Хатсуне мику как пишется на английском

Hatsune Miku

Developer(s)	Crypton Future Media
Initial release	August 31, 2007
Stable release	Hatsune Miku NT (New Type) / November 27, 2020
Operating system	Microsoft Windows, macOS
Platform	PC
Available in	Japanese English Chinese
Type	Vocal Synthesizer Application
License	Proprietary (Vocaloid voice/software) Creative Commons BY-NC (character design)[1]
Website	ec.crypton.co.jp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01_us

Hatsune Miku (Japanese: 初音ミク), also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01,^[2][3] is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku’s personification has been marketed as a virtual idol, and has performed at live virtual concerts onstage as an animated projection (rear-cast projection on a specially coated glass screen).^[4]

Miku uses Yamaha Corporation’s Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies. She also uses Crypton Future Media’s Piapro Studio, a standalone singing synthesizer editor. She was the second Vocaloid sold using the Vocaloid 2 engine and the first Japanese Vocaloid to use the Japanese version of the 2 engine. The voice is modeled from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita.

The name of the character comes from merging the Japanese words for first (初, hatsu), sound (音, ne), and future (ミク, miku),^[a] thus meaning «the first sound of the future»,^[2] which, along with her code name, refers to her position as the first of Crypton’s «Character Vocal Series» (abbreviated «CV Series»), preceding Kagamine Rin/Len (code-named CV02) and Megurine Luka (code-named CV03). The number 01 can also be seen on her left shoulder in official artwork.

Development

Hatsune Miku was the first Vocaloid developed by Crypton Future Media after they handled the release of the Yamaha vocal Meiko and Kaito. Miku was intended to be the first of a series of Vocaloids called the «Character Vocal Series» (abbreviated «CV Series«), which included Kagamine Rin/Len and Megurine Luka. Each had a particular concept and vocal direction.^[8]

She was built using Yamaha’s Vocaloid 2 technology, and later updated to newer engine versions. She was created by taking vocal samples from voice actress Saki Fujita at a controlled pitch and tone. Those samples all contain a single Japanese phonic that, when strung together, creates full lyrics and phrases. The pitch of the samples was to be altered by the synthesizer engine and constructed into a keyboard-style instrument within the Vocaloid software.

Crypton released Hatsune Miku on August 31, 2007. Crypton had the idea to release Miku as «an android diva in the near-future world where songs are lost.»^[9] Hatsune Miku was released for Vocaloid 3 on August 31, 2013, including an English vocal library.^[10] She was the first Vocaloid to be developed by the company, following their commercial release handle of Yamaha Corporation developed vocals «Meiko» and «Kaito», making Hatsune Miku the third Vocaloid to be sold commercially by the company.^[11]

Additional software

On April 30, 2010, a new add-on for Vocaloid 2 called Hatsune Miku Append, was released, consisting of six different timbres for the voice: Soft (gentle timbre), Sweet (young, chibi quality), Dark (mature and melancholic), Vivid (bright and cheerful), Solid (loud, clear voice), and Light (innocent and angelic).^[12] Miku Append was created to expand Miku’s voice library, and as such requires the original program to be installed on the user’s computer first.^[13] This was the first time a Vocaloid had such a release, and more Append versions were reported from Crypton Future Media at later dates.^[14]

It was mentioned that a 7th Append voicebank, a falsetto voice, had been recorded; however, since the developers didn’t think it would be useful on its own, no plans were made for an independent release.^[15] During the Kagamine Append development, a «darkish Whisper/Sweet» append was being considered.^[16] Miku’s English vocal was also due for a Vocaloid 2 release, but it was not released in the engine due to low quality.^[17]

To aid in the production of 3D animations, the program MikuMikuDance was developed by an independent programmer. The freeware software allowed a boom in fan-made animations to be developed, as well as being a boost for promoting Vocaloid songs themselves.^[18] This spawned «NicoNico Cho Party», where fans could submit their animations to accompany live holographic performances of popular Vocaloid songs.

An English voicebank for Hatsune Miku was announced in 2011 and was to be released by the end of 2012. However, the decision to move to Vocaloid 3 and issues with English pronunciation delayed the release.^[19] It was finally released on August 31, 2013 via digital distribution.

The Hatsune Miku Vocaloid 3 Japanese vocal library was released on September 26, 2013. It contained updates to all previous Vocaloid 2 vocals except Vivid and Light. These were later released separately, though they were initially offered to anyone who already owned Hatsune Miku, Hatsune Miku Append, and Hatsune Miku V3. Once imported into Vocaloid4, all Vocaloid3 Hatsune Miku vocals could use the new Cross-Synthesis system (XSY) built for the new engine of Vocaloid 3. The voice was also imported into a device called Pocket Miku, released on April 3, 2014.^[20]

Hatsune Miku received an update for Yamaha’s Vocaloid 4 engine under the name of Hatsune Miku V4X.^[21] It makes use of the new EVEC system for Piapro Studio, a VSTi plugin used as an alternative to the traditional Vocaloid Editor. EVEC consists of recorded vowels. Along with the consonant, a different vocal tone can be achieved. Two vocal tones are included in the EVEC system: Power and Soft. Along with the new EVEC system, phoneme errors found in Miku’s V2 and V3 voicebanks would be fixed allowing for easier manipulation of the software’s voice. As of August 31, 2016, Hatsune Miku V4X/V4 English was released.

A Mandarin Chinese voicebank was released in September 2017, making Hatsune Miku the first trilingual Vocaloid product. Her Chinese name is 初音未来; Chūyīn Wèilái; 未来 are the kanji characters for her given name, Miku.

Marketing

Miku has been heavily promoted since 2008 and was originally aimed at professional musicians.^[22] On September 12, 2007, Amazon.co.jp reported sales of Hatsune Miku totaling 57,500,000 yen, making the character the number-one-selling software of that time.^[23] She was the first vocal to be developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media and sung in Japanese. Hatsune Miku’s instant success is owed to Vocaloid being a cultural hit in Japan and she reportedly sold 40,000 units by July 2008, selling on average 300 units a week.^[24] By January 2011, she had sold 60,000 units.^[25]

Merchandising

Since the success of Hatsune Miku’s Vocaloid 2 package led to an expansion of marketing possibilities, most of the mass marketing has come after the software’s initial release as a response to Miku’s popularity and has been on going since 2008. Even with the addition of other Character Vocals, Miku’s name continues to be used as the primary source of marketing for Crypton Future Media, to the point where most products for their Vocaloid related products will usually only feature Hatsune Miku’s name. In March 2012, the Nomura Research Institute estimated that the sales of all Hatsune Miku brand goods added up into the region of ¥10 billion since the release in 2007.^[26] Her name is easily the most recognizable of all Vocaloids.^[27]

In 2011, Crypton began to focus on marketing Miku to United States audiences. On May 7, Amazon placed a preview of Supercell’s hit song, «World is Mine», as a single. When the song finally went on sale, it ranked at No. 7 in the top 10 world singles list on iTunes in its first week of sales.^[28] Since Crypton had always sold Miku as a virtual instrument in Japan, they asked their Japanese fan base if it was acceptable for them to sell her as a virtual singer to the new market audience.^[29] The main purpose of the Miku English version is to allow Japanese producers to break into the western market and expand their audiences.^{[citation needed]}

Good Smile Racing

In 2008, Good Smile Racing began the licensing of Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Future Media-related Vocaloid content. Studie, which participated in the 2008 and 2009 seasons using a BMW Z4 E86. Their car was painted in official Hatsune Miku art, and fan-derivative versions of Hatsune Miku in some races in the 2009 season.^[30][31] In the 2008 season, a group of «Racing Queens» were seen in the pitstop of races. Dubbed the «MikuMiku Gals», the three girls were Rin Miyama, Riona Osaki and Hina Saito.^[32] In 2009, a new set of MikuMiku Gals were introduced; these girls wore outfits based on all three Character Vocal series females and not specifically Hatsune Miku alone. Hiroko Nagano, Atsuko and Ayami were the Racing Queens for the season.^[33][34]

Team COX, participating in the 2010 season, which uses a Porsche 996 GT3 RSR (and will use a Porsche 997 GT3-R). Their car uses Racing Miku (an official Hatsune Miku derivative wearing an orange racing queen suit) as their image. 2010 was also the first season to receive the first official «Racing Miku» derivative design, and from this season onward, the Racing Queens outfits were based on the season’s derivative design. The designer of the 2010 outfit was illustrator Redjuice. Model Ayami returned for this season as a Racing Queen and was joined by fellow models Saki Tachibana and Shihomi Kogoshi.^[35]

GSR and Studie with TeamUKYO was the sponsorship for the 2011 season. The designer of the 2011 Racing Miku derivative design was illustrator Yuichi Murakami. Ayami returned as a Racing Queen for the third time and Tachibana Saki returned for a second season. Haruka Aoi was the third Racing Queen to wear the Racing Miku 2011 outfit.^[36] GSR and Studie with TeamUKYO was continued as a sponsorship for the 2012 season. The Racing Miku design was illustrated by Gan for this season. The Racing queens for the season were returning models Tachibana Saki and Aoi Haruka, as well as new models Sena Kougami and Ayana Sato.^[37]

The Studie with TeamUKYO sponsorship continued with the 2013 season. The Racing Miku design for the season was done by Mari Shimazaki.^[38][39] The illustrator of the official art was Saitom.^[40] Sena Kougami returned as a racing queen for this season and was joined by Tsukasa Arai and Elena Ishiguro.^[41] In 2013, the sponsorship expanded to feature a team in the Isle of Man TT, called Team Mirai, with a Racing Miku-designed bike. They finished 6th with Ian Lougher after a fatal accident struck Yoshinari Matsushita (who rode another bike, a Suzuki 600cc) during practice at Ballacrye Corner.^[42][43][44] The Racing Miku design also was adapted for a «Sepang» version showing bare toned skin as part of showing good health and promoting the design as «the Angel of summer».^[45]

The illustrator for the 2014 season was Oguchi, one of the 15 artists of Kantai Collection. The outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto, the art director of Kill la Kill. The machine version of the outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto and Shōji Kawamori, who is noted for his «Macross» designs.^[46] The Racing Queens who wore the outfit were returning models Tsukasa Arai and Sena Kougami, as well as new models Kelal Yamaura and Noa Mizutani. For the 2015 Racing Miku, the design was based on a «Princess Knight» complete with a shield and spear-like umbrella. The illustrator was Taiki, the lead visual design from Square Enix and Sega’s games Lord of Vermilion and Rise of Mana. Koyamashigeto once again returned as the art direction and designer for the season. Tsuyoshi Kusano is in charge of the new machine design.^[47]

Winter festivals

Sapporo has been a major main target of sponsorship since 2010, with Crypton Future Media sponsoring the winter festivals. The image of Hatsune Miku would appear around the town on public transportation. The image portrayal of Miku that is used is a derivative design called «Snow Miku». Although originally, this was simply a recoloring of the normal Hatsune Miku, unique designs have occurred every year since 2011. Figurines based on the design have also been featured.

The 2012 design was chosen via a contest. The winning entry was referred to as «Fluffy Coat Snow Miku».^[48] The 2013 design was called «Strawberry Daifuku Shiromuku Miku».^[49][50] The 2014 design was based on a Magical Girl design by dera_fury, who was the winner of the 2014 Snow Miku contest.^[51] The illustration was «Nekosumi». The design also featured a pet called «Rabbit Yukine».^[52] The 2015 design was called «Snow Bell Snow Miku» and was illustrated by Nardack.^[53]

In 2012, several ice sculptures of the Character Vocal series and several snow sculptures of Miku were produced for the event. However, on February 7, 2012, one of the Snow Miku sculptures later collapsed and had to be rebuilt elsewhere with better support. The collapsed figure also hit a woman in her early 60s on the back of the head; no serious injuries were sustained in the process.^[54][55]

During Miku’s development, Crypton decided to take a different approach from that used by the other Vocaloid sound bank publishers.^{[citation needed]} It was decided that to make the product successful not only would a highly appealing voice need to be developed, but that the voice needed an image. She was originally aimed only at professional producers; the amateur and otaku market had not fully formed yet, and so were not initially considered.^[56]

The task for coming up with Miku’s image went to the manga artist Kei Garō. When Kei designed Miku, his only direction was that she was an android and what her color scheme (based on Yamaha’s synthesizer’s signature turquoise color) was.^[57] The design on Miku’s skirt and boots are based on synthesizer software colors and the bars represent the actual bars within the program’s user interface.^{[citation needed]} Miku was originally intended to have a different hairstyle, but Kei stuck to pigtails or bunches after trying them out.^{[citation needed]}

Name	Hatsune Miku[2][58]
Release	August 31, 2007
Age	16 years
Height	158 cm / 5 ft 2 in
Weight	42 kg / 93 lb
Suggested Genre	Pop, rock, dance, house, techno, crossover
Suggested Tempo Range	70–150 bpm
Suggested Vocal Range	A3–E5, B2–B3

Cultural impact

Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video streaming website similar to YouTube, played a fundamental role in the recognition and popularity of the software. Soon after Miku’s release, Nico Nico Douga users started posting videos of songs created using the character’s sound bank. According to Crypton, a popular video featuring Miku’s chibi version, Hachune Miku, singing and dancing to «Ievan Polkka» while spinning a Welsh onion in homage to Loituma Girl’s original video (which led to Miku also being commonly associated with spring onions) demonstrated the potential of the software in multimedia content creation.^[59] As Miku’s recognition and popularity grew, Nico Nico Douga became a place for collaborative content creation. Popular original songs written by a user would inspire illustrations, animations in 2D and 3D, and remixes by other users. Some creators would show their unfinished work and ask for ideas.^[60]

In September 2009, three figurines based on the derivative character «Hachune Miku» were launched in a rocket from the United States state of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, though it did not reach outer space.^[61][62] In late November 2009, a petition was launched in order to get a custom-made Hatsune Miku aluminium plate (8 cm × 12 cm, 3.1″ × 4.7″) made that would be used as a balancing weight for the Japanese Venus spacecraft explorer Akatsuki.^[63] Started by Hatsune Miku fan Sumio Morioka (also known as «chodenzi-P»), this project has received the backing of Dr. Seiichi Sakamoto of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. On December 22, 2009, the petition exceeded the needed 10,000 signatures necessary to have the plates made. An original deadline of December 20, 2009, had been set to send in the petition, but due to a couple of delays in the Akatsuki project, a new deadline of January 6, 2010, was set; by this deadline, over 14,000 signatures had been received. On May 21, 2010 at 06:58:22 (JST), Akatsuki was launched, having three plates depicting Hatsune Miku and Hachune Miku in several monochrome images, composed of the miniature letters of the messages from the petition form etched in the plates.^[64][65] The UK 59th issue of the music and fashion magazine Clash featured Hatsune Miku as their cover star (using a real-life photo model), with a full feature on her.^[66] The third launch of the MOMO sounding rocket by Interstellar Technologies used Hatsune Miku’s voice for the countdown.^[67]

