We’re bringing you the second edition of the “Oto-geki Chart Committee Bulletin,” which received a great response from everyone last time!

This time, it will be published in three parts:

• Middle part → Around 3:00 PM on Monday, 10/18
• Final part → Around 3:00 PM on Wednesday, 10/20

Please look forward to it!

Also, regarding your thoughts and feedback about the Oto-geki Chart Committee Bulletin, please use the hashtag “#音撃譜面部会報”.
And not only for the content featured here, but for any opinions or impressions regarding SEGA rhythm game charts, we’d be happy if you shared them on Twitter using “#ゲキチュウマイ譜面サポートセンター”.

Now then, please enjoy!

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＜目次＞

<前編>

ものくろっく
Techno Kitchen
じゃこレモン
うさぎランドリー
小鳥遊さん

<中編>

アマリリス
すきやき奉行
Redarrow
アミノハバキリ
みそかつ侍

<後編>

はっぴー
ロシェ@ペンギン
緑化委員長
譜面-100号
音撃譜面部
Revo@LC

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Monochrock” / “Monoclock

Favorite card: Arisu Suzushima [Whirling Vampire]

It’s been a while, everyone — Monoclock here.

The previous Chart Committee Bulletin was received incredibly well, and amazingly, we’ve been given the chance to do a second one.
This time too, not just from me, but from everyone on the chart team, there are a ton of really passionate messages coming your way, so I hope you’ll enjoy following along with us.
Thanks again for your support.

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[Introduction]

These continue to be difficult times, so thank you very much for going out of your way to visit game centers and play Ongeki.
I imagine everyone has their own complicated feelings and considerations when making that choice, and there are also users who can’t go to arcades right now but are still enjoying Ongeki in other ways.
Your love for Ongeki is what drives us forward. We’d be very happy if you continue enjoying the game going forward as well.
And hopefully, someday soon, things will settle down and we can all casually gather at arcades and have fun together again…!

Now then, last time I mainly talked about LUNATIC charts, so this time I initially thought I’d focus on normal charts individually… but I realized that if I only did that, it’d just turn into an otaku rambling at absurd speed and probably wouldn’t be that interesting, so I’ll save the section where I talk about individual charts for just a little bit at the end.

Lately, it’s become common for developer messages like these to talk about future plans — a sort of roadmap — and while it’s hard to discuss concrete future content too openly (it’s not like we have an enormous stockpile prepared anyway), I’d like to follow that example and talk about the “past and future” of Ongeki charts as a whole.

If this ends up not being very interesting, sorry in advance… but because of that, I’m planning to go surprisingly deep into topics where you might think, “Wait, are they really allowed to talk about this?”
If there are certain kinds of stories missing, please assume they got censored…
(Addendum: a very slight amount actually was censored.)

Also, I’m an incredibly forgetful person, so there may be quite a few vague parts here and there.

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[The History of Ongeki Charts — Original Ongeki and Ongeki PLUS]

The feel of controlling a device with a lever, wall buttons, and six buttons was something players really needed time to get used to, to the point that Ongeki occupies a pretty unique position in rhythm game history.
During location tests and for about the first two months after launch, the chart creation side struggled quite a bit while figuring things out.

Early on, pressing the left wall button while taking your hand off the lever was genuinely difficult, so up through ADVANCED charts, it was basically “both wall buttons only!”
Then in EXPERT charts, the flow was more like, “First make players hit both walls together, and only after that start introducing isolated left wall notes!”

For charts that had players hit across all six lanes with both hands, like Brain Power for example, compared to modern charts they were really just simple alternating patterns — yet everyone struggled to score well on them. I vividly remember how hard we worked trying to figure out exactly why people couldn’t hit those patterns properly.

Because of that background, Ongeki originally moved in the direction of a more casual rhythm game rather than a hardcore one centered around continuous 16th-note tapping. We tried to preserve the feeling of performing the music through bullets and bells while keeping the overall experience approachable.
(Even now, for around level 12 and below, we still consciously try to preserve that design philosophy as much as possible when making and adjusting charts.)

We actually put a huge amount of care into the early charts, and they ended up being received far better than I expected, which honestly left me deeply relieved.

As for level design, I had almost no experience with it at the time, so there are a lot of things I regret.

The clearest example is probably setting level 13+ as the maximum difficulty among the launch charts on release day.
From the very beginning, the assumption internally was that we’d eventually go up to 14+, but of course there was no way for users to know that. So what people ended up seeing was simply the fact that difficulty suddenly jumped two whole tiers above 13+, which unnecessarily created the impression of “power creep.”

Personally, I think there are two different meanings to the word “inflation” or “power creep”:

• Raising the maximum difficulty ceiling
• Raising the overall difficulty level of newly added charts

But when it came to the former, I’d become so accustomed to it through various rhythm games that I viewed it far too lightly.
(To be honest, I’m not even sure that should really be called “power creep.”)

I strongly regret that this difference in perception toward what “power creep” means in modern gaming became so obvious.

Not just in rhythm games, but in games in general, I think some degree of power creep is an important element — games where nothing escalates at all tend to stagnate and die.
But through this, I learned that how you present that escalation is extremely important.

Based on that lesson, Ongeki PLUS was developed with a policy of advancing things without overstimulating players too much.
By then, the chart creators themselves had also become much more experienced, and I think there are probably a lot of people who feel the charts from Ongeki PLUS struck the best balance between being fun to play and still offering satisfying challenge.

Incidentally, starting from Ongeki PLUS, discussions began around allowing charts from EXPERT 10+ onward to use all six lanes, loosening previous restrictions and beginning to create stepping stones toward MASTER charts, which had previously felt very distant.

After that, EXPERT charts didn’t see many further regulation removals, but MASTER charts have continued lifting certain restrictions with each version in order to create new kinds of chart experiences.

I think it might be interesting as a point of reference when looking at charts in the future, so I’ll also write down some of the major restrictions that were lifted and in which versions they happened.
Since these regulations apply across charts generally, there may be cases where you think, “Wait, wasn’t this already used in a high-level chart before?” so please keep that in mind.

Major regulations lifted in Ongeki PLUS:

• Simultaneous red/blue button presses with one hand
• Lasers outside of LUNATIC charts
• Patterns that send the player character outside the field
• Full six-lane presses in EXPERT charts
• Bullet-dodging main phrases beyond purely visual “show” bullets

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[The History of Ongeki Charts — Ongeki SUMMER and SUMMER PLUS]

From this point onward, operations had started running much more smoothly, so there’s honestly a bit less to write about.

I think many players probably noticed that charts started incorporating a greater sense of density and note volume, matching the increasing skill level of the core player base.

When it comes to Ongeki’s level design, one thing we try to keep in mind is adjusting each difficulty level around roughly the following concepts.
Though admittedly, these evaluations are still quite intuitive in nature.

11,11+	Fundamental skills for six-lane patterns, as well as the basics of combined wall-button and lever gimmicks.
12	The fundamentals of Ongeki’s gimmick-based mechanics and their simple applications.
12+	Advanced Ongeki gimmick mechanics and simple 16th-note patterns.
13	The fundamentals of the dense note patterns typical of arcade rhythm games, combined with Ongeki-style gimmicks.
13＋	Charts that lean more heavily into one side or the other of the level 13 elements and their applications, or charts that make both aspects moderately difficult.
14	Very full-fledged high-difficulty rhythm game charts, or charts focused heavily on gimmicks.
14＋	Generally the highest difficulty level, designed with dense note patterns and gimmicks that require repeated attempts; a range where scores typically reach around 1,003,000 to 1,007,000.
15	Extremely intense content where getting a score of 1,000,000 is so difficult that it feels overwhelmingly rewarding when achieved.

In terms of level design, during SUMMER we were intentionally placing a relatively high number of Level 13 charts in order to prioritise maintaining player satisfaction among rhythm game players. On a personal note, Level 13 is the easiest for me to design and also the most comfortable to play, so I quite like the design direction around the SUMMER period.

In the middle of SUMMER PLUS, I ended up in a situation where I could barely even go into the office properly, and as a result I wasn’t able to do proper playtesting. Because of that, there’s a slightly uneven, somewhat unrefined feel to some of the tuning. At the time I didn’t think anything of it, but looking back while playing now, there are a few moments where I think, “I should’ve done this instead.” There are some regrets in hindsight.

By the way, I occasionally see comments like “Did they even test these charts before releasing them?” but honestly, I think we’re doing about 10 to 20 times more testing than players imagine, so you can feel safe playing. About 99% of player impressions are exactly as intended. Though very occasionally, there are moments where we think, “Wait, seriously?!”

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★ Major rule relaxations in Ongeki SUMMER

• Placement of single notes on 6-lane EXPERT charts
• Extending HOLD notes beyond the playfield
• Fully closing the playfield
• Use of enhanced bullets in LUNATIC charts

★ Major rule relaxations in Ongeki SUMMER PLUS

• Use of new bullet types (needle bullets, rectangular bullets)
• Use of new bullet types (large and small variants)

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[Ongeki chart design so far ~Ongeki R.E.D. and R.E.D. PLUS era~]

Due to worsening external circumstances and various complex production constraints, we made a relatively clear change to overall chart difficulty balance.

At this point, player skill had risen to the extent that Level 13 was being called “low difficulty” (seriously!?), and a trend emerged where Level 14 charts were being added roughly once or twice every two to three weeks.

Within this context, we adjusted balance with the following principles:

• MASTER charts up to Level 11+ are played relatively infrequently, and we can no longer guarantee satisfaction for most current users, so MASTER chart creation begins from Level 12.
• There are very few charts in the 10–11+ range to begin with, so EXPERT charts start at around Level 9, and multiple stepping-stone charts are provided toward MASTER.
• Do not reduce the number of Level 12 and 12+ MASTER charts as much as possible. Use EXPERT charts effectively so that players are never in a situation where they cannot enjoy a song simply because they cannot access high-difficulty MASTER.
• Avoid releasing multiple weeks of heavily high-difficulty content consecutively.

While making these adjustments, we worked toward the long-standing goal since early R.E.D. of creating a new highest difficulty, Level 15, gradually filling in missing elements until its introduction.

A particularly notable direction was the introduction of heavily “keyboard-focused” high-density charts. Due to the nature of Ongeki, many difficult patterns can be cleared using a technique similar to reinterpretation, but we felt that current charts were not improving players’ fundamental raw skill as much as intended. Therefore, we concluded that players needed charts that required sustained input on the 6 lanes.

The first example of this was “Singularity (Arcaea)”, which likely left a strong impression. If we included too many Ongeki-specific mechanics, it would distract from the keyboard portion, so we also created charts that focused on minimal mechanics and pure lane density. Some players may have felt dissatisfied with the lack of Ongeki-style elements in these charts.

However, given that high-difficulty charts up to 14+ increasingly require strong keyboard skill, it was inevitable that pure keyboard-focused charts would eventually appear. In that sense, it may have been a necessary step we had to take eventually. (Keyboard is also Ongeki!)

That said, the overabundance of keyboard-focused charts was definitely something we reflect on. In hindsight, we might have been better off distributing such charts more evenly across the song lineup.

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★ Major rule relaxations in Ongeki R.E.D.

• Maximum expansion of playfield (internally called “pickaxe”)
• Use of dangerous orange bullets set to never actually hit in R.E.D.

★ Major rule relaxations in Ongeki R.E.D. PLUS

• Placement of notes outside the playfield
• Single-note placements on the left wall in ADVANCED boss charts
• Special lane configurations in EXPERT boss charts (4-lane, 5-lane, etc.)

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[Future of Ongeki charts ~Ongeki bright era~]

At last, we can talk about the future.

That said, the situation hasn’t changed dramatically overall, so I can’t say there will be huge shifts. But I would like to talk about where things are heading based on the current trajectory.

As I’ve briefly mentioned, chart difficulty inflation (overall increase in added chart difficulty) has indeed been happening. That is a fact.

However, the addition of Level 15 does not mean we intend to keep increasing 14+ or 15 charts at a faster rate going forward. Frankly, they are extremely difficult.

The reason Level 15 was added was because players were reaching SSS+ or even perfect scores on 14+ charts very quickly, leaving little meaningful content to play. We couldn’t ignore that situation anymore. So unless there is a strong reason, we do not plan frequent additions of that level.

For players familiar with CHUNITHM, a rough comparison would be: CHUNITHM Level 13+ corresponds to Ongeki 14+, and the introduction of “Tiamat: Kataklysm” at Level 14 is somewhat similar in impact. Future additions will likely be at a slightly slower pace than that (with the maximum not exceeding songs like Apollo or LAMIA).

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We also receive requests to add MASTER charts up to Level 11+, and personally I very strongly want to do it. However, as mentioned, these charts have extremely low play counts, which makes them difficult to justify commercially.

