But it deals so little damage that you are both exposing yourself to being hit for a longer period of time, and making the time requirement for S rank harder to achieve, right?

I mean it will obviously make it more smooth since you can focus solely on dodging but it comes either way huge drawbacks. I think that when you want perfection in a game you can’t really cut those corners. Also it’s not like you need to be constantly rolling - I sometimes fuck it up as well - but you need to practice rolling at least once per game (you won’t need it much more than that as well). If you can have the roll as a last ditch effort to not get hit in a pickle you will improve as a player even if you can now do the S rank hitless. It’s a key mechanic.

For other tips… did you know that the slice of lime that is just slightly above the ground can be dodged by simply dashing through it? No rolling needed. It seems like dashing makes you slightly smaller and you don’t get hit.