TSM ZeRo
Banned via Administration
Welcome everyone to ZeRo's 9th Pro Player Spotlight! I am here with “Kakera”, the legendary MK from Japan who won Apex’s 2012 doubles with his brother “Otori”, and also placed a very strong 5th place finish in the singles competition.
Kakera (Right) with Nietono (Left) and LoF NAKAT (Center).
Kakera (Right) with Nietono (Left) and LoF NAKAT (Center).
ZeRo: Kakera, how are you doing tonight?
Kakera: I'm fine! As SRT is over now, I'm playing Brawl idyllically and freely.
ZeRo: I'm glad to hear that. First of all, I'd like to apologize for not knowing how to speak Japanese, and then thank Ayuha for helping me with this interview.
Now, over here in America we absolutely love the way you play Meta Knight. I also personally do. Everytime someone sees you play, they're always like "Wait, you can do that!?! Didn't know!"
So tell us, how did you learn to perform so many unknown, creative, new things? And be so ultra-hyper fast? I saw you the other day doing MK's Up B cancel (1) at the ledge like it was super easy. I was ultra impressed.
(1: Editor’s note: SL cancel is when you Shuttle Loop into a ledge, and instead of grabbing it, the SL animation ends and allows you to do anything you want. The timing is very precise).
Kakera: I'm glad to hear that. To learn how to do new moves, you just have to practice! However, to tell the truth, I haven't figured out the definite way to ledge cancel my shuttle loop… yet.
ZeRo: I totally agree. It’s all about practicing. Speaking about practice. How much do you practice in general, and before a tournament? Do you do anything special? Wifi? Also, I'm personally waiting for a rematch with you, are you coming to APEX 2013?
Kakera: I play Brawl almost every day! Anything special... I play teams with an MK partner against two other MKs. I main Wifi. This is because I live far away (2) from my partner (Maguro) and can rarely practice offline.
I can't attend APEX, unfortunately, so it may be difficult to have a rematch with you.
(2: Editor’s note: Ayuha mentioned during the interview that “ If I'm right, Kakera lives in Osaka and Maguro in Tokyo”.
ZeRo: Why can you not go to Apex? So you play a lot of wifi? More than "Offline" practice? How much do you play per day? Why do you play team's against 2 MK's? What's the reasoning behind it?
Kakera: One of the reasons is that I don't have money. And the other reason is that I'm kind of content with my performance at the previous Apex. If a new strong doubles team appears, I would like to go again.
I practice a lot more on Wifi. I play at least 2 hours a day.
My goal was to win SRT, an offline tournament, so the CPU MK practice was for that. Also, I can practice 'kouei' (3) this way.
(3: Editor’s note: Ayuha explained to me what Kouei is. This is what he said: I don't know how to say it in English, but in Japanese doubles, when we play, one goes in front and attacks. That's "zen-ei". And the other player waits in the back, looking out for opportunities to help out your teammate.. That's "kou-ei".)
ZeRo: How do you feel about playing MK on wifi? Most Pro's in America, especially the MK players strongly dislike wifi practice, and often completely avoid it. Players like Mew2King or Tyrant, are good examples. So it’s interesting to see an MK of your caliber to mainly practice in wifi. If you had the money to attend APEX 2013, would you come?
Kakera: For me, W-Fi is my main method of practice so I don't feel “anything”, but after playing for a long time offline, I do feel a bit “weird”.
EDIT: "If my motivation goes up, I would go to APEX 2013" (Editor's note: Kakera contacted me to erase the previous commend and add this one)
I'm dissapointed about the double Meta Knight team ban. That's because I can't enter using the matchup which we (4) have practiced so hard and so long.
(4: Editor’s note: “We” as in, him as his teammates. Like Maguro and Otori, for example)
And because you (USA) could have revenged Otori and I's win, but the rule prevents that from happening.
ZeRo: I see. Is it hard for you to do your hard and precise MK techniques on Wi-Fi? What do you honestly think about double MK, should it be banned or not? (Not taking in account your practice in the MU). So at the moment, you can't go, and don't want to go too, correct? Also, the stance about double MK has not been announced for APEX 2013. It is going to be decided in the future (5).
(5: Editor’s note: This interview was done before the Apex staff decided to ban double MK at APEX 2013).
