Firstly, Alice's Darkness Sign ｢Foggy London Dolls」 pretty much always gets me at least once. I would just bomb through it, but I'd like to save those...
For a first 1cc that spell is a good candidate for bombing. Identifying and successfully navigating through the open spaces will come with experience, and the bullet colors are a good indicator of when to prepare for a thick wave (yellow/cyan should go around you).
Next, (probably the worst...) Merlin goddamn Prismriver. The second attack is usually fine, but I've honestly never lost so many lives on a non-spellcard attack before. Is there a reasonable way to deal with this?
I've never practiced anything else, so one method. Start a little to the side of Merlin, let's say the right side (or directly underneath her), to lead her first arrowhead bullet / spirit laser shots. Head over to the left side and stream the next set of several aimed shots towards the middle, then repeat with all positions flipped. The attack will speed up with time, but it should be finished soon enough with Sakuya-A.
Finally, Youmu gives me these:
Hell Realm Sword 「200 Yojana in 1 Slash」 (I doubt there's much that can be done here, short of me just concentrating more and trying not to get thrown off by the slowdown, though).
And to a lesser extent, the non-card before Brute Sword 「Karmic Punishment of the Idle and Unfocused」 , in particular, the red and blue lines that block the gap between the waves.
For her first spell that's pretty much it. After her second slash (when she's on the left) you're better off retreating to the right before the bullets rain down, and after that...good luck.
I'll list a few options for her second noncard. First, if you sit tight until the knives finish firing then you can tap over and fit between the knives and the gap between the waves. Move down while tapping over for a slower movement speed.
If you don't like to risk the tight squeeze you can move to either end right outside the gap between the waves, and do a little zig zag dodging. That would apply to both blue/red waves, or you can misdirect the knives so they don't enter the gap of the first blue/red wave. You'll probably have to pass through the cyan/yellow wave earlier to have the space needed to misdirect the knives before they fire.
Another option is to misdirect the knives so they don't enter the gap of the
second blue/red wave as well. Nothing to it, if you watch / listen to the attack you'll notice the knives spawn before the bullets. Move right over as soon as you hear the first sound and the knives should be clear of all the gaps.
Also, any tips for Stage 4's pre-boss mega-fairy wouldn't go unappreciated, however I'm quite happy to give up a bomb here.
You mean the one in the middle of the stage portion? Pellets always pan out relative to her position which is of course based on your position, but I don't remember when she locks on to your location. Misdirect / stream the aimed arrowheads towards the center so you're dealing the most damage when she moves straight up after the fourth wave. Which doesn't really matter with Sakuya-A. Also, her armor won't drop until she spawns for the third wave. It should be easier to avoid the red/blue bullet spam on the side, but maybe it doesn't make a difference on Normal.
