Hatsune Miku has solidified herself as a star of the Japanese music scene, if not the entire music industry. She's done live shows, commercials, and interviews. Fans might have discovered her through a popular video online, a video game, or even a meme that claims she wrote Harry Potter. She's worked with tenor Aleksander Kunach and even Pharrell Williams.
And the surprising thing is that, despite all that she has accomplished, she's a virtual singer and rose to fame as one of Vocaloid's human personae, characters from which she has sometimes performed with. And yet she's made her mark in ways that flesh-and-blood singers haven't even come close to.
10 Who Is Hatsune Miku? She is a Vocaloid software voicebank & was originally released as part of a group of singing synthesizers
Hatsune Miku is an iconic figure of the Japanese music scene. She was originally released as part of a group of singing synthesizers as part of a Vocaloid program. Her release set off a few milestones. Not only was she VOCALOID2 engine's first Japanese vocal, but she was also more or less the first to have a real avatar, with previous synthesizers beforehand mostly using stock photos, similar decorations, or weren't incorporated in the voicebank. She was also the first to be advertised as a character's voice instead of replication.
Her voice is based on Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita. Anime fans might recognize her work from A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Kantai Collection, and Kirakira PreCure a la Mode. Fujita would also end up voicing Miku in the game Project DIVA extend.
9 What Are Some Of Her Songs? some of the songs believed to have made her a star include her demo song "Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru" & Otomania & Tamago's "Ievan Polkka"
As a Vocaloid, her discography is quite expansive. She's versatile enough to have worked with various groups and artists, like Supercell and Anamanaguchi. In fact, she's credited with giving some artists their big break.
That said, some of the songs believed to have made her a star include her demo song "Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru" and Otomania and Tamago's "Ievan Polkka," a cover of a popular Finnish song, after they were uploaded to Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video-sharing service.
8 Has She Done Concerts? She has performed in live concerts & was on stage through an animated projection
Hatsune Miku has even performed "live" concerts. During these shows, she will perform on stage through an animated projection that has been projected onto a glass screen.
Miku has even appeared in a Vocaloid opera at the Theatre du Chatelet Opera House in Paris called The End, which featured no human singers, a project involving designer Louis Vuitton and director Toshiki Okada
7 What Is Her Story? Her original storyline given was that she was an android who came to the present from a future without music
To prevent such a time from happening, she wanted to spread her love for music. Her full name hints at this story, as it can be translated to "First sound of the future."
Of course, her backstory can change depending on the narrative behind the song or album she's featured in. For example, one song portrays her as a dragon in human form.
6 What's With Her Hair? her ribbons are meant to hold up her hair without even touching it
In official images and promotional materials, as well as fan-produced content, Miku's hair varies from differing shades of blue and green. Her English voicebank design even implies her hair is multicolored, with various shades of green and even purple. Fans generally treat her official hair color as cyan, a shade between blue and green.
Other quirks about her hair include her ribbons, which are meant to hold up her hair without even touching it, although some designs drop this aspect, and her hair's long length.
5 Has She Been In Commercials? She has been in promo material for Toyota, Domino's Pizza, & many more
Hatsune Miku has appeared in a plethora of advertisements and promotional material for various brands, from Toyota Corolla commercials to Domino's Pizza campaigns. She also often appears as a mascot for Crypton.
In addition to advertising, she's unofficially considered the mascot of Sapporo, her creator's hometown, and has been featured in its own advertising campaigns, most notably the "Snow Miku Festival."
4 Does She Have Her Own Holiday? fans have come up with a few holidays in her honor, including Miku Day, which takes place on March 9th
In addition to her work as a festival mascot, fans have also come up with a few holidays in her honor. The first is "Miku Day," which is held on March 9, or 3/9, as the number "39" is considered her symbol, as it can be read as "thank you" in Japanese.
Her birthday, however, is considered a separate event, taking place on August 31st, which celebrates her original Vocaloid release.
3 Was She Part Of A Meme? Miku became the subject of an internet meme known as "Miku created ..."
In the memes, fans of a popular work falsely attribute Miku as the creator, with everything from the Minecraft video game and the Harry Potter book series.
The joke, however, became somewhat controversial when songs were used in the meme, causing fans to assume Vocaloid was the creator of said songs covered or sampled, leaving the original creators uncredited.
2 What's With The Leeks? The connection likely comes from her association with the "Ievan polkka" song
Miku's association with leeks is so strong that fans like to bring leek-colored glowsticks to her shows. The connection likely comes from her association with the "Ievan polkka" song. A 2006 meme played the song with a looping image of an anime character, Orihime Inoue from Bleach, twirling a leek. The song itself would be given the nickname of "Leekspin Song." While the original meme used an acapella version of the song performed by the Finnish quarter, Loituma, Miku would later become known for her cover of the song.
Since then, leeks have become an iconic part of Miku's image, where it serves as her favorite food and occasional weapon. She's also shown to be fond of bacon-wrapped hotdogs.
1 Is She Still A Vocaloid? Miku is expected to continue through Crypton's proprietary Piapro Studio software, with her new voicebank coming out in 2020
In 2019, Miku's production company, Crypton Future Media, announced that she and the other Vocaloid singers hadn't been getting updates on Vocaloid and that she would be disassociated with them in her future endeavors.
While many fans took that to mean Miku would be deleted, even pointing towards songs that reflect the concept of death and mortality as hints of her possible fate, Miku would be expected to continue through Crypton's proprietary Piapro Studio software, with her new voicebank coming out in 2020.