Melty Blood/MBAACC/Akiha Vermilion/Half Moon

Be sure to check this article about H-VAkiha: https://drunkardshade.com/2015/08/03/melty-bits-h-v-akiha/ Just beware that it's quite old and even its creator agrees that there should be changes done.

Overview

This character easy and effective for beginners because she gets okizeme(with a braindead setup) and fullscreen corner carry with from pretty much anything. She gets harder/complex the deeper you go so don't worry about her being too shallow. Her basic bnb is just as effective as her harder optimal ones, but the latter ones are more about meter than damage. All of her combos start pretty much the same way, being long enough to give you plenty of time to think which route do you want to take.

She's complemented by her moon style as she is very momentum-centric, as you'll regain life without having to heat. As always, you'll want to pay attention to your meter management because you don't want to remain under 0% at a disadvantageous position as her defense is pretty weak. You can optionally avoid entering heat during your loops, usually by doing a 623c. She doesn't really use meter oftern so don't worry about having to do 623c for corner carry or 22c for safer setups.

Strengths

• Amazing mobility in the air with your 2 air dashes, and the fastest ones in the game at that. They are even faster than in her other moons, which is offset by them having better air specials. You can pretty much kite your enemy for forever.

• Pits, shield counters, air counter-hits, golden airthrows and pretty much any stray hit will lead to (mostly meterless) fullscreen corner carry combos into okizeme. Just beware that not all of these combos can be considered easy.

• After you've got a hard knockdown it's quite easy to follow with some easy braindead vortex setplay to end the round. You also have harder/complex and more effective setups if you're into that.

• You'll get to 200% quite easily as she's certainly high-tier meter gain-wise.

• Her momiji(623b) loop is quite similar to her other moons variants.

• Her air normals are good, considered the best ones out of all her moons. All hail j.b.

Weaknesses

• Her ground mobility is decent, but not too great. Her walk speed is a bit on the slow side and her dash, while quick, has a massive recovery (don't worry, you can do whatever but walking/dashing again), so approaching on the ground is considerably harder than in the air. You can ease the recovery of this dash by cancelling it with 5a (less recovery than 2a) which will let you dash again to position yourself better. Just be careful so you don't get CH'ed while doing this.

• Aside from being very momentum-centric, having low health and poor defense options will mean that the sole fact that you got pushed to the corner by some random blockstring can possibly become the end of the round for you. Getting cornered is the last thing you want. Just one mistake and a half will kill you with ease.

• Unlike what you might have heard, her pressure is pretty poopy, enough said. But seriously, even though it could certainly get worse, you can't to extend your pressure for very long since it's quite easy for the opponent to escape. The main usage of pressure for her is making the foe respect you enough for you can go for airdash mixup, which are dangerous without the pit as safety. On the good side, you won't need to rebeat very much (she's more about linking her a normals), so there's little damage reduction from pressuring your opponent.

• She's a somewhat gimmicky character. If your opponent knows the matchup he can deny you from doing various thing you often see on match videos, like 214x'ing in pressure. I even have heard that some of her mixups options are reactable after some practice. But don't worry, you also have real options. Just don't rely on gimmicks like obscuring 6c with a puffball.

• Slow zoning. You'll get counter-hit pretty easily if you aren't careful. Just be glad that she has some tools for it though.

Players to look for

This thing is a WIP More players, more accurate descriptions, and possibly change of opinions are coming soon.

Remember that you can learn from even old MBAA videos since she hasn't changed that much from back then. She just lost some swag-looking combos and dirty mixups.

• Hato はと:

Ancient player forgotten in time. In my opinion, he's the best H-V.Akiha player. You won't see him play half on meltydb so search elsewhere, like youtube or nico.

• Tsubasa 翼:

Considered the best by some players. His playstyle is pretty vanilla. Most of his videos on the DB are dead as he is from the Kansai area, I believe.

• Shizuoka しずおか/静岡:

He's pretty good, but does nothing out of the usual.

• Shuu しゅう:

Has lots of videos. Solid player, doesn't mess around. Similar to Shizuoka.

• LordPangTong:

He might be old, retired and dusty but he does some pretty interesting things sometimes. He's relies on gimmicks a bit too much for my taste.

• Mystery h-v.akiha player:

Even though he has a single video this guy deserves a special mention for showing doing a ton of previously unseen stuff. I don't think I've seen him before but he looks incredibly solid. All of his known matches are in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20RqxYq-h44&t=821

• Satoken さとけん:

Ancient and not really a Current Code player but it's still good to watch. His play-style reminds me of Hato but just not as good. Just have in mind that some things that worked in AA won't work in AACC.

• Yukichi ゆきち:

Yeah, the super good full moon player also dabbled a bit on half recently. He might not be very used to playing her but it's still super recommended to watch.

Combos

All damages were calculated on C-V.Sion, using the "optimized loop" where applicable. Ideal damage is the damage done with j.c 5b 5c 4c as a starter, which is somewhat practical

For this character, in my opinion, your priority for combo routes should follow this:

Okizeme > Meter > Damage

Where > means greater than, and not the other way around.

H-V.Akiha's damage is a bit above average. Just don't expect to do anything amazing like over 5k starting from 2a.

