LilyPichu took on Tekken 8 Game Director Harada in an exhibition match that had it all. From pixel health comebacks to Rage Art antics.
Streamer LilyPichu took down a surprise challenger during the Sajam Tekken Slam: Beat-A-Pro at EVO 2024, Tekken 8 Game Director Katsuhiro Harada.
The Beat-A-Pro saw stage host Sajam pick audience members to face off against a selection of Tekken 8 streamers such as PhiDX, BoxBox and Scarra. Many of the faces on-stage were also part of the Sajam Tekken Slam which took place online back in March.
Harada steps on stage to face LilyPichu at EVO 2024
In the fifth and final round of community exhibition matches at the Evo Showcase at EVO 2024, Tekken 8's Game Director Katsuhiro Harada was brought on stage by Sajam to take on LilyPichu.
Variety streamer and musician LilyPichu has been a big fan of Tekken 8 since its release, playing the game on stream and documenting her rise to Purple Ranks. Ahead of appearing at EVO 2024, Lily was Mighty Ruler rank with a 143,000 Tekken Prowess, and perhaps unsurprisingly is a Lili main. Since the game's launch LilyPichu also had coaching from content creator and pro PhiDX, who was also on stage.
Lily Pichu (Lili) vs Harada (Feng)
For the match LilyPichu was on Lili, with Harada picking Feng, widely considered one of the strongest characters competitively in Tekken 8. It was a first-to-3 series and led to some brilliant moments for both players.
Series 1 - Harada [3:1] LilyPichu
Despite LilyPichu's hands noticably shaking ahead of the match, she landed some great combos, taking off 50%+ of Harada's health bar in round 2 and 3 of the first series. Plus she managed to land a cheeky Rage Art in round 1 - although not enough to kill off Tekken 8's beloved Game Director.
Much to the delight of the commentators and the audience, Harada clearly was far from a novice executing wall carries and wall breaks all while looking incredibly chill to take the first series 3-1.
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Series 2 - Harada [1:3] LilyPichu (including a Perfect for LilyPichu)
In the second Series, Harada took round 1 easily but a rather comical Rage Art saw him lose round 2. LilyPichu then managed to pull of a Perfect Round 3.
In Round 4, Harada appeared to forget that Heat Burst is no longer lethal when LilyPichu was pixel health, and LilyPichu makes a comeback with a slow-mo finish Matterhorn.
Series 3 - Harada [2:3] LilyPichu (Rage Art pixel health finish by LilyPichu)
In the final series Harada took an early 2-0 lead, but it was LilyPichu's excellent sidewalks that kept her in the series. However, the true highlight was that the game went to the 5th round and LilyPichu pulled off a pixel health Rage Art against Harada, the literal Game Director of Tekken 8.
Final Thoughts
To get to see Katsuhiro Harada play on-stage at EVO 2024, and to get involved with a group of creators who've really helped promote the game in North America was great to see. It was no fluke by LilyPichu to win, and the pair looked evenly matched. It was an excellent finale to the Sajam Tekken Slam: Beat-A-Pro event at EVO 2024.
The fact LilyPichu even initially declined to play the match against Harada just so that someone else could get a turn playing on stage was also a credit to her character. Pulling off a Rage Art on stage of the final round of a bo3 series, what a moment. The perfect end to a surprisingly good series.
Harada was also a good sport, even joking after the loss that he would quit the game.
If you want to watch the entire VOD of the LilyPichu vs Harada showmatch it can be found on the Evo Day 1 VOD on Twitch, I even put the correct timestamp.
