Daigo Umehara's Event Schedule 2015

- Canada Cup's Master Series [January 9-11]
- 5th Niconico Shotenkaigi [January 18]
- Yonpahi radio show [January 23]
- 6th Niconico Shotenkaigi [January 25]
- Taipei Game Show [Jan 31]
- Tokaigi 2015 [Feb 1]

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Capcom Summer Jam announced

Capcom announced yesterday that an event called Capcom Summer Jam will be held on June 30 and July 1 at Tokyo Big Sight.

The event lets participants try out Capcom's new products, and there will also be special stages and guests. There is no entrance fee.

While "Capcom Summer Jam" makes you think of a fighting game, there is a possibility of a new fighting game announcement in this event.

Fuudo, ItaZan join Team Razer

Famitsu reported today that Fuudo and Itabashi Zangief have signed a sponsorship deal with the computer peripheral maker Razer. They will compete under Team Razer and also participate in the development of "Razer Arcade Stick" "in 2012."

Fuudo is actually a company employee and used to say that a mouse maker tried to sign him since last year (from this interview). So this is some surprise.

The more surprise is Razer actually had Kazunoko, Nekojita, and Uryo play exhibition matches in their booth at Tokyo Game Show 2011 (see report). But they did not sign any of them.

Tougeki 2012 arcade qualifiers to begin on May 3

The full details of Tougeki 2012 qualifiers of arcade games are now revealed in the official site. The qualifiers will begin on May 3 and will end on July 8.

The site now officially confirmed that there will be Soulcalibur V and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom tournaments in Tougeki 2012.

Two weeks ago, it was announced that the winning team of KVO 2012's UMvC3 can play in Tougeki 2012 finals.

Umehara confirmed for exhibition in Chokaigi

As previously announced, Nico Nico restreamed Tougeki 2011 for free yesterday. But the show also had a talk corner for some announcements, mainly for the complete list of the players who will participate exhibition matches in Tougeki's qualifiers and special event in Nico Nico's Chokaigi which is called Chou Tougeki.

Good news is Daigo Umehara is confirmed to be there. The bad news is there will not be streaming of the exhibition matches on April 29. Although the qualifiers will be streamed for free.

  1. Fuudo
  2. MDR
  3. Haitani
  4. Mago
  5. Tokido
  6. Kazunoko
  7. Uryo
  8. Momochi
  9. Umehara
  10. Nuki

This is actually 2 on 2 tournament and the players on the list will be paired randomly by drawing.

Nuki himself also appeared to talk on the show with Tougeki producer and Nico's staff Neo Tower. (They revealed that they actually were at Evolution once and went to the swimming pool together. They said there were around 30 Japanese that year.)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Gunslinger Stratos beta event day 5 summary

Info
- Gunslinger Stratos beta event announced
- Day 1 (Welcome event in Akihabara)
- Day 2 (Team Umehara)
- Day 3 (Welcome event in Osaka)
- Day 4 (Team Umehara)
- Click on Gunslinger Stratos label to see all related posts
- Time: 11:00-16:00
- Date: April 20
- Location: Adores Sunshine (Tokyo, Ikebukuro)
- Team Umehara participate
- Nico Nico streamed this event

Reports
- Ayana Tsubaki said Team Umehara trained around 100 fights yesterday.
- Nana Mizuki provides ingame system voice.
- Fuudo is good at both shooting and melee.
- Mago said he chose Remy because of ease of use and voice actress.
- Tokido said he chose Toru because the character is protagonist.
- Fuudo said he chose Shizune because he tried her and like her.
- Umehara said he chose Aaron because the character looks good.
- The stream had more than 58,000 attendees and 24,000 comments.
- Report from Famitsu



Round 1

vs. 1st team
- There's a girl in the other side.
1st fight (win)
  1. Fuudo (A) *finisher
  2. Mago
  3. Umehara
  4. Tokido (D)
2nd fight (win)
  1. Fuudo *finisher
  2. Tokido
  3. Mago
  4. Umehara (D)

vs. 2nd team
1st fight (win)
  1. Mago *finisher
  2. Tokido
  3. Fuudo (C)
  4. Umehara
2nd fight (win)
  1. Tokido
  2. Fuudo (C) *finisher
  3. Umehara
  4. Mago