You'll have to learn the infamous momiji loop, which, by the way isn't that hard. It's just infamous for having a massive downtime and boring your opponent. The loops based around on hitting an airborne opponent after 623b makes them bounce. Alternatively, there's also a 5bb route that will give you an easy damage air combo that is for the most part consistent, but it's mostly avoided since there are ways to get better damage and the knockdown from AT is pretty much garbage, not too surprising. You'll tend to see it most of the time replacing final repetition of the momiji loop for some meager extra damage, as a round ender.

Don't worry if you can't do the more advanced combos. You'll mostly some extra meager damage plus a significant amount meter, the latter being the main reason for doing them.

Be careful about doing 5b early in your combos. It'll trip crouching opponents, in the same way as 2c, and will cause your 5c to wallslam (if you're near the corner), costing you a bounce counter and thus a momiji loop repetition.

Almost everything between parentheses is optional, exceptions noted below the combo itself.

Combos with a *** beside them are important and should be learned.

Combos with grounded opponent

For 6aa starter combos, if you manage to hit the opponent out of 2a range, a bit near the limit of 5c (not super near the limit) you'll have to let 4c hit just once. If your 5a whiffes don't worry, just cancel it to 6a as fast as possible. Also remember to not use 5a in your combos early in place of 2a otherwise you won't be able to do the 6aa combos.

Babby/Usual combos

This is why this character got that reputation of being easy. Her most usual combos are also her easiest ones. You can't get significantly easier than this.

• 2a 5c 4c (6aaa) 2c 5bb hold 8 -> air combo (4363 / 55.3%)

Uses the so called 5bb route. Since you don't get very much from the air combo it's not recommended. You also do it when you can't proceed with the combos below, i.e. your opponent wasn't on the floor when you first hit them. Following with a 4c instead of 5bb is gives you more stability in those cases. Take a look at the Air comboing section for air combos. If you can't be bothered to look it up you'll usually do j.b j.c 9 (j.b) j.c AT.

• 2a 5c 4c 5b 2c 623b -> momiji loop (4641 / 85%) or (5181 ideal) ***

The most basic string followed by a 623b, which if done near the corner will allow you to follow up with the momiji loop. The loop is optional if you're a total beginner, but it's super recommended to do and I encourage you to learn it fast. If done at mid-screen it still gives you oki, which mostly consist of doing j.22b/a after some dashing. No matter how advanced you are, you'll still use this combo since it's a super damaging corner combo while still being super easy. It doesn't scale well with stronger starters so prefer doing more advanced combos for those cases, or also if want to gain more meter.

• 2a 5c 4c 5a 6aa 4c 2c 623b -> momiji loop (4564 / 103.2%) or (6116 / 111.5% ideal)

You can do this combo from a farther position (about the middle of screen) than the previous combo and still be able to follow with a momiji loop. Although it does less damage it's good to do since it gives you more meter.

• 2a 5c 4c 5a 6aa 6c 66 (variable delay) (4c) (2c) 623b -> momiji loop (4216 - 4449 / 99% - 114%)

This is your fullscreen to midscreen combo. You'll have to delay the 4c depending of how far you are from the opposite corner, if you're near the middle of screen, cancel the dash into 4c as soon as you can so the 6c doesn't wallslam before you hit them. If it does wallslam it'll cost a bounce and won't be able to do the last momiji loop repetition. Also the proration of the 6c is a bit high so you won't get as much damage as the previous combo. The dash cancel after 6c is special because it doesn't count as dashing, that means you can cancel that dash into another which allows for some interesting things.

Advanced combos

Certainly harder as these have actual non-buffered links but still very reasonable to do and absolutely worth going for. Just by looking at these you'll understand H-V.Akiha's combo theory much better. If you're able to do these then starter is up to you. Ideally it would be j.c 5b 5c 4c, which is not that practical. The meter was calculated using 2a 5c 4c and j.c 5b 5c 4c respectively.

• 5a 6aa link 5b 2c 2a(whiff) delay 4c 623b -> momiji loop (4657 / 107.3%) or (6226 / 115.7% ideal) ***

Your most damaging corner combo (that still gives you 2 repetitions for meter), which also gives you the most meter in the corner. I haven't found anything more optimal in the corner yet. The link of this combo is quite similar to 623b 5b so it's super good to learn if you want to do the loob with the 5b route, known as optimized loop here. This is not really a corner combo since you can do still do it even if you're a bit over of half the distance of the stage from the corner, but there's no reason to do this one if you're able to do combo below. This is just the best thing you can do in the corner. It's hard to hit Nrvnqsr with this, but it's certainly possible.

• 5a 6aa link 5b 2c delay 5c 4c 623b -> momiji loop (4896 / 115%) or (6327 / 123.4% ideal) ***

Your most damaging combo, enough said. I've reached over 8500 under non-practical conditions with it. It's not possible to do the final repetition of the loop if you're too close to the corner, but even so this combo still does more damage than the combo above (over 4700). Yes, it's that strong. Because of some hit counter damage reduction thingy, this combo does more damage if you whiff some 623b hits in the loop. Its max range is a bit over 2/3 of the screen, a bit more and you'll have to do the combo below instead.

• 5a 6aa 6c 66 wait 5b 2c delay 5c 4c 623b -> momiji loop (4486 / 120.6%) or (6059 / 129% ideal)

A slightly better version of the previous fullscreen combo. Combos below scale better with stronger starters. If you get too close to the corner for you to follow with 5c, you can replace it with a whiff 2a like the corner combo.

