So the setup I used for this is a program called Joytokey to get my xbox 360 controller to have turbo on. I have menu and cancel set to repeat 30 times a second and I timed pressing them to have them alternate to buffer perfectly. Thinking about it setting them to 15 times a second each might make it more consistent.

I managed to menu buffer over the Prison Cage fight trigger without the speed booster turned on. This skips both Prison Cage fights, all the walking around the crashed ship and the Baku fight.

Based on the first place run this saves up to 9 minutes straight away. The second thing this does is skip the trance activation. From my testing so far it stays deactivated, so no more losing time to trance animations. Vivi still trances in the Black Waltz 3 fight, but the trance bars don't appear afterwards.

To do the skip I have my Y button set to repeat 30 times a second, so I hold Y and up, then cancel out of the menu each time it pops up. Haven't managed to get it consistently though.