UmeTalk: Daigo and GO1 (Part 1)

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[Last Thursday, Daigo Umehara had an interview with GO1 on his weekly UmeTalk segment. People seem to have gotten a kick out of the bits I translated on Twitter, so I'll go ahead and give a rough, unedited translation of the rest of the talk's highlights. You can view the archive of the interview here:
https://www.twitch.tv/daigothebeastv/v/89467578
GO1 shows up on stream about 13 minutes into the video, which is where I'll start translating from.]

[Daigo begins the segment by pulling out a sketchbook with one discussion topic per page. The first: "Introduce Yourself"]

Age: "Today, I'm 29. Almost 30... next year, anyway."

Before SFV: D: "What genre would you call the games you played?"
G: "I suppose... Anime games?"
D: "You mean, anime fighting games?"
G: "Yeah. I played a lot of games, but the motivation was always SBO. The games that get picked for SBO change every year, so I kept changing games so I could keep entering. Before I played fighters, I played rhythm games. And one day, I saw an SBO video and wanted to make it to that stage."
D: "So, you used to play rhythm games until you learned about SBO and started playing fighters?"
G: "Well, I ~did~ play fighters back then too, but I only got serious about them after learning about SBO."
D: "So, you used to play that guitar one? Guitar Freaks?"
G: "Yeah. I was... first in the country?"
D: "Wow! So, when did you start going to arcades?"
G: "I started going in elementary school... hmm..." (trails off, presumably trying to pin down the exact grade.)
D: "Pretty early. About the same time as me. Did any of your classmates go?"
G: "Plenty, actually. Stuff like DDR and KoF '97 were popular at the time."
D: "So you were a casual fighter fan?"
G: "I was casually into fighters and I also thought rhythm games were fun. I didn't have any dreams about being a pro player or anything, I just really liked music. I actually wanted to be in a band. I started playing the drums back in sixth grade when a friend showed me a place I could play them. So yeah, that was my grade school dream. I even wrote that I wanted to be a musician in my graduation album. But as I played rhythm games, my interests shifted from music to the games themselves."
D: "Sounds like that worked out. (laughs) Man, a lot of players want to be in bands, huh? You're the third straight one we've had on the show. Itazan, and... John [Takeuchi], right? There's also Eita, Hameko, GO1, [Name I can't make out. Something like Kuchijiken?], -R- Bison... and there's probably more. Anyway, playing the guitar or drums is like combo practice, right? You keep practicing on your own until you can get it right. I suppose fighting game players are drawn to that sort of thing."
G: "Well, I liked music first, and that's what led me to play rhythm games. My main game was DrumMania back in the day. Then I played Guitar Freaks, etc., then I was first in the country."
D: "Score games, huh? So, there's no coincidence, right? You were objectively the best?"
G: "Yeah, that's how it works."
D: "Because in fighting games, even if you're not the absolute best, it's still possible to win first in a national tournament. But in the world of high scores like with shmups, you're the best the moment you get that score. I guess games where luck isn't a factor are pretty neat."

G: "Well, that's how rhythm games are, but when I got to SBO when I was 18..."
D: "Oh right, we were talking about that. So when did you first go to SBO?"
G: "I went in '06 and entered a game called Melty Blood..."
D: "Oh yeah, I know MB." [ヽ(^o^)丿]
G: "So, that was my first SBO. I was so nervous about being in tournament that I don't remember much outside of getting bopped in the first round."
D: "So, how would you describe your skill at that time?"
G: "If I had to say, I'd put myself at 'random scrub' level. I was trash. (nervous chuckle) I didn't start getting good until about SBO '08 when I started fighting high level players and we all helped each other get better."
D: "I take it you liked team tournaments?"
G: "I did at the time, but now I think I prefer 1v1. As long as it's not best of 1!"
D: "Yeah, shit's rough."
G: "Shit's hella rough! It still is!"
D: "As an aside, in about... 2004, I think, I'd had enough of fighting games. My tourney results were a mess back then. The year before, I'd entered into four games [ST, CvS2, GGXX, and 3S]. It wasn't working, so I cut it down to two the next year. And my results still sucked, of course, because work doesn't matter in a best of 1. Or, at least, it doesn't get a chance to shine. I lost in the first or second round of GG and lost in the second round of CvS2. I cut down on games and it still didn't help. And since it was at a huge event like SBO of all places, I started questioning what that year was even for. It was also around the time I started thinking about my future, getting a job, quitting the NEET life... so I went to mahjong... [He kinda mumbles through parts and I can't make out the rest. This is hard. ;_;]
[Note: Daigo only mentions GG and CvS2 in relation to SBO 2004, but the JP Fighting Game Player Wiki says he also entered 3S that year. It says he made top 32. :V]
D: "So, you had good results in SBO '08, right?"
G: "I made it to top 8 in '08, but it was in '09 that I played TvC..."
D: "TvC (laughs)"
G: "(laughs) ...and lost in the first round, and in SBO '10, I got chosen again for Melty. I wasn't chosen in '09, but I was picked the next year, so it turned into this huge fight for the top in Melty and I won it that year."
D: "So... if my math is correct, it took you about three years to win SBO after you started taking fighters seriously."
G: "Yes, three or four years."
D: "Wow, that's fast. So, I know you play, like, a lot of different games?"
G: "Well, I was in SBO the next year in a game called Aquapazza..."
D: "Oh, I know that one."
G: "...which I won..."
D: "Nice!"
G: "I never thought I'd get the chance to win twice!"
D: "Aquapazza... that's Arcsys?"
G: "Er, no, it's Examu. It's kind of got these... moe-esque elements."
D: "Um... Anyway, so... hmm, was 2011 the last one?"
G: "2011 was fine, 2012 was the last one.
D: "Ah. So, you had pretty good results after that?"
G: "Well, after that, I showed up at national tournaments for a number of different games, but the big thing was that Evo had this side tournament called AnimEvo, and, you know, it's for people who like anime games."
D: "You were invited?"
G: "Yes, I was invited. That was my first time going to Evo. So there I entered Melty Blood, Aquapazza, Under Night In-Birth, and Dengeki Fighting Climax, and then I won all of them.
D: "Wow, four? They may be side tournaments, but I think four wins is an Evo first."
G: "So after the side tournaments, well, how can you go to Evo and not want to watch? I mean I watched Evo vids and I thought those were awesome then, but watching in person is totally different. I had goosebumps! So I started thinking, hey, SFV is coming out next year, so maybe I could enter? So I took the opportunity of SFV to go to Evo."
D: "So SBO made you interested in fighters... and Evo turned you over to SFV? Hmm... I guess it's the same with SFIV, there's something about Street Fighter that makes people who are good at other games always come back to it. I guess if they're already good, they may as well shoot for fame?"
G: "Something like that. So I told myself I'd make sure to get on that stage next year and started practicing."
D: "And it happened. Wow, your dream came true just like that! You know, life doesn't usually go that well."
G: "Yeah, I was getting kinda worried when things started happening one after the other. As for side tournaments, I entered three this year. I won Melty, won Dengeki, and lost to a foreigner in Under Night to make fourth. So yeah, pretty good results."
D: "Man, you're like a fighting game superman. Wait, you can play guitar too, so what kind of superman is that?"

[Guy off camera tells Daigo to switch to the next page of the sketchbook. This has gotten kinda long, so I'll cut the TL off at here for now.]

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