Feburary 5th, 2022

This beginning week of pop'n music Lively has actually been pretty lively. They dropped a new update which makes the tickets worth more than boosting unlocks or unlocking previous songs. You can unlock characters that don't have a song in Lively, unlock skins, or unlock new system BGM. It's a great addition.

It costs 5 tickets to unlock BGM or play skins, 3 tickets to unlock note skins, judge fonts, guide sounds, note splash, or lanes, and 1 ticket to unlock a specific character. Unlocking the character only unlocks that specific character color. I'm also noticing some characters are left out, though it might be due to licensing, as I don't think all of the Mimi/Nyami licensed costumes are avaliable, neither are some CS characters.

Also, I like that they make the tickets be more useful, though I wish they'd be a little bit more cheaper. At the very least, I wish the more expensive packs gave more tickets. These tickets aren't used to play the game, so they don't have as much worth as Bombergirl or DanceDanceRevolution tickets. Oh well.

New month, new rank. I played fffff which is a platinum rank unlock. I can pass it the hyper chart fine, but not with an A. The chart has some weird patterns that are a bit hard to follow. It's difficult but one of these days I'll get it.

The new monthly bonus song is SA-DA-ME from pop'n music 8. I don't really like it, but it's a staple in the series. The new quest song is BI-BUN-SEKI-BUn which has not come out as of me writing this. 恋歌疾風！かるたクイーンいろは is the latest song that can be purchased using Lively Tickets, but I don't care enough to buy it.

I got a new AA from a song in the peace song pack. I foolishly missed some notes, it's very embarrasing. What's even worse was I was so excited for the new update, that I played even though my hands were hurting from playing too much. Despite all of that though, I got an AA when I least expected it!

Do you like the system BGM and skin I got?

I decided to do a little something where I try getting A's on all songs from level 30 to level 39. I want to break out of the level 40 rut one of these days, so I guess this is some sort of practice. I got a few great AAa, but this specific one is what I'm proud of!

I listened to the original song and I like it!

This all must've paid off as I barely got my first level 43 clear!

I bought DJMax Respect V. I played it on the PS4 using funny methods, but I liked what I played so I bought it on Steam. I already got a few MAX COMBOs in the first week of playing.

I can use my Phoenixwan to play 6-key. However, I have an issue with L and R tracks, they only get MAX 1% which is pretty annoying. I could try 8 key with my pop'n music controller, but it'll suck. I can also be normal and just use my standard keyboard. I'll have a scoreboard ready on the site.

I bought a whole new MiniDisc deck. I had my eyes on a CMT-M333NT for a while, it has MD, CD, and cassette functionality with NetMD, but I couldn't find a good offer on one. Instead, I opted for a FH-MD11, which does all of those things minus NetMD. It all works perfectly too! It even came with the speakers and additional accessories for the tuner! I recorded on my MiniDiscs I bought and they work just fine! Fantastic!

The CMT-M333NT has NetMD, which would let you transfer audio files from your PC to the MiniDisc using USB. This came out before the technology was even announced. I could overcome this by using my PC's optical out instead. The unit allows an optical connection to record onto a Minidisc or tape. The optical cable I use is barely long enough to connect the two devices together. It's extremely tight, so I'll try extending it later down the road.

My only real complaint isn't really the decks fault. The tuner's FM signal only goes up to 90.0FM, which is extremely low here in the US but normal in Japan. Stations start at around 87FM and extend up to 110FM, which means I cannot access more than 85% of the stations broadcasted here. This isn't entirely a problem as the stations sometimes have online streams I can use instead. The AM tuner does not limit the frequency too low or too high, so I can tune into any AM station I want. Too bad most of them are talk stations.

I want to buy more MiniDiscs! I hope to hit a lucky jackpot in Goodwill or something.

I recently found new song I like. It's Don't Teach Me by Ailee! I don't listen to K-Pop that often, mostly because I don't have any exposure to them. I found this song on a video online and fell in love with all 5 seconds used. I listened to it every single day now, how long until I get tired of it? Not for a while!

Thank you for reading today. College is going great! I'm enrolled in trumpet classes and I love playing it. I sound pretty ass though... I'll try my best practicing it. One thing I found kinda funny when I was in my lesson was just finding out my teacher had AKB48's Heavy Rotation in his liked YouTube videos. Not sure if he actually likes the group, but it's still hilarious. Anyways, I hope the year is starting off great for you too!