Double 6aa combo variations

These are named like that because you'll be doing 6aa at least twice. The bad thing is that doing that prorates pretty badly so you don't want to be doing these for damage. They'll get you more meter than anything though. These are more inconsistent than any of the previous combos so you might have a hard time with them. These combos tend to be slightly easier on high gravity so try to cram as many hits as you can before the first 6aa.

• 5a 6aa 4c 5c 2c 5a(whiff) delay 6aa (2a)(whiff) 2c 623b -> momiji loop (4546 / 127.7%) or (6108 / 136.1 ideal)

Not doable near the corner. There shouldn't be any delay between 6a and 6aa. This combo is just a stepping stone for the combo below. Do not bother with it.

• 5a 6aa 6c 66 delay 4c 5c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa (2a)(whiff) 2c 623b -> momiji loop (4388 / 133.3%) or (6119 / 141.7% ideal)

Although it might seem a good idea for fullscreen corner carry, it requires a lot of space to be doable without wallslam. This combo is added for just completion. Do not bother with it.

• 5a 6aa 4c 5c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa 6c 2c 623b -> momiji loop (4423 / 128.4%) or (5909 / 136.8% ideal)

I like to call this one shadow's reverse. Much much easier to do than the combo above. It wrecks your damage correction even worse than the combo above but it still scales better with weaker starters. Do not bother with it if you can do the combo below.

• 5a 6aa 5b/4c 5c 2c 5a(w) 6aa (2a)(w) 2c { delay 5c or a non-delayed 2a(w) } 4c 623b -> momiji loop (4847 / 142.3%) or (6392 / 150.7% ideal) ***

Your best fullscreen combo, enough said. Harder than any of the above, and even then it's not by much, and also gives the best damage/meter. It can be done from fullscreen to 1/4 away from the corner. If you feel like the last 5c is going to wallslam you can avoid it by whiffing 2a instead and proceeding as usual. I'm not sure but I think doing 5b after the first 6aa might give you more damage but less meter (It has to do something with the hit counter reducing damage in the long run). Damages are calculated with 5b while meter is calculated with 4c. Adding another 5b before the last 2c might possible on some characters. Doing a third 6aa after the last 2c is possible on some characters. The last part of the combo is character specific so try different things if it's not comboing properly.

Tested and doable on V.Sion, Ries, Hime, V.Akiha and Nanaya.

Metered Combos

H-V.Akiha doesn't use meter in her combos because it doesn't give her damage or anything very useful at all (with a single exception), truly a shame.. Actually, using meter loses her a tiny bit of damage. She can gain damage from her arcdrive only when the hit count is already pretty high.

Since most of her ex-edges are more suited for setups, that'd leave you with 623c and 41236c, her Arc Drive. It's kind of funny that both of those are more frequently used as reversals, and bad ones at that. You can replace 623b with 623c for meter management, that is, not reaching heat when you don't need it. You have to be a bit careful with it because 623c is kind of finicky and tends to whiff some hits for airborne opponents. 623c also prorates really badly. If you want to end the round and look cool just use 41236c instead 623b at the final of your momiji loop if you can't go for the 5bb air combo route at the end.

The momiji loop

Infamous for being really boring and easily reduced. Basically, this is what you do after you manage to do 623b near the corner that you can pick up. If manage to end up a too far away from the corner after 623b you'll want to proceed with 4c. There's a way to still combo if you whiff one of the 623b hits (i.e you did it too far away) and that is by doing the usual loop. Replacing the 5b there with 2b also works and is slightly easier. If you don't do this you'll drop the combo.

Easy loops

• 4c 623b 4c 623b (31.4%)

This one is super easy and there's no way you can fail it. As always, it leaves you with the (not so) amazing corner oki.

• 4c 2c 623b 4c 2c 5bb (air combo/623b) (46.5% or 61.6% for air route)

You'll want to delay a bit your 4c so 2c hits, and after 2c hits you'll want to delay the 623b so it doesn't miss a hit. It's quite easy. You can do the 5bb 623b thing two times but it's a bit harder if the gravity is low (although it's still worse than the optimized loop damage and meter-wise) and it's not recommended because of the reverse beats. You can also go for an air combo to end the round.

Usual loop

• 5b 2c (2a)(whiff) 4c 623b 5b 2c (2a)(whiff) 4c 623b (51%)

a.k.a. the one preferred by the japanese. I feel like this one is less character specific than the combo above. 5b is a significantly harder link, mostly because it's not buffered and you have to tap it really quick so it doesn't trigger any charge frames. Waiting very long for a somewhat short window of input is also a bit disorienting. Whiffing 2a is optional, since the reverse beat penalty from it doesn't reduce your damage. Also, you can replace the 2a(whiff) with a 5a(whiff) if you find it easier that way. If you happen to hit the opponent with the 5a, it'll just give you a bit more of damage and wont't mess up your loop, usually.

Hard loop

• 5b 2c 5a(whiff) link 2a 2c 4c 623b 5b 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa 2c 4c 5bb (air combo/623b(2)) (33.9% + 46.2% = 80.1%)

Mystery H-V.Akiha invented this one and is the only guy that does these. This gives the most meter out of all your loops, being almost 30% more than the combo above. If you can't do the second rep (because of wallslam and the like) just do the second rep instead of the first one, for example after confirming a 6c. The first repetition requires somewhat low gravity while the second one requires higher gravity, that's why you can't do the first rep two times. I know for a fact that it doesn't only work on V.Sion. You can also go for an air combo as usual.

