki in Downtown Nekketsu Story and any of it's remakes. Mami is described as being a kind and innocent individual who was able to see through Riki's rough side, which allowed her to find a kinder personality within him. The two began dating for this reason. Mami would attend the same middle school as Kazumi Hasebe and Kunio.
She frequently serves as her school's manager or cheerleader in various sporting events.
Appearances[]
Downtown Nekketsu Story[]
Mami appears as Riki's girlfriend and serves as the damsel in distress of the game, which she is kidnapped by Ryūichi and Ryūji Hattori. Players are able to save her on the top floor of Reihō Academy after defeating the Dragon Twins.
In the game, Mami uses the same face as the school girls that walk around the malls. Unused graphics remain in the Famicom version of Mami's face, a walk cycle, a sitting sprite, and a set of sprites for when she was rescued.[2]
Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day![]
Mami appears as the cheerleader for Hanazono High School.
Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama![]
Mami plays the role of Omitsu.
Omitsu appears as the shopkeeper for all restaurants, pharmacies, and inns.
Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! The Distant Gold Medal[]
Mami appears as the manager for Hanazono High School's team and is seen announcing the start of events and the rewards for each team after they conclude.
In the localization Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge, Mami was left unnamed and now manages Washington High School's team.
Kunio's Dodgeball Time, C'mon Guys![]
Mami appears in the item shop.
Downtown River City Baseball Story ~Play Ball, Kunio!~[]
Mami appears as the manager of Hanazono High School's team. The role of cheerleader was instead given to Tamae Nishino.
Kunio's Oden[]
Mami makes a cameo appearance in the background of the versus screen.
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari EX[]
Mami appears in the same role as she did in the original versions of the game.
Nekketsu Kōkō Online: Yamada no Fukushū[]
River City: Knights of Justice[]
Mami plays the role of Princess Mami, the daughter of Todd, the King of Neidard.
Princess Mami is first mentioned by Todd as he informs Cooney Valford that his daughter has gone missing. She is later indirectly mentioned by Kojirō when he asked Cooney if he had seen a raven-haired maiden of rare beauty. Later in Inzad, Kojirō can be talked to and will inform Cooney that Mami is currently being held at Jubela Lake and that she is currently under a spell. At the lake, Mami is able to be freed if Cooney arrives with a Red Jewel equipped. After being rescued, she immediately recognizes Cooney after looking into his eyes and being reminded of Ricky Break. She thanks Cooney for rescuing her and returns to Todd safely with Kojirō.
If Mami is rescued, she will also be seen during the ending of the game.
River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~[]
Mami appears as the cheerleader for Hanazono High School's team and as the cheerleader for Nekketsu Magical Story's team in the role of Princess Mami. Mami would later appear as a teammate for the Cheering Girls team that is able to be played outside of the story mode. Mami is able to use the Dash Aura Punch, the Tornado Punch, and the Burst Kick.
Mami is addressed by her surname due to a different character on Yurigaoka Girls High School's team also being named Mami, though her Magical Story counterpart refers to her given name regardless.
Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki[]
River City: Rival Showdown[]
River City: Rival Showdown is a remake of Downtown Nekketsu Story. The game takes place before River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~.
In the main story, Mami is rumored to be missing with Riki having gone out to look for her, though she is later seen during the first night with him at the Starpark Café. On the third day, Mami is kidnapped by Kiyofumi Taira and brought to Masao Kobayashi's abandoned factory, where Kobayashi tells her to wait for a while longer, saying that everything will be over by the end of the day. Kunio rescues Mami from Taira and she then proceeds to leave the factory. Mami is later recaptured by Ryūichi and Ryūji at the request of Taiki Yamada as a way to get Riki out of the picture. On the final day, Riki sets off to Reihō Academy and successfully rescues Mami after fighting his way through the school with Kunio. While Mami was held inside the school, Hasebe kept watch of her to make sure the Dragon Twins didn't harm her.
In Riki's story, Mami is seen during the ending walking onto Reihō Academy's roof with Hasebe after she decided to rescue her in Riki's place due to his incompetence. With Riki and Kunio being struct by lightning as a result of the former's antics, Mami realizes Riki was one of the people hit and runs up to him confused on how he ended up getting burnt to a crisp working so hard to find her. Riki asks if she's safe now, to which Mami mentions that she was captured by Ryūichi and Ryūji until she was rescued by Hasebe. Mami then leaves the school alongside Riki.
