Minase Akiko (EFZ)

Introduction

Minase Akiko (水瀬 秋子) is an agile character who fights opponents with her formidable array of household items. Her aerial multi-hit normals make her one of the most feared opponents to defend against while in the air, and one mention of her special jam will send even the toughest opponents running. Akiko is best suited for a lockdown style of play.

Akiko is actually a supporting character of Kanon, a visual novel produced by Key in 1999. She is the housewife of the Minase home, and is both Nayuki's mother and Yuiichi's aunt. She has a very understanding and compassionate nature, and is always been there for Nayuki while she was growing up. During Kanon, Akiko is quick to accept the various supernatural events that may take place concerning Yuiichi, and supports him as family during the difficult times.

Stage: In Front of the Minase House (Night) (水瀬家前(夜))

BGM: Last regrets

Character-Specific Notes

• Akiko is able to air jump once, and air dash/backstep twice. Once Akiko has air dashed/backstepped, she cannot perform any more air jumps until she lands or air recovers.
• Akiko's ground dash is actually an air dash that moves forward-up at around 30 degrees. Therefore, Akiko does not have any dashing attacks. Any attacks she does during her "ground" dash will be considered jumping attacks.
• Akiko's ground dash does not actually count as an air dash/backstep, so she is free to jump or dash/backstep at the end of her "ground" dash.
• Akiko's ground dash/backstep cause Akiko to disappear during the time she is travelling to her destination. While she is invisible, she cannot be hit by any attacks.
• If Akiko manages to curse her opponent with her "No more mischief, okay?" move, the opponent will have a pale blue aura, and a "Time" gauge will appear under Akiko's life gauge. This time gauge displays the amount of time remaining on the curse. While the opponent is cursed, they will be unable to use certain abilities determined by the level of the curse.

Normal Moves

The notation for the movelists can be found under Move List Notation (EFZ).

Move	Hits	Damage	Guard	Move Cancel	Jump Cancel	IC Cancel
5A	?	?	?	?	?	?
2A	?	?	?	?	?	?
j.A	?	?	?	?	?	?
5B(c)	?	?	?	?	?	?
5B(f)	?	?	?	?	?	?
2B	?	?	?	?	?	?
j.B	?	?	?	?	?	?
5C	?	?	?	?	?	?
2C	?	?	?	?	?	?
j.C	?	?	?	?	?	?
Throw	?	?	?	?	?	?
j.Throw	?	?	?	?	?	?

Weak Attacks

5A

• [description]
• [usefulness]

2A

• [description]
• [usefulness]

j.A

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Medium Attacks

5B (close)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

5B (far)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

2B

• [description]
• [usefulness]

j.B

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Strong Attacks

5C

• [description]
• [usefulness]

2C

• [description]
• [usefulness]

j.C

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Throws

Throw

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Air Throw

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Special Moves

The notation for the movelists can be found under Move List Notation (EFZ).

Move	Hits	Damage	Guard	IC Cancel
An ingredient's freshness is important
236A (egg)	?	?	?	?
236A (carrot)	?	?	?	?
236A (sardine)	?	?	?	?
236B/C (tuna)	?	?	?	?
236B/C (radish)	?	?	?	?
236B/C ("?")	?	?	?	?
Let's quickly finish preparing
623A	?	?	?	?
623B	?	?	?	?
623C	?	?	?	?
Please remain calm at this time
214A	?	?	?	?
214B	?	?	?	?
214C	?	?	?	?
Taking care of the cleaning
41236A	?	?	?	?
41236B	?	?	?	?
41236C	?	?	?	?
Planning for the worst [SP Level 1-3]
236236A	?	?	?	?
236236B	?	?	?	?
236236C	?	?	?	?
No more mischief, okay? [SP Level 1-3]
214214A	?	?	?	?
214214B	?	?	?	?
214214C	?	?	?	?
This is the secret of 1-second approval [SP Level 1-3]
641236A	?	?	?	?
641236B	?	?	?	?
641236C	?	?	?	?
There is also some that isn't sweet [1/3 HP, SP Level 3]
2A2BC	2	5500	Throw	No

Specials

An ingredient's freshness is important (食材は鮮度が大事ですよ)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Let's quickly finish preparing (仕込みは素早く済ませましょう)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Please remain calm at this time (どんな時も慌てない事ですよ)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Taking care of the cleaning (掃除はこまめに)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Eterny Specials

Planning for the worst (失敗は次に活かしましょう)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

No more mischief, okay? (悪戯は駄目ですよ？)

• A version:
  • Akiko points her finger a short distance away from her. This moves seals the opponent's dash for 6 seconds.
  • Not very useful at all. The low damage, average priority, and short range makes using up a whole SP Level for this super a questionable decision. Making the opponent losing their dash for a few seconds isn't really bad.
• B version:
  • Same as the A version, but also seals all the opponent's special moves too.
  • Slightly more useful than the A version, since the opponent no longer has any of their high-priority specials or supers to surprise you while you are continuing your attack. The downside is that the damage is the same as the A version.
• C version:
  • Same as the B version, but also seals the opponent's jump too.
  • This does the same damage as the A version, and the only thing it adds to the sealing mixture is jumps. Makes the opponent even more of a target, but is usually not worth the SP used.

