This journal is pretty much me musing to myself, nothing really important. So here goes...

As ~appler-pie knows, I've been following Vocaloid very closely lately. When I first saw Hatsune Miku, I wondered what anime that chick with the giant spring onion was from (like everyone does at first)... so I was confused when I was told that she was just a vocal synthesizer with no character and no backstory. Just a voice with a face to her. So why is she such an internet phenomenon?

The answer to that would be that fans "created" her. They give her the personality they think is best for her, create her style, and give her the emotions they want to see from her... and so the fans get exactly want because they can create their ideal character. Instant success, and the people who made the program (Crypton Future Media) don't have to lift a finger. What's even better is that Yamaha (the company that officially owns the Vocaloid franchise, I believe) is able to make money off selling figures/figurines based on "character items" and gags created solely by the fans. For instance, Miku's character item is a giant spring onion, and a gag of Kaito's is that his most popular song features him with a Manly Face And Pose while the song itself is about running away from fights; thusly, the figurines have Miku with a giant spring onion and Kaito comes with a Manly Face And Pose. The figurines sell out fast and are on high demand. She's even got a PSP game coming out later this year, and you can bet that it's going to get insane sales. Genius, right?

At the same time, newer Vocaloids are released periodically but aren't nearly as popular as Miku. It could be said that Miku is the epicenter of popularity; Kaito, released just before Miku, and Kagamine Rin/Len, released right after her, are moderately popular. However, the Vocaloids before Kaito and after Rin/Len rarely make the top charts and are generally aren't as loved. The newest one, Gackpoid, features the voice of... Gackt. His voice is good, of course, and the technology for his program is supposedly superior, but people still use Miku first and foremost. As a matter of fact, many fans say that they're unable to accept Gackpoid as part of the "Vocaloid family". That means that people aren't really buying the newer Vocaloids, most probably because they think, "Miku/whatever Vocaloid is the best one, so I don't need any more," and my opinion is that it's because they're infatuated with the character him/herself. So it's a bit of a dilemma, isn't it? Releasing new software, but no one buying it because the software isn't the main concern in a fan community centered around a singing software... Is there such a thing as too much success?

Anyway, I say this because I know the feeling. Kaito is my personal favorite, so I don't want to see him getting beat out by Gackpoid, even if Gackpoid's program is easier to use. xD

But yeah, I needed to get that off my chest. As for what's been happening in my life... Uhhh, I cut my thumb chopping red potatoes at work? It was like a shallow cut, but... sideways? So lots of blood, but no pain. I still love cutting stuff (Even if it's my own hand). Though it's kind of hard to type sometimes...