Trivia / Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA

• Acting for Two: In the secret video of extend, Asami Shimoda is both Rin and Len.
• B-Team Sequel: The Arcade subseries and subsequent ports, as well as the Project mirai spinoffs, were developed by Sega's historic AM2 studio rather than the main team at Sega CS3.
• Bad Export for You:
  • A minor example, as it is limited to the demo version, but the Project Mirai Deluxe demo could only be played once in Europe, while the American version can be played 30 times. Later subverted when SEGA admitted that this wasn't intentional and that players who want to play the demo more than once should contact the eShop customer service.
  • The exclusion of English translations in certain games, including F, DX, and Future Tone, although it's more of a nitpick than anything else. DX gets more flak for this than the other games; F simply didn't get licensing for English subs at the time because it was the first localized game, and Future Tone simply has too many songs. DX doesn't get as much of a pass for overseas fans because it came out after F 2nd, which did have English subs.
  • You wouldn't notice it unless you compared the Japanese and international versions side by side, but the localization of DX cut out all of the voice clips except for the one where they tell you the date and time.
• Banned in China:
  • Korean localizations of F, mirai DX and MEGA39's removed the song "Senbonzakura" due to having lyrics that can be interpreted as Japanese imperialism.
  • X was also recalled briefly in Korea due to the lyrics of "Holy Lance Explosion Boy" not quite getting past the radar over there.
  • "Ohedo Julia-Night" was removed from the Korean versions of MEGA39's.
• Colbert Bump: General rule of thumb is that if a song with relatively little popularity makes it into a Project DIVA game, expect it to experience a popularity spike.
• Content Leak: The existence of Mega39's+/Mega Mix+ was leaked on SteamDB 5 days before its release.
• Creator Cameo:
  • The polar bear and panda with heart-shaped ears in the PV for "Love-Hate" are mascots used by HoneyWorks' composers Gom/FernandoP and Shito/Chorisu-P. mirai DX's "Terekakushi Shishunki" also has an indirect cameo with Len's and Kaito's outfits, which are based on the panda and polar bear mascots respectively and double as a reference to the original PV.
  • 40mP and his wife both appear briefly in the PV for "Do Re Mi Fa Rondo", using the same illustration as in the original video.
  • Pinocchio-P's characters Aimaina-chan and Doshite-chan, who he frequently uses as mascots, appear in the PVs for "Arifureta Sekai Seifuku" and "Slow Motion," as well as the opening movie of mirai DX, which uses a theme song he composed. Aimaina-chan is also a purchasable room decoration in DX.
• Demand Overload: Mega39's quickly sold out of stores within the week, with SEGA extending the first-print bonus time period and urging players to pick up the digital edition if they are unwilling to wait for physical copies to restock.
• Dummied Out:
  • "Sakura Rain" has unused data in Dreamy Theater but otherwise cannot be played in said game.
  • In Japanese versions, F had a special DLC track that was "Popipo" from previous games, but with the addition of Playstation mascots Toro and Kuro as Miku's backup dancers. This is the only song to not have made it outside Japan, thus rendering it lost for international players.
  • Project Mirai DX includes a few remnants of songs that didn't make it in: a 3D model of the stage from "Change Me" and the logo for "StargazeR".
  • "saturation" and "Kagamine Hachi Hachi Flower Fight" have their data in Future Tone but otherwise cannot be selected in the game.
  • A rather harsh case with Sakura Rain/Sakura no Ame, where SEGA had their license revoked on it for several years, meaning any players of Project Diva found it skipped the song when plugged into the PS3, and it took until F 2nd for it to return. An even more harsh example happened with Kagerou Daze, where even Crypton Future Media haven't been able to use it since F 2nd.
  • Arcade/Future Tone has unused data for "Sakura Rain -standard edit-" from Project DIVA, a remix of the song "Alone Fighter" from Galaxy Force II, and (most bizarrely) the Miku/GUMI duet song "Welcome to Wobbling Field". There is also a dummied out 6th difficulty called "Encore" that includes an unused "Random" note type that changes each time the song is played, and only "The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku" has a complete chart for it.
  • Mega Mix+ still contains full data for "Nekomimi Archive", "Ievan Polkka", "Hato" and "saturation" (which were removed), but can't be selected. They can and have been fully restored via modding however.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In Project Diva on PSP, Hello Planet has a mini-game version based on the non-extend music video. This mini-game can unlock a second, alternative ending for the music video it's based on. As of the end of 2015, it has not appeared in any game with an alternate PV.
• Edited for Syndication: Very often, songs are pared down in length to keep them within the 3 to 4 minute mark so levels don't drag on too much. This even applies to the theme songs. Strangely inverted for "Poppippo!", which was too short and had to have its length doubled by adding the English version.
  • This hits "Name of the Sin" harder than most other songs, as the song in its entirety is meant to tell a coherent story; cutting it to half length makes it make much less sense. This also resulted in the Western version mistranslating some of the lines.
