Shonen Unleashed finally added Josuke Higashikata to the game, and honestly, he might already be one of the most fun characters in the current roster. Between the healing abilities, combo extensions, wall setups, and ridiculous awakening damage, his kit feels way more versatile than most people expected.
At first, Josuke looks like a straightforward melee fighter built around Crazy Diamond, but once you start testing all the variants and utility options, you quickly realize he can do a little bit of everything. He has support tools for team modes, strong combo pressure in 1v1s, defensive utility, and one of the craziest ultimate mechanics currently in the game.
This guide breaks down every Josuke move, both in base form and awakening, while also explaining how his playstyle works overall.
Josuke Base Moveset
Josuke’s normal M1 attacks are fast and feel very smooth compared to some heavier characters. His kit focuses heavily on extending combos and controlling positioning using knockbacks and wall interactions.
One thing I noticed immediately is that Josuke feels strongest when constantly staying aggressive. Most of his abilities naturally flow into each other, making it easy to pressure opponents once you land the first hit.
Skill 1: Dora Barrage
Dora Barrage is Josuke’s basic stand barrage attack.
Crazy Diamond rushes forward and unleashes a flurry of punches that deal steady close-range damage. It’s simple mechanically, but very effective during combos because it keeps opponents trapped long enough to set up follow-up attacks.
The move also has an alternate M2 variant called Ally Restoration.
Instead of damaging enemies, this version heals nearby teammates, which honestly makes Josuke incredibly valuable in 2v2s and 3v3s. A coordinated team with a good Josuke player can stay alive much longer during fights.
Dora Barrage Variants
- Standard Barrage for close-range DPS
- Ally Restoration for healing teammates
The support utility alone already makes him stand out from most characters in Shonen Unleashed.
Skill 2: Bearing Shot
Bearing Shot is one of Josuke’s more flexible abilities.
You launch a projectile attack using bearings, and the damage changes depending on how you activate the skill.
- Tapping the move deals around 10 damage
- Holding the move increases damage to around 15
The charge-up isn’t very long either, so fully charging is usually worth it unless you need immediate pressure.
This move feels especially useful for finishing opponents trying to escape combos.
Skill 3: Gut Strike
Gut Strike is honestly one of the cleanest combo starters in the kit.
Josuke strikes the opponent in the stomach before pulling them back toward him, making it extremely easy to continue pressure afterward.
The pull effect is what makes the move so strong because it prevents enemies from simply flying away after getting hit.
This ability flows naturally into Barrage or wall combos.
Skill 4: Shattering Diamond
Shattering Diamond is a heavier knockback move where Josuke charges energy before blasting the opponent away.
The move has solid damage and decent combo utility, but the M2 version is where things become much more dangerous.
Knuckle Sandwich (M2 Variant)
Knuckle Sandwich grabs the opponent, slams them down, and finishes with an uppercut for increased damage.
This version feels much stronger during close-range pressure because the grab makes escaping much harder.
Utility Skill: Wall Creation
Josuke’s C skill creates a wall, and honestly, this might secretly be one of the strongest utility abilities in his entire kit.
The wall lets you bounce enemies backward for combo extensions and positioning setups. You can also reactivate the skill to knock opponents away again.
A lot of Josuke’s combo potential revolves around forcing enemies into walls repeatedly.
Once players get better with positioning, this ability is probably going to become extremely annoying to fight against.
Josuke Awakening
Josuke’s awakening dramatically increases his damage output and turns him into an absolute monster during fights.
The upgraded abilities feel much more aggressive, and several moves gain extra mechanics or stronger combo potential.
If you see an awakened Josuke during a match, you honestly need to play carefully because his burst damage becomes ridiculous.
Awakening Skill 1: Diamond Drive
Diamond Drive is the upgraded version of Dora Barrage.
It works similarly but hits much harder and has much more pressure overall.
The healing variant also upgrades into Crazy Restoration, improving Josuke’s team support capabilities even further.
This makes awakened Josuke surprisingly dangerous in team fights because he can both heal allies and output massive damage simultaneously.
Awakening Skill 2: Blood Slash
Blood Slash is one of the cooler-looking moves in the awakening kit.
Josuke slashes the opponent using blood attacks, and then pressing the move again launches a follow-up projectile missile.
The second activation gives the move much more combo flexibility compared to the base version.
Awakening Skill 3: Crushing Diamond
The standard version involves Josuke sliding across the ground while dealing decent damage.
However, the alternate variant, Crushing Diamond, is far stronger visually and mechanically.
Josuke leaps into the air before summoning projectiles overhead. Pressing the move again sends the projectiles crashing downward onto enemies below.
This ability feels especially strong for area control.
Motorcycle Move
This is honestly one of the funniest and coolest moves in the entire kit.
Josuke summons a motorcycle and rides around the battlefield. While driving, pressing M1 near opponents lets you ram into them directly.
You can also reactivate the move to launch the motorcycle forward as a projectile attack dealing roughly 20 damage.
It’s ridiculous in the best possible way.
Wall Break (Awakening)
Wall Break mostly functions similarly to the base wall skill.
The main purpose is still combo extension and positioning control. Josuke’s overall design clearly revolves around trapping enemies against surfaces and chaining attacks together.
Josuke Ultimate Explained
Josuke’s main ultimate is extremely flashy and does absurd damage.
After activation, Josuke rushes toward the target and triggers a cinematic cutscene attack. During the sequence, he fully restores the opponent before immediately unleashing devastating damage afterward.
Ironically, healing the enemy first somehow makes the move feel even more disrespectful.
The damage is high enough that it basically functions as a one-shot ultimate in most situations.
Secret Second Ultimate
One of the coolest parts about Josuke is that he actually has two ultimate-style modes.
By pressing M2 before activating the ultimate, Josuke enters an alternate state where he becomes temporarily immortal.
For around 10 seconds:
- Incoming attacks deal no damage
- Josuke becomes effectively invincible
- Opponents are forced to disengage or stall
I honestly haven’t seen another character in Shonen Unleashed with a mechanic quite like this yet.
It gives him both offensive and defensive ultimate options depending on the situation.