Akira vs. Aoi differences: Question

Hi, I was wondering what makes Akira and Aoi so different or advantageous in their own ways? From what little I've seen, it seems Aoi's "advantage sphere" rests on her counters/reversal ability, but her normal attacks are just...there. Akira on the other hand can parry and whiff opponents' attacks with the exact same ease as Aoi. Is this true? Otherwise, outside of the complex nature of Akira and more flambouyant throw list of Aoi, Akira definitely seems to be more effective with his blunt power and speed. How would you outline the differences between these two characters?

 

Aoi & Akira are totally different characters. BOTH of them have counters, however Aoi can also counter "down attacks" (people kicking when you're down), as well as any high, low, or mid attack w/ the P+K & the stick. HOWEVER, she can block any high or mid kick or punch w/ Back+P+K+G. IT won't take off any damage, but it will throw off your opponent -- hopefully for enough time to get a throw/attack in. The problem w/ the normal counters is that it's a gamble. If you're off by a fraction of a second -- they whack you.

Akira is strong, but he's by far the hardest character to learn... if you want to use him properly. He also has the counters, and they take off more damage than Aoi's (I think) when pulled off, but I've found him rather sluggish to use. FYI, here's all the characters that have counters:

Wolf, Akira, Aoi, Pai, Kage, Vanessa.... I think that's all. Jacky has that annoying thing where he grabs your hand when you punch. Lei Fei has a pseudo-counter, but is much easier to anticipate than anyone elses.

 

Aoi will also reverse crescent and sweep moves, which Akira can't, and YY stance (b+P+K+G) will inashi high/mid without having to guess. Some of Aoi's reversals actually do more damage, since they guarantee a chop or ground throw. However, they're just as much a risk as anyone else's reversals, so you don't see them getting used much. Aoi players tend to rely on her wide variety of throws and elbow strikes to keep the pressure on. Unfortunately, she's a lot lighter than Akira and doesn't have much float combo potential, but the almighty double stop makes up for that /versus/images/icons/wink.gif

 

The big difference is that akira is a lot stronger than aoi...

oh ok, some details. Akira can reverse attacks just as well as aoi, but aoi's do more damage since they often set up for a ground throw afterwards. Aoi can also reverse a few minor attacks that akira cannot, but for the most part they both can reverse 80% of the attacks in the game.

Akira has better combo starters than aoi (shoulder ram, super dashing elbow, d/f+P+K... all have good recovery), but Akira has a weaker throwing game. Aoi relies on high/mid/low/throw guessing games... for akira it boils down to either attack or throw.

Akira is harder to learn if you don't have good coordination/dexterity.
Aoi floats much higher and suffers more from combos as a result. (I think akira's 4th heaviest in the game).

 

>BOTH of them have counters

You mean both of them have reversals. It'll help everybody if we keep our terminology straight.

grib.

 

Well, try doing it in two languages. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif You have any idea how hard it is to read b P d/f P and have it mean the same thing is 4P3P?

 

heh, sure, no offence intended... I've made the same mistake (counter instead of reversal) myself, and I don't have the two language issue as an excuse!

grib.

 

Gaijin-P, thanks a lot for contributing on this forum. We don't have many regulars posting here from Japan, so any insights you have are very welcome. To limit confusion, we try to only use the term "counter" in reference to major and minor counters. (Gaijin-P, I'm sure you already understand this, but I want to expand on this for any newbies that might be reading this thread.) As we define them, a major counter is an interrupt or hitting an opponent while they are executing an attack. (You get 50% bonus damage.) A minor counter is hitting an opponent while they are recovering from an attack. (You get 25% bonus damage.) We quite often use the abbreviations MC for major counter and mC for minor counter.

We use the term reversal for what you were describing as "counters" for Akira and Aoi. Reversals stop an attack and do significant damage to an opponent. Inashi is similar to reversal, but instead of knocking down the opponent they divert the attack and cause him/her to stumble/stagger and do very little damage if any, but give the initiative to Akira/Aoi. As was said earlier in this thread, some inashi (depending on what attack was inashied) have the potential to cause more damage than a reversal with guaranteed follow ups to the stagger.

One addition to the Akira vs. Aoi comments:
Aoi has the extra option of reversing any rising attacks. Because she can reverse circular sweeps and crescents, you can simply guess low or mid reversal when pressuring a downed opponent. Akira can only reverse straight line attacks, so you have to be knowledgable of what kind of attack your opponent has available depending on how they are lying on the ground.

 

Yupa: Thanks for the clearing up. I think the term counter you're using is closer to what's used here... not sure though. I get a lot of different information (some net, some arcade). Inashi is also a term used here -- I've only been studying up on Aoi for a week or so though, so am still learning. So When someone attacks (mid or high) when Aoi's got the b P+K+G stance, is that Inashi? What about attacks that kind of cancel out the others. b P for example w/ Aoi -- I believe they're called Sai-tome here.

Okay -- another question.

 

Aoi's b+P+K+G stance automatically inashis high/mid stuff, yes. Her b+P is a sabaki move (you hear the scratch sound when it eats someone else's move).

 

That's it! Thanks.