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23 Jun 2022
Project Loved: June 2022
Project Loved: June 2022
Project Loved is here to kickstart the summer with a fresh batch of maps for you to vote on!
To those who're still unfamiliar with what we do, 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. The voting process lasts for 10 days, so don't forget to vote! More info can be found on the wiki page and website.
As always, we would like to thank everyone for your participation in the May votes. If you would like to view the results from the previous round, you may do so by clicking the following links:
Before we proceed with this month's picks, we'd like to introduce you to the newest members of the Project Loved team! Coming from the Global Moderation Team, ChillierPear and Venix have joined us to fulfill the duty of beatmap content moderation on Loved picks.
We'd also like to give special thanks to Hubz for giving our banner a fresh coat of paint and getting it up to current osu! standards in terms of design! Hopefully this won't be the only design-related update that Project Loved will be seeing in the future ;).
Without any further delays, let's get into this month's picks! Shall we?
Navigation
osu!
The osu! Loved candidates were chosen by Doomsday and Wixonater!
Wagakki Band - Hanabi by Atsuro, Hazu-, iYiyo, polka and Underforest
232 BPM, 3:51 | 1.47★ – 7.17★
description written by Doomsday
Players active in 2015 will know just how popular Wagakki Band, and Tengaku, were in the osu! community. Their unique sound, as well as the insane difficulty and style of Shiro's feared map, started a trend of solid beatmaps being created for their tracks.
One of those is Hanabi, a set hosted by Atsuro. It is a highly polished 2015 beatmap that sadly never found its place in the Ranked category. It is a full spread that covers any difficulty range you would be looking for, with the distinct jump and stream style that you would see in maps of the era. Plenty of geometric shapes and jumps with consistent, clean spacing placements define this one, and the top difficulty also features many back-and-forth jumps reminiscent of the original Tengaku map.
Aside from occasional fixes from the mapper, this set has lingered in the graveyard for many years. It has remained as a beloved unranked map ever since, but do you think that it deserves a spot in Loved? Drop your vote in the link above, and let us know!
2MB - Pluto Relinquish by Snow Note
400 BPM, 1:31 | 6.33★, 7.47★, 7.47★
description written by Doomsday
One of the earliest boss maps in osu! was Snow Note's set for Pluto, mapped in 2012. The fast linear patterns and sudden speed changes are still a challenge, but this one is the next level. Pluto was a bruiser, but Pluto Relinquish is the big daddy.
This one comes in AR 9 and AR 10 flavours, and much like its older sibling, throws linear spaced patterns at you constantly. However, it is all played at multiples of 100 BPM, increasing up to 800 BPM! It plays mostly like a 200-BPM map, but for the standards of 2013 mapping, this was considered ridiculously hard for the players of the era.
From complex 1/3 tap sections, to the sudden high-SV repeat sliders, and to the winding spaced 1/4 streams at its climax, it summarizes the types of patterns that made Snow Note maps so infamous. Even though we are almost a decade on, and players have become much more proficient at these sorts of complex aim shapes, it still lives up to its difficulty name. If the Challenge difficulties are too much, there is a slightly easier Expert difficulty in the same mapping style, but that one is no walk in the park either.
Do you have what it takes to take on this original boss map? And does it find a home in Project Loved? You decide.
Linkin Park - Breaking The Habit by saggi and - Sana -
200.06 BPM, 2:58 | 7.37★
description written by Wixonater
Known for their high-difficulty jump maps, Saggi collabs with - Sana - for Breaking the Habit, a map that doesn't break that reputation. At 7.4 stars, 200 BPM and with a 3-minute runtime, the intensity of this map is ever-growing.
Starting with simple triangles and 1-2's, it builds up into half-screens and full-screens, climaxing with a triangle that fills the corners of the playfield. The map plays smoothly, allowing your aim to just flow from circle to circle, with sliders to keep the velocity up and jumps that truly never give up. It now enters Loved voting, so will it break through or not? Decide yourself and vote!
Gawr Gura - REFLECT (Assertive Hardcore Bootleg) by Kera
170 BPM, 3:09 | 6.53★
description written by Wixonater
With a recent high rise to popularity within the past few years, Hololive and their music have been making many waves through the osu! community. Gawr Gura is no exception.
