news

Project Loved: January 2022

by Panacotta

With a brand new year underway, Project Loved has returned to bring you your first dose of maps of 2022!

To those who need a reminder, Project Loved hosts community voting polls each month to decide which beatmaps get added to the Loved category. All of the maps are chosen by the Loved Captains of their respective game modes. Each beatmap banner in this news post will redirect you to the respective poll, or you can view them all directly on the Project Loved forum here. The voting process lasts for 10 days, so don't forget to vote! You can read more about this project on the wiki page!

As usual, we would like to thank everyone for your participation in the December votes. If you would like to view the results from the previous round, you may do so by clicking the following links:

In January, we've had no new additions to the team, so we'd like to use this space to celebrate this new year with you. The team wishes you the best for this new year and we sincerely thank you all for your continuous love and support. Keep being amazing!

Without any further delay, let's move onto this month's picks!

osu!
osu!taiko
osu!catch
osu!mania

The osu! Loved candidates were chosen by DigitalHypno, Doomsday and kotkeone!

yana - Oznei Haman wa Mou Iranai by Deramok
125 BPM, 6:40 | 6.40★
description written by DigitalHypno

With six minutes of nonstop 250 BPM "kaizo" aim control, this map has been a premiere benchmark map since 2016. Topped off with a catchy Touhou song, it's almost addicting trying to master the patterns in this map. If you're a fan of Deramok's other maps, you're in for an absolute treat.

xi - Double Helix by Akali
156 BPM, 5:18 | 7.03★
description written by DigitalHypno

This map is an onslaught of rhythm complexity, finger control, and flow aim. Mapped by none other than Akali, this map is 5 minutes of some of the most satisfying patterns you'll find in this game. If you're a fan of other rhythm complexity maps by the artist xi, you'll absolutely love this map.

Igorrr & Ruby My Dear - Barbecue by -PC
200 BPM, 3:41 | 6.79★
description written by Doomsday

If you're looking for a great breakcore map to add to your collection, this is one you should not miss out on. -PC is a name synonymous with quality tech maps, who brings that expertise to this intense track involving the iconic artist Igorrr. It's one of their earlier maps, but I think it holds up against their more recent projects.

This map for Barbecue has a bit of everything you would expect from a map of this type — intense burst patterns, snappy aim control, and plenty of streams to test your stamina at 200 BPM. However, this map builds slowly, and it nails the pacing of the song perfectly. It switches from longer, slower swinging slider patterns, into sudden quick bursts constantly. Once you reach its climactic ending stream flurry, it feels massive. It slams into your face like a steam train.

This holds up very well against other breakcore maps you can find in the ranked section, and has always been a favorite of many. Do you think you can take the heat?

sky_delta - Grenade by MinG3012
181 BPM, 4:07 | 26.85★
The [Drop's Ultra benninger] difficulty is not being nominated for Loved.
description written by Doomsday

Some mappers like to make elaborate patterns to complement a song. Some like to create stern challenges that test your skills.

Then there is MinG3012. He likes to make your client crash, lag, or break in spectacular ways.

This map isn't the first time he pushed the limits of the editor. His set of Brain Power with invisible spinners, and his Aspire 2016 entry predate this. However, Grenade was the one that made him infamous — the first true "Ming Map".

The entire map somehow takes place during a break, so the background stays lit, notifications cannot be hidden, and mouse buttons cannot be disabled at all. It features some of the earliest use of ghost sliders with glitched bodies, and some sliders go so far offscreen that they are not properly playable in a 4:3 resolution. The reworked star rating is completely busted, and trying to open AIMod in the editor results in a crash. Opening this map in the editor at all is a bad idea, actually.

The mapping itself isn't outrageous (apart from its huge circle size at CS 0), and it's quite unpolished at times, but the gimmicks showcased here have influenced some of the most popular Aspire-style maps that followed, including many of the Aspire 2017 entries.

Many of the most creative uses of the editor can trace their roots back to this, and for that reason, I think it deserves a spot in the Loved category. Check it out for yourself, but proceed with caution.