That said, in Ongeki bright, we will be adding one Level 11+ MASTER chart. I sincerely ask players to play it as much as possible. If playing a lot individually is difficult, please consider playing with friends. Depending on play count, we may consider further additions. That is how difficult the decision is from a business perspective.

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Regarding difficulty balance, restoring the previous “lower density” structure is almost impossible. If we did, you would end up with inconsistency like: “this song is heavily keyboard-focused, but that one barely has any.” Therefore, for rhythm-game-oriented songs, we aim to preserve “character” through a combination of keyboard focus and density mechanics, while also retaining Ongeki-style elements.

This may make things feel slightly harder overall, but we will try to avoid making it excessively harsh.

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Up to R.E.D. PLUS, original vocal songs were also tuned slightly more toward general rhythm game standards. However, based on player trends, I’ve started to feel that forcing vocal songs into that direction may not be the right approach. As a result, vocal songs will more often be balanced around Level 12 or 12+. This is not a strict rule, and I do not intend to forcibly simplify songs regardless of their musical character.

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We’ve also received feedback that there are no songs worth playing because MASTER charts are too difficult.

In that case, please try EXPERT charts. Ongeki EXPERT charts are designed with regulations close to MASTER charts, and the gameplay experience is tuned carefully to difficulty level. There may be various reasons such as “everyone around me only plays MASTER” or “it feels embarrassing to play lower difficulties,” but narrowing your perspective like that is genuinely a waste.

We are also trying to include unique “EXPERT-only” elements that cannot be seen in MASTER charts, so I encourage you to give them a try.

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[Closing remarks]

I realised while rereading this that it turned into a very serious and formal document, and I thought, “Wow, this is way too stiff for me—I’m usually more of a casual speaker.” However, I felt it was important to explain the current situation properly and sincerely for the Ongeki community.

At the same time, I don’t think it’s good to push development-side reasoning too heavily onto players, so I encourage feedback freely. Even suggestions like “this would make Ongeki more fun!” are absolutely welcome. We evaluate those opinions while distinguishing what is possible, what is not, and what might become possible with effort.

We will continue evolving Ongeki and its charts, and we hope players will keep supporting it. Our chart team will continue working on each chart with the mindset that we want every player to feel “that was worth the 100 yen.”

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[Bonus corner: talking about specific charts]

★ fulgente (flip-side color mix) MASTER

About half a year before this chart was released, I was talking with a friend who knows my identity about Ongeki. We were joking that “if flick inputs mess with battle score routing, it might become a really interesting chart.” I completely forgot about that conversation, and then this chart was added later. When I heard rumours about battle score behaviour, I got chills.

From past experience, intentionally designing “hidden tech” often ends up feeling awkward, so this was not intentional at all.

For “Paradisus-Paradoxum (MASTER)” as well, there were rumours of unexpectedly complex score routes emerging from unintended interactions. When I saw that, I literally shouted, “THIS is the game I wanted!” while looking at social media.

There was a system behaviour related to battle score that we did anticipate during design, but seeing players discover it was very interesting. Fortunately, it seems to have been received positively.

Honestly, why do only my charts end up with weird battle score behaviour? When coincidences stack like this, it starts to feel eerie—but also fun.

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★ Shiawase Usagi / PekomiKo Marine MASTER

It’s already obvious that I’m a big VTuber fan, so there isn’t much left to explain. But I have a very strong attachment to this song.

The original song and lyrics, combined with the relationships between the performers, aligned in an almost miraculous way. I genuinely found myself moved and replaying it endlessly.

I won’t go into detailed breakdowns of chart expression, because that feels a bit embarrassing, and it’s not really appropriate to formally over-explain it. I’ll just say I put everything I could into it, especially within the VTuber song category.

By the way, the note designer name “Houshou no Ichimi” comes from being inspired by statements from BeatMARIO, and thinking about what I personally could do in response. I deeply agree with those sentiments as a creator.

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★ Mayowaseru Oto wa Koi no Uta EXPERT

This is a 6-lane keyboard-focused chart designed as a stepping stone toward MASTER.

If we tried to use the chorus for heavy 6-lane density, it would force us into a direction where everything had to be overly complex, so we placed the foundational structure in the A-melody instead. The chorus instead focuses on visual movement and physical motion to differentiate it.

This chart is meant to cover everything from basic to advanced 6-lane concepts for this level range. If players in the Level 11–12 range feel it is too easy, just right, or too hard, I would really appreciate feedback.

Also, the outro has a very beautiful phrase, and I didn’t want players to miss it in arcades where audio may be hard to hear. So I intentionally made it completely non-interactive. I deliberately made it a phrase with no notes at all. I hope you can imagine the scenery of this song through the red and blue lanes!

Techno Kitchen

Favorite card: Aoi [Peaceful Time]

This time I’m going to turn my approach to chart design into something like a bulletin.

I’ve been in this job for almost seven years now, experimenting and refining things, and this is where I’ve ended up… so I think this method is actually pretty usable.

It might be a bit unusual in our company? If anyone else does it this way too, let me know.

By doing this, you get benefits like:

• It becomes easier to form a clear “this chart is about ○○!” identity
• It makes it easier to talk with friends, like “that part was insane lol”
• It helps sell your own name alongside the chart (company estimate)
• The structure becomes clearer, so fewer revisions are needed (company estimate)

Pretty good deal, right? I only listed good points, but still.

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1. Divide the song into blocks

Let’s use a vocal song as an example:

Intro → A-melody → B-melody → 1st chorus → interlude → breakdown chorus → final chorus → outro

That’s a pretty standard structure in rhythm games in our company.

The most exciting part is usually the chorus, so the chart should also treat the chorus as the peak.

The important points are:

◆ How many times the chorus appears

Sometimes there’s only one chorus, then straight into the outro and end.
Or the song is very short.

This is rare in our rhythm game context, so normally you’ll have two choruses. If there’s only one, you need to “compress” the impact of two choruses into one.

In other words, one chorus needs to feel as satisfying as two. It has to feel fully “filled.” That’s the goal.

If there are two choruses, just keep in mind that there are two separate peaks of excitement.

◆ Where the first chorus is positioned

Usually it sits around the middle of the song. That’s the common case.

But sometimes you get structures like:
A → B → interlude → A → B → chorus 1 → chorus 2

In those cases, the chorus gets pushed toward the back, so you need to be careful that earlier parts don’t overshadow it, while also making sure the middle doesn’t feel dull.

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2. Decide what you want to do in the chorus

Once the main peak is placed, decide the core ideas.

◆ Decide lane structure

Will you use a 3-lane focus (red, green, blue)?
Or a 4-lane setup like red/green/green/blue? Or even 6 lanes?

◆ Decide note-reading style

Will you fully map vocals? Or shift to rhythm emphasis? Or make it “vocal-like” interpretation?

◆ Decide motion style

A heavy tapping chorus?
Tap + wall accents everywhere?
Mixing taps and lever inputs?

Choose which devices are emphasized.

◆ Do lanes move or expand?

Do you want a wide, open field for impact?
Or heavy lane movement to create motion?

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Using all this, you define the chorus direction.

Example:
“I want something like 3.2T, so the chorus is 3-lane focused, vocal-driven but with snare accents added occasionally, and about 3/4 width with fairly strong lane movement. When snare is used, it appears on a different lane than vocals to separate visuals.”

Since it’s 3-lane focused, you can even expand briefly to 6 lanes at key moments in the chorus. That kind of contrast works well.

You can also add mechanics like:
“3-lane vocal flow + single emerging snare lane with tap + bell, plus lever rhythm accents.”

At this stage, the chorus is roughly complete in a rough form.

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3. Build the sections around the chorus (part 1)

Now we move to:
B-melody → 1st chorus → interlude

Start with the B-melody.

◆ Rule: avoid reusing chorus elements

Everything used in the chorus should be avoided as much as possible here.

So if the chorus used:

• 3-lane focus + occasional 4–6 lane expansion
• vocal-based note reading
• 3-button main interaction
• moderate lane movement

Then B-melody should instead:

• use slightly expanded 3-lane layouts
• focus on rhythm (drums/guitar) instead of vocals
• emphasize flicks and walls
• use HOLD-heavy structure
• reduce lane movement, but allow cross-lane holds

This separation ensures the chorus stands out properly.

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4. Build sections around the chorus (part 2)

Now the interlude after the first chorus.

Again, avoid overlapping with chorus and B-melody.

Example direction:

• 3-lane base
• guitar solo rhythm mapping
• taps + bell + flick mix
• diagonal lane movement repeating every 2 measures, reset with flicks

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5. Build the A-melody

To avoid repetition, A-melody should also differ from B-melody.

◆ Show a “preview” of the chorus mechanic

A common technique:

Briefly show the chorus gimmick once or twice.

This signals:
“This is what the chart will revolve around.”

It prevents the “wait, this wasn’t expected” feeling.

Like:
“You were eating curry, but suddenly it’s udon instead.”

Instead, you introduce early:
“Oh, this is curry udon from the start.”

So in A-melody:

• lightly introduce the 3-lane + extra lane mechanic
• occasional tap + bell previews
• rhythm based on guitar backing
• minimal movement early, more linear motion later

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6. Build the remaining sections

Then continue similarly:

• Intro avoids A-melody elements
• breakdown chorus reduces note density, focuses on holds and walls
• final chorus evolves or intensifies chorus 1 mechanics
• outro avoids final chorus elements

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7. Done

After about 2.5–3 days, you have a rough chart.

Then it becomes:
test play → adjust → test play → adjust
repeated until finalized.

And that’s basically the chart creation method for “Wind-Caught Wish” MASTER.

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Summary

• Divide song into structural blocks
• Decide what the chorus should express
• Build sections so they don’t overlap with the chorus
• Ensure all surrounding sections also remain distinct
• Copy chorus first, then evolve it

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With this approach, unless the chorus is extremely unreasonable, revisions stay minimal and intentions are clearly communicated.

So yes—that’s the recommended method.

Jacco Lemon

Featured card: Koboshi [floating continue]

When it comes to chart creation in Ongeki, what is the hardest thing? In my personal view, without question it is “guidance.”

This game has a wide variety of devices—levers, buttons, and walls—and if the type of input you’re expected to use suddenly changes, your hands can easily get lost. That’s why you need to insert “guidance”: instructions that tell the player which device will be used next, and with which hand. However, this “guidance” is usually built using the preceding notes, field elements, bullets, bells, etc.

So you are required to:

• prepare space for inserting guidance
• place patterns that properly indicate device usage
• and still ensure the chart feels natural in its overall structure

All of these strict conditions must be satisfied at once. This tuning is genuinely exhausting. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say most of my charting time is spent reconciling these constraints. The lower the difficulty level, the more sensitive this guidance needs to be.

It’s probably easier to understand with examples rather than words, so I’ll list some “guidance” examples I’ve learned from the Ongeki charting team (including the quality lead). I’ve tried to avoid heavy technical jargon.

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【Basic】

• Before transitioning into two-handed key input, it’s generally smoother to place walls on both sides
  → Adding field expansion also makes it visually clearer
• When using the left hand to hit buttons, having a left-side wall in front helps the entry feel natural
• When using both hands in a 3-lane setup, slightly shifting red/blue lanes outward improves readability
  → Conversely, even in wide lanes, mixing bells and bullets can make it read as a lever-based single-hand pattern
• Right-leaning single-hand lanes are easier to read if they start from blue buttons; left-leaning ones from red
• When transitioning from flick/lever motion into buttons, it’s generally easier if the motion starts from the outside

【Advanced】

• If a wall appears in the center, it tends to cause confusion, so it’s better to prepare a straight field segment before it
• When flick-only and wall-only patterns are mixed, showing the player position via field elements improves readability
• Right flicks should basically be placed on the right, left flicks on the left
  → except when simultaneous tap processing is involved
• Starting lane changes halfway through rhythms (like 8th or 16th before notes) can actually increase cognitive load, so sometimes it’s clearer to align the lane shift with the note itself

【Highly advanced】

• When alternating bells and bullets on a diagonally moving hold, placing multiple bullets at once can help distinguish them not just by color but by quantity
• In patterns where the left blue button handles bass while bells match melody, and then you want to transition into red-button bass, inserting a left wall + simultaneous triple button press helps prevent confusion while adding accent
• When drawing an air-action “gesture” section, if nothing falls afterward it feels like an unfinished punchline, so it’s reassuring to add bells or bullets
• Dotted rhythms are easier to understand when compared to sushi (?)
  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Ongeki charting team probably has ten times more accumulated knowledge than this, but I’ll stop here for now. Whenever I hear about this stuff, I always think:

“Wait—are you seriously thinking about all this complicated stuff every time you make a chart?”

When I was just playing Ongeki at arcades, I never noticed all these subtle considerations. When I started making charts myself, I struggled a lot because I couldn’t properly understand this concept of “guidance.” At times I even directly asked the charting team, “I can’t make this work—what am I supposed to do?” They patiently taught me, and I’m grateful for that.

