Naoto is an aggressive rushdown character with high damage and great pressure options. Naoto can convert most hits into great damage thanks to his unique "Enhancer" mechanic- if Naoto performs a special move while dashing, said special moves gain new properties. These new properties give him excellent corner carry and can be used to great effect in combos. His DP is also one of the best reversals in the game, thanks to it having a huge hitbox with tons of active frames.
Though he lacks the far reaching normals of other members of the cast and has no fireball, his Drive and dash enhanced specials allow him to quickly close the gap to his opponent. Opponents who can successfully keep their distance or intercept his predictable approaches can nullify much of the threat he poses. Though Naoto requires above average execution for optimized play, he rewards the effort with a strong combo potential and fantastic damage.
Naoto's Drive allows him to transform his blood into melee weapons for longer range attacks. Naoto can charge them to further increase range and imbue them with Guard Break properties. While charging, Naoto can dash cancel to act as a feint. Naoto's grounded Drive attacks charge much faster and become dash cancelable on hit and on block, even when fully charged. His Enhancer ability will also be powered up. The window to get an enhanced special after a dash increases greatly, and Naoto can used enhanced specials in the air after an air dash. Additionally, his hair and eyes will turn white and red, respectively.Normal Moves
5A
- BBCF Naoto 5A Hitbox.png
- Hits crouching and very hard to get low profiled
- Gatlings into 6A 6B
- Jump cancelable on hit and on block
- Catchs rolls
- Lv2 Button, meaning it has more block/hitstun than usual jabs
Great jab, can be jump-canceled on hit and on block. Great for pressure thanks to it being able to gatling into itself from 2A. It can catch roll for a good amount of damage. Easy to get good damage off of hit confirm mid screen due to the amount of routes available to use (all varying around 3k). Dash 5A enhanced Slash Kaid can easily lead to 3.5k+ midscreen.
5AA
- BBCF Naoto 5AA.png
The King of 5A counters
- BBCF Naoto 5AA Hitbox.png
- Hits crouching
- Gatlings into 6A 6B
- Moves Naoto slightly forward
- Causes stagger on counter hit
Naoto performs a quick body-blow on the opponent. Good for pressure and combos off 5A. Does more damage than going straight into 5B off 5A. Counter hit has a absurdly long hitstun and better proration than any other 5A enabling it to combo into 6D or 6A for well over 4k with no heat. However it can't be jump-canceled.
5B
- Jump cancelable on hit and on block
- Gatlings into 6B
- Moves Naoto slightly forward.
- Has a disjoint at the tip of his leg
A kick aimed high. Short horizontal range but good vertical. Can be jump-canceled on hit and on block. Staple for combos and pressure. Good air poke thanks to decent vertical range. Hitbox was buffed in 2.0 so its use of being an AA is far better. Don't use this in neutral without microdash due to its short range even when considering the forward momemtum.
5C
- Jump cancelable on hit and on block
- Gatlings into 6B
- Moves Naoto slightly forward
Roundhouse kick with some horizontal range. Another staple for combos and pressure. Can be jump-canceled on hit and on block. Delaying 5C works great against fuzzy guard and will turn a mash into 4k+ on counter.
2A
- Gatlings into 6A 6B
- Hits low
Fast but short ranged kick. Good for stagger pressure. Gatlings into itself twice from 5A. Not as useful as 5A since it has less frame advantage and can't be jump canceled. Its main benefit is that it hits low, and lowers Naoto's hitbox greatly. Used wisely, you can low profile some moves with this. Not as useful for starting pressure since 5A does everything this does much better.
2B
- Gatlings into 6A 6B
- Can cross under
A low kick with better range than 5B and comes out just as fast. Useful for dashing into specials. Dashing 2B Leads into a fair bit of damage It goes into 6B now for another Pressure Reset.
2C
- Head invulnerability
- Float state on counter
- Jump cancelable on hit and block
A crouching uppercut with good head invulnerability. A great, solid crouching anti-air with a large hitbox, though it tends to turn Naoto the wrong direction when dealing with IADs and cross ups. Shouldn't be used often in blockstrings, especially against barrier, because of its short horizontal range. Anti air confirm should be followed up with phantom pain on hit, and 6D on counter hit.
