Akira's an execution heavy character. I think having a list of things to practice to make sure you can execute vital attacks are important. Here're my suggestions:
1) 1 frame knee (
, release after one frame) :
It's important to practice this move simply because you cannot maximize his juggle damage without doing it. Just about all combos benefit from the knee.
I use this combo to practice the knee:
As an actual launcher, I'm still not convinced that the knee is better than Youhou () , since the frame data shows it's not really faster. But being able to do the knee will provide an alternate launcher (less chance of being counterheld). There are already posts regarding how to do the knee, so I won't dwell on it here.
2) Instant byakko/double palm () :
I feel being able to pull this off is very beneficial to Akira's game. It's fast (13 frames), fairly good reach, and has a good hitbox. In a way it's similar to his back check (), but the back check is slower and also has more disadvantage on block (but longer range). Even though it is not safe, but because of the double palm's speed and hitbox, you can interrupt a lot of attacks with this at close-mid range.
There are three ways to do this move. The first way is to input (forward crouch dash) as fast as you can. However, I feel that doing it using this method requires a lot of hand dexterity, and due to the way I hold the stick, I can only do it consistently on P1 side and not P2 side.
From the audio of this video you can hear the rhythm of this motion on a stick:
There's a slight crouch when doing this move without buffering. I can't seem to get rid of it.
The second method is to do. It requires practice to do this consistently. I can't do it consistently yet.
Two common moves that may come out of not executing this correctly are:
-: If this move comes out instead, it usually means the system did not register the input. If you're on a stick, it might be because your rolling motion is so fast that you only inputted instead of . Make absolutely sure you hit that input.
-: If this move comes out, it means you didn't roll the stick all the way to to hit that input.
Here's a video of me doing Byakko using this method:
There's a slight jitter backwards before the double palm comes out.
There's also a third method of doing Instant double palm.
The input is . Mr. Wah relayed this technique to me, as is an instant crouch, and this does indeed work for Akira's double palm. The trick is to hold until you see the initial frames of crouch, then press . Doing it too early before you see the crouching animation and the move wouldn't come out for me. I recommend inputting the command slower than the other two methods.
A video of this is in the post below (there's a 5 videos limit per post).
3) Dragon Lance Combo ( ):
This move is also important because of juggle potential. The reason you want to do the true Dragon Lance Combo instead of the "fake one" ( ) is because the last hit will often miss on the fake DLC, especially if you are attempting to maximize damage. Damage wise it's only 1 point of damage difference, so you are practicing this move for juggle reliability, and not really damage.
In this video you can see the last hit of fake DLC missing (it will ALWAYS miss) but a true DLC will connect:
The entire command input should be done in one continuous execution as quickly as possible. Each input needs to be clean. For example, must come AFTER is pressed, and you cannot buffer with like you could in VF5.
The difficulty of doing this move is you have to make sure the inputs are clean - if you get a diagonal in there, the move will likely fail to execute.
4) "Wave" backdash:
This isn't exclusive to Akira, but it's useful enough that I think it's worth practicing.
I'm not sure what to call it, so I'll just refer to it as wave backdash.
Akira's wave backdash isn't as quick as some of the other characters (Pai, Mila), but it is still good enough that it should be applied.
You execute it like this: From any guarding position (either while holding or ), wiggle the directions between and . So for example, you can execute it like this: and so on.
On a stick, don't let the stick go back to neutral. Simply hold or then wiggle it back and forth between and . There's some rhythm involved to make the movement smooth, and your movement speed is also dependent on this rhythm.
Here's a video of me practicing this:
This move allows for alternating guarding high and low while backdashing, and the benefits are self explanatory. In a practical sense, I managed to block quite a few attacks against other players while doing this, though I'm not sure of the exact vulnerability of it yet. Additionally, it's possible to go straight into double palm while doing this backdash.
5) Stun Palm of Doom ()
After some analyzing, I've reconsidered my stance on the usefulness of his stun palm of doom. It's worth using afterall in this game.
Essentially, this combo will out damage all juggles UNLESS it's a maximum height juggle or wall combo. Don't want to risk building up stun damage? No walls nearby? Use SPoD instead of. If you connect this move when an opponent is stunned, it'll take off at least 75+ damage, which is more than a low launch juggle would.
Execution: This move should be done in one continuous motion. As far as timing goes, the first two parts () should be done quickly, while can be delayed slightly. You should start inputting before even makes contact. Compare to Kokoro's 3-hit throw, SPOD should be done slightly faster.
I've found that in DOA5 this move REQUIRES slower execution compared to VF5, and delaying the a little bit seems to fix this.
6) Toryu Tenshin Hazankai ( )
This move breaks guard and deals massive unblockable damage. It's Akira's most damaging guard break option (by a significant margin), therefore it's worth learning. This move ONLY activates if opponent is blocking, and is -7 if opponent is NOT blocking. Still, it's pretty difficult to punish this move, so the risk of throwing this out whenever you think the opponent will be blocking is low.
Execution: like SPoD, this move should be executed in one continuous motion (this is pretty much Akira's mantra). The way that I practiced this move is to do it in parts - start with first, and keep practicing these first two parts until you can do it consistently. This move's challenge lies in the directional inputs, and there's really no easy way to learn this other than muscle memory. Once you can do the first two parts consistently, add the . Repeat until you can chain all four parts consistently. The timing of this move isn't that strict in DOA5, so as long as you can hit the directional inputs precisely in a continuous fashion, you should have plenty of time to do it.