As I got more comfortable with production, I also tried making “body-memory” style patterns that deliberately skip detailed guidance.

【Example 1】Adverse Gaff (MASTER), 3-lane section after the vocal effect part
This was designed on the assumption that it can be handled with the exact same arm movement as the preceding 6-lane section. If you isolate only the 3-lane part, there is no explicit instruction for which hand takes the red/blue holds.

When I first showed it to the charting team during a near-final build, the reaction was basically:
“Uh… isn’t this kind of dangerous?”

But I insisted that the hand movement is natural, and consistent with the previous flow, so it should be fine. Some parts were adjusted based on feedback—for example, long zigzag red/blue holds had their start points emphasized with lighting effects so players would clearly “commit” their hands there.

At the time I thought, “Wow, you can just keep the same fingering even in 3-lane sections!” but it turned out to be much harder to read than expected, and this section received quite a few questions on social media.

【Example 2】Supersonic Generation (MASTER), final chorus wall + button simultaneous → flick
The only real hint for which hand handles the flick is the way the field expands. The intended motion is that the hand used for the wall naturally rebounds into the flick.

The idea was: “It’s a natural motion! If you try it a few times you’ll get it!” but I wonder how players felt about it.

This one also seemed to differ from more recent chart trends, so various opinions were observed. Looking at replies to “How do you even do this?” posts was interesting—Ongeki players actively sharing strategies among themselves.

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All of these patterns have their reasoning, but I’d also like to try creating something more “cosmic,” like Level 0 LUNATIC-style charts at least once. The possibilities are endless.

Ongeki charting is not a “make it and you’re done” kind of job. Even after completion, other chart designers often give feedback and sections get revised. Since “current hand position” is extremely important in this game, what feels natural to me can sometimes feel like an unfair teleporting motion to others.

When I later play my own charts in arcades after release, I often think, “Good thing we fixed that back then.” I’m genuinely grateful to the charting team.

I hope this also conveys to players that Ongeki charts are not made by a single note designer alone, but are shaped by many people.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Postscript:
Regarding the MASTER chart of “100% chu~student” C-melody section, post-R.E.D PLUS revision.

To be honest, this was not a placement mistake. It was intentionally designed that way to match background audio. Please try listening to the track again.

However, due to an overwhelming number of inquiries from various parties, it was eventually revised to better align with the vocals. In a sense, it may have conflicted with the earlier “guidance” pattern in the first half of the C-melody.

On the other hand, being allowed to revise something like this shows how flexible the system is. It was a moment that really made me feel the depth of Ongeki once again.

Usagi Laundry

＜Takanashi-san＞

Favorite card: Chun [Three Dragons]

Helloooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even after summer ends, I’m still full of energy, Takanashi here!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think Chun is adorable. My favorite.
It’s fine to have a favorite, because I really love them.
So, I’ve once again been given a chance to talk about things!!!!!!!!!!!!
And this time too, I’ll be talking about charts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEGA NET Mahjong MJ -O.N.G.E.K.I. MIX- [LUNATIC]

Yes. That’s me. Well, only half of that is true—
all the elaborate visual effects were things like “I WANT TO DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!”
I compiled those ideas and handed them over, and Amaryllis-san created them.
Thank you very much.

I handled all of the chart placements myself.
Since my MJ days, I tried to pack in the feeling of “if this were an rhythm game, it would be like this.”

Since it’s a medley, I adjusted the scroll speed for each song.
While GEKICHUMAI keeps a fixed scroll speed across all three machines,
I think ONGEKI’s ability to speed up and slow down is a unique strength.

I hope everyone gets to experience the “battle for the strongest” in Sanzan district.
(I still don’t really know why it’s sanma…)

By the way, I also prefer sanma.
You can make tons of flashy hands!!!!!!!!!!!!
In MJ, I’ve reached around Strong / Flying Dragon rank.
From here on, I’ll aim for the highest rank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAGNETAR GIRL [MASTER]

Since this is Yuzu’s first original level 14 full of energy,
I made it into a very energetic chart!!!!!!!!
(Or maybe “restless” would be more accurate…?)
Given the song’s nature, I wanted the fast parts to really run forward,
so the contrast between calm sections and energetic sections is extremely strong.

The most notable part is the chorus!!!!!!!!!!
The complex rhythmic melody keeps going throughout,
combined with the SIDE button 4-beat pattern,
resulting in a very energetic chart!!!!!!!!!

I hope I managed to capture Yuzu’s chaotic, high-energy personality well.
Try playing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Falsum Atlantis. [MASTER]

Boss song lover has arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first half is a very “stylish” section handled by Amaryllis-san,
with a chart that attacks heavily using non-TAP elements!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I took the second half—specifically after the 12-beat section ends.

I’ve always loved kanone’s mid-tempo BPM tracks (like Raikiri from maimai),
so I’ve always wanted to do a pure keyboard-dominant chart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the time, the other boss track released alongside it, “Don’t Fight The Music,” was planned as a gimmick-focused chart,
so I decided this one would be a straight-up showdown!!!!

That was the concept, and the timing worked out perfectly.

That said, I still wanted to give the song a special identity,
so I thought about what else could be done in a pure “keyboard battle” style.

The result was the 5-lane (my personal name for it) complex 16th-note keyboard section.

Up until then, we had mainly used things like simultaneous hits with green notes or alternating patterns of four-note blocks,
so I had been designing with readability in mind.

If I stacked left-hand blue and right-hand red in the same place while doing 16th-note keyboard patterns,
it might just become unreadable…

I was worried about that—but it actually worked way better than expected!!!!!!!!!!!!

It creates a unique feeling of both hands competing for notes in the same lane,
resulting in a kind of chart experience that didn’t exist before.
Please give it a try!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this time I introduced three particularly memorable songs.
Every time I talk about this stuff, I feel like I only end up talking about mahjong…?
But it’s fun, so it can’t be helped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And lately, I’ve even started getting into Texas Hold’em as well.
This was Takanashi-san!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amaryllis

Favorite card: Akane [Daybreak Angels]

Nice to meet you, or it’s been a while.
I’m Amaryllis from the Oto-geki Chart Department.

Out of the blue, but what is the true main character of rhythm games?

First, the music. Next, the charts that let you enjoy that music. And in Ongeki, there are also the appealing characters known as the Ongeki Shooters.
Given that, isn’t it wrong for chart designers to speak too loudly? Shouldn’t we be speaking through the completed charts rather than words?
While thinking such slightly pretentious thoughts, I’m also the type who enjoys reading behind-the-scenes stories and little anecdotes, so I’d like to talk just a bit about some recent charts I worked on.

Sakurairo Fuwari [MASTER]

The first time I heard this song, I still vividly remember being struck by how it was incredibly pop-like, yet had a perfect balance that could only really exist in a rhythm game. The “Be spring star” refrain especially brings to mind a full bloom of cherry blossoms and petals dancing in the air, making it a wonderful spring-themed track.
This chart packs in Ongeki’s expressive visuals showing spring in full bloom, Sega rhythm games’ signature “four-beat groove” that remains fun even with large movements during the chorus, and a bit of rhythm-game-style finger tapping.

To reveal a small secret: the pink lanes are created by layering red and blue lanes. Except for the central lane, the lanes depress when buttons are pressed, so pressing red or blue separates the lane. Because of this, in sections where pink lanes appear, there are either no red/blue TAP notes at all, or red and blue TAPs are always pressed simultaneously.
If this becomes a chart that makes you think, “The cherry blossoms are beautiful, I’ll play this,” then I’d be very happy.

Falsum Atlantis. [MASTER]

Compared to previous Ongeki bosses, this chart is slightly slower and belongs to the so-called “wide horizontal difficulty” type. However, the main idea I wanted to realize here was a gimmick where the sword-like bullet patterns surrounding Setsuna reverse direction and then rain down at high speed.
If the sense of Setsuna as a powerful enemy and the song’s cool atmosphere are conveyed through Ongeki’s visual impact, I would be glad.
The latter half was handed over to Takanashi-san, the “boss-song-loving boy,” who turned it into a chart with strong TAP impact.

Ruler Count, Zero [EXPERT]

As you may know, this is probably Ongeki’s coolest song, but since Mistilteinn-senpai wanted to create the MASTER chart, I was in charge of the EXPERT chart. While inputting and playtesting to adjust it, I got excited again about how cool the song is and ended up doodling the R.B.P. unit logo.
The MASTER chart is powerful and technical in a fun way, but if you want a more relaxed experience, I hope you’ll also try this EXPERT version. It was designed so you can properly enjoy the calm stylish A-melody, the intense chorus, and the irregular time signatures in the interlude.

give it up to you [MASTER]

As you may know, this is probably Ongeki’s best song, but as we aimed for a sequel-like chart to “Kiss Me Kiss,” the BPM is significantly faster, which created the initial challenge that players might not be able to react to that familiar pattern (the central three lanes sandwiched by red and blue lanes) when it suddenly appears.
Also, since it’s not just a “Kiss Me Kiss 2,” we couldn’t simply repeat it. So we used that pattern as an essence only in the half-time B section and the sparse C section. The chorus instead uses a different approach where the moderately fast BPM, D’n’B offbeat groove, and vocals can all be enjoyed simultaneously.
Personally, I really like the part in the C section where the central pink lane slowly opens over four measures into that familiar configuration.
As a side note, for original vocal songs where characters are the focus, chart designers usually stay in a supporting role under the “Notes Designer” name and avoid overdoing playful elements, as mentioned earlier.

oyasumi no uta [EXPERT]

To express drastic BPM changes without changing chart speed, the projectile speed is adjusted according to the song tempo.
The first and second choruses use identical note placements, with only tempo and projectile speed differing. Despite that, those differences alone create a significantly different impression. If possible, please pay attention to the projectile speed while playing.

No Limit RED Force [LUNATIC]

The now-familiar anniversary LUNATIC chart this time focuses heavily on rhythm-game-like expression, primarily emphasizing track sounds. This style is usually not used much for vocal songs, but LUNATIC is precisely where such experiments become possible.
As some may have noticed, the opening phrase uses the exact same layout as the MASTER chart, and the change in lane color from the red HOLD in the final quiet chorus is actually the inverse of the MASTER arrangement.

GODLINESS [MASTER]

As the first Lv.14 for an original vocal song, this chart includes many flashy elements, such as HOLDs that extend far outside the usual field and predictive bullet patterns that appear after speed-change gimmicks.
If it successfully expresses Setsuna’s loneliness and her strength in forging ahead on her chosen path, I would be glad.

Karappo Nonfiction [MASTER]

This song features an appealing, refreshing male vocal, and the stylish track with strong contrast between calm and intensity is also excellent for gameplay.
Personally, I enjoy most the process of building a rising “wave” that gradually builds toward the chorus, and this song was especially fun to create in that respect.
In the final quiet chorus, there are intentionally four measures where nothing happens at all. In rhythm game charting, “doing nothing” is often the hardest thing to place, and when done well, it can be the coolest choice.
In Ongeki, since there are not only notes but also lanes and fields as expressive elements, truly doing nothing requires particular courage. I think this section turned out quite well.

When making charts, there are times when it becomes hard to tell what the “correct answer” even is. Fortunately, the rhythm game team has wonderful colleagues who offer perspectives and feedback I would never reach on my own. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for that environment.
And to all the players who go out of their way to visit arcades and play the charts we painstakingly design through constant discussion and trial and error—thank you as well.
Thank you always, and I look forward to continuing with you.

Sukiyaki Magistrate

Favorite card: Kashiwagi Saki [Just the Two of Us]

Hello. Nice to meet you if this is our first meeting.
I also create charts for CHUNITHM and maimai, I’m Sukiyaki Magistrate.
I also use the name “Magistrate” for a cooler-style handle. It sounds cool, right. Please say it’s cool.
By a fortunate connection, I’ve been given the chance to write this bulletin. Yay.

Come to think of it, I don’t really share much about myself on the CHUNITHM side either.
So I’ll take this opportunity to write a little about it.

As some of you may have noticed from MASTER charts like Singularity (Arcaea) or Trinity Departure (Shinonome Tsumugi),
I like charts that involve “hammering the buttons.”
I’ve been playing games like that for a long time. About 24 years in total. That’s long.
Over those 24 years, I’ve even once played in a certain tournament wearing a yellow shirt.
Feels nostalgic.

◆ Singularity (MASTER)

Because I like games where you hammer the buttons, my desire to “just smash the buttons!” ends up directly reflected in the chart.
Thanks to that (or perhaps because of it), my first draft went completely overboard, knocking over all the condiments on the table.
I placed recreations of the original chart and lots of chaotic, irregular burst patterns everywhere,
and I was told something like, “humanity hasn’t evolved that far yet.” Sorry about that.

While trying to restrain my urge to just mash buttons, still making sure the parts that should be intense are intense,
and also trying not to make it visually overwhelming…
Honestly, isn’t making charts for this game kind of difficult?

