!!Tropes
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Zizz gets this for his undermentioned MoralEventHorizon, either being LoveToHate for being one of the only villainous characters [[ShowDontTell to live up to their potential for evil]], or just being hated for what he actually does to ALT. [[TakeAThirdOption While you could get away with]] [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs agreeing to both]], be prepared for a nasty FlameWar if you admit to ''shipping'' these two.
* BrokenBase:
** The game's cutesy art style is a major point of contention [[AmericansHateTingle amongst Western players]], who tend to prefer their games to be RatedMForManly.
** ''pop'n music Lapistoria''[='=]s new art style. Some enjoy it, others feel it's [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks just not the same]] as the same style used in previous games.
** Whether to refer to songs by their name or their "genre". The latter seems to be falling out of style as ''Lapistoria'' onwards no longer assigns genres to new songs.
** Is playing with Beat-Pop (a note style that replicates the bichromic note style of ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}}'' rather than ''pop'n''[='=]s four-color note style) cheating? Or it an acceptable way to play, especially given that it doesn't disqualify or reduce scores?
* DieForOurShip: Timer is canonically dating Nyami, despite her being in a OneTruePairing with best friend Mimi (and to a much lesser extent, MZD, where Mimi and Nyami often gets shipped with). Expect him to get screwed over in fanfics because of this.
* EnsembleDarkHorse:
** Poet is a less severe example, but she has a good amount of fans, appearing in a decent amount of Pop'n Music fan content (not many, but still significant), one good example of a Poet fan being [=MamonStar761=], also helping is Poet appearing pretty frequently in the franchise.
** For someone who only appeared three or four games, Milk is rather a fan favorite, partially due to [[HospitalHottie being a rather curvy (although having a somewhat modest outfit) appearance]].
** ALT has some fans here and there
* FandomEnragingMisconception: Although rare, you should NOT confuse Usanuko with [=UsaNeko=], Usanuko is a ''Sunny Park'' character, while [=UsaNeko=] is the shortened variant of Usagi to ;;Neko to Shounen no Yume''.
* FriendlyFandoms:
** With the ''VideoGame/CookieRun'' and ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' franchises, due to their similar saccharine artstyles.
** a minor one exists with "Franchise/TouhouProject", because of Marisa and Reimu's appearance in [=Lapistoria=]
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Pop'n Music as a whole was hyped to oblivion in the West nowadays, due to Many VideoGame/{{Bemani}} fans being fed up with ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' after 2009.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The Pop'n shoutouts in [[{{Manga/HimoutoUmaruChan}} Himouto! Umaru-chan]]. Few months later, the anime OP shows up in éclale as an actual license featuring Umaru herself as the song's character.
** Zizz's hometown is in UsefulNotes/{{Venice}}, despite [[{{Expy}} his inspiration]], ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', being set in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}. Five years after his debut, the UsefulNotes/LasVegas production of ''Phantom'' would be housed in ''The Venetian'' hotel.
* ItsEasySoItSucks: When the scoring system was made easier for ''Lapistoria''[[note]]previously, the Cool-Great-Good-Bad scoring ratio was 10:5:1:0; as of ''Lapistoria'' it is now 10:7:4:0[[/note]], players were very, ''very'' unhappy, although part of the complaints stem from the fact that pre-''Lapistoria'' songs are nearly impossible to convert to the current scoring scale without having the accompanying judgement counts on hand.
* ItsHardSoItSucks:
** For many players, ''pop'n'' is an extremely daunting rhythm game series, right up there with ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}} IIDX''. It's only saved due to having a visual style that appeals to a wider audience as well as a number of recognizable licenses, two factors that help draw in players in spite of the game's notoriously hard boss charts; ''IIDX'' meanwhile comes off as looking more "technical" due to its interface designs as well as having mostly in-house and comissioned songs that the average arcadegoer will most likely not recognize.
** Beginning with ''pop'n music 20 fantasia'', the COOL judgement is forced in Normal mode. This has led to even higher-end players complaining, as having [=COOL=] enabled means that a performance that otherwise nets a near-perfect score with COOL off can become a measly 50,000-60,000 points[[note]]The max score is 100,000[[/note]] play when COOL is enabled. Even after ''Lapistoria'' made the scoring scale more lenient, players still long to be able to use just the three lowest judgements.