River City Melee: Battle Royal Special[]
Mami returns as a member of the Cheering Girls team and is involved in the story mode. Mami is able to use the Aura Punch, the Tornado Punch, and the Explosion Kick.
River City Girls[]
In this continuity, Mami and Hasebe are re-imagined as snobby, diva-esque 'popular girls', with there being hints that the two have a long-running unfriendly rivalry with Kyōko and Misako.
Mami and Hasebe are repeatedly seen throughout different parts of town and will belittle the protagonists while suggesting that Riki and Kunio are in love with in them instead. While in Uptown, Mami rudely informs Misako that they'll specifically need a fancy gold offering in order to meet with Hibari. A flashback is later seen where it's shown that Mami and Hasebe knew the protagonists since they were young, where they'd frequently bully Kyōko until Misako stepped in to kick Hasebe in the head.
Mami and Hasebe replace Sabuko as a secret final boss if the player equips both of their charms, which are obtained by clearing the story once and destroying all of the Sabu statues respectively. In this fight, Mami mirrors parts of Kyōko's moveset. After losing the fight against Misako and Kyōko, the two admit defeat and begrudgingly accept the protagonists being Kunio and Riki's girlfriends.
River City Melee Mach!![]
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms[]
Mami plays the role of Lu Su, a civilian officer in Sun Quan (Riki)'s army.
In the story mode, Lu Su appears during the final chapter and is uneasy about Zhuge Liang (Misako)'s proposition to ally with Sun Quan's army to help take down Cao Cao (Yamada). When Sun Quan agrees to help, Lu Su defends Zhuge Liang's character stating that she's a good person at heart and remains hopeful that everyone is able to get along with her. Lu Su will give a sidequest to Guan Yu (Kunio) and Zhang Fei (Godai) to purchase some oil with the treasure they've earned from bandits, which need to be used for fire-setting.
River City Girls 2[]
Mami and Hasebe make a brief cameo in the game's ending looking for a rematch against Misako and Kyōko, though are too late as the protagonists have already finished their adventure.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next[]
Mami retains her role as Lu Su.
Lu Su is first seen during the first chapter informing Zhou Yu (Kyōko) that they've successfully surrounded Niu Jin. During the confrontation, Cao Ren (Onizuka) rescues Niu Jin and helps him escape from the Wu. Now needing to think of a counter strategy, Lu Su suggests that they take down Yiling first due to Jiangling being locked down tight. After Guan Yu (Kunio) returns from Yiling, she claims that Zhou Yu is out of commission because an arrow hit her favorite Sun Quan (Riki) doll which has left her in shock. This was only meant as a ruse to catch Cao Ren with his guard down, though Guan Yu unexpectedly chose to help fight against him anyway. Cao Ren flees after the fight towards Jiangling, so in order to prevent him from taking control of the area again, Lu Su suggests to Zhou Yu that they split into two groups with one pursuing Cao Ren and the other rushing over to Jiangling. Upon arriving, the two are surprised to see that Zhuge Liang (Misako) has beat them to claiming Jiangling as their territory as part of a bet that she made with Zhou Yu earlier. Before leaving, Lu Su asks Zhuge Liang to return Jingzhou to them as soon as Liu Bei (Gōda) finds a home base, to which she agrees. On the Hot-Blooded route, Lu Su appears after Guan Yu's fight against Zhou Yu which left her knocked out cold. She explains that Zhou Yu will return back to normal when she wakes up and thanks Guan Yu for helping them.
In the third chapter, Lu Su visits Guan Yu while he is in Jingzhou to ask him if he can return control over the area back to the Wu now that Liu Bei has a home base in Yizhou. Guan Yu is initially unsure on what to do and tells her to instead ask Liu Bei or Zhuge Liang. He mentions that he's currently getting ready for a battle against the Wei, to which Lu Su assumes that he'd be using supplies and troops from Jingzhou which would in turn mean that he'd return Jingzhou in a whittled down state. Ma Liang (Minori) intervenes and explains that Guan Yu is only in Jingzhou as a general to lead the charge against Wei and was told nothing regarding control over the area. Lu Su agrees to travel to Yizhou to talk to Liu Bei, though after Ma Liang noticed she seemed upset over something, she warns them that although she wishes to resolve things diplomatically, their troops don't all feel the same way and may try less peaceful methods. Later during Sun Quan's meeting with Sima Yi (Tobioka), Lu Su suggests that he accepts Sima Yi's gift in order to enter a truce with the Wei. Sun Quan is tricked into thinking the accessory he was gifted is one of the latest fashion trends and asks Lu Su what she thinks when he puts it on, in which she thinks to herself that it looks atrocious. Immediately after the accessory's brainwashing kicks in as Sima Yi begins to manipulate Sun Quan into starting a fight with the Shu by forcefully taking back control over Jingzhou. Lu Su is surprised by the sudden mention of this and explains that bruteforce is not an option in accordance to Sun Quan's own words. She is then left in shock after hearing Sun Quan's sudden change of heart.