6A
- Bonus Proration 110%
- Forces crouching on hit
Naoto hits the opponent with an overhead punch and is Naoto's only standing overhead. Decent speed, can be followed up with Cs, Ds and specials to make it safe on block and can lead to over 4k damage with good execution. The reward it carries makes Naoto's mixup pretty scary. The very long recovery makes it dangerous to get OD'ed through.
6B
- Lower body invulnerability
- Throw invulnerability
A flying kick with good advantage. Can be rapid-canceled for IAD mixups. This will beat 2A mash attempts because of its invuln and low crush properties. Can only be combo'ed with Inferno Crusader on regular hit. On CH you can followup with different moves without the need of RC such as dash 5A or 5B. Can occasionally be used to reset pressure thanks to being -1 on block/0 on Barrier. Has slightly more range and less start up than 5D. In some matchups you can combine this with 2A to make it risky for your opponent to mash out of pressure. Use 6B to low crush, and use 2A to low profile higher hitting moves.
6C
- Does not hit crouching
- Recovery can be canceled with any move, making it in reality +6 if cancelled on block
Naoto does a giant leap before kicking at the opponent. Can easily cross-up, is safe on block and should be followed up with 5B for a good combo. Does not cross up in corner. If Naoto does the kick directly above the opponent, they will have cross-up protection. Has a hitbox in front of Naoto. Gatlings from any D normal to catch opponents trying to jump out of D pressure.
3C
- Causes knockdown on hit
- Causes hard knockdown on counter hit
- Can cross under
A solid crouching roundhouse kick and staple to his combos despite its somewhat bad proration. Dash sweep leads to 4k
j.A
Basic air jab. Can cancel into itself infinitely or j.B/j.C for easy air confirms. Mainly used in block strings after jump in j.B to get an extra hit in before landing.
j.B
Hits the opponent with a diagonally-downward kick. Solid for air combos, and an amazing crossup tool as it has a good hitbox behind Naoto.
j.C
A horizontal kick. Decent for air-to-air and an overall solid tool. CH Causes a great amount of hitstun.
Drive Moves
5D
- Gatlings into 6C
- Dash cancelable before hit
- Special cancelable on hit and block
- Causes stagger on hit
- Enters Dash Cancel State on Frame 10
- Causes Guard Break fully charged
Hits the opponent with a blade of blood. Mainly used for corner combos. The long start up makes it ideal against players abusing fuzzy guard. Use cautiously, skilled opponents will use reversals or OD after 5C if it's not used spareingly. The dash cancel should be used on any non A hit confirm to go into 6623C 5A 2C rekka.
Fully charged, it can be used to break the opponent's guard and quickly go into Divine Smasher for damage. Causes a long stagger on hit and a slide on air hit.
During OD has an extremely fast start up and thus can be used as a ghetto zoning tool against characters with worse range.
2D
- Gatlings into 6C
- Dash cancelable before hit
- Shift Sway cancelable on hit and block
- Causes stagger on hit
- Causes Guard Break fully charged
- Enters Dash Cancel State on Frame 10
Hits the opponent with a blade of blood. Similiar to 5D, but hits low instead. This move gives Naoto the most options on corner hit. Off 2D in the corner, you can do 214A>dc>en214A for a solid crossup, and even do a crossunder 2B or another en214A crossup into Phantom Pain. Charged version causes wallstick on air hit.
6D
- Gatlings into 6C
- Causes float on hit
- Jump cancelable on hit and on block
- Enters Dash Cancel State on Frame 10
- Causes wall bounce fully charged
- Causes Guard Break fully charged
Naoto makes a blade of blood and aims upward, slashing with high diagonal range. 6D is a staple for combos, usually leading to high damage when used. CH 5C/2C>6D will lead to strong damage anywhere on screen. Uncharged 6D is not a very good anti air since it doesn't have any head invulnerability during its long startup.