  • mirai does not do this to any of its songs, even songs that were also in DIVA. This has the unfortunate side effect of creating Marathon Levels with unnaturally long tracks like Reverse Rainbow. Songs that wind up being ported back to the main series via Arcade usually undergo this process, like "Piano Girl".
  • X has Festival Mode, which allows you to combine three songs onto a single setlist and play them like you would a Medley. This trope takes effect to keep the total length below limit as opposed to making you play three full songs in a row.
  • The English-subbed version of the "Together with Mikudayo!" series. Whereas the original version had five episodes, the English version had three. The third English episode is parts of episodes 3, 4, and 5 spliced together.
• Follow the Leader:
  • 2013 saw the release of Megpoid the Music#, a similar rhythm game for the PSP featuring the popular Vocaloid GUMI. GUMI would later appear in the DIVA series via Project mirai, although she is still excluded from the main series.
  • 2014's IA/VT Colorful does the same for IA on the Vita, courtesy of Marvelous AQL.
  • Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a similar situation, except it goes one better, with the character designer using a module he'd designed for Miku to have her make a cameo... which was followed up several months later by that module being officially added to Miku's Project Diva modules in every current game released at that time.
• Franchise Killer: A one-two blow of most of the franchise's long-time talent leaving the company and subpar reception of X seems to have done the series in for what appears to be the foreseeable future. All games following X were simply ports of Future Tone and updated ports of Future Tone with a few extra bells and whistles attached, with many noticing the quality of any new content added in Mega Mix being lacking compared to past games. It doesn't help that SEGA (and the majority of the fanbase) has changed over to Project SEKAI as their favorite VOCALOID title of choice, leaving what's left of the DIVA series to languish in obscurity.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Several games have received this, albeit only in Japan.
  • Some versions of Project Diva 2nd were bundled with a special Miku-themed PlayStation Portable. Likewise, F 2nd came bundled with a special themed PS Vita in some releases.
  • Future Tone DX would receive a "Memorial Collection" release, consisting of the game, a special limited box art illustrated by official Miku artist KAI, and a 3 disc Blu-Ray collection containing promotional videos, opening PVs and all 227 tracks from the previous games.
• Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.": SEGA likes to include Phantasy Star content in DIVA, even before some of the games were released in the west...
  • The PlayStation Store description for Luka's Nagisa Replica in F 2nd conveniently omits the fact that the outfit is from specifically Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity, when only the original game was localized.
  • The MV for "The MMORPG Addict's Anthem" in F is themed around Phantasy Star Online 2, with the ARKS Ship Shop Area appearing as a stage and Miku appearing in the default FOnewewarl outfit. F was released to the West during a time when the actual localization of PSO2 was in limbo and stayed that way until 2020, 7 years after F came out.
  • GUMI makes a guest appearance in Project mirai DX, but her own rhythm game was never released outside of Japan.
    • Also, anyone who has only seen the concerts or just not familiar with Vocaloid fan culture would be forgiven for thinking that Akita Neru, Yowane Haku, Sakine Meiko, Kasane Teto and Gumi were made specifically for the games.
• Milestone Celebration:
  • In honor of Hatsune Miku's 10th birthday, a special DLC pack was put together for Future Tone that includes a song that hasn't appeared in either Arcade or any other game in the series: DECO*27's "Ghost Rule". It also comes with a Future Tone-exclusive anniversary Module.
  • MEGA39's/Mega Mix was announced on the 10th anniversary of Project DIVA and is meant to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the series as a whole.
• Newbie Boom: Mega Mix on Nintendo Switch and Mega Mix+ on Steam has led to the series receiving a large influx of newcomers, thanks to them not being exclusive to PlayStation systems or arcades like previous games were.
• No Export for You:
  • The games that haven't been sent overseas include DIVA, 2nd, extend, mirai and Arcade. The last one can technically be considered a weird exception as well, since Round 1, a Japanese amusement center, has branches in the United States that host Arcade cabinets.
  • Notably, Future Tone on PS4 subverts the last one outright, being a complete port of the Arcade game with some Arcade-specific features (like the credits system) removed and the first three by token of that virtually all the songs from Diva, 2nd and Extend not already in F 2nd, X or Mirai DX are in Future Tone itself. mirai was subverted by an updated rerelease of the second game coming west around the same time.
  • For an unusual level-specific example, "PoPiPo ~Special Edition~" is the only piece of F content that never made it outside of Japan.
• Official Fan-Submitted Content:
  • Piapro often accepts fan-submitted artwork through their website that eventually becomes the series' loading screens. A good number of modules also come from Piapro collaborations.
  • Some songs in Arcade, like Disruptive Diva and Equation, come from songwriting contests, where producers created a song and submitted it on Nico Nico Douga.
  • A number of songs that were ported to Arcade have fan-submitted videos that were chosen via a contest, where players created a new PV through the home console version's edit mode. ^note ATLUS producer Sam Mullen confirmed this himself when talking about Future Tone over Twitter, and that these alternate fanmade PVs remain in FT.
