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The List - 7 Times Hatsune Miku Jumped the Shark


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PinKunoichi



Joined: 06 Aug 2011
Posts: 33
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:25 am Reply with quote
Freeware? Vocaloid costs a good chunk of change, and that's not including the voicebanks (Though some are bundled). Overall it'll cost you hundreds of dollars. If you want Freeware, your option is UTAU.
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R. Kasahara



Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 657
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:35 am Reply with quote
PinKunoichi wrote:
Freeware? Vocaloid costs a good chunk of change, and that's not including the voicebanks (Though some are bundled). Overall it'll cost you hundreds of dollars. If you want Freeware, your option is UTAU.

Heh, I was coming here to say something similar. Vocaloid voice banks start at around 11,000 yen, and many popular current-gen ones go for quite a bit more than that. Miku's image is under a non-commercial Creative Commons license, so that might be where the mixup lies.

Also, anyone can say what they want about Mikudayo, but her Nendoroid is awesome and I don't regret buying it; she looks great next to my "regular" Miku Laughing
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:52 am Reply with quote
Again: The Letterman appearance WASN'T HER (or Crypton's) FAULT.
I want a show of hands, right now, who even knew that the Miku Expo was in NYC this month, and needed the plug, like Cirque du Soleil showing up on Jay Leno every time they're in LA--C'mon, if you're all such Miku fans, you should have known about the Expo for a month now, we've already had the theme song posted! Razz
As for Letterman's own reaction...that was his fault. It was just as bad during the 80's NBC series (and was reportedly even worse when he was an extra on Mary Tyler Moore's 70's summer-variety show and refused the indignity of musical numbers) but at least at NBC, he had a director who could make it seem funny or ironic.

As for Miku noodles, rockets and vore...that's also not on Crypton's watch, but would be one of the by-products of "Fans interpreting her in their own unique way". If that's what you're selling, you should know what you're getting into.

R. Kasahara wrote:
Also, anyone can say what they want about Mikudayo, but her Nendoroid is awesome and I don't regret buying it; she looks great next to my "regular" Miku Laughing


As for Mikudayo, it's hard to tell whether that's just being ironic itself or just Japanese (even Miss Monochrome had to admit the popularity of Nendoroid fever).
But for those who've seen the famous FamilyMart commercial clip of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnTbQM1PMXk *
7-Eleven got their parody in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEwCB_ci7nE

---
* Angry Miku, in the fourth take, is just about the cutest thing ever. Anime smile
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5527
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:04 pm Reply with quote
EricJ2 wrote:
Again: The Letterman appearance WASN'T HER (or Crypton's) FAULT.

* Angry Miku, in the fourth take, is just about the cutest thing ever. Anime smile


Except that the song was HORRIBLE. Like the author said, it was unintelligible. EVERYONE I've asked could not tell what language it was even in. It was a disaster of a song. Even a Japanese song could've come off better because you'd at least be able to hear her hit some notes
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:09 pm Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
EricJ2 wrote:
Again: The Letterman appearance WASN'T HER (or Crypton's) FAULT./quote]


Except that the song was HORRIBLE. Like the author said, it was unintelligible. EVERYONE I've asked could not tell what language it was even in. It was a disaster of a song. Even a Japanese song could've come off better because you'd at least be able to hear her hit some notes


Also, it wasn't a hit pop single, but an Expo theme designed to loop over and over at the exhibit, which it pretty much did for three minutes.
But then...they WEREN'T THERE TO SELL HER SINGLES, were they??

(And am I the only one on the PS3 Diva F game who worked to earn 393939 points to buy the giant Mikudayo head for the character, and put it on her for the "Tell Your World" video? Laughing )
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Aw, I was hoping to see something about the campaign to get Miku into Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. But perhaps it's personal bias as I was a part of that. (It's more because as a Sonic fan, I like seeing the angrier, more vocal side of the fandom erupt in anger, and having Miku in the game would've provoked rage almost as great as randomly throwing Twilight Sparkle in there.)

Kougeru wrote:
Except that the song was HORRIBLE. Like the author said, it was unintelligible. EVERYONE I've asked could not tell what language it was even in. It was a disaster of a song. Even a Japanese song could've come off better because you'd at least be able to hear her hit some notes


Listening to it with headphones on, I could determine the whole song was in some kind of English. I just couldn't make out most of it, like everyone else.

I feel like it came about as apprehension about of Miku would be too incomprehensible or too weird to ordinary Americans, but if you ask me, it won't matter if she's singing in English or Japanese or Sanskrit. It's going to be equally strange to normal people.
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Barbobot



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 460
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:42 pm Reply with quote
EricJ2 wrote:

Also, it wasn't a hit pop single, but an Expo theme designed to loop over and over at the exhibit, which it pretty much did for three minutes.
But then...they WEREN'T THERE TO SELL HER SINGLES, were they??

