To his credit, Ozawa would never speak about the actions of his fellow admirals during Leyte Gulf in post-war interviews.
Personally, I think Tanaka Raizo was the best. He handled IJN light forces with great élan, and he knew when to retreat. Even then, he still had a lot of fight. Look how his ships devastated the US cruisers at Tassafaronga while withdrawing. In my opinion he was one of the scapegoats of the Guadalcanal campaign, and the high command beached him, first in Singapore then in Burma. But what was he to do in the face of an enemy with a growing numeric and technological advantage backed up by the industrial might of the United States? I think it's better for the USN that he didn't have a role the battles around Leyte Gulf.
Mikawa Gunichi was a great tactician, and his penetration of Iron Bottom Sound and subsequent bombardment of Henderson Field and Fighter 1 without detection by US aerial reconnaissance on the night of 13-14 November 1942 was one of the great feats of Japanese seamanship of the war, in my opinion even overshadowing his victory at Savo. However, he couldn't avoid Allied airpower at Bismarck Sea. But Mikawa understood the Solomons campaign in a way his superiors did not. He knew the IJN was pouring men, ships and resources into a battle it couldn't win. But he fell out of favor as well, becoming another Solomons scapegoat and got assigned to backwaters.
My thoughts,