Nanawo Akari - Mousou Happy End by alden
210 BPM, 3:24 | 8.25★
description written by kotkeone

Originally starring as a custom map for Maple Cup 2021 as a NM1 last year, Mousou Happy End is another great map by alden coming to the category. At 8 stars, 210 BPM, and lasting 3 minutes, this map tests your aim at the highest level, with spaced streams that ramp the difficulty up fast. And as the diff name suggests, there's little time to relax in this high intensity map. I hope you enjoy pushing your skills to the limit, and vote this January!

FROZEN QUALIA - WINTER DIAMOND by Settia and Tsumia
144 BPM, 4:53 | 5.52★, 5.62★, 5.86★
description written by kotkeone

A name well versed in the Loved section, Settia has a cute and flowy 5-star, 144 BPM, 5-minute map coming. WINTER DIAMOND is a perfect blend of spaced alt with sliders in between, making for a great experience at an easier level, along with an amazing guest difficulty coming from Tsumia. Hopefully you'll enjoy playing while avoiding the winter this January!

The osu!taiko Loved candidates were chosen by -Kazu-, Boaz, Gamelan4, Horiiizon and KuroKuroKuro!

youman feat. GUMI - R.I.P. by ekumea1123 and nyanmi-1828
270 BPM, 3:40 | 6.70★, 7.47★
description written by Boaz

Well-known vocaloid producer youman's R.I.P. is a high-BPM song with quite a tempo in the choruses, which is beautifully emphasized by both nyanmi-1828 and ekumea1123.

This highly popular map features 2 difficulties for different audiences. R.I.P. by ekumea1123 is an incredibly smooth speed map offering some rest outside of the kiai but challenging you with a lot of 270 BPM 3- and 5-note patterns. Fade by nyanmi-1828 on the other hand is great for speed practice for more advanced players. This difficulty challenges you with long patterns and even some 1/6, all while giving the player a smooth experience without awkward patterning or bad flow.

Are your hands warm enough for this speedy trial?

Jeff Williams feat. Casey Lee Williams - Time to Say Goodbye by HiroK
250 BPM, 3:17 | 7.06★
description written by Boaz

Jeff Williams - Time to say Goodbye (feat. Casey Lee Williams) by HiroK is one of the more popular RWBY taiko maps out there and that's for a good reason. This map was used as a NoMod pick in the Taiko World Cup 2020, introducing some interesting and speedy patterns.

But this is not just a traditional stamina map. It features a lot of inspiring patterns within the streams, some well-executed 1/3-snapped streams, and let's not forget the incredible flow this map brings to the table. All of these being the recipe for a very impressive and original stamina map.

goreshit - wasting my time by yea
214 BPM, 3:01 | 6.57★
description written by Gamelan4

goreshit - wasting my time is quite a familiar name in Loved. We had the pleasure to bring back in 2018 SKSalt's awesome rendition of this track, and 4 years later we present you the same song, but by a different mapper and most importantly with a completely different approach and style.

yea's version is a pure stamina-stream map, featuring several deathstreams with patterning that drains your stamina fast and steady, all justified by the never-ending nature and structure of a goreshit track. This map will absolutely waste your keycaps due to the intense smashing it requires but it is definitely not a waste of time, so you should give it a try!

Various Artists - The Holy Stamina Dojo by TimmyAkmed
190 BPM, 20:12 | 7.87★
description written by -Kazu-

Alright guys, this is definitely not going to be an easy ride. We don't often feature "benchmark" maps but time and time again we've been proven wrong every time we select a map that "nobody will be able to pass" just to get a bunch of S scores on the ranking, so this is what all that brought us.

The Holy Stamina Dojo is probably one of these maps that a lot of people know about and not many have even tried going for, as 20 minutes of constant deathstreams that go in roughly 5-BPM increases with each different song that's part of the marathon is bound to wear even the most skillful taiko gods, making for one of the most interesting maps ever getting a leaderboard (hopefully).

Are you up to the challenge?

katagiri - #2wise4u by maguro869 and KTYN
200 – 250 BPM, 2:45 | 6.07★, 6.53★
description written by -Kazu-

Yes, you got it right, it's time for a katagiri map to make its appearance into the Project Loved, with this time around maguro869 and KTYN bringing us #2wise4u, a very popular map for its flowiness and focus on well done patterning.

maguro869's diff sits at 200 BPM, making for a streamy map that is really fun to play due to its pattern variety, but if you're missing some speed in your life you can also check out KTYN's diff which uses a sped up version of the song clocking at 250 BPM, being also a very well-structured streamy map resulting in a mapset that will bring tons of fun for sure!

