As someone who routinely coaches people who know nothing about fighting games. I find it frustrating when people start with Ryu. He's got so many caveats and shortcomings that other characters don't have. It's not even a balance thing, I think that fundamentally the way that the character works is detrimental to people trying to learn the game.

Limited Blockstrings

For starters, when teaching newer players to hit-confirm, I try to steer them towards strings that leave you + on block, and from which concepts like frametraps and counterhit confirms naturally follow. For instance, Akuma's cr.MP, s.MK forms a neat concise frametrap that beats 3f lights, and can be counterhit confirmed into another s.MK when that happens. Karin's cr.MP, s.MP does this as well, and can be followed up by a cr.MK. And then there's Cammy, Chun... the list of characters that can do this goes on and on.

If Ryu wants an airtight string like this, however, he's got to resort to using lights for the initial hit confirm to get a tight enough frametrap without pushing the opponent too far away. So now I've got this predicament where I have to decide between telling a person who's never played street fighter to learn to hit-confirm cr.LP, s.LP into DP, or to doom them to using strings that can get blown up by 3f jabs, or strings that are difficult to even confirm properly...

Overly Situational Combos

What do I mean by "difficult to confirm"? Well another problem Ryu's got is that a ton of his combo finishers whiff crouching opponents. This is not something that a person new to fighting games should have to worry about. It's hard enough for a new player to learn to hit confirm to begin with, I shouldn't be encouraging anyone to use a character that also requires you to confirm a standing vs crouching state just to be optimal. A lot of people sidestep this when coaching by teaching Ryu players to just end their strings with fireball, but this is a bad habit to make. When there's no risk to your combo finisher, you're not learning the importance of hit-confirming.

AA Overload

Very few characters have one AA that works for every situation, but Ryu is just overkill when it comes to this department. He's got cr.HP which is easy to use and easy to remember to use. There's b.HK which has the best upwards hitbox. There's DP for when you need the invincibility frames. There's j.MP for when you want damage. There's s.LP for when you need something to come out fast. There's s.HK for far jump ins or to crush counter... Ryu is definitely solid when it comes to the AA department, but a beginner shouldn't have to juggle six anti-air options in their head at all times. I love teaching anti-airs with Akuma because of the simplicity. "b.HP, follow up with H demon flip palm for damage, and a meaty setup. If b.HP doesn't work, use DP." Of course he has other options, but you can pretty much cover every situation with just those two due to the fact that his b.HP covers a wide area, is easy to use, and gives optimal damage/oki.

Target Combos & Command Normals

Target combos are a pretty obscure concept. "Yeah, it's two normals that cancel instead of linking, and the frame data changes when this happens." A lot of beginning Ryu players will just spam his target combo, mistaking it for some kind of built-in hit-confirm (when it's punishable on block), and cancel it too early to even frametrap. And then you've got solar plexus, which can be a crutch for newer players, as it's an easy way to get in and hit-confirm at the same time, but once again, you're not frametrapping, you're stuck at -2 when blocked, and you have no room for experimentation with things like tick throws and shimmies. It's very easy to build a reliance on tools like this and wonder why it is you can't improve past a certain point.

At the end of the day, I feel like people should pick the characters they like. Whenever someone in the discord asks "who should I start with?" I tell them to go through the story modes, demos, and trials and see who sticks. If you're picking Ryu because he actually interests you the most, that's great! If you're picking Ryu because someone told you he's "S+" tier for beginners, I'm here to dissuade you. If you like your character, you'll like playing the game, so even if you've never touched a fighting game in your life, pick who you like. unless its dhalsim or fang

I dunno

Anonymously a comment on Youtube.

So basing on what we've seen of the characters I feel like Ryu has become more conflicted and overall angrier. I think his original desire to improve himself has transformed into a more I gotta get stronger no matter what it feels like he might end up like Akuma. But Luke I feel has taken Ryu's original spirit and not only that but turned it into 'I want a fight to test my strength' feeling. Chun-Li seems to have made peace with herself and now fights to achieve mastery of her techniques which explains her more graceful movement and 'old school' chinese master zen (meant Gen). Jamie I can't say much yet but it feels like he fights for the thrill of it though his bio did say he fights to protect I feel that his desires are slightly more selfish than that but again I can't say much now.

M. Bison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfi_B8IyKmE

Yes I know because of the single player to response of my comment 20:49 You read my mind including Udon comics especially Street Fighter #100 I mean really? Why the cheese?

So basically try your best to name drop characters and I’ll give out my personal preference on them.

Necalli(Street Fighter V)

And this is still one of the best shots from the manga. Sakura & Ken using their Hadokens to possibly blow up an entire city block (of course, Dan, Shibazaki, and Karin did survive due to manga magic, but it's still an INCREDIBLE SHOT).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxh53l-WfhU

Street Fighter 6 The Return Of M. Bison..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzmlyfKufvY

The Rise of Chun Li Street Fighter 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFeQ2MU_Wtk

Street Fighter 6 WHAT THEY DIDNT TELL YOU...