Going back to the bandit-It wasn't my intention to dodge by being behind him, but ultimately it turns out that he/attacking him at that moment may have helped me. Lol
Hey Brute! How are you bro?
Anyways, I that was a funny moment. Lol I dunno if the strong attack has i-frames, but this was just a weak attack- square, square combo. Still, perhaps it was due to this having i-frames? And I'm not sure if the bandit contributed to it either. I checked the vid of my normal mode fight against her and saw a part when I was hit by the soundwave-there was a stop in my animation and no paralysis due to my onmyo magic talisman that was active. Here, I activated the same talisman right before the fight and while being hit during the attack animation, it didn't stop...but I was still damaged. Lol I dunno, that was just odd.