(And am I the only one on the PS3 Diva F game who worked to earn 393939 points to buy the giant Mikudayo head for the character, and put it on her for the "Tell Your World" video? Laughing )


They don't have to be there to sell singles, but they are there to "sell" Hatsune Miku. What other reason would there be for going on late night tv like that? And choosing a song like that where you couldn't even tell what language was being spoken is a big failure. They would have been much better off going with a known hit for Miku, even if it was in japanese, but I can understand their desire to go with an english song.
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LinkTSwordmaster



Joined: 23 Dec 2005
Posts: 381
Location: PA / USA
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:09 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:

Listening to it with headphones on, I could determine the whole song was in some kind of English. I just couldn't make out most of it, like everyone else.

I feel like it came about as apprehension about of Miku would be too incomprehensible or too weird to ordinary Americans, but if you ask me, it won't matter if she's singing in English or Japanese or Sanskrit. It's going to be equally strange to normal people.


Ya, me & my sister watched it when it aired and it was hard to enjoy her singing on that particular song. I also think the way they had her positioned on the stage wasn't really too great either.

So far as I can tell, Miku opening for Lady Gaga has gotten some rather mixed reactions. A LOT of the videos I've watched that audience members recorded usually have nearby people either shouting "what the bleep is this?" or outright boo'ing at her.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11356
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:28 pm Reply with quote
If the Letterman appearance was to promote Hatsune Miku, it was a failure except to notify existing fans. It wasn't just the terrible, excruciatingly high-pitched vocals, but the strangely awkward dancing. It seemed like she was tentatively dancing on a waxed floor in constant fear of slipping if she didn't stay carefully positioned over her balance points. Since she's a program, that's a weird esthetic to project. It made me slightly uneasy just watching it.

I'm not a fan, but I've seen two or three of the concert videos and her vocals are tuned lower in a more human range, her dancing looks confident and sassy and the tech is impressive. But being confined to Letterman's small stage space is no reason for her choreography to be as boring as a dancing flowerpot. I guess there must be limits on the computing power in the portable set-up.

But that performance isn't going to bring in any new fans for the Expo, and might have turned off people who had formerly been curious about her. You can't really blame Letterman's reaction for it bombing.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:58 pm Reply with quote
Barbobot wrote:
They don't have to be there to sell singles, but they are there to "sell" Hatsune Miku. What other reason would there be for going on late night tv like that?


(sigh...*facepalm*)

animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-06-10/hatsune-miku-expo-heads-to-l.a-and-new-york-in-october/.75381
animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2014-09-01/miku-expo-2014-releases-official-theme-song/.78262 (with subtitles!)
animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2014-10-08/miku-expo-2014-announce-final-guests-before-letterman-debut/.79692

(I'd love to live the easy life of Amnesia, but it's just too hard for me, knowing everything...)

Gina Szanboti wrote:
But that performance isn't going to bring in any new fans for the Expo, and might have turned off people who had formerly been curious about her.
If the Letterman appearance was to promote Hatsune Miku, it was a failure except to notify existing fans. It wasn't just the terrible, excruciatingly high-pitched vocals, but the strangely awkward dancing. It seemed like she was tentatively dancing on a waxed floor in constant fear of slipping if she didn't stay carefully positioned over her balance points. Since she's a program, that's a weird esthetic to project. It made me slightly uneasy just watching it.g.


Again, that's her new keyboard-"programmed" movements that they want to use for live-appearances, in case, say Lady Gaga wants the thrill of dancing with Miku onstage, and they want a set series of improvised real-time dance moves they can program on the fly to keep up. (Rather than Miku's already mo-capped show choreography from her solo full show concerts.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0N9szI19BA
And, likely one of the new innovations being shown off at the Expo.

And no, compared to the more human-derived "live" concerts, it doesn't work (a keyboard-programmed Miku doing "Rakshasa and the Corpse" just wouldn't be the same...), but it works for small TV stages, and hosts who walk up to her in person. Nobody ever had to share the stage with her in the arenas, except the band.
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AmuroNT1



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 106
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:27 pm Reply with quote
I was going to come in and say "An article that offers less than fawning praise for Miku? Better prep your inbox for the horde's hatemail." But it seems I'm already too late.
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tehyar



Joined: 13 Jun 2012
Posts: 35
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:42 pm Reply with quote
LOL when I saw that article title I knew that Letterman was the reason.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11356
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:31 pm Reply with quote
EricJ2 wrote:
but it works for small TV stages

I guess your idea of "works" is different from mine. Smile Seems like the tech is a good idea but not quite ready for prime time (or late night) yet.
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YotaruVegeta



Joined: 02 Jul 2002
Posts: 1061
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:41 pm Reply with quote
If it's one of my "appointment TV" shows, I'll eat any variety of meal with it. Even if it's an apple. The shows I don't like as much, no eating.
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KENZICHI



Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 1103
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:16 pm Reply with quote
I agree with the Letterman show. I had no idea what she was singing and I was just disappointed all around.
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