* JustHereForGodzilla: There are players who just play the game for the Anime[[note]]There's not many games in the market where you can jump from [[Manga/KiteretsuDaihyakka Hajimete No Chuu]] to [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Ai Wo Torimodose]] [[MoodWhiplash right after]][[/note]] and/or [[MemeticMutation Memetic]][[note]]they have Music/DschinghisKhan![[/note]] music, and nothing else.
* LesYay: Mimi and Nyami have quite a few Les Yay moments, such as the two of them holding hands and looking each other in the eyes near the end of the intro animation of ''[=Lapistoria=]'' (plus the two hugging like a couple in one of the animations in the said game), the two blushing in a win animation where they held a trophy, and Mimi kissing a Nyami doll in her [[Manga/KiteretsuDaihyakka Hajimete No Chuu]] animation.
* MemeticMutation: [[GratuitousEnglish "NO MEGANE NO LIFE"]][[labelnote:explanation]]actually, it's just here for no reason outside of GratuitousEnglish[[/labelnote]]
* {{Moe}}: A few characters fit this, such as Minit's, Timer's little sister who cries in her Miss animations, and Poet, a cute angel who cannot swim.
* MoralEventHorizon: While Zizz isn't the only dark character in the series, the others are either [[DarkIsNotEvil not explicitly stated to be evil]] or [[DesignatedVillain have their capacity for evil merely implied]] (i.e. through lyrics). Zizz, on the other hand, is the one character ''[[ShowDontTell shown]]'' to KickTheDog; specifically, he [[DemonicPossession attempts to take control of ALT]] in ''pop'n music 20 fantasia'', and succeeds if the player fails to save her. This is exasperated in matches against ALT, [[SadisticChoice forcing the opponent to let Zizz take control of ALT]] [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption if they wish to win the match]]. Not helping matters is the FridgeHorror of this potentially killing or otherwise permanently damaging ALT. This pushes Zizz from being just a CreepyAwesome MarionetteMaster to an [[VileVillainSaccharineShow outright menace in an otherwise lighthearted series]].
* NightmareFuel: [[MyNameIsQuestionMarks ?]]'s miss animation is a zoom into their eye, suddenly showing a flowery eye.
* OlderThanTheyThink: ''[=UsaNeko=]'' is the first main version to have hold notes, but ''pop'n music MICKEY TUNES'', released 16 years prior in 2000, was actually the first ''pop'n'' game to have them.
* PeripheryDemographic:
** According to Website/ThatOtherWiki, ''pop'n'' was originally intended to be played by couples on dates.
** In a more relevant example, most players are adults or at least teenagers.
* RecurringFanonCharacter:
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/mamonstar761/art/POE-tan-Digitized-652052844 POE-Tan]] (created by MamomStar761), she's not exactly popular per se, but compared to other Pop'n Music OCs and fan characters, she has way more influence and has a lot more works featuring her, usually, the furthest Pop'n Music OCs got is just one artwork, and that's it, POE-Tan however, got somewhat far enough to get a [[https://www.deviantart.com/isaiahortizpoops/art/My-Own-Design-Of-POE-Tan-684312137 few]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/thewreckerofvillains/art/Important-Doodles-5-1032259177 fanmade redesigns]] of her along with a decent amount of fanarts. (No infringement intended)
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/starshinesarahjones/art/PopNMusic-OC-Dingomi-958543822 Dingomi Sasaki]] (by StarShineSarahJones) has potential into becoming this, as there's an increasing amount of fanart of her (especially that the character being given more exposure by [=Travis4205=]).
* ScrappyMechanic: Almost nobody uses the Random modifier (shuffles notes on a per-column basis) simply because of the "impossible" chords that can result; chords are always designed to be hittable with only the hands and a chord like white-red-white, which can be the result of a bad randomization, [[FakeDifficulty requires using the player's elbow to successfully hit]]. This is in contrast to ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}} IIDX'', where most at the highest levels of play never play ''without'' Random.
* {{Shipping}}:
** Nyami and Mimi are frequently coupled with other Pop'n characters, the most common ships being those with [[KingOfAllCosmos MZD]], or [[LesYay each-other]].
** Some fans may consider shipping Poet with Yuli.
** Defied with Zizz and ALT, where fans would throw a fit with you, see BaseBreakingCharacter above.
* SequelDifficultyDrop: ''Lapistoria'' still has [=COOLs=], but makes GREAT and GOOD judgements worth more points.
