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Bonchan Plays Matchmaker for Japan's SFV Scene
With offline fighting game competition waning in Japan, Masato "Bonchan" Takahashi has made it his mission to help build the country's Street Fighter V community.
Travel is a key component of competition, especially in the fighting game community. Back when arcades were the main means of high-level play, moving outside your immediate area was the best way to learn and grow as a competitor. Sure, you may have been the strongest player in your corner of the world, but traveling had a way of broadening one’s horizons, because beating everyone in your small group wasn’t a guarantee things would go the same way if you visited a rival arcade.
With the spread of netplay, arcade visits have, for better or worse, been largely usurped by online lobbies. That said, nothing can replace the experience of participating in offline events. In order to connect with players who mostly find their competition online, Japanese competitor Masato “Bonchan” Takahashi is currently on an extensive road trip through his native land to meet the regional scenes that make up Japan’s larger fighting game community.
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Bonchan's Road Trip Is Uniting Japanese SFV
Japan thought its Street Fighter communities died without arcades to play in. Bonchan didn't believe it. Now he's meeting Street Fighter communities all over Japan — and this is just the beginning.
Bonchan’s plan is to eventually visit each of Japan’s 47 prefectures. So far, he’s made stops in Sapporo, Hokkaido and Nagoya, Aichi, and is scheduled to host five more events in various regions throughout 2017. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Bonchan to discuss the early legs of his Japanese road trip, how successful they’ve been, and what he’s learned about the communities he’s visited in the process.
The first step
“My main goal is to inspire the young players in these regional areas to start their own offline community,” Bonchan told us. “While throwing an event might be an exhausting job, it’s also very rewarding, and it’s always better to have a rival or a friend to play and communicate with rather than playing alone at home online.”
Human connection is an important part of competition. While you may have an endless supply of opponents online, they’re ultimately faceless. Engaging with players in your immediate area gives you more than just someone else to play against; you’re able to discuss strategy and develop new techniques with real people, and perhaps even meet some jerk whose cocky attitude pushes you to become a better competitor. And if Bonchan’s events are any indication, players in Japan are eager for this kind of interaction.
“If you want to train in my local area, Tokyo, you can basically call your friends or communicate on Twitter to play offline matches, but in other regions this is hard because the players don’t even know each other,” Bonchan explained. “They are hungry for the offline events like these because they don’t have any, and they can’t even find enough online matches at the moment.”
To facilitate relationships, these events are hosting two-on-two tournaments that randomly match attendees. In this way, players are forced to meet someone new rather than stick with the people they came with, discarding their comfort zones in the process. According to Bonchan, reception has been great and he can see new friendships being made.
“Some attendees drove upwards of six hours to the Hokkaido event, which made me realize that this project was meaningful,” he continued. “I feel responsible to make these events a success. I really hope players make friends at my event so they can continue to play together and form their own communities.”
Bonchan's stop in Sapporo was a huge success
© Red Bull eSports
Strengthening the community
Much like what happened with Street Fighter IV’s release in 2008, the arrival of Street Fighter V has led to a surge in the fighting game community. Bonchan mentioned that a large majority of the players he’s meeting at these stops are completely new to him, and most had never left the confines of online play before visiting his event. Some players, like Daigo Umehara, think Street Fighter V’s avoidance of Japan’s surviving arcade scene has hurt both the game and the competitive community.
“I definitely agree with Daigo in a sense that the lack of an arcade release has hurt Japanese players,” Bonchain said. “In arcades, you not only train and communicate, but can also watch a lot of strong players and ask them about their strategies. I believe this is what the offline community is all about. I really wish Capcom would have thought more about the community before making Street Fighter V.”
Bonchan’s events, as well as the efforts of Yusuke and Yuko “Chocoblanka” Momochi’s Shinobism training group, are doing all they can to ensure Japan’s offline community thrives despite Street Fighter V forgoing an arcade release. With upcoming stops in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, and Okinawa, Bonchan hopes to build thriving competitive scenes with their existing online players.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the cultural differences in these communities, meeting new players, and exchanging ideas. My stops in Hokkaido and Nagoya have been very successful, in my opinion, so I’d like to continue this project in 2018. My goal for this year is to successfully lead this project to grow the local Japanese communities, but of course I will do my best to train hard for the Capcom Pro Tour as well.”
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