96-glass - TAROLIN MEGAMIX (2077 art mix) by applerss
180 BPM, 3:56 | 7.06★, 8.69★
description written by Boaz

Are you ready for some techy bursts? Or would you rather have some raw 360 BPM patterns? The choice is yours in TAROLIN MEGAMIX (2077 art mix) by (as you might have guessed already) applerss! Our beloved speed mapper is returning to the osu!taiko Loved scene once again with this masterpiece.

TAROLIN MEGAMIX (2077 art mix) features 2 difficulties, one challenging your tech with lots of 1/6 and 1/4 patterns, the other one featuring 2 unhinged kiais filled with bursts at a whopping 360 BPM! Lets hope your hand can still press the vote button after you've test-played the highest difficulty...

katagiri - 16bit.rar by rezi888 and 7_7
320 BPM, 3:13 | 7.79★
description written by KuroKuroKuro

katagiri - 16bit.rar is a song that has a much higher level of sound pressure and speed than the original song. This map is a collaboration between famous mappers rezi888 and 7_7. The beatmap has a high BPM and density, making it a real challenge and a thrilling experience. Just from the fun of the beatmap, it seems as if the two collaborators are facing each other off. If you want to see two famous mappers face off, you should play this map!

The osu!catch Loved candidates were chosen by Sartan, Spectator, Tenshichan and Wesley!

Massive New Krew & RoughSketch - Extreme Ongaku School feat. Nanahira by Kukkai
210 BPM, 4:40 | 6.17★
description written by Sartan

It's extreme! It's music! It's... school? Whatever. I'll gladly take it, as long as it is mapped by our dear Kukkai!

Here we have a bit of a mid- to high-level map featuring plenty of jumps as well as a handful of perhaps fairly unexpected stream patterns, that will fill your screen with absolute joy for a nice 4 minutes and 40 seconds. I mean, who doesn't get all jumpy and happy upon hearing Nanahira, right?

There aren't many experimental patterns in this one, so most people will certainly be comfortable playing this map. This also makes it very viable for using mods, though applying Hard Rock to the map does make it quite a bit harder!

So go check it out and see if your fingers also get all tickly when you first hear this song! Or as Akata Ryuuga would say in the comments section of this map: "just bruh awesome".

xi - Ascension to Heaven by Spectator
200 BPM, 4:59 | 5.94★
description written by Tenshichan

As you may recall, xi was the last featured artist that was announced at the end of last year and they are a very well known artist in the osu! community, so to celebrate the occasion we shall present you Ascension to heaven by Spectator.

The map was uploaded last year, but in fact, it has been mapped all the way back in 2014. Naturally, the style Spectator used for the map back then is different from how their maps look like nowadays, and they are now known as a very competent and versatile mapper in the community. This map specifically uses a progressive style which make the map look less like most of the maps that were uploaded around that time.

It consists mostly of streams which flow very nicely, and if you are familiar with playing stream maps, then you shouldn't have much of a difficult time playing this map. I'd say the difficulty of this map is very comfortable — it is not too hard but on the other hand you still have to pay attention in order to not randomly drop your combo.

Make sure to check it out or you will descend to hell!

ryu5150 - Last remote by Bunnrei
320 BPM, 4:26 | 8.37★
description written by Wesley

If you are looking for a challenge, you have come to the right place. Last remote is mapped by Bunnrei, with a star rating of 8.37 and an approach rate of 10 you can kind of expect where this is going.

The map starts and goes from 0 to 100 right away: streams everywhere! There are no breaks in this map, however there are some slower parts where you could potentially pause the game to catch a breather. Now of course you can take a quick break, but make sure to pay attention because the map will jump from a relatively calm part right back into a bunch of fast-paced streams.

Make sure to give the map a spin as it is packed with action!

