Interview with Hiroshima TEAM iXA from "SFL: Pro-JP 2025" Division F! "We might have become an 'orthodox' team," "Pay attention to the enhanced Hiroshima power"

ACQUA: This year, I'm thinking of using two characters: Blanka and JP.
It's the same as last season, but I wonder if JP's importance will increase a bit.
Akira and I were originally close and used to practice together, so I feel like I know him well.
He's very serious when we practice, and I feel reassured having him as a teammate.
Also, I'm very happy as a team that Akira, who is from Hiroshima, joined the Hiroshima team.
As for Adelie, I actually told the team that he was young and strong.
Last season, Hiroshima TEAM iXA had the precedent of Hikaru, a young player, performing well, so this year we're aiming for something similar, or simply because I thought a young and strong player would be good right now.
I don't know how it will turn out this time, but I hope he has fun and does his best.

Hibiki: I plan to continue using Lily this year.
My impression of Akira is that he was very active last year, and although he's much older than me, he has a good personality and is easy to talk to.
Since we'll be fighting together this year, I'll communicate with him and we'll work together to aim for victory.
I talked to Adelie for the first time after he was decided to be on the same team, and I thought he was a quiet kid, but when I actually talked to him, he had a unique and interesting gamer-specific vibe.
I'm looking forward to communicating and getting along with him from now on.
I also know he's a very skilled and good player, so I'll do my best to aim for victory.

Akira: I'll probably stick with Cammy this year.
Hiroshima TEAM iXA's image from last season was very strong.
The playoff order was "Blanka, Lily, Honda," a lineup that will probably never appear again (laughs).
Last year, I had the impression that there were a lot of unusual characters, but this year, with Adelie and me joining, we might have become something of an “orthodox” team...? (laughs)
I think we've changed the flavor quite a bit, so I'm looking forward to that too.
Also, as you said, I'm from Hiroshima and currently live in Hiroshima, so I'm very happy to have joined a Hiroshima team, and I hope to contribute and repay the favor.

Adelie: I'll be using Ed.
I thought Hiroshima TEAM iXA was a team of unusual people because they had so many unusual characters, but they were more proper than I expected (laughs).
Many of them have work experience, and they seem like reliable people who would be easy to consult with.
I felt hopeful that I could grow by being on this team, so I'll do my best.

ACQUA: I'm in favor of the rule changes themselves.
Objectively speaking, there were players who always ended up as reserves, so I think it's a great format for the event to see more players in action.
On the other hand, as a player, if you miss a match due to illness or poor physical condition, you'll lose the overtime match, so I have to be even more careful about my health management.
And then there's overall strength.
The overall win rate will also be important, so we'll have to consider the order including overtime matches, which I think makes it a bit tougher from a player's perspective (laughs).

ACQUA: Even though our character composition this year is relatively orthodox, we don't have any traditional martial arts characters like Akuma, who many players use.
Hibiki is the prime example of this, but if there's a player who's the strongest with that character, it's hard to counter them. And I think many of the league players haven't fought Adelie yet, so I think their potential will be key.
I hope Akira and I can support the explosive power of those two.

Hibiki: We'll explode!

ACQUA: I think Hibiki will continue to lead the team from last season, so I hope everyone supports him.
I also think Akira will make the fans in Hiroshima happy.
I think there will be more opportunities to see them at Hiroshima events, so pay attention to the enhanced Hiroshima power.
I think many people still don't know Adelie, but he's really strong at the game; even I can't beat him, so he's an undeniably skilled player.
Please look forward to him.

ACQUA: Honestly, when I saw REJECT and ZETA DIVISION Geekly were in the same division, I was like "Ugh...", but even if I look at the other side, they are strong, so no matter which division we're in, it seems like we'll face tough opponents.
We just have to do our best.
In terms of characters, there are two Dhalsim players grouped together, so I'm wondering if that will be a blessing or a curse.

Hibiki: I also honestly thought, "Isn't Division F tough?", but no matter which way it goes, the level is still high, so it's fine.
Looking at the members, 2BASSA from FUKUSHIMA IBUSHIGIN is also a young player, so I'm looking forward to seeing the rookie battle between Adelie and 2BASSA, and there's also Hikaru, so I have the impression that there are many young players.

Akira: I had the impression that both divisions would be tough...(laughs)
Individually, there are two Dhalsim users: Torimeshi from FUKUSHIMA IBUSHIGIN and Mochi from VARREL.
Looking at the character combination of Cammy and Dhalsim, I also have the impression that it could be a deterrent.
However, there's also Itabashi Zangief from DetonatioN FocusMe, so I think we'll have to consider various things within the team when deciding on the order.
Also, there's Takaki from CAG OSAKA who joined this year, and I'm usually good friends with him and we keep in touch, so I'm a little happy that he's in a different division and I can root for him freely (laughs).

Adelie: I thought it was a division where we'd see a variety of characters, or rather, the characters are all over the place.
Because of that, we'll have to prepare counters for various characters, so preparing for high-level players seems a bit tough.
Last season, there were a lot of Akuma and Ed players, and I think there were people who specialized in countering Akuma, but it doesn't seem like that'll be the case this year, so I feel like it's a tough division.