Later in Changban, Lu Su rescues a passed out Guan Yu and flees to Baidi Fortress with him in order to escape the Wu. When asked why she's helping him, Lu Su states that she was unable to accept Sun Quan's decision and that it was very out of character for him. The two run into Zhao Yun (Sugata) on the way there which puts him on guard after noticing Lu Su, though after informing him that Guan Yu is currently on the run, Zhao Yun lets the two pass as he fights off the Wu troops chasing them. Several days later after Guan Yu recovers, Lu Su apologizes to him and Zhuge Liang for the Wu's betrayal and explains that sending troops in to take control of the cities by force was never in the cards. She then brings up how Sun Quan had changed for the worse after putting on an accessory he was gifted by Sima Yi during their meeting. Zhuge Liang suggests that the accessory must've had the ability to control someone's thoughts which sends Lu Su into a panic as she starts to think he may never return back to normal. After calming down, she begs the two for one last favor in helping save Sun Quan, to which Guan Yu happily accepts as he doesn't want to leave his friend hanging. She thanks him for agreeing to help. Later after Lu Xun (Nishino)'s defeat to Guan Yu, Lu Su arrives and orders her to stop fighting the Shu. She compliments her efforts and states that they've greatly surpassed her expectations. With Lu Xun not wanting to back down in order to prove herself, Lu Su attempts to explain that she instead needs to help bring Sun Quan back to his senses, though she is interrupted by Sun Quan's sudden appearance as he claims that he's never lost his senses in the first place. Enraged over his sudden change of heart, Guan Yu asks Lu Su if she's okay with the fight that's about to go down, to which she allows it as Sun Quan is no longer acting like the man she cared for. Upon being defeated, Lu Su is relieved to see Sun Quan return to his senses and asks Zhuge Liang to reforge their alliance.
In the final chapter, Lu Su is sent to Chang'an with Zhou Yu by Sun Quan in order to help the Shu in their fight against the Jin. Zhou Yu is bitter over having to help Zhuge Liang, though Lu Su reminds her that they're fighting to take down the one responsible for brainwashing Sun Quan. As the group think of how they can get inside, Guan Yu mentions that Zhong Hui (ShingoFJ2) is extremely prideful in himself and how the way he looks down on others goes far beyond being a robot. Lu Su suggests firing a messenger arrow in order to reach out to him and offers to write it out.
Other video games[]
CODE SHIFTER[]
Mami and Hasebe's River City Girls counterparts appears as an assist character. In this game, the color of their outfit is incorrectly swapped.
Other media appearances[]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (4Koma Manga Kingdom)[]
Kunio-kun! Nekketsu Battle![]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Gaiden River City Girls[]
Mami was to be played by Nana Oda, though the play would be cancelled due to one of the cast members testing positive for COVID.[3]
Localized versions[]
- In River City Ransom and Street Gangs, Mami was renamed to Cyndi.
- In the international version of River City: Knights of Justice, Mami is renamed to Princess Cynthia.
Trivia[]
- After the secret fight in River City Girls, Mami and Hasebe bitterly mention the fact that Kyōko and Misako only dated Kunio and Riki once in an "obscure 16-bit game that wasn't even released in the USA", which is a meta reference to Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka.
- Their statement there is actually incorrect, as Kyoko was also depicted as Riki's girlfriend in River City: Tokyo Rumble, which had in fact been released in the USA.
- In River City Girls 2, Mami and Hasebe were planned to be playable characters, though the idea didn't pan out and they were instead relegated to a minor cameo.[4]
- Small remnants of them being playable are able to be found in the game's files. The two were given unused selfie art as part of the side mission where the player is instructed to take photos at points across the map.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Sprites[]
Screenshots[]
Other Media[]
.png "Mami NKKK (4koma kingdom).png (556 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ Mami's bio from the Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari Seteibon published by Miracle Kidz.
- ↑ Unused sprites for Mami in Downtown Nekketsu Story
- ↑ River City Girls stage play cancellation announced by Solid-Star.
- ↑ River City Girls director Adam Tierney on Hasebe and Mami being cut playable characters in River City Girls 2.
