Eternal Fighter Zero/Kaori Misaka
Introduction
Misaka Kaori (美坂 香里) is the boxer-type fighter of EFZ, taking after Dudley from Street Fighter, even gaining his “ducking” move. As a boxer, Kaori is extremely strong in close quarters, and excels when the opponent is in the corner. She has basic combos that can carry the opponent to the corner, and with meter, has much more advanced combos that can deal massive damage. It is not unheard of to see a Kaori take back a match that she has been losing by 50, 60, even 70 percent life. Her weakness lies in being zoned out by characters with strong projectile games, and she must make masterful use of recoil guard and ducking to get in before she loses the match.
Kaori is one of the supporting characters of Kanon, a visual novel produced by Key in 1999. Kaori is Nayuki's closest friend, and is Yuuichi's and Nayuki's classmate. She is very smart and knows a lot about her classmates and the town, but does not seem to be aware of any of the supernatural happenings that take place. During Kanon, Yuuichi learns that Kaori has the same family name as Shiori, but Kaori strongly denies any relation...
Stage: Snowy Park (Night) (雪の公園(夜))
BGM: Frozen Plateau (凍土高原)
Character-Specific Notes
- Kaori is able to air jump once, and air dash/backstep once.
- Kaori's ground dash is actually considered to be a special move, and thus her dash attacks will also be covered in the Special Moves section.
- Kaori has the shortest jump in the game. You might need to double jump over things that only require a single jump for other characters.
- Kaori naturally has very strong normal attacks, compared to other characters.
Normal Moves
The notation for the movelists can be found under Controls.
Standing
5A
5A
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c5B
c5B
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f5B
f5B
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5C
5C
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Crouching
2A
2A
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2B
2B
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2C
2C
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Jumping
J5A
j5A
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J5B
j5B
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J5C
j5C
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Grabs
Close 6C/4C
Ground Grab
Close 6C/4C |
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Close j6C
Air Grab
Close j6C |
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Special Moves
The notation for the movelists can be found under Controls.
Ducking Moves
236*
Ducking
66 |
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236*
Recoil Ducking
44~66 |
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66A
Fast Upper
66A |
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66B
Shine One Two
66B |
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66C
Hell Charge
66C |
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662C
Leg Smasher
662C |
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Specials
214*
Punishment Cross
214* |
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623*
Cyclone Upper
623* |
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Eternity Specials
236236*
Initial K
236236* |
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214214*
Fire Storm
214214* |
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641236*
Extreme Double
641236* |
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Final Memory
666S*
Silent Pose
666S |
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Strategy
Dealing with Short Range
Kaori has very short range, but this is made up for by her high damage, and more importantly, her lightning pokes. to deal with enemies, get used to figuring out her max range on her B moves, and C moves. when approaching the enemy stick mainly to bobbing in and out of the opponent's range with her walk-speed and poking with B. stuff jump-ins with a 2B (learn the range, it's ridiculously easy to punish with) and the opponent's bad spacing with a 5BC > BnB on B-hit-confirm. her attacks have alot of hit-stun so getting damage is all about hitting hard after every B hit.
but don't forget A! if your at close range (deep), use your jab aggressively, hit-confirm into 5C! kaori has one of the few Cs that can be used right after an A and still combo.
66B, if you are at semi-close range, dashing in with 66 makes you nearly mid/high invincible, because you go through the opponent during the dash. Low attacks will still hit though. Using B to start your rush is safer than A because it has increased range and hits twice. Always use an attack after 66, if it whiffs, you can be safe to guard.
Don't jump-in. IAD is stupid with Kaori, you have goddamn magic walk speed. If you do IAD, it better be for oki or high/low.
Poke a lot, you have the largest collection of safe-pokes of any character, throw some punches out even if you don't mean it. In fact, just jumping up and down at full-screen and whiffing j.B/Cs will build up precious meter. Hit-confirm EVERYTHING into 5C BnB rush. This does not mean throw out 5Cs and hope the opponent doesn't out-range you. Throw out your Bs and Cs and be prepared to block/RG on whiff. Land a poke, execute hard.
Recoil-ducking is not a replacement for a dash, your walk-speed is. Use it full-screen with your back to the wall and land a long-range 66C (which isn't safe), or use it when you can predict a DP on wakeup and punish with dash attack.
Projectiles are easy, jump/duck 66C. done and done.
Mind-games
214A/B/C are awesome. IC A and C versions for combos, use B version with oki for free combos. C version is invincible at startup, but it's basically an A version, so use it the same way. Overhead command is tricky, so be as sneaky about it as you can.