Charged version is Naoto's best starter for high damage: it has huge range, is a Fatal Counter, and causes a wallbounce on hit.
j.D
- Uncharged j.D has 5f of Forced Landing Recovery
- Charged j.D has 10f of Forced Landing Recovery
Naoto aims downward with a blade of blood. Has decent horizontal and downward range. Good for combos. Charging slows down Naoto's descent so it can be used to bait anti-airs, and when fully charged, the horizontal range is huge. Leads to a good combo if spaced right and is an overall good tool with many purposes. Charged version causes groundbounce on hit.
Universal Mechanics
Ground Throw
5B+C 4B+C
- BBCF Naoto FThrow.png
Forward
- BBCF Naoto BThrow.png
Back
- BBCF Naoto Throw Hitbox.png
Same for both Forward and Back Throw
Forward Throw
- 100% minimum damage
- Causes float
- Causes wall splat in corner
Grabs the opponent and knees them upward, causing a float midscreen and a wallstick in corner. Can be followed up with dash 2C> Enhanced Phantom Pain (side swap), 5B/5C>Enhanced Banishing Fang midscreen (best route), or 2C>5D stabs in corner, all for good damage. Can also OD into j.[D] in corner.
Back Throw
- 100% minimum damage
- Swaps back to the same side
- Causes stagger
Grabs the opponent and switches positions with them before hitting them with a shoulder, causing a stagger down. Can be followed up with 5B/5C>Enhanced Banishing Fang or Enhanced Slash Kaid if you want to switch sides again.
Air Throw
j.B+C
Air Throw
- 100% minimum damage
- Causes hard knock down
Grabs the opponent and brings them down to the ground. Can follow up with dash 2B/2C to pickup into the usual forward throw routes.
Counter Assault
6A+B while Blocking
- Must be preformed during Block Stun
- Full invulnerability
- Moves Naoto slightly forward
Same animation as 5C. Works as every other Counter Assault does, good counter assault with its range but not often used.
Crush Trigger
5A+B (Chargeable)
- Causes stagger on hit
- Causes wall bounce on air hit
- Causes guard break
- Keeps dash cancel's momentum
Smashes the opponent with an elbow to the body. Dashes forward when attacking. Causes Guard Break on hit and can only be blocked with Barrier and takes a lot of the Barrier Gauge, it can be charged to take more Barrier or increase damage in combos. Good corner carry potential on air hit. Decent option to catch your opponent sleeping as the guard break can be followed with 6D for a solid 4k combo, shouldn't be used often like any other crush trigger.
Special Moves
Banishing Fang
236B
Naoto hits the opponent with a powered knee. First part of a 3-hit rekka and the start of its rps option. Has a deceptively large vertical hit box but forward movement makes it impractical as an anti air.
Unenhanced
Not many uses without corner. Mainly used as combo filler and to safely end pressure.
Enhanced
- Causes crouching on hit
- Enhanced shortcut: 2366B
Banishing Fang: Roar
236B after Banishing Fang
- Fatal Counter
Naoto follows up Banishing Fang with a swipe of his hand. Main use is to go into the third hit of the Banishing Fang rekka. Can be delayed slightly to punish mashing. Fatal counter can be followed up with phantom pain if you input jc 214A after Raid hits. Using 5D/2D, 236B whiff, 236B can also be used to fish for fatal counters.
Banishing Fang: Bash
236B after Banishing Fang: Roar
- BBCF Naoto BanishingFangBash.png
Aight so boom, you got fataled by this and then woke up dead
- BBCF Naoto BanishingFangBash Hitbox.png
- Fatal Counter
- Enhanced version is dash cancelable on hit
Almost never used in combos without enhanced, unless trying to punish mashing. Fatal Bash Starter gets an extreme amount of Damage almost anywhere on screen.
Great corner carry especially with dash cancel follow up. Can be followed up with another rekka mid screen if opponent is high enough during air juggle.
