First I want to say I really shouldn't be defining the character based off what I think the character should be, but since I am doing this for fun, I don't see why not.
Try to keep this in mind at all times. This is
your animation thing. The Annie thread got completely overwhelmed with people discussing and deciding what they felt was most correct.
Nothing y'all make in any of these animation threads a hope of actually being added to the game, so try to have some fun with it and keep going with it how
you choose. I, and many other people, will probably continue to give critique here and there, but you don't have to take all of that on board. Keep and discard any advice you want.
EDIT: Speaking of, in that back handspring animation, one thing that really bugs me about it is how it looks like Dahlia just spins on her shoulder with no effort. Two points to think about:
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First, unless she is seriously strong in the shoulders (which is totally possible, given it's mechanical), she'd be more likely start this motion by using her massive leg strength to kick off the ground. Even when trained gymnasts do this they primarily use their legs. This would help with the spin
and add more power to the kick.
Visually this would have a slight bending of her knees to build up spring, then her legs would straighten to give that sharp jump from the ground. Also, on that spin overhead, extending her leg out would add a sharper jolt to the kick as she adds the rotation of her hips to the rotation of her knee.
EDIT2: Woops, I was looking at the updated, faster animation which removed virtually all of the build up. Since you clearly know about adding lead in frames to show she's building up the spring, the main issue with the jump is that her legs don't really change position once she starts the flip. It's like she bends down to store energy, then just starts rotating without actually using that energy.
This isn't the exact same move, but it still applies somewhat. See the way the legs straighten out? To deliver a kick, this straightening would be even more pronounced, unless she was hitting them with her knees.
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Second, if you want to avoid the knee bending/straightening action, her shoulder should probably still do some flexing to really show that it's the the thing making Dahlia spin. You'll often see gymnasts do these sorts of back handsprings, but without using their legs they're often slow, graceful movements. Adding a flex to the shoulder will show that she's really putting an Oomph into the movement.