“Miku-san maji tenshi!” People shout “Miku is truly an angel” in Japanese again, even louder. “MIKU-SAN MAJI TENSHI!” It is the evening of July 2nd, 2011 at a packed and darkened Nokia Theatre (now the Microsoft Theater) in downtown Los Angeles. The anticipation of these people is as big as Mount Fuji. Glow sticks, some in the shape of leeks, are lit up and waving anxiously. What had amassed before my eyes was not just a special gathering. No, this assembly of people was much more than that a symbol of a phenomenon. A realization of a dream. At last, an endearing sixteen-year-old girl with aqua-colored hair pops onto the stage and the audience goes crazy. So many people’s enthusiasm, love, and dedication go to a girl who is not real. Her last name is Hatsune. Her first name? Miku.
Background & History
Miku is a Vocaloid, a singing synthesizer program, born ten years ago on August 31st, 2007. The Yamaha Corporation was the creator of the Vocaloid technology, but it is other studios or companies that are responsible for actually producing actual Vocaloids (so think of the Vocaloid tech as the equivalent to Unreal Engine in gaming). The studio that produced Hatsune Miku is the Sapporo, Japan-based Crypton Future Media, Inc., that has been in the sound product and audio software industry since 1995.
While she is the most popular, Hatsune Miku was not the first Vocaloid to be released. Actually, she is the sixth commercially released Vocaloid and third Vocaloid produced by Crypton Future Media. How did Hatsune Miku become such a hit? A key answer lies in the final goal for Crypton Future Media’s project with Vocaloid: to turn a piece of software into a character.
With that goal in mind, Crypton Future Media decided to put their idea into action and created the Character Vocal Series (CV) in 2007 using the, at-the-time, latest Vocaloid2 engine. Because Crypton wanted to create a character and singers were afraid of a virtual counterpart surpassing them, voice actors who could sing well were used for samples. Voice actress Saki Fujita was sampled to create Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid that launched the CV series and third Vocaloid produced by Crypton. As the saying goes, “third time’s the charm.”
Impact on Music, Grown by the Community
Not even Crypton Future Media could have foreseen how big and how much of an impact on music that Hatsune Miku would have. She is the first popular Vocaloid, resulting in hundreds of people learning about the technology. Anyone with the creativity, will, patience, and a computer can instantly become a music producer, even a famous one. One success story is about composer and lyricist Ryo, the creator of two of Miku’s most popular songs, “Melt” and “The World is Mine.”
Originally, it was only Ryo and an illustrator under the name 119 (who drew the art Ryo used in his “Melt” music video) who teamed up to form Supercell in 2007. Although the band Supercell has almost a dozen members now, Ryo is the only member that is involved in producing the music. Melt was released on NicoNicoDouga, Japan’s closest competitor to YouTube, and has since been viewed over eleven million times. The rest of the members that have joined work on the design, animation, illustration, and other visual elements of the album insert booklets, covers, and animated music videos.
Supercell’s first album, the eponymous Supercell, featuring vocals by Hatsune Miku, was first sold independently in 2008 at Comiket, the world’s largest self-published comic book fair and anime convention. It became popular enough to attract the attention of Sony Music to pick up the group. Seven months later, the album Supercell was published by Sony Music and climbed to the #4 spot on Japan’s Oricon music charts and has hit certified Gold in Japan. Today, Supercell no longer uses Hatsune Miku as their only vocalist but has found further success regardless. They’ve collaborated with real vocalists on tracks and have their songs used in anime, such as Bakemonogatari, Naruto: Shippuden, and Shakugan no Shana. In June 2011, their first album Supercell was released in the United States and within a week of its release was #1 on iTunes’ bestselling chart for world music and #2 on Amazon.com’s international category. The story of Ryo & Supercell is a tale of how a platform that promotes and enables user-generated content has made it more accessible for hidden talent to be exercised and recognized.
Miku and Gaming
Miku is even involved in the world of games! SEGA created a rhythm game franchise based on Miku and her Vocaloid friends, titled Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA.The Project DIVA series got its start on Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2009. Both the first game and the sequel Project DIVA 2nd sold hundreds of thousands of copies in Japan, further boosting Hatsune Miku’s popularity and even helping boost PSP system sales.
