Yatagarasu/Kotaro

Kotaro

Introduction

Kotaro is a cheerful young ninja who is aspiring to be an opera singer. In battle, she relies on her tricky movement and command grab to get around the opponent's defenses.

Pros:

+ strong mixup game

+ good fuzzy guard setups

+ unconventional movement options

Cons:

- mixup options are often unsafe

- low damage

- very meter dependent

Move List

Normal Moves

LP Standard jab. Good frame advantage on block, used in Star's Gift combos due to the fact that it's her highest damage normal that can be chain-cancelled.

cr.LP Not much reason to actively use this. Same frame data as st.LP on block and hit, but has less active frames.

j.LP Very horizontal hitbox. Useful for air-to-air situations due to its fast startup, but don't expect to hit any grounded opponent. Special-cancellable.

LK Long-reaching mid kick. Mostly used as combo filler since it's rather terrible on both block and hit by itself.

cr.LK Standard low-hitting kick. Pretty fast and decent range for a light normal.

j.LK Could be used for crossups, though linking after it is difficult. Special-cancellable.

HP Short-range sword slash. The main benefit of this attack is that, unlike cr.HP, it can only be parried high which might be useful if you want to hit someone with a meaty attack.

cr.HP Chains into 6HK making it her best punish starter. Excellent anti-air, if a bit slow to come out.

j.HP Very large amounts of active frames on this move and a decent hitbox to boot. Great for jumpins, fuzzy guards, crossups and even some air-to-air situations. Special-cancellable.

HK Good for stuffing high jumps from far range and keeping people from jumping out of the corner.

cr.HK Very low-profile hurtbox. Can even be used as a situational anti-air.

j.HK Premier normal for fuzzy guards after a standing reset outside of the corner. Decent for air-to-airs and jumpins due to its long horizontal range. Special-cancellable.

Command Normals

3HK Universal sweep. Very slightly more range than 2HK. Remarkably safe on block.

6HK One, Two! Great combo tool that allows for more juggle options afterwards than any of her other moves. Very unsafe on block.

2HP (in mid-air) Kotaro drops straight down with the same animation as her j.HP. Stops all of her air momentum, so it could be used for fake crossups, baiting anti-airs or messing up the opponent's anti-air/parry timing. Causes a hard knockdown.

LP+HP (Overhead) Universal overhead. Links into 2HK on hit against a crouching opponent. -2 on hit and block if they were standing.

HP+HK (Unblockable) Uses the animation of her standing HP. Awful range. Probably not very useful.

Target Combos

cr.HP, 6HK Kotaro's best combo starter. Super unsafe when blocked, so make sure to hit confirm it.

Special Moves

236P Sawarabi Daiichimaku Sword dash. Bounces off the opponent allowing you to follow-up with any of her aerial special moves, but not normals. May combo into either super on hit. If this attack is parried, Kotaro loses all her followup options allowing for an easy punish. LP - travels about half-screen. HP - travels almost full-screen. EX - throw-invincible startup. Fastest startup of all the versions allowing it to combo easily from light attacks.

214P (in mid-air) Jurokusen Throws a kunai at different angles depending on the strength of the button used. Very useful for hit-confirms into super, jumpins in general or to cover yourself after a sword dash. EX version throws two projectiles.

236P (in mid-air) Oborozukiyo Spinning sword fall. Good hitbox that stays active until she reaches the ground. May combo into either super on hit. Potentially unsafe if it is spaced poorly. The EX version hits twice and may be super-cancelled on either hit.

63214P Kakushin Kenbu A command throw that dodges some lows and throws. Combos into 6HK for a juggle. The HP version travels slightly farther and is slightly slower compared to the LP version. The EX version is low invincible for most of the startup, and gives much better frame advantage and combo scaling on hit than either of the other versions. Likely one of the best ways to spend meter.

214K Tendaibu Command jump that may be used on both the ground and in the air. Allows for tricky crossups, unorthodox jump arcs, pressure strings... The regular versions don't allow you to use another normal attack if you already used one during the current jump, or are airborne from connecting a sword dash. High jump counter state until landing. LK - jumps straight up. HK - jumps forward at an angle similar to a super jump. EX - travels forward at a lower angle and more quickly than HK. Unlike the other versions, you may always use a normal attack after this.

Supers

236236P (in mid-air) Tomoni Maiodorumaku Mostly useful as a combo-ender.

214214P (in mid-air) Star's Gift Throws a kunai that applies a debuff on hit which slows the opponent's walking speed and prevents jumps for a short duration. Also greatly reduces the pushback when hitting normals on the opponent allowing for some silly combos with light attacks. Reinforcing this super *quadruples* the duration and allows the debuff to be applied on block for about the same duration as the non-reinforced version.

Combos

Yatagarasu AoC β kotaro basic combo and Oki [1]

kotaro Star's Gift combo & meaties [2]