^Tekkaman Blade is a great character to use, and it sucks that he'll probably be an overused character within the next 5~6 months. A nifty little projectile that can teleport him across the screen, a rush attack that can go great into an air combo, and (if you've got the level) can go right into his Lv. 3 Super from the air. You do NOT want to get cornered by this guy. There isn't any real downside since he can even counter everyone's uppercuts thanks to his spear being longer than his hitbox (some guy online tried to do a Shoryuken and went right into my down+H attack instead).
There are some good Ryu users out there, but there's so many clones of him in the game that you're better off picking another character. He isn't bland, just copied to hell and back in every other fighting game (Morrigan is more or less a direct clone with only one real move that's different, and that's her Valkyrie Turn).