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Daigo Umehara makes comedically awkward entrance in borrowed suit as fighting games won big at the Japan eSports Awards
Daigo Umehara makes comedically awkward entrance in borrowed suit as fighting games won big at the Japan eSports Awards

Daigo Umehara makes comedically awkward entrance in borrowed suit as fighting games won big at the Japan eSports Awards

January 16, 2025 Entertainment & Lifestyle


The Beast himself walked away with 2 awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award







Daigo Umehara makes comedically awkward entrance in borrowed suit as fighting games won big at the Japan eSports Awards


Fighting games are booming once again in Japan, especially on the back of Street Fighter 6, and the scene is receiving some official recognition for their strides and accomplishments.






The Japan eSports Awards 2024 just took place earlier today where top fighting game competitors, its leagues and titles themselves won big — while having some laughs along the way too.









BST|Daigo Umehara may have been the biggest winner overall with The Beast himself taking home two awards for his recent and storied career accomplishments.


Firstly, Umehara was given the Live Entertainment Best Bout Award for his comeback against Yamaguchi during the Street Fighter League Pro-JP season last Fall.


More importantly, however, Daigo was also recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his 30 years of competing at a top level across multiple games and evolving the scene in a way around him.




The legendary player is considered the first true pro fighting game player who was able to go full-time with a big sponsor back in 2010, which took him more than a decade to reach.


Similarly, Umehara seems to express how it can take a lot of time to be recognized and appreciated in general, not just about himself.


The multi-game god’s discussion of his career takes place starting around the 2 hour and 35 minute mark though it’s obviously all in Japanese.


And then we get the funny parts.


Daigo is not known for being very graceful in formal and professional settings like this, which was on full display here around the 2 hour and 39 minute mark.



When called out for his nomination, Umehara awkwardly looks around and asks the host to point out where he’s supposed to stand and walk off to.


At the same time, the separate commentary desk was having a laugh at Daigo actually showing up in a suit, which was also comedically explained.


Umehara still doesn’t somehow apparently own a suit, so one had to supposedly be purchased for him and brought to the show so that he couldn’t forget it as translated by HiFight.


His acceptance speech begins around the 2 hour and 45 minute mark.


Beyond Daigo, his longtime rival Rohto|Tokido also walked away with a big score too.



He was given the Best eSports Player / Most Valuable Player of the Year Award, which likely tied back largely to his huge Capcom Pro Tour Japan Super Premier victory late last year.


Street Fighter 6 itself received the Best eSports Game Award with Producer Shuhei Matsumoto coming out to give a speech while the Street Fighter League was recognized with the Best eSports Tournament Award too.




Moreover, Tekken World Tour 2024 champion VARREL|Rangchu and other members across the fighting game community were given awards and recognition throughout the show.


We even saw Haitani and Kokujin appeared in another funny commercial together like they previously did last year around the 2 hour and 17 minute mark.



So overall, the Japanese fighting game scene had a huge presence across the whole awards show.


You can check out the full stream below for the Japan eSports Awards, which should begin with Daigo’s entrance.










Source: Event Hubs

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