The Vocaloid software has also had a great influence on the character Black Rock Shooter, who looks like Hatsune Miku but is not linked to her by design. The character was made famous by the song «Black Rock Shooter»,^[68] and a number of figurines have been made. An original video animation made by Ordet was streamed for free as part of a promotional campaign running from June 25 to August 31, 2010.^[69] A televised anime series aired in February 2012.^[70]

In October 2011, Crypton showed on the official Hatsune Miku Facebook page a letter from the Japanese Minister of Economy for «contributing to the furtherance of the informatization by minister of economy.»^{[citation needed]} The flag of the city of Chiba was considered to coincidentally resemble the silhouette of Hatsune Miku, and on the 10th anniversary on August 31, 2017, the municipal government website temporarily changed its logo to look like Miku.^[71] Geoffrey Cain of GlobalPost has argued that the phenomenon of Hatsune Miku is partly due to the love of Japanese for giving inanimate objects a soul, which is rooted in Shintoism or animism, but also in the long tradition of Karakuri ningyō or automated wooden puppets. Thus, Japanese are much more ready to accept a virtual character as «human».^[72]

Hatsune Miku is often jokingly attributed as the creator of the video game Minecraft (originating from the Miku Twitter parody account mikumiku_ebooks which tweeted «i created minecraft») as well as the book series Harry Potter. Both of these attributions came about after the original creators of both works (Markus Persson and J. K. Rowling, respectively) published tweets that were critical of transgender people, which resulted in backlash from their respective fans.^[73][74]

Appearances in other media

Miku’s popularity has resulted in various references to her in anime. Miku is the protagonist of a manga series named Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix, written by Kei Garō. The manga explores the many possibilities of story-telling and has featured numerous adventures, ranging from giant-sized battles with Hatsune Miku to home exploits. There is therefore no single storyline, and the entire setting within the manga is unofficial. During an episode of Zoku Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei, Miku is seen auditioning for the voice of Meru Otonashi (Kagamine Rin and Len are referenced in the same episode). Miku’s voice is used in one of the ending themes for the anime series Akikan! (episode 12). Moreover, she also sings the ending theme for the anime Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories, called «Kaikai Emaki» (怪々絵巻). During an episode in the Lucky Star OVA, Kagami Hiiragi gets magically transformed into Miku cosplay. A character in the anime Kämpfer appears dressed as Miku in episode seven. She also appeared in the large plasma screen in Chrome Shelled Regios as an endorser. She also appears in episode 11 of Baka and Test as a member of class B. Miku also appears in Maria Holic episode 12, when the class is told they have a swim meet. Miku also appears in episode 1 of Himōto! Umaru-chan, in an imagination of what the main character wants to buy. A parody of Miku is also seen in Gintama (episode 237) in the second editor of Gintaman, Daito’s anime fantasies. Miku also appeared in the anime Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Animation as a recurring character.^[75] Miku appears as a recurring guest character in 2022’s Dropkick on My Devil! X, the third anime season based on Yukiwo’s Dropkick on My Devil! manga series, voiced by Saki Fujita as opposed to having lines recorded through the Vocaloid software.^[76][77]

A series of rhythm games starting from Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA were produced by Sega under license using Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Vocaloids, as well as «fan-made» Vocaloids like Akita Neru. The series has sold 6 million copies.^[78] Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai was developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Miku’s appearance in this game is based on the Nendoroid series of figures.^[79] Later on, a mobile gacha rhythm game called Project SEKAI: Colorful Stage! (marketed as Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! outside of Asia) was released. The game features Miku as well as the other Crypton Vocaloids alongside original human characters. Many of the game’s playable songs are covers of existing Vocaloid originals. Hatsune Miku is also briefly referenced in the game Recettear, where a young man stargazing sees «The Green-Onion Girl» constellation. Also, in 2013, Saki Fujita voices Fei-Yen HD, a character based on one of Hatsune Miku’s modules, in Super Robot Wars UX; this appearance does not use Miku’s vocal library. Haruka Sawamura from the Yakuza series, another Sega franchise, can wear Miku’s outfit in Yakuza 5, and an ice statue of Miku is also seen in the Sapporo region of the game. TinierMe also made attire that looks like Miku’s for their services, allowing users to make their avatar resemble her.^[80][81]

Miku’s clothes appear as a costume for a playable character in the Japanese version of PangYa and was the back-up vocal for the game’s season four trailer, as a downloadable costume for Sophie in Tales of Graces and is seen during a stage in the game 13-sai no Hellowork DS. Miku’s clothes also appear in Phantasy Star Portable 2 as a costume for the player’s female character, as well as her hairstyle and leek-themed weapons. Miku appears in the PlayStation 3 version of The Idolm@ster 2 as downloadable content.^[82] In the video game Skullgirls, one of Filia’s alternative colors is based on Miku. Hatsune Miku’s attire has also appeared in Phantasy Star Online 2 as a female character’s costume, along with «Miku Dayō» as a Mag Design.^[83] She also makes an appearance in the game Brave Frontier.^[84]

In 2014, Korg introduced «Miku Stomp», a guitar effects unit that emulates the sound of Miku’s voice.^[85] «Tell Your World» by Livetune, which features her as a featured artist, appears in Japan’s Just Dance Wii U. In 2015, «Ievan Polkka» was announced to appear in Just Dance 2016 along with a dancer whose outfit is exactly like Miku’s. On July 23, 2015, Miku was announced as a DLC character in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, a video game released in 2015 for the PlayStation Vita and developed by Atlus.^[86] On November 26, 2015, Miku became a collaboration idol for the second update of the 2016 series of the Aikatsu! arcade game. Several cards containing Hatsune Miku uniforms were also included for the update. In 2016, a remix of «Ievan Polkka» appeared on an LG G5 commercial. «PoPiPo» was announced to appear in Just Dance 2017 also with a dancer whose resembles Miku. Then, «Love Ward» by OSTER project was also announced to appear in Just Dance 2018 with the same Miku-resembling dancer. In March 2017, Miku was introduced as a playable character in the mobile game ‘#COMPASS’. In fall 2017, Hatsune Miku was added as a playable character in PriPara. «Love Ward» and «PoPiPo» are still available in future Just Dance games as part of Ubisoft’s Just Dance Unlimited service for Just Dance 2016 onwards.

In August 2017, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the virtual singer, Ricoh released a limited edition of its 360° camera Ricoh Theta branded with Hatsune Miku imagery called the Ricoh Theta SC Type Hatsune Miku.^[87][88] The Ricoh Theta Type Hatsune Miku mobile apps (iOS and Android) allow for placing images of the character (in 55 different poses) within 360° images taken with the camera. Users can manipulate Hatsune Miku’s facial expressions, change the direction of the character’s shadow and hair, and rotate the character to place it within the 360° image.^[89] The product includes a specially designed case and other features illustrated by Fuzichoco, an illustrator at Crypton Future Media.

In 2020, Hatsune Miku (also under the name Space Channel 39 and Space 39) was announced to be released as part of a DLC pack for Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash on July 27 that same year. The installment allows the player to dance with Miku or attempt to defeat her in a dance battle, alongside Ulala, 88MAN, or Pudding.^[90][91] The DLC also unlocks a Hatsune themed outfit for Ulala (under Channel 39).^[92]

Featured music

In August 2010, over 22,000 original songs had been written under the name Hatsune Miku. Later reports confirmed that she had 100,000 songs in 2011 to her name.^{[citation needed]} Crypton’s website promotes Miku’s popularity having her voice used in over 100,000 unique songs.^[93]

One of the Vocaloid compilations, Exit Tunes Presents Vocalogenesis feat. Hatsune Miku, debuted at number-one on the Japanese weekly Oricon album charts dated May 31, 2010, becoming the first Vocaloid album ever to top the charts.^[94] Another album, Supercell, by the group Supercell^[95][96] also features a number of songs using Vocaloids. Other albums, such as 19’s Sound Factory’s First Sound Story^[97] and Livetune’s Re:package, and Re:Mikus^[98][99] also feature Miku’s voice. Other uses of Miku include the albums Sakura no Ame (桜ノ雨) by Absorb and Miku no Kanzume (みくのかんづめ) by OSTER-project. The viral Nyan Cat meme featured an Utauloid cover of «Nyanyanyanyan!» by daniwell-P, the original song featuring Miku. Another song originally using Miku, «Color», was covered by MARiA, and featured as the opening theme of the 2011 anime series Freezing.

As a virtual idol, Hatsune Miku first featured in a «live» virtual concert during Animelo Summer Live at the Saitama Super Arena on August 22, 2009.^[100][101] Miku later returned to Animelo Summer Live 2012: Infinity to perform «World is Mine» and «Tell Your World». Miku made her first overseas live appearance at a concert on November 21, 2009, during Anime Festival Asia (AFA) in Singapore.^[102][103] On March 9, 2010, Miku’s first solo live performance titled «Miku no Hi Kanshasai 39’s Giving Day» was opened at the Zepp Tokyo in Odaiba, Tokyo.^[104][105] Miku performed in the United States on July 2, 2011 at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live during the 2011 Anime Expo in Los Angeles. The concert followed the same format as the previous «39’s Giving Day» concert.^[106] Hatsune Miku performed in Japanese rock festival Summer Sonic 2013 on August 10, 2013. Hatsune Miku teamed up with designer Louis Vuitton and director Toshiki Okada for a Vocaloid opera, titled The End. It featured no human singers and took place at the Theatre du Chatelet Opera House in Paris on November 13 and 15, 2013.^[107] Another operatic work starring Hatsune Miku, a short opera buffa entitled «Weebmalion», appeared in 2018, this time featuring a real soloist, tenor Aleksander Kunach, singing with the character in a love duet written by Polish composer, Krzysztof Żelichowski. It was the first time a classically trained voice appeared alongside Vocaloid in original classical composition.

A young male prototype used for the «Project If…» series was used in Sound Horizon’s musical work «Ido e Itaru Mori e Itaru Ido», labeled as the «prologue maxi». The prototype sang alongside Miku for their music and is known only by the name «Junger März_Prototype β».^[108][109] Hatsune Miku was the opening act for Lady Gaga’s world tour ArtRave: The Artpop Ball, performing throughout the first month of Gaga’s tour from May 6 to June 3, 2014.^[110]

In March 2014, Hatsune Miku and Crypton Future Media teamed up with the Japanese band Bump of Chicken to record a music video featuring a real band singing alongside Hatsune Miku in real time. This video was uploaded on March 12, 2014, and contains the song «Ray». The video is not after-edited in any way. This was made possible by Crypton’s newest technology to focus characters on a screen directly to the recording camera by using a big curved screen, motion data, Wifi-sensors, movement-sensors and some older technology from Crypton.

Pharrell Williams made a remix of Livetune’s song «Last Night, Goodnight» featuring Hatsune Miku.^[111] On October 8, 2014, Miku debuted on American network television as the character performed «Sharing the World» on the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.^[112] Hatsune Miku is featured in «B Who I Want 2 B» produced by Sophie from Namie Amuro’s album Genic. The 2016 Hatsune Miku Expo tour featured American electronic band Anamanaguchi as an opening act; to commemorate the tour, the band recorded a single track titled «Miku», which they performed live on the tour with Miku as an encore song.^[113] Big Boi (of Outkast) sampled Aura Qualic’s song «DATA 2.0», featuring Hatsune Miku for his 2017 single «Kill Jill», also appearing in the song’s music video.^[114] Slushii did a collaboration with Hatsune Miku for the song Though the Night^[115][116] which was released on May 11, 2018 on the single Through the Night.

In January 2020, Hatsune Miku was announced as a performer at Coachella 2020 in Indio, California, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[117]

On December 11, 2020, Hatsune Miku was a featured artist on a remixed version of American rapper Ashnikko’s song «Daisy» titled «Daisy 2.0».

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)

Hatsune Miku

Developer(s)	Crypton Future Media
Initial release	August 31, 2007
Stable release	Hatsune Miku NT (New Type) / November 27, 2020
Operating system	Microsoft Windows, macOS
Platform	PC
Available in	Japanese English Chinese
Type	Vocal Synthesizer Application
License	Proprietary (Vocaloid voice/software) Creative Commons BY-NC (character design)[1]
Website	ec.crypton.co.jp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01_us

Hatsune Miku (Japanese: 初音ミク), also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01,^[2][3] is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku’s personification has been marketed as a virtual idol, and has performed at live virtual concerts onstage as an animated projection (rear-cast projection on a specially coated glass screen).^[4]

Miku uses Yamaha Corporation’s Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies. She also uses Crypton Future Media’s Piapro Studio, a standalone singing synthesizer editor. She was the second Vocaloid sold using the Vocaloid 2 engine and the first Japanese Vocaloid to use the Japanese version of the 2 engine. The voice is modeled from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita.

The name of the character comes from merging the Japanese words for first (初, hatsu), sound (音, ne), and future (ミク, miku),^[a] thus meaning «the first sound of the future»,^[2] which, along with her code name, refers to her position as the first of Crypton’s «Character Vocal Series» (abbreviated «CV Series»), preceding Kagamine Rin/Len (code-named CV02) and Megurine Luka (code-named CV03). The number 01 can also be seen on her left shoulder in official artwork.

Development

Hatsune Miku was the first Vocaloid developed by Crypton Future Media after they handled the release of the Yamaha vocal Meiko and Kaito. Miku was intended to be the first of a series of Vocaloids called the «Character Vocal Series» (abbreviated «CV Series«), which included Kagamine Rin/Len and Megurine Luka. Each had a particular concept and vocal direction.^[8]

She was built using Yamaha’s Vocaloid 2 technology, and later updated to newer engine versions. She was created by taking vocal samples from voice actress Saki Fujita at a controlled pitch and tone. Those samples all contain a single Japanese phonic that, when strung together, creates full lyrics and phrases. The pitch of the samples was to be altered by the synthesizer engine and constructed into a keyboard-style instrument within the Vocaloid software.