Diceros Bicornis(xi+BlackY) - Siva by Jemzuu
212 BPM, 3:59 | 8.25★
description written by Spectator

Being featured in the Grand Finals of AxS 6, this map provides a huge challenge to even top players. With a BPM of 212, there are a lot of spaced hyper-chains, brutal wiggles, technical sliders and stairs, which require an accurate movement and stamina. Hopefully you'll enjoy this good practice map as well as I have, especially if you are a top player!

The osu!mania Loved candidates were chosen by _underjoy, DannyPX, Kawawa, Paturages, Penguinosity and RandomeLoL!

Mori Calliope - Excuse My Rudeness, But Could You Please RIP? by arcwinolivirus
124 BPM, 3:03 | 2.03★ – 3.69★
description written by Paturages

Another year has come and we are still nominating VTubers for Loved, what the heck is wrong with us?

Ahem, arcwinolivirus's mapset of Mori Calliope's incredibly viral and notorious Excuse My Rudeness, But Could You Please RIP? has been getting insane amounts of attention over the past couple years. The spread presents itself with optional SV diffs for those who would like to test their memory of the song and beat themselves even more with it... Uh, no? I don't have a personal bias against this song, what are you talking about?

Ah well, as the song puts it artfully: f**k it, I'm casting my vote. Are you?

SickStrophe - Pop Up Tha Bass by Cokiiplay
104 BPM, 2:48 | 3.28★
description written by Paturages

This is an old one, but this is a good one. Cokiiplay has been mapping all kinds of skillsets and in all kinds of styles in the last few years, and as we were able to catch them for their comeback, we also welcome them for their first Loved nomination!

Pop Up Tha Bass is arguably Cokiiplay's most notorious SV map, namely being featured in the finals of the 4-digit MWC of 2021. It is mostly reading-oriented, switching between slowjam buildups, bombastic drops and longjack transitions. Beware of some of the odd snaps in transitions here and there — the high OD can really bite you when you're going for an SS!

Like what you're seeing? Pop up tha votes!

GYARI - Akari ga Yatte Kita zo by LeiN-
136 BPM, 1:50 | 5.03★
description written by Penguinosity

LeiN- makes their return to the Loved votings, with their map of GYARI's incredibly infectious Akari ga Yatte Kita zo!

LeiN is a long-time veteran of the mania community who I'm sure needs no introduction at this point, as they've produced some of the most prolific charts that mania has seen. From sink to the deep sea world, to Crack traxxxx, LeiN has built up an impressively diverse and impactful selection of maps over the years and has really shown no signs of slowing down.

Taking a look at what we're nominating for this wave however, Akari ga is just a fun chart to play through and through. It's a very jack-oriented map, which compliments the cadence of the vocals in this song, but LeiN also works in some tricky bursts and flams to add extra flavor. The chaotic yet organized nature of the chart really does feel like a great representation of the song, which is something that LeiN has always been particularly good at.

We hope that all of you have fun with the map and enjoy it as much as we do. Make sure to give your vote, and let LeiN know how much we all love the work they've put in to make great content for so long!

B.U.S feat. MAKI - promise by [Crz]Nixo
144 BPM, 3:41 | 5.20★
description written by Penguinosity

[Crz]Nixo is here to make their first appearance in Loved, with their speedy map of B.U.S. and MAKI's promise!

Nixo is a VSRG veteran, who has been a community member of osu! for many years now, and they've also amassed a decent number of charts during that time. Some of which have garnered a respectable amount of attention over time, such as their MiniPack series, but we felt it made more sense to put up one of Nixo's more popular individual maps.

promise is a song that everyone knows by now. From the memes to the other charts of the numerous versions of the song, it's always been inescapable. Nixo certainly did justice to this classic cover, with his tasteful speed-dump (which can also be found in Nixo pack 0), that has managed to gain some notoriety on mania over the years.

I think it's fair to say that this map is what you would call a "vocal dump", as Nixo employs various types of dense layering anytime vocals are present. This whole chart is filled with varied speedstreams that are constantly changing snaps and density to complement the song, but all of what's here plays pretty ergonomically, and in turn feels very rewarding to set a score on.

Let's give a warm welcome to Nixo, as we're glad to finally bring them into the spotlight. Make sure to cast your vote!

