I’m noticing a real lack of info on this amazing game, not only here but on the internet in general. So if you’re an AquaPazza player, please contribute to this guide on all the characters. And if you don’t play AquaPazza, give it a shot!
Let’s not stop till we get info on every one!
I’m hardly an expert at this character, but I’ll include the info I found on an AQP wiki for her, plus my own bread and butter combos I’ve discovered.
Chizuru
Partners
Llyr
4/6D absorbs mid and high hits, preventing all sorts of reversal mashing and forcing an opponent to attempt to use lows to beat it, however when used in conjunction with 66C the opponent has very little choice besides blocking. 5D can be used to extend combos or to make DP safe. This is probably the best assist in the mirror match (no more wake up DP spam because it will be absorbed)
Satsuki
4/6D triple shot, normally an easily duckable assist, becomes extremely deadly with 66C in play. The opponent is all but forced to stand block triple shot if you do 66C, and it has so much blockstun that no timing is required on 66C to make its landing recovery safe. If the opponent jumps into the triple shot very often the 66C will hit them and wall slam them anyway. 5D combo extensions are slightly trickier and more situational than other assists, and again it can be cancelled off of DP to make it safe. This combination is absolutely a nightmare for a lot of the slower portion of the cast as it more or less completely locks down all movement options and trajectories that can counter Chizuru’s momentum and approach.
Ma-ryan
Combo/reset city. Chizuru doesn’t really need to cancel into 5D fireworks like a lot of characters, though they are still an amazing tool, and of course it makes her DP safe. Rather, this combination focuses on tons of situational rejuggles with 4/6D from midscreen to corner and also doing left right mixup post Ma-ryan kick into BC into 66A/B. The higher level combos can contain up to 4 ground bounces.
Rina
Hit move activate mash B+C/5C/66C. No utility but who needs utility with this character?
Strategy
Neutral
While the initial impulse is to mash 66C, you really shouldn’t be doing it wildly out of neutral. 66C done ASAP is actually quite negative on block because of landing recovery; you can try delaying it to make it safe but that makes it easier to react to. That being said, Chizuru has the best whiff punishes in the game, she is perfectly content to walk back and forth midscreen and let the opponent hang himself by pressing a bad button or assist. You can just walk forward against some characters, 5B their jump-ins, whiff punish everything slower than a jab, throw waves, and walk them into the corner. Block a Riannon 2C without pre-existing projectile setup? 214 punish. Block or get hit by Sasara 5CC? 214 punish. See a setup-type assist like Ulthury or Camyu done in neutral? 66C. A special note must be made about Satsuki assist, if you have her it is a perfectly valid strategy to just do triple shots and mash 66C from anywhere. You will force the opponent to stand block the overhead and the triple shots will leave you at an extreme advantage regardless of landing recovery.
Anti-air
5B is amazing. Probably one of the best one button anti-airs in the game next to Karulau 2B and way safer on whiff. Easily spammable in corner, combos into 214214AB. 41236 at a distance can be used to anti-air as well because of how ludicrously active it is. People frequently jump into 41236C all the time. DP is air-blockable and not really used for anti-air, it’s more heavily used as a reversal. For air-to-air there is 66B and 66C. 66C air-to-air usually works against most characters, but in the mirror and against certain characters you’ll want to go for the faster 66B.
Pressure
5A/2A, 2B, 66C with assist, jC, BC, 41236, 5C. It should be noted that Chizuru’s normals aren’t really plus, they’re all slightly negative on block. That being said Aquapazza is a game where slight negative might as well be frame advantage. As are fast, spammable, good staggers. 2B is her main low, cancelable, decent range. 66C with frame advantage basically forces the opponent to guess BC or 2B or even cross-up jC/DP. jC itself is a super huge crossup and plus on block. BC is an amazing fast -1 completely safe overhead that ground bounces, catches jump outs, goes into a ton of different combo starters. OTGs, etc. There is no reason not to spam this move online AND offline. 41236 is viable mid string off the Bs mainly because of the threat of 5C, 41236A doesn’t give much advantage (if any) but if you can mix in the B and C versions you can continue pressuring afterwards easily. 5C naturally frametraps after the Bs, wall slams near the corner, and is hard to punish (you can cancel into assist if you really need to.)
