You're obviously better at the games than me, so: What do you do to get past Stage 4 without losing half your life? The Prismrivers I can handle - even Merling - but that thrice-accursed Stage 4...
Ah, yes, the mooks from stage 4 are easily the hardest of the game, and I also used to lose a lot of lifes there before I got the trick. Here's my advice:
1- At the begginning-middle, do NOT stay on the bottom of the screen or sides when there's no enemies. The mooks will aim their bullet waves at your character, and their pattern will pin you whitout escape if you're in the bottom or sides. If you stay on the middle however (and shoot your oponents as they come out), the bullet waves will be aimed more up and leave an open space on the bottom for you to retreat. If you stay there you'll still be pinned however. Just as one bullet wave passes and the next comes, you have to go to the center again, passing between them. Repeat. You may find yourself pushed to the sides after several waves, in wich case don't go down, go up, all the way to the upper side of the screen and then drop back to the middle. Hopefully new enemies won't pop up from the sides when you're forced to do this.
2-There's also several super fairies wich are quite durable and shoot a pattern of slow bullets, and they come in multiples. The trick here it's that killing the fairy removes their bullets. You have to quickly focus fire them one by one or the map will get too cluttered.
3-Play Sakuya. Moar bombs mean moar "get away from bullet hell alive" cards. If you use them well she has actually eight bombs per life, because perfect square can easily unlock a cherry barrier, and mystic square (focused bomb) will clean the next wave of bullets that passed on the area where you throwed the square.
Overall, you MUST remain mobile and fast, dancing around the screen in order to don't get cornered and snipe the super-fairies just as they appear. The fast bullet waves are too concentrated for you to graze trough them, and they'll pin you easy if you move too little, so you must keep flying from one side to the other to keep them dispersed. If you stay mobile and fast, there will be openings between the waves, and passing trough them it's the only way I found to stay alive.