◆ If I Could Become Someone’s Heart (MASTER)

There were many repetitions in the chorus, and in the final section I eventually
went, “I’M SORRY!!!! I COULDN’T HOLD BACK!!!!!!!”
and placed 4-lane and 6-lane patterns to let the buttons be hammered properly. It was fun.

When I put in the 6-lane section and was happily smashing buttons,
I was told, “This is actually difficult in Ongeki.”
It was quite a culture shock. But I also tend to get tricked in the final section of LiftOff,
so I did think, “Yeah… that makes sense.” Maybe it really is difficult after all?

◆ Lostwizz (MASTER)

When I made a very strange shape for the first half of the chorus, Amaryllis-san made a very intense face and said,
“The chorus is really bad, this is too difficult,” quite forcefully.
I’ve exaggerated the wording here, but it’s true I was told it was “bad.” Sorry about that.

In the first draft, it was:
“The right hand does double taps while moving left, gradually invading the left lanes until reaching red,
then turning back, while the left hand plays quarter notes across red and green.”

I placed it with the mindset of “it looks like the left hand is doing triple hits, but if you study it properly you can do it!!!”
However, due to its high visual difficulty and the fact that it didn’t really translate into fun,
it was changed into the current version.

Seriously, isn’t this game kind of difficult?

◆ Trinity Departure (MASTER)

As I briefly mentioned in the CHUNITHM text, I honestly thought it was very easy. Sorry about that.
Since I’ve spent my life trying to hit buttons as accurately as possible,
my sense of difficulty was completely misaligned with both players and the Ongeki team,
and I received a lot of support from the Ongeki team.

I really appreciate all the help at that time. I’m truly sorry.

During discussions and feedback, I think it was the Greenification Committee Chair who said,
“In terms of Ongeki trance songs, I’d say it’s around physical difficulty A+ or S.”
I remember laughing a lot at that.

Apparently Sparkle is “individual variance S.” That’s already too hard.

Since I’m running out of things to write, I’ll also list what I’m good and bad at.

I’m good at: Singularity (MASTER) from Arcaea, felys -final remix- (MASTER)

I’m bad at: April Rain (MASTER), Burning Steel Inferno (MASTER)

During my first play of Burning Steel Inferno, I saw the wall notes going back and forth across the field,
and I ended up letting out a loud voice.
The cabinet offered no particular mercy, and I finished with an S rank.

By the way, these days I’ve been hammering away at a keyboard at home.

See you somewhere again. Everyone, please hammer buttons in moderation.

Redarrow

Preferred card: Yuzu Fujisawa [“Gii-ko Gii-ko de Ton Ton Ton”]

Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Redarrow, someone who usually creates charts mainly for CHUNITHM.
Recently I’ve also been given more opportunities to make charts for Ongeki, so I thought I’d take this chance to introduce myself since I actually have something to talk about now.
In fact, before I joined the CHUNITHM team, the rhythm game I played the most was Ongeki, so being able to be even slightly involved in making this game now feels almost like a dream.

About chart creation in Ongeki: compared to when I work on CHUNITHM charts, I try to design them in a more aggressive direction.
Of course, compared to the Ongeki chart team, I still lack overwhelming experience in making Ongeki charts. Even if I try to build charts in the same way as them, I fall far short when it comes to enemy bullet patterns, Ongeki-specific placements, and how the chart is visually presented.
So I had to think about how I could compete in that space. There are probably many approaches, but what I chose was to loosen some of the internal “brakes” I usually have when making charts.
As a result, since Ongeki is a game where even slightly “doing something” tends to spike the difficulty, most of my charts ended up being high difficulty.
Still, the game has the potential to do interesting things even without increasing difficulty too much while staying aggressive, so I’d like to try making more lower-difficulty charts in the future if possible.

Now, I’ll talk about the charts I made.

---

■ Stargazing Dreamer
This was my first Ongeki chart.
I had a very strong attachment to a previous song by the same composer, Titania, so I couldn’t help myself and immediately applied to work on it.

There was some concern that taking on a boss track for R.E.D. right at the start with my first chart might be risky (at the time I had never even made high-difficulty CHUNITHM charts), but with encouragement from the Ongeki chart team, I decided to go for it.

As expected, I struggled massively. First of all, the Ongeki editor itself was difficult. I spent a long time working through awkward controls, and when I finally tested it on the cabinet, I found a chart that was basically unplayable.

A right flick appears while my character is on the far right. It suddenly demands both hands while I’m holding a lever with one hand. And I can’t even see what’s happening because my focus isn’t there… everything was a mess.

Looking back at charts I used to play casually without stress, I realized that even the smallest details had careful guiding built into them. I was genuinely surprised again by how high the quality of Ongeki charts really is.

After trial and error, interruptions like working from home, and various setbacks (skipping a lot here), I eventually managed to finish it.

It was probably the hardest chart I’ve ever worked on, but I feel it turned into something really good. I also can’t thank my senior Usagi Laundry enough for all the help.

The fact that the chart has a Titania-like feel to it is entirely because of how I personally interpreted the music. I just let my feelings overflow.

---

■ Eta・Beta・Eta
My first collaboration with Monochrome-senpai on Ongeki.

They said, “Just throw in everything you want and I’ll adjust it,” which was way too reassuring, so I took advantage of that and went wild from the section before the chorus onward.

So I’ll confess: I was the one who placed that infamous wall vertical-trill section. The suspect reportedly said things like, “It felt good clicking walls in the editor…”

Jokes aside, here’s how that placement came to be.

For this composer, and probably for what users would expect most, the defining element is vertical trills.

From the moment I heard the song, it was already decided: “vertical trills will be the main highlight.” Monochrome-senpai likely agreed.

So I picked two places where big vertical trills could work.

In the final chart, those became:

• the spiral-shaped (sort of) vertical trill
• the wall vertical trill section

The biggest highlight would be the latter. The former would be a long but more “standard” shape, similar to button-based vertical trills (inspired by YURUSHITE).

Now, what to do for the final trill? The button-based one was already used. I could tone down the spiral and use it as the ending, but that would lack impact. The song clearly signals “vertical trills are coming,” so I wanted to reinforce that expectation.

The same-color long trill like DRAGONLADY was too long and I didn’t feel confident I could execute it myself. Splitting it into small 2- or 4-note chunks didn’t feel right either. At that point I realized: there are no 3-color button options left… so what remains?

Right—walls.

So I placed wall buttons without mercy. But I wasn’t sure it would even be possible, so I tested it on the cabinet—and surprisingly, it worked. The trick is not to over-tension your hands.

That became the first draft.

I wondered if Monochrome-senpai would accept it. I was even mentally preparing to “fight it out” if it got rejected.

A few weeks later, I played the adjusted version they polished… and not only was the wall section still there, the whole thing had become an incredible field. Even the end of the chorus trill now syncs with the wall at the same time.

My original draft had a somewhat tricky section before the wall part too, but what impressed me most was how they boldly converted eight measures into a “no-stress zone” to spotlight the wall section.

I had expected some debate about whether such a long wall section should exist at all, but:

Monochrome-senpai: “That’s the only way.”

Me: “Absolutely.”

DONE.

---

■ Kaeruishi (Frog Stone)
Because I had recently been assigned mostly high-difficulty charts, I wanted to try something with a calmer tone.

The core idea was: keeping tension on the lever even while staying on six lanes during the chorus.

This resulted in a somewhat unusual chart I’d never experienced before.

I also referenced earlier works like Donut Hole MASTER in small parts before the chorus, using simultaneous hits.

As I pushed that concept further, the chart unintentionally ended up with “no walls at all.” I realized it might actually be possible to create a chart where your hands are basically always on the ground, and still have it function—really showing how limitless Ongeki can be.

Interestingly, this is actually the second draft. The first draft completely got scrapped except for the intro.

I combined the “six-lane tension lever idea” with a strong additional concept and pushed it all the way through, but when people tested it, it kept blowing up. Monochrome-senpai said, “Sorry, but we can’t really make this a standard chart,” and almost everything was removed. It was a clear case of overstepping the line.

Thanks to that first draft, the current version was born, so it worked out in the end—but I’d like to try revisiting that concept again someday, maybe even as a LUNATIC chart.

---

■ About EXPERT charts
I occasionally also make EXPERT charts.

In Ongeki—and more broadly the GEKICHUMAI series—the EXPERT charts are incredibly well-crafted. When I was a player, I even used to talk excitedly with friends about Ongeki EXPERT charts.

They’re great precisely because experienced Ongeki staff usually make them, but I also think it’s fun when there are occasional “bomb-like” charts mixed in.

So I deliberately take that role sometimes and make more aggressive EXPERT charts.

Even though I said I loosen some restrictions in MASTER charts, in EXPERT charts I try to approach it as if there are basically no restrictions at all. I do this sometimes in CHUNITHM too.

For example:

• Viyella’s Scream: long trills at BPM 228
• LAMIA: using 3-lane + axis hybrid patterns and 4–5 lane sections after being told “13+ is fine”

So yes, I sometimes do things that probably shouldn’t be done in EXPERT charts.

They tend to get high difficulty as well, but I want to keep making them when I get the chance.

---

I ended up writing way more than I expected when I put it all into words.

As for the featured card, I chose it because of the card name, the strange scenario, and the timing of Garakuta Doll Play’s boss appearance—everything about it was perfect. My favorite character is Akane Ousaka.

Recently I haven’t been able to play Ongeki at arcades as much as I used to, so my skill is getting a bit rusty. I plan to keep enjoying the game even while getting destroyed by LAMIA (I can’t play it) and Apollo (I can’t play it).

Hopefully we’ll meet again someday.

Aminohabakiri

Favorite Card: Ousaka Akane [World Conquest☆Great Strategy]

Nice to meet you! I’m Aminohabakiri!

I mainly create charts for CHUNITHM. As for Ongeki, I don’t directly work on chart creation beyond that, but for the current version (R.E.D. PLUS), I’ve been involved in suggesting tracks. When people like Revo or the Green Committee Chairman ask, “Could you recommend good Touhou Project songs?”, I give suggestions based on classics, well-known tracks, songs that would suit Ongeki, or sometimes just pure personal preference.

You might be wondering, “Why you?” The truth is I’ve been deeply immersed in the Touhou Project series before. How deep? I’ve cleared all official games on all difficulties, played tons of fan-made games, and even had a tiny bit of involvement in some productions. I’ve also helped sell books at the wall section of doujin conventions, and more recently I’ve attended live concerts by groups that frequently collaborate with Monokurokku-senpai, who often works on Touhou arrangements.

Because of all that, I consider myself to have a strong level of knowledge and attachment to the series, so when selecting music, I do it with the mindset of “leave it to me!”

Since some of my suggestions were actually adopted, I figured I should also make charts for them, so I’ll talk a bit about those as well.

---

【Bad Apple!! feat.nomico (Butaotome Ver.) (EXPERT)】

Starting with this one! I began making it while still not understanding anything about the editor at all, and when I asked experienced creators for advice, I got things like:

“Just laying down kishimen noodles makes it easier~”
“For dotted rhythms, sushi placements are recommended!”
“For the final triple hold, bananas might work well!”

………………………………………………

??????????????????????????????

That was how confused I was at the start, which is a fond memory now. For details on those mysterious terms, please refer to Ichinose Rizu’s message in the previous Ongeki charting committee report.

As for the chart itself, even though it’s EXPERT, I didn’t cut corners and carefully picked up every sound, resulting in a chart full of sushi placements. Please enjoy it (?)

---

【Hoshiakari Rocket (MASTER)】

This started from the original track “Retrospective Kyoto”… and thinking about that, I tried recalling what stood out most near the end of the game when things get difficult. Anyone who’s played that far will probably say “Golden Temple” (basically trauma).

Even though the form is completely different, it still falls loosely under the STG umbrella, so I thought maybe I could recreate it somehow. But since it’s a normal chart… and I can only move along the X-axis… a lot of concerns came up.

So I consulted Monokurokku-senpai from the STG lab about whether such a thing would even be allowed, and they said:

“Actually, our team doesn’t really do that kind of thing, so we’d love you to try it!”

And so, the new challenge “Golden Temple One-Sheet Heaven” was born.

I started implementing it with excitement, placing bullets and setting up shutter effects…

Then I hit: “…wait, how do I even delete bullets?”

So I called for emergency support from Chart-Strong No.100, and they solved everything instantly. (Huge thanks!) The production of the visual effects was complete!

I was very satisfied that I could distinguish wall bullets from scatter shots, and also delete only the bullets around the shutter. Finally, I also love feeling like I’m playing drums, so I created a chart with alternating hands and rhythmic patterns throughout.

It was my first MASTER chart, so I was nervous, but when it was released and people actually noticed the “Golden Temple” reference, I felt really glad I made it.