Crypton released Hatsune Miku on August 31, 2007. Crypton had the idea to release Miku as «an android diva in the near-future world where songs are lost.»^[9] Hatsune Miku was released for Vocaloid 3 on August 31, 2013, including an English vocal library.^[10] She was the first Vocaloid to be developed by the company, following their commercial release handle of Yamaha Corporation developed vocals «Meiko» and «Kaito», making Hatsune Miku the third Vocaloid to be sold commercially by the company.^[11]

Additional software

On April 30, 2010, a new add-on for Vocaloid 2 called Hatsune Miku Append, was released, consisting of six different timbres for the voice: Soft (gentle timbre), Sweet (young, chibi quality), Dark (mature and melancholic), Vivid (bright and cheerful), Solid (loud, clear voice), and Light (innocent and angelic).^[12] Miku Append was created to expand Miku’s voice library, and as such requires the original program to be installed on the user’s computer first.^[13] This was the first time a Vocaloid had such a release, and more Append versions were reported from Crypton Future Media at later dates.^[14]

It was mentioned that a 7th Append voicebank, a falsetto voice, had been recorded; however, since the developers didn’t think it would be useful on its own, no plans were made for an independent release.^[15] During the Kagamine Append development, a «darkish Whisper/Sweet» append was being considered.^[16] Miku’s English vocal was also due for a Vocaloid 2 release, but it was not released in the engine due to low quality.^[17]

To aid in the production of 3D animations, the program MikuMikuDance was developed by an independent programmer. The freeware software allowed a boom in fan-made animations to be developed, as well as being a boost for promoting Vocaloid songs themselves.^[18] This spawned «NicoNico Cho Party», where fans could submit their animations to accompany live holographic performances of popular Vocaloid songs.

An English voicebank for Hatsune Miku was announced in 2011 and was to be released by the end of 2012. However, the decision to move to Vocaloid 3 and issues with English pronunciation delayed the release.^[19] It was finally released on August 31, 2013 via digital distribution.

The Hatsune Miku Vocaloid 3 Japanese vocal library was released on September 26, 2013. It contained updates to all previous Vocaloid 2 vocals except Vivid and Light. These were later released separately, though they were initially offered to anyone who already owned Hatsune Miku, Hatsune Miku Append, and Hatsune Miku V3. Once imported into Vocaloid4, all Vocaloid3 Hatsune Miku vocals could use the new Cross-Synthesis system (XSY) built for the new engine of Vocaloid 3. The voice was also imported into a device called Pocket Miku, released on April 3, 2014.^[20]

Hatsune Miku received an update for Yamaha’s Vocaloid 4 engine under the name of Hatsune Miku V4X.^[21] It makes use of the new EVEC system for Piapro Studio, a VSTi plugin used as an alternative to the traditional Vocaloid Editor. EVEC consists of recorded vowels. Along with the consonant, a different vocal tone can be achieved. Two vocal tones are included in the EVEC system: Power and Soft. Along with the new EVEC system, phoneme errors found in Miku’s V2 and V3 voicebanks would be fixed allowing for easier manipulation of the software’s voice. As of August 31, 2016, Hatsune Miku V4X/V4 English was released.

A Mandarin Chinese voicebank was released in September 2017, making Hatsune Miku the first trilingual Vocaloid product. Her Chinese name is 初音未来; Chūyīn Wèilái; 未来 are the kanji characters for her given name, Miku.

Marketing

Miku has been heavily promoted since 2008 and was originally aimed at professional musicians.^[22] On September 12, 2007, Amazon.co.jp reported sales of Hatsune Miku totaling 57,500,000 yen, making the character the number-one-selling software of that time.^[23] She was the first vocal to be developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media and sung in Japanese. Hatsune Miku’s instant success is owed to Vocaloid being a cultural hit in Japan and she reportedly sold 40,000 units by July 2008, selling on average 300 units a week.^[24] By January 2011, she had sold 60,000 units.^[25]

Merchandising

Since the success of Hatsune Miku’s Vocaloid 2 package led to an expansion of marketing possibilities, most of the mass marketing has come after the software’s initial release as a response to Miku’s popularity and has been on going since 2008. Even with the addition of other Character Vocals, Miku’s name continues to be used as the primary source of marketing for Crypton Future Media, to the point where most products for their Vocaloid related products will usually only feature Hatsune Miku’s name. In March 2012, the Nomura Research Institute estimated that the sales of all Hatsune Miku brand goods added up into the region of ¥10 billion since the release in 2007.^[26] Her name is easily the most recognizable of all Vocaloids.^[27]

In 2011, Crypton began to focus on marketing Miku to United States audiences. On May 7, Amazon placed a preview of Supercell’s hit song, «World is Mine», as a single. When the song finally went on sale, it ranked at No. 7 in the top 10 world singles list on iTunes in its first week of sales.^[28] Since Crypton had always sold Miku as a virtual instrument in Japan, they asked their Japanese fan base if it was acceptable for them to sell her as a virtual singer to the new market audience.^[29] The main purpose of the Miku English version is to allow Japanese producers to break into the western market and expand their audiences.^{[citation needed]}

Good Smile Racing

In 2008, Good Smile Racing began the licensing of Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Future Media-related Vocaloid content. Studie, which participated in the 2008 and 2009 seasons using a BMW Z4 E86. Their car was painted in official Hatsune Miku art, and fan-derivative versions of Hatsune Miku in some races in the 2009 season.^[30][31] In the 2008 season, a group of «Racing Queens» were seen in the pitstop of races. Dubbed the «MikuMiku Gals», the three girls were Rin Miyama, Riona Osaki and Hina Saito.^[32] In 2009, a new set of MikuMiku Gals were introduced; these girls wore outfits based on all three Character Vocal series females and not specifically Hatsune Miku alone. Hiroko Nagano, Atsuko and Ayami were the Racing Queens for the season.^[33][34]

Team COX, participating in the 2010 season, which uses a Porsche 996 GT3 RSR (and will use a Porsche 997 GT3-R). Their car uses Racing Miku (an official Hatsune Miku derivative wearing an orange racing queen suit) as their image. 2010 was also the first season to receive the first official «Racing Miku» derivative design, and from this season onward, the Racing Queens outfits were based on the season’s derivative design. The designer of the 2010 outfit was illustrator Redjuice. Model Ayami returned for this season as a Racing Queen and was joined by fellow models Saki Tachibana and Shihomi Kogoshi.^[35]

GSR and Studie with TeamUKYO was the sponsorship for the 2011 season. The designer of the 2011 Racing Miku derivative design was illustrator Yuichi Murakami. Ayami returned as a Racing Queen for the third time and Tachibana Saki returned for a second season. Haruka Aoi was the third Racing Queen to wear the Racing Miku 2011 outfit.^[36] GSR and Studie with TeamUKYO was continued as a sponsorship for the 2012 season. The Racing Miku design was illustrated by Gan for this season. The Racing queens for the season were returning models Tachibana Saki and Aoi Haruka, as well as new models Sena Kougami and Ayana Sato.^[37]

The Studie with TeamUKYO sponsorship continued with the 2013 season. The Racing Miku design for the season was done by Mari Shimazaki.^[38][39] The illustrator of the official art was Saitom.^[40] Sena Kougami returned as a racing queen for this season and was joined by Tsukasa Arai and Elena Ishiguro.^[41] In 2013, the sponsorship expanded to feature a team in the Isle of Man TT, called Team Mirai, with a Racing Miku-designed bike. They finished 6th with Ian Lougher after a fatal accident struck Yoshinari Matsushita (who rode another bike, a Suzuki 600cc) during practice at Ballacrye Corner.^[42][43][44] The Racing Miku design also was adapted for a «Sepang» version showing bare toned skin as part of showing good health and promoting the design as «the Angel of summer».^[45]

The illustrator for the 2014 season was Oguchi, one of the 15 artists of Kantai Collection. The outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto, the art director of Kill la Kill. The machine version of the outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto and Shōji Kawamori, who is noted for his «Macross» designs.^[46] The Racing Queens who wore the outfit were returning models Tsukasa Arai and Sena Kougami, as well as new models Kelal Yamaura and Noa Mizutani. For the 2015 Racing Miku, the design was based on a «Princess Knight» complete with a shield and spear-like umbrella. The illustrator was Taiki, the lead visual design from Square Enix and Sega’s games Lord of Vermilion and Rise of Mana. Koyamashigeto once again returned as the art direction and designer for the season. Tsuyoshi Kusano is in charge of the new machine design.^[47]

Winter festivals

Sapporo has been a major main target of sponsorship since 2010, with Crypton Future Media sponsoring the winter festivals. The image of Hatsune Miku would appear around the town on public transportation. The image portrayal of Miku that is used is a derivative design called «Snow Miku». Although originally, this was simply a recoloring of the normal Hatsune Miku, unique designs have occurred every year since 2011. Figurines based on the design have also been featured.

The 2012 design was chosen via a contest. The winning entry was referred to as «Fluffy Coat Snow Miku».^[48] The 2013 design was called «Strawberry Daifuku Shiromuku Miku».^[49][50] The 2014 design was based on a Magical Girl design by dera_fury, who was the winner of the 2014 Snow Miku contest.^[51] The illustration was «Nekosumi». The design also featured a pet called «Rabbit Yukine».^[52] The 2015 design was called «Snow Bell Snow Miku» and was illustrated by Nardack.^[53]

In 2012, several ice sculptures of the Character Vocal series and several snow sculptures of Miku were produced for the event. However, on February 7, 2012, one of the Snow Miku sculptures later collapsed and had to be rebuilt elsewhere with better support. The collapsed figure also hit a woman in her early 60s on the back of the head; no serious injuries were sustained in the process.^[54][55]

During Miku’s development, Crypton decided to take a different approach from that used by the other Vocaloid sound bank publishers.^{[citation needed]} It was decided that to make the product successful not only would a highly appealing voice need to be developed, but that the voice needed an image. She was originally aimed only at professional producers; the amateur and otaku market had not fully formed yet, and so were not initially considered.^[56]

The task for coming up with Miku’s image went to the manga artist Kei Garō. When Kei designed Miku, his only direction was that she was an android and what her color scheme (based on Yamaha’s synthesizer’s signature turquoise color) was.^[57] The design on Miku’s skirt and boots are based on synthesizer software colors and the bars represent the actual bars within the program’s user interface.^{[citation needed]} Miku was originally intended to have a different hairstyle, but Kei stuck to pigtails or bunches after trying them out.^{[citation needed]}

Name	Hatsune Miku[2][58]
Release	August 31, 2007
Age	16 years
Height	158 cm / 5 ft 2 in
Weight	42 kg / 93 lb
Suggested Genre	Pop, rock, dance, house, techno, crossover
Suggested Tempo Range	70–150 bpm
Suggested Vocal Range	A3–E5, B2–B3

Cultural impact

Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video streaming website similar to YouTube, played a fundamental role in the recognition and popularity of the software. Soon after Miku’s release, Nico Nico Douga users started posting videos of songs created using the character’s sound bank. According to Crypton, a popular video featuring Miku’s chibi version, Hachune Miku, singing and dancing to «Ievan Polkka» while spinning a Welsh onion in homage to Loituma Girl’s original video (which led to Miku also being commonly associated with spring onions) demonstrated the potential of the software in multimedia content creation.^[59] As Miku’s recognition and popularity grew, Nico Nico Douga became a place for collaborative content creation. Popular original songs written by a user would inspire illustrations, animations in 2D and 3D, and remixes by other users. Some creators would show their unfinished work and ask for ideas.^[60]

In September 2009, three figurines based on the derivative character «Hachune Miku» were launched in a rocket from the United States state of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, though it did not reach outer space.^[61][62] In late November 2009, a petition was launched in order to get a custom-made Hatsune Miku aluminium plate (8 cm × 12 cm, 3.1″ × 4.7″) made that would be used as a balancing weight for the Japanese Venus spacecraft explorer Akatsuki.^[63] Started by Hatsune Miku fan Sumio Morioka (also known as «chodenzi-P»), this project has received the backing of Dr. Seiichi Sakamoto of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. On December 22, 2009, the petition exceeded the needed 10,000 signatures necessary to have the plates made. An original deadline of December 20, 2009, had been set to send in the petition, but due to a couple of delays in the Akatsuki project, a new deadline of January 6, 2010, was set; by this deadline, over 14,000 signatures had been received. On May 21, 2010 at 06:58:22 (JST), Akatsuki was launched, having three plates depicting Hatsune Miku and Hachune Miku in several monochrome images, composed of the miniature letters of the messages from the petition form etched in the plates.^[64][65] The UK 59th issue of the music and fashion magazine Clash featured Hatsune Miku as their cover star (using a real-life photo model), with a full feature on her.^[66] The third launch of the MOMO sounding rocket by Interstellar Technologies used Hatsune Miku’s voice for the countdown.^[67]

The Vocaloid software has also had a great influence on the character Black Rock Shooter, who looks like Hatsune Miku but is not linked to her by design. The character was made famous by the song «Black Rock Shooter»,^[68] and a number of figurines have been made. An original video animation made by Ordet was streamed for free as part of a promotional campaign running from June 25 to August 31, 2010.^[69] A televised anime series aired in February 2012.^[70]

In October 2011, Crypton showed on the official Hatsune Miku Facebook page a letter from the Japanese Minister of Economy for «contributing to the furtherance of the informatization by minister of economy.»^{[citation needed]} The flag of the city of Chiba was considered to coincidentally resemble the silhouette of Hatsune Miku, and on the 10th anniversary on August 31, 2017, the municipal government website temporarily changed its logo to look like Miku.^[71] Geoffrey Cain of GlobalPost has argued that the phenomenon of Hatsune Miku is partly due to the love of Japanese for giving inanimate objects a soul, which is rooted in Shintoism or animism, but also in the long tradition of Karakuri ningyō or automated wooden puppets. Thus, Japanese are much more ready to accept a virtual character as «human».^[72]

Hatsune Miku is often jokingly attributed as the creator of the video game Minecraft (originating from the Miku Twitter parody account mikumiku_ebooks which tweeted «i created minecraft») as well as the book series Harry Potter. Both of these attributions came about after the original creators of both works (Markus Persson and J. K. Rowling, respectively) published tweets that were critical of transgender people, which resulted in backlash from their respective fans.^[73][74]

