Love Wins in the End [chocoZAP & Karaoke Diary 2025/06/30]
I am using chocoZAP for free for one year thanks to the RIZAP Group (2928) shareholder benefits. I am keeping an exercise log (and karaoke scores) for motivation.
Today's Exercise Log
Ab Bench: 45 reps
Thoughts & Diary
Since I pushed myself hard yesterday, today is a rest day for my muscles. I am taking on the final day of the JOYSOUND National Scoring challenge.
Today's National Scoring Grand Prix
942.157 points (+3.414 points)
Ranked 6,609th out of 43,023 nationwide
A Dramatic Conclusion
No matter how difficult things get and how close you are to giving up,
you must believe that love will win in the end.
https://www.uta-net.com/song/123/
Who would have thought that this song would lead to such a finale? Truly, "truth is stranger than fiction."
As of last night, I was 1.257 points away from my goal of 940. It's too early to give up, but it's a tricky margin to close.
For the final day, I booked two slots for karaoke at chocoZAP in the morning and two in the evening. This is because my throat gets worn out if I sing all at once.
Morning Slump and the Painful Chorus-Only Karaoke
However, the morning was more disastrous than expected. My voice was clearly in good shape, but for some reason, the scores just wouldn't come.
Finally, I made the painful decision to usethe "sealed chorus-only karaoke" version of Saudade,which added 0.354 points out of sheer stubbornness, leaving me 0.903 points away. I'm betting everything on after work.
The Decisive Evening
Perhaps it was good that I threw away my foolish pride about "chorus-only karaoke" being off-limits and just let go.The evening saw a rush of new personal bests.
Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue wo Muite Arukou," Kazuo Zaitsu's "Saboten no Hana," and Hideaki Tokunaga's "Tsubasa wo Kudasai"all hit high scores, bringing me to 940.228 points at this point.
I surpassed my goal, but if I remove the cheat of the chorus-only points, I didn't reach 940. I still can't be purely happy yet.
The time has come.
And when there was only a little time left, I decided to go for it with KAN's "Ai wa Katsu" (Love Wins).It's okay, with my throat today, I should be able to do it.
As I was singing, the score was clearly climbing differently than usual. It felt like an otherworldly sensation, like breaking the 9-second barrier in the 100m sprint for the first time.
I broke through 95 points midway. I usually lose momentum at the end, but just like the lyrics say, I sang with a prayer in my heart: "Believe, for love will surely win in the end." And then...
Whoa! My first time breaking 95 points outside of 'Chorus Karaoke'!! And I even hit #1 in the BEST 10.
My total score was 942.157, easily exceeding 940 points even without unlocking 'Chorus Karaoke' today. I'm overwhelmed with emotion.
In the end, the fact that I steeled myself and sang 'Chorus Karaoke' in the morning, determined to "definitely break 940 points," must have led to this afternoon's rush.
That reminded me of a famous quote from "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End," where Fern says to Stark.
Fern: All that was needed was resolve. What you have built up through desperate effort will never betray you.
Yes, everything I've built up over this past month came out at the end. And the resolve to even unlock 'Chorus Karaoke' must have led to this result.
Overwhelming gratitude!
Finally, to everyone who has kept up with my chocoZAP & karaoke diary, I have nothing but gratitude m(_ _)m
Honestly, I never expected that a simple middle-aged man's karaoke record would get this many likes. Your likes are what brought me this far.
I am a lucky man to have reached such a finale.I hope that something here has left an impression on your hearts.
Next month, I'll probably slow down a bit and try to keep the karaoke to a moderate level... probably lol
Details of the Karaoke National Scoring Grand Prix are here ↓