Round 2

vs. 3rd team
- One of their opponents used to win them and mini tournament at Akihabara event
- There's a girl in the other side.
1st fight (win)
  1. Tokido (S) *finisher
  2. Fuudo
  3. Umehara (C)
  4. Mago
2nd fight (lose)
- They had a big lead but lost.
2. Tokido (C)

vs. 4th team
1st fight (win)
  1. Mago (S)
  2. Umehara *finisher
  3. Fuudo
  4. Tokido

2nd fight (win)
  1. Fuudo (S) *finisher
  2. Mago
  3. Tokido
  4. Umehara

Round 3

vs. 5th team
1st fight (win)
- They almost lost.
  1. Fuudo (A)
  2. Umehara *finisher
  3. Tokido (D)
  4. Mago

2nd fight (win)
  1. Tokido *finisher
  2. Fuudo
  3. Mago
  4. Umehara (D)

vs. 6th team
- One of their opponents already played 140 fights and won 104.
- One of their opponents already played 80 fights and won 73.
1st fight (lose)
Fuudo (C)

2nd fight (win)
- A very close match
  1. Fuudo
  2. Tokido *finisher
  3. Mago (D)
  4. Umehara

Round 4

vs. 7th team
- One of their opponents played 209 fights and won 135.
- One of their opponents played 143 fights and won 95.
1st fight (win)
  1. Fuudo
  2. Mago
  3. Tokido (C) *finisher
  4. Umehara

2nd fight (lose)
- Team Umehara had a big lead but lost.
4. Tokido (D)

vs. 8th team
1st fight (lose)
Fuudo (B)

2nd fight (win)
- They made a comeback.
  1. Fuudo
  2. Umehara *finisher
  3. Mago (D)
  4. Tokido

Friday, April 20, 2012

[Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross] Patch 2.30, Bernkastel released

Bernkastel, the last character that the maker promised has arrived via a patch last night. The patch will also update the game from 2.20 to 2.30.

Ougon Musou Kyoku is a self-published PC fighting game based on Umineko no Naku Koro ni visual novel. The original game (import here) can be upgraded to Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross through expansion disc (import here). The game now has 19 playable characters.


Below are our notes and translations.

Midair Meta
Probably most notable about Bernkastel, she is the only one in the game who can declare Metaworld in the air.

Meta Boost
Bernkastel's ability is Meta Boost. It shortens the cooldown time (by half) and lenghtens the time in Metaworld (to almost 12 seconds). This means you'll be able to declare Metaworld more often and your Metaworld will also last longer than usual.

Fragment
When you don't press any buttons (except walk, crouch, and dash), a crystal fragment will appear (up to 8) and orbit around Bernkastel. One fragment will be used automatically to power up some of her normal attacks.


Name Command

Air Dash Midair 22

Double Jump Midair 8
Fragment Low projectiles 3B
Fragment Antiair projectiles 3C
Fragment Antiair trap 6B
Fragment Overhead attack
(must block standing)
6C
Fragment Air-to-ground projectiles J2C
SP version
available
Bite off below-knee 214 + (A/B/C)
SP version
available
Bite off above-elbow 236 + (A/B/C)
SP version
available
Come, black cats 623 + (A/B/C)
Midair OK
SP version
available
Come, demon king cats 41236 +  (A/B/C)
Ranbu
(cost 2 SP)
Merciless Mystery
That Pierces Through Everything
236236 + C
Midair OK
Meta Special Merciless Leviathan
That Swallows Everything
641236 + C
Midair OK

Official release note (v2.30)
- Bernkastel added
- New story added to Arcade Mode
- The darkened portion of the life (recoverable) decreases slower
- Increase the effect time of Stun Boost ability
- Adjust the amount of life absorbed by Massacre ability
- Change how Ultra PER ability works
- Adjust the following moves
  • Ange - Far 5B, 6B, Sakutarou Summon, Go, Sakutarou!
  • Jessica - Otome no Muteki Punch
  • Rosa - Bullets from Maria (Meta Special)
  • Lambdadelta - JB, J2C, Confeito, Black Hole, Sweets Comet!

Our notes and tests
- Bernkastel is one of the characters that have lowest stun resistance.
- We did the tests, nothing seems to change for the old characters.

