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BPL S2 DDRを終えて | ぽ (英語) / Finishing BPL S2 DDR | PO

Prohibited Props

(前書き: これはこのPO選手のnoteの英語翻訳です。)

Nice to meet you.
My name is PO.

I was a professional player belonging to APINA VRAMeS in BEMANI PRO LEAGUE -SEASON2- DanceDanceRevolution.

Before I proceed further, let me say that this article is very serious and may not be very interesting…
It's rather long, but I hope you’ll read it to the end.


Pre-Season

BPL ZERO

I was the third-round player for Team BLUE, led by coach Ryu☆.

Together with two encouraging players, HIBIKI (now with GiGO) and NAYU (now with Leisure Land), we used our strategies and fought with all our might until the final stage.

The result was a close second place.
After the final tag-team match, when Team BLUE's defeat was decided at the end of playing "最小三倍完全数," HIBIKI's frustration and NAYU's tears left a lasting impression on me.

Also being frustrated by the loss, the deep exhilaration of those two days, along with the overflow of other feelings caused my emotions to get out of hand. I naturally spoke to NAYU casually afterwards (???) but NAYU was too kind to forgive me saying, "It’s totally fine!!” …lol

PO: "It's hard (to lose)..! Thank you so much...! Thank you so much...! I'm really glad we were able to fight on the same team...!"

Truth be told, I hadn’t entered the pro test at this point, but I decided to enter the pro test on the last day of entry because I was able to experience the fun and excitement of team competition through BPL ZERO.

Coincidentally, when I later asked APINA VRAMeS advisor DJ Genki (hereafter "Genki") a little about the reason for his nomination, it seems that my success at BPL ZERO was the deciding factor.

What I was working on for the draft meeting

After deciding to enter the pro test, I was aware of the many things I had to do in order to pass the pro test and to be nominated by a company as a professional player.

  • Continue to achieve personal bests in the low-medium difficulty levels, which stands out as a strength

  • Show off a high level of single-attempt scores (which equally shows match ability and composure) in livestreams

  • Aggressively post results on Twitter

  • Always be objective and careful about your behavior and remarks on social media and at arcades.

When I compared my personal bests for each song with the other candidates, I thought I would be picked in the third round at best, just on the edge.

In addition to raising my score for each song until the very last minute before the draft, I made of conscious effort to add extra value in other positive aspects of my performance besides what is shown in the numbers.

↑Above are the results just before the draft meeting.
(It seems that Genki was also watching these results carefully.)

Team Formation

Draft day

I wasn't too nervous; I was just looking forward to meeting the other pro candidates, and I wanted to have fun! I felt fine.

Third-round pick

I thought that even if I was nominated, it'd be in the third round, so in the beginning, I watched the process with a relaxed mind.

However, as the third round of nominations approached, my heart rate rose higher and higher.

In the end, I received nominations from two teams, APINA VRAMeS and SUPERNOVA Tohoku, and the bargaining rights were drawn by lot.

As I mentioned in the draft stream, the moment my affiliation to APINA VRAMeS was decided by lottery, NOTTY (hereafter, "Notty"), who was sitting a bit away from me, stood up and said, "PO! I'm looking forward to working with you!” I was relieved of my nervousness when he cheerfully spoke to me.

And to tell you the truth, APINA VRAMeS has been my favorite team since BPL2021, which I’ve been secretly rooting for as a viewer.

I couldn't believe the fact that I was going to be a member of the team until the next day or so, when I pinched my cheeks to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

About the team members

I had a nice chat with Notty just before the draft. We talked about being a part the same generation, DDR history, and Hiroshima.

I was acquainted with MAMURU3 (hereafter, "Mamuru"), but I don't think we had a particular conversation before the draft meeting.

We had several opportunities to see each other, as we both competed as players in "IISPO!" [a Japanese e-sports TV show] and had many mutual acquaintances, but we’d never had any notable personal interactions until the season started.

Of course, I'd never interacted with Genki before.

Even though I was a fan of APINA, I was so not used to Genki in glasses and a suit that I kept thinking, "I don't know who that guy in APINA is..." during the draft.

When we all returned to the waiting room for each team, I realized it was Genki!
It was also interesting to hear that a number of people from other teams did not recognize Genki and secretly feared that APINA might've brought in a super advisor not well known to the public.
The day after the draft meeting
We all ate tonkatsu chazuke together
During the promotional photo shoot
Mamoru, who is not used to wearing a uniform yet.

The APINA VRAMeS DDR team started with four members who didn’t know each other well, but now they’re very good friends!

Since only Notty lived far away, we could not practice together on a regular basis.

So, we photoshopped Notty on a regular basis to strengthen the bond of the team (?)

Regular Stage

APINA VRAMeS was in Group B.
In the regular stage, the following matches were played.

  • Round2 vs. Leisure Land

  • Round8 vs. SUPERNOVA Tohoku

  • Round12 vs. ROUND1

Here I hope to focus on what I couldn’t discuss in the recap streams and on Twitter.