This is the secret of 1-second approval (これが了承一秒の秘訣です)

• [description]
• [usefulness]

Final Memory

There is also some that isn't sweet (甘くないのも有りますよ)

• Akiko pauses for a half-second, disappears, and reappears on the ground directly behind the opponent, holding a jar of yellow jam. If the move whiffs, Akiko hides the jam behind her back. She is invincible while doing this, and it is completely safe. However, if the move connects, Akiko prepares her opponent a breakfast with yellow jam on toast...
  • Akane takes a bite.
  • Akiko is pleasantly surprised, and then takes a bite.
  • Ayu holds the toast sadly, and then takes a bite while crying.
  • Doppel eats her "kimuchi" noodles first, notices the toast, and then takes a bite.
  • Ikumi examines her toast in one hand, and then takes a bite with the toast upside-down.
  • Kanna takes a bite while wearing the clothes she wore during her escape.
  • Kano takes a bite.
  • Kaori takes a bite with a glazed expression.
  • Makoto holds the toast sadly, and then takes an energetic bite.
  • Mai takes a bite, with her sword leaning on the table.
  • Mayu happily holds the toast up high, and then takes a large bite.
  • Minagi and Michuru both take a bite.
  • Mio takes a bite, with her notebook on the table.
  • Misaki has a whole stack of toast, from which she eats a whole slice in one bite.
  • Mishio takes a bite.
  • Misuzu takes a bite.
  • Mizuka takes a bite.
  • Nayuki tries to leave the table, but then is fed a second slice of toast by Keropi.
  • Nayuki (awake) shivers in utter fear, and then sadly takes a bite
  • Rumi eats her "kimuchi" noodles first, notices the toast, and then takes a bite.
  • Sayuri holds her hands in thanks, and then dines on the toast using knife and fork.
  • Shiori takes a bite.
  • UNKNOWN stares at the jam, and then takes a bite.
• This is definitely one of the more useful FMs in the game. It's strong, fast, completely safe on miss, and hits almost anywhere on the ground. The only way to avoid it is to jump or stay in the corner. It's not invincible on startup though, so you can be hit before you teleport.

Strategy, Tactics, and Combos

Combos

Akiko's primary BnB combo: (close) 2ABBC 623A [wait until juggle meter almost gone] 623A [immediately] 421A. Does about 2200 damage, and doesn't require IC or SP. The timing written here for the 623A knife special is an approximation, but it should get you within the right timeframe for an "explosive" hit. This combo can easily be linked from the j.B or j.C jumpins, which Akiko should already be using often.

Akiko's corner knife loop: (close, in corner) 5BB 2C [blue IC] (5BBC)x3 41236B [side change] 41236B [side change] 214A. Does about 6000 damage. The first 5B in the knife loop (5BBC) can be replaced with a 2A or a 5A, to adjust height. I'm not totally sure about this, but replacing the first 5B with a 5A may take less juggle meter, which lets you repeat the loop one more time if you're short on juggle. The x3 is not a constant; once you're short on juggle meter, stop the loop and finish the combo.

Her air combo mostly involves airdash-cancelling j.B until you start doing the knife loop and then it's the same as before from there. Once you catch the opponent in midair with j.B, you need to try to move them gently into the corner, slightly above the ground. Time the number of hits in the j.B before airdashing to keep them slightly above you. If they drop below you, cancel into j.C instead of airdashing to reorient their vertical position. If you reach the ground, keep them in the air with 5BB j.B or just 5B(f) j.B and continue on.

Ground into air combo: (close) 5BB 2C [IC] 5B j.B [airdash on first hit] j.B [land] 5BBC (continue knife loop corner combo). This air combo technique can be applied to linking ground combos from anywhere on screen into the knife loop. There might be other ways to make her air combo longer and still be able to do the corner loop.

Fun with household items

Akiko has some excellent normals. j.B, j.C, and 5B(f) all have good range and priority, which makes her good at anti-air or air-to-air fighting. Countering the opponent with any of these three moves can lead to juicy combo opportunities as explained above. Also, j.B and j.C are multi-hit normals which make it that much harder to RG. Performing them as you fall to the ground can interrupt the string of aerial hits sooner than the opponent might expect, which can lead to connecting a low 2A or a throw.

Extinguishing the opponent's fire

The 214A/B fire extinguisher move can be safely used on basically any knockdown, and is quite effective against characters that use their RF bar a lot (i.e. Mio and Mai). It's also good cover for your okizeme. This helps her keep initiative, once she gets it.

Be cautious of predictability

Akiko has a very limited movelist compared to most characters, which means she has a limited playstyle. She does have mixups and setups like everyone else, but not as many. Most of her ground moves have limited range, and her forward dash is a diagonal dash, which means she's almost always approaching an opponent from the air. This can be a good thing against some characters and a bad thing against others. If you are not careful, your moves and playstyle will be read like a book and taken advantage of.

Silly Akiko, supers are for kids

While there are chances to use her supers, there aren't a lot of them. The car super can be used after any vacuum hit, but the damage scaling on the vacuum is very high. The time slow super is primarily used to mess up the opponent's pace as well as give you a chance to throw, and the finger poke super isn't too useful at all, except maybe as a wakeup move. This is why Akiko often has enough SP gauge to do her FM.

Win Quotes

Japanese	English
?	?
?	?
?	?
?	?
(To Ayu) ?	(To Ayu) ?
(To Nayuki) ?	(To Nayuki) ?
(To Makoto) ?	(To Makoto) ?
(To Misuzu) ?	(To Misuzu) ?
(To Kanna) ?	(To Kanna) ?
(To Akiko) ?	(To Akiko) ?

Colors

In-game References

Game References

• Akiko's backstep (with matching dust clouds) is based on Slayer's backdash, from the Guilty Gear series.

Kanon References

• The house in the background of her stage is the Minase household, where Akiko lives.
• Akiko's "Planning for the worst" move is a reference to an event that takes place during Kanon.
• The name of the Akiko's "This is the secret of 1-second approval" move is a reference to how Akiko usually approves anything requiring her permission after only one second.
• The yellow jam Akiko serves during her "There is also some that isn't sweet" move is a reference to her infamously inedible jam that she likes to feed to others during Kanon.