Nobody has given any strageties in a long time so:
Hotaru:
one of my perosnal favorites, Hotaru has a bad rap. other than his lack of variety of special moves, hes great. Hotaru's main special move, the fireball, is incredibly deadly if used effectively. With practice, you can time successive fireball juggles, dealing heavy damage. plus, many online opponents will waste all their breakers in the first round cause you hit them with auccessive fireballs. the fireball has a decent range, but must hit pretty dead on. its somewhat risky, but a fireball shot just inside its range often makes the opponent block, setting up the opponent for a throw. if the opponent doesnt block (and doesnt bum rush you) he is open for a grasshopper kick. a warning: NEVER GRASSHOPPER WHILE FACING A DEATH TRAP!! i cant count how many rounds ive been owning an opponent that sidestepped my kick and booted me into the death trap. All of hotarus heavy damage comes from his juggles. He has a pop up move in each of his styles,as well as his throw) and the ones in his non weapon styles can hit turtles. use pi gua to deal the heaviest damage after the fireball. (2,2,up1 deals the most).
One good way to start a match is with a quick ba shan fan forward 2 attack. ruch up and immediately do 2,1,cs into a juggle, then finish with 2,2, up 1. if you practice this, you can catch them right as they get up, before they can block. then stay rather far, side stepping and throwing fireballs while staying in pi gua. if you hit him with it, youll be in perfect position for a combo. once again i would use 2,2, up1. this is for two reasons: first it as i said before deals the most damage. furthermore, and somewhat more important to master hotaru, is taking advantage if a small glitch in the game. the final key press is a two hit attack, but during the second strike Hotaru will pause; if you change stances during this gap, you can pop up again (in naginata) or just do a naginata combo. its a bit tough to pop up again and deal another combo, so i recommend doing 1,1, up2.
one more thing: in ba shan fan, a good way to end a match is 1, back 3.
its a high hit, low hit combo, and deals a decent amount of damage for two hits, and most of the times if the first hit isblocked the second wont be.
Overall: Fireballs are your friend if used correctly, and sidestep alot.
maybe this will incite some other people to write more character strageties.