Kakera: Ledge grab Shuttle Loop cancel doesn't have any difference between online & offline, but other techniques do. (continues)
I don't think we should ban double MK. Double MKs is strong partly because of MK itself, but the largest cause is that double MKs teams are the most polished team.. (continues)"
Players still haven't practiced other teams.
I heard from Vinnie that the Apex staff is disscussing about banning double MK, and most organizers are agreeing.
You’re correct. I can't and don't want to go, right now.
Vinnie (Left) & Kakera (Right).
ZeRo: That's a very interesting opinion. Now, Kakera, like I said before, you have a bunch of fans here in America, however, they don't really know anything about you outside of the game, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Kakera: I’m 20 years old, and I study at a vocational college of IT. I mainly like to play Brawl, and talk & play with players near my age. There is a skype chat with Dio, Otori, Kuroobi, Tige, Nietono, Maguro, Mikeneko, Yukke and Rakyawo. We are always talking about a lot of stuff.
ZeRo: Sounds like you guys are always theory crafting awesome things! Now, I've seen your brother playing with a really innovative button configuration. Do you do the same, and change your buttons?
Kakera: My button configuration is far different from that of Otori’s. I changed R to Jump, Y to Grab, and the D-Pad to Shield/Grab.
ZeRo: Wow, I haven’t seen that configuration in tournament play! Wait! So you shield with the down pad?
Kakera: No, I don't. I shield with L. I change my D-Pad to not taunt by accident and sometimes I use it to 'ukemi” (Tech).
ZeRo: Very clever of you! What is your favorite stage, match up, character, and opponent to play?
Kakera: Favorite stage : Battlefield / MU : MK / player : any MK player. My favorite stage is BF, MU is MK, and I enjoy playing any MK player.
ZeRo: You like all MK players? I remember you playing Ice Climbers at APEX 2012, but not that much. And I didn't see your Ice Climbers at SRT. What happened with your IC’s?
Kakera: I like any Meta Knight. I used to main ICs, but started using MK to win doubles. (continues).
However, my experience in MK wasn’t enough by APEX, so I decided to finish using ICs at APEX and switch to use only MK, in order to become stronger at doubles.
ZeRo: I remember that at APEX 2012, during Loser's Bracket, you played ESAM, the legendary Pikachu. Why
didn't you go MK during that set? Especially during game 3, where you had the counterpick advantage.
(Kakera vs ESAM Game 1 at Apex 2012).
Kakera: That time I had my MU’s divided by characters. VS Pikachu and ICs I woud play ICs. So I only chose ICs during that set.
ZeRo: So you basically used to plan like "Mk vs This and this, IC's vs this and this", and so on, right?
I don't really know too much of your culture, and this is something I really wanted to ask you at Apex, but couldn't, due to the language barrier. Why did you guys (Otori,a and Nietono too), played without shoes, or, sat on the ground while playing? Any special behind this?
Kakera: : In Japan, we take off our shoes. So when you usually play, you don't have your shoes on. Taking off shoes, and sitting on the floor is to make ourselves closer to our “usual way” of playing.
ZeRo: What advice would you give to up and coming players wanting to succeed at the pro Smash scene, like you do?
Kakera: “Motto tsuyoku nare” (6).
(6: Editor’s note: Ayuha said: That’s the line MK says when he wins. It means "Be stronger”),
(Kakera –IC’s- playing in a GF’s crew battle in Japan).
ZeRo: Could you link us to your favorite/best match, and also tell us why it is special to you?
Kakera: Videos: Game 1
& Game 2
(7)
It's because quad MK is the MU I have trained the most. And before the tournament started, we told each other (Kakera's team & Otori's team) to play at GFs. That became true and that was something special.
(7: Editor’s note: To watch videos over at Nicovideo, you need to make an account and log in. The easiest way to do this is to “log in via Facebook”, since you go over the process of making an account, and in just 5 seconds you're watching the video.
ZeRo: It's been a wonderful interview, but it's time to wrap this up. But before that, any shout outs you would like to give?
Kakera: Thanks to all the people who cheer up for me. I appreciate every played I have played against. You guys are all awesome!
ZeRo:That's awesome and thank you very much! Any additional comments/thoughts you would like to add Kakera?
Kakera: No additional comments.
ZeRo: Thanks for allowing me to interview you. I hope we can have a rematch someday, and I hope that you keep succeeding in doubles!
Kakera: Thank you, too. I'm waiting for your challenge. Thanks for all!
Follow Kakera at Twitter! Click HERE
