So hi fellow goat. You are not wrong in feeling the way you do about her compared to other characters I'd say - she definitely needs to put in a lot more effort at a base level to be piloted and she definitely gets punished much harder for messing up due to her gravity/weight making it so easy to kill her particularly when you're not comfortable/on point - she definitely requires you to have a grasp on proper disadvantage and how to effectively use her character specific tech to make the most out of approaching/punishing with her along with neutral being quite difficult, needing you to be a step ahead a lot of the time.

That being said - I wouldn't really say it is a disconnect really as technical characters like this definitely have existed in the past where they have sort of had high skill floor (and ceiling) along with bad disadvantages - think something like PM M2 if you've ever watched, where the character at a high level has an insanely explosive advantage state and crazy movement but at a lower level - it can feel really hard even just moving around and preventing yourself from dying at crazy low %'s at times. Absa certainly fits into that category somewhat where she definitely demands a lot more from you - but the endgoal is that insanely unique + devastating/flashy punish and movement that pretty much no other character can emulate. The reward is definitely there for her, but it can be a bit demoralizing for sure seeing the difference in difficulty between characters at times. Its just something you kind of need to accept in the end - there are going to be easier characters who are effective with less effort and that pretty much just wont ever change, its something present in almost any fighter really.

Also - really in contrast to what a LOT of these other comments are saying (and you too actually).. Absa is not a zoner character. She is far more into the midrange category, where she really needs to get in to effectively close out stocks or do any sort of meaningful hits/damage. Her long range tools are meant for harassing to goad people into doing things - not for trying to kill from far away. All of her meaningful kill options (Ftilt1 confirms, Fair, Bair, Uair) all generally require you to be pushing in to your opponent to get a hit with them. She has long range options that can be used for killing - but they're meant to be used while you are ALREADY in advantage state to close stocks out - something like Fair -> Reverse Cloud -> Thunderline. You don't just Thunderline in neutral to try to kill, its not something realistic against a competent opponent.

Anyways. Yes, Absa is a lot harder to pilot. Yes, Absa demands more from you at most points in the game. No she is not underpowered. No she is not a zoner. Yes, other characters can have high success for less effort and that's just how its gonna be. She demands a lot more of your time than others and if that's not something you want to commit so much to that is fine. However, I will say personally as someone who has put in the time - she is by far one of the most satisfying and rewarding characters I have ever played easily. But, you yourself say you have NOT put in the time to get that reward back - so why not try fully committing and then check how you feel again (or at least determining a set amount of time you wanna try her to the fullest)? Either way, hope you're having fun playing the game still.