10-Year-Old Street Fighter Prodigy Pops Off On Daigo’s Show

The future of Street Fighter depends on its newcomers, many of whom come up as children that simply play fighting games for fun. One such kid, a 10-year-old named Asuna, made an appearance on Daigo Umehara’s live stream last week to test her burgeoning Street Fighter V skills.

During her visit to the BeasTV set, Asuna was paired up with another novice named Suzuki, who has been training with Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter veteran Keita “Fuudo” Ai to learn the ways of the genre. While their quick set showed what Suzuki has been working on over the past few weeks, Asuna was definitely the star of the show, showcasing a surprising competence that belied her young age.

You might expect a 10-year-old to simply churn the joystick and mash buttons, but Asuna’s inputs were incredibly clean. She rarely messed up her special attacks, and hit just about every sweep she used against Suzuki. She even busted out some quick combos over the course of the match, which was made even more impressive by her use of a traditional arcade stick that was almost as big as her.

As the bout came a close, Asuna had Suzuki on the ropes, forcing him to throw out a desperate command grab. Unfortunately for him, the youngster was ready with a deadly punish, deftly doling out a devastating super attack that sealed the deal. Needless to say, the experienced fighting game players watching in the studio were blown away, with Fuudo even offering to train her if she wants to continue competing.

Asuna isn’t concerned with becoming a professional gamer, though. According to BeasTV producer Andrew “Jiyuna” Fidelis, she’s more interested in a pursuing show business career, and will be appearing in a movie currently being developed by Daigo himself. Despite her obvious aptitude for learning Street Fighter V, she’s content to play fighting games as a hobby, and that’s completely fine.

Ian Walker loves fighting games and writing about them. You can find him on Twitter at @iantothemax.