Low-jump IAD shenanigans. Oki IAD is cheating with kaori, since you can either hit with a 1.2k+ throw, an aerial/crouch high-low staggering, fakeout into 214 for overhead tricks, fakeout into low. It's craziness. Corner-block-strings with low-jump IAD is pretty crazy too, since you glide just above low-attacks, and stopping the air-dash will ground you almost-instantly.
623A/B on wakeup, force block? cancel first block on B version and tick throw? Link A version with K punch at the end. etc. C version is your DP, so that's a different thing entirely.
Walk-speed + normals = damn-long block-strings. Just walking forward and trying to hit with A/Bs or 66A/Bs and 2Cs (5C is for hit-confirming into combos), can end up being it's own mindgame in its self. Watch for jumps and stuff with 2B or airthrow. Use your incredible walk speed to tick throw for chaos, or walk in 214 for insanity.
They fear the corner, and you landing any normal. They will panic if you get them in the corner and are forced to block. You just sit there with a wicked grin.
Kaori gains tons of meter, save it for FM. They never see it coming when you are hitting them with constant 2k combos off of pokes.
Combos
Nagisa's Beginner BnB Collection
Notation Help | |
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Disclaimer: Combos are written by various contributors, some combo notations may deviate slightly from the notation listed below. For more information, see Controls | |
IC | Input Instant Charge (22C) when you have the right amount of RF Meter. |
FIC | Input Flicker Instant Charge (22C) when you have the right amount of RF Meter. |
{X/Y/Z} | Move X or Y or Z can be used. |
#* | Indicates that any of A, B and C may be used with #. Example: 214*. |
[<- X] [-> X] | Side switch notation. All inputs grouped by the square brackets are performed facing the arrow's direction. They are still written as if they were done facing right, however. |
[X]xN | Loop the inputs in the square brackets as many times as N. |
c5B | Proximity normal only usable while close. |
f5B | Proximity normal only usable outside of c5B range or when cancelled from another normal. Known as far 5B. |
jX | Button X is input during your first jump. |
djX | Button X is input during your double jump. |
X(whiff) | Indicates that X is intended to whiff. |
X(tech trap) | Indicates a combo ender intended to catch the opponent's air tech. The most common kind of tech trap is j6C, which will air throw early techs and jC later techs. Executionally identical to X(whiff) but different in purpose. |
~ | Indicates a followup for moves which have them. Example: 236A~236A. |
.. | Indicates a short delay. |
IAD | Indicates an Instant Air Dash. |
IABD | Indicates an Instant Air Back Dash. |
(X) | X move is omittable from the combo. |
tk.X | Indicates the motion "X" is input immediately after leaving the ground. Stands for tiger knee. |
Blue IC
- Near Corner
- 214C IC IAD(sideswap) c5B 2B [623B(2) 5A(whiff)]x5 [623B(1) 5A(whiff)]x3 5C 214214A IC 623B(1) 2A(whiff) 5A 5B 5AAAAA f5B 2C jABC djC(whiff) - 2 hit cyclone loop. Replay
Old Combo Section (keeping until rewrite)
BnB Combo: (close) 2AA 5C 66A 5C 66A 5C 66C. Does about 2600 base damage, and does not need any RF or SP. deep corner you can manage more 66A 5C cycles.
BnB super: (close) 2AA 5C 66A 6C [66A 2C/662C] 214214A/B/C A version does about 3300+ damage. C version can easily reach into the 4800+ damage range. tack on an IC at the end and cyclone loop into corner juggle for 5-7K combos.
- for both versions, B pokes (longer range) rather than 2As are optimal. starting from 5C is viable because of the granted range, and is pretty safe on whiff, just watch the start up time.
- to time the 66A, just mash on A quickly, there's no buffer for the A so you should just mash it until it comes out, in fact pound your keyboard a ton. hit-confirm and throw out 5C66.
edge rush BnB: (launcher/2B anti-air) 9 j.B 66 j.AB land (2B) 9 j.B 66 j.AB... off of a launcher or anti air, you can chase the opponent and with a series of airdash cancels you can effectively push the opponent to the corner from anywhere. can even lead into a corner juggle.
Corner Juggle BnB: (launcher/edge rush BnB + corner) c.5B/5A...5ABC 236236A/B/C you can juggle the opponent in a corner for an absurd amount of hits, using 5A, c5B, f5B and 2Bs. with a bit of creativity you can easily juggle into 5k damage range. this is also a very flexible combo, but requires very strict timing and observation.
meterless corner juggle attatch (from 66A 5C string) get near corner, use 2C instead of 5C > 9 j.AA j.A land cornerloop... need to hit with 2 quick j.As and then pause for the third for positioning. super easy, but hit practice mode first.
