Miku Dance Guide

Hatsune Miku, sometimes referred to as Miku Hatsune, is a humanoid persona voiced by a singing synthesizer application developed by Crypton Future Media. Hatsune Miku is a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. She uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3 and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies. She also uses Crypton Future Media's Piapro Studio, a singing synthesizer VSTi Plugin. She was the second Vocaloid sold using the Vocaloid 2 engine (the first being the English Vocaloid Sweet Ann), and the first Japanese Vocaloid to use the Japanese version of the Vocaloid 2 engine. Her voice is modeled from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita. Hatsune Miku has performed at her concerts onstage as an animated projection (Pepper's ghost).The name of the character comes from merging the Japanese words for first (hatsu), sound (ne) and future (miku), thus meaning "the first sound of the future",referring to her position as the first of Crypton's "Character Vocal Series."During Miku's development, Crypton decided to take a different approach from that used by the other Vocaloid sound bank publishers. 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.

We released a software voice synthesizer called “Hatsune Miku” in 2007, with the idea of providing a tool for anyone to make their own songs on their computers, and have them sung by computerised voice, a “virtual singer.” The image of Hatsune Miku was created at the same time, to put as illustration on the software box.In Japanese “Hatsune” means “first sound” and “Miku” can mean “future.” So put together, it means “first sound from the future.”The first goal was to give users a great tool to create their own music, with a realistically generated voice. At the same time, we wanted to expand the range of users beyond the professional musicians, who were still the core of our customers. So we put our efforts in packaging the software, in order to give it a modern look, and root the voice in a character that would be recognisable and convey an image of the future, while having some traits of Japanese pop culture.In a way, she is the voice of many music creators, who are represented by her on stage. But I believe every fan’s relationship to Miku is different. Some like her looks, her music, her style, on different levels.She is different for obvious reasons: she doesn’t have a personality or opinions of her own, she cannot answer interviews for example. But on the other hand she does many of the things her human counterparts do: singing, dancing, live concerts of course, TV appearances in Japan and the US, and recently even photoshoots for a fashion magazine!

The task for coming up with Miku's image went to the manga artist Kei Garo. 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. 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.Miku was originally intended to have a different hairstyle, but Kei stuck to pigtails or bunches after trying them out.Crypton then officially created and posted Miku's personal data sheet. However, this only contained her 'physical' and technical traits; Crypton did not provide much information about Miku's personality, which has allowed song/music video creators and fans to choose the traits that they think suit her best.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 Idolmaster 2 as downloadable content.In the video game Skullgirls, one of Filia's alternate colors is based on Miku. Miku has appeared as downloadable content using the game engine M.U.G.E.N. Hatsune Miku's attire has also appeared in Phantasy Star Online 2 as a female character's costume, along with "Miku Dayo" as a Mag Design. She also makes an appearance in the game Brave Frontier.

The image was designed by a young illustrator from Hokkaido the region in Japan where our company Crypton Future Media has its headquarters called KEI. We gave him some basic instructions, like age, color scheme, and integrating some design elements of electronic instruments. Her signature teal color for example comes from an iconic keyboard synthesizer. The blue pigtails were a design choice of KEI, that made her look very unique, and proved to be a very successful idea.Hatsune Miku, through an open licensing scheme we have adopted, can be used freely by anyone in their own creations, as long as it is not for commercial profit. That includes her voice, but also her appearance and design. Thanks to that, thousands and thousands of fans have been making and sharing their artworks on the internet, which gives them a chance to interact not only with Miku by making her sing or dance, but with other users and fans. Every song or illustration can give inspiration to another creator to make their own, or offer their help to improve it. We like to call that a “chain of creation.” In a way, she is the voice of many music creators, who are represented by her on stage. But I believe every fan’s relationship to Miku is different. Some like her looks, her music, her style, on different levels.

Project DIVA X is a rhythm action game starring the world-famous digital singer, Hatsune Miku. The fun and charm of the series-defining 'Play Like You're Singing' style takes the stage again, revitalized with an all-new 'Cloud Request' format.Aim to stage the best show ever with Miku and her friends! To add to the excitement, random module drops will appear mid-game and continue to keep things fresh by introducing special transformation effects!Collectible modules and accessories are the key to completing more challenging Requests! Can you unlock them all? Crypton had the idea to release Miku as "an android diva in the near-future world where songs are lost." Her very first concept was of a bilingual Japanese and English vocal, but this later became the concept of Megurine Luka. Miku was originally intended to have a different hairstyle, but after trying out pigtails, KEI thought they were more suitable. Her pigtails have since become an iconic part of her design. On June 22, 2012, Hatsune Miku's twin tails even earned her the title of the Twin Tail which best represented the 2000s, marking her the best set of Twin Tails from the dawn of the 21st century. She now shares her twin tail distinction with other characters like Sailor Moon (who won best Twin Tails back in the 90s period).