* SequelDifficultySpike: ''fantasia'' forces the COOL judgement in all non-Easy modes, forcing players to use the more difficult scoring system that was originally exclusive to Cho-Challenge mode.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The game's overall design is bright and cheery, but the amount of [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids provocative songs]] that have made their way into the game is astounding (see Tearjerker below for examples). On the flipside, playing as Zizz, the darkest character in the game and the only one that is clearly evil, and selecting over the top lighthearted songs like Dschengis Khan's ''Moskau'', or the extremely romantic ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6mbXUJWkC4 Hajimete no Chuu]]'' from Manga/KiteretsuDaihyakka、also invokes this trope.
* StopHavingFunGuys: Some higher-end players will berate you if you don't use Cho-Challenge mode pre-''fantasia'', or if you use [[VideoGame/{{Beatmania}} Beat-Pop]].
* SurpriseDifficulty:
** Not convinced that a cute and cheerful game can be NintendoHard? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV3yVpPJvss Here you go.]] There's a reason why on Wikipedia, the article states that ''pop'n music'' has some of the hardest songs in any rhythm game.
** If you're used to "FLOWER" giving you a five-note hold at the ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}} IIDX 13 [=DistorteD=]'' {{Homage}} part in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDaE8h-ggis&t=1m32s IIDX]]'' and in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nkkUmKIsIg&t=1m35s REFLEC BEAT]]'', watch out! Its higher-level charts [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNSVGHqxIvQ&t=1m41s convert the holds]] into [[ThatOneAttack a scale pattern]]!
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The opening of "Schrodinger no neko" sounds suspiciously like a snippet of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' theme tune.
* TearJerker:
** A song from ''Iroha'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY6fgsxRJTI Shizuku]] was said to be so depressing that some players simply ''quit playing the song completely''.
** The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-cqpyog22A Space Dog]], [[LyricalDissonance which sounds happy and cheery at first]], [[RealitySubtext until you realize the song parallels Laika]]... The "Don't worry I'll come back to you" and "I'll come back to the Earth" parts especially are soul crushing because the real Laika died in orbit, [[SuicideMission and was never meant to be retrieved at all]].
** ''Pop'n Music Peace'' has the song ''[[https://youtu.be/eJ5wFsvL9PI Bad Apple]]'' from Franchise/TouhouProject. If you know anything about the song lyrics, you'll realize that it's a song about depression and having an existential crisis that the protagonist is facing.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** The unveiling of ''Welcome to Wonderland!'' in 2020 was divisive (especially among international fans) due to its changes to the game itself, with its new cabinet using smaller buttons to fit in a ''[[VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDiva Project Diva Arcade]]''-esque touch strip for slide notes. Some of gone as far as hoping the game is treated as a SpinOff alongside the "original" games rather than a replacement (with the theming of ''Peace'', much like ''DDR Extreme'', implicating the possibility that it was the final version), assessing it as skewing towards a more casual audience due to there not being hard charts on the JAEPO preview version, and its addition of RevenueEnhancingDevices in the form of acrylic NFC charms of characters that could be used in-game. While some have argued that [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19]] may have been a factor in why ''Welcome to Wonderland!'' and a rebooted ''VideoGame/{{jubeat}}'' (also shown at the convention) had been quietly shelved and not seen since JAEPO, the divisive reaction to the former didn't exactly help matters much either. Konami did eventually release a new, main ''pop'n'' game in December 2020.
%%* UglyCute:
%%** Ash.
%%** Hoshi no Hito, In purest form.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Being a series with a ton of characters, a lot of characters only have one appearance. More recently, if the characters ever reappear, they would [[NewWorkRecycledGraphics just reuse one of their previous animations]]. Kurumi is an example of a one-appearance character that almost got another appearance in ''[=Usaneko=]'', reusing her pop'n 9 animations, but she got replaced with Cherumin in the final.
* TheWoobie:
** In his fail animation, Timer sulks while Minit's comes up to him and pats him on the back.
** Minit's cries in her miss animation. If you're playing her song, you'll see it a lot.
* ViewerGenderConfusion:
** A number of fans have had to ask whether Timer is a guy or a girl, to the point where it even comes up in his Popper's Lounge interview. His detached sleeves, ZettaiRyouiki, and CrossPlaying certainly doesn't help.
** Toa. He is Nia's brother but dresses in an outfit almost identical to hers, with detached sleeves and ZettaiRyouiki just like Timer. This shows up in his story mode, where Nia has to correct the others when he's referred to as her sister.
** Navi-kun in ''[=UsaNeko=]'' Is a robot boy who looks rather effeminate in a lot of his different appearances.
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