And now we have some official goods based on the illustration coming on August 30! All products were made in collaboration with the MIZUNO Paint Workshop.
Many are no doubt excited about EHAMIC’s compilation album celebrating the 10th anniversary of AHS VOCALOIDs. But it isn’t the only album in the making that is celebrating the occasion. The Kaigai Kiyoteru group has been hard at work creating their own collaboration album with original Kiyoteru, Yuki, and miki songs!
“On December 4th, 2009, Artist House Software released the Vocaloid 2 products Hiyama Kiyoteru, Kaai Yuki, and SF-A2 codename miki. Ten years later, creators from all over the world will converge to celebrate the impact that these Vocaloids have made. An album of all-new original music and music videos will be produced for this occasion.”
“Just like KiyoteruQuest and SENSEITIONAL, this album will be distributed worldwide on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, and distributed in Japan on dozens of domestic music platforms. After the distributor and AHS take their cut, all of the earnings will go back to every person involved. These are the creators that will be working on this album. Please look forward to their work!”
The project was started on July 7 by organizer DystoP with the below recruitment tweet and video.
Musicians, lyricists, tuners, artists, and video editors had until June 30 to sign up and begin contributing to the album, which is expected to be completed and released on December 4, 2019 to commemorate the 10th anniversary for the AHS trio!
While the album has so far been made independently of EHAMIC’s project, we have been seeing communication between the two parties. Depending on when the two compilation albums get completed, we may see a double AHS 10th anniversary commemoration album release later this year!
Thank you for your tweet! I think both CDs will be released at the same time. I would like to make the 10th anniversary commemorative together!! ツイートありがとうございます！ おそらくどちらのCDも同じ時期のリリースになると思います。 一緒に10周年記念を盛り上げていきたいです。
To stay up to date on Kaigai Kiyoteru’s AHS 10th anniversary collaboration album project, visit their official website below, where you can also find links to their other projects: https://adlez27.github.io/ahs10
**UPDATE ON AUGUST 20, 2019** The official press release from Furhat Robotics can now be read online here!
Furhat Robotics has been making waves in the tech world ever since their Furhat “social robot” was unveiled. Now the Stockholm-based company has announced a partnership with Bandai Nacmo Research Inc. in which the two companies engage in what they call “intercourse about the real world of humans and anime characters.”
Their goal is to combine Furhat’s robot technology with Bandai Namco’s know-how of the entertainment business to create a robot character with human characteristics for use in the entertainment world, and whom anyone can learn to love. Furhat CEO, Samer Al Moubayed, stated that if the look of the robot character’s facial expressions is even just a little bit off, then people who know the character wouldn’t like it, creating quite a challenge for them.
The character whom he is referring to is none other than Bandai Namco’s own PR and VOCALOID character, Mirai Komachi. What they unveiled was a Mirai Komachi version of Furhat that they are developing.
According to Bandai Namco game creator, Shohei Nakanowatari, one of their design goals is to make her capable of smiling at any passerby. The purpose is to not just entertain one person, but to entertain multitudes of people with just a single unit. They hope to be able to swap this capability with a variety of others that can be uploaded into her. Nakanowatari praises how Furhat robots do not need to be installed into a device for individual use in order to entertain just that one individual, but can entertain numerous people at once.
As for what the future could bring for this Furhat version of Mirai Komachi, and for the Bandai Namco-Furhat partnership, Nakanowatari states that “There is a lot of potential for new business developments.” He adds that they are advancing talks with Furhat to create the kind of technology for a robot that can truly “entertain multitudes of people with just a single unit.” We’ll have to wait and see how development continues!
The third Hatsune Miku Music Cafe will be opening at the ANI-ON Cafe in Akihabara starting this Friday, August 23, and some final information has been revealed about it!
Theme Song
First is the theme song, buzzG’s ジャズコーラスの夏闌 / Jazz Chorus no Natsu Takenawa, which you can listen to on Miku’s official YouTube channel below!
“I’m buzzG. My song “ジャズコーラスの夏闌 / Jazz Chorus no Natsu Takenawa” was made the theme song of the third Hatsune Miku Music Cafe.
“To me, summer has always been the season that passes us by in the blink of an eye, leaving me feeling empty after it ends every year. Thus, the interval between summer and autumn is sorrowful one to me.
“As the title implies, this is a song about summer, but it’s also one that carries a melancholic and remorseful tone to it.
“What does summer mean to all of you?”
Drink Menu
※All prices below are before-tax
Miku’s Blue-Green Kiwi Drink: ￥694 JPY
Rin & Len’s Yellow Mango Milk: ￥694 JPY
Luka’s Pink Beach Soda: ￥694 JPY
KAITO’s Blue Soda: ￥694 JPY
MEIKO Red Cranberry Drink: ￥694 JPY
Leek Maccha Latte: ￥463 JPY
Each drink item that you purchase comes with a corresponding character cork coaster for free! You can choose from among sets A, B, or C.
※The Leek Maccha Latte does not come with a coaster ※Coasters from sets B and C will only be available while supplies last
Food Menu
※All prices below are before-tax
Miku’s Leek Record Curry: ￥1,111 JPY
Rin & Len Friendship Halfies Sandwich: ￥926 JPY
KAITO’s Refreshing Mini Parfait: ￥926 JPY
MEIKO and Luka’s Charming Pancake: ￥833 JPY
“Summer in Full Swing of Jazz Chorus” Summer Sky Jelly of the Heavenly Stars: ￥556 JPY
Each food item order comes with one free acrylic character stand! You can choose from among sets A, B, or C, and which character you get will be random.
