Interview with MBS, hosted "YUBIWAZA CUP"!

Interview

In recent years, the word "e-sports" has been picked up by various media, and many people have come into contact with it.
Especially in recent years, with the recent official Olympic Games, awareness of e-sports has spread even further, and even people who do not play games have begun to pay attention to the term.

The " YUBIWAZA CUP " was sponsored by MBS (Mainichi Broadcasting System), and the venue was filled with excitement!
We had a chance to interview the people from MBS, the organizer of the event.

Mr. Tomoki Akazawa, Time Sales Department, Sales Bureau, MBS TV

MBS TV Sales Department, Sales Bureau: Tomoki Akazawa
Saiga NAK

Mr. Akazawa is a YUBIWAZA producer, and he made various arrangements for the filming of this event.
Thank you very much for your help.
He seemed to be very busy as a producer, but when I asked him to do an interview, he was very willing to do so, which was very much appreciated.

Mr. Akazawa felt that e-sports would attract more attention in the future, so he started producing YUBIWAZA and successfully held the "YUBIWAZA CUP" event in March of this year.
This is the second YUBIWAZA CUP, and he hopes to hold a tournament like this once a year in the future, so it is important to keep an eye on it.

The reason why we chose this date was because the Tokyo Game Show is held in September, which is an exciting season in the industry, and I am personally happy that the game event is held in Osaka as well as Tokyo.

The fact that it is in Osaka seems to be a high point.

With people paying attention to the Osaka area with the Expo and the idea of a casino, if e-sports can synergistically attract attention, e-sports and gaming will attract more attention, and it can become a place where professional gamers are active and attract attention, don't you think? I think this is a good idea.

The casino Las M. Bisons is famous overseas, and the EVO 2020 tournament will be held at Las M. Bisons next year in 2020.

We should keep an eye on this event. He said that he hopes the YUBIWAZA CUP will attract more attention around 2025, based on such a plan.

He said that he did a lot of research on games before producing YUBIWAZA, and since "SAMURAI SPIRITS," the game chosen for this year's tournament, has just been released, he researched the game and its world view before its release, followed its trends, and actually visited various tournaments held around Japan to see what they were all about. He also purchased a PlayStation 4 and played a variety of games himself.

What do you feel about e-sports through YUBIWAZA?

First of all, I feel that the issue is the difference in scale between Japan and other countries.
By having a TV station hold a tournament, we can spread the word about games and e-sports to the general public, and by doing so, we can increase the scale of the event.

He thinks that the scale of the event will increase.

If the scale of the event grows, the recognition of pro-gamers will grow, and he thinks that professional idol-like players will emerge, and if that happens, it will be possible to work with apparel makers.

If this happens, I felt that the life as a professional gamer will become even more wonderful than it is now.

Keiichi Kawanaka, Time Sales Department, Sales Bureau MBS TV

Keiichi Kawanaka, Time Sales Department, Sales Bureau, MBS Television
Saiga NAK

Mr. Kawanaka was awarding the prize money to the game winners of the tournament to the players. Like Mr. Akazawa, we interviewed him about how he sees YUBIWAZA as a producer.

─ ─ How have you seen the venue through the preliminary and final rounds this time?

I am very happy to see that both the qualifiers and the finals were very exciting, not only for the players but also for the spectators.
In the preliminary rounds, the players were mainly concentrating on enjoying the games, but in the finals, the venue was reset with spectator seating, so I got the impression that everyone was concentrating on watching the games.

I was very excited to see the audience cheering for the players during the filming.

─ What is your impression of e-sports?

The e-sports program was pioneered in April 2018 to promote e-sports in Kansai, where many events are held in the Kanto region, and the fundamental idea was to remove barriers and lower the hurdles to participation in e-sports by having a broadcasting station do it.
To achieve this, we first wanted to involve people in the Umeda area and make e-sports and game tournaments more common.

The Chayamachi area of Umeda is a cultural district with commercial facilities, game centers, bookstores, and theaters. I felt there was a strong affinity between the TV station and e-sports and game tournaments there.

Finally, Mr. Kawanaka said, "I would like to work on a documentary program. I would like to work on documentary programs.

It is very interesting to learn about people who devote their lives to something, and it is very moving to watch them grow.

I felt that this is an idea that only a TV station can come up with, and I really hope that it will become a reality.
Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview!

MBS YUBIWAZA
URL: https: //www.mbs.jp/p/yubiwaza/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YUBIWAZA_MBS

Photo & Written by YAT
URL: https: //wp.yat-net.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/yat8823jp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yat8823jp/