How do the characters differ in VF5FS?

Gameplay wise what makes each character unique, in terms of feel and their options.

I main Akira and I'm far from perfecting him, despite playing VF5 since 2009 and of course Final Showdown on and off these last 6 years.

I've just learnt that some characters don't even have reversals, and Jean Kujo, whose VF's Ken only has 2 reversals against mid/high and the other low. Akira has 3, from:
7 P+K
4 P+K
8 P+K

 

I think in general, each character is designed to accentuate parts of the system better than the others.

I'm re-learning the game myself after years of hiatus so I won't speak much of other characters other than my own.

For example, I think Kage has better options on side-turn than some characters and still a good throw-game because of the threat of the TFT.

He only has two reversals and are quite limited in use and set-up: Jumonji neutral P-reversal & Jumonji P+K+G. But I think those two reversals are more geared towards being part of his tricks rather than a foundation of his defense.

 

This thread has simple run-downs of most of the characters (it's old and there is a lot of new tech no discussed, but the basics are still true):
https://virtuafighter.com/threads/character-playstyles-how-to-pick-right-char-for-u.15847/

 

Okay: Best thing to do, is to play all of the characters.
And you'll see and understand, what makes them unique.

 

I'm only beginning to understand Akira after nearly 10 years of playing VF5 (and VF5FS), so I needed to know how to understand my match ups better. I find that most people suck online so they play on the game's fundamentals with most relying on single gimmicks their character has.

So far I've learnt that Akira is linear, extremely shallow on strings and he's supposedly read-heavy. I've only learnt this from the forums.

 

Yeah, I always found it strange, that for a bajiquan fighter, he was
so linear. He's supposed to have arcing sweep kicks and roundhouse kicks,
but strangely, am2 didn't put those moves in.

Note: In VF 4 Evo, his foward forward forward + punch elbow attack
has a tendency, to turn, track and hit, evade dodging opponents.
Note I'm not speaking about, his forward, forward + punch elbow.

A good way to learn Akira, is to fight a cheap @$$ annoying cpu Akira.
If you lose many times, don't worry. Because the goal, is to learn all kinds of
cool tricks, from the cpu Akira.

 

That is possibly due to it beating a failed evade, like the opponent evaded expecting an immediate attack, but due to the input the attack was delayed.

 

That is very true.
But there were times, where I successfully avoided that attack,
heard the evade sound, and right after, ended up getting hit.

I was like,......dude,....what sorcery is this?!

 

In that case, especially in VF4Evo, was the better option.