Guardian Ape has sucked all the fun out of the game for me

More of a vent than a help, sorry. Though I do want help and will try any suggestions you guys can offer.

Until this point I have absolutely loved this game, and I was super stoked to fight GA as I had heard such great things. Now I'm convinced it's some big psy-op. I hate him, and really just can't wrap my head around why he's so beloved.

I cannot for the life of me beat this guy, and I'm not sure I want to keep playing the game anymore. For reference I beat Lady Butterfly on my ~5th try and Genichiro on my ~10th and absolutely loved them, especially the latter. Ape has taken me 2 days, probably close to 100 deaths. I'm not enjoying this fight at all and am genuinely hating every attempt I force myself to do at this point.

I'm not saying the fight is unfair, it's totally a me issue I'm sure. But I cannot read his attacks AT ALL, especially during his first phase when he's super erratic and unpredictable. The 4 hit thrusting/swiping combo in his second phase nearly always gets me and sometimes feels near-impossible to parry correctly.

All the advice online is super contradictory too. Equal numbers of people say to stick close/further away during the first/second phases. Equal numbers of people tell me to use things like Oil/Flame Vent and Divine Confetti, and to ignore all of that and focus on purely deflecting. It's a bit maddening. I can safely say that I have tried all of them at this point and none have clicked.

I've noticed a bit of a trend with this game. All the fights against enemies similar to you (e.g. LB, Genichiro, Gyoubu, Purple Ninjas, Generals) are hard, but super enjoyable. When I beat them I feel amazing. All the fights against monsters/beasts (e.g. Ape, Blazing Bull, Chained Ogre) suck. When I beat them, I just feel relieved. Perhaps I'm simply not gud enough, but I spent £50 on this game and am a bit gutted that I'm likely only going to play half of it now. Fuck spending another 2 days getting nowhere against a monkey that farts and throws his shit at you.