Kawano: “It's better for the tournament resets to happen”

Kawano won two pretty big Street Fighter tournaments recently. He is the champion of Topanga Championship 3. And he is the winner of Evo 2021 Online Street Fighter V Asia East. What do you think, is this enough to get an unofficial status of the strongest SFV player in Japan?

DashFight has reached out to Kawano to ask a few questions about the Evo event and beyond. Here is our exclusive interview!

At the Street Fighter tournament of Evo 2021 Online in the Asia East region, Kawano defeated quite a few exceptional players. He had an almost perfect run before the Top 4 part and confidently defeated YHC-Mochi in the Winners Final.

The Grand Final wasn’t that easy. YHC-Mochi won the first match and stayed in the fight all five games of the GF Reset. Still, the last game proved the dominance of Kawano, and he became the Evo 2021 online SFV Champion.

DashFight Interview: Kawano

The Winner of Evo 2021 Online SFV Asia East

- Moke, Fuudo, Nemo, Pugera — you defeated quite a few powerful opponents to make it to the Top 4. Was there someone who made you nervous?

実は誰にも1セットもとられてなく、2回戦のアレックスの方との試合が1番危なかったです。かなり接戦でした。アレックス苦手です。

Actually, no one took a set. The match with Alex in the second set was the most dangerous. It was a pretty close battle. I'm not good at [playing against] Alex.

- The matches against YHC-mochi were constant back-and-forth situations. Did he really have a chance to stop you? Is Dhalsim strong against Kolin?

-自分のプレイスタイルはどちらかというと防御型なので、ダルシム戦は攻める必要があり難しかったのですが、とにかく吹っ切れようと思って攻めれたのがよかったです。

コーリンダルシムは4.5 : 5.5 のイメージです

- My playstyle is rather defensive, so it was difficult to attack Dhalsim. But I'm glad I was able to attack just to defeat him. Kolin vs Dhalsim matchup is like 4.5 vs 5.5.

- Entering the Grand Final Reset — does such pressure make any difference for your mood, emotional condition?

-いつもこういう大会はリセットされた方が盛り上がるからいいかと思っているので、リセットされても動揺することはありませんでした

- I always thought it's better for the tournament resets to happen, it makes them more exciting. So I wasn't upset when it happened.

- What do you think about the position of Kolin in your personal tier list? Would you recommend this character for a beginner?

-弱体化されましたが、逆にトリガーを2回発動しやすくなったりと、試行錯誤して弱みを強みに変えようとしたのが良い方向に向いたと思います。初心者にはお勧めできるキャラです。

- She was nerfed but in a good way since it is easier to activate the trigger twice and turn the weaknesses into strengths by trial and error. A recommended character for beginners.

- The game is getting its last Season. Is there anything the developers could do to make Street Fighter V a better competitive experience?

-ぶっ壊れキャラ出てきて欲しいなって思います。それを倒したら気持ちよさそうなので。

- I think I want a totally broken character to come out. It would feel good to beat them. 

- If no SFV, what other fighting game would you play at Evo (even if it requires practice)?

-他のゲームはやったことがないです

- I've never played any other game.

Thank you for the answers!

It’s a great experience to watch matches of such exceptional players as Kawano. We at DashFight look forward to future tournaments with this guy, such as Evo Showcase, Street Fighter League JP, and Capcom Pro Tour Japan.

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To dive even deeper into the atmosphere of Evo 2021 Online, check out our interview with other champions: Kusanagi (SFV), Super Akouma (Tekken 7), and Disarted (MK11).