Thank you for your honest feedback. we understand your concerns with the controls. The game was developed within a few days for the jam, and though we found the controls intuitive (OFC, after numerous tryanderror :P ), it's clear from your and others' feedback that they need refinement. Post-jam, we plan to improve this aspect.
To clarify, you should press the red button with the 'attack' kanji as quickly as possible when it appears. We realize the timing changes based on the enemy's distance, which can be unclear... need to think something else!
We appreciate your positive comments too and are glad you find the game promising!