"A Toy That Counterfeits Songs": Hatsune Miku and Disposable Shōjo Aidoru

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Hatsune Miku is a character who appears and reappears in online communities of otaku, but she was not originally associated with any manga or anime. Instead she began life as a promotional mascot. Given the ubiquitous nature of manga/anime in Japanese pop culture, it is little wonder that products and brands frequently use moe girls to sell anything and everything. 

Hatsune Miku was developed by Crypton Media, using Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 programmes. Effectively she is a vocal sample machine. Phonic sounds were recorded for Miku by voice actress Saki Fujita, and the Vocaloid programmes allow songwriters to string these sounds together and pitch them to make Miku sing. More recently, strides in holographic technology have been made which allow Miku to appear in concert with live bands. Following the success of Miku, other vocaloids were produced by Crypton Media, including twins named Kagamine Rin and Len, and Megurine Luka, all sampled from other voice actors. 




There is something more than a little enchanting about this, once Western audiences recognise that Japan isn't trying to oust real singers from the marketplace and are instead enjoying a novelty. This novelty has been well-received that she has given her own US performances, as well as being a support act to Lady Gaga on her 2014 world tour. And far from frivolous novelty, these vocaloids might also offer exciting prospects to those with mutism. Voice synthesisers are a well-established technology, but the idea that these synthesisers could be made to allow their users to sing is just fantastic. 

Hatsune Miku was by no means the first vocaloid ever made, but Crypton Media were the first to create a character to market theirs. The idea of using a cute anime girl to sell an otherwise obscure add-on to a piece of music software is genius, but surprisingly, Crypton Media put little effort into establishing her as part of a pantheon of anime characters, instead relying on audience participation to pull together fanon on her identity, beyond her physical traits and singing ability.

John Whitter Treat suggested that “The aidoru’s [idol’s] appeal […] is that interchangeability and disposability – that “commodification” that makes the shōjo affiliate with the signifying processes of Japanese consumer capitalism”  (p.364). Miku embodies that disposability immpecably; she is not just commodified, she was invented as merchandise. Her existance is secondary to sales figures. Where anime featuring shōjo are usually produced, then products are sold in response to market demand, Miku as a shōjo was produced to create a demand. Crypton Media have bragged that over 100,000 unique songs have been written using Hatsune Miku.

One song associated with Miku which I find particularly fascinating is "Hatsune Miku no Shōshitsu - DEAD END -", or "The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku - DEAD END -", produced by cosMo. 



This song in particular is fascinating in as much as the lyrics explore the idea of Miku becoming self-aware, and experiencing a fatal error. 
At this point, the song flaunts Miku's technical abilities, with speed-singing peaking at around 240bpm, reminding us that we are listening to a computer programme. As  she continues to rush and fight through her song, she physically struggles, first falling to the floor, then fading into static. As she repeats the words "Shinkoku na ERAA ga hassei shimashita", or "a critical error has occurred", the crowd goes wild.

The reference to recurred mirroring really fascinates me from a theoretical standpoint. Miku has indeed repeatedly been brought into a perfect world where she sings 100,000 different songs, completely flawlessly. But she is an idol with no real background. She is all things to all people. She  refers to herself as "a toy that counterfeits songs", which is now in "the garbage bin". This is a song which questions why we are drawn to an Idol who is inherently unreal, performative and totally disposable. Moreover, in live performance, the audience cheers her romantic demise. The fiction of Miku is a fascinating look into the Idol system and the way the shōjo is used as the ultimate signifier.

Kei Garo, the manga artist tasked by Crypton Media has since produced a volume of manga titled Hatsune Miku: Unofficial Hatsune Mix, which provides Miku with a narrative, which I hope to acquire and write on in the future, and I plan to explore the link between anime and advertising in greater depth in the future, when I rewatch and analyse Wish Upon the Pleiades, Until then, I would recommend this post by thejamoe on the use of anime in the Japanese automotive industry (Hatsune Miku has also been used to promote motor cycling).