Her first original song REFLECT, with the Assertive Hardcore Bootleg remix has been mapped into what can be best described as flowy slider alt. This map sits at 6.5 stars, 170 BPM and a 3-minute runtime, including a steady difficulty of streams into sliders with bursts and a 1/3 jump section in the middle. The ever-growing popularity within the past year has been well earned with Kera absolutely nailing the addictive style of this map.
So go and try it yourself! Maybe it'll be as alluring for you as to the many who have played it!
Katakiri Rekka - Answer by Delis, Axarious, CoLouRed GlaZeE, FGSky, IOException, Luscent, Mirash, neko ds and tatemae
224 BPM, 3:39 | 2.41★ – 6.83★
description written by Wixonater
A classic mapset filled to the brim with prolific mappers, this set screams quality and it does not disappoint.
At 224 BPM, a 3.5-minute runtime, it includes a full set ranging from 2.4 to 6.8 stars, numbering 12 difficulties in total, giving everyone an experience to enjoy. The top difficulty especially brings the set together, with a collab between Delis and Axarious- with consistent difficulty, a few streams, and plenty of strange aim patterns, this mixing pot lends for a great experience that I recommend everyone play.
I hope you enjoy and vote to see it in the Loved category soon!
Nthonius - Trapce by Sure
143.33 BPM, 2:38 | 5.11★
description written by Doomsday
A venerable gimmick map that was originally uploaded in 2013, and then re-uploaded in 2020, Trapce was unlike any other map that came out before it. Sure, formerly known as ykcarrot, is an osu! veteran and one of the most active mappers during that time, with a large catalog of classic ranked sets. Just for a bit of fun, Sure created this crazy map, and it quickly made an impression.
With scarcely sightreadable patterns, tricky rhythms, and fiendish tricks that were rarely ever seen in maps of the era, this is all about deceiving the player, with sliders that seamlessly change their velocity and direction without warning, spaced bursts that switch their patterns constantly, whole sections that seem to repeat, but then alter something to throw you off, all mapped in a clean symmetrical style. It also uses OD 10 and HP 10, making it very punishing.
When it was new, this map was barely comprehensible for many, but despite the controversial gimmicks, the mapping is precise and well made. It soon became a favourite for many top players.
The original map was deleted some time after 2013, and lost all of the favourites and plays it once had. It has since made a return, and it still stands out as a clean, but evil reading challenge. Let us know if you think this classic gimmick should get a spot in the Loved category!
osu!taiko
The osu!taiko Loved candidates were chosen by -Kazu-, Boaz, Gamelan4 and POCARI SWEAT!
Tally Hall - Turn the Lights Off by Coryn
190.03 BPM, 2:52 | 4.22★
description written by Boaz
On the outside, Turn the Lights Off might look like an average map, but that thought will change as soon as you play the map.
Turn the Lights Off features a wonderful storyboard by Foxeru emphasizing the state of the song while also hinting the gimmick of the map. When Tally Hall sings about turning the lights off, the lights of your playing field will actually be turned off! The storyboard will tell you what to play until the lights will be turned back on :). I'd highly recommend everyone to play this map for themselves since it's quite an experience with the storyboard turned on if I say so myself!
Lazhward - CFIT by -Kazu-
170 BPM, 2:01 | 6.31★, 6.36★
description written by Gamelan4
Since Ranked has a toxic relationship with finishers, Loved will be the angel for all those finisher-savvy smashers out there wanting a challenging map to test their finger control and awesome skillset.
Lazhward - CFIT by -Kazu- on the drums and Ulqui on the SVs is a map that, despite its young age, became a benchmark for the community, being featured in a recent osu!taiko World Cup and becoming a popular score bragging map that a lot of people enjoy.
If you are someone who struggles with complex finishers and SVs, the finisher nerf diff is there for you as well, so there is no excuse to not try this map out. Being a "bongo player" doesn't necessarily mean you will have the advantage here, so we are really excited to see you on the leaderboards!
Nanoka - Tsukimade Todoke, Fushi no Kemuri by JhowM
240 BPM, 2:18 | 7.21★, 7.26★
The [Old Extra (OD10)] and [Old Extra] difficulties are not being nominated for Loved.
description written by -Kazu-
Featured in the osu!taiko World Cup 2018 as the Finals NM4 pick, Tsukimade Todoke, Fushi no Kemuri made a huge uproar due to its sheer complexity founded in its variable-BPM and brutal streams that are quite difficult to hit, and while it wasn't the map everybody was expecting to appear in that pool back on that day, we sure are glad to bring it to the Loved section!
