Should You Pull?
Potentially skippable, but possibly worth considering for some. Another week, another Anima Expo Celebration Prayer in the form of 2 more Ultra Festival Friends in the form of Junko (B2) and Reisen Udongein Inaba (B5)! This time, while the vampires of the E-Series are sticking around for another week, this one will be lasting for 2 weeks of its own, so you have until the 21st of July until its time is up!
If you want to know more about the events of Anime Expo, you can go here, whereas if you want to understand more about how Shared Exchange Points work, you can go here.
So with that out of the way, let’s go over these two space invaders! Firstly, a small Junko made a massive impression when she arrived, not just because of her appearance, but also because of how she sacrificed elements for pure power. What makes her damage so amazing is the fact her Killer range is colossal, with Youkai and Gensokyo Killers alone making sure a majority of potential foes are subjected to CRIT damage, but she still has many more Killers to back them up! Now for elements, while a 6/6 Star Spread Shot is comedic, it might not be enough to carry B2 Junko’s breaking potential, but that’s where her anomaly mastery comes in. One way or another, she can both inflict and break Poison, Burn, Blind, Paralyze and Freeze, although do be careful to make sure they don’t clash with each other. We aren’t done with anomalies though, because outside of VS Divergent Spirits shenanigans, B2 Junko is still the only Friend in the game that cannot be fully broken, (Tower/Arena enemies don’t count) and this is because on top of no elemental weaknesses, her Ability grants her immunity to all 5 elements! To wrap up all the good stuff though, B2 Junko also has a decent mix of buffing and debuffing, not just for herself but for the team too, which can always come in handy. While they aren’t the longest lasting buffs, they can still be rather helpful, but that’s where we get into more of the downsides…
Firstly, B2 Junko has faced a lot of comparisons to E1 Patchouli: Attack role, great Killer range, lots of anomaly utility, and devastating damage, however, while E1 Patchouli’s rainbow themed elements may be a bit awkward, it’s arguably better than no elements on Spell Cards whatsoever, and she even balances Yin and Yang power very well. On top of this, E1 Patchouli also has team buffs that last for longer than 2 turns and is less messy with anomalies inflictions too, so it is safe to say that if a player has E1 Patchouli, getting B2 Junko isn’t going to bring too much to the table that E1 Patchouli doesn’t cover. For more downsides, as mentioned earlier, Junko’s full break immunity is out of the window on certain VS Divergent Spirits stages due to potential anomaly breaks on specific stages with a specific rule, but on top of that, her immunity to all anomaly inflictions is technically outclassed by a certain taotie, also being immune to the same anomalies, but converting those inflictions into Spirit Power. Ultimately, B2 Junko is a strong Friend, but it’s not easy for her to stand out from other rival Ultra-Festival Attack Friends like E1 Flandre, B3 Yorihime and the aforementioned E1 Patchouli, but she can get the job done if you just want damage, but remember to give her the CRIT ATK buffs to truly see her flourish.
Now for her yellow haired underling, when she arrived on the space scene, B5 Reisen Udongein Inaba provided a masterclass in how to take hit after hit (she could go on for thousands of turns, but possibly at the cost of your sanity), and while in recent months that might not be as easy to achieve due to some game balance changes earlier this year, she is still a fantastic Defense-Class Friend with her Passive 2 heavily reducing her damage by 75% when her HP is full, plus she can use Skill 1 and the Absorbing Bullet Lines in her attacks to get back to full HP and keep taking advantage of this effect. Fun fact: Another Defense-Class Epic Friend has a similar Passive, at full HP, her damage is reduced by 70% instead of 75%!
Now let’s go over some other qualities of this space bunny. Such as her great Moon and Star breaks, consistently appearing across her kit (3 of each on both Spell Cards and Last Word), as well as a bit of Blind anomaly utility, especially through her Spell Card 2 (All) inflicting them and Spell Card 1 (Solo) breaking them. There are better anomaly breakers these days, but what B5 Reisen can still bring to the table in terms of breaking is still respectable. As for offense being the best defense, with the right buffs, she can actually pull this off well. By taking advantage of Killers like Youkai, Human and Soul, she can get those CRITs on her enemies with relative ease. She also gets a helpful jumpstart in power with Skill 2’s Spirit Power, quick Yin ATK and Accuracy, as well as insane Hard Scaling on her Last Word.
Now the only real downside to this unbreakable bunny is that even though she is a tank, she doesn’t quite have what it takes on her own to bring out her full damage potential, let alone provide offensive support, and given how good her Killers are, she just need to make sure she has either Story Cards or allies to bring up that CRIT ATK (and maybe extend that Yin ATK a little more too). If you already have Moon and Star friends like a certain perfect and elegant Relic or ones like A6 Rumia and B3 Hecatia, or if you already have an Ultra Festival tank like E1 Meiling or B5 Mokou who can also balance offense and defense well, it might be possible to skip this Friend, but ultimately, B5 Reisen is definitely worth considering here if she can fill a gap in your list of Friends!
