Yasuda has gone on record with saying that Rise of the Ronin is one of their fastest selling games. Does anyone have any figures on this? It's a bold statement to make without releasing actual numbers.
Technically depending on what lore path you follow Kasumi is stronger than Hayate and possibly smarter as well.
DOA1 by Itagaki clearly stated that Kasumi won with no help and that Hayate was physically and mentally dominated by Raidou in their village.
Following the DOAD storyline… it does...
Naotora is the least studied matchup in the history of DOA5. While that's not her fault in terms of popularity; she was the last character released for the game and catches people by surprise.