DJ Myosuke & Noizenecio - Architecture by Mat and FAMoss
300 BPM, 4:05 | 4.35★, 5.58★, 7.83★, 8.02★
The [Envory's Hard], [Shikkou's Hard] and [Jakads' Extreme [wip]] difficulties are not being nominated for Loved.
description written by Paturages

Well, uh, here we go again! I don't really have words for this one. I feel like a lot of people may have heard of this one, and each have their own perception, feedback and words about this mapset. For those getting a feeling of déjà vu, this is not the first time we are introducing Architecture in a Loved nomination.

As many years have passed since the map's inception and the first Loved voting, players have improved as more and more ruthless maps have seen the light of day and have also been utterly annihilated by extraterrestrial beings. Despite all that, even now, the highest difficulty is still a very highly demanding chart for a majority of people to even get an HP pass on. It has undoubtedly left its mark in the whole osu!mania history, especially with a fair number of players covering and sharing their progress on the map for years.

Are you willing to give a chance to Architecture? A long time has passed since the last nomination and we believe that this fully deserves another round of eyes and votes over it. Please do voice your opinions and cast your votes on this iconic mapset!

Pate ja Ryka - Takas Pelikentil by Wh1teh
237 BPM, 3:17 | 4.58★, 5.14★
description written by RandomeLoL

How did we end up from a rather fancy pop song such as Modern Talking's Brother Louie to Pate and Rykä's Finnish interpretation that is Takas Pelikentil? Honestly, we would have no clue if this wasn't charted by the hands of Wh1teh, being a finn themselves! Most probably they'll know better than anyone else, but this does not mean that we don't get to enjoy it, because the chart is precisely made to be enjoyed after all.

Maybe the... "avant-garde" background caught you an eye while you were scrolling through Fennec Fantasy. Or maybe just the song choice already made it worth to try it out. Hell, maybe you're Finnish, you enjoy European dance-pop, and Counter Strike (which I'd argue is not a common mix per se). All of the aforementioned matters naught, as that'd just be like judging a book by its cover. And this book offers a very intense and honestly fun experience. Just try not to get tired while experiencing it!

DJ SHARPNEL - Pacific Girls by Fullerene- and IcyWorld
195 BPM, 5:16 | 5.27★, 5.30★
description written by RandomeLoL

So we've gone over FUTURE DOMINATORS, we've also tackled down WE LUV LAMA, and now we find ourselves with yet another collaboration between IcyWorld and Fullerene with their own interpretation of DJ SHARPNEL's Pacific Girls! The chart, first debuted in Nuclear Blast JS Awesome Bomb Filez 5 alongside many cult classics, has garnered quite a following since its inception, and it is now our turn to give it the spot it has long deserved.

On a first glance, both versions might appear similar in nature. but Icy's interpretation takes it up a notch for those who thought Fullerene was too easy on you. Moreover, this tuple of a pack will be accompanied of varying rates as per usual. Maybe you think the base difficulty is too easy for you, so go ahead and bump the difficulty up if you so please!

We're more than pleased to bring yet another acclaimed Stamina map. Perhaps you hold a certain liking to one chart over the other one? Or you simply wanted to brute-force your stamina way up and stumbled upon this! Whatever the reason might be, we welcome you to try it out, no matter if you've never seen the chart before or if it brings some sense of nostalgia back to you.

PS: Azur Lane > Kancolle and I won't take a no for an answer.

Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs by Razzy
155 BPM, 3:09 | 4.04★
description written by Paturages

Razzy, what are you doing, none of those words are valid words on Wordle!

People may be familiar with Razzy's POETIC JUSTICE // AWAY LN chart that got loved a fair while ago: Thnks fr th Mmrs is another one of their big LN hits. As far as song choice goes, this is a blast from the past, right back from 2007, when Guitar Hero was just starting to be the bigger rhythm game at the time... Can you tell this is a big nostalgic hit for me?

The Guitar Hero reference doesn't come out of left field, as Razzy is now also a primary contributor to the Clone Hero scene, being part of the prestigious Custom Songs Central collective. Do check those links out if you are missing the good ol' days of mashing frets on a guitar controller (if you still have one — check out your Goodwills or equivalents otherwise!)

Back to osu!mania: you should try this one if you're looking to improve your LN coordination and releases, and remember to cst yr vts afterwards!

