I also have similar issues to DrMostlySane as well. But depending on how this game goes, it could be better than Dynamite Flare or be what Ouro would shit out if he heeded whatever shit Google Translate spat out.
For starters, you have no way of controlling crowds. Your basic attack only hits one enemy. This wouldn't be a problem in a 3D environment, but for a beat em up, it's beyond non-sensical. Now, I imagine you did this because all enemies are knocked down in one hit, and while this would be fine if it was actually like Metal Slug and you were running down a stage of more spread out enemies, it's borderline unplayable when you have enemies that admittedly are very aggressive. Better than the aforementioned game above, even. You really have the philosophy of good enemy design down. But it's a bit much when Pherl here can't deal with crowds. A solution WOULD be to just give her the ability to hit multiple enemies with one hit, but then you could just swallow them all at once (frankly, only being able to swallow one standing enemy at a time and that enemy having eating priority over downed enemies is damn good balancing for the most part). But again, they go down in one hit, so you would have to give them mobility options and likely long-range pokes to keep you away and contest your grouping of them. Them just moving towards you isn't what I would recommend in the first place; I would want something like Ninja Saviors where they will often jump or perform advancing attacks in order to attack you. As a matter of fact, I think giving them health and the Angler Girls the ability to throw their enemies would go a long way, unless you are going for a strider or melee metal slug sort of game, which wouldn't surprise me. If we do get a throw, make sure that it makes the Girls invulnerable, but not when swallowing, in order to keep it a balanced defensive option.
Pherl's one attack is also way too slow. I can understand if we had less damaging quick attacks, but considering the amount of enemies chasing after you, it's just not good enough. The Pillar Woman has much better options, and I'd imagine Lilac would as well.