Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale/Kagura

Kagura (神楽)

Introduction

Did you think I would lose? Don't make me laugh!
Character Voice: Izumi Oogami

Kagura, the Wind Sorceress, is a mid-range poke character that can be played both defensively and aggressively. She is most notable for having one of the largest projectiles in the game, pretty long normals and the absolute highest damage in the game in the right circumstances. She critically lacks defensive options up close and has no reversal, but when played well, she can adapt to opponents with ease and capitalize on her projectile-based openings with explosive damage.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Decently high range normals that can be confirmed rather easily Very solid and high damage anti-airs in 4SP and Super Has the highest damage in the entire game in the corner, with max damage being roughly 65%+ Has an air-dash; while not usually notable, this is extremely important for Kagura's gameplan, and she is the only female character of the roster to have one 5SP / j.5SP, also known as the Wind Donuts, are some of the largest projectiles in the game and due to their short recovery, can be chased after to start pressure 2SP / Kanna summon is an incredible juggle ender and has abnormally high chip damage, which can easily rob a round if the opponent isn't careful

Has no unique or good defensive options (i.e: reversal, abnormally fast jab, etc.) Non-Throw combos heavily rely on Auto-Combo system, and can be susceptible to easily getting parried 2SP / Kanna summon is extremely minus on grounded hit, and EXTREMELY minus on block Highest damage combos require some of the hardest-to-time links in the game Rather dependent on Super for her trademark damage, aswell as anti-airing for when 4SP doesn't work Very dependent on corner or character-specific throws for her trademark damage, or both

Move List

Startup DOES NOT include the first active frame.

Moveset

Ground Normals

5W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High (Whiffs vs. Crouch) - Kagura swipes her hand with a small gust of wind following after. Very long range jab, does decent damage and is a common combo-starter after getting the opponent in the corner as 5S/2S can be too slow in a lot of instances.

2W

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox Low - • Hitbox does not match trail Kagura does a slap while kneeling with a gust of wind following after. Despite having virtually the same animation, this move is for some reason significantly shorter than 5W, and unless if you really need a fast low up close, you should almost always use 2S instead due to the higher range, pushback and damage.

5W-W-W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox - Auto-Combo 3rd hit, Kagura takes a quick step forward as she slaps inwards. 2W-W-W is usually preferred over this 3rd hit as it simply goes farther which makes conversions easier, but is a great move in its own right as it directly cancels into super for an easy high damage juggle anywhere.

2W-W-W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox - Low Auto-Combo 3rd hit, Kagura slides on her knee while slapping inwards. Great move and combo staple, as it goes incredibly far and easily converts from almost-max-range 5W's. Also cancels directly into super for an easy high damage juggle, or you can do 5S-S-S which can combo into 4SP instead for a meterless knockdown.

5S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High (Whiffs vs. Crouch) - Kagura swings her fan as a gust of wind follows it. Pretty good damage and has an extremely abnormal amount of pushback, making it very safe on block but also difficult to combo out on hit of when not used at close range. Regularly used in high damage corner juggles, and is an overall good poke.

2S

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox Low - Kagura swings her fan while kneeling. Much like 2W, despite being virtually identical, this move is much shorter than 5S. It has even more pushback on both hit and block than 5S, which makes it even harder to combo out of, and also doesn't see much use in juggles due to the smaller hitbox which makes it only really used for pressuring with a low that has more range than 2W.

5S-S-S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox - Auto-Combo 3rd hit, Kagura twirls as she swings her fan around. Kagura moves forward pretty far during this move, which makes it easy to combo into after 2W-W-W, and is ideal for when the opponent is too far for 2W-W-W > Super to combo directly by itself. Does great damage.

2S-S-S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox - Low Auto-Combo 3rd hit, Kagura swings her fan at the ground, creating a blast of air. This move is more difficult to combo into than 5S-S-S, but does slide forward and does net slightly more corner carry. Doesn't see a whole lot of use outside of hitconfirms on crouchers (as 5S-S-S whiffs in this scenario), but a decent move.

Jump Normals

j.W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Air - Kagura swings her fan all around her while in the air (does not have a back hitbox despite this). Incredible horizontal air-to-air, but doesn't do a lot of damage and doesn't hit opponents on the ground so is incapable of being a jump-in.

j.S

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Air - Kagura slashes downwards with her fan, creating a blade of wind. This is Kagura's jump-in, however it sees very little use as Kagura doesn't exactly want to be jumping at the opponent directly, and in most situations where you could set up a meaty jump-in, you want to air-dash instead to threaten a high damage throw combo. Very slow start-up for an aerial move.

Dash Attacks

Forward Dash Attack	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High - Kagura swings her fan downwards while floating forwards. Generic overhead with average damage, but is very useful for 5SP's that hit the opponent in the corner, as you can pick up the combo with the Dash Attack then continue the juggle with 5S for shockingly good damage.

Backward Dash Attack	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox N/A - Kagura dashes backwards while swiping upwards. For how niche backwards Dash Attacks already are, this move is extremely hard to hit due to having strangely long start-up and an absolutely awful hitbox. Even if it does manage to connect, you don't get anything other than a little damage and a knockdown, absolutely never worth using.