Cyclone juggle loop: (airborne opponent) 623B 2A(whiff) 623B 2A(whiff) 623B 2B 623B 2A(whiff) 623B 2A(whiff) 2B 623B* if you can catch the opponent with the top end of the cyclone, you can immediately cancel it with 5A and immediately start up another cyclone, effectively juggling the opponent with cyclones. when they start getting lower you can re-launch with a 2B and start it up again. can also lead into corner juggle if you catch them at the edge of the screen with it. *you have to watch the opponent's position and change the amount of cyclones per loop accordingly. if they get within 5A's hitbox the loop will fail and they will airtech away, stop cycloning and start juggling. edit: was previously written as 5A, this works but 2A is far superior for whiffing purposes.
extended Cyclone corner juggle loop: (launcher/edge rush BnB) [Corner juggle BnB] (use cyclone instead of super) [Cyclone loop] [Corner juggle BnB] IC [Cyclone loop] [Corner juggle] (Blue IC) [Cyclone loop] no I'm not going to write it out. if you can pull this off you don't even need to be here right now. the juggle meter is effectively reset after the super. this combo can EASILY roll into the 7k/8k damage range. this combo is very dynamic, a ton of factors are playing out here: how long to juggle before boosting the juggle meter with cyclones, how many cyclones can you get in before ruining the combo, timing hits perfectly. as you can see, this is the pinnacle of kaori play. you could even use a lower level super at first, stocking one of your levels for later use in the combo.
There's Something about Cyclones
The B version of Kaori's "Cyclone Upper" move (623B) is wonderful to use on opponents who are waking up, since it is one of those rare special moves which can be cancelled into normal moves. Good for mixups. Someone needs to expand on the possibilities, I don't play Kaori.
- cylone loop you can catch the opponent with B version, immediately cancel it with a whiffed A move, then re-input B version of cyclone. effectively hitting with multiple 1-hit cyclones will boost the juggle meter quite a bit and add a nice amount of damage. doing this at the end of a corner loop can virtually double the length of time you can juggle them.
- it's really easy, 623BA 623BA 623BA. just input BA one after the other.
- to practice, use a level 2/3 K punch, and hit with the top of the cyclone. in fact, catching a level 1/2 K punch (3 hit) IC with a cyclone loop, leads practically into a free corner-juggle.
- the secret to the cyclone loop is buffering the 2A. by holding 3 and hitting B then A, the 3A will buffer for the first hit of 623B, meaning the 3A (which comes out as 2A) will come out at the first possible cancellabe frame, 2A hits low and will whiff anything caught in the cyclone, and has enough recovery to take advantage of with cyclone. just hit 62[3]BA like a piano and it will work it's magic by itself. after that it's just learning the timing and getting the 2C cyclone loop reset.
- resetting for more cyclones, there are 2 ways to reset for more cyclone loops. first one is to use a super that launches straight up, that means K punches and level 2/3 rush super. as soon as the part of the move where they launch straight up nears, buffer an IC, once the launch happens the IC will come out and freeze frames will go in. during these freeze frames you need to buffer a cyclone loop, hit 62[3]BA during the flash, and for the love of kanna hold the 3 down. cyclone will hit just barely with the top, loop is reset. under this method you can get 5 cyclones in. finish off with a corner juggle if in the corner, or hit 2B and push to the corner with corner push air combo.
- cyclones are amazing, they push the juggle meter UP with each part of the loop into the blue, while balancing height. just get the loop to muscle memory, and watch the opponent's height in the juggle, you learn this and landing corner loops and corner push combos will become suddenly more viable for constant sources of high damage.
there's a special juggle, using 2 hits instead of the first hit. i have no friggin clue. it's about as mystical as kaori's 66B(1) juggle loop.
Okizeme
Win Quotes
Japanese | English |
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もう良いでしょ |
I hope you're satisfied. |
悪くは無いわね |
Not bad at all. |
ボディがお留守よ |
Your body's wide open. (Kaori is saying one of Vanessa's quotes, from The King of Fighters series.) |
チェックメイト |
"Checkmate" |
遅いわね… |
You're so slow... |
(To Shiori) |
(To Shiori) |
(To Kaori) |
(To Kaori) |
Colors
In-game References
External References
- Kaori's "Cyclone Upper" move is based on Cody's "Criminal Upper" move, from the Street Fighter series.
Kanon References
- The park with the fountain in the background is an important place of her sister, Shiori.
- The way that Kaori stares blankly at the toast during Akiko's "There is also some that isn't sweet" move is a reference to her previous experience with Akiko's "special" jam before the events of Kanon.