I'm loving the news of Raidou. A change to a cyborg is much better, and kinda in line with canon than just giving him a sex change and plastic surgery. At least we get one guy back. Costumes are cool, too. Loving Hayabusa's, and looking at it in-game, Kasumi's looks good, too.
I'm 50-50 about Marie Rose news. For one, I firmly believe she shouldn't be subject to sexualization. On the other hand, I like Japanese school swimsuits. It's complex.
So overall, I consider this a solid Phase Alpha on the DLC Cycle. I think I need to revive it, given the pattern of "Good news in October-December, bad every other time."
DLC characters after the game's been out for a while? Here's hoping Bankotsubo gets a differentiated moveset from Nyo should he come, and Genra shows up. It's unlikely (like a 94073293207 to 1 chance), but I can at least dream.