Akasaka Mamoru

Akasaka Mamoru is a character from the When They Cry series.



Moveset
5A: A straight punch. Can be chained into itself multiple times. Minimal damage, and, ironically, has slower startup than 5B and 5C.

5B: Akasaka thrusts his wrist forwards and makes a knocking motion. Does decent damage.

5C: A roundhouse kick. Laggy, but does good damage and causes knockdown. Presumably cannot be cancelled into anything, though there is no reason to.

6B: A downwards punch. Hits high, and useful for poking crouching shielders. Can only be cancelled into supers though, and has a laggy startup.

2A: A long-ranged foot-poke. Minimal damage, and can easily be chained into itself 7 times. Under extreme cases, it can hit up to 9 times. Great for building up meter, and poking randomly thrown supers. Does 10 damage

2B: A low half-sweep kick. Does decent damage.

2C: A low full-sweep kick. Does good damage, and knocks down.

j.A: A quick downwards punch. Minimal damage.

j.B: Akasaka sticks his leg out. A good anti-air move, and has longer range than j.C. Ironically a poor for approaching, as crouching characters with decent-ranged crouching attacks can avoid damage while hitting Akasaka.

j.C: A long-ranged dropkick with a lingering hitbox. Good for approaching, and can combo into ground moves if performed low enough to the ground

Specials:

236A/B/C: Akasaka creates an air-based projectile with his punch. Minimal knockback and damage. The A version shoots the projectile forwards, the B version shoots it upwards at a 45 degree angle, and the C version does both but has a doubled startup time.

623/A/B/C: Akasaka does a rising kick. No invinicibility frames, and extremely vulnerable on whiff or block. Usually used as anti-air or for comboing into 236236C, but only the A version does not cause knockdown.

←タメ→＋Ａ～Ｂ 46A/B: Akasaka charges his fist, and punches. Both versions have some startup lag, though the A version has considerably less. The B version, however, moves Akasaka forward a decent amount. The A version has invincibility frames.

←タメ→＋C, or 46C: Akasaka charges his fist for a bit more than a second, and rushes forwards to punch the enemy. An unblockable version of 236236A, but with a much laggier and vulnerable startup. Wallslams. Has full invincibility during the punching stage.

624C: Akasaka pauses for a moment, gaining invincibility, and performs a short ranged punch. If it connects, Akasaka performs a 4-hit combo, knocking the opponent up. Vulnerable on block or whiff, but great for combos if landed.

Supers:

236236A: Akasaka charges his fist and rushes forwards to punch. Has invincibility frames until Akasaka actually stops moving. If Akasaka does not come into contact with an unshielded hurtbox, however, he will not punch and will halt after a certain distance or after he comes into physical contact with the opponent. The range of the punch is slightly less than one screen. Knocks down. Suprisingly, it can combo into his 3-meter last Mystery.

236236B: Akasaka punches upwards, creating a shockwave that causes damage if touches anything. The shockwave is 1.5 characters long and slightly taller than a full jump. Knocks down.

j.236236C: Akasaka dives down 30 degrees from vertical, and kicks anything that is below him. If it hits a grounded enemy, it causes knockdown. However, if it hits an airborne enemy, it will groundslam, allowing for a potential followup.

Last Mystery:

23646D: Akasaka enters a stance and rushes forward to stomp. If the hit connects, Akasaka launches into a 24-hit combo, ending with a 236236A and a 236236B. Knocks down.

632141236D: Replaces 23646D's function in the newer versions. Meanwhile, in the newer versions, 23646D results in Akasaka punching forwards. If contact is made, Akasaka summons Oishi, and starts a combo. After getting Oishi's approval, Oishi joins in. Both pummel the crap out of the opponent and end with supers, dealing 46 hits in total. Knocks down.

Note that

Analysis
With only his minimal-knockback air punches serving as his projectiles and good HP (900), Akasaka is the generic rushdown character of the game. While Akasaka's speed is only average, he is equipped with a frightfully long-ranged j.C that can be used to combo into his fast and long-ranged normals if spaced right. Though his normals are largely weak, they generate enough meter to allow Akasaka to use his high-damage supers. Against characters with single-shot projectiles like Youmu, Akasaka can use his air punches to cancel out any incoming ranged attacks to aid his approach.

Akasaka's main weakness would involve his general reliance on jump-ins for approach and multiple quick projectiles. Thankfully, with the new feature of fastfalling, a player with capable reflexes can cancel a jump-in to block.

Another weakness of Akasaka's would be that many of his ground moves can be easily ducked under. His 5A, 5B, 5C, 236236A, 46A, and 46B can all be ducked under, and would miss entirely on a stationary or crouching Chen.

Akasaka also has a very good grab range, with longer or equal reach compared to the rest of the cast, and can utilize it to great effect. If Akasaka jumps in with a j.C, and the opponent blocks it, Akasaka dash in and grab or follow up with melee attacks. However, if the j.C lands, Akasaka is pushed back too far for the grab to combo reliably.

Combos
Note that there are many combos, but to optimize them, specific parts need to be combined to form the best possible combo given a certain amount of meter.

63214C->623A->j.236236C->GC Super->5A->5B (2 hits)->236236B

5Ax3->5B (2 hits)->236A->236236A

j. C->236236A

236236A->632141236D: There is probably ample time for 236236A to act as a hitconfirm for 632141236D. However, this combo by itself does over half a lifebar (though it uses 4 meter).

Also note that the opponent MUST be on the ground, otherwise there is a very good chance that the 632141236D will whiff.

GC Super->Pause->46C: Note that this is a pseudo combo that can only hit depending on how well it is timed; the timing varies depending on distance from the closest wall. For example, if one is standing at a leg of a pillar at the Furude shrine, a small 10 or so frame pause before beginning the 46C is needed.. There is a good chance that it may also be stepped out of.

GC Super->Pause->46C->5A->5B (2 hits)->236236B: This is a VERY situational combo, but only uses 1 meter and 1 GC super and does good damage. To start this combo, a GC Super must be performed at 7/8ths of a screen to the wall. Use the Furude Shrine door to coordinate this.

After using the GC super, Akasaka is needed to wait for a few frames before beginning his 46C; otherwise, Akasaka will go past the opponent. From there, the wallbounce is just high enough to follow up with a 5A->5B (2 hits)->236236B. Fairly flashy and does a good amount of damage: equal to Youmu's 63214C