The best character to learn SFV with is the one you enjoy playing.
Ryu emphasizes spacing and 'footsies' (to be honest, I'm starting to hate hearing that word since what it actually means is subjective as fuck) and, aside from a command grab, he has mostly every tool the game offers, so learning him does teach a lot of fundamental stuff, but the same can be said of most characters to one degree or another. Yeah, you aren't going to learn a fireball game with Cammy, but that's hardly the end of the world. If you decide to play a fireball character down the road, well, you'll just pick it up then.
A lot of people, and this is a weakness of mine, when they start a new game get this weird idea that they need to learn the game before they play the game, and it can lead to a kind of perpetual loop of research and practice and theory crafting that somehow just doesn't lead to that many actual games.. If you want to watch various tutorials on SfV that ABSOLUTELY won't hurt and it's a great idea, but your best bet after that is to find a player you can get in to Skype or some voice com program with and play a bunch of games and have that player just talk to you. 'hey I keep winning this exchange for this reason' 'you can punish me after this or that' 'hey don't press buttons there, I'm plus' etc etc. Then when you're done or that player isn't available, just grind the game. Play a million rounds.
I'm FAR from the best player here, but I don't mind to get in to Skype with you and help you out if you're interested.
You're new to the game, so go in with an open mind and play. Don't always play to win, focus on specific stuff and learn until it's just second nature, then focus on something else, and so on. After a while you'll start winning as your fundamentals get better and better and the flow of the game becomes second nature. Play what character(s) you want. Have fun and learn. You can buckle down and get serious when you have your feet under you.