Even though only the Extra (Special Edition) difficulty made it as a known pick, with fairer streams that make the beatmap a lot more comfortable to hit, and as such became labeled as the superior difficulty playability-wise, the Extra diff is also pretty well done with patterns that better reflect on the song itself, so it's probably considered as superior from a mapper's perspective.
Sadly, the Old Extra difficulties won't be entering Loved due to their patterning not having aged well but hey, that doesn't mean JhowM isn't an incredible mapper and way ahead of their time!
leroy - theyfriend by Genjuro
198 BPM, 1:52 | 6.26★
description written by -Kazu-
Call it a déjà vu of sorts but once again we feature a dariacore song, this time leroy - theyfriend by Genjuro as one of the highest-quality maps in terms of reading challenges.
This catchy song has multiple difficult patterns that are both hard to hit and to read due to Genjuro's extreme usage of SV, with both 1/6 and 1/8 patterns being quite common throughout the song, and with both very slow overlapping notes and very fast ninja notes, requiring a lot of practice and memorization in order to master.
It's always good to see people make impressive plays on such maps as memory/high-intensity reading has always been the sort of skill that's been looked down upon but incredibly difficult to execute, so make sure to try it out and tell us with your vote!
Nanahira - Nana Party by katacheh
200 BPM, 180:58 | 6.38★
description written by POCARI SWEAT
"I really love Nanahira. Like, a lot. Like, a whole lot. You have no idea ..."
Nanahira and her fans have always been with so much tension, full of energy, and massive kawaii-ness. But what if it went too far?!
Katacheh, who must be a serious fan of Nanahira has made a "Nanathon" that blasts a collection of Nanahira music for 3 hours.
For its absurdly long length, and the fact that 3 hours of non-stop Nanahira is a thing that exists, this beatmap has been the talking point for everyone in the community. After more than 4 years of waiting, this beatmap now finally stands up against the Loved votes.
Are all you ready to play along for 3 hours, make a record, and engrave your name on the leaderboard?
osu!catch
The osu!catch Loved candidates were chosen by Kasumi-sama, Sartan, Tenshichan and Wesley!
mafumafu - I wanna be a girl by Chatie, Absolute Zero, Aerene, Aljotzi, amogus 727, Astreachan, bigh, Bunnrei, Crowley, Deif, GIGACHAD, JierYagtama, Kyonkichi, Mafumafu, Mniam, nikochurro, rew0825, rinkiha, SadEgg and ZiRoX
140 BPM, 3:49 | 1.59★, 2.33★, 3.01★, 3.98★, 5.78★
description written by Sartan
First of all, happy pride month everyone! LGBTIQ+ rights are human rights. Second of all, here's a map made for last year's pride month!
I wanna be a girl is an absolute monolith of a collab, featuring a whopping 21 mappers that all identify or question themselves as queer. This map does not have any sort of abstract quirks and is mostly stylized in a meta-esque manner, but the song is a lot of fun if you ask me. And despite the fact that the map does not have anything truly special within its fruits, it's really well made!
It has five difficulties, so there is something to play for everyone. Feel like the Overdose is not that tough for you? Go slap some Double Time on it and see if the issue persists.
So, go enjoy this map! Everyone is welcome :)
Laur - Sound Chimera by Razor Sharp
190 BPM, 5:00 | 10.25★
description written by Wesley
Sound Chimera, Razor Sharp, yeah... Almost anyone that has played this game for a little bit should know both. With a whopping 190 BPM, AR 9.8 and a star rating of 10.25, you can sort of expect what is gonna happen.
The map is filled with fast patterns, hyperwalks and zigzags, which all of you should already somewhat expect. While those are probably the main aspects of the map, there are also a couple of stacks that require you to be very precise because they're about the same width as your catcher.
Are you ready to take on this almighty monster?
lapix - Future Raver feat. Numb'n'dub by -Ken
165 BPM, 3:43 | 7.05★
description written by Kasumi-sama
-Ken is coming in this month, for the first time in over a year, for his potentially 4th Loved beatmap, so I'll keep this fairly short. We all know the man, excellent player, and he fares just as well in mapping, just like this map showcases.
