Satellite Voices

Tokyo

Vocalonation

August 10, 2011

Miku Hatsune is one of the most popular pop stars in Japan despite being a purely animated Vocaloid character

• Text by Satellite Voices



Guest Feature by Chiemi Isozaki

It's been a while since many Japanese guys gave up looking for love and started to be called "herbivorous boys". Some of them don't have interest in human females any longer and now enjoy sweet romances with virtual girls.

Miku Hatsune could be the most recognizable symbolic icon for these boys. Miku was originally simply a female voice from the singing synthesizer program "Vocaloid" that allows you to create your own track by inputting melody and lyrics. However, she grabbed every boy's heart when she was animated and the video of her singing the Finnish folk song "Ievan Polkka" with a bunch of leeks in her hands was uploaded to a popular video sharing website in Japan (Niconico douga) in 2007. Now Miku is known as a one of the most popular pop stars in Japan, the compilation album she featured on skyrocketed up the Oricon music chart in May 2010 by selling 23,000 copies within a week and finally became the first Vocaloid album to top the charts.

"Exit Tunes Presents: Vocalonation Feat. Hatsune Miku" is the latest album from the Vocaloid compilation series. She has brought all her kawaii and sexy Vocaloid friends and they entertain you with 19 super pop tunes. The album comes with a few mysterious give-away items such as a credit card you cannot actually use and a sticker you don't know where to put but the fireworks of the album's artwork are covered with fluorescent paint to make sure that she can still shine in the dark. If you are interested in her, it might be a good idea to see her in concert next time you are in Tokyo. Waving your penlight at the hologram of Miku on the stage and shouting her name with so many herbivorous boys will be a totally new experience for you.