>>1802387
Music released at a really good time and it came with quality 3dmvs which no other JP joseimuke to this day has beaten (or so someone I know claimed). Fans keep mentioning the story, but I think Music was responsible for its popularity exploding. And like the first anon said, idolfags usually have insane dedication so they'll stick to their favorites even if the game itself is shit and/or turns more shitty. I doubt the recent change to one of units (Akatsuki) right before the 10th anni really affected JP besides the actual Akatsuki fans

>>1802411
I play ||EN daily because I have no self-respect|| but if you focus on one favorite then just want one copy of all his cards, it's very much doable as a f2p. Even without being able to plan ahead, with enough restraint it should be possible on JP too. But if you want to max cards, then yeah, it'll be rough to stay f2p. I only focus on one guy and have maxed 3 of his 5* (1 event and 2 gacha) despite staying f2p and starting months before his event, though I've accepted that I won't be able to max his upcoming gacha card. Auto is a global-exclusive feature, but even with it, running events is still time-consuming and tiring, and you're locked at 10bp that caps every 5h unless you pay (also global-exclusive feature).