This map is the perfect test of your jumping skills, and how well you can handle tempo changes, with both kiais for this map having some of the wackiest and fastest jumps to truly make you enjoy this.
Hope you're ready for it, because it can take you for one hell of a ride!
Marilyn Manson - This is Halloween by coldsoup
168 BPM, 3:09 | 5.02★
description written by Tenshichan
Sometimes it is a nice change of pace to step out of the comfort zone, leave the current meta behind and try something different. As most modern maps more or less require the same skillsets, why not take a look at maps that challenge you in an entirely different manner?
The map I shall present you today is This is Halloween by coldsoup. If you are not familiar with the map, then it is probably because it was mapped as early as 2012. And as you might expect, the meta back then was entirely different, when precision and accuracy dominated the mapping scene instead of speed and stamina.
This map fits that description perfectly. You won't need any speed or stamina, but you need a hell of a lot of precision as the majority of the map contains edge dashes that can be quite tricky to catch. The layout of the map is simple, so you can get used to it pretty quickly, and albeit having tricky patterns, it is nowhere near impossible and you don't have to be crazy good to pass it, so even aspiring players can give it a shot.
Make sure to give this a try — even though it might not be a type of map you are used to, it is really worth it!
osu!mania
The osu!mania Loved candidates were chosen by _underjoy, -NoName-, kadoen, Paturages, RandomeLoL and stupud man!
lapix & Massive New Krew - Bizzare Nation by ecafree2
150 BPM, 3:14 | 3.98★, 3.98★
description written by Paturages
You may remember ecafree2 from their previous old Ninja Re Bang Bang Loved entry. Bizzare Nation is their next most infamous SV entry: an especially visual experience that makes you think twice on where exactly to look and read notes from!
This is another oldie straight from 2019. As such, many readers may have encountered this one in a random multi room, or through innocent suggestions from acquaintances. What helps recommending this SV map is that it's actually very affordable for non-SV players: the note spacing is pretty much entirely normalized, and it is just a matter of getting used to the extreme stutters in what feels like a very new way of playing the game for players who have never touched SV before.
You too: join the SV Nation, and don't forget to cast your votes!
Camellia - GHOUL by Yokkako
230 BPM, 4:18 | 4.89★
description written by Paturages
Each and every day that passes, we inch closer and closer to a Friday Night Funkin' Loved entry. But today is not the day.
Originating from Quaver, Yokkako's interpretation of Camellia's GHOUL got extremely popular in a quite organic way in a relatively short amount of time. One of the reasons of its popularity besides song choice is that it is almost entirely made of rice. In fact, you can count the amount of long notes on... one finger! So if you enjoyed last month's Camellia entry, you may find what you are looking for here as well!
Don't forget to cast your votes! And please don't actually ask us about Friday Night Funkin' Loved entries.
DJ Sharpnel - KLASSIKER EINHEIT by IcyWorld
187.5 BPM, 4:01 | 5.08★
description written by RandomeLoL
Slowly but surely, IcyWorld's entire DJ Sharpnel collection is creeping into the Loved section. This month will be no exception, with yet another of their acclaimed legacy charts KLASSIKER EINHEIT.
For those unaware of this chart, or just as a refresher, it offers a wide variety of dense(-ish) jumpstreams and handstreams that most players will easily be able to acquaint themselves with! Moreover, playing it on higher rates for those seeking for a challenge should prove fun, specially once the handstream sections begin to rocketspike in difficulty.
Other than that, have fun not notelocking on some of the gigantic anchors in the denser sections.
Dormir - Une mage blanche by cjunh4972
193 – 270.2 BPM, 1:50 | 4.22★, 4.52★, 4.87★, 5.16★, 5.50★
description written by _underjoy
There are some maps that are made with more of an utilitarian point of view. Une mage blanche is one of them, being extremely straightforward and simple at what it does.
This is a very accessible chordjack chart. At 1.0, it's only 96.5 BPM, which makes it ideal for novice chordjack players to build up their wristing technique. Because of that, it's also a great accuracy test. Don't be overly confident though, as the chordjack structure is rather demanding in this map and on higher rates it may be difficult to execute the entirety of this chart.
There is not much more to say about this map — go ahead and place a vote on Une mage blanche!
