The passion to learn the will to endure and a willingness to adapt our traits
common to some of the greatest heroes in fighting game history, but for Daigo
Umehara they are commandments that have led to an indelible competitive legacy
the man now known as the beast was not born that way.
Born in 1981 in Aomori Prefecture, Japan Daigo's family moved back to Tokyo when he was in the second
grade. As a youth in the early 90's Daigo took an interest in fighting games
which were very much still in their infancy in Japan and interest in
fighting games usually meant arcades.
the hot title of the day was Street Fighter 2 a follow-up to Capcom's original 1987 street fighter
release but in the arcade the young Daigo faced with long lines for Capcom's
newest title and unable to stay into the late hours opted instead to play SNK’s Fatal Fury
He would eventually find the glory of competition when he began
playing Street Fighter 2 Championship edition what he did not find however was natural talent.
while he had been drawn in by Street Fighter and started with Fatal Fury
the game at would put Daigo on the competitive
landscape was vampire hunter part of the series that is known as dark stalkers in
the West and his devotion to the game and passion to improve would culminate
in a feat that has since achieved near legendary status if you've ever been in
an arcade you know there's one law above all others winner stays on at the ekia
bar a second game center the young die goat managed an impressive feat
stringing together 286 victories in one of the arcades Darkstalkers machines the
game could actually only count to 256 wins at which point it rolled over back
to zero before Daigo tacked on a few more
he was eventually forced to leave when the game center closed not because he
had been defeated back before widespread internet adoption feats like these were
part of how a player's reputation spread Daigo became known if not by name then
at least as one of the local scenes bright stars as the guy who had strung
together nearly 300 wins in the arcade as he continued to play Darkstalkers
Daigo spat would eventually cross with Shinya Inoue ki Onuki had heard of dials
legend but in 1997 daggoo would show him the two men who would later become known
as two of Japan's five gods of fighting games faced off in the grand final of
the gameís Cup national vampire Savior tournaments
the B Sherman near-match went in favor of Daigo who claimed his first major
tournament victory tiger would then move on to Street Fighter Alpha 3 in 1998 an
official national tournament was held for the title and who else would meet
him in the finals but a new key and again in a mere match however this time
both players were playing a V ISM hakuna
so I see don't watch for you little monkeys today we may have a clue Moscone
we make a typo so he triumphs over his domestic rival in Japan
Dago had a final challenge in the tournament one that would send him to
the United States for the first time in San Francisco California
Daigo was set to battle the American champion mr. Street Fighter himself Alex
of ia and despite facing one of Japan's first challengers to the west of ia was
pretty confident about his chances
really potent American Gothic I chosen
via got out to an early lead diagnol would show that Japan was not to be
trifled with winning his first international competition and breaking
into the Western mainstream FTC at the same time in the early 2000s the
fighting game landscape became extremely varied though Daigo stuck to 2d fighters
he played a variety of titles he took first at both the 2000 national
tournaments for Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Capcom vs. SNK but became perhaps
best known for his Street Fighter 2 turbo play as the fighting game
community grew tournaments rose to accommodate the demand in Japan the
legendary super battle opera series of tournaments began in 2003 while in the
United States of the evolution championship series grew out of a
tournament series known as battle by the bay renaming to evo in 2002 Tigers
legend grew with him as he proved to be among the best in the world
managing a second place in CBS 2 and guilty gear X 2 at SPO 2003 and taking
first in the 3b3 Super Turbo Tournament at evil 2003 he took first place at the
super turbo events and second at Street Fighter 3 third strike but Dido's
profile as a fighting game God was about to burst or from the confines of the fgc
becoming something that even the fighting game community
contained at evo 2004 dye goes match against Justin Wong in the third strike
losers finals exemplified his unceasing will to win while simultaneously
inspiring a new generation of fighting game players matched up against Justin's
chun-li Daigo found himself so far behind in round three of their first
game that even blocking chun-li's who you can send super art would ship his
can out Justin had decided to test the Beast the Beast did not back down
parrying all 16 hits of the super art and using his own to seal the deal dye
goes feat was a perfect example of the beasts a legendary tenacity not only had
Daigo put in the work to learn the timing he did it in a high-pressure a
competitive situation so when you hear the stories of how great he is and then
he pulled off something that ridiculous the most ridiculous thing and that
definitely cemented Daigo as like the hero of the FCC the clip known in the
West as evil moment 37 remains the most popular highlight in fighting game
history and was a gateway for a lot of new players I had a lot of friends who