  • The PV of "Denparadigm", "Here come Karakasa-san", "Oha-Yo-del!!" and "Paris Cinema Girl" are actually from a PV Storyboard contest, hence why their PV are a lot more elaborate than some "Colorful Tone" songs.
• Recursive Adaptation: The video for "Black★Rock Shooter" appears primarily inspired by the anime Black★Rock Shooter than the original PV itself (down to BRS's signature blue flame in her left eye and Black Rock Shooter's cameo), as well as the song being the version from the 2012 anime rather than the original. So it winds up being that Project DIVA F channeled the Black★Rock Shooter anime, which channeled the OVA, which channeled the original song.
• Refitted for Sequel: A story mode was originally considered for the original Diva for the PSP, however it was scrapped in favor of being purely a rhythm game instead. The idea of a story mode would eventually get revisited in X.
• Remade for the Export: Mirai DX was originally intended purely for non-Japanese audiences, being effectively just mirai 2 with one extra song and a few bonuses. Japanese fan demand for the Regional Bonuses caused it to be released in Japan as well (and, ironically, still before the English release, due to the latter getting delayed). Predictably, it didn't sell very well there, due to being little more than an Updated Re-release.
• Screwed by the Lawyers:
  • Due to Jin's strict copyright rules towards his music; "Kagerou Daze" is the only song to not have English lyrics, and it's the only F 2nd song not to get ported to Arcade/Future Tone due to licensing.
  • The Chiffon Module for "Just Be Friends" got the axe in F 2nd due to complications involving its designer forcing its removal.^note Yunomi-P had been found guilty of plagiarism, meaning the copyright status was questionable. Notably, it is in Future Tone, including the Western PS4 release, due to the legal issues being partially resolved. Notably, The original creator is no longer credited.
  • Two songs are missing from the PS4 release of Future Tone. "saturation" is missing due to the producers splitting up, and ""Kagamine Hachi Hachi Flower Fight" is missing due either to frame rate issues or, more likely, the producer being MIA since 2012.
  • This is why GUMI, in spite of her popularity, has yet to appear in the DIVA series and why her role in Mirai 2/DX is limited to a non playable guest star. To put it shortly, GUMI is not owned by Crypton Future Media, but by Internet Co,. Ltd and Sega only has the rights to use Crypton's characters, not Internet Co's, hence making GUMI off-limits. Likewise, this is also the likely reason why Kasane Teto doesn't get any songs in the game, despite appearing as a character in the game, as her voicebank is owned by TWINDRILL, not by Crypton.
• Translation Correction:
  • Some slight instances of Engrish were corrected for the English release of F. For example, "Rest X Notes" seen during a Technical Zone became "Notes Left: X".
  • For F 2nd, further translations were done, with the vague 'WORST/AWFUL' note designation now being called 'MISS', and the 'LOUSY' rating being replaced by the more optimistic 'SO CLOSE'.
  • Subverted in Mirai DX, where "MISS" notes are suddenly "WORST" again, and "COOL?" notes (hitting a note with the wrong button) become "MISS" notes.
  • X changes the "Module Get" message to "New Module", rare modules say "New Rare Module" and the "Quest Clear" message is "Request Complete".
• Troubled Production: Unfortunately, the development team that originally worked on the series split up at some point, leaving much of the series' future in limbo and resulting in the substantial slowdown of new games after X. Mega Mix was handled by newer developers, which some players point to being the cause of the new PVs not quite holding up to the same quality as the previous ones.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Project DIVA was originally going to have a story mode and was planned to be a character centered game as opposed to a rhythm game according to a interview with OSTER Project and kz (livetune), with the former originally creating the tracks Rain With A Chance of Sweet*Drops and Marginal and the latter creating Star Story for this planned story mode. These three tracks and the background videos are all that remain of this idea as it was scrapped in favor of purely being a rhythm game instead. The idea would later be revisited in X, although it borders on Excuse Plot.
  • According to some trailers, the first game used to have a different interface, "Strobe Nights" has a completely different PV, and stars fly toward stationary targets on screen instead of PlayStation symbols, among other changes. Some videos of the early version of the game could be seen on the game official website.
  • LINK by TRI-ReQ was planned to appear in Arcade back in 2010, as one of the winners of the 1st Song Submission Contest. The winners were divided into two lists which would be the categories for the 1st and 2nd PV Submission Contests (the winning videos - made in Edit Mode - would be the ones used in Arcade). LINK, however, was explicitly excluded from either list, as the original submission's PV was so impressive that SEGA opted to recreate it themselves, and would add it later. This never came to fruition, and as of 2023, LINK has never been added to Arcade. It was included in the first Arcade Song Collection album, anyway.
  • According to this article, "ODDS&ENDS" was planned to have a dance PV instead of story PV.
  • Unused data for Project mirai suggests that the song "Leia" was planned to appear in the game. "Leia" was later added to Arcade/Future Tone, however.

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