All-Star Battle R/Ikuro Hashizawa

"This is... This is... This is Baoh! (これがッ！これがッ！これが 『バオー』だッ！)"

Ikuro Hashizawa (橋沢 育朗) was confirmed for All-Star Battle R during the game's Part 4, 6, & 8 Reveal Trailer.

As voiced Ikuro in All-Star Battle, he reprises his role as Ikuro's voice actor in this game too. His moves are narrated by Toru Okawa. As with a majority of the game's roster, voicelines for Ikuro were either added or re-recorded.

As Ikuro is unable to speak in his Baoh form (only capable of repeated battle cries of "BARU!" as well as general grunts and roars), he is accompanied by the game's narrator calling out the names of his attacks along with descriptive phrases. However, Ikuro will call out the game's name on the title screen in his human voice, and briefly speaks lines, also in his human voice, during his special mirror match intro and during match victories.

Gameplay
Ikuro has 850 health and uses the Baoh Armed Phenomenon (バオー) Battle Style. Ikuro represents the "Glass Cannon" sub-archetype of combatant, and firmly 'rushdown'. Despite his low health, he also sports the highest dash speed of any character in the game, making it easier for him to close the distance on his opponent or maneuver into favorable positions more frequently. Several projectiles, a super jump, and a forward-moving attack also serve in covering his approach. His skills all execute with great speed, as well as offer methods to repeatedly switch sides and force his foe into guessing what direction to guard in. When combined with his great damage output and Style action that allows him to shrug off incoming attacks, Ikuro is an oppressive offensive fighter. At the same time, his innate health regeneration forces the opponent to continuously engage him during battle so as to not allow him to recover any significant amount of lost health. In this manner, Ikuro also holds the advantage in prolonged rounds.

True to his role, however, Ikuro is fragile and his defense is poor. Ignoring his low health, he also suffers from a longer "blockstun" than others, meaning when he is made to successfully guard incoming attacks, he recovers slower and is only able to act out of his guard later. This allows opponents to more safely pressure him when he's the defender, and also makes him very vulnerable to characters that can utilize throws and unblockable attacks. Another weakness is that Ikuro's fast skills act as a double-edged sword, and it is more difficult to properly execute strong combos with him despite the damage potential he possesses.

As a whole, Ikuro is a fickle and difficult combatant to wield. He rapidly overwhelms and defeats anyone who is unfamiliar with his powers, but may easily become the one being overwhelmed in turn. Nonetheless, with good execution and strong momentum in his favor, Ikuro can very quickly capture victory before his opponent has a chance to regain control over the battle and retaliate.

Dialogue
Outside of the All-Star Battle Mode, Ikuro has unique interaction dialogue for both his match entrances and victories when facing certain characters.

All-Star Battle Mode
All missions in the All-Star Battle Mode starring Ikuro as either the Player or Enemy, in order of appearance.

1.4.0

 * Throw Escape
 * Adjusted to standardize character advantages and disadvantages when being throw escaped.

1.4.1

 * Jumping Heavy Attack
 * Sped up start-up.
 * Increased attack duration.
 * "This is Baoh!" style
 * Increased action speed.
 * "Astonishing Leap" special
 * Revised animation.
 * Adjusted forward and backward jump distance.
 * "Baoh Hardened Saber" skill
 * Increased forward motion of version.
 * Changed so that the final hit of the version will not occur if the move is blocked.

1.5.0

 * Easy Beat Combo
 * Changed the special move that is used in the Easy Beat Combo.
 * This fixes an unintentional change made in 1.4.0.
 * "Get the hell out of my way!" throw
 * Adjusted the hitbox of forward throw to align with the hitbox of back throw.