Okizeme
Almost all your combos should be ending in 214 if not a super. This gives you adequate time to really do whatever you want. Common setups are 41236C jC, raw BC, 41236 BC, 41236C 2B, 41236C 66C (very specific hilarious crossup when done correctly), raw DP overhead (yes, I have seen this used to end many rounds.) Meaty triple shot into whatever as mentioned is amazing on oki as well, as is Llyr 4/6D into anything to basically nullify all reversals the opponent can do. Fireworks and Ma-ryan kick are both valid oki starters as well.
Defense
Chizuru’s DP is an overhead that can crossup, and can be cancelled, albeit with tight timing, into assist. That being said, it is not air-unblockable, so people jumping with the intention to chicken guard can punish, as well as safe jumps. It’s good but not THAT good, and against Llyr you basically can’t use it at all.
Normal Moves
5A
4F. Good range, chains into self and Bs.
5B
Godly one button anti-air. Combos into Chizuru Combination if you anti-air someone. Fast recovery. Can chain into 2B as well as the Cs.
5C
A rather large forward swipe. Wall slams, can follow up with 66 whatever or 214. Frame traps off the Bs, rather hard to punish on block.
2A
5f mid. Links into 5A in white tension. Chains into self and Bs.
2B
A fast low. On CH and red tension combos into BC. Main hit-confirm normal to go into 214 or 236236AB.
2C
Sweep, pretty useless in combos because 214 exists and because its range is too short so it whiffs. On CH, goes into 214. No reason to really use.
B+C
Amazing overhead, -1 on block so completely safe. Ground slams, allows all sorts of follow ups. Also OTGs. Catches chicken block as well.
JA
3F and yet tied with 2C as her least used normal. You can do left right mixup post bounds with this but you’re better off using jB for that specific setup.
JB
Air-to-air normal. Used in a very specific midscreen left right setup as an ender.
JC
Huge crossup. Wall slams air-to-air. Used in lots of juggles. One of her defining moves.
4 or 6+C
For some reason she can combo off both her throws. Forward toss into 66C 214B, backward toss 214C.
Bread And Butter Combos
Crouch+A > Standing+A > Standing+B > Quarter Circle Back+B
(Note: Treat the crouching A as a hit confirm)
Cross Up Combo
Jumping+C > Standing+A > Standing+B > Quarter Circle Back+B
(Note: Jumping C seems to be pretty unsafe against someone with a good DP. So don’t over use this combo.)
Partner Combo (Partner must be Ma-Ryan)
Standing+A > Standing+B > Quarter Circle Back+B > Forward+D > Quarter Circle Back+B
(Note: The Forward D must be pressed immediately after the Back+B. When executed correctly, the whole combo should be seventeen hits that do almost half their bar)
Super Art Combo
Standing+(B+C) > Quarter Circle Back Quarter Circle Back+(A+B)
(Note: Don’t let them bound too high in the air before executing the special move input. The lower they are to the ground the more damage it does)
This is most of what I know. I also wrote most of this at like, 2am so let me know if stuff doesn’t make sense.
Also, Chizuru’s DP will never crossup, it will always be blockable from the side that chizuru started at (although you can only IB it as a crossup). I’m not totally sure how it works but I’m gonna record a video showing this cause lots of people seem to be thinking it crosses up.
edit: here’s the video
Manaka
Partners
Manaka works decently with basically everyone, you can just pick whoever you want and probably find some good stuff with them, here are some picks I wanna highlight
Satsuki
6d can keep them away when you want them away, and it can also keep them blocking when you want to get in. If you’re trying to mix them up, your overheads are instant air j.b, and short hop (see below) j.c. This is probably the easiest assist to use, I’d probably recommend it for people new to Manaka.
