Smasher:Kirihara

Kirihara is an Ultimate  player from Tokyo, Japan, and was considered the best  player in Japan when he mained the character. He has wins over players such as, , , , , , , and. He was formerly ranked 48th on the Fall 2019 PGRU.

In SSB4, Kirihara was considered the best player in Japan and one of the best in the world, along with  and. Kirihara is currently ranked 6th on the JAPAN Power Rankings and 28th on the Panda Global Rankings 100. He has taken sets off of many top players in Smash 4 such as, , , KEN, , , Abadango, and. At, he double-eliminated ZeRo and became the 2nd Japanese player to win an American national, after Abadango's victory.

Playstyle
Kirihara's style of is differentiated by his calculated, aggressive spacing, foregoing the typical defensive style often demonstrated by other Rosalina players. He relies on well spaced aerials to establish stage control, and utlises Luma to full effect as an aerial deterrent, due to Luma's delayed hitboxes. His utilisation of Luma extends to pressure situations, as Kirihara will often employ Luma's moveset to force opponents into shield, discourage approaches, or as a form of option coverage. Luma aids in Kirihara's ground game as well, not only as a deterrent, but as a confirm option, often utlising Luma's jab as a lead into grabs. Despite his adeptness with Luma, he displays little reliance on it, and has proven capable and aggressive, even without. During these situations, he relies on his ability to react to his opponent's heightened aggression, generally encouraged by Luma's absence.

Another aspect of Kirihara's playstyle is his exceptionally proficient edge-guarding. He has demonstrated a distinctive ability to react to his opponent's recovery options, and cover them appropriately. He will often follow his opponent's offstage, and attempt to pressure and gimp them in the process. Kirihara's utilisation of Luma extends to his edge-guarding, as he often uses Luma's large and disjointed hitboxes to catch recoveries below the ledge, or to snipe players offstage from afar. As well, his ability to react to his opponent's ledge options, and force them back offstage further contributes to his aggressive offstage play.

Trivia

 * Kirihara is the only smasher to have a positive record over in Smash 4 that is better than 1-0, holding a 2-1 record over him.
 * Coincidentally, Kirihara is ranked 48th on the second iteration of both the Panda Global Rankings and the Panda Global Rankings Ultimate.


 * Kirihara (Rosalina) vs. TSM|ZeRo (Diddy) - Wii U Winners Finals - FPS2
 * Kirihara (Rosalina) vs. TSM|ZeRo (Diddy) - Wii U Grand Finals - FPS2
 * Kirihara (Rosalina & Luma) vs CLG VoiD (Sheik, Mewtwo) - Umebura 25