BewhY - GOTTASADAE by 11Bit
132 BPM, 2:42 | 5.05★ – 6.34★
description written by RandomeLoL
After a short break from not seeing 11Bit in the polls, we'd love to bring them back to the spotlight with their take on BewhY's GOTTASADAE!
This map of theirs is certainly unique. For some, it could even be considered a meme. But this chart is sure to stand on its own! Its unique patterning which at first glance might seem straightforward is sure to throw some people off. Its technical parts aren't any forgiving either, so do expect to be ready for non-conventional finger movements which I daresay are quite fun and satisfying to hit properly.
In any case, we hope the community can get to enjoy this pick as much as we've done and as much as some members of said community have already expressed!
Camellia - M1LLI0N PP by DannyPX, -Lethal-, [Crz]Crysarlene, [GS]Myuka, Erkfir, Jakads, juankristal, Logan636, Penguinosity, RuleBlazing, yetii and zero2snow
234 BPM, 7:02 | 5.77★
description written by Paturages
A tiebreaker to end all tiebreakers: this is one of many mega-collabs that the osu!mania community came up with for the tournament community. M1LLI0N PP was specifically mapped for the Grand Finals of the 3rd edition of the 4 Digit osu!mania World Cup.
Epic finales and bombastic execution has been a continuous trend of major osu!mania tournaments, and this one is no exception. Get blasted with 7 minutes of pretty much everything, as a multitude of parts and various styles of 12 different mappers graze you as the notes fly by your screen. This is truly a tiebreaker to end all tiebreakers.
...Well, don't pay too much heed to my fancy words — just go play the thing and cast your vote already! And remember: there are no performance points in the Loved section.
katagiri - Scattered Pancakes (Short Ver.) by Jakads
240 BPM, 2:25 | 7.33★
description written by -NoName-
After a few months away from the osu!mania Loved section, Jakads returns to the Loved nominations with his chart of Scattered Pancakes!
You may have seen this chart featured in a video where Jakads somehow achieves a 100.00% SS on his own chart after some retries. This is a clean technical chart with many variations in deceptively tricky patterning. Don't be fooled by the star rating— this chart can be quite hard as it is sitting at 240 BPM.
Despite the above, the chart manages to feel straightforward at the same time. There's no real gimmick in this one (except maybe that last burst, sheesh), but expect to drop many misses if you're not careful. The chart gets harder as it progresses, so there isn't much time to catch a break and regain stamina.
Make sure to give Jakads your support and vote for this nomination!
Kraus - Pitch Fucker by capsafangirl
183.7 BPM, 2:11 | 6.82★, 7.41★, 7.99★, 8.57★, 9.14★
description written by kadoen
Unlike some other well known keycount, there are not many chordjack maps in the 7K Loved section, so we thought we'd bring you another one.
Pitch Fucker is a popular progressive chordjack experience, clocking in at 167 BPM mapped to 1/2 (equivalent to 83.5 BPM mapped to 1/4). This makes it more of a reading challenge, as it starts with relatively sparse 3-4 chords, but after the middle break picks up in density, and finishes up with the densest charting possible, composed entirely of 6-7 chords. For the true jack gorillas, the set comes with rates up to 1.4!
Now go vote, and make sure to give capsafangirl some love for their first Loved nomination, and for charting this absolute banger of a song!
Davichi - My Man by Reba
124 BPM, 3:07 | 6.94★
description written by _underjoy
Probably one of the biggest Reba classics, My Man finally enters the Loved voting!
While being one of the earlier works of the popular 7K mapper, it still greatly encompasses their style. A very catchy k-pop song is followed with chordstreams and LN sections. This chart gets progressively harder and denser and culminates in the ending section. There is also a huge sudden chordjack right before the last chorus, so don't enter that section unprepared! The chart is not on the harder side, so many 7K players should be able to play it well.
If you are My Man (or My Woman, it doesn't really matter), give some love to this mapset NOW!
From everyone working on Project Loved, we hope you enjoyed this month's selection, and are looking forward to the next! The favoured beatmaps will hit the Loved beatmap listing shortly after the polls end. So don't forget to hydrate and vote on your favorite beatmaps in order for that to happen!
More info about Project Loved can be found on its wiki page and website. Stop by the #osu-loved channel of the osu!dev Discord server if you have any questions, concerns, or are interested in helping out.
See you next month!
—Hivie
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