Banishing Fang: Raid
236C after Banishing Fang: Roar
Follows up Roar with an uppercut. Jump-cancelable on hit. Mainly used to go into an air combo ender with D Inferno Crusader. Enhanced version dashes a bit further making it a bit easier to combo midscreen. As of 2.0, it works on standing opponents
Inferno Crusader
623C/D (Air OK)
- BBCF Naoto InfernoCrusader C.png
C version. Anti-air, not your DP
- BBCF Naoto InfernoCrusaderC Hitbox1.png
C version. Early hitbox
- BBCF Naoto InfernoCrusaderC Hitbox2.png
Late hitbox
- BBCF Naoto InfernoCrusaderD Hitbox1.png
D version. Early Hitbox
- BBCF Naoto InfernoCrusaderD Hitbox2.png
Late Hitbox
623C
- Head invulnerability 4-11
Naoto does a very fast rising uppercut with his fist. C version has 1 hit and doesn't do much damage. Strictly an anti-air. Enhanced C version has 2 hits and more hitstun, allowing Naoto to follow it up anywhere with 5A for a combo.
623D
- Enhanced version beats almost every attack in the game.
Easily the best DP in the game. Massive range, especially when enhanced. D version has 2 hits, tons of invul and active frames and is used to end combos. D version has a claw effect on it while C version does not.
Enhanced D version does 5 hits instead of 2, dealing more damage. It is also a situational anti-air in some cases, though should only be used in that sense if you have meter to Rapid Cancel.
Overhead Kick
2C after Inferno Crusader
Naoto brings the opponent down after Inferno Crusader with a downwards kick. Emergency-techable. His main way of ending combos. Can also be whiffed to in certain combos for additional followup.
Slash Kaid
214D
- Causes stagger on hit
- Causes float on counter hit
- Causes crumple on close range hit
- Causes side swap on close range hit
- Close range hit's hitstun isn't affected by hitstun decay (except the 1f reduction)
Naoto slashes the opponent with a curved blade of blood. A fast attack with good range. Not punishable on block at max range. Strong use in combos.
Enhanced version staggers and sideswaps on close standing hit and has more damage and much more hitstun, allowing for more options to follow up with. Useful for catching opponent back dashing or spamming projectiles. Side Swap Range and Knockdown was buffed in 2.0 allowing for Restand Setups.
Shift Sway
214A
- Head, Body, and Projectile invulnerability
- Phantom Pain shortcut removed in 2.0
- Enters Dash Cancel State on Frame 9
Naoto sways back, dodging the opponent's attack. Dodges highs, mids and projectiles, but loses to lows and throws. Can dash-cancel at any time during the animation, which is useful for going into Enhanced specials. 2146A will buffer a forward input allowing easier dash cancel enhanced specials. A key part of Naoto's more advanced combo routes.
Enhanced version makes Naoto move forward. The movement is decently fast and, if the opponent is next to him, he will go behind. Will swap sides even if opponent is in the corner. Works well against wake up distortion drives/reversals giving you enough time to counter with 6D or dash 5B/5C enhanced Slash Kaid.
Phantom Pain
8A after Shift Sway
- Enhanced version happens from Enhanced Shift Sway (You don't need to input a second microdash)
- Unblockable and unburstable, as it is technically a throw.
- Hard-coded to whiff on crouching opponents, including opponents performing crouching moves.
- Head and Body invulnerable, but strangely loses its projectile invulnerability.
- Enhanced Phantom Pain Starts up in 5f compared to Regular's 15f (meaning longer projectile invul)
After Shift Sway, Naoto will do a rising kick. If it hits, he will follow it up with a second kick. Can be followed up with dash 5B/5C for a solid combo anywhere. Can be used to Reset albeit unreliably, and functions as a powerful antiair, but kind of a quasi-low attack against grounded opponents. Phantom Pain and Enhanced Phantom Pain are considered two different moves. (they still share same move proration)
Pain's full startup is 23f while Enhanced Pain's startup is 21f
Distortion Drives
Divine Smasher
632146B (Air OK)
Ground Version
- Normal: 800 minimum damage
- Enhanced: 960 minimum damage
Naoto charges at the opponent with a powerful straight punch. Very fast, has about midscreen range. Ground version goes forward. Projectile invul. On Counter Hit, can be followed up with 5/2A, 5/2B in the corner for a very damaging combo.
Enhanced version does 20% more damage and has more range, going almost full screen.