Beast Note's Stun Test
Ange's See You again
  • Rosa - Not dizzy
  • Ange - Not dizzy
  • Battler - Not dizzy
  • Beatrice - Not dizzy
  • Lucifer - Not dizzy
  • Virgilia - Not dizzy
  • Willard - Not dizzy
  • Kanon - Not dizzy
  • Shannon - Not dizzy
  • Black Battler - Not dizzy
  • Eva - Dizzy
  • Chiester 410 - Not dizzy
  • Ronove - Not dizzy
  • Lambdadelta -Not dizzy
  • Jessica - Not dizzy
  • George - Dizzy
  • Erika - Not dizzy
  • Dlanor - Not dizzy
  • Bernkastel - Dizzy


Battler's Meta Blue Truth with Stun Boost
  • Rosa - Dizzy
  • Ange - Dizzy
  • Battler - Dizzy
  • Beatrice - Dizzy
  • Lucifer - Dizzy
  • Virgilia - Dizzy
  • Willard - Dizzy
  • Kanon - Dizzy
  • Shannon - Dizzy
  • Black Battler - Dizzy
  • Eva - Dizzy
  • Chiester 410 - Dizzy
  • Ronove - Dizzy
  • Lambdadelta - Not Dizzy
  • Jessica - Dizzy
  • George - Dizzy
  • Erika - Dizzy
  • Dlanor - Not dizzy
  • Bernkastel - Dizzy

Sweets Comet test (Guard Break test)
  • Rosa - Break
  • Ange - Break
  • Battler - Break
  • Beatrice - Break
  • Lucifer - Break
  • Virgilia - Break
  • Willard - Break
  • Kanon - Break
  • Shannon - Break
  • Black Battler - Break
  • Eva - Break
  • Chiester 410 - Break
  • Ronove - Break
  • Lambdadelta - Break
  • Jessica - Break
  • George - Break
  • Erika - Break
  • Dlanor - Break
  • Bernkastel - Break

Time in Metaworld test
- Use stopwatch, press the same time with Meta button.
- Minus 1 second to these numbers if you don't count the declaration scenes.
  • Rosa - 9.6 seconds
  • Ange - 9.6 seconds
  • Battler - 9.6 seconds
  • Beatrice - 9.6 seconds
  • Lucifer - 9.6 seconds
  • Virgilia - 9.6 seconds
  • Willard - 9.6 seconds
  • Kanon - 9.6 seconds
  • Shannon - 9.6 seconds
  • Black Battler - 9.6 seconds
  • Eva - 9.6 seconds
  • Chiester 410 - 9.6 seconds
  • Ronove - 9.6 seconds
  • Lambdadelta - 9.6 seconds
  • Jessica - 9.6 seconds
  • George - 9.6 seconds
  • Erika - 9.6 seconds
  • Dlanor - 9.6 seconds
  • Bernkastel - 11.9 seconds

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Nico to stream Umehara playing Gunslinger Stratos

Square Enix made an urgent announcement just less than an hour ago that, due to high demand, they will be streaming Team Umehara playing Gunslinger Stratos (beta) in the beta event at Ikebukuro tomorrow (April 20) on Nico Nico.

Details
Date: April 20
Time: 11:00 to 16:00 (JST)
Location: Adores Sunshine (Tokyo, Ikebukuro)
Stream: Here 

Team Umehara is the Gunslinger Stratos team lead by Daigo Umehara, the official supporter of the game. The members are Tokido, Fuudo, and Mago.

The event is a part of 15-day beta events aiming to promote and location-test Gunslinger Stratos which is scheduled for this Summer.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Umehara on NHK MAGNET (again)

Last week on April 7, MAG NET had a 6-minute report of Capcom's official SSF4AE2012 National Tournament. The spotlight, once again, was on Daigo Umehara.

MAG NET on NHK channel is a weekly TV variety show that picks up interesting Manga/Anime/Game related topics. It first started as one-topic-a-time documentary program, but now it has several topics in its 45 minutes.

In 2010, MAG NET had a topic about Street Fighter, and Umehara played an important role in it.







Video: Tokido & Mago playing Gunslinger Stratos

Yesterday, 4gamer.net posted a gameplay video of Gunslinger Stratos (beta) from the first location test at Akihabara. It has Tokido and Mago as guests. and Frieda (the MvC3 player) as the host.