Project DIVA even had PSP-to-PS3 cross-functionality in 2010 in the form of Dream Theater. Dream Theater allowed owners of Project DIVA to hook up their PSP to the PS3 and play the game with completely re-done high-definition models and textures. This was all over a year before Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima’s similar “Transfarring” system was used so Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker could be played on both of Sony systems.
The Hatsune Miku rhythm game franchise has gone on to expand to internet-equipped arcade machines and games on the PS3, PS Vita, PS4, PSVR, and Nintendo 3DS. Miku’s popularity outside of Japan has grown so much that Sega has begun releasing her games in North America and Europe, starting with Project Diva F for the PS3. Since then, nearly every following Miku game has seen a release in the West.
Why is Miku popular in Japan?
Hatsune Miku is everywhere in Japan, heard in the streets of Tokyo, on professional racing cars, and even on three plates of the Japanese spaceship Akatsuki that launched a year ago. Although there is the common stereotype that the large majority of Miku’s fans are male, that is untrue: a large percentage is female. Sony Music anticipated only 10% of the final preorder sales of Supercell’s first album. In reality, about 45% were actually female. A similar trend was seen with sales of the Project DIVA. So what exactly makes Miku so appealing? Well, she’s “perfect.”
Hatsune Miku captures so many desired elements of Japanese pop culture that make her so charming. Sure, it helps her voice is the high-pitched level of cute that is popular in the Japanese pop music scene and Japanese teen idols. You will never have a controversial statement said by her or a leaked photo or video. She will never age or die. Miku is adorable and, more importantly, loyal – she sings for you and whatever you want her to sing. Being a digital character, her personality or mood can be whatever the user wants it to be. Perfection, loved so deeply, could cause trouble if disrupted. In 2010, Hatsune Miku received an update expansion pack in the form of Append, which featured six new voicebanks for even more technical applications. Nonetheless, Miku Append was not a big seller due to the cover’s more scandalous and sexy character and costume design.
However, a huge draw to Miku is that “realization of a dream” I brought up at the beginning: a successful virtual idol. It has a science-fiction element with Miku being something out of an anime coming into real life (in fact, virtual idols are nothing new to Japanese fiction). There’s a Japanese affinity to personify technology, even if it is a program or website like Wikipedia; perhaps this is part of why there is such openness and love for technology in Japan. Hatsune Miku is marketed as only a virtual singer outside Japan. In her home country though, she can be marketed as a virtual instrument. After thousands of CDs sold and sold-out live concerts, it is clear: Miku is a victorious digital diva.
Me and Miku: My personal experience with Ms. Hatsune
Back at the beginning of the decade, if you asked me if I liked Hatsune Miku, I would have responded, “No, not really.” Then I may proceed to explain that, “I don’t really get it” but comment that, “I find the Vocaloid technology interesting.” In fact, a few years ago I had hands on experience with Vocaloid software – a copy of Miriam, an English-language Vocaloid, I played briefly with. Today, I can admit I am fond of Miku and the Vocaloid dream, yet not without criticisms.
My appreciation for her started in the summer of 2010 with the Project DIVA PSP games. I love rhythm games, and Project DIVA had an interesting setup and soundtrack. Many of her songs honestly grow on you and get better over time. Sure, there is that slightly noticeable artificialness in her voice. That is part of her charm! Miku is like a talented child with skilled, imperfect singing that you just want to see keep improving and shining brighter. Possibly within my lifetime, Hatsune Miku can exist as a true hologram or robot. And maybe, just maybe, there will be a self-aware Hatsune Miku we can interact with as well.
As I think back to experiencing Miku live in the City of Angels, it brings up memories of how real the illusion looked. I know it’s my imagination filling in the gaps in the illusion and making her feel so authentic. It doesn’t matter if she isn’t a real person. She’s eternal. She’s a symbol of man’s fascination of technology and to create something like itself.
Miku-san maji tenshi.