I am pretty thorough, so don't be annoyed if I point out a lot of issues. A lot of times they are just my opinions, so feel free to object to them. :3
d = don
k = katsu
D = big don
K = big katsu
[General]
Difficulty: In terms of difficulty, this spread is a bit... stunted? The spread spikes at Futsuu difficulty, details of which I will explain below. A 2.94 stars Oni would probably be the easiest Oni in the game if this is ranked as well. That being said though, I do not know if forcibly increasing the difficulty would be a good idea or not; I
personally believe that you can definitely increase the note density for Oni by quite a considerable amount, but BNs and QATs might disagree. Your choice!
[Kantan]
The main problem here is finisher usage, i.e. D and K placements.
00:04:687 (1) - change to D; there is a significant strings build-up in the music before this note, and it will be consistent with 00:08:020 (4,7,11), which are all D
00:23:853 (21,22) - change to d K; the first note is at the middle of the melody's phrase, and doesn't deserve that much of an emphasis, while the second note being K would match the entry of the brass
00:37:187 (37) - change to K for better matching hitsounds, a heavy drum hit doesn't match horn riff well imo
00:37:187 (37) - again, middle of the phrase, doesn't deserve a D, d is fine, and would also contrast with 00:43:853 (45)
00:44:687 (46) - start of kiai, change to D?
00:52:187 (56) - change to K would be consistent with your previous usage of big notes (one on the start of every 3 bars)
Other than that, I don't really understand your note placement that well, so I'm going to refrain from making any more suggestions.
[Futsuu]
Slight difficulty issue here:
There are two things to consider when deciding on a spread's difficulty. One is its
objective difficulty rating, i.e. basically its star rating. For Futsuu, this ranges from the high ends of 1 stars to anywhere in the 2 stars (although beyond 2.5 or so is stretching it). For this, your Futsuu meets the requirements.
However, one must also consider a specific difficulty's position
relative to the map's other difficulties. In this case, a 0.8* gap between Kantan and Futsuu is considerably more than the 0.4* gap between Futsuu and Muzukashii. Gameplay-wise, this gap is also quite apparent; you have used both offbeat patterns (00:05:520 (2,3,4,5) etc.) and offbeat note placements (00:19:478 (37,43,49) etc.) in your Futsuu which contrasts greatly from the simple single notes in Kantan.
I would suggest you nerfing this a bit, to maybe slightly below 2 stars even, which would make the curve smoother. Of course, this is entirely up to you.
Other than that, I could only find one more change that I would make:
00:04:687 (1) - like Kantan, change to D
...and the rest is good.
[Muzukashii]
00:06:562 (7) - change to d would be consistent with 00:13:228 (27), which also has the heavier lower strings backing up the beat
00:16:562 (39) - in contrast, this changed to k would be consistent with 00:09:895 (17), which DOESN'T have the heavier lower strings in the music
(I know how you have 00:06:145 (6,7) being the same as 00:09:478 (16,17), and 00:12:812 (26,27) the same as 00:16:145 (38,39), but I feel that my grouping matches the music better. Your choice though, of course. :3)
00:37:187 (124) - change to K to match the horn?
00:42:812 - changing this stream to this:
would again, match the horn while making it different from the three previous streams.
00:49:062 (172) - change to d; while I get that you feel this note deserves an additional emphasis, I believe the pause between the three notes are enough to convey that sense of build-up from the strings in the music
00:53:437 (192,193) - ^
00:59:062 (214) - ^ (and also sounds pretty weird, having abruptly a D between two streams)
[Oni]
Difficulty again; I don't know, I like this Oni as how it is currently, and remapping it would take a new concept entirely, but an ideal star rating for this spread for me would be something like: 1.4* --> 1.95*--> 2.5* --> 3.5*
(Note: emphasis on
for me; this may not be the case for BNs or QATs, or most importantly, you.)
00:18:020 (52) - if you're going to use D at 00:17:187 (50,51), NOT having a D here is kinda a let down
00:23:853 (83,84,85) and 00:25:520 (91,92,93) - I get that you're trying to vary up the patterns a bit, but I like the ddk's waayyy more than dkd to match the strings
00:53:437 (216,219) - ddD is unrankable. Don't ask me why, it just is. Yes, we can play them just fine. Yes, it is ridiculous.
00:44:687 - note placement for the entire kiai seems kinda random to me; I won't suggest any changing, specifically because I don't understand it, just wanted to let you know how I feel about this section.
[]
There you go! Enjoyable song and enjoyable mapset. Hope you find this mod helpful, and good luck beatmapping! :3