AC pnm

General Information

• Released: September 1998
• This game ran on the BEMANI DJ-MAIN HARDWARE arcade system, the same one used for beatmania, hence the poor graphic quality as opposed to later games in the series. The series would continue to run on this hardware through pop'n music 3. Pop'n Music spinoff pop'n stage also used this hardware.
• Two of the game's composers, Reo Nagumo and Takeyasu Hiroshi, also worked on the original beatmania.
• This game also marks the first appearance of beatmania sound data analyzer Hiroki Koga (Naya-n) in a song. He arranged The Theme of Gambler Z (ANIME HERO).
• First appearances of Tomonori Ikeda, Youhei Shimizu, Sugimoto Kiyotaka (DJ SIMON), and Sanae Shintani in Bemani.
• Only one difficulty level was present for songs in the original arcade version.
• Total number of songs: 14

Staff Information

• Producer: Koji Okamoto
• Director: Seiji Higurashi
• Sound director: Hiroshi Takeyasu
• Composers: Hiroshi Takeyasu, Koji Kazaoka, DJ Nagureo, Bikke, Youhei Shimizu, Kaoko Aoki and Tomomi Ohta
• Sound data analizer: Ryuichi Nitta
• Programmers: Hiroshi Naraoka and Hideki Hashimoto
• Hardware engineers: Masayuki Senami and Shigeo Kasuya
• Mechanical engineer: Seiji Higurashi
• CG designer: MUKAI
• Industrial designer: Takahiro Nakahara
• Graphics designer: Kyoko Shimada
• Sound tool programmer: Youhei Shimizu
• Guest vocalists: NARAMCHA, Sanae Shintani (KCE JAPAN) and Kiyotaka Sugimoto
• Guitarist: Youichi Iwata
• Special thanks: Kyo, Hideko Shigeta, Hiroki Koga and Shio.

Initial Songlist

Genre (English)	Genre (Japanese)	Song Name	Artist	BPM	Character
First Stage
POPS	ポップス	I REALLY WANT TO HURT YOU	SUGI & REO	142	RIE♥chan [1]
RAP	ラップ	YOUNG DREAM	LITTLE FINGERS	110	UNCLE Jam [1]
J-TEKNO	Ｊ−テクノ	Quick Master	act deft	147	SHOLL KEE [1]
FANTASY	ファンタジー	monde des songe	Bikke	142	DiNO [1]
Second Stage
LATIN	ラテン	El Pais del sol	Senorita Rica	107	DON MOMMY
DANCE	ダンス	Hi-Tekno	Hi-Tekno	140	JUDY [1]
REGGAE	レゲエ	"Baby, I'm yours"	LISA-T	93	OLIVIA [1]
DISCO QUEEN	ディスコクィーン	what i want	THE RITCHIE SISTERS	124	CHANEL
Final Stage
TECHNO POP	テクノポップ	Electronic Fill	Windslope	121	KRAFT [1]
ANIME HERO	アニメヒーロー	闘え!!ギャンブラーZ	words: RYO　song: NARAMCHA	BPM	TORU KAMIKAZE
SPY	スパイ	spicy piece	ORIGINAL SOUND TRACKS	156	CHARLY
DISCO KING	ディスコキング	FUNKY TOWN '75	JV & THE SEXY MACHINE GUN	120	BAMBOO [1]
Hidden Songs
BONUS TRACK	ボーナストラック	すれちがう二人	apresmidi	136	SANAE♥chan [1]
RAVE	レイヴ	e-motion	e.o.s	145	Rave girl [1]

Rejected designs

The Pop'n Music series has a long history of rejected characters. Some never saw the light of day, and some would later be used many years or mixes later. For the first game, these include

• A green man with an afro (early Bamboo, perhaps?)
• A pink bunny, later used as Pretty in Pop'n 1 CS
• A pumpkin-head guy with jeans and a shirt with a dollar sign on it
• A green-skinned vampire with parted blonde hair, a black jacket, a red shirt, and jeans (early Yuli?)
• A bear with the flag of Great Britain on it
• An angry-looking Native American
• A hippie dog
• A pair of frogs (possibly early version of Anzu)
• A green donkey with a guitar
• A skateboarding snowman with green shorts
• A walking orange with clothes
• A weird-looking yellow man with black overalls and pink shoes and a red hat (face looks similar to that of Troppie)
• A space man in a yellow suit (early Cyber?)
• Male Japanese announcer in a kimono
• Man with a T.V. for a head
• A yellow-skinned man with a blue hat covering his eyes, with a white t-shirt and green pants. Also wears a necklace with a picture of a green hand with four fingers
• An angry-looking chicken wearing glasses, blue shades, a small, tight shirt, green shorts, and multi-colored shoes
• A man in a circus-type costume with a black bandana covering his eyes (similar to the garb Mimi and Nyami wear in Pop'n Music 13 Carnival)
• A red fire with a black biker shirt, a belt, and brown shoes

Also notable are various color designs for already established characters. For example, JUDY's hair was originally brown.

Related Links

• Pop'n Music 1&2 Official Site
• Pop'n Music Original Soundtracks Information
• Rejected Pop'n Music 1 designs