Interview with Daigo "The Beast" Umehara at EVO 2009 

good interview Goo, Glen

Sick interview, great to hear Daigo's thoughts after the Finals. The US players really stepped it up this year with so many great variety of players. Very impressive stuff guys, you did us proud!

props to Kuni for translating. I was hoping for a post match interview

Well said. Also, congrads to diago on winning the tournament!

gootecks always asks the right questions, hes really good at what he does

Great interview. A class act and congratulations to Daigo.

It was an amazing set of matches, mad props to both. Gootecks looked like he was about to shit bricks.

Awesome interview, Daigo's last statement was really good.

i know right... i am rarely that geeked but i felt the energy that a hardcore basketball fan might have for his home team last night.... incredible!

daigo is not a nerd, he seems to be a very professional player who respects everyone. for sure the world best player

Grande Daigo.

That other guy wasn't specifically a translator. He is Kuni, he has one of the best Zangief's in SSF2T in the world and came to EVO to I believe enter in the HD Remix tournament.

i'm pretty sure that when diago was playing there was a blinding light of awsomness emitting from him

Wow that was so entertaining, i think il watch it again

Umehara is unbelievable. I mean, there's a lot of great players out there, but to win consistently in every title is just amazing.

Why is everybody complaining about Kuni? He's not even a translator. It says 'Kuni "kuni27da" Funada Street Fighter player from Japan" in huge 100dpi fonts.

I like it how he shows his respect towards Justin. Its not always vise versa.

Actually Kuni is the japanese liaison for the SBO event in Japan. Helps organize stuff, even for the foreign players

Which is why he said the key is finding your own shortcomings and overcoming them.

@betomondini He's not a professional translator. He's a fellow player who happens to speak a bit of English.

Justin fights for the fan, he's an entertainer. Daigo fights for the fight, a real life Ryu.

It would be so great to enter EVO and show your ID at the entrance which says "Daigo Umehara".

It's where he had his questions stored.

Great job Gootecks

Haha, Kuni asked if he was suprised at how much everyone loves him. Amusing.

Daigo is such a class act. His fellow SF player who served as a translator did an impressive job. People need to keep in mind that he's not an actual professional translator. I've always wanted to learn japanese, and if I could speak it as well as he speaks english, I would be happy.

Cheers to Daigo for his win... A true Pro and now a SF4 champion unmatched for his skill level. Although im not a Justin Wong supporter and I dislike his arrogance I must admit he really really put up a great fight and his boxer really amazed me.. his combo's and timings were so accurate.

I was reading the questions I had prepared from my phone. I didn't want to try to come up with questions on the fly out of respect for Daigo.

depends on how old you are, where you live, and what your first language is

exactly, the translator did exactly what he needed to do, good job everyone

heres my translation 1.when i came to america last time, i felt there was a little difference in the level of play but this time coming to evo, the level is almost the same. finalist justin was really good.

I loved how Gootecks said "Balrog" and the translator changed it to "Bison". Good shit lol. Great interview, DAIGO'S A BEAST!

Daigo is so polite.

That match was so freaking good best sf iv matcch that i saw so far.

GOOTECKS AND DAIGO LOVE IT

He's born in 1981

"Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to THE BEAST, and they also worshiped THE BEAST and asked, 'Who is like THE BEAST? Who can make war against him?'" Daigo's the man.

props gootecks! nice interview for gyt

Great stuff.

Balrog is the US name for the boxer, and Bison is the JP name, Using 'Boxer" seems more universally sound.

go check out the match between diago and iyo for the gamestop tourny in SFO. now that match is the best match ever.

congrats to the champion

DId you guys notice that he said "Rye-You" not "Ree-You" it's also "Saa-Get" not "Sah-Got"

Daigo doesn't look nerdy at all, good for him :)

awesome vid, daigo is the man!

yeah, he did a good job with that

he has faith in the heart of the cards

I love Daigo

texting on your phone while interviewing daigo, I'm sure he felt REAL important.