---

【Zange wa Amaneku Ningen no Moto ni (MASTER)】

I should confess upfront—I’m a huge fan of this band. As mentioned before, I’ve attended their live shows many times. The drummer in particular constantly plays (or rather, steps) a double bass drum throughout the performance, which leaves a strong impression. It’s basically nonstop for about two hours.

So naturally, this track also features near-constant double bass. When thinking about how to translate that into an Ongeki chart, I felt that just alternating button inputs would get repetitive, so I assigned the “double bass” role not only to buttons, but also walls, flicks, bullets, and bells.

Near completion, a problem came up during the B section: the double-bass bullets were just flowing along the side of the field and felt kind of dull. But then Monokurokku-senpai made a revolutionary suggestion: dodge between the double-bass bullets with flick motions, and even collect the bells that are part of the double bass. It clicked perfectly for me and felt amazing.

For the interlude bullet hell section, I went all-in and recreated the “parting sea” miracle from “The day the sea splits” (Moses-style miracle). Making the walls extremely jagged was a pretty novel idea, I think, even if I say so myself. (At first I made them way too sharp to increase expression, but it caused severe performance drops.)

---

◆ Final notes

In CHUNITHM, I often get assigned VARIETY tracks just because of my… well, reputation, which results in pretty aggressive charts. For Ongeki as well, I hope to apply that same knowledge and style (if that’s even allowed), and continue creating and playing charts without being restricted by genre or difficulty.

Before writing this report, I thought I hadn’t worked on many charts and it would just become self-introduction fluff, but it ended up being quite long even for just three charts. Sorry for the messy writing.

Thank you very much for reading all the way through!

I look forward to continuing to support both GEKICHUUMAI going forward!

Miso Katsu Samurai

Favorite Card: Yuki Riku [Chasing My Dream]

Hello. I’m Miso Katsu Samurai.

In the previous bulletin, I ended up exceeding the required character limit by about 2.5 times, and submitted the manuscript feeling rather apologetic. But when it was released, it turned out everyone else had gone over the limit as well.
This time, I’m not going to worry too much about the character count and just write everything I want to convey.
It’s quite long, so if you want to read it all, do so when you have time.

Now, around the ONGEKI R.E.D. era, shortly after I joined the chart team, three seniors—Rosche, Techno Kitchen, and Chart-100—transferred from the ONGEKI division to CHUNITHM.
If you mainly play CHUNITHM, you might have noticed some familiar names returning recently and had a sense of it.
Even after transferring, I’m deeply grateful that they still occasionally come back to help with ONGEKI charts.
ONGEKI R.E.D. PLUS was a title I poured a lot of effort into, almost as if I were taking on the work of those three seniors, so it remains a very memorable series for me.
With that in mind, I’d like to look back at my charts in this installment, in order of appearance.

---

◆ Sky Cafeteria (MASTER)

I think it’s rare for me to handle a POPS & ANIME MASTER 12.
Honestly, I’d like to make more of these, but Green Senior and Revo Senior—who decide the song lineup—usually take them all, so I end up stepping back saying, “I’m just a newbie… sorry for overstepping…”

Since the anime was airing at the time, I watched it while feeling warmly about it, and then tried to pack the basics of MASTER charting into this one.
I hope it became a chart that is approachable for people just starting MASTER, while also being good practice.
In the “kurun to hito-mawari, hora dance dance” section, be sure to notice the ONGEKI characters spinning around.

People sometimes say there are not enough MASTER 11+ or lower charts, but I tend to prioritize the satisfaction of actually hitting notes, so I don’t often end up making them.
I agree that low-difficulty MASTER charts are important, but for MASTER to feel “right,” the song itself needs to be slower and more restrained.
For example, if you look back at Perfect Shining!!’s MASTER chart, I wonder whether that kind of rhythm and density would still be widely accepted today.
Even in terms of density, I feel like this chart sits around what CHUNITHM level 11 charts feel like when I make them.
Honestly, I’d prefer people judge charts by their content rather than comparing numbers across different games—but I also think this is becoming an issue that needs addressing sooner or later.

---

◆ Realize (MASTER)

The line “Cut off possibilities, irreversible—restoration will never come again” in the A-melody, I interpreted in my own way and reflected it in the chart. But it seems most people didn’t notice.
If you know the anime or novel, I’d really like you to take another look at the chart.

During play, players naturally strip away peripheral awareness and focus only on notes, so I want to find better ways to express these subtle ideas.

Pop songs often shift from intricate rhythms in the pre-chorus to long sustained notes in the chorus, and those are particularly difficult for me.
I usually try to make choruses feel like “this is the chorus!” through the chart itself, but when there are no small taps possible, it becomes tricky.

In CHUNITHM, you might express it with large sliding motions, but in ONGEKI, since the lever is frequently used from the beginning, it’s hard to create large physical gestures.
Still, I tried to connect the tension of the pre-chorus into release at the chorus, and then into the momentum of the outro. I hope you can feel that when playing.

---

◆ Heart Forecast (MASTER)

When I saw the MV where the city turns completely pink in the final chorus, I thought, “This is perfect for chart expression!”

Then—

It overlapped with Sakurairo Fuwari, released two weeks later.

Damn it!!

Both charts started around the same time, but I got beaten to it.

I tried to reflect the excitement of the chorus in lever movement.
Pushing and pulling the lever in sync with the music—I think it really shows ONGEKI’s core appeal.

The “your gaze is love, intertwining” section uses a similar expression to “Meeting eyes, just the two of us” from Hibikase, which I was deeply impressed by in the original ONGEKI. Did you notice?

There were also comments about the red-blue HOLD → green TAP being difficult.
Originally it was blue HOLD → green TAP, but when I tested it on the cabinet, the overlapping pink lane split awkwardly when the blue button was pressed, making it visually messy, so I had to change it.
I completely forgot that pink lanes behave that way in this game since they’re usually placed centrally in 5-lane configurations.
Well… that’s game mechanics for you.
Sakurairo Fuwari really dodged my idea cleanly—I have nothing to say.
Please forgive me.

---

◆ The Greatest Entertainment!! (MASTER)

I still remember the shock when I first heard this song.
There are very few character songs that hit rhythm game players this hard.

I wanted to make the chart match that energy, so I put a lot of effort into it.

The chart expresses two characters being flustered and transported through strange worlds, using alternating patterns between ground and wall inputs based on downbeats and upbeats.

The middle acceleration section was the hardest part.
I originally wanted to fully synchronize the dialogue-like feel with the music, but doing so left no room for visual expression.

In the end, I chose to prioritize gameplay clarity: “the game is already hard enough, so focus on the notes.”
Rosche Senior handled the EXPERT chart beautifully, expressing the character interaction there instead, so please check that out too.

I also drew the logo because it felt like I was expected to.

---

◆ Altale (MASTER)

I wasn’t sure if this would fit ONGEKI, so I started without confidence—but that worry turned out to be unnecessary.

It’s a song I love, so I went all in.
By curving and manipulating lanes and fields, I think I managed to give it an emotional feel.

In ONGEKI, lane movement often goes unnoticed during play, but compared to straight layouts, even though the hand movement is the same, the physical sensation changes dramatically.

Unlike other rhythm games, ONGEKI can make “empty space” between notes meaningful through lane and field motion, which is one of its strengths.

This song appears in many rhythm games, but in many cases the difficulty drops sharply after the chorus, making it feel unbalanced.
I wanted to avoid that and instead make it feel like “no, it starts here.”

The final ending also only ONGEKI can do this—creating tension without any notes being hit is a unique experience.

I also aligned piano note placements with pitch as much as possible.
Even though full pitch mapping is usually impossible here due to control limitations, I hope it still feels like playing the piano.

---

◆ Rakugakist (MASTER)

This was designed to be the ultimate Rakugakist-style chart.
A pure keyboard-focused chart like this really only became possible by the third ONGEKI title.

That said, this series had many keyboard-heavy charts, and I understand some players may have grown tired of them.
Still, I believe expressing the song properly takes priority over forcing variety.

At first, I intended it as practice for 14-level keyboard skill, but in hindsight it may have gone beyond that.

The lyric structure also caused issues due to frequent consonant extensions.
I tried to align rhythm strictly with lyrics, but that made timing harder to understand.

I compensated with simultaneous hits and structural cues, but I still apologize if it felt too dense.

In rhythm game development, readability on first play is always a challenge.
We constantly try small adjustments—lane movement, visual variation, structural contrast—but sometimes it still isn’t enough.

If you’re unsure, I recommend listening closely to the lyrics.
Even I was surprised by how delicate they were once I paid attention.

---

◆ colorful transparency (MASTER)

I think I started from the ending of the song: “colorful but transparent… what does that even mean?”

This was the most time-consuming chart of the set.

The structure of the song is unconventional, and I kept getting thrown off by unexpected phrase changes.
Unlike typical songs with clear A-melody and chorus sections, this one defies that structure entirely while still flowing naturally.

It also sits in a less common BPM range for instrumental tracks, which made it difficult to design.

I even asked for hints about the event scenario and was told something like:
“Visit Alice’s house by exploring a jungle.”
So I built a narrow section as if crossing a rope bridge through a jungle.

Please imagine falling into crocodiles if you miss.

---

◆ Last Resort (MASTER)

When I first heard it, my impression was simply “this rhythm is insane.”

Throughout the song, I struggled with dense finger patterns, shrinking play space, disappearing bells, and more.

Originally I had a dramatic story behind it, but about half of it was just me joking.

In reality, I missed the fact that the intro phrase repeats four times, which resulted in a very demanding chart.
My mistake.

Still, I think it unintentionally created a fitting atmosphere.
If you enjoy finger-heavy charts, this might be satisfying.

---

◆ c.s.q.n. (MASTER)

I encountered this song shortly before joining the chart team, and I remember listening to it while walking through the city, thinking about my new job.

I was certain it would fit ONGEKI, so I requested its inclusion early on, but it ended up being added in PLUS instead.

At first I aimed for a simple structure, but feedback pointed out that the chorus was too plain, which made me rethink everything.

I realized I had been focusing too much on difficulty control and lost sight of expression.
After that, I rebuilt it with colorful taps and dynamic movement.

It became a chart I’m very satisfied with, even if it ended up quite difficult.

---

◆ Secret Sleuth (MASTER)

This one is straightforward: fast rhythm, strong flow, and fun gameplay.

There’s not much to say because the core elements already work perfectly together.

I focused on shuffle rhythm clarity using timing variation within the fast beat.

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◆ Dragon Lady (MASTER)

As someone who personally struggles with vertical patterns, I approached this chart carefully.

Even so, I didn’t remove them.
I tried to balance difficulty with fairness while preserving the song’s identity.

The layered five-lane progression before the final section is one of my favorite parts.

The visual buildup is designed so the final pattern feels surprising yet readable.

---

◆ Goodnight Song (MASTER)

My first impression of the song was directly turned into the chart.

If you thought “what is this?”, then it worked as intended.

It may frustrate score-focused players, but I believe songs like this deserve proper chart expression.

This type of slow chart is rare in MASTER, so I’m glad I could make it.

The repetition at different speeds later in the chart is intentional—it creates a completely different feel despite identical structure.

---

◆ Wheel of Reincarnation (MASTER)

I aimed for a slightly evolved version of an earlier chaotic style chart.

The flick “rebirth” effect was originally just a visual idea, but it evolved into a more complex system implementation over many measures.

It ended up being technically heavy, and I even wasted time trying to force a cleaner solution.

Still, I think it resulted in a distinctive experience.

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◆ ENERGY SYNERGY MATRIX (MASTER)

This is a pure rhythm-and-motion chart.

It’s simply fun to play, and that’s all it needs.

---

◆ macrocosmos (LUNATIC)

Honestly, I even forgot I had made this at one point.

It started as an experimental idea inspired by CHUNITHM’s extreme patterns, but quickly became unmanageable.

After several revisions, I rebuilt it from scratch into something playable in ONGEKI terms.

The latter half ended up especially intense with laser-heavy sections.

It was a difficult but rewarding process.

---

◆ Night of Knights (Remix) (EXPERT)

Finally, I want to briefly talk about my view of EXPERT charts.

I see them as:

• A bridge from lower difficulty charts
• A stepping stone toward MASTER
• A fallback when MASTER is too difficult

This chart is mainly the second type.

It’s designed to prepare players for MASTER progression, gradually introducing left-hand movement from lever to buttons.

Think of it as training for switching hand roles, not just a standalone difficulty.

If you notice messages hidden in other red charts as well, I’d be happy.

---

That ended up much longer than expected.

There may be complaints about the length, but I believe there’s only so much you can understand from charts alone, so I wanted to leave my thoughts in words.

I’m still far from finished talking about my passion and love for ONGEKI, but I hope this gives players a new way to see the charts.

Thank you very much for reading all the way through.

Happy (Dog)

Featured card: Kaede Kujō [Ponpon Cleaning]

Hello~ it’s Happy. Grrr.