In the video, Tokido and Mago explained about the controls and played against Frieda and 4gamer.net team.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Gunslinger Stratos beta event day 4 summary

Info
- Gunslinger Stratos beta event announced
- Day 1 (Welcome event in Akihabara)
- Day 2 (Team Umehara)
- Day 3 (Welcome event in Osaka)
- Click on Gunslinger Stratos label to see all related posts
- Time: 10:00-16:00
- Date: April 13
- Location: Nanba Taito Station (Osaka)
- Team Umehara participate

Photo
Team Umehara appears!
Team Umehara in the second round 
Team Umehara

Report
- The winning team of the Gunslinger Stratos mini tournament came to Osaka to play this game!
- Team Umehara didn't do well this time. (The game was updated 4 times already since the beta test began.)
- Umehara still stayed at Osaka since the Welcome event on April 11. The Japanese reported that they saw Umehara (Ryu) and sako (Ibuki) playing SSF4AE2012 casually at an arcade on April 12. Some people reported that they played 77 games, and Umehara was the first to win 50 games. (In Japan, you can track player's stats via cellphone.)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Gunslinger Stratos beta event day 3 summary

Info
- Gunslinger Stratos beta event announced
- Day 1 (Welcome Event)
- Day 2 (Team Umehara)
- Click on Gunslinger Stratos label to see all related posts
- Time: 9:00
- Date: April 11
- Location: Nanba Taito Station (Osaka)
- Umehara and 3 voice actors participate

Photo
Before open
50 persons in the line, 3 minutes before open
4 guests in opening ceremony
4 guests demo-play

Report
- Famitsu

KVO UMvC3 champs get SBO blue tickets

It is announced a couple hours ago that the winning team of KVO 2012 will receive the right to play in Tougeki 2012 finals.

KVO 2012's UMvC3 3 on 3 tournament will be held on May 4, then KVO x GODSGARDEN will take place after that at night. Ageo Joe (Kusoru) is likely to play in both tournaments at the moment.

As revealed before, Tougeki is planning to add Soulcalibur V and UMvC3 to the lineup this year. In the past, Tougeki is all about arcade games.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Umehara book reaches Amazon top 3 bestsellers

Maybe due to his book talk on Nico Nico, Daigo Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning moved up to 3rd place on Amazon Japan's Best Sellers Rank in overall book category yesterday.

The book is still in shortage and the additional printing is on the way.

Monday, April 9, 2012

The 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup summary

Info
- The 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup announced
- Umehara confirmed for 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup
- Nico to stream 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup
- TOPANGA T-shirt (3000 yen) will be sold at the event as a fundraising
- You can donate via Paypal (link in official site)
- All donations will go to Japan's Red Cross
- TOPANGA Charity Cup official site
- Tournament started late due to registration process
- There are 47 teams* (2011 had 24 teams)
- Both 4gamer.net and brackets said there're 49 teams.
- Brackets provided by sako's wife
- Full report by 4gamer.net


Results

Driver's High 2-5 Kao TV!
O Hai Teki (Mak) - Soushihan KSK (Abe)
Hai Teki (Mak) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O
ug2 (Gui) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O
O Sabo Hani (Vip) - Naruo (E. Ryu)
Sabo Hani (Vip) - Kazunoko (Yun) O
Kindo (Fei) - Kazunoko (Yun) O
Meu (Mak) - Kazunoko (Yun) O

??? 3-5 BET50
Bozeck (Gouken) - R (Guy) O
(Chun) - R (Guy) O
(Ibu) - R (Guy) O
O Genei Domino (Jur) - R (Guy)
Genei Domino (Jur) - Rokotsu (Gen) O
O Okkun (Ibu) - Rokotsu (Gen)
O Okkun (Ibu) - Arai (Claw)
Okkun (Ibu) - VER (Gouken) O

Poi Poi 5 5-0 ???
O Nuki (Set) - (Cod)
O Nuki (Set) - (Ryu)
O Nuki (Set) - (Chun)
O Nuki (Set) - (Hon)
O Nuki (Set) - Shisho (Fue)

??? 0-5 TOPANGA
(Set) - Fuudo (Fei) O
Chamaru (Cam) - Fuudo (Fei) O
Ryoricho (Cam) - Fuudo (Fei) O
Sandaime Ryochin (Aku) - Fuudo (Fei) O
Tatsu (Ryu) - Fuudo (Fei) O

Kao TV! 5-1 Sokuseki
Soushihan KSK (Abe) - Kuhofuu (Dan) O
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Kuhofuu (Dan)
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Mahou Shoujo Zangi-tan
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Gachaboy (Ado)
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Kuma (Dict)
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Tsubapii (Claw)

Angry Zonk 5-1 Yukai na Deshi-tachi to Joseki no Hito to Mister X
O Karipaku (Cod) - Murata (Yun)
O Karipaku (Cod) - Nabe (Aku)
O Karipaku (Cod) - Suda (Ryu)
O Karipaku (Cod) - Negi (Ibu)
Karipaku (Cod) - Sentosu (Dict) O
O Shitone (Ado) - Sentosu (Dict)