Have a video for reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20RqxYq-h44&t=1012

Air comboing

I could just tell you to do j.bc 9 j.bc and be done with it, but this thing is a bit more complex than that.

Whether you picked up an air counter hit or whether you simply messed up and did 2c quite early (with no way of following that but to do 623c or aircomboing), the same logic always applies.

The most logical way to proceed would be by doing a 5bb, woulnd't it? Actually, no. Although it's quite common to see this, in my opinion it might be the worst choice. Aside from being a harder route, it doesn't give you that much damage compared to the 4c one. It's hard because you've got delay the second hit of 5bb as much as possible, then hold 8, wait until you get to your apex (which is more or less when your is able to tech) do j.b j.c and then double high jump cancel and do a delayed j.b j.c again. If you did it right you'll be able to air throw them, if not then bad luck. Even if it sounds easy, the timing is somewhat tight. Most players just opt to do j.c AT without the j.b, but that's just being unoptimal. Also, there's no place for j.a here.

What I prefer to do instead is doing 5b (delay 5c) 4c -> air combo, where aircombo depends on what height did you hit them. There's a way to cram a 5c before the 4c if you delay it after the 5b.

While the 5b is optional it's always recommended since it makes the combo easier.

If you hit them too high, with your 4c barely hitting, that's ideal height, and there's only one way you should proceed:

j.b j.c 8 or 9 j.b j.c AT

That's the best damage, and the one you should strive for. And there's no need to double high jump unless you mistimed your air normals. I prefer the neutral jump cancel, because I tend to cross up with forward jumps.

If you hit them a bit lower than that and you think your j.b will whiff, it's do j.c j.b 8 j.b j.c AT. Don't worry, the reverse beat penalty is much better than the proration you get from j.a. You should be doing j.c first every time you feel like you're to low for j.b to hit. You can also do it backwards but I believe it nets you less damage and makes the combo more unstable.

If you hit them too low for j.c to hit effectively then j.a j.b j.c 9 j.a j.b j.c AT is the most reasonable choice. It's also consistent. Avoid the last j.a if you leave them too high in the air. Also, this is the best choice if you started your combo with a 2a/5a or the damage correction got too high, i.e. not picking up an air counterhit (unless it was done with j.a, 236X or j.236X, and those are quite unrealistic). That's because the j.a will add damage without lowering the proration even more.

If you're finding these too hard, this is your babbiest air combo.

• j.a (j.a) j.c 9 j.a (j.a) j.c AT

The second j.a's are optional but they add slightly more damage.

The very same thing applies for high shield counter confirms. 2c 5bb is suboptimal while 5b (5c) 4c is the better choice.

For all situations above, if you're in the corner while facing towards it, you can replace the 5b 4c stuff with 623b and continue with the usual momiji loop. If you're a bit too away for that you can do 5c 623b, it'll wallslam but you can follow with one rep of the loop. If you pick up an air CH or shield counter you can do the full corner carry juggle combo described below.

Miscellaneous confirms

Shield counter (high)

Fun fact: you can cancel the shield counter into specials and throw.

Anywhere

• 5d -> wait 2c 5bb hold 8 j.b j.c 9 (j.b) j.c AT (2633 / 45.5%)

Babby confirm. A.K.A. the one you should stop doing as soon as possible. It's good since it'll give you a feel for confirming with 2c, which will be used in a different confirm. If you've timed it well you can go for the j.b but it's simply better to just go for the combo below.

• 5d -> (2c) 5b (5c) 4c 9 (j.a) bc 9 (j.a) j.bc AT (3056 / 60.1%)

Usual confirm for damage. You can use this anywhere but it's mostly used when you can't confirm into the momiji loop. You can't do the j.a's if you go for 5c(for best damage and meter) because of the pushback. Since the shield counter prorates like crazy it's good to do a j.a. Doing a second j.a is super hard and unless your timing is pretty much perfect you won't able to air throw at the end. I recommend to do only the second one.

• 5d -> 4c 5c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa link 2c (delay 5c 4c) 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?) ***

Best shield counter possible. Possible on everyone. if you're too close to the corner and you don't want that last 5c to wallslam you can replace that part by 2a(whiff) 4c 623b.

• 5d -> 5c 4c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa delay 6c dash 2c 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?)

Full corner carry version of the above. Possible on everyone.

• 5d -> 5c 4c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa link 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa 6c dash 2c 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?) ***

Better version of the above, also it's a bit more stable.

Corner

• 5d -> 2c 623b -> momiji loop (3236 / 70.3%)

The best thing to do when you counter in the corner. If you were against the wall facing the corner far away you've got enough time to walk cross under the opponent before hitting them with your 2c, so that you can combo them. You might think that it's a good idea to do 4c before 2c, but reverse beats really affect the damage for shield counters, that being about 200 damage less.

• 5d -> 5b 2c (2a)(whiff) 4c 623b -> momiji loop (3311 / 77.3%)

One I just invented. It's harder and barely gives more damage/meter. If you do the 2a whiff you get like 20 damage less. It's better to play it safe and go for the one above.

