×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

The List
7 Times Hatsune Miku Jumped the Shark

by Lynzee Loveridge,

The sensational freeware popstar Hatsune Miku is enjoying a stellar career. She's got fashion make overs from big name fashion designers, she sells out convention concerts in front of huge audiences not to mention opening for flesh-and-blood popstar Lady Gaga. She has her own racing team and a bevy of fellow idols to pal around with in her rhythm video games. Her songs top karaoke and Oricon charts alike. The only problem Hatsune Miku suffers from is the occasional sponsorship misstep and her fans' creative imaginations.





7. A Miku Figure Rode a Rocket into the Sky A super-deformed Hachine Miku figure got the ride of her life after a group of technicians decided to launch her into Nevada's stratosphere. The group was competing in the eXtreme Performance Rocket Ships (XPRS) contest and sent the figure about two kilometers into space to show off the group's current tech developments.




6. Barely Edible Yakisoba Noodles The questionably named "Little Devil's Feast Little BSD" cafe introduced a limited-time food item modeled after Hatsune Miku's iconic twintails. The dyed yakisoba noodles (with leeks, of course) were definitely unique but the color was far from appetizing. Only about 30 sets were sold as part of cosplay cafe event but the Japanese ate the radioactive-looking noodles up. The cafe opted to meet demand and the noodles were added as a regular menu item.



5. Hatsune Miku Smiling Punching Bags I think everyone on the PR team really misjudged this one. The punching bags with smiling Miku are similar to those classic inflatable clown toys that always get back up. Thinking this was a positive message reflecting Miku's own tenacity, a bunch of punching bags were made. No one really thought about to use the toy properly, you have to smack Miku in her smiling, adorable face?




4. Hatsune Miku, Augmented Reality, and Domino's Domino's Japan president landed himself in the most unintentionally hilarious crossover campaign ad last year. The pizza company's Japanese branch rolled out a song app that could also be used on their pizza boxes to create a virtual stage, create songs, and order pizza. While endearing, Scott Oellkers's performance in the commercial found itself inspiring more than one parody.




3. Someone Made an Oculus Rift Hatsune Miku Vore 'Game' Of course they did. Since consumers got their hands on Oculus Rift, they've created more and more advanced ways to use the virtual reality headset for titillating purposes. Inquiring minds can find the video on YouTube, but the game mostly consists of the wearer being shrunk, picked up by Hatsune Miku, smashed around in her boobs a bit, licked, and swallowed. This is followed by a blood-curdling scream. If you don't want to be eaten, there's a separate terrifying game where Miku stalks you.




2. Mikudayo Mikudayo is the bobble-headed, life-size Hatsune Miku. The costume is Project Mirai's answer to Japan's mascot phenomenon. In this case, it failed pretty spectacularly. The costume is so off-model it allegedly made children cry at Tokyo Game Show 2011. Fans had a hey-day mocking the costume's off-model attributes which were supposed to resemble the character's Nendoroid. Like clockwork, parodies ensued.



1. Appearing on David Letterman In what was either an amazing cash in on connections by Hatsune Miku Expo staff or Letterman making some strange booking choices near the end of his run, Hatsune Miku performed on The Late Show. What could have been an exciting performance was marred by lackluster choreography, an unintelligible song track, and an audience approaching 60 that was less than enthusiastic. Is there a crossover audience between Vocaloid enthusiasts and the late night talk show crowd? Miku would be more at home with Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, where at least someone on staff has enough knowledge of otaku culture to throw in a riff about The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat.





The new poll: What's Your Favorite Thing To Eat While Watching Anime?

The old poll: What anime has made you cry? (answers under 1% are omitted):

  1. Clannad After Story
  2. AnoHana
  3. Angel Beats!
  4. Grave of the Fireflies
  5. Clannad
  6. One Piece
  7. Code Geass
  8. Fullmetal Alchemist
  9. Air
  10. Madoka Magica
  11. Wolf's Rain
  12. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
  13. Natsume's Book of Friends
  14. Gurren Lagann
  15. Kanon
  16. 5cm per Second
  17. Cowboy Bebop
  18. Chrono Crusade
  19. Fushigi Yūgi


When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as Associate Editor for Anime News Network, blogs about women and LBGT topics in anime and manga on her blog Engendered Dilemma, and posts pictures of her son on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.

discuss this in the forum (69 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

The List homepage / archives