New Vocaloid ‘Lily’ hits shelves August 25th!
Lily is the latest mascot character to join the Vocaloid family, and looks to become the internet’s newest virtual idol.
Vocaloid is a popular voice synthesizer software used by many musicians worldwide to provide vocals to their songs. It is especially popular in Japan, where the voice software packages have been given anime-style mascots to represent them- this has spawned a huge cult following resulting in production of official figures, video games and even anime cameos. There are now over 20 official Vocaloid characters (each representing their software’s unique voice), including the popular and iconic Miku Hatsune. There are even more ‘fan-made’ Vocaloids, some of which who have become so popular that figures have been made of them; for example, Neru Akita and Haku Yowane, whose voices are both created by altering the pitch of Miku’s software and theme of the song.
Lily has been finally confirmed as a new Vocaloid after being commonly mistaken as a ‘fan-made’ or ‘fake’ Vocaloid for months. She’s been produced by Internet Co., which is known for creating Vocaloid software that borrows voices from professional music idols, such as Megumi Nakajima (well known for her voice acting and singing role as Ranka Lee in the anime Macross Fronteir), whose voice is sampled for software Megpoid, and (in)famous rocker GACKT, whose voice is supplied to software Gackpoid. Lily is no different, and her voice comes from Yuuri Masuda, the vocalist of Japanese rap-rock group, m.o.v.e., who are known for many upbeat songs used throughout the anime Initial D, and anime opening and ending songs for Ikki Tousen and Final Fantasy Unlimited respectively. Yuuri is Japanese for “Lily”, which is where the new Vocaloid’s name came from.
SUPER SONIC DANCE – m.o.v.e.’s 2001 single
Lily was designed by KEI, the same artist who first drew popular Vocaloid Miku Hatsune. Due to her outfit’s black and yellow colour scheme, Japanese image site pixiv has already started linking Lily with images of bees and honeycombs, so it looks like this new Vocaloid’s character item will possibly be a jar of honey. As the Vocaloid franchise is very much fan-driven (and very little information is ‘set in stone’ by companies), only time will tell before fans find a personality that will suit Lily. What do you think she’ll be like?
SUPER SONIC DANCE – covered by Vocaloid Lily, with Vocaloid Gakupo Kamui rapping.
Loading ...Lily will be hitting shelves in Japan on August 25th priced at ¥15,750 (approximately £119) and is available online from Amazon Japan and Rakuten[Japanese].