started playing that strike after that explicitly because of that moment they
thought it was so great despite his second-place finish at evo 2004 dye goes
interest in fighting games began to wane and by the fall of 2004 he had mostly
withdrawn from the community fearing that further growth had become
impossible given the uncertainty surrounding his chosen path still the
fires of competition burned inside the Beast and he dove into the world of
mahjongg but the same thing that had stopped Daigo from continuing and
fighting games became a crystal clear possibility for his future and mahjongg
Daigo instead threw himself into eldercare as a career and soon began to
consider opportunities for further advancement at the nursing home
but despite finding the work fulfilling in its own way he would later call this
period after leaving on both fighting games and mahjong the lowest point of
his life you didn't have a game we got so much then just pile up the zhu bajie
items play dr. su money become Jesus vice vice quite excited
dynamos oh let me cheat did it all the way under demonic
sort of IQ nobody nuts on this unit but the release of Street fire for in
Japanese arcades sucked him back end it had been nearly nine years since the
release of Street Fighter 3 third strike and the new release had reawakened the
competitive fighting game community at first
he treated it more as a hobby heading to the arcade between work shifts but the
thrill of competition had once again gripped the beast and challengers
hearing that he was back in the arcades lined up for the chance to face off
before long Daigo was competing in national tournaments and even traveled
to the United States for an exhibition match against the American Korean and
Japanese champions he defeated punko IO and justin wong at that tournament
despite not intending to make the trip to evil originally Daigo knew that he
had to attend the events first Street Fighter 4 tournament in his book
Daigo notes that no one of led to him being approached for the Pro
contracts but his performance at Evo in 2009 a must have played some part in
that outcome there at the first Evo Grand Finals for Street Fighter 4 he
once again found himself opposite Justin WOM after defeating him earlier in the
bracket he had fought his way back to a faded confrontation after an initial
game or a Daigo ruled over Justin's Rufus Justin switched to Balrog and
managed to reset the breath
with the crowd firmly behind him against the Japanese legend Justin had a final
set to claim victory for America but Daigo had other plans
commentator talking record the player oh no I talking to car break after this
oh and Justin must admit that was an excellent match the crowd is on its feet
in April 2010 Daigo Umehara became the first official japanese pro gamer after
signing a sponsorship deal with Mad Catz the Beast had well and truly returned
and fighting games had returned with him the release of Street Fighter 4
rekindled interest in the genre like never before and the scene experienced a
renaissance that would attract a whole new generation of competitors despite
the new comers and old guard Daigo remained a strong competitor also
winning evo 2010's a super Street Fighter 4 tournament with a grand finals
win over Ricky Ortiz but the switch to the games Arcade
Edition left him looking for new answers he abandoned Ryu the character that he
had played since Street Fighter Ford's release and that had always been his
favorite in favour of young it ultimately didn't work out as he placed
fourth at Evo 2011 in 2012 with the games a newest update he switched back
to Ryu and saw some success but it was ultra street fighter 4 and the addition
of evil Ryu that saw him return to form after a relatively quiet 2013 the Beast
took a number of high profile events in 2014 and 2015
so he fell short of an evolution championship he did play second at
Capcom Cup Daigo spoke candidly in his book about how he had felt in 2004
uncertain about whether he'd had the opportunities he needed to improve but
he also wrote that while he did not need validation for his achievements he had
expected to see at least some recognition some indication of a future
its logical then that he donated his $60,000 winnings from Capcom Cup to the
evolution scholarship fund for the department of game design at New York
University it was a way to help reduce that uncertainty for future players
that helps in a practical way dye hose example his dedication to improvement
his refusal to back down has already set an example that remains irrelevant for
every fighting game competitor whether you just performed your first combo or
you're in Grand Finals at Capcom Cup this journey is one that any fighting
game player can understand and relate to Daigo and now 36 years old hasn't yet
found the same level of success in Street Fighter 5
despite the switch from Ryu to guile but even so counseling you know is
irresponsible ever since he was a kid he really wanted to show that playing video
games is something that you could excel at and was worth excelling that he had
both in game and and out game impacts that I think I've really been hugely and
then believe a lot of fighting games because that fighting game because of
being we've seen what happens when Daigo is challenged
we felt each parry heard
the Beast taught us that with the passion to learn and the will to keep
going no matter what a comeback is always possible thanks for watching if
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