Internet Spotlight: Honorary Vocaloids

Earlier I’ve mentioned the presence of Vocaloid in the internet community, and by now you should know about the major Vocaloids in the series. However, there are also a couple of well known characters that are not really Vocaloids, but have become so popular with the fans that Crypton, the company that created the software, adopted them as honorary Vocaloids. While the number of fanmade Vocaloids continues to grow at an exponential rate, these are the ones that have stood out the most for the rest of the fans.

Yowane Haku
This Vocaloid originated as a mascot for the users who would produce poorly pitched, unpleasant sounding songs despite their best efforts. As a result, she originally sounded like a highly distorted and tone-deaf Miku and would constantly drink due to her shortcomings. Nowadays, due to her popularity, she has since recovered her singing ability and sounds more like a deeper, more mature Miku. She still carries her sake bottle with her though, implying that she still likes to drink every now and then.

Akita Neru
This character started off as a mascot for the trolls who would constantly invade the Vocaloid message boards. Many of these trolls would complain about how complex the Vocaloid system is, so in response, Neru took on the personality of a temperamental girl who would refuse to do anything requested of her. Her name literally translates to, “I give up, I’m going to sleep”, which fits her somewhat lazy personality. Initially conceived as a character who would rather text on her cell phone than sing, she has since been depicted with a voice of her own that sounds either like a high pitched Miku or a more mature Rin. Most fandom depict her as a rival to Miku, whether or not Miku acknowledges it.

Kasane Teto
This character started off as an April Fool’s joke by 2chan users, who were trying to pass her off as the next Vocaloid. However, she has since then evolved into her own character and is now the mascot of the freeware system UTAU. Her favorite food appears to be baguettes, and is said to be a chimera due to her varying ages. Though technically she’s not a Vocaloid, the Vocaloid fandom has accepted her as an honorary one. She even has her own family of UTAUoids, but that might be for another day.

That’s it for now. Tune in next time where we present the official alternate versions of some well known Vocaloids!