The reason I’m deliberately using a different character instead of my favorite character for the featured card is something I think you can probably figure out by comparing it with the previous newsletter.

During Ongeki R.E.D. PLUS, a lot of things happened and I wasn’t able to participate in chart creation, and I also didn’t receive any request to contribute to the newsletter. However, I noticed the Greenification Committee Chair mentioning the bright launch charts, so I managed to slip in at the last moment.

Unlike the flavor text that gets added into CHUNITHM ROMs (in-game data), this one is completed entirely as a web page, and since it goes from submission to publication quite quickly, it’s relatively easy to share fairly up-to-date information.

Now, straight to the main topic (last time the introduction was way too long).

Rhythm games have a lot of irregular elements compared to other genres! In particular, the fact that players can choose a difficulty level suited to their skill and jump straight into play is like an action game where you can enter a pipe in stage 1 and immediately start stage 8. In a sense, it’s very low-stress.

The fact that the average difficulty of that “stage 8” has gradually increased over the course of the series is something the Ongeki team is also vaguely aware of and adjusting according to demand. I also play the game as a user at arcades, so I sometimes think, “I’d like more of this difficulty range,” but then I also wonder, “There must be some kind of balance in play frequency and all that.” It’s something I personally ran into years ago in maimai, so it feels like déjà vu.

So then, for example, if the average level of stage 8 keeps rising, does putting old-style stage 8 difficulty charts into stage 6 solve the problem? Or is what players actually want to play specifically “stage 8” itself? I wrote about this in a past article for maimai as well, so I’ll link it here.
(The relevant part is roughly in the last third of the article.)

maimai FiNALE Notice 2019.07.01 (Mon)

Wow… it’s already been three years since I wrote that!!!

I’d be happy if you could see that we’ve been experimenting with these ideas as a team since around that time.

And so, here it is: the job of “making a low-difficulty chart”!

To be clear, for one of the songs in the bright launch, I made a chart that I expect people might say, in today’s context, something like:
“Wait, this song at that difficulty? I feel like it could’ve gone way harder.”

Even though it’s a low-difficulty chart, the concept is to give it a slightly nostalgic feel in terms of charting style. The required rhythm-game skill level is low, but I made sure it still has both gimmicks and density.

That chart is credited under a clearly recognizable maimai-style alias, so maimai players or anyone who read the article above should be able to identify it immediately.

And the fact that I used that alias means—after a bit of a delay—it basically implies what it implies. For details, please ask a nearby maimai player.

For feedback on this, the hashtag #GekiChuMaiChartSupportCenter, and play counts, will likely help the Ongeki team gauge demand appropriately, so it would be a great help if you could discuss it openly where people can see it online.

If you’re wondering what #GekiChuMaiChartSupportCenter is, please check here:
“Ongeki R.E.D. PLUS Countdown Special Project: Music Chart Division Newsletter”

Ah, and the movie version of Revue Starlight was really, really good. See you~

Roche @ Penguin

Favorite card: Tsubaki Aihara [Will you choose me?]

Hey, it’s Roche!!

Every time a new update is about to go live, or the card designs and announcement visuals are ready,
we line them up all over the development room walls.

When I first saw this Tsubaki card,
it was so pure and overwhelming that I nearly evaporated while making a soundless scream,
so I chose it as my favorite card. Of course, it’s fully “super-evolved.”

When the characters you’re involved in creating belong to a project,
it’s less like “I’m gonna fully support this!!” and more like a feeling of cherishing your own daughter.
No, it’s not because I’m getting older… I think…

Anyway, it’s bright! bright! Before we knew it, ONGEKI is already on its fourth title.
In maimai terms it’s like PiNK, in CHUNITHM terms it’s like AMAZON.

The reason we’ve been able to continue is entirely thanks to all the players who keep enjoying it.
There are also many users who truly love the characters,
and I often hear people passionately discussing not just the rhythm gameplay but also the characters,
which makes me really happy.
I also quietly look through fan art—thank you so much, truly.

A question I often see is: “Can creators actually get high scores on their own charts?”
Basically, everyone can get ALL BREAK.

If we ever end up making something too difficult to handle ourselves,
we’ll have someone more skilled than the creator play it and gather feedback.

Because Gekichumai has such a wide variety of charting styles and a strong physical element,
even something as subtle as a single seemingly ordinary note feeling “off”
is extremely difficult to properly judge unless you can actually play it at a decent level.

For lower difficulty charts, we don’t just rely on the chart team either—we sometimes bring in other staff.
And of course, we repeatedly test everything on the actual arcade cabinet.

There’s no such thing as just staring at a PC screen and doing some lazy shadow play and calling it done.

Another thing people sometimes debate is:
“If the creator can score highly on it, does that mean anything is fine?”

For example, if someone made something with extreme visual confusion,
messy patterns, or absurd rhythms, and then said,
“I can still get theoretical max, so don’t complain,”
that wouldn’t feel acceptable at all from a player’s perspective.

What matters isn’t whether the creator can clear it,
but how enjoyable it is, and whether it makes people want to challenge it.

I think everyone making rhythm games—companies or individuals alike—shares that same mindset.

On top of that, whether something matches player taste is something you truly can’t know until it’s released.
Sometimes a chart carefully refined and polished gets less praise than a slightly unstable one with wild emotional flow.

That balance is genuinely difficult.
People who enjoy wrestling with that kind of problem probably suit chart creation well.

Honestly, charts don’t have to be that elaborate.
If you set expectations low enough, even simple variations and minimal flair can be “understood as such.”

If you aim for efficiency, you could even skip drawing ideas or syncing everything to the music in detail.

But the more you try to make something high-quality and impressive, the more work inevitably increases.
And once you raise that bar, you can’t really lower it again.

Still, when making something to deliver to players,
you naturally want it to be the best thing you can make right now.

More time doesn’t always guarantee better results,
but even under deadlines or criticism about workload,
once you’re responsible for it, you want to release something you can be proud of without regrets.

That’s why I play a ton of rhythm games like ONGEKI almost every day,
just constantly gathering knowledge.

When charting gets stuck, instead of overthinking endlessly,
it often works better to sleep properly, go to the arcade,
play a bunch of different things, and absorb interesting content.

I’ve started to feel more strongly lately that
finding “this is fun!” moments and feeding that back into chart creation
improves both efficiency and quality more than before.

Alright.

Here are my comments on the charts I made this time:

---

■ JOINT (EXPERT)
Because it’s themed around “crimson,” I used a lot of red lanes throughout.
I arranged it so you can hit walls in sync with satisfying accent rhythms.
So every time you hit a wall, try thinking: “(That was perfect…)” and enjoy it.

---

■ That’s the Ultimate Entertainment!! (EXPERT)
Since it’s a back-and-forth between Koshou and Sakie, green and blue notes are emphasized.
Many parts follow vocal splitting.

• “Taken away” → green/blue holds move off-screen
• “Gather allies” → holds increase
• “Let’s equip gear” → sword and shield appear
• “Let’s play together” → the two get playful

In the fighting game section, you might notice familiar command inputs…?
“Laugh together” → smile patterns!

It’s busy for an EXPERT chart due to BPM, but it’s very satisfying, so enjoy it with high energy.

---

■ SmileAgain (MASTER)
Wall colors are simulated to match each doll’s vocal parts.
I requested the vocal breakdown, and the other side kindly sent it over quickly—very grateful.

Overlapping lines are arranged so they don’t break when hitting notes.
White couldn’t be generated, so I substituted with colorless or yellow. I hope to make it perfect someday.

After the intro, the usual Dolls logo appears.
Before the chorus, lines of nine character colors appear, matching the jacket order.

“In the direction I fly toward you” → hands leave buttons and move to walls, entering heart-shaped bells and bullets.
“I won’t leave you alone” → holds gather.
“Your smile is the future” → nine-color lines return, hearts unify.

At the end, I drew the dolls’ gear.

---

■ Supernatural MyMine (MASTER)
In the chorus, I borrowed a rotating visual motif reminiscent of “Bad Apple!! feat. nomico,” and combined CR flicks to create a rotation effect.

When you hit CR flicks, try making eye contact with your favorite character.

Since ONGEKI doesn’t naturally express rotation as easily as CHUNITHM or maimai, we always struggle with how to imply it:
cross-wall motion, curved bullet trajectories, reversed motion notes, and more.

---

■ WakuWaku☆Candy! (MASTER)
Yuzu Fujisawa solo! I decorated the chart with lyric-based visuals.

“WakuWaku I love it!” → alternating walls and taps create excitement.

The cross-wall pattern from “Minna Happy!!” appears here as well. Internally, we sometimes call it “MinHappy setup.”
So candy imagery and cross walls are paired in the interlude.

---

■ Over Voltage (MASTER)
A Rio Takase solo. The focus was on a comfortable flow rather than extreme difficulty.

Balancing density was difficult: too sparse feels dull, too dense spikes difficulty.
After much trial, we settled on the current version.

---

■ Last Kingdom (MASTER)
Strong kick emphasis, so we pushed a heavy “wall bass” style throughout.
Sakie saying “Let’s be fair and square!” followed by chaotic visuals is intentional humor.

---

■ Miyazuki Mirror (MASTER)
The rapidly changing structure was fun musically, but difficult for charting.

We carefully discussed how much visual difficulty is acceptable while preserving readability.
We aimed to make ONGEKI-style dual-hand vertical rhythms and odd time signatures feel good.

---

■ Seyana. ~Akane-chan who does whatever you ask~ (MASTER)
1000 “yana.”

---

■ Lively☆Yay! Friends! (MASTER)
We aimed for energetic motion matching Koshou and Sakie’s intensity.
Hold colors represent character expression during vocal highlights.

---

■ Invasion Introduction☆ (MASTER)
A chart designed for maximum satisfaction when hitting wall accents.

We also drew lots of squid-themed visuals and beams.
The “geso bullet” version was chosen after initial test reactions were good.

---

■ Invincible Frontier Three Musketeers (MASTER)
We matched character movements with lanes for traps and transitions.

The final door is meant to be pushed with Sakie’s full power mindset.
The boss appearance references a certain well-known pattern.

---

■ Shakkiiiin!! (MASTER)
Constant posing.
If you skip the transformation properly, you’ll be taken by the Shakkiiin police.

---

■ Siege, Burn!! (MASTER)
Also worked on this for CHUNITHM before.

We tried absurd node counts (3594 bells), but it caused slowdown again.
So it became a structured trilogy: 2594 notes, 1594 bells, forming “Three Kingdoms.”

---

When ONGEKI first started, I couldn’t even imagine how chart variety would evolve.

Now there are so many different gimmicks and styles.

Some ideas get implemented immediately, others are saved for later or never used.

Early test charts that once made us laugh might look normal today.
Human adaptability is amazing.

If everything were full of gimmicks, it would feel heavy, so simplicity is also important,
but balancing that over time is difficult.

I’d love to talk more again someday.

We’ll keep doing our best to create without compromise so players can enjoy it for a long time.

No matter how much I say, it never feels like enough.

See you again!

Greenification Committee Chair

Favorite card: Tsumugi Shinonome [Cinderella Magic]

Hello, this is the Greenification Committee Chair, an in-person enthusiast who’s been hearing rumors of frequent trips to Tachikawa lately.

I’m very grateful the previous post was well received. Last time, I proactively asked within the team and had people contribute, but this time I made it fully volunteer-based—and everyone jumped in with great enthusiasm, which I truly appreciate.

This time I’m planning to go over various points you might not be familiar with, as a kind of informational briefing.

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BASIC charts

Have you all played BASIC charts?

I’ve been responsible for creating almost all BASIC charts from mid–Ongeki’s first version up through the present (excluding part of SUMMER PLUS).

I tried counting them, and as of the end of R.E.D. PLUS, it seems I’ve made 415 of them. That’s roughly one chart every three days. In practice, when I get going, I’ll do something like ten in a single day.

BASIC charts are created with the following concept:

• Introduce new players to the various chart elements in Ongeki (TAP, SIDE, FLICK, bells, bullets, field)
• Help players learn the fun of pressing buttons in 4-beat rhythm
• While maintaining the above, structure the chart to match the musical progression

BASIC charts are generally designed to avoid strong individuality. The goal is that no matter which song a new player starts with, they experience the same tutorial-like progression. Also, players who are mainly interested in spectacle do not necessarily overlap with BASIC-focused players, so playing overly easy charts just for effects could become frustrating.

Additionally, BASIC charts have various constraints not present in higher difficulties. For example:

• TAPs and SIDE-HOLDs only on the left SIDE are prohibited
  → Requiring the player to release the lever-hand is too physically demanding. However, simultaneous inputs on both SIDEs as a “big hit” are allowed.
• Lane indicators must appear at least one beat before the TAP note
  → This ensures enough time to visually identify the color, then decide which button to press.
• When placing a BELL during a HOLD, the first one must generally be placed on top of the HOLD
  → This assumes the player is following the HOLD path. If there are two HOLDs, placing it between them is acceptable.
• So-called “sushi” (bells placed on top of TAPs) is prohibited
  → Because it increases cognitive load. Bullets overlapping TAPs are also generally not allowed.

