it's praised for being fairer
I must say it isn't really that much more fair. Kana and Kotohime can only hit lunatic Yumemi (which plays at full AI capabilities) in two ways: by having the boss summon ram her while going offscreen (which means your boss summon has to pretty much leave after one attack), or by the moon things sneaking up on her while she was busy with something else. So, you exchange PoFV's stupid jump in difficulty at stage 6 for a potentially invincible Yumemi, who, unlike Shikieiki, keeps the hax AI for as many rounds as it needs to crush you, unless you're using a top-tier character.
which means it's time for a
SURPRISE TIER LIST [kogasa.jpg]
Reimu, Rikako and Yumemi herself can hit the AI with their ying-yangs, homing gears and aimed crosses (from Yumemi's boss summon) fairly reliably; Ellen's spinning things are excellent as well, but good luck surviving more than a couple of minutes with her; Mima's bouncing balls are not as good as you'd imagine but her decent survivability makes it possible; Marisa and Chiyuri can trap the AI in a laser grid therefore making a moon/star/teacup slam much more likely, but it's still a very tall order; Kana and Kotohime have above-average survivability but that's worth nothing if you can't hit the AI.
