umgogo

IMO his neutral is good enough for a character specializing in close-range combat. (Well, I'd take it over non-Level 2 Heat Bullet's any day....) Standing C and Gustaf Buster (qcf+A) are his main mid-range tools. Up close, I mostly use crouching A and standing B. Dash -> jump cancel Gustaf Buster or Tiger Magnum (qcf+C) can be used to cover distance and as a side-switch mix-up at close range. In the air, I tend towards jumping B, jumping d+D and jumping d+C (mostly to cut my jump arc short). As for using Drive (weakpoint) attacks in neutral, standing D is fast enough to use when you have a minor frame advantage, and f+D/df+D are effective for okizeme/roll catching. Jumping d+D can cross up and lead to combos (like a normal jump-in move). Once in a long while you may want to throw in the low-hitting Hornet Bunker (qcb+D) as a surprise move (by itself or after the qcf+C). To apply one or two weakpoints? That depends on how confident you are that you will be able to land two-three hits in succession (considering the opponent's character, playstyle and Burst gauge), and to what degree your opponent's composure is affected by double weakpoints. Of course, if a single-weakpoint combo will finish the opponent, or if your weakpoint's duration is about to expire, you should use that weakpoint. Standing B and f+B are his main anti-airs (f+A may also be useful). Azrael's backdash is excellent for escaping pressure and creating openings to counterattack. When cornered, though, he may have to rely on his Counter Assault (which I find more reliable than the qcbx2+D Scud Punishment) and good reads to teleport dash through the opponent (which is something of a high risk, high reward tactic).

Quick question: does this game not support "fullscreen"? I get borders and there is no "Display settings" menu. (PS4)

As you say, I believe Kino's S has quicker start-up (and her bullet has less/no travel time), making her better suited to hitting other assists on reaction. She is probably also more difficult to hit (meaning she will not suffer from added "assist recovery" as often). Additionally, I think her f+S (diagonal gunshot) is easier to combo from, even if it sees less use in neutral than Celty's f+S bike drop. On that note, I wish Celty's commands were swapped. Not only does neutral S for the drop and f+S for the "drive-by" slash seem more logical to me, but Aquapazza's Yuma (the girl with the bike) uses those commands, leading to more embarrassing misinputs than I'd care to admit. ^_^

Before leaving the screen, he says "Kowai, kowai." ("Scary, scary.") as usual. IIRC he has no special quote when "Super Cancel-summoned" by Shizuo.

^^^ I think this pair works fairly well together. Also, their intro speeches are priceless (Izaya: "Hey, you guys! Beat this guy up, will you?"). Izaya's neutral S (taunt, knife attack, aka "Youkai kamaitachi, SANJOU!") is useful for okizeme (knockdown, neutral S, crouching A/b+AB/throw/qcb+A/B/C, neutral S hits, combo as appropriate): crouching A, standing B-C, S hits, [crouching C, standing AB, hcf+BC] crouching B, standing C, qcf+A, S hits, [crouching C, standing AB, hcf+BC] b+AB, air qcf+A, S hits, walk backwards, A-B-C, hcf+BC (untested) throw, S hits, Power-Up Blast or [standing B-C, hcf+BC] qcb+A/B/C, S hits, hcf+BC or (corner) [qcf+AB, jump B-C, double jump B-C, air qcf+A] or (corner) [qcf+AB, crouching C, hcf+BC] Shizuo's standing AB (subway car door tackle) does four hits, making for an easy hit-confirm (on the second hit) into neutral S: ~standing AB (two hits), S, S hits... Power-Up Blast [jumping B-C, double jump C, air qcf+A] [standing C (charged), hcf+BC] [jumping C, land, standing B-C, hcf+BC] On the Japanese wiki, this move is described as "Kanari uzai" ("Fairly obnoxious"). ^_^ Izaya's f+S (trip, stomps) has quicker assist meter recovery: [~standing AB (three-four hits, depending on distance), f+S (three/four stomps), either Climax Art] [~standing AB (four hits), f+S (four stomps), crouching B, jump back, air C (charged), hcf+BC] [~standing AB (four hits), qcf+AB (vending machine throw), f+S (no cancel), stomp follow-ups] (corner only) On the wiki, the final bullet point in the rundown of this move reads "Tottemo uzai" ("Extremely obnoxious"). :=D

I. Yes, I meant Uruma, EFC, df+B (sorry, I just can't bring myself to use that ugly numerical notation, for any game ^_^). II. What I meant was that you will never have to settle for B-C, super when you have Kunugi activated. You obviously won't have access to Kagesuki at all times, and you may even want to go for a reset with B-C super, okizeme TK rdp+A/B/C into df+B, air combo. III. Yes, depending on the range you may have to dash. Looking through my old notes: standing/crouching A-B, ABC, (dash), standing B-C, qcf+ABC standing/crouching B-C, ABC, (dash), standing (B-)C, qcf+ABC Also, many Arcana Blaze/Eclipse moves that are reasonably fast and can hit an airborne opponent will connect after ~hcf+A/B/C, EFC, standing A-B-C. Off the top of my head, it works with Wind (Blaze only?), Evil (Blaze only), Sacred, Ice (both?), Punishment (Eclipse only), Sin, Tyr and probably Dark (Eclipse only) and Tone (Blaze only). Lastly, this works in Vanilla, at least: (Evil Arcana, opponent moderately far from the corner) …db+E, standing E, qcbx2+E, standing A-B, ABC, standing A-B-C, qcf+ABC After the standing E, you teleport to the other side of the flying opponent. This, sans the standing A-B part, was my favourite combo in AH1 (where there were no Extend Forces).

I usually do ~EFC, standing A-B-df+B, jumping B-C-B, double jump B-C, rdp+C, qcf+AB. When you have Kunugi activated ("red sword", after d, d+A/B/C), you may have to change the first part to just ~hcf+C, EFC, df+B, air combo, since the Kagesuki (the powered-up hcf+A/B/C) travels farther than the normal version and standing A may whiff. However, the extra range afforded by Kagesuki means that it will always connect where Uruma (non-powered-up hcf+A/B/C) may not, meaning you will never have to settle for just "B-C super." In short, power up whenever you can. Plant: standing/crouching B-C, EFC, standing B-C, qcb+ABC or qcf+ABC Kamui's far-reaching normals allow her to combo into Arcana Eclipse/Blaze, regaining a fair amount of health in the process.

^^^ What I did was perform Anutpada/Time's time-stopping Arcana Blaze (qcf+ABC during Arcana/Extend Force), then simply walk up to the opponent and do jump attack -> standing attack, repeat x2. I assume you are expected to use IADs or moves that restrain the opponent, but this method works.