At 38 years old, Masato "Bonchan" Takahashi is part of the same generation that produced Japan's Gods of Fighting Games, the players who were raised by pixel art Street Fighter and King of Fighters games. While they were leveling up in the arcades, Bonchan's life was dominated by a different game: mahjong. In his early 20s, Bonchan worked at a Mahjong lounge, doing "basically anything related to mahjong." And then some guy walked in, a "retired" pro gamer needing a job.

That's how Bonchan and Daigo Umehara met. Bonchan was not a total newbie to fighting games by any means, but he wasn't a tournament competitor, either. Daigo was naturally shocked when the games they would play after their shifts at the Mahjong parlor were actually pretty close. "None of us expected a random guy from the parlor to be so good," Daigo told Red Bull Gaming. It was an exciting surprise, and Bonchan would keep on practicing with Daigo and his crew.

Bonchan already had raw talent, and now he had legends like Daigo and Tokido to help him hone it. For Bonchan, it was a welcome change. "At some point, I kind of got fed up with mahjong," he told Red Bull, "and the gaming industry was appealing to me. You know, in Japan mahjong has become, it's basically become pure gambling now." Street Fighter became a way out of that world for him.

Bonchan arrived in the FGC just in time for the release of Street Fighter IV. Even though it was his first Street Fighter as a dedicated competitor, he ascended quickly. Teaming with Daigo and TKD, Bonchan took second place at Super Battle Opera 2010's 3v3 tournament, his first appearance in a major event's Grand Finals. Two years later, teaming with Kazunoko and Fuudo, Bonchan earned his first major championship at the same event.

It would take a bit longer for Bonchan to find a defining solo victory. By the time 2014 ended, Bonchan had established himself as the best Sagat player in the world, earning the title "King of Sagat." Unfortunately, he was picking up another nickname he was eager to shed: "Mr. Second Place." At Canada Cup 2013, Evo 2014, Tokyo Game Show 2014 and Taito Arcade Nationals 2014, he came tantalizingly close, falling in Grand Finals all four times. He had won smaller events like Thaiger Uppercut and won Topanga League 3, a three-month long seasonal competition, but he was still looking for a big bracket win on a big stage.

At Red Bull Kumite 2015, he was back in Grand Finals once again. His opponent was Tokido, one of the training partners who helped him turn from a mahjong player into a Street Fighter God so quickly, and Tokido called him out. "I know, every tournament he gets second place. And I know, he really wants to be champion. Unfortunately, your opponent is Tokido."

The sets that followed were intense nail-biters. Nothing was easy. Every single game Bonchan won went to a final round.Afterfter eight tense games, a pair of 3-1 victories for Bonchan's Sagat, Mr. Second Place was no more. He was Red Bull Kumite Champion. Bonchan would keep up that momentum throughout 2015, Street Fighter IV's final year of competition, earning three more tournament wins at FV Cup, SoCal Regionals and Ultra Hyakkishu Cup.

Expectations were understandably high for Bonchan heading into Street Fighter V, but between the new system and the lack of Sagat in the release cast, it took a bit for him to find his footing. He clicked with Nash in Season 2, winning three tournaments in a row in the notoriously inconsistent and competitive Street Fighter V meta: The Colosseum Spring 2017 in Italy, Battle Arena Melbourne 9, and Saigon Cup 2017. That was enough to propel him to Capcom Cup qualification after failing to qualify in 2016. This was more like the Bonchan people were expecting.

Despite this success, he was yet to reach his full potential. Sagat still wasn't there, but Bonchan found another character that could utilize his incredible reactions and execution to the fullest: Karin. Inspired in part by the way Punk was carving up opponents with crouching medium kick confirms in Season 2, Bonchan started crafting one of the world's best Karins. It took work, and there were growing pains. He failed to make Top 32 at either Evo Japan or Evo Vegas in 2018. But in the season's second half, he started to hit a groove, reaching Top 8s at E-Sports Festival Hong Kong, DreamHack Montreal and SoCal Regionals, and capping it off with a 5th place finish at Capcom Cup.

Then, in the summer of 2019, it happened: Bonchan fully ascended. There were a lot of great players and fantastic runs in Street Fighter V, but for a few months, Bonchan was as close to untouchable as anybody ever was in that game. In June, he won CEO 2019 over Daigo, Machabo and Fujimura. In July, he won VSFighting 2019 over Punk and Infexious. Then, in August, he picked up the biggest win of his career: his first Evo championship, earned with wins over Shuto, Momochi, iDom, Infexious and Big Bird. Even with all of these under his belt, somehow, he wasn't done. In September, Bonchan went back to Europe to take Celtic Throwdown 2019 over Sako and NL.

That would be the last major tournament Bonchan would win in the Street Fighter V era, but by that point, he had more than left his mark. He continues to compete professionally, now in his 10th year as a Red Bull athlete. Much like his early Street Fighter IV days, his biggest results thus far have come in team competitions, as he won Street Fighter League Pro-JP 2023 with FAV Gaming and finished 3rd with his current team, Crazy Raccoon, in 2024. His results in solo competitions have steadily improved, and he earned his first major championship earlier in 2025 with a win at Brussels Challenge 2025.

There's no reason to expect Bonchan to slow down anytime soon. Even though he has now been competing for over 15 years, his mentors have been going for even longer without showing any signs of stopping. More importantly, Bonchan truly loves what he does. When asked about any potential alternative career plans after winning Evo in 2019, he said "I decided to work with games because I like them, and just like, in the current community, I can't think of something else right now."

Luckily for Bonchan, with the way Street Fighter 6 has exploded in popularity in Japan, he won't have to look for a new career anytime soon. Between his talent and experience and his affinity for team competitions like Street Fighter League that have only grown in popularity in recent years, Bonchan is well positioned in this new era of Street Fighter. No matter where he goes from here, though, Bonchan's journey from mahjong player to fighting game god, from Mr. 2nd Place to Evo Champion, is already a legendary one.