Wished he asked Kuni a question: who is the better player from his experience, daigo or tomo?

Kuni is awesome, nuts to these other guys.

Actually, it is. Just because daigo doesn't play all day now (it's unnecessary) didn't mean he or other top players did not at some point. There are other parts of the equation, obviously.

HERO!

daigo still looks like a teenager,maybe he's immortal

man daigo is like 27 years old now..

I could be wrong about this, but the only reason I could see anybody would be pointing this out would be the fact that they don't know about the fact that Balrog here is actually M.Bison originally. His name was changed so Mike Tyson wouldn't sue, basically. US Vega = Balrog, US Balrog = M.Bison, US M.Bison = Vega.

That's how Daigo won EVO, believe it or not.

He was reading his questions he wrote down on his iPhone, not texting...........

its actually not our language. We borrowed it from the English.

very good daigo is good player

No, that is entirely incorrect. Street Fighter is an ARCADE game, therefore it is meant to be played competitively against other human beings in a live setting.

Damn right, I'd rather watch that any day!

Daigo Tournament Biography on G4TV. They should cover his path to becoming the Beast.

He threw his stick at the Fei Long pad player ... Thanks for interview Gootecks !

the translator is also a beast at sf.

Wow I didn't realize Kuni was so old.

@adryanv I noticed that too LOL he translated Bison to Balrog seamlessly that was impressive and showed his familiarity of the game. The translations were slow, but quite accurate as well (except for the first 2 questions, which were not as accurately translated as I would have liked).

Daigo is a true champ because of his modesty.

Daigo rules!!!!

awesome display by daigo there. here's hoping more japanese players show up next time. also, yeah. daigo still looks young as hell. compare how him and alex valle looked a decade ago and now. lol

In the semi finals he lost to Valle, but I think it was in the qualifying rounds FOR semis or something.

The translator pro'd it. He used "Balrog" when speaking English, but used "Bison" when speaking Japanese. I can't imagine switching languages like that, and keeping the localization names straight. God, what a nightmare.

That match was amazing....

Wait, why are you all fighting? I was just hoping to enjoy the interview and I came across THIS?

put the cell phone down for 2 seconds gootecks

I almost died watching that finals.

FCKIN ey, this dude is a true SF legend.

Did anyone doubt Daigo? Were there people actually thinking that he wouldn't take it?

this guy is a beast

Daigo's post match quote to Wong: You did quite well, but you need more training to defeat me!

cool

i think hes readin the questions on his phone, prolly from like the forums or somethin from the ppl

@adryanv It's Kuni, why are you surprised :P He's a very well-known SF player lol

That translator made me laugh. "realizing his SHOTAGE". That was funny

yes he is also he works.

most people would of gave a short and shitty answer for the tips question but this was a really good response.

that'd be hilarious if next year or at SBO gootecks shows up with the same hairstyle as daigo. :> nice interview, guys. 5-*'s

Only 5 hours a day 5 days a week? Yeah that probably means practicing specific combos/counters that he knows will work on the players he will play at EVO, the other hours and days of the week he still plays, thinks, and dreams street fighter.

Practise is key for anythign in SFIV, ppl tryign the game don't give up just dedicate the itme and even though it may look like ur getting nowhere u are getting better.

how the fck do they find the time to play video games so damn much?!

Daigo wa ichiban ni natta. Sugoku taihen na tatakai datta kamo ne. When he said there is a different level of skill between japan players and u.s. players, wonder if he meant that the u.s. players weren't as good? (he did)

how come they didnt get a better translator

He's from Japan actually.

is it true that Gootecks threw his arcade stick at a wall when he lost?

funny to listen to how they still refer to Balrog as Bison

daigo ,you are so handsome!

he did not lose to fei long pad player. he lost to calipower (alex valle)

can I watch final anywhere

This is sad, while they treat a video game like a sport, you watch it.

Daigo is very awesome, that performance was great by both players...on a side note, I heard gootecks threw his stick at the pope or something like that, any thuth to that?