Shield counter (low)

This one can't be jump canceled like the high one. It's only canceled into specials.

• 2d -> 623b -> momiji loop (3670 / 69.7%)

The usual thing to do when you have no meter, and the best thing to do when near the corner, as you can follow it with a momiji loop. Done in midscreen it gives you midscreen 623b oki, duh.

• 2d -> 623c -> followup into momiji loop (??? / ???)

If you have the meter you can do a fullscreen corner carry combo into momiji loop thanks to 623c, and this is usually the best option. For some reason it gives you less damage than the combo above. Check the "Other" section for more details.

• 2d -> 41236c (3419 / 0%)

For some reason it doesn't seem to be affected by the proration, so the arc drive does more damage here than when used raw. Does probably more damage than the combo above. This is the best option to end the round, if you're not near the corner and can afford it.

• 2d -> nothing

A perfectly valid choice. The knockdown you get from this is slightly better than 2c (haven't tried this), and the okizeme that you can go into should be pretty similar. Disclaimer: I haven't done my research well on its oki.

Golden air throw

I don't know if golden AT oki is good enough to justify not following it with a combo. I prefer doing starting these with 2a. 2a also gives you slightly more meter.

• land -> 2a/5a 2c 5bb sj8 j.b j.c 9 j.b j.c AT (2988 / 36.4%)

Basic damage combo for midscreen. Somewhat difficult to do, and probably not worth the hassle if you can do something else. Near the corner you can do 5c instead, because it's easier and does more damage. The wallslam won't affect your combo.

• land -> 2a/5a 2c 623b -> momiji loop (3292 / 64%)

Always good but it's better done near the corner. Remember to delay the 623b if you don't want it to whiff a hit.

• land -> 5a 2c 2a(whiff) link 2a 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa 6c 66 2c 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?%)

LPT's fullscreen corner carry golden air throw combo that I've never seen in a real match. I don't know if it's character specific. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiEEQD2y4ec

• land -> 5a 2c 2a(whiff) link 2a 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa 2c 2a(whiff) 2a 5c IAD j.c land 9 j.b j.c 9 j.b j.c AT (3601 / 79.8%)

Shadow's version of the above combo for damage. I haven't played around too much with these, but it seems that LTP's combo is the better choice as of now. https://youtu.be/VLBtnaT9jfs?t=36

Standing overheads

More advanced stuff coming soon.

6c (corner only)

• (5b) 4c 9 j.b j.c 9 j.b j.c AT (3870 / 40.6%)

Easy and consistent aircombo damage confirm. Prefer the combo below.

• 2c 623b -> momiji loop (3195 / 43.4%) or (4109 / 62.6%) with 5bb route.

Easy momiji loop confirm and the usual thing to do. Remember to delay the 623b if you don't want it to whiff a hit.

• 2c 2a(whiff) 4c 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?%) or (?/ ?%) with 5bb route.

A bit harder, and a bit more damaging(?). Haven't tested it too much.

6c (everywhere)

You can confirm it just as if were part of a combo. You know, the usual dash cancel 4c 2c 623b stuff.

5bbb

• IAD cancel j.b land 9 j.b j.c 9 j.c AT (3185 / 28.0%)

I hope you aren't planning to hit anyone with this. It's kind of a hassle to do but it's good to know how to confirm it. You can replace the first j.b with a j.c but it's harder that way. The damage/meter was calculated using the only the last hit of 5bbb. This can be done everywhere if you were wondering.

Other air counter-hits

Aside from the usual air combo stuff you confirm them into momiji loop stuff.

• 5b/4c 5c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa (delay 6c dash) 2c 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?%)

It's kind of hard to time but if you do it right you'll get full corner carry plus a ton of damage and meter. Prefer 5b for more damage.

• 4c 5c 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa delay 2c 5a(whiff) 6aa 6c dash 2c 623b -> momiji loop (? / ?%)

Better damage/meter but it's a bit of a pain to confirm since you have to be a bit away when you pick them up, otherwise the second 5a won't whiff.

Other

Stray 2c

Just follow with 623c. 623b 623c otg relaunch prorates badly.

623c

• 4c 2c 623b -> 1 rep (3448 / -100% + 18%)

The easiest follow up of 623c. If done a little less than fullscreen you can follow it up with another (1) repetition of the momiji loop. Done at fullscreen it only gives you corner oki.

• 4c 2c 5a(w) 6aa 5c 2c 623b (? / ?%)

A bit harder but it gives you a bit more of reach and it's ideal for fullscreen usage.

j.22a and j.22b

doing the combos from j.22a is bit harder than doing it from its j.22b counterpart, but they both work.

• land -> dash in -> 5b delay 5c 4c 9 j.b j.c 9 j.b j.c AT (5020 / ?%)

Damage confirm for j.22a. Wait until the pit hits all of its hits and then delay the 5b a bit.

• land -> dash in -> 5b/4c 5c 2c 5(w) 6aa (delay 6c 66) 2c 623b (? / ?%)

You know the drill. You can extend it the same way you do it with shield counter confirms and air CH confirms.

• j.66 j.c land (5c) 4c 9 -> air combo (5263 / 52.6%)

Damage confirm ideal for j.22b.

j.22c

You can do the same combos as the weaker pits but you can do them from further away and also it's easier.