Niccolo Paganini - Capriccio Op. 1 No. 5: Agitato by Davvy
54 BPM, 2:27 | 3.52★
description written by RandomeLoL

This chart might not come as a surprise for those who've partaken in the Springtime osu!mania Free-for-all Tournament 5 (or just SOFT5 to keep it short), specially for those who were able to get past the Qualifier stage.

Why this chart in particular someone might ask? We simply want to give our utmost attention to probably one of the most underappreciated mappers in the community, that being Davvy himself! Let it be for his niche likes in a rhythmgamecore community or his involvement and passion in mapping and playing all sorts of classical tracks and instruments. His work being mostly underground hasn't stopped him from charting very precise and complex tracks such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps just to name one.

Niccolò Paganini's Capriccio No. 5 might not be one of his most complex charts. However, if you enjoyed it and yearn for more, we only hope that giving Davvy the spotlight here will let you see how many other masterpieces he's been able to draft all by himself!

Max Brhon - Cyberpunk by YunoMaya
110 – 154 BPM, 3:30 | 4.60★ – 5.98★
description written by Paturages

Apparently, DannyPX has been ordered to give a headpat to YunoMaya posthaste for this one. We cannot fully confirm that this deed has been in fact performed — only the concerned parties will be able to attest.

To describe Cyberpunk as anything less than a banger would be a travesty. And like many bangers, this is a chordjack file with its share of pitched rates! Pitched rates might be a bit of a divisive topic, but I personally find "nightcore Cyberpunk" to be its own kind of listening experience.

Have you done your nails right? You don't have to let them dry: go ahead and smash that vote while putting the song on loop forever, at your preferred rate!

knot - cold planet by Kamikaze
174 BPM, 2:05 | 5.12★
description written by RandomeLoL

It's been a while since we've seen Kamikaze's work in the spotlight. While they've decided to part ways from the game and community, we just hope that the legacy that they've decided to value is enjoyed by everyone else to come.

Kami's interpretation of knot - cold planet is possibly the most well-known iteration of this track in the game. While other's might have tried with their own "special" interpretations, this chart in particular has remained unique ever since its conception.

With that said, we want to take the chance to bid farewell to Kami and the work they've done. While their sentiment towards the game might be the complete antipole of what it used to be, this is a figment of legacy they've decided to keep. And most probably, this will sadly be the last. Therefore, we'd want to share our Love towards this chart. Hopefully pushing it will let it be enjoyed by many others to come!

Toby Fox - Rude Buster (Camellia Remix) by aci
265 BPM, 5:44 | 8.58★, 11.32★
description written by _underjoy

aci is known for creating large amounts of endgame content for 7K players. Rude Buster (Camellia Remix) is a certified Deltarune classic and a good example of aci's menacing mapping prowess.

Let's be absolutely honest here — this is an EXTREMELY hard mapset. At whopping 265 BPM, the You Are Best Friends difficulty is a crazy mix of chordstreams, speed parts, chords and jacks scattered throughout the whole chart with little to no breaks. This map is not forgiving for any mistakes and stands for a true stamina test for even the best of players.

And if that wasn't enough, the We Are Forever Friends difficulty is even harder than that and is catering to the best of the best, introducing some of the craziest and hardest patterning ever seen in osu!mania. If you pass that difficulty, you are truly a master of 7K. And if this mapset is way outside of your capabilities... you can always try Half Time!

Despite all of its tremendous difficulty, Rude Buster is a thoughtfully mapped set, and aci has a lot of experience in creating very hard 7K charts. If you want to break your limits and compete in the leaderboards of this monstrosity, vote now!

Various Artists - dressurf's 7k practice charts by dressurf and Evening
127 – 300 BPM, 3:51 | 4.88★ – 9.72★
description written by _underjoy

We're not losing any momentum and coming into the next nomination, which is a rather spacious and diverse collection of charts by none other than dressurf! His 7K practice charts feature a lot of interesting approaches and competitive potential.

The pack is catering to players of many difficulty levels — while some of the diffs such as Aura or Broken consist mostly of fun and light chordstreams, Rock It and especially Decipher.#300 redefine the word "hard". In between, one can find many diverse charts with both rice and long note patterning, chordstreams, jacks and speed parts.