Kosuri Sei 5-3 Dragon Boy Z
O Kiharu Boy (Sag) - (Guy)
O Kiharu Boy (Sag) - (Dud)
Kiharu Boy (Sag) - Waike (Jur) O
KOICHINKO (Sak) - Waike (Jur) O
O Tonpy (Vip) - Waike (Jur)
Tonpy (Vip) - Dragon Boy (Box) O
O Gasshuku (Vip) - Dragon Boy (Box)
O Gasshuku (Vip) - Hagejin (Zan)

Santaro to Yukai Kamoshirenai Nakama-tachi 5-3 Ikari no Pero Bin Man
O Santaroman (Sag) - Peroperoman (Vip)
Santaroman (Sag) - Yoshiwo (Gui) O
O Dashio (Set) - Yoshiwo (Gui)
O Dashio (Set) - Ikari Oyaji (Cod)
O Dashio (Set) - Hanamaruki (Sag)
Dashio (Set) - Shungoku Neurosis (Dict) O
Younashi (Juri) - Shungoku Neurosis (Dict) O
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Shungoku Neurosis (Dict)

Jukujo Suki Gamer 2-5 Poi Poi 5
O Michun (Cam) - Nuki (Set)
Michun (Cam) - Dogura (Dict) O
Yuu (Aku) - Dogura (Dict) O
M Dash (Sak) - Dogura (Dict) O
Shitamachi Prince (Cod) - Dogura (Dict) O
O Cabbage (Vip) - Dogura (Dict)
Cabbage (Vip) - RF (Sag) O

Pyonkichi (Ryu) - Kuramu (Haw) O
(Claw) - Kuramu (Haw) O
KEN (Ibu) - Kuramu (Haw) O
KAN (Sak) - Kuramu (Haw) O
Mother Bee (Zan) - Kuramu (Haw) O

Tamami Sei 1-5 Kao TV!
O Hibiki (Dan) - Soushihan KSK (Abe) *must see
Hibiki (Dan) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O
Nantoka (Gouken) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O
dey@Tsui (Yan) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O
MASHE (Ryu) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O
Shorushu (Aku) - Naruo (E. Ryu) O

O YHC-Mochi (Dha) - French (Cod)
O YHC-Mochi (Dha) - Kuroken (Dud)
YHC-Mochi (Dha) - Y. (Cam) O
sako (Ibu) - Y. (Cam) O *sako got perfect'd last round
O Haitani (Mak) - Y. (Cam)
Haitani (Mak) - Haneyama (Jur) O
O Uryo (Sak) - Haneyama (Jur)
Uryo (Sak) - Kawaguuchi (Ros) O
Momochi (Cod) - Kawaguuchi (Ros) O *Momochi got first round but couldn't close it

O Tsukishi (Dict) - Wiser Sanma (Yan)
Tsukishi (Dict) - Ojisan Boy (Yan) O
Nyanshi (Sag) - Ojisan Boy (Yan) O
Shakaho (Yun) - Ojisan Boy (Yan) O
One Chance Taro (Mak) - Ojisan Boy (Yan) O
O Machabo (Fei) - Ojisan Boy (Yan)
Machabo (Fei) - Nemo (Yan) O

O Nishikin (Bla) - Ban (Ros)
Nishikin (Bla) - Sakuya Style (Cam) O
O Younashi (Jur) - Sakuya Style (Cam)
Younashi (Jur) - NO--NAME (Mak) O
O Reiketsu (Claw) - NO--NAME (Mak)
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Chichi@Kuroneko (Aku)
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Strike-san (Ken)
*Reiketsu played very well

O Tonpy (Vip) - Mago (Fei)
Tonpy (Vip) - Bon-chan O
Kiharu Boy (Sag) - Bon-chan O
AOI (Sag) - Bon-chan O
O Gasshuku (Vip) - Bon-chan
O Gasshuku (Vip) - Fuudo (Fei)
Gasshuku (Vip) - Umehara (Ryu) O
O KOICHINKO (Sak) - Umehara (Ryu)
O KOICHINKO (Sak) - Tokido

O Soushihan KSK (Abe) - (Guy)
O Soushihan KSK (Abe) - Shino-chan (Oni)
Soushihan KSK (Abe) - Inco (Ruf) O
ItaZan - Inco (Ruf) O
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Inco (Ruf)
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Kuramu (Haw)
O Kazunoko (Yun) - (Ros)

