I would pick Rachel. She is far better than Honoka in pretty much every gameplay related aspect except speed. For the fun factor I'd say I like Honoka more but this is entirely subjective.
@Pictured Mind: Why would you take a character's appearance into account anyway? Especially when it comes to a main character. I see it this way: I'd prefer an ugly ass character whose fighting style interests me to a smexy character whose fighting style I think is boring. If you find a character that is interesting AND good-looking, then you are lucky.
It's all personal preference in the end anyways. That's why you play Rig and I don't.
Most characters in DOA are interesting, so if you play two characters and want to main one of them, why not pick the one that looks better? To me it's like, if I want to learn a character and have to look at them pretty much anytime I play, might as well pick a character that actually looks good.
I do believe people seem to forget that there are other characters besides Rachel & Honoka. Not sure why people need to limit themselves with just those two.
Well for me they are the two i purchased for my ps4 version though i used to use Mila and momiji when i had access to others Rachel and Honoka are the most fun to me
But @Pictured Mind had a point i kinda like the way Honoka looks and she makes me feel chipper and excited really is fun to play with, and rachel opens up my inner Diva <3
So it's more of a outside personality thing (Which is cool, nothing wrong with that.) It's just that, no matter what the situation is..you don't always have to limit yourself based on your own persona. You could be a female and play a beast of a Leon, Bayman or Tina.
But she does clamp down on an opponent far easier, and requires pretty much no forethought. Hit buttons, win.