1) 1 frame knee (
, release after one frame) :It's important to practice this move simply because you cannot maximize his juggle damage without doing it. Just about all combos benefit from the knee.
I use this combo to practice the knee:
) , since the frame data shows it's not really faster. But being able to do the knee will provide an alternate launcher (less chance of being counterheld). There are already posts regarding how to do the knee, so I won't dwell on it here.2) Instant byakko/double palm (
) :I feel being able to pull this off is very beneficial to Akira's game. It's fast (13 frames), fairly good reach, and has a good hitbox. In a way it's similar to his back check (
), but the back check is slower and also has more disadvantage on block (but longer range). Even though it is not safe, but because of the double palm's speed and hitbox, you can interrupt a lot of attacks with this at close-mid range.There are three ways to do this move. The first way is to input
(forward crouch dash) as fast as you can. However, I feel that doing it using this method requires a lot of hand dexterity, and due to the way I hold the stick, I can only do it consistently on P1 side and not P2 side.From the audio of this video you can hear the rhythm of this motion on a stick:
The second method is to do
. It requires practice to do this consistently. I can't do it consistently yet.Two common moves that may come out of not executing this correctly are:
-
: If this move comes out instead, it usually means the system did not register the input. If you're on a stick, it might be because your rolling motion is so fast that you only inputted instead of . Make absolutely sure you hit that input.-
: If this move comes out, it means you didn't roll the stick all the way to to hit that input.Here's a video of me doing Byakko using this method:
There's also a third method of doing Instant double palm.
The input is
. Mr. Wah relayed this technique to me, as is an instant crouch, and this does indeed work for Akira's double palm. The trick is to hold until you see the initial frames of crouch, then press . Doing it too early before you see the crouching animation and the move wouldn't come out for me. I recommend inputting the command slower than the other two methods.A video of this is in the post below (there's a 5 videos limit per post).
3) Dragon Lance Combo (
):This move is also important because of juggle potential. The reason you want to do the true Dragon Lance Combo instead of the "fake one" (
) is because the last hit will often miss on the fake DLC, especially if you are attempting to maximize damage. Damage wise it's only 1 point of damage difference, so you are practicing this move for juggle reliability, and not really damage.In this video you can see the last hit of fake DLC missing (it will ALWAYS miss) but a true DLC will connect:
must come AFTER is pressed, and you cannot buffer with like you could in VF5.The difficulty of doing this move is you have to make sure the
inputs are clean - if you get a diagonal in there, the move will likely fail to execute.4) "Wave" backdash:
This isn't exclusive to Akira, but it's useful enough that I think it's worth practicing.
I'm not sure what to call it, so I'll just refer to it as wave backdash.
Akira's wave backdash isn't as quick as some of the other characters (Pai, Mila), but it is still good enough that it should be applied.
You execute it like this: From any guarding position (either while holding
or ), wiggle the directions between and . So for example, you can execute it like this: and so on.On a stick, don't let the stick go back to neutral. Simply hold
or then wiggle it back and forth between and . There's some rhythm involved to make the movement smooth, and your movement speed is also dependent on this rhythm.Here's a video of me practicing this:
This move allows for alternating guarding high and low while backdashing, and the benefits are self explanatory. In a practical sense, I managed to block quite a few attacks against other players while doing this, though I'm not sure of the exact vulnerability of it yet. Additionally, it's possible to go straight into double palm while doing this backdash.
5) Stun Palm of Doom (
)After some analyzing, I've reconsidered my stance on the usefulness of his stun palm of doom. It's worth using afterall in this game.
Essentially, this combo will out damage all juggles UNLESS it's a maximum height juggle or wall combo. Don't want to risk building up stun damage? No walls nearby? Use SPoD instead of
. If you connect this move when an opponent is stunned, it'll take off at least 75+ damage, which is more than a low launch juggle would.Execution: This move should be done in one continuous motion. As far as timing goes, the first two parts (
) should be done quickly, while can be delayed slightly. You should start inputting before even makes contact. Compare to Kokoro's 3-hit throw, SPOD should be done slightly faster.I've found that in DOA5 this move REQUIRES slower execution compared to VF5, and delaying the
a little bit seems to fix this. 6) Toryu Tenshin Hazankai (
)This move breaks guard and deals massive unblockable damage. It's Akira's most damaging guard break option (by a significant margin), therefore it's worth learning. This move ONLY activates if opponent is blocking, and is -7 if opponent is NOT blocking. Still, it's pretty difficult to punish this move, so the risk of throwing this out whenever you think the opponent will be blocking is low.
Execution: like SPoD, this move should be executed in one continuous motion (this is pretty much Akira's mantra). The way that I practiced this move is to do it in parts - start with
first, and keep practicing these first two parts until you can do it consistently. This move's challenge lies in the directional inputs, and there's really no easy way to learn this other than muscle memory. Once you can do the first two parts consistently, add the . Repeat until you can chain all four parts consistently. The timing of this move isn't that strict in DOA5, so as long as you can hit the directional inputs precisely in a continuous fashion, you should have plenty of time to do it.
