by Samantha H., staff writer, Inside AX- Anime Expo

Image © MIKUNOPOLIS 2011

Virtual idol Hatsune Miku made her US debut at Anime Expo 2011 in Los Angeles this year.  We at Inside AX as well as many of you were excited to hear that she would be performing a concert at Nokia Theater and have  panels hosted by her creators at Crypton Future Media and Vocaloid music producer Onyx Kobayashi. I had previously listened to a few songs featuring Hatsune Miku, but never was particularly impressed. However, after checking out the Miku Keynote and conference, I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was more to this virtual idol than I had initially thought.

Day 1 featured the Miku Keynote hosted by Crypton Future Media president Hiroyuki Itoh and Toshihiro Fukuoka (Tokyo Kawaii Magazine editor-in-chief). Itoh gave a quick overview of Crypton Future Media and released a few announcements about Miku as well including a collaboration of Hatsune Miku and Hello Kitty (Miku-kitty) that was created by Tokyo Kawaii Magazine.  The history of the Vocaloid franchise was also briefly discussed, including the reason why characters were introduced with the software. Perhaps the most interesting part of the panel was discussion surrounding the website piapro, which is the official community for Vocaloid song producers.  Users can upload songs and often collaborate with different companies outside of the music industry such as fashion labels.  Itoh revealed that Miku’s popularity was driven by the creators of the Vocaloid songs and other contributing artists that help create things such as art and music videos. Viral videos of Miku songs play a central part in Miku’s popularity. The creators of Hatsune Miku make immense efforts to listen to what the needs of fans and also revealed a new service called mikubook (service started July 1, but it’s in beta right now) that recommends Vocaloid songs. Users can log in via facebook and twitter. (I gave the site a quick look and it’s quite nifty! I’m listening to songs from there as I type.)  Itoh also revealed plans for a Kaito Append software which will featur ethe same voice actor and have multiple databases.  Lastly, for those who have been wanting to use the Hatsune Miku Vocaloid software, the amazing individuals at Crypton Media are working hard on an English version. Itoh noted that Crypton’s goal was to expand to other languages in the future.

Vocaloid fans were not only treated to one, but two panels at Anime Expo 2011! The second panel on day 2 featured the Miku Conference with Onyx Kobayashi and marketing director for Crypton Future Media, Wataru Sasaki. The two talked about how Kobayashi created his hit song Saihate as well as gauged audience interest in an English version of Hatsune Miku. Sasaki revealed that the English version of Miku had more patterns of phonemes recorded in order to improve the quality of the English Vocaloid software and that they will consider adding Append software in the future if the sales go well.  One particular interesting fact that was revealed that was that the Vocaloid software actually has no set gender, the company created character was just perceived to be female.

Day 2 also happened to the be the day of the Miku concert. Needless to say, the Nokia Theater was packed, with lines snaking around the area and people still getting in during Danny Choo’s introduction. Glow sticks were practically everywhere.  The set-list for Mikunopolis was, for the most part, the same as the 39 concert in Japan. The Rin and Len pair only got one song though. Unfortunately, I found myself sitting all the way to the left, right under one of the large television screens in the orchestra pit. Miku was visable only when she was all the way to the left and then started to disappear as she traveled to the right.  Those who sat in the middle, probably a little off center, would have had the best view of Miku. I had to rely on the television screen (which also hurt my neck) to look at Miku. It was a pity the television screen couldn’t focus on Miku 100% of the time (however I think I understand that the image was very hard to focus on). Thankfully I was graced with a nice view of the amazing live orchestra and band playing. The music was fantastic and well played. I definitely applaud the musicians for keeping up with Miku. Simply put, the one hour and fifteen minute concert was full of energy and excitement thanks to the collaboration of fans and the organizers of the event. I’m pretty sure the concert isn’t one that will easily be forgotten.

After experiencing two days filled with Vocaloid, I  collapsed in bed at 3a.m. after dinner with an appreciation and understanding of the virtual idol Miku.  The amount of planning for the concert was astounding as well as the immense effort that Crypton Future Media and other companies associated with the Vocaloid franchise put in to make Miku’s United States debut a success. Let’s hope that Miku comes and visits again!

Tags: Anime Expo 2011, Hatsune Miku, Mikunopolis