This guide is a work in progress and will be edited repeatedly.
Nanaya as a character is best described as....misunderstood.
He exemplifies the system of Melty Blood, whiff cancelling, reverse beating, and chaining his 2as into 5as and vice versa.
The US(at large) considers him a strong (yet?), scrub character.
The Japanese instead think of him as average but underplay him.
By no means can I assert to everyone that Nanaya is top tier, but as a Nanaya player of some years, I hope to clarify misunderstandings and foster more Nanaya players in the future. This is a collection of my knowledge, taken from my own play, vids, and consultations with other players.
NORMALS
5A
-A fast(4f) anti air normal.
-Does NOT typically hit crouchers unless they do a move that makes them huge
-Has the distinction of being one of the fastest recovering 5as (14f), giving Nanaya whiff cancels that are 1-2f faster than other people.
-Airunblockable, normally used as antiair after a shield, or as precision antiair for CH. Spamming 5a is not usually good unless you're using it to gain reaction time to link into a more damaging air combo.
-Has unusually long range, extending to the tip of his finger(Hitbox was slightly nerfed in Ver.B), allowing him to beat attempts to jump out.
-Viable tactic of such is to dash in with option select 5a, then either empty chain into another normal, or dash throw after the 5a recovers
-Can be shielded high OR low
-Hits mid
5B
-An average speed normal
-Does NOT hit most people crouching at the tip of its hitbox(but it will hit people standing/in the air), thus must be used semi-deep to hit crouchers
-Has a significant amount of shield frames(all frames except the first in its startup) before the hit connects
-Does NOT prorate, thus is a damaging combo starter IF you do connect it
-Safe on block(-1)
-Airunblockable
-Any B input during the first 7(NEEDS CONFIRMATION) frames of the move will result in the command move extension 5b. Any B input after that will result in the actual move coming out, and the ability to perform the command move extension 5b will be removed in this time period.
-This is important as doing 5b2b(late) is a powerful Nanaya poke.
-MUST be shielded High
-Hits mid
5B -> 5B
-Command move extension to 5B
-Requires 5b to be inputted fairly quickly after the first 5B connects(on block OR hit)
-Launches on hit
-DOES NOT have special whiff cancel properties like Tohno Shiki's 5B -> 5B
-Hits Mid
-Can be charged
-Not cancellable on block
5B -> 5(B)
-Command move extension to 5B
-Hits HIGH(OVERHEAD)
-Special cancellable on BLOCK OR HIT
-Launches on hit
-Untechable on hit(for set amount of frames or 100% untechable?Needs checking)
-Typically cancelled into 22c
5C
-Heavy hitting normal
-Can be charged
-Has certain shield frames(very minimal, 2 only) in its startup(frames 2-3). These shield frames are extended if you hold onto the [C] button and attempt to charge 5C
-Easily hits most crouchers and attacks that bring characters below their crouching animation height
-Moves Nanaya forward significantly on connect
-Deceptive amount of hit frames. Has only a very short window where it hits(3 frames) but creates a huge amount of hitstop when it connects.
-Has a massive amount of cancellable recovery frames
-Unlike most moves(as of Ver.B), has some uncancellable recovery frames at the end of it
-Whiff cancelling 5c is +3f
-As a level 3 move, prone to being shield bunker canceled/shield bunkered if predictably used
-Must be shielded HIGH
-Hits MID
5[C]
-Hits HIGH(OVERHEAD)
-Juggles on hit
-Has some shield frames in the middle of the move's startup
2A
-A decent-speed poke(5f) IT IS NOT AMONG THE FASTEST
-For a A move, has extremely long range
-Use off dash momentum for options
-Does NOT hit low
-Can be shielded high OR low
2B
-A decent-speed poke(7f)
-Has deceptively long range and is out for a long time(lots of active frames for a B move)
-Leaves you at neutral when whiff canceled(true +/-)
-Moves Nanaya forward slightly on connect
-Forms the basis of his pressure game
-AirUnblockable
-Hits LOW
-Must be shielded LOW
2C
-A very long slide kick
-Lasts ridiculously long and has large duration where it hits people
-Unlike most moves(as of Ver.B), has quite some uncancellable recovery frames at the end of it
-Moves Nanaya forward dramatically, even on whiff
-Most common move used to punish groundtech
-Airunblockable
-Works well as anti-air as its hitbox is extremely low and can hit people when they land and forget to block low
-Hits LOW
-Must be shielded LOW
That's all I have for now, more later