OTG

I don't really know what would you use these for, but I guess it's good to know. You can put a 623c somewhere if you want to relaunch them for better oki.

• 2aaaaa 5bb 4c 5c 5a 6a 2b

Probably the longest OTG string possible.

Setplay

Mixups

Note: Even though 2a is a low it can be shielded both ways so prefer 2b for the first low. It has less proration, more damage and has to be shielded low, also it's only one frame slower than 2a.

From jump

These mixups are based on doing j9 and usually following with j.c, which you will expect be blocked. j.b and j.a have their uses but j.a is not an overhead and j.b has to be done near the minimum airdash height, j.b also whiffs on crouchers, so they're less common.

Although you can do them in neutral the start is super telegraphed so you'll want to do a setup before them to make them safer if you don't want to risk getting shielded or countered easily.

• 9 land low/throw: The empty jump.

Opponent a expects j.c that will never come and eats a low instead. Also beats shields. You can whiff j.b before landing to make it more confusing.

Fuzzy overheads

Also known as fuzzy guard, a term used for another completely different thing related to defense. Look that term up.

I recommend following these one with 2b to confirm it. If they expect them you can follow with j.IAD j.c instead of the low.

• 9 high j.c 66 airtight j.b: The slow fuzzy overhead.

Double overhead. Unlike j.c j.IAD j.c or j.c 66 j.c this one is a true blockstring and is way faster than both of them. Also it being airtight creates a quite effective fuzzy overhead. Only doable on pciel and above.

• 9 highest j.c possible j.b: The medium fuzzy overhead.

It's faster than the one above but it's not the fastest. If the opponent stands up late (or never does) the j.c will hit too low (or even whiff, which is better) for your j.b to come out then you won't have any option but to follow with pressure, so it's not really strong.

Setups

Knockdown

Most of you setups will require you to have your opponent being knocked down on the floor for certain amount of time. The longer this time is the more time you'll get to to setup stuff on their wakeup. The following data is a rough guide on knockdown times. Since wakeup times vary per character and I may be off by one or two frames in most of these treat these as what they are, rough guides. The height of the opponent when you hit them with a knockdown move will increase the knockdown time. More height equals more time.

All this data was collected manually with framestep by couting the frame advantage using the jump test against V.Akiha.

The following are your untechable knockdowns and their frame advantage.

2c:

• 45f when waiting for the recovery to be over or 71f if jump cancelled immediately. Hitting them in the air gives you over 6 frames of advantage.

When jump cancelled it gives you the second most frame advantage of all of your options. It's usually used to setup a midscreen mixup involving a meaty pit.

623b:

• 63f when used raw or around 69f when used as part of a combo.

Enough time to do most of the things you would want. You should be familiar with this one pretty well by now.

623a:

• 18f if done raw but you can add over 6 frames if the opponent is high in the air.

Pretty much trash time-wise but it's still better than a non-gold air throw. If you manage to make the time longer it should be enough to do a meaty 6c. It's not that it's a good idea anyway.

Throw:

• 39f. It's not much but at least you can do something with it.

The time is enough to net you a safejump or a 214c setup.

AT from combo:

• 12f. That's pretty much the smallest time that you could get from a knockdown. Height doesn't matter for air throws.

It's so small that the only thing you win from it is a meaty normal to pressure the opponent. Don't try to do 214b after it since the time is so small that various characters can just avoid it with a dash and punish you for it.

Golden AT:

• 57f when landing or 80f when jump cancelled. The knockdown is probably as big as you could possibly get

While trying a setup for the landing one is not worth it, since you can get a free combo with oki from it, the 80f version might be enough time to do some setups involving an unshieldable pit setup with j.236b, which in theory could prove to be very useful. It's worth playing around with.

2d:

• At 47f it's unexpectedly decent. Setups from it are pretty much unexplored from what I've seen.

While you could combo it with 623b, it would leave you too far away from the opponent if done at midscreen. There might be cool things you could do with it so it's worth playing around with.

Bunker (alpha counter):

• 55f. That's a lot of time for something that you don't see a lot of people experimenting with.

Strangely enough, I haven't seen much people doing stuff with it. I've seen it being used to setup a safejump doubling as L/R mixup. Definitively worth looking into since it's one thing you'll be using it all the time.

Strategy

Do what you need to do to extrapolate on the character. Here are example categories below.

Move Descriptions

Normal Moves

2A Obviously, this is your standard fastest low at 5 frames. It's not quite as fast as other 2a so expect to lose some mashing fights. There's not much to say about it. You shouldn't be reverse beating or reverse beat whiffing this move since its recovery is longer than 5a, also it's -1 on block, prefer 5a to it in these cases. You should use this to start pressure or combos since you don't lose your chance to do 6aa. If you haven't used it yet in your string, but you have done 6a already, you can do something like this 5a 6a 2a 5a 6a. It looks quite confusing and it's easy to stagger so I recommend it. You'll want to mash this if you're not sure if any other attacks are going to hit, for example j.c (non counter-hit) -> 2a, but I recommend doing 2b instead in that particular case since it doesn't prorate as much and is also quite fast.

5A Your only non charged normal on plus. This is the move you want to reverse beat into after a *c move, although I think it's better to hit the opponent with it rather than whiffin since *c moves pushback is super high. Also it's a decent anti-air for when you're being jumped-in in the corner. And it's quite sad that it's one of your best ground to air moves. H-V.Akiha's doesn't have a proper anti air. This one has never whiffed on me on crouchers, but maybe it whiffes on cat len.

