Changing subjects a little bit, but I was asked recently what characters I like to use and why, and I'm actually asked this question quite a bit. The fact is, there's no clear-and-cut "I like this" system to the characters I enjoy and choose to play.
There are trends, sure. Generally speaking I like heavy hitters. I prefer fewer hits that hit much harder than having to land a bunch of tiny "easy" hits. This can be summarized as: "High-risk, high reward." This is especially the case if the move feels iconic in some way, so that my opponent goes "Oh God, he got me."
Inevitably, this applies to throws and grapples. I love combo throws. So in general, I do like grapplers. But, I don't like all grapplers better than strikers (especially if you're one of those loons who only considers the i4 5T characters as grapplers).
So anyway, I thought I'd grade all the characters on a 1 to 5 scale of how much I enjoy playing them. This is not how much I enjoy fighting the character, nor how balanced I think they are or easy/difficult to use. This is just personally who I have fun using. So don't get offended if your character isn't scored very high. That doesn't mean I hate your character, it just means that (s)he is not a good fit for me, at least yet.
I didn't think this topic worthy of a brand new thread, so I figured I'd just post it here, as it is a more casual discussion given that I would only ever play half of these characters casually. Without further adieu, enjoy.
Akira - 4
Alpha - 2
Ayane - 3
Bass - 3
Bayman - 4
Brad Wong - 2
Christie - 3
Ein - 3
Eliot - 3
Gen Fu - 3
Hayabusa - Innumerable
Hayate - 2
Helena - 2
Hitomi - 3
Jacky - 3
Jann Lee - 3
Kasumi - 3
Kokoro - 1
Leifang - 3
Leon - 5
Lisa - 5
Marie - 3
Mila - 2
Momiji - 2
Pai - 1
Rachel - 3
Rig - 4
Sarah - 1
Tina - 4
Zack - 1
Totals
1 - 4
2 - 6
3 - 13
4 - 4
5 - 2
Innumerable - Hayabusa
So basically, I find most characters middle-of-the-road.