OD Version
- Normal: 1080 minimum damage
- Enhanced: 1188 minimum damage
Overdrive version does an additional flip kick with blood, adding more damage. Good against zoners as well as a good way to end air combos if you want to kill.
Air Version
- Normal: 720 minimum damage
- OD: 1050 minimum damage
The air version is similar to the ground version, but it aims diagonally downward. Overdrive version does the same flip kick as when used on the ground. Can be followed up with 2B, 2C/3C or even directly Divine Reaper depending on how low Naoto is when doing the distortion. Good tool used against air resets.
Fun fact: OD version can be enhanced if it is done after an ensway, no matter how long after ensway has ended. However, it is purely visual.
Divine Reaper
632146D
- 1004 minimum damage (full animation only)
- 1350 minimum damage during OD (full animation only)
Naoto launches a blood wave that resembles a giant Dead Spike. If he's close enough, he will do the full animation, where he launches the opponent up and smashes them with a deadly elbow strike. Mainly used for big damage at the end of Naoto's combos. Enhanced version does a mini-dash before launching the wave, making it easier to catch the opponent in the full animation.
If he's too far, only the projectile will hit, dealing only 1450 damage but allowing him to follow up.
Overdrive version has Naoto create a giant blood scythe after the wave and powerfully slashes the opponent. Can easily be combo'd into from 5C or 3C. Naoto's highest-damaging combos will rely on Overdrive Reaper.
Exceed Accel
Grim of Phantom
A+B+C+D during Overdrive
- BBCF Naoto GrimOfPhantom.png
"THE FUN DOESN'T STOP!"
- BBCF Naoto GrimOfPhantom Hitbox.png
- Behaves the same as every other Exceed Accel.
- 305/643 Minimum Damage
It's a fully invulnerable reversal, like 623D. Only it's incredibly telegraphed, has worse range, uses up your Overdrive, you don't get oki, and you can't rapid cancel to make it safe on block. Use sparingly, if at all.
Punishable on block and leaves them at fullscreen.
Astral Heat
Edge of Eternity
2141236C
- BBCF Naoto EdgeOfEternity.png
The Better Black Onslaught
- BBCF Naoto EdgeOfEternity Hitbox.png
- Keeps dash cancel's momentum
Naoto's hair and eyes turn white and red, even if he isn't in Overdrive. He then prepares a giant scythe of blood and begins slashing the opponent repeatedly before ending it with his strongest slash. One of the fastest and easiest astrals in the game. Combos after practically everything, including 5AA.
Colors
External References
- Naoto FAQ
- Naoto Kurogane Advanced Guide
- Japanese Name: ナオト=クロガネ
- Japanese Wiki
- Japanese BBS
- Arcade Profile Dan Rankings
- Character Video Thread
- Frame Data Spreadsheet
- Color Palettes on https://blazblue.wiki
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Essentials
• HUD •
Controls •
FAQ •
The Basics
• Movement/Canceling •
Offense •
Defense •
Gauges •
Universal Strategy •
Detailed & Advanced Information
• Damage/Combo •
Attack Attributes •
Frame Data & System Data •
Misc •
Archived Information
• Patch Notes • Tier Lists •
- Active Flow
- Advanced Input
- Attack Attributes
- Attack Level
- Astral Heat
- Auto Heat Gain
- Burst
- Barrier Block
- Barrier Gauge
- Bonus Proration
- Clash
- Combo Rate
- Counter Assault
- Counter Hit
- Counter Hit Carry
- Crush Trigger
- Danger State
- Distortion Drive
- Exceed Accel
- Fatal Counter
- Guard Cancel Overdrive
- Guard Crush
- Guard Bonus
- Hard Knockdown
- Heat Gauge Cooldown
- Instant Barrier
- Instant Block
- Negative Penalty
- Overdrive
- Overdrive Cancel
- Purple Throw
- P1, P2
- Rapid Cancel
- Same Move Proration (SMP)
- Starter Rating
- Super Flash Buffer
- Throw Reject Miss (TRM)
- Ukemi/Tech (Air)
- Ukemi/Roll/Emergency Tech
- Untechable State