Dashio (Set) - Wiser Sanma (Yan) O
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Wiser Sanma (Yan)
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Kyoku (Yan)
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Acqua (Yan)
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Nemo (Yan)
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Ojisan Boy (Yan)

O Nuki (Set) - R (Guy)
Nuki (Set) - Rokotsu (Gen) O
O RF (Sag) - Rokotsu (Gen)
RF (Sag) - VER (Gouken) O
O Eita (Aku) - VER (Gouken) *Eita's big comeback in last round
Eita (Aku) - Arai (Claw) O
Kindevu (Ruf) - Arai (Claw) O
O Dogura (Dict) - Arai (Claw)
O Dogura (Dict) - Shiro (Mak) *perfect in last round

Semi-final

Nishikin (Bla) - Tonpy (Vip) O
O Dashio (Set) - Tonpy (Vip)
O Dashio (Set) - Kiharu Boy (Sag)
O Dashio (Set) - AOI (Sag)
O Dashio (Set) - Gasshuku (Vip)
O Dashio (Set) - KOICHINKO (Sak)

Kao TV! 5-4 Poi Poi 5
Soushihan KSK (Abe) - Nuki (Set) O
O Naruo (E. Ryu) - Nuki (Set)
O Naruo (E. Ryu) - Kindevu (Ruf)
Naruo (E. Ryu) - Dogura (Dict) O
O ItaZan - Dogura (Dict)
ItaZan - RF (Sag) O
O Nekojita (Abe) - RF (Sag)
Nekojita (Abe) - Eita (Aku) O
O Kazunoko (Yun) - Eita (Aku)

Final
Santaro to Yukai Kamoshirenai Nakama-tachi 5-4 Kao TV!
O Dashio (Set) - Soushihan KSK (Abe)
O Dashio (Set) - Naruo (E. Ryu)
O Dashio (Set) - ItaZan
Dashio (Set) - Kazunoko (Yun) O
O Reiketsu (Claw) - Kazunoko (Yun)
Reiketsu (Claw) - Nekojita (Abe) O
Santaroman (Sag) - Nekojita (Abe) O *Santaroman taunted in 1st round but lost, even got perfect'd in last round
O Younashi (Jur) - Nekojita (Abe) *Younashi ended the match with raw U2 on reaction

MVP
Reiketsu, a Claw player who is a fan of Umehara

Highlight 1
Karipaku, a female Cody player defeated 4 members of TOPANGA Fight Club with her solid performance

Highlight 2
KSK tried to punish Dan's Super by Abel's Ultra but failed

Note
- There're many well-known players/persons in Japan's FGC in this charity event. Some people you saw on the stream in the background are well-known in the community but they don't go to a tournament, especially female players.
- Many people came to this event even they live far away. (IIRC YHC-Mochi lives in the south-west coast of Japan 800 kilometers away)
- From the facts above, this is easily the biggest Street Fighter tournament in Japan because you don't normally see those people in the same venue like this.
- 95.8% of viewers rated the show on the main stream "Extremely good."
- The show ended with more than 166,000 attendees and more than 186,000 comments.





Photo
- Kao TV team
- Kao TV team after the final
- Peace! and more (Umehara, Tokido, Nuki, sako, Haitani)
- Players in a restaurant after the event: Table 1 (Umehara, Shiro, Fuudo, Momochi, Choco, Eita, Haitani, Kindevu) Table 2 (Nyanshi, R, Uryo, Mago, Tokido, Bon-chan, sako, Nuki)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Umehara book talk on Nico summary

Info
- Click on Umebook label to see all the related posts
- The stream

Summary
- He came with editor-in-chief of Shogakukan, the publisher of his book.
- The book he signs on the show will be sold online. Nico first planned to sell only 50 copies. It looks like they made a mistake by selling it before the show, and it was sold out since March 31. So they sold more, but this time not before the show.
- The show had around 26,000 attendees and 20,000 comments.
- 88.9% of the viewers rated this show "Extremely good."





Saturday, April 7, 2012

Nico to stream 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup

It is revealed that Nico Nico will be streaming The 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup tomorrow.

Just like last year, there will be 2 streams. The main stream will start on 11:30 (JST), the sub stream will start on 11:50 (JST).

The stream is free but premium users can choose to watch it in high definition.

Four commentators were already revealed: R (Guy player and TOPANGA League main commentator), Yoshiwo (Guile player and TL co-commentator), Sentosu, and Nuki.

