On May 27, Taguchi entered the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Winning five out of his eight round-robin stage matches, Taguchi finished second in his block and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament. The following day, Taguchi first defeated Pac in the semifinals and then avenged his earlier round-robin loss to IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Low Ki in the finals to win the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors and earn a shot at Low Ki's title. On June 16 at Dominion 6.16, Taguchi failed in his title shot against Low Ki. On September 23 at Destruction, Taguchi received another shot at the title, but was this time defeated by Kota Ibushi. On October 21, Apollo 55 entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating Chaos World Wrestling Warriors (Brian Kendrick and Low Ki) in their first round match. On November 2, Taguchi and Devitt defeated the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, the Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero), to advance to the finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, they were defeated by the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida). Despite failing to make it to the main card of Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Taguchi made an appearance at the event, challenging Prince Devitt to a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, after he had successfully defended the title against Low Ki and Kota Ibushi. Taguchi received his title shot on February 10 at The New Beginning, but was defeated by Devitt. On April 7 at Invasion Attack, Apollo 55 unsuccessfully challenged Time Splitters for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, after which Devitt turned on Taguchi, ending the longtime partnership between the two.