Melt

Its been a long time since I've wrote here. I learned a lot in Japan. Not only Japanese but life lessons. So what have I been doing since then? Many things. Looking for work and now I am taking care of my father who has unfortunately been diagnosed with cancer. I have more hobbies now! I've gotten back into Gundam and my new love is Vocaloid.

For those unfamiliar with Vocaloid let me give you a quick run down.

Vocaloid (ボカロイド) is a synthesized vocal program created by Yamaha. At first the program wasn't very popular amongst the public but it quickly grew an audience after the creation of Miku Hatsune. Miku's character design gained a following and became more popular after a video on Nico Nico Douga (Japan's answer to youtube) displayed Miku waving a Leek to the song "Ievan Polkka" Miku and other Vocaloids such as Kaito and Meiko (who were the first character Vocaloids) became popular. Since the rise in the Vocaloid's popularity more character Vocaloids have been released. Rin and Len Kagamine, (Len is rumored to be designed after Daisuke Asakura) Gakupo Kamui (the voice is sampled from J-pop singer Gackt) and the newist addition Luka Megurine. There are officially seven character vocaloids. However there exsists upwards of 30 fanmade vocaloids. only three of those are reconized by the devloping company Crypton which devolped the character vocaloid series.
Hachune Miku
Yowane Haku
Akita Neru
and Kasane Teto.

Hachune Miku was the one who starred in the video that made Miku famous. She is an SD version of Miku Hatsune.

Yowane Haku devolped by 2chan users, represents the "not so well made" songs. Haku instead of Miku sings these. She will appear as a costume for Miku in Project Diva the PSP game.

Akita Neru also devolped by 2chan users, represents people who like vocaloid but give up using it. She will also appear as a costume for Miku in Project Diva.

Kasane Teto, While not reconized by Crypton is reconized by KEI the artist who created the Vocaloid character designs. Teto appears in his manga "Hatsune Mix" which is a collection of stories about the vocaloids. Teto was created in 2chan to be an April fool's day prank for Vocaloid fans. The prank blew up in their face as Teto became popular and people wished to save her from dissapearing. The video "uso no utahime" (The fake Diva) tells the story of Teto. She sings with a rival software called "Utau" (which means "Sing")

Well that concludes today's post. I leave with you with a few Vocaloid videos.

Dancing Samurai - Gakupo's song. Features all official as well as Neru and Haku


Honey - Vocaloid Allstars. A song released before the creation of Gakupo and Luka. Features Haku, Neru, and Teto.


and Triple Baka - Miku, Neru, Teto. A cute song


See you next round!

Miss me already?

My friend came from Japan to Vegas. We had a lot of fun. It has also been a busy week so far. My allergies are in high gear right now so it hurts to blink.

In more frightening news, Daisuke has his driver's license now. The roads of Japan are no longer safe for people. *laughs* In all honesty though he's probably a better driver than most people here. I say this because driver's tests in Japan are a lot more strict than here. The roads are a lot more dangerous in Japan because of size. Most people complain when they see a two lane road. Or on some of the "smaller" streets they say "This street is too narrow! It's dangerous!" what they don't know is that Japan's roads are half the width of ours here in America. A typical Japanese residential street has just enough space for one care to pass through. If another car is coming the other direction they play chicken and squeeze by each other before getting out of the way. When my friend's wife was in the car with me she commented that American roads were so big, and couldn't believe that people were allowed to park on the street. I asked if that was not allowed in Japan. (all the times I've been there I've never payed attention to that simple fact) she said "absolutely not!" I remember reading about how if a person did not have proof of a place to park their car, then they would not be allowed to register it or get insurance. So it doesn't surprise me to hear that parking on the roads is prohibited.

... I wonder if Hiro will let Daichan drive his car?