Vs. Leisure Land (Round 2)

Match Result: Win! (10-8)

I participated in the 1st match
A very very important first match

■ About the lineup
It was an lineup that made the best use of the wide range of coverage that we'd asked from "Hiroshima All-Rounder" Notty to practice a ridiculous amount of songs.

It was his first official tournament, he had to play twice (the 2nd and 3rd match), and he also had to use his strategy card. Thank you so much for defending the points so well under so much pressure!

■ 1st match: About my song picks

1st match selections:
· AM-3P ("CHAOS" Special) (CHALLENGE 14)
· Sakura (EXPERT 13)
· CHAOS (EXPERT 14) ← SELECTED

CHAOS (EXPERT14) was one of my personal picks and was selected by my opponent, YUK1-S. In fact, this slot was Saturn (EXPERT 13) until an hour before the submission deadline.

If Saturn had been one of the three songs, YUK1-S would've picked Saturn (I'd like to hear it next time), and it would've been a nail-biting match. As such, it was personally a great decision for me to take out Saturn and go with a song I was familiar with.

CHAOS has always been my favorite song, and I was confident in it, but because of the sudden change I must say that I wasn’t prepared enough for it during practice the previous day and was still a little nervous.

However, because I believed in myself, I was able to focus during the match quite well.

I beat my personal best with 22→14 Perfects

And because I was able to fully demonstrate my concentration in that match, I believe that my ability had improved thanks to intensive practice of CLASSIC TRICKY's overly quirky group of songs.

■Mamuru's first win in an official match
Mamuru has participated in KAC many times, but this match was actually his first official win...! I’m so happy!

Mamoru said, "I've learned the joy of winning, and I want to keep on winning." It was so encouraging, that I felt empowered to prepare for the next match.

■Interviewed by TV Shinshu

Vs. SUPERNOVA Tohoku (Round 8)

Match Result: Win!

I competed in the 1st match and 3rd match!
I had a lot of fun practicing as a "POTTY" tag team!

■ Mamuru's use of strategy cards
As a result of Mamuru's use of the strategy card here, it was determined that due to the remaining cost and entry limit, I would have two entries in the next match against Round1, the same as this match.

If Mamoru didn’t use his strategy card, he would’ve played only the 1st match against ROUND1 and I would’ve used my strategy card then.

· There’s little advantage in using strategy cards against ROUND1 in the 1st match.
· A win here would be the only two wins amongst all the teams, which would give us a big lead in the Group B standings and give us a mental breather going into the following matches.
· A win here would eliminate the possibility of finishing last in the regular stage.
· OOON!! was 99% expected to use a strategy card in the 2nd match.
· If our opponent SUPERNOVA Tohoku did not anticipate MAMURU3 to use his strategy card, we could break their game plan by blocking their strategy card.

For the above reasons, we boldly decided on the strategy that Mamuru, the first-round player, would use the strategy card in the 2nd match of the SUPERNOVA Tohoku match.

■ Yesterday's friend is today's foe?
In fact, SAYA, the SUPERNOVA Tohoku advisor, and I had been close friends privately and understood each other's thought process well, so I was taking countermeasures against SUPERNOVA Tohoku, assuming that my own strategy was being read. It’s too much of a threat to have your best friend become your foe.

■ The story behind the birth of …(^o^)ﾉ＜ Bunny Bunny

3rd match selections:
· Chu~in☆Bunny (CHALLENGE 13) ← PICKED
· The Island Song (CHALLENGE 13)
· Another Phase (CHALLENGE 16)

The day after the match, everyone laughed when it was discovered that all the players had spent the morning watching the chart video for Chu~in☆Bunny and reliving the match, even though it was already over. I started saying “Bunny bunny,” then Mamoru and Notty start to imitate me.
↓
Genki tweets "(^o^)ﾉ ＜ Morning~" on Twitter when he wakes up in the morning every day.
↓
Mamoru: "I think Genki would say "(^o^)ﾉ ＜  Bunny bunny..."”.
↓
(^o^)ﾉ ＜  Bunny bunny…!!!


By the way, the official (?) wording is something like "Chu~in! Bunny☆Bunny! (p`ω´q) "

Vs. ROUND1 (Round 12)

Result: Lose (6-14)

I competed in the 1st match and the 3rd match.
I had strong opponents, but I was determined to win.

■ Frame of mind
At the end of the second game of the regular stage (against SUPERNOVA Tohoku), APINA VRAMeS was the lone team that had won two games among all Group A and B teams.

However we weren’t all in the groove. If anything, it was the exact opposite.

“We won our last two games, but only because our strategy worked out.”
“I'd like to win the Round1 match and finish first in the group, but I'm not sure if we should have such high hopes.”
“If we’re going to be solid, it would be better to focus on the quarterfinals.”

I was thinking things like that all the time as I practiced.

Genki repeatedly told me that I think I should be more delighted, but I could not be, honestly.

I feel that these blurred feelings were reflected in the strategical tactics and results of the matches.

It was the most regrettable match in this respect.

On the other hand, it was a very good experience for me to know how to have a good frame of mind for the game.

