From Game Novice to Tournament Competitor: The Idol Who Got Hooked on Street Fighter 6 and Why

I want to do Street Fighter cosplay!

This comment made FRIDAY’s gravure editor raise an eyebrow when he met with “Nippon Wachachacha” idol Mob. No matter how much she says she likes games, there is the issue of copyrights. ……

If by any chance we get the OK, let’s do it.

A few months later, a unique collaboration with “Street Fighter 6” was realized in the October 31 issue of “FRIDAY.

This project was actually made possible by the fact that Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama and Suzuki Mob. were acquaintances. The creator of a blockbuster game that has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide and a maverick idol who gets a lot of buzz – what was it about these two creative individuals that resonated with each other (see Part 1 of the interview)?

Video of Mob. kneading a white ball while weeping

Nakayama：I first became aware of Mob. when I saw a video of him on YouTube in which he was making white balls while crying. I usually watch videos of ruins or eating in exotic places, but it suddenly came up in my recommendations.

Suzuki: I took this video when I had just moved to Tokyo and was feeling homesick. My parents owned a shiratama shop, so I made a video of me kneading and eating shiratama while saying, “I want to go home. ……

*Click here for “Membre woman making shiratama dango while crying – moon viewing while being sick.

Nakayama：It ‘s a great idea (laughs). I was intrigued by that video and went to the signing event first. The meeting place happened to be close to the venue, and I thought that if I went there now, there would be a “person making shiratama” there.

I arrived early, so I sat down and waited, and then I found Mr. Mob. He was late, or so I thought, and Mr. Ipp (the office president) was getting angry with him. When he awkwardly went to the backyard, I passed him and he bailed me out, and I remember thinking, “He is a very nice person.

Suzuki: I remember when Mr. Nakayama followed me on SNS, I thought, “Who is this famous old man? Actually, I was not familiar with games, and when he mentioned CAPCOM, it didn’t ring a bell.

Later, I started receiving game goods. The characters were all cute, so I secretly bought Street Fighter 6 without telling Mr. Nakayama. I’ve never been good at games, but the world was well-developed and the characters were fascinating and the backgrounds were detailed. I found myself hooked.

-What was your first encounter with Street Fighter?

Nakayama：My original experience was Street Fighter II. When I was in elementary school, a transfer student came from the next town over, and we became friends because of Street Fighter. I used to pedal my bicycle to the distant candy store where the cabinet was located.

Mob.: I hardly played video games, so I didn’t think I would get into it. But there was an adventure element before the fighting game, so I got into it from there. The story was interesting, and as you progressed through the game, you came closer to “what is a fighting game” and “what is strength”. Before I knew it, I myself had come to face the game as a gaming experience.

Nakayama: (As the creator,) that was exactly what I was aiming for. This year marks the 37th anniversary of Street Fighter, but when we were playing it, it was just a game to play against each other. It was fun to play, but there was no process to get to that point. From the perspective of today’s customers, it was a game that was difficult to understand how to enjoy, so we created a mode to get people to like the characters before playing against them.

Mob: I like Gouki the best. Gouki is the only one who can win.

Nakayama: I don’t know what part of the game stuck with me from the perspective of the people who made it. When we started pushing Gouki, I thought, “Why?　I thought, “Why?