Oh, and by the way, the Meikaruza map is a collab with a certain famous charter! As dressurf himself stated, this mappack provides a good amount of practice while also being a solid representation of his mapping prowess and experience.

Are you ready to smash some keys and place high on the rankings? Then vote for this set!

MisoilePunch ~Take No Complete~ - Levier'n NabYss by taba2
249 BPM, 1:57 | 1.73★ – 9.09★
description written by _underjoy

Yet another Korean mapper? That's right, we've decided to showcase one of the most prolific mappers of the season, taba2 and his set of Levier'n
NabYss!

taba2's specialty are high-speed SDVX-native songs. Levier'n NabYss does live up to the expectation, being a mix of 249 BPM staircase-based patterning with some pretty interesting trills and chordjacks. The difficulty scales intensely as the chart progresses culminating at the ending chordstream and burst sections.

We're happy to welcome new faces to the votings and thus, give a warm round of applause to taba2 and vote for his map!

nano - No pain, No game by Takane6, Julie and Remillion Cross
190 BPM, 3:19 | 1.76★ – 5.57★
description written by _underjoy

Now it's the time for a classic. A 2015 spread set, No pain, No game enters the voting!

Featuring legacy charters such as Remilion Cross and Julie, this set is a nostalgia trip to the era of older 4K and 7K osu!mania. And interestingly, it's a very warm trip, as the patterning across all difficulties is pretty clean and enjoyable, with some dynamic SVs diversifying the experience. It's a basic hybrid that excels at being an easy to digest, approachable map for a broad audience.

Whether you have some long-forgotten feelings of gratitude towards this mapset, or you have seen it just now and appreciated it, No pain, No game definitely stood the test of time and is a great addition to the Loved section.

IU - eight (feat. SUGA of BTS) by upan
120 BPM, 2:43 | 5.09★, 6.07★
description written by _underjoy

K-Pop in the Loved voting? We couldn't believe it either. Anyway, eight by upan is a mesmerizing long note experience.

The map is starting relatively slowly with some chill noodle patterning, that builds noticeably after the first chorus, when a very popular vocalist takes the mic and signals that the party is only beginning. Indeed, the middle chorus is definitely the highlight of the chart with very fluent LN patterning, which then fades out to again bring back the pure and innocent joy of low density noodles at the ending. Definitely a pleasant journey.

We don't really care if you upvote the chart because it's K-Pop or because you genuinely like it. Just do your job.

Apo11o"QUASAR"program feat. Endou Shun - saihate by Leeju
148 – 207.2 BPM, 2:13 | 9.80★, 10.50★, 11.19★, 11.83★, 12.47★
description written by _underjoy

Sounds familiar? That's right, another brilliant chart of the Deemo classic saihate enters the Loved voting, and this time it's the 7K rendition by one of the newer mappers, Leeju!

This charming map has quite an overrated star rating of 9.80 (with the uprates reaching even mid 12 stars!), yet it's a neat mix of probably any 7K pattern that can be found in the game. Alternating between LN and rice, burst, chordstream and jack sections, Leeju created a magnificent experience — one that captures the dynamic and everchanging nature of the song.

No further comment really needs to be made here — just play the map. And vote for it.

Nana Mizuki - Vitalization by MoTeSolo and Pengdoll
190 BPM, 3:39 | 10.47★
description written by _underjoy

Wait, haven't I seen this map somewhere before? That's right, we're giving another chance to a collab chart between MoTeSolo and Pengdoll, Vitalization, similarily as we did with Architecture.

The reason? As the metagame changes and the community grows, more and more maps become appreciated over the course of time. We believe that the first nomination happened when the community wasn't especially fond of high-level o2style charts and the vote counts were very low, but as recent nominations prove, this no longer seems to be the case. That's why we hope for a second chance for this mapset and a fairer judgment, as this map has stayed an enjoyable and nostalgic experience.

From everyone on the Project Loved Team, we hope you enjoyed this month's selections and are looking forward to the next! The favoured beatmaps will hit the Loved beatmap listing shortly after the polls end.

If you would like to submit maps to be considered for future votes, you may do so by filling out this form and if you wish to view currently submitted maps, you can check them on the Project Loved website.

See you next month!

—Panacotta