Regular Stage Summary

Looking back, I noticed that APINA VRAMeS was the team in Group B that had the most matches (two) with strategy cards used.

·  Leisure Land 2nd match NOTTY←RIN-GO!
·  SUPERNOVA Tohoku 2nd match MAMURU3→←OOON! (blocked)

While I think it was a tough battle, I also feel that the use of strategy cards made it easier to read the strategies of the opposing team.

The loss in the ROUND1 match was very painful, but all of us were able to reflect on our mistakes on that day and look forward to the upcoming quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

Based on the results of the regular stage, we played GiGO in the Quarterfinals.

Vs. GiGO (Round 3)

Result: Lose (6-12)

I competed in the 1st match.

■ TSUYOSHI's composure and match abilities

The 1-Perfect Unreality gave me pins and needles.

I’m not very good at finishing a song, and too much practice makes me nervous on the day of the competition, so I’ve been preparing for the competition with the mindset that once I attain a score at a certain level, I won’t practice anymore and trust myself 100% on the day of the competition.

This had worked well in the previous matches, but it was destroyed here for the first time.

In the first match, I realized that if I fought a player whose level of performance was close to my own, the difference in strength and experience would be reflected in the score and I'd lose fair and square. It was deserved if you think about it.

The reason I often achieve my personal record in the competition is because in order to maintain my mental state, I don't aim to try to keep one-upping my record.

People tend to focus on achieving a personal best in the competition, but honestly, I think it’s really more amazing to be able to achieve a score close to your already high personal best at any time, like with Leisureland’s NAYU and [GiGO’s] TSUYOSHI.

Since this loss, I’ve been practicing with the mindset of not being satisfied with a certain standard and eagerly aiming for a higher one than my current one.

Next season, I'll return to this place with a consistency that is as good as TSUYOSHI's.

Practicing self-picked songs
He's good! Mamoru's pissed because his rival's score is better than his.
The day before the match, the three of us bought Uma Musume chocolates. Mamuru and I got Seiun Sky (Notty's favorite character), but only Notty didn't get one.
Mamoru: "500 yen is fine."
DJ NOTTY

Miscellaneous Notes on BPL

The "Choose from 3 songs" rule.

I personally enjoyed the rule of asking your opponent to choose from 3 songs because it allowed the more elaborate details of the strategy to really shine.

What I fully realized about it is, when tactically planning songs that you’re better at than your opponent, the importance of identifying songs that can make you completely shine during the match even if you have a low personal best or that your opponent hasn’t practiced it recently.

If one of your three songs includes a song that your opponent could be able to do, they'll think "How lucky!" and pick it, handing them a mental breather.

The danger of nail-biting matches

Of course there are occasions in where playing nail-biting matches against a superior opponent is valid. However in DDR, where there are a wide variety charts to begin with, I felt that throughout the season it's important to confidently pick difficult songs that you've practiced a lot on.

There were a few matches where I, regrettably, got cold feet and picked safe songs, even though there were other songs that I had practiced a lot and was good at.

(Examples)
Regular Stage vs. SUPERNOVA Tohoku
· 1st match: 50th Memorial Songs -二人の時 ～under the cherry blossoms～- (EXPERT12)
Quarterfinals vs. GiGO
· 1st match: Hella Deep (EXPERT14)

As a female athlete

In BPL S2 DDR, I became the second BPL female player after MAHINA, who was a member of ROUND1's BPL S2 SOUND VOLTEX team.

However, unlike KAC, BPL is not a tournament with a separate division for women only, so from the moment I decided to enter the pro test, I made up my mind that I would never make excuses for being a woman, even if I had a handicap for being one.

In reality, however, there were many times when I felt like making excuses for my lack of ability, such as differences in physical build, and I made a fuss numerous times during the season to my teammates Mamoru and Notty.

I am truly grateful to both of them for accepting my voice in such a kind manner yet still fighting together to the end as a team without treating me like a woman (in a positive sense of the word).

In addition, it was always really nice to hear from fans that seeing my activities gave them courage as a fellow woman, which was a great encouragement to me.

I don’t want to say, "Women can be just as on the same level in the BPL as men," and I really don't want people to think that just by looking at the matches I’ve competed in.

I haven’t yet found the answer to the question of how female players should be in the music game competitive scene.

My personal desire at this point in time, having gotten through this season, is not for the BPL to become a place where women can be active, but rather for the BPL as a whole to create an atmosphere where both athletes and viewers can be involved in the competition without being conscious of the athlete's gender.

I'll change the competitive scene so that this will happen! Well, I can't really say that with certainty, but I'll continue to challenge myself in many different ways with that in mind.

Conclusion

I’ve really enjoyed this season as a professional player belonging to APINA VRAMeS.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported APINA VRAMeS from the bottom of my heart.

It remains to be seen what will happen next season, or whether it will be held again in the first place, but all three members of the APINA VRAMeS' DDR team share the same desire to try again.

We would be very happy if you would continue to support the DDR team as well as the IIDX and SDVX teams that are about to start S3.

I hope you all enjoy DDR.

See you soon!

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