Appearances in other media

Miku’s popularity has resulted in various references to her in anime. Miku is the protagonist of a manga series named Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix, written by Kei Garō. The manga explores the many possibilities of story-telling and has featured numerous adventures, ranging from giant-sized battles with Hatsune Miku to home exploits. There is therefore no single storyline, and the entire setting within the manga is unofficial. During an episode of Zoku Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei, Miku is seen auditioning for the voice of Meru Otonashi (Kagamine Rin and Len are referenced in the same episode). Miku’s voice is used in one of the ending themes for the anime series Akikan! (episode 12). Moreover, she also sings the ending theme for the anime Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories, called «Kaikai Emaki» (怪々絵巻). During an episode in the Lucky Star OVA, Kagami Hiiragi gets magically transformed into Miku cosplay. A character in the anime Kämpfer appears dressed as Miku in episode seven. She also appeared in the large plasma screen in Chrome Shelled Regios as an endorser. She also appears in episode 11 of Baka and Test as a member of class B. Miku also appears in Maria Holic episode 12, when the class is told they have a swim meet. Miku also appears in episode 1 of Himōto! Umaru-chan, in an imagination of what the main character wants to buy. A parody of Miku is also seen in Gintama (episode 237) in the second editor of Gintaman, Daito’s anime fantasies. Miku also appeared in the anime Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Animation as a recurring character.^[75] Miku appears as a recurring guest character in 2022’s Dropkick on My Devil! X, the third anime season based on Yukiwo’s Dropkick on My Devil! manga series, voiced by Saki Fujita as opposed to having lines recorded through the Vocaloid software.^[76][77]

A series of rhythm games starting from Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA were produced by Sega under license using Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Vocaloids, as well as «fan-made» Vocaloids like Akita Neru. The series has sold 6 million copies.^[78] Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai was developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Miku’s appearance in this game is based on the Nendoroid series of figures.^[79] Later on, a mobile gacha rhythm game called Project SEKAI: Colorful Stage! (marketed as Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! outside of Asia) was released. The game features Miku as well as the other Crypton Vocaloids alongside original human characters. Many of the game’s playable songs are covers of existing Vocaloid originals. Hatsune Miku is also briefly referenced in the game Recettear, where a young man stargazing sees «The Green-Onion Girl» constellation. Also, in 2013, Saki Fujita voices Fei-Yen HD, a character based on one of Hatsune Miku’s modules, in Super Robot Wars UX; this appearance does not use Miku’s vocal library. Haruka Sawamura from the Yakuza series, another Sega franchise, can wear Miku’s outfit in Yakuza 5, and an ice statue of Miku is also seen in the Sapporo region of the game. TinierMe also made attire that looks like Miku’s for their services, allowing users to make their avatar resemble her.^[80][81]

Miku’s clothes appear as a costume for a playable character in the Japanese version of PangYa and was the back-up vocal for the game’s season four trailer, as a downloadable costume for Sophie in Tales of Graces and is seen during a stage in the game 13-sai no Hellowork DS. Miku’s clothes also appear in Phantasy Star Portable 2 as a costume for the player’s female character, as well as her hairstyle and leek-themed weapons. Miku appears in the PlayStation 3 version of The Idolm@ster 2 as downloadable content.^[82] In the video game Skullgirls, one of Filia’s alternative colors is based on Miku. Hatsune Miku’s attire has also appeared in Phantasy Star Online 2 as a female character’s costume, along with «Miku Dayō» as a Mag Design.^[83] She also makes an appearance in the game Brave Frontier.^[84]

In 2014, Korg introduced «Miku Stomp», a guitar effects unit that emulates the sound of Miku’s voice.^[85] «Tell Your World» by Livetune, which features her as a featured artist, appears in Japan’s Just Dance Wii U. In 2015, «Ievan Polkka» was announced to appear in Just Dance 2016 along with a dancer whose outfit is exactly like Miku’s. On July 23, 2015, Miku was announced as a DLC character in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, a video game released in 2015 for the PlayStation Vita and developed by Atlus.^[86] On November 26, 2015, Miku became a collaboration idol for the second update of the 2016 series of the Aikatsu! arcade game. Several cards containing Hatsune Miku uniforms were also included for the update. In 2016, a remix of «Ievan Polkka» appeared on an LG G5 commercial. «PoPiPo» was announced to appear in Just Dance 2017 also with a dancer whose resembles Miku. Then, «Love Ward» by OSTER project was also announced to appear in Just Dance 2018 with the same Miku-resembling dancer. In March 2017, Miku was introduced as a playable character in the mobile game ‘#COMPASS’. In fall 2017, Hatsune Miku was added as a playable character in PriPara. «Love Ward» and «PoPiPo» are still available in future Just Dance games as part of Ubisoft’s Just Dance Unlimited service for Just Dance 2016 onwards.

In August 2017, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the virtual singer, Ricoh released a limited edition of its 360° camera Ricoh Theta branded with Hatsune Miku imagery called the Ricoh Theta SC Type Hatsune Miku.^[87][88] The Ricoh Theta Type Hatsune Miku mobile apps (iOS and Android) allow for placing images of the character (in 55 different poses) within 360° images taken with the camera. Users can manipulate Hatsune Miku’s facial expressions, change the direction of the character’s shadow and hair, and rotate the character to place it within the 360° image.^[89] The product includes a specially designed case and other features illustrated by Fuzichoco, an illustrator at Crypton Future Media.

In 2020, Hatsune Miku (also under the name Space Channel 39 and Space 39) was announced to be released as part of a DLC pack for Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash on July 27 that same year. The installment allows the player to dance with Miku or attempt to defeat her in a dance battle, alongside Ulala, 88MAN, or Pudding.^[90][91] The DLC also unlocks a Hatsune themed outfit for Ulala (under Channel 39).^[92]

Featured music

In August 2010, over 22,000 original songs had been written under the name Hatsune Miku. Later reports confirmed that she had 100,000 songs in 2011 to her name.^{[citation needed]} Crypton’s website promotes Miku’s popularity having her voice used in over 100,000 unique songs.^[93]

One of the Vocaloid compilations, Exit Tunes Presents Vocalogenesis feat. Hatsune Miku, debuted at number-one on the Japanese weekly Oricon album charts dated May 31, 2010, becoming the first Vocaloid album ever to top the charts.^[94] Another album, Supercell, by the group Supercell^[95][96] also features a number of songs using Vocaloids. Other albums, such as 19’s Sound Factory’s First Sound Story^[97] and Livetune’s Re:package, and Re:Mikus^[98][99] also feature Miku’s voice. Other uses of Miku include the albums Sakura no Ame (桜ノ雨) by Absorb and Miku no Kanzume (みくのかんづめ) by OSTER-project. The viral Nyan Cat meme featured an Utauloid cover of «Nyanyanyanyan!» by daniwell-P, the original song featuring Miku. Another song originally using Miku, «Color», was covered by MARiA, and featured as the opening theme of the 2011 anime series Freezing.

As a virtual idol, Hatsune Miku first featured in a «live» virtual concert during Animelo Summer Live at the Saitama Super Arena on August 22, 2009.^[100][101] Miku later returned to Animelo Summer Live 2012: Infinity to perform «World is Mine» and «Tell Your World». Miku made her first overseas live appearance at a concert on November 21, 2009, during Anime Festival Asia (AFA) in Singapore.^[102][103] On March 9, 2010, Miku’s first solo live performance titled «Miku no Hi Kanshasai 39’s Giving Day» was opened at the Zepp Tokyo in Odaiba, Tokyo.^[104][105] Miku performed in the United States on July 2, 2011 at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live during the 2011 Anime Expo in Los Angeles. The concert followed the same format as the previous «39’s Giving Day» concert.^[106] Hatsune Miku performed in Japanese rock festival Summer Sonic 2013 on August 10, 2013. Hatsune Miku teamed up with designer Louis Vuitton and director Toshiki Okada for a Vocaloid opera, titled The End. It featured no human singers and took place at the Theatre du Chatelet Opera House in Paris on November 13 and 15, 2013.^[107] Another operatic work starring Hatsune Miku, a short opera buffa entitled «Weebmalion», appeared in 2018, this time featuring a real soloist, tenor Aleksander Kunach, singing with the character in a love duet written by Polish composer, Krzysztof Żelichowski. It was the first time a classically trained voice appeared alongside Vocaloid in original classical composition.

A young male prototype used for the «Project If…» series was used in Sound Horizon’s musical work «Ido e Itaru Mori e Itaru Ido», labeled as the «prologue maxi». The prototype sang alongside Miku for their music and is known only by the name «Junger März_Prototype β».^[108][109] Hatsune Miku was the opening act for Lady Gaga’s world tour ArtRave: The Artpop Ball, performing throughout the first month of Gaga’s tour from May 6 to June 3, 2014.^[110]

In March 2014, Hatsune Miku and Crypton Future Media teamed up with the Japanese band Bump of Chicken to record a music video featuring a real band singing alongside Hatsune Miku in real time. This video was uploaded on March 12, 2014, and contains the song «Ray». The video is not after-edited in any way. This was made possible by Crypton’s newest technology to focus characters on a screen directly to the recording camera by using a big curved screen, motion data, Wifi-sensors, movement-sensors and some older technology from Crypton.

Pharrell Williams made a remix of Livetune’s song «Last Night, Goodnight» featuring Hatsune Miku.^[111] On October 8, 2014, Miku debuted on American network television as the character performed «Sharing the World» on the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.^[112] Hatsune Miku is featured in «B Who I Want 2 B» produced by Sophie from Namie Amuro’s album Genic. The 2016 Hatsune Miku Expo tour featured American electronic band Anamanaguchi as an opening act; to commemorate the tour, the band recorded a single track titled «Miku», which they performed live on the tour with Miku as an encore song.^[113] Big Boi (of Outkast) sampled Aura Qualic’s song «DATA 2.0», featuring Hatsune Miku for his 2017 single «Kill Jill», also appearing in the song’s music video.^[114] Slushii did a collaboration with Hatsune Miku for the song Though the Night^[115][116] which was released on May 11, 2018 on the single Through the Night.

In January 2020, Hatsune Miku was announced as a performer at Coachella 2020 in Indio, California, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[117]

On December 11, 2020, Hatsune Miku was a featured artist on a remixed version of American rapper Ashnikko’s song «Daisy» titled «Daisy 2.0».

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)

Hatsune Miku

Developer(s)	Crypton Future Media
Initial release	August 31, 2007
Stable release	Hatsune Miku NT (New Type) / November 27, 2020
Operating system	Microsoft Windows, macOS
Platform	PC
Available in	Japanese English Chinese
Type	Vocal Synthesizer Application
License	Proprietary (Vocaloid voice/software) Creative Commons BY-NC (character design)[1]
Website	ec.crypton.co.jp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01_us

Hatsune Miku (Japanese: 初音ミク), also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01,^[2][3] is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku’s personification has been marketed as a virtual idol, and has performed at live virtual concerts onstage as an animated projection (rear-cast projection on a specially coated glass screen).^[4]

Miku uses Yamaha Corporation’s Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies. She also uses Crypton Future Media’s Piapro Studio, a standalone singing synthesizer editor. She was the second Vocaloid sold using the Vocaloid 2 engine and the first Japanese Vocaloid to use the Japanese version of the 2 engine. The voice is modeled from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita.

The name of the character comes from merging the Japanese words for first (初, hatsu), sound (音, ne), and future (ミク, miku),^[a] thus meaning «the first sound of the future»,^[2] which, along with her code name, refers to her position as the first of Crypton’s «Character Vocal Series» (abbreviated «CV Series»), preceding Kagamine Rin/Len (code-named CV02) and Megurine Luka (code-named CV03). The number 01 can also be seen on her left shoulder in official artwork.

Development

Hatsune Miku was the first Vocaloid developed by Crypton Future Media after they handled the release of the Yamaha vocal Meiko and Kaito. Miku was intended to be the first of a series of Vocaloids called the «Character Vocal Series» (abbreviated «CV Series«), which included Kagamine Rin/Len and Megurine Luka. Each had a particular concept and vocal direction.^[8]

She was built using Yamaha’s Vocaloid 2 technology, and later updated to newer engine versions. She was created by taking vocal samples from voice actress Saki Fujita at a controlled pitch and tone. Those samples all contain a single Japanese phonic that, when strung together, creates full lyrics and phrases. The pitch of the samples was to be altered by the synthesizer engine and constructed into a keyboard-style instrument within the Vocaloid software.

Crypton released Hatsune Miku on August 31, 2007. Crypton had the idea to release Miku as «an android diva in the near-future world where songs are lost.»^[9] Hatsune Miku was released for Vocaloid 3 on August 31, 2013, including an English vocal library.^[10] She was the first Vocaloid to be developed by the company, following their commercial release handle of Yamaha Corporation developed vocals «Meiko» and «Kaito», making Hatsune Miku the third Vocaloid to be sold commercially by the company.^[11]

Additional software

On April 30, 2010, a new add-on for Vocaloid 2 called Hatsune Miku Append, was released, consisting of six different timbres for the voice: Soft (gentle timbre), Sweet (young, chibi quality), Dark (mature and melancholic), Vivid (bright and cheerful), Solid (loud, clear voice), and Light (innocent and angelic).^[12] Miku Append was created to expand Miku’s voice library, and as such requires the original program to be installed on the user’s computer first.^[13] This was the first time a Vocaloid had such a release, and more Append versions were reported from Crypton Future Media at later dates.^[14]

It was mentioned that a 7th Append voicebank, a falsetto voice, had been recorded; however, since the developers didn’t think it would be useful on its own, no plans were made for an independent release.^[15] During the Kagamine Append development, a «darkish Whisper/Sweet» append was being considered.^[16] Miku’s English vocal was also due for a Vocaloid 2 release, but it was not released in the engine due to low quality.^[17]

To aid in the production of 3D animations, the program MikuMikuDance was developed by an independent programmer. The freeware software allowed a boom in fan-made animations to be developed, as well as being a boost for promoting Vocaloid songs themselves.^[18] This spawned «NicoNico Cho Party», where fans could submit their animations to accompany live holographic performances of popular Vocaloid songs.

An English voicebank for Hatsune Miku was announced in 2011 and was to be released by the end of 2012. However, the decision to move to Vocaloid 3 and issues with English pronunciation delayed the release.^[19] It was finally released on August 31, 2013 via digital distribution.

The Hatsune Miku Vocaloid 3 Japanese vocal library was released on September 26, 2013. It contained updates to all previous Vocaloid 2 vocals except Vivid and Light. These were later released separately, though they were initially offered to anyone who already owned Hatsune Miku, Hatsune Miku Append, and Hatsune Miku V3. Once imported into Vocaloid4, all Vocaloid3 Hatsune Miku vocals could use the new Cross-Synthesis system (XSY) built for the new engine of Vocaloid 3. The voice was also imported into a device called Pocket Miku, released on April 3, 2014.^[20]

Hatsune Miku received an update for Yamaha’s Vocaloid 4 engine under the name of Hatsune Miku V4X.^[21] It makes use of the new EVEC system for Piapro Studio, a VSTi plugin used as an alternative to the traditional Vocaloid Editor. EVEC consists of recorded vowels. Along with the consonant, a different vocal tone can be achieved. Two vocal tones are included in the EVEC system: Power and Soft. Along with the new EVEC system, phoneme errors found in Miku’s V2 and V3 voicebanks would be fixed allowing for easier manipulation of the software’s voice. As of August 31, 2016, Hatsune Miku V4X/V4 English was released.

