Everything You Definitely Need to Know About the Digital J-Pop Star, Hatsune Miku
Hatsune Miku is one of Japan's biggest pop stars, and she's not even a real person.
Whether you've never heard of the digital J-pop star or you're one of her biggest fans, here are eight things you definitely need to know about Hatsune Miku.
1. Hatsune Miku isn't a digital persona for a real singer. She's actually a synthesized character, called a Vocaloid, from top to bottom. Not only is her image generated by computer, but her singing voice is totally synthesized, too. To create this voice, Japanese voice actress and singer Saki Fujita's voice was sampled.
2. Miku was created by Crypton Future Media, Inc., a company that focuses on sound generator software and sound effects and music libraries. She started as a vocal synthesizer project, which allowed people to create their own songs by putting lyrics and music notes in a program, but soon to be so much more.
3. None of the songs Hatsune Miku sings and performs actually come straight from Crypton. Instead, creating her songs is a massive fan effort, with devotees around the world using her program to write and orchestrate songs for her. According to Crypton, she has more than 100,000 songs to her name.
4. You might think that a fictional digital character wouldn't have much of a life outside of the internet and her computer programs, but you'd be wrong. Miku has done live performances all over the world as a hologram. These concerts typically have thousands of attendees and almost always sell out.
5. And her songs have become genuine hits in Japan, totally taking over the karaoke industry. In 2014, the top-performed karaoke track in the country was "Senbonzakura" by Whiteflame, featuring Hatsune Miku. Three more of Miku's songs also rounded out the top 20.
6. Even if you're not familiar with Hatsune Miku, you probably know at least one of her songs. The original Nyan Cat video featured the (original) Miku version of the song before it was tweaked to include the song we know today.
7. The reason Miku's hair is so perfect and shiny is because it's computer-generated, but that hasn't stopped her from appearing in ads selling real-life shampoo. If only that shampoo could really make our hair that luxurious and blue.
8. Miku is a serious fashion icon, so it only makes sense that she's been styled by the best of the best. In 2013, Marc Jacobs and the Louis Vuitton studio team designed an outfit for her to wear for her opera, "The End."
Hatsune Miku X Louis Vuitton : http://t.co/BJBgfrv366 : #anime #miku #louisvuitton #marcjacobs : pic.twitter.com/8mdWqDl14p
— anime.uk.com (@anime_uk_com) May 25, 2013
Can't get enough of Hatsune Miku? Click HERE to read our review of her latest video game, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone.