I wanted to apologize deeply from my personal standpoint. Please forgive me for not being able to fully express myself in Japanese properly.
I am someone that works in the background of the fighting game scene and have been part of the community for most of my life.
I have an immense respect and admiration for Umehara-san. I have a very long history with Umehara-san and have always loved the Japanese fighting game scene.
As such, I am filled with embarrassment and shame from the event outcome. I apologized to Umehara-san and his team members personally after the event ended. Even then, I know it’s not enough.
I do want to personally thank the players and communities that put their blood, sweat and tears into preparing for this event. Many of the team members are reading the feedback and response from the fans/viewers. I understand the anger and frustration. I appreciate the feedback and will continue to read it all.