A Mandarin Chinese voicebank was released in September 2017, making Hatsune Miku the first trilingual Vocaloid product. Her Chinese name is 初音未来; Chūyīn Wèilái; 未来 are the kanji characters for her given name, Miku.

Marketing

Miku has been heavily promoted since 2008 and was originally aimed at professional musicians.^[22] On September 12, 2007, Amazon.co.jp reported sales of Hatsune Miku totaling 57,500,000 yen, making the character the number-one-selling software of that time.^[23] She was the first vocal to be developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media and sung in Japanese. Hatsune Miku’s instant success is owed to Vocaloid being a cultural hit in Japan and she reportedly sold 40,000 units by July 2008, selling on average 300 units a week.^[24] By January 2011, she had sold 60,000 units.^[25]

Merchandising

Since the success of Hatsune Miku’s Vocaloid 2 package led to an expansion of marketing possibilities, most of the mass marketing has come after the software’s initial release as a response to Miku’s popularity and has been on going since 2008. Even with the addition of other Character Vocals, Miku’s name continues to be used as the primary source of marketing for Crypton Future Media, to the point where most products for their Vocaloid related products will usually only feature Hatsune Miku’s name. In March 2012, the Nomura Research Institute estimated that the sales of all Hatsune Miku brand goods added up into the region of ¥10 billion since the release in 2007.^[26] Her name is easily the most recognizable of all Vocaloids.^[27]

In 2011, Crypton began to focus on marketing Miku to United States audiences. On May 7, Amazon placed a preview of Supercell’s hit song, «World is Mine», as a single. When the song finally went on sale, it ranked at No. 7 in the top 10 world singles list on iTunes in its first week of sales.^[28] Since Crypton had always sold Miku as a virtual instrument in Japan, they asked their Japanese fan base if it was acceptable for them to sell her as a virtual singer to the new market audience.^[29] The main purpose of the Miku English version is to allow Japanese producers to break into the western market and expand their audiences.^{[citation needed]}

Good Smile Racing

In 2008, Good Smile Racing began the licensing of Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Future Media-related Vocaloid content. Studie, which participated in the 2008 and 2009 seasons using a BMW Z4 E86. Their car was painted in official Hatsune Miku art, and fan-derivative versions of Hatsune Miku in some races in the 2009 season.^[30][31] In the 2008 season, a group of «Racing Queens» were seen in the pitstop of races. Dubbed the «MikuMiku Gals», the three girls were Rin Miyama, Riona Osaki and Hina Saito.^[32] In 2009, a new set of MikuMiku Gals were introduced; these girls wore outfits based on all three Character Vocal series females and not specifically Hatsune Miku alone. Hiroko Nagano, Atsuko and Ayami were the Racing Queens for the season.^[33][34]

Team COX, participating in the 2010 season, which uses a Porsche 996 GT3 RSR (and will use a Porsche 997 GT3-R). Their car uses Racing Miku (an official Hatsune Miku derivative wearing an orange racing queen suit) as their image. 2010 was also the first season to receive the first official «Racing Miku» derivative design, and from this season onward, the Racing Queens outfits were based on the season’s derivative design. The designer of the 2010 outfit was illustrator Redjuice. Model Ayami returned for this season as a Racing Queen and was joined by fellow models Saki Tachibana and Shihomi Kogoshi.^[35]

GSR and Studie with TeamUKYO was the sponsorship for the 2011 season. The designer of the 2011 Racing Miku derivative design was illustrator Yuichi Murakami. Ayami returned as a Racing Queen for the third time and Tachibana Saki returned for a second season. Haruka Aoi was the third Racing Queen to wear the Racing Miku 2011 outfit.^[36] GSR and Studie with TeamUKYO was continued as a sponsorship for the 2012 season. The Racing Miku design was illustrated by Gan for this season. The Racing queens for the season were returning models Tachibana Saki and Aoi Haruka, as well as new models Sena Kougami and Ayana Sato.^[37]

The Studie with TeamUKYO sponsorship continued with the 2013 season. The Racing Miku design for the season was done by Mari Shimazaki.^[38][39] The illustrator of the official art was Saitom.^[40] Sena Kougami returned as a racing queen for this season and was joined by Tsukasa Arai and Elena Ishiguro.^[41] In 2013, the sponsorship expanded to feature a team in the Isle of Man TT, called Team Mirai, with a Racing Miku-designed bike. They finished 6th with Ian Lougher after a fatal accident struck Yoshinari Matsushita (who rode another bike, a Suzuki 600cc) during practice at Ballacrye Corner.^[42][43][44] The Racing Miku design also was adapted for a «Sepang» version showing bare toned skin as part of showing good health and promoting the design as «the Angel of summer».^[45]

The illustrator for the 2014 season was Oguchi, one of the 15 artists of Kantai Collection. The outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto, the art director of Kill la Kill. The machine version of the outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto and Shōji Kawamori, who is noted for his «Macross» designs.^[46] The Racing Queens who wore the outfit were returning models Tsukasa Arai and Sena Kougami, as well as new models Kelal Yamaura and Noa Mizutani. For the 2015 Racing Miku, the design was based on a «Princess Knight» complete with a shield and spear-like umbrella. The illustrator was Taiki, the lead visual design from Square Enix and Sega’s games Lord of Vermilion and Rise of Mana. Koyamashigeto once again returned as the art direction and designer for the season. Tsuyoshi Kusano is in charge of the new machine design.^[47]

Winter festivals

Sapporo has been a major main target of sponsorship since 2010, with Crypton Future Media sponsoring the winter festivals. The image of Hatsune Miku would appear around the town on public transportation. The image portrayal of Miku that is used is a derivative design called «Snow Miku». Although originally, this was simply a recoloring of the normal Hatsune Miku, unique designs have occurred every year since 2011. Figurines based on the design have also been featured.

The 2012 design was chosen via a contest. The winning entry was referred to as «Fluffy Coat Snow Miku».^[48] The 2013 design was called «Strawberry Daifuku Shiromuku Miku».^[49][50] The 2014 design was based on a Magical Girl design by dera_fury, who was the winner of the 2014 Snow Miku contest.^[51] The illustration was «Nekosumi». The design also featured a pet called «Rabbit Yukine».^[52] The 2015 design was called «Snow Bell Snow Miku» and was illustrated by Nardack.^[53]

In 2012, several ice sculptures of the Character Vocal series and several snow sculptures of Miku were produced for the event. However, on February 7, 2012, one of the Snow Miku sculptures later collapsed and had to be rebuilt elsewhere with better support. The collapsed figure also hit a woman in her early 60s on the back of the head; no serious injuries were sustained in the process.^[54][55]

During Miku’s development, Crypton decided to take a different approach from that used by the other Vocaloid sound bank publishers.^{[citation needed]} It was decided that to make the product successful not only would a highly appealing voice need to be developed, but that the voice needed an image. She was originally aimed only at professional producers; the amateur and otaku market had not fully formed yet, and so were not initially considered.^[56]

The task for coming up with Miku’s image went to the manga artist Kei Garō. When Kei designed Miku, his only direction was that she was an android and what her color scheme (based on Yamaha’s synthesizer’s signature turquoise color) was.^[57] The design on Miku’s skirt and boots are based on synthesizer software colors and the bars represent the actual bars within the program’s user interface.^{[citation needed]} Miku was originally intended to have a different hairstyle, but Kei stuck to pigtails or bunches after trying them out.^{[citation needed]}

Name	Hatsune Miku[2][58]
Release	August 31, 2007
Age	16 years
Height	158 cm / 5 ft 2 in
Weight	42 kg / 93 lb
Suggested Genre	Pop, rock, dance, house, techno, crossover
Suggested Tempo Range	70–150 bpm
Suggested Vocal Range	A3–E5, B2–B3

Cultural impact

Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video streaming website similar to YouTube, played a fundamental role in the recognition and popularity of the software. Soon after Miku’s release, Nico Nico Douga users started posting videos of songs created using the character’s sound bank. According to Crypton, a popular video featuring Miku’s chibi version, Hachune Miku, singing and dancing to «Ievan Polkka» while spinning a Welsh onion in homage to Loituma Girl’s original video (which led to Miku also being commonly associated with spring onions) demonstrated the potential of the software in multimedia content creation.^[59] As Miku’s recognition and popularity grew, Nico Nico Douga became a place for collaborative content creation. Popular original songs written by a user would inspire illustrations, animations in 2D and 3D, and remixes by other users. Some creators would show their unfinished work and ask for ideas.^[60]

In September 2009, three figurines based on the derivative character «Hachune Miku» were launched in a rocket from the United States state of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, though it did not reach outer space.^[61][62] In late November 2009, a petition was launched in order to get a custom-made Hatsune Miku aluminium plate (8 cm × 12 cm, 3.1″ × 4.7″) made that would be used as a balancing weight for the Japanese Venus spacecraft explorer Akatsuki.^[63] Started by Hatsune Miku fan Sumio Morioka (also known as «chodenzi-P»), this project has received the backing of Dr. Seiichi Sakamoto of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. On December 22, 2009, the petition exceeded the needed 10,000 signatures necessary to have the plates made. An original deadline of December 20, 2009, had been set to send in the petition, but due to a couple of delays in the Akatsuki project, a new deadline of January 6, 2010, was set; by this deadline, over 14,000 signatures had been received. On May 21, 2010 at 06:58:22 (JST), Akatsuki was launched, having three plates depicting Hatsune Miku and Hachune Miku in several monochrome images, composed of the miniature letters of the messages from the petition form etched in the plates.^[64][65] The UK 59th issue of the music and fashion magazine Clash featured Hatsune Miku as their cover star (using a real-life photo model), with a full feature on her.^[66] The third launch of the MOMO sounding rocket by Interstellar Technologies used Hatsune Miku’s voice for the countdown.^[67]

The Vocaloid software has also had a great influence on the character Black Rock Shooter, who looks like Hatsune Miku but is not linked to her by design. The character was made famous by the song «Black Rock Shooter»,^[68] and a number of figurines have been made. An original video animation made by Ordet was streamed for free as part of a promotional campaign running from June 25 to August 31, 2010.^[69] A televised anime series aired in February 2012.^[70]

In October 2011, Crypton showed on the official Hatsune Miku Facebook page a letter from the Japanese Minister of Economy for «contributing to the furtherance of the informatization by minister of economy.»^{[citation needed]} The flag of the city of Chiba was considered to coincidentally resemble the silhouette of Hatsune Miku, and on the 10th anniversary on August 31, 2017, the municipal government website temporarily changed its logo to look like Miku.^[71] Geoffrey Cain of GlobalPost has argued that the phenomenon of Hatsune Miku is partly due to the love of Japanese for giving inanimate objects a soul, which is rooted in Shintoism or animism, but also in the long tradition of Karakuri ningyō or automated wooden puppets. Thus, Japanese are much more ready to accept a virtual character as «human».^[72]

Hatsune Miku is often jokingly attributed as the creator of the video game Minecraft (originating from the Miku Twitter parody account mikumiku_ebooks which tweeted «i created minecraft») as well as the book series Harry Potter. Both of these attributions came about after the original creators of both works (Markus Persson and J. K. Rowling, respectively) published tweets that were critical of transgender people, which resulted in backlash from their respective fans.^[73][74]

Appearances in other media

Miku’s popularity has resulted in various references to her in anime. Miku is the protagonist of a manga series named Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix, written by Kei Garō. The manga explores the many possibilities of story-telling and has featured numerous adventures, ranging from giant-sized battles with Hatsune Miku to home exploits. There is therefore no single storyline, and the entire setting within the manga is unofficial. During an episode of Zoku Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei, Miku is seen auditioning for the voice of Meru Otonashi (Kagamine Rin and Len are referenced in the same episode). Miku’s voice is used in one of the ending themes for the anime series Akikan! (episode 12). Moreover, she also sings the ending theme for the anime Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories, called «Kaikai Emaki» (怪々絵巻). During an episode in the Lucky Star OVA, Kagami Hiiragi gets magically transformed into Miku cosplay. A character in the anime Kämpfer appears dressed as Miku in episode seven. She also appeared in the large plasma screen in Chrome Shelled Regios as an endorser. She also appears in episode 11 of Baka and Test as a member of class B. Miku also appears in Maria Holic episode 12, when the class is told they have a swim meet. Miku also appears in episode 1 of Himōto! Umaru-chan, in an imagination of what the main character wants to buy. A parody of Miku is also seen in Gintama (episode 237) in the second editor of Gintaman, Daito’s anime fantasies. Miku also appeared in the anime Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Animation as a recurring character.^[75] Miku appears as a recurring guest character in 2022’s Dropkick on My Devil! X, the third anime season based on Yukiwo’s Dropkick on My Devil! manga series, voiced by Saki Fujita as opposed to having lines recorded through the Vocaloid software.^[76][77]

A series of rhythm games starting from Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA were produced by Sega under license using Hatsune Miku and other Crypton Vocaloids, as well as «fan-made» Vocaloids like Akita Neru. The series has sold 6 million copies.^[78] Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai was developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Miku’s appearance in this game is based on the Nendoroid series of figures.^[79] Later on, a mobile gacha rhythm game called Project SEKAI: Colorful Stage! (marketed as Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! outside of Asia) was released. The game features Miku as well as the other Crypton Vocaloids alongside original human characters. Many of the game’s playable songs are covers of existing Vocaloid originals. Hatsune Miku is also briefly referenced in the game Recettear, where a young man stargazing sees «The Green-Onion Girl» constellation. Also, in 2013, Saki Fujita voices Fei-Yen HD, a character based on one of Hatsune Miku’s modules, in Super Robot Wars UX; this appearance does not use Miku’s vocal library. Haruka Sawamura from the Yakuza series, another Sega franchise, can wear Miku’s outfit in Yakuza 5, and an ice statue of Miku is also seen in the Sapporo region of the game. TinierMe also made attire that looks like Miku’s for their services, allowing users to make their avatar resemble her.^[80][81]

Miku’s clothes appear as a costume for a playable character in the Japanese version of PangYa and was the back-up vocal for the game’s season four trailer, as a downloadable costume for Sophie in Tales of Graces and is seen during a stage in the game 13-sai no Hellowork DS. Miku’s clothes also appear in Phantasy Star Portable 2 as a costume for the player’s female character, as well as her hairstyle and leek-themed weapons. Miku appears in the PlayStation 3 version of The Idolm@ster 2 as downloadable content.^[82] In the video game Skullgirls, one of Filia’s alternative colors is based on Miku. Hatsune Miku’s attire has also appeared in Phantasy Star Online 2 as a female character’s costume, along with «Miku Dayō» as a Mag Design.^[83] She also makes an appearance in the game Brave Frontier.^[84]

In 2014, Korg introduced «Miku Stomp», a guitar effects unit that emulates the sound of Miku’s voice.^[85] «Tell Your World» by Livetune, which features her as a featured artist, appears in Japan’s Just Dance Wii U. In 2015, «Ievan Polkka» was announced to appear in Just Dance 2016 along with a dancer whose outfit is exactly like Miku’s. On July 23, 2015, Miku was announced as a DLC character in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, a video game released in 2015 for the PlayStation Vita and developed by Atlus.^[86] On November 26, 2015, Miku became a collaboration idol for the second update of the 2016 series of the Aikatsu! arcade game. Several cards containing Hatsune Miku uniforms were also included for the update. In 2016, a remix of «Ievan Polkka» appeared on an LG G5 commercial. «PoPiPo» was announced to appear in Just Dance 2017 also with a dancer whose resembles Miku. Then, «Love Ward» by OSTER project was also announced to appear in Just Dance 2018 with the same Miku-resembling dancer. In March 2017, Miku was introduced as a playable character in the mobile game ‘#COMPASS’. In fall 2017, Hatsune Miku was added as a playable character in PriPara. «Love Ward» and «PoPiPo» are still available in future Just Dance games as part of Ubisoft’s Just Dance Unlimited service for Just Dance 2016 onwards.