There are more, but try discovering them through play.

That said, some higher-difficulty charts and boss songs intentionally break these constraints.

Originally, these rules were quite vague. After release, we refined them by observing beginners playing—watching what felt too hard, what felt manageable—and gradually formalized the rules.

For instance, simultaneous SIDE inputs were initially only used at the very end of songs, but around PLUS mid-era they became allowed in chorus endings and similar sections. Other changes included the evolution of double TAPs and rhythmic patterns like 5 or 7 hits per beat subdivision. The current style mostly settled around early R.E.D.

Honestly, I can’t fully judge play comfort myself anymore at a high enough level, so I really only understand it by watching first-time players. That’s why when I see people playing BASIC charts, I end up nervously thinking, “Are they managing okay? Are they getting it?” while watching quietly.

At this point, it’s questionable whether there are even many first-time Ongeki readers here, so the takeaway is simple:

I just want people to understand that BASIC charts are not auto-generated.

Personally, I think it would be great if machine learning eventually made it possible to generate BASIC-level charts comparable to current ones. Rhythm and beat extraction, structural analysis of songs—those areas are already well researched, and chart generation based on that already has precedents. The next step would be analyzing gameplay structure itself.

If that could reduce the workload of BASIC chart creation, more time could go into higher-difficulty charts. That said, Ongeki has a very large number of gameplay elements, so I also think it’s difficult. I’m hoping that someday a truly capable AI will appear that can handle chart generation even for a system as complex as Ongeki.

---

Suddenly: BASIC chart difficulty ranking (hardest to make)

1st: Chelly spLash♪♪
Normally BASIC charts rely on something that clearly maps to a 4-beat rhythm, but this song barely had that, making it extremely rhythm-difficult. Even for non-boss charts, it unusually received level 5.

2nd: High Free Spirits
Many sections have accents shifted half a beat earlier than the measure start throughout the entire song. I tried compensating rhythmically with CR-TAPs… which ended up making it visually very flashy.

3rd: Kibo no Tsuki
Odd time signatures are already difficult, but the chorus suddenly allows normal BASIC structure, which made the chorus the easiest part, so I had to rebalance it.

---

When you play MASTER charts, maybe try thinking, “This must have been hard to design as a BASIC chart!”

---

About song length

Many licensed songs undergo what’s called “length cutting.”

In Ongeki, songs are edited to fit between 1:30 and 3:00, mainly around 2:00–2:40.

Sound designers propose candidates, and planning decides the final length. Since SUMMER PLUS, I’ve been involved in that decision-making process.

What matters varies by game, but in Ongeki specifically, the priorities are:

• The most impactful section of the song
• The expected chart structure
• Presentation/expression aspects

The most impactful section

Everyone probably has moments in a favorite song like, “this part is essential.”

I don’t know every song perfectly, but I listen to full versions and research carefully to preserve those key moments as much as possible.

Examples: rap sections in “Fuwa Fuwa Time,” guitar solos in “Spice and Wolf,” or the intro of “JOINT.”

I try hard not to cut those. If I do, I’m genuinely sorry.

Of course, this often isn’t possible due to song length, chart structure, or awkward transitions.

Chart structure

For example, if the intro is too long and requires early development, or the interlude is too short to build anything, I adjust length with the future chart in mind.

Ongeki also has a characteristic: 16th-note patterns are quite difficult. So very long solos can create design issues, and I have to be careful.

Presentation

Ongeki has a wide expressive range. Even in low-note sections like breakdowns or solos, there are many ways to represent them visually.

Because there are many collaboration tracks, I also try to preserve narrative intent. Sometimes I even prioritize expression over pure gameplay structure.

Overall, Ongeki songs tend to be longer. This is partly because gameplay is less physically demanding, and partly because longer tracks allow more meaningful sections to be included.

---

Some specific songs

Daydream Café
Length differs across CHUNITHM and maimai. In Ongeki, I adjusted it to maximize the “bouncing” feeling and emphasize the off-beat hits in the breakdown.

Realize
The silent section is essential. Ongeki has a lot of expressive “emptiness.”

STYX HELIX
Even with a long intro, it’s essential. Field expression allows non-press sections to carry it.

Canaria
Maintained momentum from first chorus to breakdown without slowing down. Also considered stamina due to BPM and length.

Night of Knights (xi Remix)
Of the four versions, I focused on highlighting the arranger’s characteristics. I didn’t consider difficulty balance much at first… which later caused me trouble.

---

Everything above reflects my personal approach. Due to various constraints, final results often differ, but I aim for reactions like: “They kept that part in? That’s great.”

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Other miscellaneous work

Some additional promotional-related work:

Play videos

I’ve performed most official gameplay videos for events and broadcasts. For “Night of Knights (LUNATIC),” I asked the team’s best bullet-dodger since it’s not realistically clearable without damage control.

Most recordings are one-take under time constraints, so they’re quite stressful. One exception (“Yokko Senraku”) required many takes due to excessive BREAK misses.

Yes, I also make those same mistakes in arcades.

Chart department reports

I coordinate, request contributions, edit, compile, and publish them.

This time the total exceeded 60,000 characters. One submission alone exceeded 14,000. Editing that was intense.

Please read it if you can—it’s very content-rich.

Visual fan book

I handled material compilation and supervision (mainly text). I may have pushed the volume too far, but it turned into a very substantial work.

Live performance

For “Vol.2: The Best Entertainment!!”, I created a chart section used for a stage effect where visuals move inside the chart itself. The deadline was immediate.

Synchronizing movement, field size, and speed was extremely difficult, especially overlaying everything precisely onto live footage.

Overall work philosophy

Across live shows, broadcasts, merchandise, and tournaments, I try to maximize impact wherever possible.

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Charts: Part A (POPS & ANIME etc.)

End Mark with Hope and Tears
My first level 14 chart. Focused on translating CHUNITHM-like intensity into Ongeki logic. Looking back, it was quite aggressive.

Green Lights Serenade
Focused entirely on preserving momentum. Constant tension between speed and readability.

Hand in Hand
Kept relatively simple so the song could shine. I tend to enjoy this style.

Love & Justice
Fast, structured 16th-note runs with dual-hand rhythm patterns. Originally more dense, but was toned down after testing revealed unexpected clarity.

Difficulty rating discussions are always difficult—absolute vs relative evaluation, player skill diversity, and balancing fairness vs excitement all complicate things.

Night String at Dawn
Designed as a 4-beat wall-entry chart. Emphasized blending melody and vocals.

Splash Dance!!
Fully designed around towel-waving gameplay. One of the fastest production cycles.

Hitoribocchi Satellite
Built around staircase pattern exploration across different input shapes.

Fluffy Flash
Highly dynamic structure with frequent pattern changes.

STARRED HEART
Built around strong kick emphasis and emotional representation, especially in LUNATIC mode.

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Charts: Part B

Kizuna Sparkling World
One of my top anime songs ever. Kept the chart simple to let the song shine fully.

Illuminage Land
A deeply emotional project with strong narrative integration. Possibly my most emotionally invested chart.

Realize!
Focused entirely on lightstick-change mechanics, including heavy technical constraints.

Check my soul
Focused on wall interaction and rhythm clarity. Early concept ideas were more extreme but toned down.

JOINT
Focused on red/blue lane interaction as emotional storytelling without direct effects. One of the most impactful songs for me personally.

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Final note

I realized I tend to build charts around a single core concept and execute it thoroughly. Ongeki supports that style very well.

If you usually play higher difficulties, I’d appreciate it if you occasionally tried POPS & ANIME charts as well.

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Flower Dance, Iroha Ni Ho
(This section includes pre-release commentary, omitted here for brevity in translation style consistency.)

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That’s all for now. See you next time at a game center near the venue.

-100

Favorite card: Kujō Kaede [Dressed to Impress]

Long time no see. Chart No.100 here. Lately I’ve been into poker (NL Hold’em). My favorite position is the cutoff.

Before writing this, I asked a junior programmer (not in the chart team) if they wanted to try writing it, but they flatly refused with a serious expression, so I’m writing it myself. Deadline day.

Most chart creation comments end up following the template below, so I’ll set that aside for now.

—————————————————————-

・“Song title goes here”
I tried going all-in on momentum, but the chart team exploded, so I toned down the firepower in various ways and settled on the current version of the chart. I think it worked out well since I was able to do exactly what I wanted.

—————————————————————-

・“otorii INNOVATED -[i]3-”

That’s me.

I tried going all-in on momentum, but Usagi Laundry exploded, so I toned down the firepower in various ways and settled on the current chart. I think it worked out well since I was able to do exactly what I wanted.
By the way, the MSИ version is definitely not mine. Not even a collaboration. I was actually shocked when I saw it in the CHUNITHM arcade version.

・“Karakuri Pierrot”
I handled the MASTER chart here, but the LUNATIC chart is close to the initial draft.
I thought “if it spins, it wins,” so I tried building a gimmick around spinning mechanics, but Revo@LC told me, “this should probably just be LUNATIC as-is,” so it ended up in its current form.
Apparently, if you properly handle things like trigonometric functions and movement calculations, you can get something like this to work, so if you ever get the chance to make charts, I’d recommend trying it.

・“Singularity (EXPERT)”
I made this during the COVID period when I couldn’t go into the office (of course, it was ultimately checked on an actual cabinet). I could still see the screen, but making charts without being able to test on the cabinet was quite difficult. I couldn’t properly judge not only difficulty balance, but also information density, presentation balance, audio intensity balance, play feel, satisfaction, and fatigue. This was my first draft made under those conditions.
When making charts, I strongly recommend working in an environment where you can actually play on the cabinet.

・“My First Phone”
I somehow ended up doing this one.
I saw a comment somewhere like “if it’s buttons, it should be doable,” so I implemented that section as-is, and then tried to do something LUNATIC-like elsewhere. I ended up using the idea of “removing lanes.” Fitting, given the “no call” setting.
It should make you feel, relatively speaking, how important lanes are in ONGEKI.

・“PinqPiq (xovevox Remix)”
This was my first owl*tree track assignment, so I put a lot of effort into it. Pretty much no compromises.
The famous “bounce” pattern people talked about is probably correctly interpreted as 3/20 + 2/20. However, while fractional patterns like 5-based rhythms are technically possible in ONGEKI (try finding them), reproducing it across the whole chart would be inconvenient, so I implemented it as 7/96 + 5/96. Don’t overthink it.
That said, don’t assume the whole chart uses that bounce—there are actually 16th-note (+ non-8th) sections in there. Try finding them.

・“See The Light”
I built this with everything dedicated to the final eight measures.

That’s all. Have a good ONGEKI life.

<Sound Chart Department>

This is the collaboration chart introduction corner by the Sound Chart Department.
This time we even have ultra-large-scale collaborations and level 15 charts, so you might be wondering who did what and who handled adjustments… let’s take a look.

<BATTLE NO.1>

0s–3s: Miso-Katsu Samurai
3s–12s: Techno Kitchen
12s–22s: Usagi Laundry
22s–31s: Revo@LC
31s–41s: Ichinose Riz
41s–50s: Monokurokku
51s–60s: Amaryllis
60s–70s: Fireworks Craftsman
70s–79s: Jaco Lemon
79s–89s: Amino Habakiri
89s–98s: Miso-Katsu Samurai
98s–108s: Greenification Committee Chair
108s–117s: Chart No.100
117s–127s: Takanashi-san

I’m Miso-Katsu Samurai, the adjustment lead.

You can probably tell there are 13 people involved, but since the ONGEKI team doesn’t actually have that many members, it was probably hard just gathering people from other teams.
Chart No.100-senpai looked extremely busy, so I hesitated to ask him, but an hour after I did, he said something like, “I already entered my speed changes, so take care of the rest!” He was totally hyped.

Since each person only handled about 8 measures, everyone packed in what they wanted to do, and at first the chart turned into something absolutely chaotic.
To put it in perspective, it was like being invited on a “world tour,” only to end up running through nothing but savage zones and then getting hit by a laser from the -100 nation, making it impossible to even finish.

The difficulty balance was also all over the place, and since I personally prefer charts where music, intensity, and flow are properly aligned, I ended up doing fairly heavy adjustments while still preserving each section’s intended ideas as much as possible.
In the end, I think it became a pretty interesting chart.

Collaboration in ONGEKI is actually pretty tricky, because at transition points between sections, things like player position or field deployment often don’t align well.
If the player position differed 12 times, I probably would’ve lost my mind.

Even so, when everyone brings their ideas together, you get something unique. The adjustments are tough, but the payoff makes it enjoyable.

Please enjoy this chart that absolutely could not have been created by a single person.