Special Moves

5SP / j.5SP 風刃の舞; Fuujin no Mai (Dance of Wind Blades) Grounded version Grounded version Aerial version Aerial version Dunkin' Dunkin'

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Low/Air - Can be crouched under. Kagura uses her fan to throw a funnel of wind, also known as a 'Wind Donut', at the opponent. This is the largest non-super projectile in the game, and does pretty serviceable damage as well. The most important part of this move is that, despite having decently long start-up, the recovery is very short (especially for projectiles in this game), meaning that you can air dash after it on hit or block to start pressure, which makes it a very fundamental part of Kagura's aggressive-defensive gameplan. Launches/Knocks down on hit. Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Low/Air - Kagura swings upwards to throw a funnel of wind in the air. Has most of the same uses as the grounded one, however, it'll miss grounded opponents regularly. Useful for catching people that try to jump over after a grounded one.

2SP 神無; Kanna Baby girl, why am I -70 years on hit? Baby girl, why am I -70 years on hit?

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Low/Air - Knocks out a shard from the opponent on hit. Kagura summons Kanna to attack the opponent with her mirror, using a soul-sucking beam. This move is a very fundamental part of Kagura's combo-game and used primarily as an ender, as it has extremely high range, very high base damage and knocks down on juggle hit. Doesn't see much use outside of combos as it is dangerously minus on block and on hit... though, one situation where you can (and maybe should?) use this move for hitting grounded opponents is chipping out, as this move's high base damage converts to very dangerous amounts of chip damage, and can easily catch an opponent slipping on defense.

4SP >屍舞; Shikabane Mai (Dead Corpse Dance) Corpse boy, do for me Corpse boy, do for me

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Low/Air - Kagura uses the power of her fan's amplified wind to reanimate a skeleton soldier, which then does a slash downwards. Has moderately long start-up, but is commonly used as an ender after 5S-S-S since 5SP can't combo and 2SP is minus on hit, aswell as corner-specific high damage juggles after a Character-Specific throw. Does great damage on hit or block and also makes a very competent anti-air.

66SP 竜蛇の舞; Ryuuja no Mai (Dragon Serpent's Dance) "You just drop dead." "You just drop dead."

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard Hitbox High/Low/Air - Kagura thrashes her fan in a circular motion to channel a gigantic raging tornado. Absolute staple of Kagura as a character, the tornado reaches all the way to the top of the screen which makes it an insanely good anti-air, it's active until it goes offscreen, does incredibly high damage on hit and can be juggled after in the corner with 5W/5S or from midscreen with Kanna/2SP and even does pretty formidable chip damage. This move can be comboed into in a variety of ways, most commonly from 5W-W-W or a corner juggle (regularly involving a Character-Specific throw).

Strategy

Kagura is designed to be a zoner, yet has very powerful mid-range normals and combos, as well as arguably the strongest throw game in all of InuFFT. These two factors combined make her play like an adaptive hybrid, who wants to poke with 5SP and her normals to create an opening, whether by pressuring on block or on knockdown, then air-dash in to either threaten her horrifying throw game or catch the opponent pressing buttons with her normals.

Use moves like 5W, 2S and 5S to keep the opponent in check from range while also using 5SP (either jumping or grounded, both control space in different ways) to not only control space, but also chip at the opponent's health and pressure them.

When you're in range for a combo, use 2S frequently and be ready to convert into 5W > 5W-W-W, as this leads into a high damage combo with or without meter.

Speaking of meter, unless if it's extremely unnecessary (i.e: opponent has only 8% left and a more common ender would easily kill), don't hold out on using your Super tornado in combos; it is an extremely powerful attack that can quickly and decisively establish a huge life lead off of a single hit. Also be sure to always hit the extra 2SP at the end for a possible shard or just more damage.

Combos

Work-in-progress

NOTE: Kagura doesn't get any form of follow-up after her side-switching basic throw. Refer to Character-Specific Throw chart for more details.

Midscreen

• 2W 5WW 5S > 4SP
• 2W 5WWW > 2SP

Both meterless combos, both are partially susceptible to getting parried but knock down and net good damage

• 2W 5WW > 66SP > 2SP

Most common super combo from midscreen, does roughly 50%.

(Only on Kagome, Kikyo, Sango, Miroku, Totosai, Kagura and Koga):

• Throw > 2SP

Only possible follow-up after character-specific throw from midscreen. Still does good damage for some reason? (14% roughly)

Corner

• 5SP - 66S > 5S 5W > 2SP

Extremely spacing specific but can confirm from far away, you can substitute the 5S 5W for 5W 5S, which lets you microwalk backwards to make hitting 2SP more consistent. Roughly 25%.

(Only on Kagome, Kikyo, Sango, Miroku, Totosai, Kagura and Koga):

• Throw > 5SP 4SP > 5A (Meterless, 40%+)
• Throw > 5S 4SP > 5S 66SP > 5W 5S 22SP

65%+ damage. The mother load combo. The absolute highest damage combo in the game, but has extremely strict timing on the 5S after throw and catching the fall from 66SP.
Video example here