In August 2017, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the virtual singer, Ricoh released a limited edition of its 360° camera Ricoh Theta branded with Hatsune Miku imagery called the Ricoh Theta SC Type Hatsune Miku.^[87][88] The Ricoh Theta Type Hatsune Miku mobile apps (iOS and Android) allow for placing images of the character (in 55 different poses) within 360° images taken with the camera. Users can manipulate Hatsune Miku’s facial expressions, change the direction of the character’s shadow and hair, and rotate the character to place it within the 360° image.^[89] The product includes a specially designed case and other features illustrated by Fuzichoco, an illustrator at Crypton Future Media.

In 2020, Hatsune Miku (also under the name Space Channel 39 and Space 39) was announced to be released as part of a DLC pack for Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash on July 27 that same year. The installment allows the player to dance with Miku or attempt to defeat her in a dance battle, alongside Ulala, 88MAN, or Pudding.^[90][91] The DLC also unlocks a Hatsune themed outfit for Ulala (under Channel 39).^[92]

Featured music

In August 2010, over 22,000 original songs had been written under the name Hatsune Miku. Later reports confirmed that she had 100,000 songs in 2011 to her name.^{[citation needed]} Crypton’s website promotes Miku’s popularity having her voice used in over 100,000 unique songs.^[93]

One of the Vocaloid compilations, Exit Tunes Presents Vocalogenesis feat. Hatsune Miku, debuted at number-one on the Japanese weekly Oricon album charts dated May 31, 2010, becoming the first Vocaloid album ever to top the charts.^[94] Another album, Supercell, by the group Supercell^[95][96] also features a number of songs using Vocaloids. Other albums, such as 19’s Sound Factory’s First Sound Story^[97] and Livetune’s Re:package, and Re:Mikus^[98][99] also feature Miku’s voice. Other uses of Miku include the albums Sakura no Ame (桜ノ雨) by Absorb and Miku no Kanzume (みくのかんづめ) by OSTER-project. The viral Nyan Cat meme featured an Utauloid cover of «Nyanyanyanyan!» by daniwell-P, the original song featuring Miku. Another song originally using Miku, «Color», was covered by MARiA, and featured as the opening theme of the 2011 anime series Freezing.

As a virtual idol, Hatsune Miku first featured in a «live» virtual concert during Animelo Summer Live at the Saitama Super Arena on August 22, 2009.^[100][101] Miku later returned to Animelo Summer Live 2012: Infinity to perform «World is Mine» and «Tell Your World». Miku made her first overseas live appearance at a concert on November 21, 2009, during Anime Festival Asia (AFA) in Singapore.^[102][103] On March 9, 2010, Miku’s first solo live performance titled «Miku no Hi Kanshasai 39’s Giving Day» was opened at the Zepp Tokyo in Odaiba, Tokyo.^[104][105] Miku performed in the United States on July 2, 2011 at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live during the 2011 Anime Expo in Los Angeles. The concert followed the same format as the previous «39’s Giving Day» concert.^[106] Hatsune Miku performed in Japanese rock festival Summer Sonic 2013 on August 10, 2013. Hatsune Miku teamed up with designer Louis Vuitton and director Toshiki Okada for a Vocaloid opera, titled The End. It featured no human singers and took place at the Theatre du Chatelet Opera House in Paris on November 13 and 15, 2013.^[107] Another operatic work starring Hatsune Miku, a short opera buffa entitled «Weebmalion», appeared in 2018, this time featuring a real soloist, tenor Aleksander Kunach, singing with the character in a love duet written by Polish composer, Krzysztof Żelichowski. It was the first time a classically trained voice appeared alongside Vocaloid in original classical composition.

A young male prototype used for the «Project If…» series was used in Sound Horizon’s musical work «Ido e Itaru Mori e Itaru Ido», labeled as the «prologue maxi». The prototype sang alongside Miku for their music and is known only by the name «Junger März_Prototype β».^[108][109] Hatsune Miku was the opening act for Lady Gaga’s world tour ArtRave: The Artpop Ball, performing throughout the first month of Gaga’s tour from May 6 to June 3, 2014.^[110]

In March 2014, Hatsune Miku and Crypton Future Media teamed up with the Japanese band Bump of Chicken to record a music video featuring a real band singing alongside Hatsune Miku in real time. This video was uploaded on March 12, 2014, and contains the song «Ray». The video is not after-edited in any way. This was made possible by Crypton’s newest technology to focus characters on a screen directly to the recording camera by using a big curved screen, motion data, Wifi-sensors, movement-sensors and some older technology from Crypton.

Pharrell Williams made a remix of Livetune’s song «Last Night, Goodnight» featuring Hatsune Miku.^[111] On October 8, 2014, Miku debuted on American network television as the character performed «Sharing the World» on the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.^[112] Hatsune Miku is featured in «B Who I Want 2 B» produced by Sophie from Namie Amuro’s album Genic. The 2016 Hatsune Miku Expo tour featured American electronic band Anamanaguchi as an opening act; to commemorate the tour, the band recorded a single track titled «Miku», which they performed live on the tour with Miku as an encore song.^[113] Big Boi (of Outkast) sampled Aura Qualic’s song «DATA 2.0», featuring Hatsune Miku for his 2017 single «Kill Jill», also appearing in the song’s music video.^[114] Slushii did a collaboration with Hatsune Miku for the song Though the Night^[115][116] which was released on May 11, 2018 on the single Through the Night.

In January 2020, Hatsune Miku was announced as a performer at Coachella 2020 in Indio, California, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[117]

On December 11, 2020, Hatsune Miku was a featured artist on a remixed version of American rapper Ashnikko’s song «Daisy» titled «Daisy 2.0».

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)

Хацунэ Мику (яп. 初音ミク), кодовое имя CV01 — первый японский вокалоид для движка VOCALOID2, разработанный и распространяемый компанией Crypton Future Media, Inc. Первоначально она была выпущена в августе 2007 года для движка VOCALOID2 и была первым членом Character Vocal Series. Она была седьмым вокалоидом в целом, а также вторым вокалоидом VOCALOID2, выпущенным для движка. Её голос принадлежит японской актрисе озвучивания Фудзите Саки. (яп. 藤田咲)^[3][4].

После выхода вокалоида было выпущено множество дополнений, таких как дополнительные голосовые библиотеки, получившие название «Append», а также обновление для движка VOCALOID3, которое содержало английский вокал. В августе 2016 года она получила обновление VOCALOID4, которое дополнило её японские и английские голосовые банки в августе 2016 года, а также мандаринско-китайский голосовой банк в сентябре 2017 года.

31 августа 2019 года Мику получила свой первый голосовой банк за пределами VOCALOID, это была Piapro Studio с её выпуском NT. Хотя Crypton сосредоточилась на собственной программе, они по-прежнему сотрудничают с YAMAHA и будут продолжать продавать товары VOCALOID параллельно с выпусками Piapro Studio^[5][6][7].

Концепт[]

У Crypton была идея выпустить Мику в качестве «андроида-дивы в мире недалекого будущего, где утрачены песни»^[8][9].

Этимология[]

Имя было выбрано путем сочетания «хацу» (初, «первый»), «нэ» (音, «звук») и «Мику» (未来, личное имя, имеющее общее написание со словом «будущее»). Таким образом, оно означает «первый звук из будущего». Её имя было основано на её представлении о том, что когда впервые произносится звук^[10].

Её кодовое имя «CV01» означает «Character Voice 01».

Её имя на китайском — «Чуинь Вэйлай» (упр. кит. 初音未来; трад. кит 初音未來).

Внешний вид[]

Когда KEI иллюстрировал Мику, ему дали цветовую схему для работы (основанную на фирменном сине-зелёном цвете синтезаторов YAMAHA) и попросили нарисовать Мику в виде андроида. Crypton также предоставили KEI подробные концепции Мику, однако Crypton отметили, что объяснить ему, что такое «вокалоид», было непросто. По словам KEI, сначала он не мог создать образ «поющего компьютера», поскольку даже не знал, что такое «синтезатор». Ему потребовалось больше месяца, чтобы выполнить заказ^[11].

Изначально Мику должна была иметь другую прическу, но, попробовав косички, KEI подумал, что они подходят больше. С тех пор косички стали культовой частью её дизайна. 22 июня 2012 года двойные хвосты Хацунэ Мику даже заслужили звание «Двойного хвоста, лучше всего отражающего 2000-е годы», отметив её как лучший набор двойных хвостов на заре 21-го века. Теперь она делит свое отличие от других персонажей, таких как Сэйлор Мун (которая получила звание «Лучший двойной хвост» в период 90-х годов)^[12].

Цифровой дизайн юбки и сапог Мику основан на цветах программы синтезатора, а полосы представляют собой реальные полосы в программе, следуя идеям Crypton. Частично её дизайн основан на некоторых моделях клавиатур YAMAHA, в частности, DX-100 и DX-7^[13][14]. Тонкие квадратики вокруг её косичек — это футуристические ленты, сделанные из специального материала, который плавает на месте. Как видно на рисунке KEI для Мику, они способны удерживать косички Мику на месте без необходимости физически прикасаться к самим волосам. KEI также сообщает, что ленты являются самым сложным элементом дизайна персонажа, который косплееры могут воссоздать.

После интернет-мема с участием Хачуне Мику, Мику стала ассоциироваться с весенним луком (часто принимаемым за лук-порей из-за схожего внешнего вида). Это, наряду с ассоциацией Кайто с мороженым, положило начало дискуссии под названием «Война предметов» в фандоме VOCALOID, в которой стало традицией, что новым вокалоидом присваивается какой-либо предмет, и эти предметы обсуждались до тех пор, пока один из них не остался в качестве интернет-мема. С тех пор это явление угасло.

Её дизайн VOCALOID2 Append часто подвергается цензуре. В оригинальном дизайне под галстуком находится оголенная полоска плоти. Во многих изображениях эта оголенная полоска плоти не показана и прикрыта. Например, в то время как модели Max Factory демонстрируют нецензурированную версию в своих обычных и Figma-моделях, в серии игр Project Diva избегают показывать любое обнажение.

История[]

Продвижение[]

По началу система маркетинга Хацунэ Мику ничем не отличалась от аналогичной у КАЙТО и МЭЙКО, посему большая часть продвижения происходила с помощью DTM MAGAZINE, поскольку читатели данного журнала в своё время оказали большое влияние на распространение вышеуказанных персонажей. Единственным же заранее запланированным ходом был выпуск диска с демо-версией голосового банка Хацунэ Мику вместе с выпуском журнала за ноябрь 2007 года, чей тираж был быстро распродан. В то время как вышеуказанный голосовой банк был доступен для предзаказа также было отмечено, что МЭЙКО и КАЙТО не имеют перспектив получения обновлений, и что Мику будет исполнять их роли в будущем^[15]. Кроме того, первоначально Хацунэ Мику была нацелена только на профессиональных продюсеров поскольку любительский рынок и рынок отаку тогда ещё только формировались^[16][17].

Несмотря на всё вышеперечисленное, Хацунэ Мику ждал коммерческий успех, в следствии чего были предприняты новые маркетинговые ходы. Так, например, было выпущено несколько руководств, а также линейка журналов, посвящённые исключительно её вокалу. Этот тип технического освещения стал возможен даже спустя долгое время после первоначального выпуска Мику, благодаря чему методы адаптации её вокала наиболее хорошо задокументированы среди вокалоидов эры VOCALOID2. В марте 2012 года, согласно подсчётам Исследовательского института Номура, общая прибыль за всё время продажи лицензионных товаров под брендом «Hatsune Miku» достигла отметки в 10 000 000 000 иен^[18].

Поскольку успех её голосового банка привел к расширению маркетинговых возможностей, большая часть массового маркетинга пришла после её первоначального выпуска в ответ на её популярность. На данный момент имя Мику является наиболее узнаваемым среди всех вокалоидов, из-за чего оно более активно используется Crypton Future Media, Inc. для продвижения собственных проектов, несмотря на наличие авторских прав и на некоторых других персонажей. В 2011 году началось продвижение Мику на американском рынке, в рамках которого 7 мая USAmazon разместил анонс популярной песни Supercell «World is Mine» в качестве сингла. Когда песня поступила в продажу, она заняла 7-е место в списке 10 лучших синглов мира в iTunes за первую неделю продаж^[19]. 26 июня 2012 года Хацунэ Мику была зарегистрирована как товарный знак^[20].

На данный момент изображение Мику широко используется для продвижение продукции разного вида: с её изображением создавались фигурки, нотные тетради, книги, журналы а также многие другие товары. Кроме того, изображение Хацунэ Мику наносились на автомобили BMW Z4 класса GT300 Super GT сезона 2008 года^[21] и Toyota Corolla в 2011 году^[22]. Также с 2009 года проходят «живые» концерты Мику с использованием технологии проецирования псевдотрёхмерного изображения. Помимо этого Хацунэ Мику является героиней ряда игр на разных платформах, а также не каноничной манги, созданной KEI: メーカー非公式 初音みっくす.