6A This one moves you a bit forward and the pushback is enough that it's equivalent to doing 2a directly after it. This one of the moves you'll be using often when pressuring the opponent. Don't end your string on it and try not to go for an 6aa, unless you don't do it very often, you know, this akiha's a bag of gimmicks.

6AA It's -1 so it's not that bad, but it's super obvious so linking another attack is not an option unless you get them to respect you. On block you can only cancel it into specials: 236a Use this one if they respect you, it's super plus. But it seems kind of reactable to me so expect to be mashed. It's slow enough to get hit by long C moves. 22a This one is like 236a but better since it pushes you back enough to not get hit by short normals. I think it might be slower than 236a though. It's slow enough to get hit by long C moves. 236b A good way to catch those pesky long reaching normals, aside from that it gives you back all of your air options. Dash back in, j.22a, etc. Link 5a/2a A good way to restart pressure if they respect you. 236c This might is a safe way to restart pressure if they don't have good ground to air moves since you jump so high. But it's a total gimmick if they expect it since they can just dash away. 214a You use this to catch mashers and make them respect you. If it hits well it'll leave you at 0. What do after is matchup specific but 4c may work well if they don't have any fast long reaching normals. You can't link a 5a. I've heard that 214* series is reactionable so it might not be a good idea. 623a This one is a total joke/bet and I don't recommend it at all unless they can read your 214a's, and disrespect everything else. These applies only to corner pressure. Getting blocked in midscreen is very different.

2B Unlike what you may have heard this one is not too bad. It's 1 frame slower than 2a but it's a lot longer and doesn't prorate as much, so you should prefer it. The only valid complain with it is that it pushes you back quite a bit but it's not C move leves of bad. Pressure wise it's better than C moves. This move is a little peculiar, although it pushes you back you can cancel it (into 2a/5a most preferably) almost instantly, negating that effect. If you cancel it like that it's quite useful to confuse the opponent since it happens so fast. It's also peculiar because there's a "fourth" hit, yes, that's right. That "fourth" hit only happens when you hit the foe at a super specific distance, hitting very late. You can't cancel that hit at all, although it's easy to avoid. This is the move that you'll want to mash when the opponent tries to reset his stagger, because of the speed and long range. It has saved my life countless times. Beware, this hits mid. So don't use it as one.

5B Fast if tapped. I suspect that this move is 1 frame faster than 4c. This move is -2 or so, -1 with a rebeat whiff 5a. I don't think it's that good for anti air since it hits a bit lower than 5a. This move is excellent for pressure since: it pushes you back as little as a 5a/2a; it can be charged for frametraps, and is super plus if blocked if charged fully, good for meaties, and if 5[b] hits it's better than j.c 5b damage-wise; and finally, the reverse beat windows is immense. And there's also 5BB which doesn't push you that back but it's cancel window is quite short. Cancelling 5BB Might be a better choice for stagger without reverse beat penalty than cancelling into *C moves. 5BB can't be used in neutral so I can't talk too much about it. Just beware that this move trips crouchers.

2BB This move is absolute trash and the only thing it does is making 5bbb even worse than it is. You can't cancel it into anything but 5bbb. Avoid it unles you're going for that 5bbb gimmick. This is the only move that you want to always whiff, if possible. It also trips the opponent on hit making 5bbb whiff sometimes, eww. This crap hits low.

2BBB This is the kind of move that you do only once or twice every 100 rounds, or if they don't know the matchup. It's an overhead but worse since the 5bb is slow, even if you whiff it, which make this move super telegraphed, even on high delay. Since 5bb -> 5bbb is not a frametrap at all you can get mashed quite well even with C moves. It's jump cancellable on block, and doing IAD j.a after it is airtight, allowing to continue pressure or doing a mixup with j.66 j.c. On hit you can confirm it with a low damage 9 j.c j.b AT combo or IAD j.b land 9 AT if you were expecting them to block. This might be good to do in on their wake up as it lets you continue doing pressure/mixups if they block it. I haven't experimented with this yet.

2C A sweep with the longest range of any of her normals. Since it's so long and it's not so slow I try to poke with it sometimes and reverse beat whiff it on block. It's super punishable if it whiffes. I also use when the opponent is landing, but that's kinda matchup specific. Dash 2c works more than I expect it to. I don't really recommend it on pressure. It doesn't moves you very much and it's only worth going for if you rebeat into a not whiffing 2a/5 because the pushback is very high. When you do it you're basically signalling the opponent that your pressure ends there. In neutral, on hit, your options are going for 2c okizeme, following with a 623b, or simply going for a 5b 4c air combo.

5C Thanks to its disjointed hitbox, it's better than 4c as a raw anti air, although a bit hard to confirm if not in the corner (which you can confirm 623b -> momiji loop) with since it'll send flying any airborne opponent. If you want a long range move you're better doing 4c or 2c. In neutral, on hit for airborne opponents, you can confirm it into 2c which you can follow with the same options described above in 2c. In pressure this move is better than both 2c and 4c since you'll move forward quite a bit before the 5c hits. Remember to rebeat into a 5a/2a hit after it or it'll be for all naught because of the pushback. I believe this is the best move to catch jumps.