Octavia
6d can compliment your zoning and gives a knockdown, 5d can make somethings kinda safe, can let you combo 5c into j.c for a knockdown, and is alright as an alpha counter. 5d also has a really obnoxious animation and can help make your overheads (short hop j.c in particular) harder to block if you cancel into it from something. This is what I use most of the time, it’s not amazing but it’s fun and solid, good example of how you can find something with anyone.
Rathty
6d gets you good damage in the corner, and is a good alpha counter, 5d gets you decent damage midscreen and a knockdown. If you get the opponent to block 6d, they’ll be blocking it for a while. If you open them out without Rathty’s help, you can combo 5c into 5d midscreen and try for oki, or do a swag corner combo with 6d. This is another one I’d recommend for beginners, pretty simple and it looks cool (because style matters).
Yuki
Yuki lets you shut down your opponent’s offence for a little bit, kinda. The snowflakes seem super good, but they’re actually not that scary and Manaka doesn’t really benefit from the combo stuff and the recharge is just too long to be worth it. If you want your opponent to stop and block for a bit, Satsuki is better.
Rina
Don’t every use this assist, you can get good damage off of it, but it’s ultra slow to recharge and doesn’t help you open people up. This is one of the only bad assists you can pick, so don’t do it.
Strategy
Manaka is a really weird character, she has a not very scary zoning game, a not very scary mix-up game, and not very scary pressure game that all combine to make a very confusing character. She’s kind of a jack of all trades, decent at none character. The idea is that you zone your opponent for a while, making them annoyed, then you let them get in on your terms. They assume it’s their turn to push buttons since you got to do it while they were a screen away, but then you hit them/force them to block somehow and start up pressure, they get mad/don’t believe this character could actually do real pressure/mix-ups and take damage. Then you get them full-screen and start chucking books. They really want to get back in end up running into books and hopefully lose.
Neutral
Book toss can be done at angles to blow up pretty much any approach. Either try and drive them back by throwing books in front of them, or try to invite them in by only covering jump/ground angles. The knockdown on the book toss makes it hard to whiff punish, but it also gives them a free mixup, so be careful.
Anti-air
5c is a pretty good anti-air, it moves Manaka back a bit and it’s got a pretty wide hitbox, you can either super or do a 214 bookshelf afterwards. 214 raw is air unblockable, but it’s really slow, punishable on block and it’ll miss deeper jump ins. Dash c is also air unblockable and you can use it to catch people trying to up back your dash mix-up, it’s also really punishable. J.a is a good air-to-air, j.c can work, but it’s often too slow. Also heavy book toss has a good anti-air arc.
Pressure
2b>2b moves you forward a bit and can’t be interrupted by anything other than supers or DPs. 2b can also go into 2a which is a lot safer to do if you think they might guard reversal. At any point during pressure you can go for instant air j.b which is a pretty fast overhead. If 2b hits you can go into 5c then 214 ender or super. If j.b hits you can only get a 214 or super on counter hit. If they try to backdash out of pressure you can try and go for a sweep to catch them.
Manaka also has a pseudo short hop, you do it by double jumping as low to the ground as possible. It’s not as good as the real short hops some characters have, but it’s useful anyway. Short hop into j.c is a slower overhead than instant air j.b, but it will give you a full combo on normal hit if you land it deep enough. Short hop into j.a doesn’t lead to as much damage, but it’s better for pressure in general, just make sure to cancel your j.a into a light book toss to keep them in block/hitstun, otherwise you wont do enough blockstun/hitstun to keep anything up.
Okizeme
If you end a combo with 214, you can dash up to get a three way mix-up started. From dash you can get a meaty low (a followup), overhead(b follow up), or air unblockable (c followup). The low is your 5a and leads to your normal combo, the overhead is j.b and leads to nothing unless counterhit, and the air unblockable is unique and leads to another 214 or a super. If they have a reversal it’s pretty easy to react to Manaka’s dash, if that happens you can either try to do the low really early to cancel out of your dash and block, or just give up dash oki for the match-up.
If you have them cornered and end with 214, you’ll be right on top of them and can get a much better mix-up between 5a for low, j.b for overhead, and 5c for anti-air (5a is also air unblockable, if you time the meaty correctly I think it’ll beat upbacking, this goes for dashing too). Since you’re on top of them and don’t have to dash up, you can properly bait and punish DPs/supers if the matchup calls for it.