Восприятие и критика[]

Высокая популярность Хацунэ Мику сыграла большую роль в популяризации вокалоидов в Японии и за её пределами, поскольку до выпуска первого голосового банка Хацунэ Мику VOCALOID™ оставалась относительно малоизвестной торговой маркой, однако после его выхода её популярность начала быстро возрастать. Основную роль в этом сыграл японский видеохостинг Nico Nico Douga, на который в больших количествах начали загружаться музыкальные работы, использующие вокал и/или изображения Хацунэ Мику. Согласно заявлению Crypton Future Media, Inc., пародийная переделка песни Ievan Polkka, в которой использовалась комичная версия Мику с зелёным луком, стала показателем того, какие возможности предоставляет программа в плане создания мультимедийного контента. Первой же песней, набравшей более миллиона просмотров стала みくみくにしてあげる♪, что случилось 15 октября 2007 года, то есть менее, чем через 26 дней после публикации^[23].

Мику оставалась фаворитом среди вокалоидов в японоязычном сообществе, имея самую высокую популярность даже после выхода более качественных голосовых банков. Её популярность была настолько высока, что когда GazettE’s Aoi написал в Твиттере негативный твит, в котором утверждал, что живой вокал и синтезированный никогда нельзя будет ставить в один ряд, он сразу же столкнулся с возмущёнными фанатами и был вынужден отказаться от некоторых своих заявлений после того, как опробовал программное обеспечение самостоятельно^[24]. В 2013 году было заявлено, что количество видео с тегом «Miku» достигает от 1000 до 1500 видео каждый месяц, что было наивысшим показателем среди вокалоидов на Nico Nico Douga^[25]. В 2010 году Crypton Future Media, Inc. опубликовала рейтинг популярности вокалоидов, которые они продали, на своем сайте и в нём Хацунэ Мику стабильно занимает лидирующие или близкие к ней позиции. Также, как показал независимый поиск по Nico Nico Douga, за период с 1 по 15 декабря 2011 года на хостинг было загружено 9904 видео, в то время, как показатели других вокалоидов за этот период не дотягивали даже до 1 тысячи. Помимо этого она имела и наибольшее количество просмотров и добавлений в собственные листы за данный период — 23 847 081 просмотров и 1 943 303 добавлений. Тем не менее, Мику заняла третье место по среднему количеству просмотров на видео с результатом в 2407,82 просмотров^[26].

Согласно отчётам Google, Хацунэ Мику пользуется стабильной популярностью с апреля 2008 года. С течением времени количество поисковых запросов «初音ミク» стало снижаться, в то время как количество запросов «Hatsune Miku» наоборот стало быстро расти, что, вероятнее всего, связано с возрастающей популярностью в США и других англоговорящих странах. Не смотря на это, к концу 2015 года англоязычное сообщество считалось довольно ограниченным^[27].

Некоторый ущерб репутации Мику был нанесён после выхода голосового банка Hatsune Miku Append. Многие пользователи отмечали, что голос более не звучит так, как это должно быть. На фоне возмущения начался бойкот песен с использованием данного банка со стороны фанатов и снижение частоты его использования со стороны продюсеров. Тем не менее, данная волна негодования была довольно кратковременной, благодаря чему возместить финансовые и репутационные потери удалось возместить после выпуска голосовых банков под VOCALOID3. В 2014 году объём продаж товаров, связанных с торговой маркой «VOCALOID», увеличился на 19,2 % или же на 8 700 000 000 иен, что было официально объяснено выпуском голосового банка Hatsune Miku V3^[28]. Опрос, опубликованный в 2015 году, показал, что Miku была самым популярным вокалоидом в 2014 году на Nico Video, поддерживая популярность в 3-4 раза выше, чем у её ближайшего конкурента, GUMI^[29].

Голосовые банки[]

Название	Дата выхода	Движок	Язык
Hatsune Miku	31 августа 2007	VOCALOID2, VOCALOID Keyboard	Японский
Hatsune Miku English	Отменён	VOCALOID2	Английский
Hatsune Miku Append	30 апреля 2010	VOCALOID2	Японский
Hatsune Miku V3	26 сентября 2013	VOCALOID3, VOCALOID NEO, Piapro Studio	Японский
Hatsune Miku V3 English	31 августа 2013 (онлайн) 26 сентября 2013 (на физ. носителях)	VOCALOID3, VOCALOID NEO, Piapro Studio	Английский
Hatsune Miku V3 Light and Vivid	2 октября 2013 (для владельцев иных версий банков (кроме Hatsune Miku V3 English) 9 октября 2014 (общий доступ)	VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio	Японский
Pocket Miku	3 апреля 2014	eVOCALOID	Японский
Hatsune Miku V4X	31 августа 2016	VOCALOID4, Mobile VOCALOID Editor, Piapro Studio2	Японский
Hatsune Miku V4 English	31 августа 2016	VOCALOID4, Piapro Studio2	Английский
Hatsune Miku V4 Chinese	24 августа 2017 (для предзаказавших) 5 сентября 2017	VOCALOID4, Piapro Studio Standalone	Китайский
Hatsune Miku NT	27 ноября 2020	Piapro Studio for NT	Японский

Интересные факты[]

• По первоначальной задумке Хацунэ Мику должна была первой получить возможность синтеза вокала на японском и английском языке, однако этого так и не случилось и первым билингвальным вокалоидом стала Мэгуринэ Лука^[30].
• Hatsune Miku стала героем программы «Вести недели» на канале Россия24 выпуска 26 января 2020 года, где, будучи примером виртуальных кумиров, была обвинена в сокращении населения Японии^[31].
• В 2007 году Хацунэ Мику попала в эпицентр скандала, возникшего по причине пропажи её изображений на первых страницах поиска картинок при вводе запроса на японском языке в поисковых системах Google и Yahoo!, а также удаления страницы Мику на японоязычном портале Википедии, что было воспринято фанатами как попытка цензуры. Позже было заявлено, что изображения пропали в следствии технической ошибки, а статья была удалена из-за содержащихся в ней материалов, нарушающих авторские права.
• Изначально у Мику была другая прическа, но после проб с косичками KEI решил, что они подойдут больше. С тех пор косички стали важнейшей деталью её внешнего вида.
• Неофициальным атрибутом Хацунэ Мику является зелёный лук, который она получила после распространения мема «Hachune Miku».
• Хацунэ Мику стала первым вокалоидом, получившим статус Дивы.
• Один из голосовых банков Хацунэ Мику используется роботом HRP-4C.
• Вариация внешности Мику, созданная Masaki Asai, очень часто подвергается цензуре, поскольку оригинальная версия дизайна имеет обнажённую полосу тела между рубашкой и чулками.
• Поскольку Хацунэ Мику для большинства пользователей является вокалоидом, с которого начинается знакомство с вокалоидами вообще, с ней связан ряд заблуждений. Одними из самых распространённых является утверждение, что Мику — первый вокалоид вообще или же первый вокалоид, выпущенный под движок VOCALOID2.
  • Стоит отметить, что одноимённый голосовой банк действительно является первый банком для VOCALOID2, выпущенным на японском рынке, однако на мировом рынке раньше него был выпущен банк Sweet ANN.
  • Тем не менее, первоначально голосовой банк Хацунэ Мику действительно мог стать первым в линейке VOCALOID2, поскольку Sweet ANN изначально разрабатывался под VOCALOID, однако впоследствии был адаптирован под новый движок и выпущен уже на нём.
  • Ещё одним заблуждением является то, что голосовой банк Хацунэ Мику под VOCALOID2 якобы является третьим банком, разработанным Crypton Future Media, Inc., однако это тоже ложь, поскольку МЭЙКО и КАЙТО были разработаны YAMAHA Corporation и уже позже были проданы Crypton Future Media, Inc.
• Технически, Хацунэ Мику также не является первой, чей голосовой банк использовался на концерте, поскольку им стала MIRIAM, чей голосовой банк использовался на концерте в 2004 году. Тем не менее, Мику является первым вокалоидом, выступившим вживую, поскольку в случае с MIRIAM использовался только вокал.
• 22 июня 2012 года двойные хвостики Хацунэ Мику завоевали титул «Twin Tail» (рус. Хвостики-Близняшки), как причёска, которая лучше всего отображает эпоху 2000-х, тем самым обозначая её стиль как лучший стиль начала 21 века^[32].
• 28 января 2013 года Токийским политехническим университетом был проведён трехдневный опрос, в котором участвовали люди с возрастом от 12 до 38 лет. Результаты опроса показали, что около 95 % всех опрошенных знают о том, кто такая Хацунэ Мику^[33].
• Голос Мику использовался для песни, что была частью политической агитации в пользу Ёшикадзу Таруй на национальных выборах в Японии. Тем не менее, вместо всем привычного образа в качестве персонажа была использована розовая девушка с двойным хвостом, получившая название Android Rui^[34], поскольку Crypton Future Media, Inc. не одобряет использование своих персонажей в политических целях^[35].
• В 2017 году она была признана самым популярным персонажем для косплея, а песня «Miku» была дважды внесена в Книгу рекордов Гиннеса как самая популярная песня в жанре чиптюн^[36].
• В 2012 году в Лондоне был проведён неофициальный опрос на тему того, какого певца или группу они хотели бы видеть на Олимпийский играх. Хацунэ Мику заняла первое место, обогнав таких знаменитостей, как Леди Гага и Джастин Бибер^[37].
• В 2014 году был проведен опрос, чтобы выяснить, какие вещи из Японии они считают крутыми. Всего в голосовании приняли участие 1000 человек. В опросе Мику заняла 8-е место, набрав 35,8 % голосов.

Ссылки[]

• Официальная страница Хацунэ Мику на Facebook
• Официальный канал Hasune Miku на YouTube
• Все статьи о песнях с использованием голосовых банков Хацунэ Мику

Примечания[]

Персонажи
VOCALOID	LEON • LOLA • MIRIAM • MEIKO • KAITO
VOCALOID2	Sweet ANN • Хацунэ Мику • Кагаминэ Рин и Лен • Прима • Gackpoid • Мэгуринэ Лука • Megpoid • SONiKA • SF-A2 miki • Кааи Юки • Хияма Киётэру • BIG AL • Тонио • Лили • VY1 • Gachapoid • Нэкомура Ироха • Утатанэ Пико • VY2 • Некоммерческие: AZUKI • MATCHA
VOCALOID3	VY1v3 • Мью • SeeU • Tone Rion • OLIVER • CUL • Yuzuki Yukari • Bruno • Clara • IA • Aoki Lapis • Luo Tianyi • VY2v3 • MAYU • AVANNA • ZOLA PROJECT • YANHE • YOHIOloid • MAIKA • Merli • Macne Nana • kokone • Анон и Канон • v flower • Tohoku Zunko • Rana • Chika • Xin Hua • Yuezheng Ling • Некоммерческие: Акиколоид-тян • Ueki-loid • Anri Rune • ONA • hide

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Вступление

Еще в 2014 мы пытались выяснить, как правильно произносить и писать имя самого известного вокалоида и по этому поводу у нас получилась очень ожесточенная дискуссия.

Вначале я озвучу основные выводы, а ниже приведу все наше обсуждение целиком, чтобы вы смогли сформировать собственное мнение.

Хатсуне и Хацунэ

Если быть полностью беспристрастным, то однозначного ответа на этот вопрос нет.
Надо реально представлять, что точно передать звуки одного языка алфавитом другого невозможно, получатся условности и некоторое упрощение проблемы. Тем не менее транслитерация существует, в том числе и для японского языка, да еще и не одна.

Есть система транслитерации на русский язык кирилицей, разработанная японистом Поливановым еще в 1917 году. Она наиболее популярна и признана на официальном уровне. Согласно его системе писать следует Хацунэ и это вполне логично — мы же говорим цундере или панцу и вопросов по этому поводу не возникает.

Существует транслитерация латиницей — ромадзи, согласно этой системе писать следует Hatsune, соответственно на русском Хатсуне.

В последнее время сторонники ромадзи (wiki)все чаще критикуют систему Поливанова (wiki), которая якобы передает звучание японского языка неправильно, на что сторонники русского япониста возражают, что ромадзи передают звучание еще более неправильно.

Думаю, понятно, что обе системы довольно условны и какая из них неправильнее, сказать сложно.
На настоящий момент сложилась ситуация, что официально признана система Поливанова (Хацунэ), но более популярна транслитерация на основе ромадзи (Хатсуне).

На нашем сайте принято написание Хатсуне лишь потому, что запросов с этим вариантом написания в разы больше, так что подразумеваем Хацунэ, а пишем Хатсуне…

Хацунэ против Хатсуне, дискуссия

Волча.
Собственно, в ВК мне второй раз предъявляют претензию, что Мику то вовсе не Хацуне, а Хатсуне. Естественно, те кто считает , что Мику таки Хацуне ничего не пишут, так как с их точки зрения все правильно. Надо бы обсудить, выяснить и расставить точки. Самый популярный вокалоид, а такая неразбериха.
Кстати, очень много информации о Мику, значении и происхождении ее имени в статье Все о Мику Хатсуне.

Мой аргумент — серьёзный он-лайн словарь http://www.warodai.ru переводит иероглиф из имени Мику так:

はつ【初】(хацу)〔2-454-1-58〕
начало;
～の первый; новый;
～に впервые, в первый раз;

Предполагаю, что вопрос возникнет и о втором слоге, взял материал оттуда же:

ね【音】(нэ)〔1-709-2-60〕
звук;

Black Shooter:
Считаю что правильнее все таки хаЦУне. Почему некоторые пишут через ТС — в английском пишется как Hatsune, так как в английской нет буквы Ц, этот звук дает сочетание ts/. Поэтому многие читают как Хатсуне. Считаю что и так и так правильно, разница только в написании.

electric A:

гугл, конечно, вершина мудрости

в остальном Стрелок уже в принципе всё написал. то есть всё очень просто. существует (уже очень-много-много лет, даже страшно подумать) РУССКАЯ транскрипция для японского языка. в ней есть Ц,  Дз, Ть, Сь, Кь (поскольку всё это есть в русском языке и графике). достаточно посмотреть старые книги по Японии (есть, кстати, неплохие .

правда, и тогда была непоследовательность, связанная с тем, что некоторые имена и названия проникали в Россию с Запада. отсюда То-ки-о (надо бы -кё) или, скажем, опера Чио-чио-сан. с четверть века назад бОльшая часть японского пошла к нам через международные каналы, а не по прямым контактам. начался «перевод с иностранного»: люди, по большей части не имеющие никакого представления ни о Японии, ни о многих других вещах, смело переписывали (с основном) англо-американскую транслитерацию русскими буквами (как и всё остальное). поэтому у нас гора Фудзи, а марка Фуджи и так до посинения. что делать? учить японский  ну или общее образование подтягивать

коренной вопрос: как правильно? понятное дело — 初音   

а если проще — конечно Хацуне. но если кому-либо ОЧЕНЬ надо Хатусне, я переживу
другие, думаю, тоже.

