Crypton, the creator of VOCALOID2 software Hatsune Miku and the upcoming Kagamine Rin/Ren, sent a cease-and-desist order to doujin circle CLOCK☆HEARTS.

The circle was taking preorders on its website fan-made dakimakura covers of Miku and Rin. (Sort of NSFW: Hatsune Miku | Kagamine Rin) In response, the circle has taken down the pictures of the covers and will be refunding all the preorders.

[ Source: 痛いニュース ]

Short commentary after the break.

Some 2ch posters are calling this the end of the VOCALOID phenomenon. Miku’s popularity online is largely viral in nature and depends a lot on the fans to continue to spread the meme and create new ones that prolong the franchise. As with all 2ch memes, becoming a part of Comiket is a natural process and indeed it is completely expected. Having doujin works based on your product is in a way a validation of its popularity and is part of promoting a lively community that creates room for the original IP to grow.

Walt Disney is well-known for its strict policies against doujinshi: you won’t find any Disney characters in Comiket. This doesn’t hurt them a bit because their fanbase doesn’t depend on the kind of grassroot support that many small Japanese studios live off. Moreover, the Comiket-going demographics and Disney’s target audience seldom overlap, so it really doesn’t make sense for Disney to risk damaging the public image of their IP by condoning doujin works with questionable content in exchange for no tangible gains.

But of course the same does not apply for Crypton. They very much depend on the tech-savvy otaku crowd for the success of VOCALOID2 and, with such a target audience, doujinshi is implicitly part of the deal. So it’s understandable why some people are upset over this.

That said, the fact that Crypton is not sending ceast-and-desist to other doujinshi circles indicates that perhaps this particular issue has more to do with the product itself rather than the 18+ content. I’m pretty sure there are quite a number of C73 publications being planned for Miku and her little sister (poor girls), and yet there doesn’t seem to be any indication that any other groups have received notices from Crypton.

If you take a look at the C73 product page of the doujin circle in question, it says that the covers come in two types of material and cost ï¿¥10,000 or ï¿¥14,000 respectively. That’s a frigging lot of money, especially when you consider that COSPA’s officially-licensed dakimakura covers cost around ï¿¥9,000 to ï¿¥10,000.

It is therefore questionable as to whether this kind of doujin goods really embodies the spirit of fan creations. Doujinshi and fan art allow aspiring artists to showcase their works and their love for the characters. Sure, they make money off selling the books, but the measly profit that can be made from selling a few hundred books at an annual event, after weeks/months of hard work, is really not the primary motivation behind doujinshi creation. And it’s not supposed to be.

Of course, when it comes to fan-created products, it is sometimes difficult to draw a clear line between reasonable compensation and overly-commercial interest. But in this particular case, I am leaning more towards Crypton’s side of the argument.

For one thing, I believe that doujinshi and doujin games exist to answer certain needs that cannot be fulfilled by the original right holders, whether due to the nature of the topic (i.e. 18+ material) or the lack of commercial interest to do it (i.e. 99% of doujin games). That is the value which they add to the community.

But does anyone seriously think that Crypton isn’t well on its way to creating every merchandise imaginable for its still-fresh cash cow? There are already Miku T-shirts on COSPA, an official dakimakura cover can’t be that far off. There just isn’t a need for an unofficial third party to come in, especially when it concerns a huge amount of potential profits for the original right holders.

The difference between a doujin artist and a bootlegger lies in the creativity embedded in the finished product and the intention. I think that making an overpriced dakimakura cover, with predictable art designed to locate the shortest path into the wallets of Miku fanboys everywhere, crosses an important line somewhere.

P.S. Please don’t sue me for the banner. T_T

Mika-tan, an employee of GSC, posted some new “product testing” pictures (what an awesome job) of this wonderful creation on her blog today. Chibi Miku stetching out her hand while holding a negi is so cute, it hurts my tooth. (Or maybe it’s just my tooth decay.) I did preorder one some time ago. Hopefully I can get it.

[ Mika-tan’s Blog ]

The next girl to be featured in Crypton Future Media’s VOCALOID2 software has been revealed. (Check out my previous post if you don’t know what is VOCALOID2.)

Kagamine Rin (鏡音リン) is a loli-looking character voiced by Asami Shimoda (下田麻美), yet another semi-obscure seiyuu who has very few titles under her name. She is most well-known for her role(s) as Ami and Mami Futami in the IDOLM@STER game. I bet it won’t be long now before we have a new IDOLM@STER game that utilizes VOCALOID technology.

By the way, here’s a YouTube video of the song “Agent Yoru wo Yuku” from IDOLM@STER as performed by Asami Shimoda.

I think I still prefer Miku…

The expansion (sequel?) will go on sale in the second half of December. Pricing is to be confirmed.

[ Source: ITmedia News ]

Hatsune Miku

Well, I’m in love with the song all over again thanks to this YouTube video and a crazy piece of software called VOCALOID2. Embedded after the break.

The singer is Hatsune Miku (初音ミク) from Crypton’s VOCALOID2 software. It’s basically a music creation tool similar to MIDI composers except that instead of synthesizing instruments, it synthesizes vocals. That said, it doesn’t actually generate the voice using any magical algorithm; the vocals are actually pre-recorded (the voice belongs to Saki Fujita, an obscure seiyuu with few titles under her name).

What Crypton did was to record all the necessary pitches and consonant-vowel combinations needed for a typical J-Pop song and let the user combine them into coherent pieces. It works surprisingly well due to the fact that the Japanese language has only fifty or so possible sounds and words are always read the way they are written. It’s hard to explain, so here are some YouTube videos.

When I first heard of this some time ago from Kotaku, I thought it was something related to IDOLM@STER, especially since Kotaku seems obsessed with anything to do with the anime pop idol management simulation for Xbox 360. And after watching a few YouTube videos, I realized that I was right, just not in the way I had imagined. Just imagine if Namco Bandai decides to license this for use in IDOLM@STER…

I think this is the beginning of the end of the anime song industry as we know it.

I kid, I kid. Your favourite seiyuu isn’t going jobless just yet. At least not until VOCALOID-9000 achieves sentience and figures out how to synthesize new voices without the aid of puny humans… >_>

If you are interested in trying out VOCALOID2, you need to either fork out ï¿¥15,750 (about US$140) or wear an eye patch and get a pet parrot.