<TiamaT: F minor>

0s–30s: Jaco Lemon
30s–49s: Takanashi-san
49s–66s: Sukiyaki Magistrate
66s–84s: Jaco Lemon
84s–96s: Sukiyaki Magistrate
96s–113s: Takanashi-san
113s–149s: Redarrow

YEAH!!!! The coordinator is Takanashi-san!!!!!!!!

This time it’s a challenge from the CHUNITHM chart boys…
Or wait—did you think that???
Actually, Takanashi-san joined the CHUNITHM team around the end of 2020.
Not really something to mention here, but timing was convenient…

Anyway, this is my first time coordinating, so I’ll talk about various things that came up.

First, about section splitting: normally in collaborations like this, the chorus is done by one person. But for this track, we decided it would be more interesting to split the chorus into two halves with different people.

Once the sections are decided, everyone starts making their parts freely.
In collaborations, crazy ideas get thrown in everywhere, and when you finally combine them, you end up laughing in front of the arcade because nothing works properly.
Sometimes things just can’t be done—because we’re human!

The initial concept was to make a “touchable 14+” (even though 14+ already sounds hard to touch…).
But everyone still had the CHUNITHM TiamaT image in their heads, and it ended up turning into something like “LAMIA would be shocked.”

BPM 215 is fast in this game (and in general).
So after preserving the intended motion while doing extremely tight difficulty adjustments, somehow the current “TiamaT: F minor” was completed.

Even though collaboration often leads to conflicting ideas, this time everyone had quite distinct contributions, so there weren’t many conflicts and it came together surprisingly fast.
That doesn’t mean we cut corners, though!

We hope you enjoy “TiamaT: F minor,” one of the most accessible 14+ charts in the series.

<LAMIA>

0s–33s: Ichinose Riz
33s–52s: Amaryllis
52s–81s: Miso-Katsu Samurai
81s–100s: Rocher @ Penguin
100s–119s: Takanashi-san
119s–140s: Usagi Laundry

Usagi Laundry here.

When I was put in charge of original song ordering for ONGEKI SUMMER PLUS, I already had this concept in mind from the beginning.
At the time it was shelved due to various circumstances, but around the R.E.D. development period, the idea of a level 15 became more realistic. After reading the story draft, I felt “this is it,” and reached out to BlackY and TJ .hangneil.

I’m really glad we were able to realize this concept at this timing, judging from user reactions.

About the chart:
We aligned it with how the first 14+ charts were presented, and structured things so that two level 15 charts would appear, naturally leading to a distinction similar to Opfer and Titania.

As development progressed, I focused on creating a chart that emphasizes raw key skill rather than relying on fast subdivisions or dense gimmicks like previous top-tier charts (14.9 level trends).
Not because those are bad—far from it—but I wanted to demonstrate overwhelming difficulty using straightforward 16th-note patterns instead.

I also reduced use of anything above 24th notes as much as possible and adjusted everything into its current form.
Even I barely manage SSS+ after repeated practice, and with feedback from Miso-Katsu Samurai, we balanced it carefully against Apollo’s difficulty.

Half of it is ego—“don’t expect this to be cleared easily”—but at the same time, I find myself hoping players will eventually conquer it, which is probably a common feeling among chart creators.

Finally, since it was difficult to achieve proper satisfaction and balance alone at this level, I worked closely with Miso-Katsu to refine it from a top-player perspective.
There was even a joke about making it so hard that even if Miso-Katsu could ABFB it, it would still be adjusted further—but he’s so strong that if we had kept doing that, we might have accidentally created the strongest monster in rhythm game history…

<LAMIA>

0s–22s: Saturn-CB
22s–50s: Amaryllis
50s–78s: Jaco Lemon (barrage designed by Monokurokku)
78s–107s: Monokurokku
107s–121s: CLoveR
121s–135s: Miso-Katsu Samurai
135s–155s: Greenification Committee Chair

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Monokurokku here.

I’ve been tracking player skill trends as chart quality lead since the first game, and I genuinely feel like the game has finally caught up to itself.
This was the perfect timing to release the long-withheld level cap expansion.

I aimed to recreate the excitement and surprise of when 14+ first appeared, including announcement structure and dual highest-difficulty tracks, while packing in the absolute peak of ONGEKI’s mechanics.

With Apollo’s MV provided in advance, I designed the chart to fully reconstruct its story.
The interaction between the “danger bullets” and gameplay presentation became one of the strongest showcases in ONGEKI history.

To be honest, at this level it’s less about fun and more about gritting your teeth and surviving.
In today’s internet era, I think it’s also valid for these charts to be something you watch and enjoy rather than only play.

So please watch the videos, feel the “this is insane!” reaction, and then send encouragement to players who grind these charts with everything they have.

To players taking on the challenge:
Level 15 is extremely difficult and can be mentally exhausting.
But persistence truly is power. I’ve seen many players achieve goals through long-term dedication.

When I was competing at the top level myself, I constantly focused on not breaking mentally and maintaining motivation.
So please don’t lose sight of enjoyment while continuing to challenge yourself.

Since producing a proper level 15 was extremely difficult even with full adjustment, I worked closely with Miso-Katsu to translate top-player feedback into concrete tuning.
There was even a joke that if he could clear it, it should still be made harder—but he’s so strong that continuing that logic would have created a monster beyond control…

Revo@LC

Favorite card: Hinata Chinatsu [ONGEKI Vocal Party 05]

It’s been a while, everyone. This is Revo@LC.

The countdown for “ONGEKI bright” has been delivered in a packed format, featuring character unit illustrations and a chart team bulletin.

“ONGEKI bright” officially goes live starting tomorrow!
Is there anything left unfinished in R.E.D. PLUS?

We’ll also be revealing new information in today’s 19:00 livestream, so don’t miss it!

That’s almost the same message from about half a year ago…

◆ About “ONGEKI bright”

As for the new title’s theme, as the name suggests, it is “brightness.”
Unlike the blazing fire of R.E.D., bright shifts to something more sparkling and soft in impression.

It has been roughly a year and a half since the COVID-19 situation began. The world has become a place where going to arcades and playing games the way we used to is no longer easy. In everyday life, many people have likely experienced hardship and had to endure difficult times. For the ONGEKI team as well, it has been a year and a half of continuously trying to move forward under extremely challenging circumstances. There have been tighter restrictions, painful farewells, and we have been doing our best to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

Even so, we wanted to convey through “ONGEKI bright” that rhythm games are still fun, and that the ONGEKI Shooters are still adorable. No matter the time, this world is filled with light and brilliance. We hope you can watch the ONGEKI Shooters, glowing with that brilliance, as they take flight.

“ONGEKI bright” Main Theme: “Transcend Lights” PV

Functional additions have also been made in various areas.

First and foremost is the addition of Emperor Castle Setsuna as a playable character. She also has unique skills specific to her, so please give them a try. For those who want to continue supporting their favorite characters going forward, the intimacy level cap has been raised. It’s a fairly high hurdle, but there are additional rewards up to 1000, so you might want to work toward it at your own pace.

We’ve received many requests for Friend Score and random song selection for quite some time, so thank you for your patience. This should be useful for those times when you want to play Ongeki but don’t have a specific song in mind.

We’ve also added various smaller features related to BP and options settings. We hope you enjoy them. Quietly, we’ve also improved some internal processes that most players won’t even notice.

There are still more new elements in “Ongeki bright,” so we hope you’ll look forward to what’s coming next.

We’d also like you to pay attention to changes in the arcade cabinet itself.

The roof pop (the arched panel at the top) and the title plate (the panel that says “bright”) now use a new material that reflects light and shines. In well-lit environments, it should look especially sparkling.

The LED system has also evolved. In SUMMER it was single-color, in R.E.D. it was controlled to flicker, and in bright it has gained even more advanced control, so please look forward to it.

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About chart design

Since this is a chart team report, let’s talk about charts.

From R.E.D. to R.E.D. PLUS, this was a period where Ongeki was significantly strengthened as a rhythm game. The introduction of PLATINUM SCORE, the hosting of KOP, and the addition of Level 15 all took place. As Monoclock mentioned, this was a period where we constantly faced the unavoidable issue of difficulty inflation in rhythm games. From song licensing and original composition to actual chart implementation, we steadily raised the “gear” of the game over the course of a year.

Ultimately, with the final battle against Setsuna and the introduction of Level 15, we reached a milestone for the game’s highest difficulty. Going forward, this difficulty range will only be considered in very specific cases, and unless there are exceptional circumstances, it will not appear frequently. So it might be something you slowly work on over about three years. (Even before the new version’s release, both Level 15 charts have already been theoretically maxed out, which honestly surprised us a lot!)

We had decided quite early on to ask TJ.hangneil to compose the final track. Given their work on “Shinwi,” we were confident they could create a song worthy of Ongeki’s first Level 15. During production, we gave very detailed requests and exchanged feedback many times. In the end, they delivered a truly outstanding track, and we were deeply moved.

From here, I’ll also talk a bit about the charts I personally created. As before, if I was able to move the emotions of those who played them even slightly, I consider that a great happiness.

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Forever Friends

The intro, outro, and all choruses were designed around choreography matching.
I also incorporated elements of all 16 characters, and I’m confident this is a work that successfully expresses everything I wanted to do. Waving hands during the chorus is fun, isn’t it? As an aside, I like the summer group.

Stage of Star

The colorful movement of lane 7 at the end of the chorus reproduces the original lane shifting from the source material.
Right from the opening, a live band version of this song still feels unfair (night show). I still remember drinking and talking about it afterward with Ryokuka Committee-kun until late that night.

STORIA

Choreography synchronization for the angels:

• Raising the right hand in the 3rd–4th measures of the chorus
• Curling fingers one by one in the final three notes

larva

This was the first standalone Level 14 chart since “The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku (LUNATIC).”
The goal was to create a satisfying stream of 16th-note patterns. The final staircase into cross-hand pattern was originally used during Ongeki’s early location test in “Mare Maris.” It was removed at the time for being too difficult, but I always wanted to use it somewhere eventually.

BBBLOW -rebuild-

The transition from original to remake is extremely exciting if you know the original, isn’t it?
For Ongeki, both the music and jacket were remade for this release. Many thanks for that. Final adjustments were made with help from Amaryllis-kun.

Cult future

This was my first Level 14+ assignment that wasn’t a collaboration.
I’ve personally liked LV.4 for a long time, and I worked with Usagi Laundry-kun to define the request from the production stage. After showing the initial version to the chart team, I was told it needed more intensity for Level 14+, which led to reworking the difficulty while keeping the overall structure intact. That part was quite challenging.

Good morning Japonica

From start to finish, it’s a song overflowing with fun, so I aimed for a chart that feels enjoyable to play.
I hope there will be a day again when everyone can shout “peepo!” and “J-A-P-A-N!”

A·ri·ma·su·ka?

Arima Onsen is a historic hot spring, also known as one of Japan’s Three Ancient Springs and one of the Three Famous Hot Springs. It has two types of water: “Kinsen,” which contains iron and salt and turns reddish-brown due to oxidation, and “Ginsen,” which is colorless and contains carbon dioxide and radon. That’s why there are two characters for Onsen Musume representing Arima Onsen as special tourism ambassadors. This song is the unit track for Arima Fuka, the “Ginsen” character. (The character designer also has ties to Ongeki.) She’s a rather eccentric girl who goes looking for UMA and even tries adding soda to any food… (abbreviated)

This chart was an experimental attempt to make difficulty increase as the player becomes more skilled. Sorry about that! (I even considered that it might slip under the radar right after Level 15 was released…) The original overly experimental draft was rejected, though everyone in the chart team found it amusing.

NiNi

I chose this for its connection to hot springs and Japanese style themes. I always felt this song would fit Ongeki perfectly, so I also took responsibility for its chart. This is my first collaboration with Ichinose Rizu. I’m always impressed by their unconventional ideas and strong sense for chart tuning.

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Tips on score calculation

Here is a sudden corner of useful knowledge.

Tip 1

(total notes excluding bells ÷ 38) = BREAK count threshold for SSS+

For example, Apollo (MASTER):
3390 ÷ 38 = 89
So 89 BREAKs is the SSS+ boundary.
Convert values assuming: HIT = 1 BREAK, MISS = 10 BREAK.

Tip 2

(total notes excluding bells ÷ 95) = MISS count threshold for SSS

For example, Apollo (MASTER):
3390 ÷ 95 = 35
So 35 MISSes is the SSS boundary.
Assume MISS = 2.5 HIT = 10 BREAK for conversion.

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Final summary

Starting tomorrow, “Ongeki bright” will begin operation.

Although the world is going through difficult times, we hope Ongeki’s brightness can bring even a little light to everyone. Please take proper infection precautions and enjoy the game at arcades.

In times like these, the support of everyone who loves Ongeki is truly a great source of strength. The entire Ongeki team will continue working to meet expectations, so we appreciate your continued support.

That concludes the chart team report.