When it comes to bosses, you go in intending to hit them with some sort of heavy object until they fall down dead. This is the way of the video game world, and it’s a system that has worked for decades. Crystar has the gall to mix things up. Nanana, despite being one of the most annoying characters to ever exist, is not someone you are out to murder.
In terms of gameplay, you are still going to grab a stick and boop her on the snoot, but when all is said and done, Nanana is merely a misunderstood nuisance. Narratively speaking, she is harmless. Mechanically, she’s mostly a wet blanket.
Nanana’s Attacks
Nanana has one attack, but that attack is technically a small combo. Nanana will fire off a series of explosive projectiles. These deal moderate damage, but are easily avoided by circle-strafing around Nanana. This attack is less of a threat and more of an annoyance.
This mentality carries over to Nanana’s entire existence. Nanana will not fight you straight up and instead opts to constantly run away. Nanana is faster than most bosses, making her rather difficult to catch. Because you can’t easily catch her, it can be awkward to even execute a single attack - let alone a combo. Thankfully Nanana is slippery, but not dangerous.
Preparing For Battle
Which Party Members To Use
As is nearly always the case, Kokoro is practically useless in this fight. Her attacks are way too slow, her range is pitiful, and I am fairly certain Nanana could run circles around Kokoro until she died of old age. Don’t bother swapping to her.
Sen, similarly, is pretty meh in this fight. By the time you reach Nanana, Sen is likely starting to fall off in terms of stats. Her scalings are awful, so she rapidly loses her value after acquiring her. That being said, her attacks come out fast, and she can clip Nanana quite easily.
Rei, as is normally the case, is great for this fight. Rei has access to a bunch of projectiles that can home-in on Nanana, giving her a solid ranged option, and her basic attacks come out fast. What’s more, Rei probably has the highest damage in your group, making her the best candidate by default.
Which Skills To Use
Since we are focusing on Rei, the best skills to use are Power Slash, Tornado, and Feather Edge. Power Slash has a deceptively long range, making it ideal for clipping Nanana and slowing her down. Tornado can be used if you managed to knock Nanana down at any point, trapping her in a vortex of death. Feather Edge is just an all-round good ranged spell that can disrupt Nanana’s movement.
Pick Up Some Healing
Even though Nanana has limited damage capabilities, you should still consider stocking up on healing. Not having a full stack of 20 Bitter Chocolate at all times makes no sense, when the healing it provides is so good, and it costs so little. There’s a peddler at the start of every level, and just before your fight with Nanana.
Max Your Tear Gauge
Even though we aren’t using Sen or Kokoro in this fight for basic attacks or skills, we still want them ready to throw out a Guardian final attack. Because of this, you should be going into the fight with Nanana with all three characters rocking full Tear Gauges.
Nanana has a lot of health, so starting the fight with a bunch of Guardians can shorten the brawl significantly.
Remember to factor in each character's Guardian range too. Rei and Sen can hit Nanana from a medium distance, whilst Kokoro needs to be right up in Nanana's face to do any real damage.
Battle Strategy
Nanana will constantly run away from the player whilst occasionally throwing out projectiles. What you want to do is get her into a corner where she can’t escape and lay into her with everything you have. The moment she is trapped, turn on Rei’s Guardian and get to swinging. Once her Gauge depletes, switch to Kokoro or Sen, and repeat.
Once every character has finished their Guardian combos, swap back to Rei. Nanana should be pretty hurt, but not dead. Thankfully, Rei has a fantastic knock-up, and Nanana can be launched. You want to execute a basic combo, launch Nanana, do some aerials, land, then throw out Tornado and Power Slash before repeating. Nanana shouldn't be able to react with this much damage being thrown her way.
If Nanana manages to get out of the corner, try and force her into another one and repeat the process. You can always throw Feather Edge to chip away at her too. If you run out of mana, Sen and Kokoro have some basic ranged Skills too, but they are nowhere near as effective.
Once Nanana is dealt with, you can move on.