So overall, it’s pretty much a case of strong units with a strong case for them, but if you have any Friends that can fill any gaps you are missing, like pure offense or pure defense. Like the ongoing E9 Remilia and E1 Flandre Prayer, there is definitely some appeal here if you are missing both Friends, but if you’re strapped for Seal Crystals, well a very strong, yet ordinary magician is coming soon that may get people’s attention, ze.
So with that said, if you wish to join the battle against the moon inhabitants, may the best of luck be provided to all who want their own strong, small sagacious spirit or their resilient rabbit, or the whole package of the dynamic duo!
Quick Overview
B2 Junko is an Attack-Class Friend who uses versatile anomaly breaks, good team utility, and has amazing damage potential.
Amazing Anomaly Breaks
B2 Junko has a ridiculously high amount of anomaly breaks. Spell Card 1 inflicts Burn and breaks Poison and Burn at 1P and 2P respectively, Spell Card 2 inflicts Paralyze on a target, then breaks Freeze, Paralyze and Blind at 1P, 2P and 3P respectively, then her Last Word breaks them all! On top of this, Skills 1 and 2 subject an enemy to 3 layers of Freeze and Poison respectively and has a Passive that always inflicts an enemy with Blind every turn.
High Damage Potential + Killer Range
B2 Junko carries what you would typically expect in a strong attacker. She has both Yin ATK buffs and Yin DEF debuffs, a fair amount of Hard scaling on her Last Word and an immensely wide Killer range to seal the deal, meaning those CRITs are being landed all day and every day.
Decent Skill Utility
While B2 Junko's focus isn't to buff her allies, she ends up doing well to support them anyway. Skill 3’s buffs are party-wide, providing a good amount of Yin ATK, Accuracy, and even some Spirit Power to all allies. Additionally, the Yin DEF debuffs and anomaly inflictions that B2 Junko applies to foes are indirectly buffs to other Friends as well due to being able to take advantage of the crippled opponents. Just be mindful of their limited turn durations.
Cannot Be Fully Broken in a Conventional Battle
It is even impossible to Full Break B2 Junko! She has no elemental weaknesses and is immune to every anomaly in the game, meaning she just cannot break her own barriers. It is unfortunate that she does not gain buffs from Grazing, as there would be no concern about being Full Broken after using all of her barriers. Do note however that if Junko’s Ability is sealed as a result of specific VS Divergent Spirits Special Rules, she becomes susceptible to being anomaly broken. However, that won’t be an issue much of the time.
Breaking Potential can End up Being Awkward
When it comes down to it, an elephant in the room regarding B2 Junko’s kit is her Spell Cards and their elements just vanishing. There is her Spread Shot with 6 Star Bullet Lines, but outside of that, even her anomaly inflictions could find themselves clashing with each other, especially if you don’t plan them out accordingly.
Lacking CRIT ATK Buffs in Kit
With an incredible Killer range, it’s a shame B2 Junko kit doesn’t take more advantage of those guaranteed CRITs due to her lacking CRIT ATK buffs. And while her Spell Card 1 reduces the CRIT DEF of her enemies a bit, it’s not quite satisfactory enough sadly.
B5 Reisen Udongein Inaba is a Defense-Class Friend who provides a great mix of offense and defense with Hard Scaling benefiting the former and unrivaled tanking capabilities for the latter.
Blinding Breaking Bunny
B5 Reisen's breaking potential is definitely above average due to both Spell Cards having 3 Moon and 3 Star breaks. On top of the consistent Star and Moon distribution, she can also break Blind anomalies via Spell Card 1 and Last Word, but the way those anomalies are applied by B5 Reisen can be achieved only via Spell Card 2.
High Damage via Hard Scaling and Killers
B5 Reisen can both dish out major damage from the start of turn 1 or when setting up, all thanks to her Youkai Killer or crazy Hard scaling on her Last Word. Many elements of her kit, from her skills to buffs from Boosting to spell Pre-ATK effects, contribute toward maximizing her Yin DEF buffs to make her damage go up very heavily. She can also buff her own Yin ATK via Skill 2 and Last Word.
Unbreakable Tank With Defensive Support
All of the elements that increase B5 Reisen's Yin DEF in her kit end up making her reach the cap of 10 levels of Yin DEF UP. However, additional utility comes in the form of the party-wide buffs to both Yin and Yang DEF in her skills, along with a Barrier on Skill 3. Even the Yin ATK debuff on her first spell can be taken advantage of to decrease the damage she takes, further helping her tanking ability. Finally, a shoutout has to be given to her second Passive, which decreases the damage Reisen takes by 75% when at full HP. Thanks to Absorb bullets and the 70% HP heal on her Skill 1, it is very easy to abuse this skill and make her even tankier.
Lacks Offensive Support and CRIT ATK Buffs
It is the unit type she is classified with, but many other powerful Friends at the top have some sort of offensive buff to provide to the entire party. On top of that, B5 Reisen needs external CRIT ATK support to really take advantage of her Killer range, especially Youkai Killer, and even lacks substantial defensive debuffs to indirectly buff party members. Still, her defensive utility and elemental access is so high, she remains to be a great Friend in her own right.
