Ookami Mio: Mio's thoughts days before Mario Kart Holocup 2022

[@Pentaoku]

The annual hololive Mario Kart tournament is coming up, and various members have been practicing for it. This year, Mio returns as a participant, and shares her thoughts a few days before the tournament. Expand for translator's notes. 0:23 - Mio is actually pretty decent at Splatoon. If you've ever seen Korone play, Korone is really good, and a pretty high rank. Mio isn't far behind Korone. In OKBR Vs. FAMS, initially FAMS lost hard, but that was because Mio's connection dropped and it was actually OKBR Vs. FAS. The next round, Mio came back and FAMS stomped OKBR. 1:56 - This is actually something I really respect Mio for. It's very easy to just go with whatever everyone says is top tier, and while those things are strong for a reason, they're not necessarily the best way to learn a game. In Mario Kart especially, a big part of the game is just being able to control your character and vehicle properly. Before you can even worry about having optimal stats and such, you have to be able to do the fundamentals, and I think Mio's set up is way better for that. Also, fun note about Mio's set up is that it's actually a legitimate strategy even at high levels of play. High handling + accel set ups can actually drift on some straight ways, allowing them to pseudo-snake. Additionally, when players are closer together in skill level in Mario Kart, luck becomes a stronger factor, meaning high accel ends up being a bigger deal. That said, it's still not the optimal strategy, but I like that Mio found something that works for her, and is thinking for herself. When she gets better, she may end up switching to the more meta build, but at that point it'd be fine since she'll know how to play. EDIT: Incidentally, Mio's set up is Shy Guy + Varmint + Azure Rollers + Standard Glider. 2:21 - In Japanese, Mio says インコース (lit: in course), which refers to the inner part of a track. In English it's "Inner corner" or "inner curve" and things like that. There's probably a real racing term for this, but people don't usually use many real racing terms when talking about Mario Kart. I went with inner curves because that's what I saw most people use when I looked up English conversations about Mario Kart. 2:25 - Mio originally says わちゃわちゃ here, which usually means people chattering and being kind of loud and whatnot. It can be used in various situations to refer to people just interacting with each other a lot and being energetic, and things like that. In this situation, Mio uses it to refer to being stuck with the rest of the pack, and everyone's throwing items at each other and shit. Originally I had this line as just being "with the rest of the pack" (as that's how I'd refer to that situation), but one of my QCs suggested I refer to her being stuck in the chaos, and I think that fit better, as that is what a lot of people say when they're not getting first in Mario Kart. 3:15 - For those less familiar with Mario Kart, this is still a pretty beginner level. You start off around 1000 VR, but it does take a while to get to 2000, even if you're winning every race. 3:32 - The original translation is ザコ杯. ザコ (zako) usually refers to really weak and insignificant things/people. It's normally a pretty mean insult, but since it gets said a lot, it kinda lost a lot of it's power and can sometimes be seen as a joke. There are many words like this in English too, where they're meant to be rude and mean, but since they get said so often you end up not caring that much. That said, don't use this word in formal settings or with people you're not familiar with in Japanese, it can be fine among friends, but it's still an insult otherwise. Also, I went with "Losers Cup" for my translation. Calling someone a loser is still an insult, and I thought calling it something like "noob cup" or "scrub cup" would feel awkward, while Losers Cup still feels natural and retains the kind of insulting tone. As a side note, this year's holocup has so many good players (and so many players period) that there are probably going to be a lot of decent/good players who end up in the losers cup. 4:17 - 2 years ago, Mio tied for 3rd place in the Losers Cup of the first Mario Kart holocup. For the record, the results were as follows: (2019 Winners Cup) 1st: Aqua 2nd: Fubuki 3rd: Okayu 4th: Pekora 5th: Subaru 6th: Ayame 7th: Roboco 7th: Matsuri 9th: Korone 10th: Miko (2019 Losers Cup) 1st: Suisei 2nd: Marine 3rd: Mel 3rd: Mio 5th: Noel 6th: Flare 7th: Rushia 8th: Aki 9th: Choco 10th: Haato All things considered, I'd argue Mio didn't do too badly. I've seen the archive and Mio... was actually where she believed she was. Not great, but decent. She was actually really good for a beginner. This year, Mio is in C Group, which is actually the weakest group of the four. While many people are practicing, I think Mio actually has a chance to make it out of her bracket... buuuuut it's still not going to be easy for her. If I had to bet, I would say Matsuri will make it out for sure, but I'd probably give the other two slots to Watame and Sana. But Mio hasn't streamed Mario Kart since around Christmas, so she may have gotten a lot better. Hard to say. 4:39 - This is the mindset that made me want to clip this clip. Mio just being able to have fun, and seeking to improve from there. Though she may not be amazing right now, I feel that Mio's current mindset will allow her to actually get really good at the game if she continues to keep at it.

[@mjc7745]

Thanks for the context - both historical and language wise. Sounds like Mio works hard on gaming skills but also is continuing her free Mio mindset. Love to see it

[@DonHajeez]

Huge thanks for TLing and especially the notes~ I really appreciate the extra background info for the translation as well as Mio's perspective, Mario Kart meta and what happened 2 years ago. Altogether it's a very complete package for just a 5 minute clip and now I'm even more excited for the tournament this week~ I'll be rooting for Mama Mio but as long as she's having fun, that's already a victory.

[@Arkiro27]

Thanks for the clip and translation! I'm always looking forward to the TL notes whenever you upload, they're really fun to read :D I wanted to add something or rather approve of the usage of "Loser's Cup" in this context. I have quite some experiences watching fighting game tournaments and it's common practice to label diverting brackets Winner's Bracket and Loser's Bracket. I really don't believe the insult "Loser" has any connection to these, as it's simply a way to sort those who have won their fights and those who have lost them. As such I think going with the translation of "Loser's Cup" is 100% valid

[@asdffsdafdsafdsa7877]

She definitely is coming at it with a better mindset if she is also trying to find the fun in mario kart. if you aren't having fun you just won't be able to put in the same hours as someone that just is playing for fun and just those hours having fun is when you really learn to control the kart. Learning your favourite route for each course comes after I do kind of wish they had longer events for this tournament though, considering how much effort people put into practicing the actual event has so few courses which really amplifies the inherent mario kart variance.

[@nitrix6538]

Love the effort Mio is putting in this years Mario Kart tournament again. Fight on Mio!

[@highlight0001]

Seeing this kinda makes me want to root for Mio lol, though there are a lot of heavy weights such as the 2 winners and a few others It's nice to hear her mentality about practicing and how she found playing Mario Kart fun, even is she does lose or end up in the losers bracket again Also small thing but it's nice to hear her still talk about Splatoon lol Thanks for the TL as always!