Possible to get smooth shifting without flares on my camry?

[Matt1357]

Backstory, ( 2017 camry owned since 25,000 miles now at 125,000. Did drain and fill with aisin WS fluid at 60k, beck arnley WS fluid with lubegard red at 90k and 120k. Always set level correct using obd2 atf tempature check on level concrete garage. Noticed shift flare in certain situations around 65k. its possible it always did it and I only first noticed it at 65k. The situation is: I let off the throttle after getting on it hard, so the rpm's are still above 3k and its trying to upshift and it flares. About 5 weeks ago I did a fluid exchange threw the cooler lines with Idemitsu synthetic WS and it shifted incredibly smooth but it still shift flared. I did another exchange with valvoline max life 2 weeks ago and it stopped flaring. I know how to make it flare and I can't do it with maxlife. Problem is the silky smooth shifting is gone especially the first 10min of driving, once hot it's not as noticeable.)
Questions...has anyone experienced problems with WS fluid that another fluid fixed?
Would a dose of lubegard red help with smoothness of shifting?
Does lubegard red even do anything because an a.i. search said maxlife and WS fluid already have esters in them.
Do shift flares on a toyota damage the transmission?
And any other suggestions or knowledge on this is appreciated

 

[GSCJR]

I would have preferred Valvoline's EP variant over their MaxLife. MaxLife is also suitable for use in CVT, whereas EP is geared to step shift transmissions. See what I did there

On a positive note, I used MaxLife in our 2010 U660F when we got it at 75k kms. Annual ATF changes gradually cured a harsh 1-2 shift when cold, and when the fluid coming out was as clean as what was going in I stopped fluid changes altogether. Sold the RX350 this year without ever taking off the pan, and it shifted like new at 245k kms with MaxLife, YMMV.

 

[CleanSump]

Have you considered Valvoline Restore & Protect ATF? Valvoline has Toyota WS listed on the compatibility chart.