MajinTenshinhan: You really exploded last year after your victory at the Tokyo Game Show tournament, and since then you've been traveling to many tournaments across the world, due in no small part to crowdfunding efforts from the /r/Kappa community. How do you feel about having become a "World Warrior"?



FGC|Pepeday: Having made fighting game-playing friends across the entire world has really increased my outlook! Characters' popularity and people's playstyle really vary from region to region, and I'm very happy to have experienced this first-hand.



Also, I've gotten to interact with professional players much more often, and hearing their thoughts as well as hearing and feeling their approach to the game, which I think has been a very valuable experience. I'm kind of repeating myself, but I feel like a very fortunate person!

MajinTenshinhan: El Fuerte is a pretty rare character to see in high-level play, but you've brought him to a very high level, even recently qualifying for the Topanga A League using him. Why did you pick El Fuerte to begin with, and how good do you think he is compared to other characters?



FGC|Pepeday: Because El Fuerte is the coolest character! His Flying Giga Buster is the best. His voice in the Japanese version is really cool, too.



It's difficult to rank him, but I think he's in a position where you can discuss if he's in the Top 10 or not. He did get affected negatively by Delayed Wakeup, but the buff to his Quesadilla Bomb is huge!



MajinTenshinhan: Being able to reach the Topanga A League is an amazing accomplishment. How do you feel about your chances in this year's league, and is there any opponent you're particularly scared of facing?



FGC|Pepeday: I'm confident! Compared to the B League, the matchups are a lot easier for me, you see. However, the A League is filled with nothing but legendary players.



So, more than the character matchup of "El Fuerte vs. X", it feels like the player matchup of "Pepeday vs. X" is what it's going to come down to. I'm really excited to see how far I can go, in my current state!



MajinTenshinhan: Next year, we're going to get Street Fighter 5 for Playstation 4. What do you think about the game so far, and what character do you think you'll be playing?



FGC|Pepeday: Hmm, I haven't actually played it yet, so I'm only judging from videos and whatnot, I don't really know what the game actually feels like, but the characters I'm interested in are R. Mika and Rashid!



Especially Mika! You have to wear a mask to be a hero, haha. As for Rashid, he seems to have some pretty unique movement. I feel some real El Fuerte vibes coming from him, so I'm really looking forward to it.



MajinTenshinhan: How long have you been playing fighting games, and are there any other fighting games besides Street Fighter 4 that you've been interested in?



FGC|Pepeday: I've been playing for 7 years now. The trigger was when a colleague of mine invited me, saying "Let's play some SF4!"



Right now I'm only playing Ultra Street Fighter 4, but I used to play the Gundam VS series and I'm pretty interested in Tekken 7 right now. Lucky Chloe is cute, haha.



MajinTenshinhan: If you were to name the five strongest characters and the five weakest characters in Ultra Street Fighter 4, what characters would you say?



FGC|Pepeday: Personally, I probably feel Evil Ryu, Akuma, Seth, Elena and Yun are the five strongest characters. I was considering Ibuki as well, but right now, I'd have to say those five.



Conversely, for weak characters, I'll say Sakura, Dan, Hakan, Dhalsim, Guile and, I'm going one over the limit now, but I'd also like to say E. Honda.



Top players who can win with these characters are truly amazing, I think!

魔人T: 去年の東京ゲームショーで優勝した後、ぺぺだいさんはかなり有名人になった。それから/r/Kappaの手伝いによって世界中をた旅してていろんな大会に出ました。今ぺぺだいさんはまさに「World Warrior」になってどんな気分ですか？



FGC|ぺぺだい: 世界中に格ゲー仲間ができてすごく視野が広がったね＼(^o^)／

地域ごとに人気キャラが違ったりプレイスタイルが違ったり色んな経験をさせてもらえて幸せだよ！

あとはプロフェッショナルプレイヤーと接する機会も増えたから、プロがどう考えてプレイしているのか、プロがどういう意識でプロフェッショナルプレイヤーとして頑張っているのか聞けたり感じたり、貴重な経験ができているよ！繰り返すけど、俺は本当に幸せ者だ＼(^o^)／



魔人T: エル・フォルテはハイレベルで見るのがかなり珍しいんですが、ぺぺだいさんはフォルテで最高レベルに上がって、今年のトパンガAリーグにも出場決定。ぺぺだいさんは何故フォルテを選んだんですか？そして、他のキャラクターと比べたら、ウル４でフォルテがどれほど強いと思いますか？



FGC|ぺぺだい: フォルテが一番格好いいから！！

フライングギガバスターとか最高だね♪日本語版は声も格好いいし＼(^o^)／

ランキングをつけるのは難しいけど10強に入るか入らないかくらいじゃないかな？ディレイスタンディングの影響もあるけど、それよりもケサディーヤボムの強化が大きいね！



魔人T: Aリーグに着くのが凄い大成です。ぺぺだいさんはAリーグの試合に自信がありますか？ そして、他の相手より恐れを感じる相手がありますか？



FGC|ぺぺだい: 自信はあるよ！Bリーグの時よりも、キャラクター相性的にはだいぶ楽だからね。

ただAリーグには伝説級のプレイヤーしかいない。

だから『フォルテ対◯◯』じゃなくて『ぺぺだい対◯◯ 』みたいな

人対人の力比べになるだろうね！

今の自分がどこまでやれるのかすごく楽しみだよ＼(^o^)／



魔人T: 来年にStreet Fighter Vが発売する予定です。このゲームについて今までの感想は？そして、使用キャラを誰にすると思いますか？



FGC|ぺぺだい: んーまだプレイしたことなくて、動画しか見てないから中身はわからないけど、気になってるキャラクターは、R.Mikaとラシードだね！

ミカは特に見た目！ヒーローはマスクをかぶってなくちゃ！w

ラシードは動きが独特だよね！フォルテに近いものを感じるしすごく期待してるよ！



魔人T: いつから格闘ゲームをプレイしたんですか？ Street Fighter 4シリーズ以外のゲームに興味を持ったことがありますか？



FGC|ぺぺだい: ７年前！職場の友人にストⅣしようぜ！って誘われたのがきっかけだね！

今はウルⅣばっかりだけど、昔はガンダムvsシリーズをプレイしてたし、今は鉄拳7が気になってるかな！ラッキークロエ可愛いw



魔人T: ウル４の中のキャラクターでは最強５名ともっとも弱い５名は誰だと思いますか？



FGC|ぺぺだい: 個人的に、殺意リュウ、豪鬼、セス、エレナ、ユンかなと思う。いぶきも迷ったけど今思うところならこの５キャラが強い。

逆に弱いキャラは、さくら、ダン、ハカン、ダルシム、ガイル、そして一個多いけどその次に本田かな

このキャラで勝ててるトッププレイヤーは本当に凄いと思うよ！





日本語版