Last year's streaming was provided by Gama no Abura who now retired from FG scene.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Kana Ueda blogs Umebook

Yesterday, voice actress Kana Ueda wrote about Daigo Umehara's book on her blog.

The blog post, with the same title as the book, is dedicated to Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning. It is basically a book review, a very positive one.

Ueda and Umehara are working together on promoting Square Enix's Gunslinger Stratos. She has the book shortly after the release.

The popular voice actress is a gamer and a mahjong player herself. She voiced the protagonist in a mahjong anime and occasionally appears in a mahjong game event. She even said that if she is a man, she would have called Umehara "Aniki" (big bro)!

Umehara spent a lot of time playing mahjong when he quit fighting games in 2008.

Gunslinger Stratos beta event day 2 summary

What character are they using?
Umehara - Aaron
Tokido - Toru
Fuudo - Shizune
Mago - Remy

Photo
11:20 - The opening - Umehara, Mago, Tokido, Fuudo
11:25 - Team Umehara won the first match!
??? - Team Umehara is ready!
??? - Playing 1
??? - Playing 2 (You can see Nyanshi standing in the background.)

Report
- Team Umehara played 16, won 14
- "Tokido Shiki" in this game is spamming rocket launcher from the top of building
- Fuudo has high accuracy rate
- Tactic of the team that beat Team Umehara is healing Jonathan who has "Super Armor"

Evo 2004 comeback in Acchi Kocchi anime

Now Daigo Umehara's book is a bestseller, it probably takes a while until we see the inevitable Daigo Umehara: The Animation or Live-action. But at least we have something to watch between the wait.

The first episode of a new anime Acchi Kocchi from last night has a parody of Umehara's dramatic comeback in Evolution 2004.

The scene you see here is a match in an arcade between the protagonist (Tsumiki Miniwa) and her friend (Sakaki Inui). Tsumiki was using Kane, and Sakaki was using Xia-Li.


The comeback is widely accepted as the best video game moment of all time representing both skills and enthusiasm. In 2011, it was recreated as the hardest trial in Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Nuki confirmed for Evo 2012

It is announced today that Nuki will compete in Tournament of Legends (July 6-7), the 32-man Super Street Fighter II Turbo tournament side event at Evolution 2012 (July 6-8).

Nuki used to be at Evo 6 times. The last time was 2008. And he then quitted Street Fighter IV in 2009.

This year in February, KSK bought an Xbox 360 with SSF4AE and set up Internet for Nuki. That was when he actually started playing again. It looks like the hype brought him back.

This news should also mean that he will compete in SSF4AE2012 at Evo 2012. Although he still needs to learn all the matchups of new characters.

Tournament of Legends already confirmed Tokido. We also expect to see Daigo Umehara added to the list of players as he was the winner of the SSF2T side tournament last year at Evo 2011.

Umehara and Nuki are the only 2 players in history who won both Evolution and Tougeki in the same year on the same game. Umehara won Evo 6 times, Nuki won 3.


Umehara Nuki
Evo 2002 X O
Evo 2003 O O
Evo 2004 O X
Evo 2005 X O
Evo 2006 O O
Evo 2007 X O
Evo 2008 X O
Evo 2009 O X
Evo 2010 O X
Evo 2011 O X
Evo 2012 ? O

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Gunslinger Stratos beta event day 1 summary

Info
- Gunslinger Stratos beta event announced
- Click on Gunslinger Stratos label to see all related posts
- Time: 10:00
- Date: April 4
- Location: Akihabara Taito Station (Tokyo)


Photo
0:00 - Shop before closing
6:00 - Cabinets are set
7:00 - Limited goods for participants
9:45 - The guests before event
10:00 - Shop opening - Look at the crowd in front of the place!

Media Report
- Famitsu
- 4Gamer.net
- Dengeki 

Umehara book enters Amazon top 10 best sellers

Daigo Umehara's book was restocked since yesterday on Amazon Japan after a shortage. And the book is now at 7th place on Amazon's Best Sellers Rank in Book category, and 1st in Game Guidebook category.

Amazon Japan is the biggest and most popular online retailer in the country.

Update 1: The book moved up to 6th place.
Update 2: The book moved up to 5th place.

Overall Book category

Game Guidebook category

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Kana Ueda retweets Umehara book tweet

Daigo Umehara's official Twitter made 3 tweets promoting his book on April 2 which is the release date. Today his message is retweeted (forwarded) by Kana Ueda, the voice actress of Shizune Rindo character in Gunslinger Stratos.