Волча:
Таким образом, основываясь на правилах японско-русской транслитерации получаем Хацунэ

P.S. Все неправы, никому не обидно :о)

electric A:
пожалуй, да. вот знаменитый актёр МифунЭ Тосиро (заметим: никакой не ТоШиро, не дай бог, не надо никаких вшей)

ну или АбЭ Кобо и т.д.

Natasha:
Дело все в том , что у японцев нету нашего «цу» , у них есть «тсу» — «tsu»

А что же есть этот «тсу» — это конечно и есть наш «цу» , просто это так все сплетено и преобразовано , но в любом случае , как бы ты не сказал — все равно будет правильно. =)

А «е» у них не «э» , а то же «e» , но его как то преобразовывают в «э» — походу как раз таки все преобразования «берут корни» из системы Поливанова. =)
Я просто ни как не слышу в японском это «э» , я слышу именно чистое «e»

В любом случае все варианты верны , но я придерживаюсь японскому оригинальному варианту — Хатсуне (Hatsune)

electric A:
дорогая Наташа, не хочется разворачивать дискуссии, поскольку по-серьёзному мы все здесь любители (фонетиста, как я понимаю, среди нас нет). относительно Поливанова — совершенно верно. ну так его и расстреляли, чтоб под ногами не путался.

как я уже заметил, единственное «правильное» написание — 初音, всё остальное — в той или иной мере условность.

в японском языке нет ни Ц, ни TS, есть  つ  /    ツ

я и более страшные вещи знаю. например, японское «У» (う / ウ) вовсе не русское У (и не английское U тоже), а если на что и похоже, так скорее на эстонское  Õ. вообще полезно посмотреть с обратной стороны: что вытворяют японцы с чужими словами.

а Hatsune  — ну никак не «по-японски». это «ромадзи», даже и не транскрипция, а транслитерация по большей части (пишем desu, читаем? ну то-то).

но для успокоения: Генрих Гейне вот не Генрих и не Гейне (а у французов он вообще Анри Эн      ). ну и ладно. всё равно он умер   

да, и Париж не Париж вовсе. кошмар какой-то…

Natasha:
Ну  つ в хирагане и ツ в катакане — (насколько я знаю) символы японской азбуки (каны)

В системе Поливанова записывается кириллицей: «цу» или же «тсу»

в  международном фонетическом алфавите звучание записывается как /tu͍/.

Поэтому я думаю , что как раз таки у японцев есть такие звучания или слоги (как это правильней назвать — незнаю)

Кстати в вокалоид едиторе он как раз таки принимает именно написание tsu . Так что не думаю что японцы делали бы едитор не на своем же языке , раз войсбанк эти значения принимает.

Ну согласна ,  не буду вдаватся особо в подробности (я все таки не фонетик) , я просто на основе своих знаний делаю такие определенные выводы. =)

А вообще мне с того сайта выдало:

初音 :

はつね【初音】(хацунэ)〔2-455-2-23〕
первая песня; первое пение (птицы).

ナイトメア:
Долго не хотел вступать в данную полемику, но всё таки решил, т.к. большинство тут склоняется к неверному мнению.

Как правильно тут заметил господин electric_A — Поливанова и его систему к чертям собачьим нужно отправить за его истолковывание японского языка. Да,некоторую часть, может быть, ему и удалось перевести верно,но я бы крайне не рекомендовал изучать японский язык по его системе,ибо из всех авторов по изучению японского языка — он один из худших…. рад что наткнулся на более совершенных и продвинутых авторов.

Что же касается Хацунэ или Хатсуне…. Ребят,русский язык один из самых сложных…. так почему же,зная много тонкостей,правил,исключений и многогранность родного языка,стоит пренебрегать правилами другого одного из сложных языков как японский!? Это риторитечский вопрос… тут уже подчеркнули отсутствие лингвистов,фонетистов и прочих лингво-специалистов, но тем не менее я поделюсь своими накопленными знаниями по японскому языку.

Наташа верно заметила,что в японском нет того самого звука,из-за которого и весь спор,как «-цу» . Думаю, многие согласятся,что наша русская буква «Ц» — это всего лишь очень звонкое произношение двух других согласных как «ТС». Но японцы это сочетание как раз таки и не произносят звонко,т.е. их родное つ и ツ (-тсу) произносится как раз таки при помощи произношения «т» и «с» очень слитно. Имя Хатсунэ Мику (Hatsune Miku) пишется на кандзи 初音ミク и такая кандзи как 初 (-hatsu) (русс. хатсу) произносится через «ТС», это отчётливо можно услышать,например в сочетании Hatsumimi(Хатсумими). В современный японский всё же добавлены каны в катакану,которые означают звук «Ц», это слоги «-ца»,»-цо»,»-цэ»,»-ци», добавлены лишь для правильной записи иностранных слов катаканой….и многие японцы очень затрудняются произносить звонкий «Ц» и поэтому чаще произносят на свой лад через «ТС». Но тут надо заметить,что я довольно таки неоднократно слышал в речи очень звонкий «ТС»,но тем не менее,не смотря на всю эту звонкость я отчётливо различал как произносятся «Т» и «С»

electric A:
(вот не дают старику спокойно умереть под звуки музыки. мало мне студентов….)

прежде всего: все пользователи (слово ужастное) Микупы имеют равное право на участие в обусждении. я сам не являюсь специалистом в таком количестве областей, что даже страшно (начиная с музыки, хотя нотную грамоту знаю и кое-что из истории музыки тоже). и я уважаю всех пришедших сюда именно за то, что они пришли и, стало быть, уже поэтому люди незаурядные. и тем не менее.

«тут уже подчеркнули отсутствие лингвистов, фонетистов и прочих лингво-специалистов» — ну да, я и подчеркнул. только будем точными: фонетистов. потому как сам я вполне лингвист (могу документ предъявить), только в лингвистике много разных отраслей, и в каждой из них есть свои специалисты и свои тонкости, так что я даже по фонетике русского языка не рискну говорить по полной, хотя и немало чего там знаю. вообще же в дискуссии затрагивались как минимум следующие разделы языкознания: фонетика, фонология, акустика, графемика, ономастика. причём в полном беспорядке, да и в большинстве своём к делу все эти дисциплины отношения не имеют.
после фразы
«наша русская буква «Ц» — это всего лишь очень звонкое произношение двух других согласных как «ТС»»
просто не знаешь, что и сказать. это семестр понадобится, чтобы разобрать, что тут понапутано. я ведь не случайно учебник Реформатского рекомендовал. полезная штука. да и в школе вроде бы проходят (я, правда, не совсем в курсе, что там сейчас творится). это всё равно что затевать математическую дискуссию высказыванием: «никто не станет спорить, что дважды два  — пять, а если присмотреться повнимательней, так и пять с половиной наберётся». если более серьёзно, то о ГРАФЕМЕ Ц русского кирилического письма можно сказать следующее:
графема Ц служит в русском языке для обозначения на письме ГЛУХОЙ АЛЬВЕОЛЯРНОЙ АФФРИКАТЫ, обозначаемой в международном фонетическом алфавите как [ʦ], в межународной славистической транскрипции и транслитерации как [c] и т.д. (там ещё много чего, потому как есть и звонкая аффриката, но на письме она специально не обозначается).

САМОЕ ГЛАВНОЕ: всё это, как и разнообразные тонкости японской фонетики, не имеют к делу ни малейшего отношения. потому как у нас совсем другой предмет, именуемый «передача иностранных имён собственных средствами русского языка». и на это существует простой авторитетный ресурс: энциклопедия (Большая российская,  для ещё не вышедших букв — Большая советская, при всех своих недостатках в нашем деле вполне пригодная) и картографическая практика (иначе заблудиться недолго). ну и информационные агентства и МИД (по тем же причинам). голосовать, конечно, можно, но тут, как выяснилось, около половины нашего населения не уверено, что Земля вращается вокруг Солнца.

ещё раз: «правильно» — только 初音, всё остальное будет неизбежно «неправильно», но это не мешает, если все участники понимают, о чём идёт речь. ещё раз напоминаю, что мы пользуемся такими «неправильными» передачами чужих имён собственных, как: Генрих Гейне, Париж, Лондон, Белград, Вена, Людовик XI (да и любой другой), Жан, Рим, Афины, Прага, Гамбург, Иерусалим, Лиссабон (надоело, дальше писать не буду, а вот как передают японские имена арабским, еврейским письмом, или скажем, деванагри — не говоря уж о китайцаж — стоит посмотреть).
засим откланиваюсь и хочу всё-таки музыку послушать. чего и другим желаю.

ps ну если очень прямо нужно, то я могу, конечно, спросить нашего члена-корреспондента, но, во-первых, он меня убьёт за вокалоидов и я уже не встану (разве что хитро скрою, зачем мне это надо), и, во-вторых, вряд ли он ответит что-либо иное  

pps Поливанов был рассрелян, если не ошибаюсь, как японский шпион. а картографическую комиссию то ли разогнали, то ли ещё что.

Волча:
Да, и исконно японское слово цундере никто не пытается писать  тсундере (Гы!) Хотя вроде, судя по некоторым высказываниям так правильно  

Плюс, аппелируя к тому же Гуглю, зайдите по ссылке //translate.google.com/#ja/ru/初音ミク

Там есть иконка с динамиком для прослушивания — можете до посинения слушать — нет там «тс»!

Так что, похоже, наш Стрелок прав — тс пришло из английской транслитерации, вот и всё…

Возражения будут?

electric A:
(вот не только умереть, но и поспать не дадут нормально. конкурс Майки не дослушал — кстати, пусть Наташа посмотрит результаты)

Стрелок абсолютно прав, с чего я и начинал, пока не началась эта мочало-с-начала.

есть две системы (ну, две для нас актуальные) — на базе латиницы (собственно, англо-американская) и на базе русского кирилического алфавита. обе «неправильные», потому как передать один язык средствами другого по определению невозможно (сами японцы, читая иероглифы «по-китайски», читают их «непрапвильно», о чём и песня 1,2 fanclub). выбираем либо одно, либо другое, но не путаем.

можно мерить расстрояние в сантиметрах, можно в дюймах. путать не надо. спорить тоже (-тут 5 сантиметров. — ну что ты, какие сантиметры, посмотри внимательно: я ясно вижу 2 дюйма, а сантиметров тут никаких нет  )

та же история с другими языками: корейского вождя у нас принято писать Ким Ир Сен, латиницей — Kim Il Sung. для китайского даже на латинской основе было пять вариантов, сейчас китайцы унифицировали латинский вариант.

в своё время Брехт (транскрипция, понятно, «неправильная») написал пьесу Der gute Mensch von Sezuan. действие происходит в условном Китае, а Sezuan — это Сычуань. но доблестный переводчик таких деталей не знал и залепил Добрый человек из Сезуана — как слышится, так и пишется. когда спохватились — пьеса стала популярна, и название (как и другие плюхи) решили не менять, тем более что дело вовсе не в Китае, а в других вещах. но не стоит искусственно плодить сезуаны.

(хотел товарищ Луначарский перевести русский язык на латиницу — как было бы удобно. не получилось. его даже и расстреливать не пришлось, сам вовремя умер. а у меня теперь в каждой европейской стране фамилия по-другому пишется

Ящер:
Ребята! Ну вы и нагородили! Напоминает спор мудрецов из сказки «Огонь ,вода и медные трубы» . Этакий диспут о палке . Половина утверждала что палка бесконечна, а другая что безначальна. В итоге они предметом спора отношения и выясняли .Если кому то хочется докапаться до корней то ради бога! Ничего не имею против. Но только нельзя ли подовать это в более понятной ,не специалистам , форме? Потому что когда я , Галаксий и крылатый начинаем трындеть в чате о всякой радио фигне у остальных уши вянут.

Вот и у меня ,прочитав то что написал уважаемый  electric_A , появилось чувство выпадения в осадок . К тому же не бывает людей с одинаковой дикцией и слухом . Сказал Хатсуне — услышал Хацуне . Мол  написано . Написано . Кто бы сомневался . Только какой процент из населения земли может читать иероглифы ? Я точно не могу . А компьютерный переводчик  тоже люди програмировали . И опять получается бодяга  с дикцией и слухом . А если брать англов или америкосов то с ихним произношением это вообще кашмар .

Японский язык ,на слух, достаточно твёрдый и звонкий . Когда же  говорят америкосы постоянно возникает чувство что у них рот чем то набит .  К тому же то что произносится не так как написано , вносит свои погрешности. Вот как то так .

Set:
Тема гм… интересная, конечно, но ссылки я увидел только от Волчи и Местного призрака, причем призрачная ссылка четко говорит хацумими

Veshurik:
Ах, я то тут думаю, Хацунэ или Хацуне, а вы тут…

Волча:
Тема оказалась интересная, ответ неоднозначный и я получил настоящее удовольствие, перечитывая эту тему.

Но вернуться к ней меня заставило более прагматичная причина…
Много друзей находит нас в поисковых системах, поэтому я решил проверить количество запросов по разным вариантам:

Мику Хацуне     —  166 запросов в месяц
Мику Хацунэ     —  747 запросов
Мику Хатсуне  —  17 000 запросов
Мику Хатсунэ   —  51 запрос
Miku Hatsune    —  11 000 запросов

Вся статистика по яндексу за январь 2015.

Так что несмотря на мое личное предпочтение, я убедительно прошу всех авторов в названиях тем использовать вариант именно Хатсуне — так мы сможем найти гораздо больше друзей!

Спасибо!

P.S. Ради интереса проверить вариант просто Мику — 270 000 запросов :о)

Black Shooter:
Очень полезная Инфа, вопрос как называть отпадает сам собой теперь) Собственно я всегда так и называл через ТС )

Quortros:
Хм…. Ну если проводить анологии, то правильно будет писать Хацуне, мы же не пишем панцу, через «тс»

Insanity:
Про Ё в написании с точками или без тоже долго спорили, но наконец приняли решение что и с точками, и без точек правильно. Я  считаю что фамилия Мику Хатсуне, Кошмар считает — Хатсунэ , Волча считает — Хацуне (остался нераспределённым только вариант Хацунэ оставим его неопределившемуся Шутеру ) а прав  Электрик_А — 初音 , но тем не менее не стоит менять свои привычки написания, мы всё равно поймём о ком речь, а японцы всё равно не поймут (пока не увидят картинку). Такчто правы все. Ура!