6C A 26 frames overhead. That's on the slow side and pretty reactionable even on high delay. On block this move is minus but the pushback makes it safe, but you better say goodbye to your corner pressure. You're better doing this move after covering it 236c but it seems quite obvious then. Only do this move when the opponent doesn't expect it at all, that is, gimmicks. For example, this epic gimmick: 623a 6a instead of 623b while doing the momiji loop. I assure you that this will hit. There's also 4c(1) 6c which is kind of a frametrap for slow moves since fast short low moves won't reach it. This trades with C.V-Sion's 2a. You'll always win the trade though.

4C Your fastest *C move, multihit, and the designated anti IAD move. You can poke in neutral with this move, and can confirm it into 5c 2c (623b). For pressure the move this move can also catch jumps pretty well. You'll be using it when you get too far away for anything but 2c to hit, But when you use it you'll be telling your foe to escape, so try to mix it with fake resets after it, if you're not too far away. Try to cancel it on the first hit to avoid too much pushback. All C moves after rebeat whiffing 5a are +2. But I hope you don't get to that point in corner pressure.

J.A

J.B -

J.C

Special Moves

Plucking Birds 「」 - 236ABC (Description) - Akiha will jump and spew some short range flame tongues. These are mostly used as resets or at foe's wakeup. You can't combo into or out of (except the EX one) any of these. (A version) - Akiha jumps a little and throws a flame tongue. She jumps high enough so that her own 2c doesn't hit her. It's massively plus on block allowing you to continue pressure. You can meaty do it after throwing an opponent, although dp beats it. Also it moves her a tiny bit forward. (B version) - It's kind of like a super backward jump that leaves a tongue. It won't hit anyone unless they mash big normals. It might work to bait some dps that go upwards. Also, after recovering it leaves you with a jump and 2 airdashes, which if executed well it allows you to keep your pressure. (EX version) - Akiha jumps high enough so that most normals won't even touch her and shots a lot of flame tongues. The startup is massively slow so you're better doing this in their wakeup, which allow for some mixups. If they chicken block you get a combo for free. You can also do a setup with this that involes throwing it in some part of the momiji loop so that if they tech it and block it you get a free combo, and if they don't tech it hits. I don't think this is worth the meter. Also, I don't see any use of these in neutral.

Brilliant Impetus - Temporary String「」 - J.236ABC (Description) - Spawns a red web that explodes after a set time. It's unshieldable but not very active. A and B versions are pretty much identical except for the momentum. (A version) - Stops you in the air before leaving a mine, then akiha's drop in a fixed angle and speed. Mostly TK'd after 623b okizeme. If you want to try to use it in neutral, which I don't recommend, then try to do if very low in the air, for example just after an inverse IAD. The reason for this is that you can't cancel the recovery from it and you'll become vulnerable to anything. (B version) - Keeps your momentum in the startup. After leaving the mine you'll drop in a fixed angle that looks like a jump in reverse. Not really useful except for some super specific setups You regain your air options after doing it so it's kind of screaming to be used in neutral. Since it keeps your momentum TK'ing is useless except for some safejump setup. I've seen TK pits being used after it. (EX version) - Same as A, except more damaging and bigger(?). It comes out faster than A. I haven't researched its advantages yet so I am still not sure about its usage.

「」 - 214ABC (Description) - Spawns a slowly advancing row of pillars. The recovery is horrendous so you have to be careful using it. Its startup is also somewhat slow. Used to end blockstrings, as a reset, as anti-air and as a zoning tool. It's a bit hard to confirm air counterhits from it since the pillars tend to hit more than once. Beware of it since it can be punished on reaction if the opponent has the tools for it (e.g. F-Ries 236c). Yes, even the uncharged versions. The charged version are faster than your pits or 236a but much slower than your overhead. (A version) - Spawns the pillars just in front of you. 0 on block if spaced correctly. When charged the pillars are spaced more widely so it covers more space. When charged the first pillar is -5, the second one is 0, the third pillar and beyond are very plus. Using this one is good for when the opponent wants to approach through air if they aren't very high. It pretty much denies IADs. It's super dangerous if they are near you, specially if they're high, since they can punish the recovery easily. The charged version for this one is not used very much for obvious reasons. (B version) - Exactly the same as A except the pillars start spawning just after the range of A. Its usage is very similar to A except it's more unsafe since it leaves a huge gap where it doesn't hit. The charged version for this one is used for zoning from far away or as a way to reset a blockstring if the opponent doesn't know the matchup very well. (EX version) - This one is the odd one from the group. The startup is super slow and the pillars appear closer to you than A's but move even slower. It has many I-frames at the startup but it's not a true reversal. If it manages to hit you can confirm it into any combo you want. This one is screaming to be used in setups. Totally useless in neutral.

「」 - 623ABC (Description) - ...

「」 - (J)22ABC (Description) - ...

Arc Drive

Crimson Lord: Uncountable Pureness 「赤主・遍生」 - 41236C (Description) - Akiha shoots an almost, but not quite, fullscreen laser from her eyes. Has some invincible frames at the startup so it can be used as a reversal, but it's easily punishable on block done up close. Also used to punish moves from far away. Usually used as a round ender to look cooler. It'll end your heat so it's not worth it if you need the heat for anything else. Believe it or not, this move whiffs on most crouchers.