The message is
"Kachi Tsuzukeru Ishiryoku" (book title) from Shogakukan (publisher) is released today. I would be happy if many people read it.


The voice actress is quite famous. She currently has more than 88,500 followers on her account. If you are into anime, you can see how popular she is from this chart.

Umehara's Twitter currently has 21,000 followers, with less than 40 tweets. He gained 10,000 followers in the first 3 days.

Update: She has the book now.

Umehara book sold out on its first day

Daigo Umehara's first book Willpower to Keep Winning was released yesterday in Japan -- and already is sold out in many places.


Many people reported that they could not find the book in book stores. They have no choice but to wait for Amazon's restock. Amazon Japan is the biggest and most popular online retailer in the country and the book is "Temporarily out of stock" since afternoon. Some people started selling used one at almost 2,000 yen without shipping cost, from normal price 777 yen free shipping.


Umehara's book was ranked at 35th on Amazon's Best Sellers Rank in Book category, and 2nd in Game Guidebook category.

On April 8, Nico Nico will have a dedicated live show to Umehara's book. The books he signs will be sold on Nico's online shop. Reports said that all of 50 copies was already sold out (preordered) in March 31.

Big announcements from Tougeki: UMvC3, Touhou, etc.

Tonight on Nico, a show was arranged for some big announcements from Tougeki organizer. Tougeki producer and Fuudo were also there.

Here is our summary.

Umehara will be invited for exhibition match in Nico Nico Chokaigi
They asked the viewers who they want to watch in the 8-man exhibition matches. Umehara was named, though they will invite him anyway. Confirmed players are Haitani, Fuudo, MDR.

All tournaments in Chokaigi are single (1 on 1) and winners can choose teammates
The winners of Tougeki qualifiers in Chokaigi get to choose teammates if the tournament is 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 in the finals.

Tougeki to try double elimination in Chokaigi
They are planning to try double elimination system, but for SSF4AE2012 tournament only.

Tougeki to deal with doujin/PC game for the first time
Since there is Touhou booth in Chokaigi, Tougeki will have a Touhou Hisoutensoku special tournament in Chokaigi. (We actually have a post about this game.)

Nico to stream Tougeki 2011 for free
Since they did not release Tougeki 2011 DVD, they decided to stream it for free on April 22.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 being planned for Tougeki 2012
They want to add Soulcalibur V -- and UMvC3.

In the end, they said that UMvC3 is the last title so we now have a complete lineup. Leaving Street Fighter X Tekken behind is another bad news for Capcom's Ono team. The game is being given the cold shoulder from around the world. The game suffers from many issues. Evo 2012 does not accept its Gem System. Now Tougeki does not accept it at all. In contrast, Capcom's Niitsuma team is making a big comeback with UMvC3 as the Japanese start to give it attention.

Let us remind you about titles.
  1. Aquapazza (2 on 2)
  2. Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena (1 on 1)
  3. Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (3 on 3)
  4. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver.2012 (3 on 3)
  5. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited (2 on 2)
  6. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (3 on 3)
  7. Soulcalibur V (being planned)
  8. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (being planned)

Tougeki 2012 (finals) is still not dated. But judging from everything, it should last at least 2 days.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

KVO x GODSGARDEN UMvC3 announced

It is announced today that KVO x GODSGARDEN will take place on May 4. The title is Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Details
- 1 on 1
- 3 players will be invited, 3 players will come from voting, 2 players will come from appointed day qualifier (8 total)
- Ageo Joe (Kusoru) and Cho (KUBODSGARDEN champ) will be invited. (accept or not is up to them)
- Time: May 4, 22:00 (JST) start
- Place:  CCO Cha (a maid cafe in Osaka)

It is also revealed that the winner will get a plane ticket to Evolution 2012. The prize is big, because it should be worth just under 200,000 yen.

Last year at Evolution 2011, Frieda was the only Japanese MvC3 player. He did not make it to top 32. This year is more interesting, because UMvC3 has better gameplay. Kubo, another Japanese UMvC3 player, is already confirmed to go to Evolution 2012.

KVO is actually a FG tournament in Osaka. It is organized by one of the people behind KUBODSGARDEN (UMvC3) tournament on January 21. KVO 2012 will be held between May 4-5. There is also a separated 3 on 3 UMvC3 tournament on the first day. Persona 4 Arena and the latest Power Instinct are on the second day.

Osaka is 7 hours by car from Tokyo. It seems like there are many local players who are interested in UMvC3. It is expected to have around 80-100 participants.