Also you can go for a short hop into book toss, you want the books to hit on top of the opponent right before they wake up so they have to wake up into the book shrapnel, then start your mix-up/pressure. If they’re in the corner and you’re feeling fancy you can throw the books slightly behind them so the book goes off screen, it’ll look like you just fucked up your oki, but if they try to punish you they’ll get hit by the book shrapnel (assuming the random splash works out). This also loses to supers and DPs.
Defense
Manaka’s book shelf counter move seems like it would be pretty decent, but it has too much start-up to catch people it’s super punishable. You will probably only use this move on accident or against someone who doesn’t understand how it works. Manaka’s bookshelf super (214214) is her reversal and is one of the better reversal supers in the game. It’s air unblockable and on hit or block it’ll push your opponent away from you. 2b has some kind of guard point, but it’s very unreliable, you’re better off forgetting it exists. Manaka’s backdash is pretty good for getting space, but it will put you in low emotion very quickly so watch out.
Normals
I do not have any framedata, if I say something is safe or gives advantage, I’m basing it on experience, so I might be full of shit sometimes.
5a
Standing low, chains into 5b and 2b. Good for starting pressure.
5b
Good decent range poke.
5c
Your goto anti-air, doesn’t chain into anything but you get a super or 214 after on any hit
2a
Pretty good hitbox, chains into 2b and 5b. Pushes you back kinda far on block so it can kill your pressure.
2b
Low, chains into 5c, 2c, or it’s followup. Stays active for a while and where you get most of your pressure from. It also has some guard point, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone actually guard point something, so I wouldn’t try to use it for that.
2b followup
Low, chains back into 2b or into 5c.
2c
Sweep, unsafe on block, if 2b connects at max range you wont be able to combo into 5c, so this is your better option. This also moves you pretty far and can low profile some stuff.
bc
Hip check, holding forward lets you go into dash on hit, block, or even whiff. Gives a wall bounce if you’re close to the corner.
j.a
Good air-to-air, decent air-to-ground. cancel into light book toss on block to keep them in blockstun/hitstun.
j.b
Can be done as soon as you leave the ground for a really fast overhead. Doesn’t give you much of a combo on normal hit, on counter hit you can get a super or a 214.
j.c
Good air-to-ground, one of your better short hop normals. Delay the button press and make the animation play out despite whiffing and then do a low/throw.
throws
Nothing special, you can combo off of backthrow with some assists, but it’s not that amazing. Manaka’s awful walk speed makes actually getting in range for throws a lot harder than you’d think.
Specials
236 + a/b/c
book toss, super good projectile, use it for zoning.
214 + a/b/c
book shelf, use it as an ender, stronger versions are more damaging but slower. The c version is usually too slow to connect. If you’re using it as anti-air use the a version.
623 + a/b/c
book shelf counter, this move is awful don’t use it. Has too much start-up to be a reversal, the recovery way too much risk to ever be worth it.
236236 + ab
Projectile super, hold down ab to throw the books higher and make it track. You probably don’t want to actually use this in combos outside of doing some extra damage in the corner.
214214 +ab
bookshelf super, the super you actually want to do most of the time, does more damage the further from the corner you are. If you’re in low emotion you can hold forward to start dashing forward and carry them further.
Combos
5a>2b>2b>5c>214a
bnb, you can start it off of some other stuff, most notably j.c and j.a>j/236a
replace 214a with 214214ab to carry them into the corner and do more damage midscreen.
Replace 214a with 236236ab in the corner to do more damage.
5a>2b>2b>bc (hold forward)>c followup> 5c> 214a
corner extension 1, more damage, but harder to do, timing might very depending on character
5a>2b>2b>bc (hold forward)>a followup>5c>214a
corner extension 2, less damage but easier, timing changes a little depending on character
5a>2b>2b>bc (hold forward)>c followup>6d (rathty assist)> 66> c followup > 214a
partner corner extension.