※Sets B and C will only be available while supplies last
Exclusive Goods
※All prices below are before-tax
Leek Pouch: ￥1,389 JPY
Multi-Pouch: ￥2,593 JPY
Acrylic Keychain Vol. 3: ￥926 JPY each
Mug Badge Collection Vol. 3 (※random): ￥463 JPY each
Card Sticker Vol. 3: (※random): ￥463 JPY each
Card Sticker Vol. 2: (※random): ￥463 JPY each
Card Sticker Vol. 1: (※random): ￥463 JPY each
Rubber Leek Keychain: ￥741 JPY
Rubber Band Collection (※random): ￥556 JPY each
Rubber Ring Collection (※random): ￥324 JPY each
Stamp and Member’s Card
Those who visit the cafe for the first time will get a stamp card that they can get stamped each time they visit.
Get it stamped five times and you will be presented with a member’s card! This card will also come with a special gift, and the original report hints that the card is “just the right size for a card sticker…” Can you guess what it could be?
Closing DJ Event at ANI-ON Station in Akihabara
The collaboration cafe will close at the Akihabara location on October 6 with a DJ event! Doors will open at 1:00 PM and the show will begin at 2:00 PM (JST)
In related news, the Luka Folding Fan that she carries in the main visual will become an available prize in the Namco Net Crane Game “Torumo” on August 23! It will even come with a two-color paper pad.
Producer EHAMIC recently made a tweet announcing a new project: an AHS VOCALOID compilation album to celebrate the 10th anniversary of AHS’s entrance into the VOCALOID scene with the releases of Hiyama Kiyoteru, Kaai Yuki, and SF-A2 miki on December 4, 2009!
This project is completely fan-created, and is meant to serve as a thank-you message to AHS for all that they have done for VOCALOID fans for the past decade. He intends to present fan contributions to the album throughout his various autumn and winter events, and believes that the time is now ripe to finally get this project off the ground.
Rules for Contributing Songs to the Album:
1. They must use the AHS VOCALOIDs
2. Whether pro or amateur, anyone who creates and puts out music can enter
3. You must be able to contact the project staff through social media (preferably Twitter) ※The one to contact will be 田仲ななみ / Tanaka Nanami
4. Your song must be themed around birthdays, celebrations, anniversaries, etc. They can be new or existing songs, as long as they do not stray too far from these themes.
Rules for Contributing Illustrations to the Album:
1. They must use the AHS VOCALOIDs
2. Whether pro or amateur, anyone who draws and puts out artwork can enter
3. You must be able to contact the project staff through social media (preferably Twitter) ※The one to contact will be 田仲ななみ / Tanaka Nanami
4. Your illustration must be themed around birthdays, celebrations, anniversaries, etc. They can be new or existing drawings, as long as they do not stray too far from these themes.
5. You have to have drawn and posted at least 3 works for any of the target AHS VOCALOID characters online before.
1. Now looking for someone to handle song mixing and passing them on to the project leaders. Artists have until September 10 to upload the paradata of their entries online and provide them with the URL.
2. Also looking someone who can handle everything up to the song mixing on their own. Artists have until September 20 to send the project planners a WAV file (48kHz/24bit) of their entries.
Illustration Contribution Deadline and Guidelines
Artists have until September 10 to upload your illustration online and provide the project staff with the URL.
They will be used as 12cm x 12 cm CD jackets.
Resolution must be about 400 dpi to be suitable for printing. Even if they end up being larger than that, the project planners can still use them for PR and promotional projects, so they can still help.
Whether or not song lyrics can fit on the illustration as a CD jacket, that is something to think about at a later time, so artists need not concern themselves with that.
Prizes for Winners
Winners will receive the completed album. Other prizes are currently to be determined.
Release Plans
EHAMIC is currently planning on releasing the album at the VOCALOID STREET doujin event on October 20. If it will not be completed in time, then they will aim for a release at THE VOC@LOID M@STER on November 17.
EHAMIC would also like to plan an event in which the project staff and fans in Tokyo will all bring the album to AHS headquarters and thank the AHS personnel themselves!
**UPDATE ON AUGUST 26, 2019**
EHAMIC has confirmed that the album project is now fully staffed, and is no longer taking recruits.
Thank you for many inquiries!! There were enough creators by your tweet. participants of this project have started making songs & draw illustrations. This project will move towards the completion of the CD.
If any developments are announced between now and the album’s completion, we will continue to report on them!
**UPDATE ON AUGUST 29, 2019**
We now have a name for the album. It will be called “Anniversary☆ Hearty Songs” as was determined in a poll on EHAMIC’s Twitter account! And yes, the title of the album abbreviating to “A.H.S.” was intentional!
First, the AHS VOCALOID 10th anniversary compilation album, Anniversary☆Hearty Songs, will be distributed at THE VOC@LOID M@STER 43 event on November 17, 2019 as planned!
Secondly, he will also host an AHS thank-you party that AHS President and CEO, Tomohide Ogata, and Yuzuki Yukari voice provider, Chihiro Ishiguro, will be attending on December 15! Attendees will have the chance to meet with, talk to, and express their gratitude to the guests of honor for the past ten years of enjoyment that they provided for fans. EHAMIC is even planning on presenting flowers to them as a group!
Stay tuned for ticket information that is expected to be revealed on November 13!
This past Monday, August 12 was Stardust’s fourth birthday! And on that day, Bilibili started taking entries for a media contest for Stardust and the rest of the Medium 5 characters (Haiyi, Cangqiong, Shian, and Chiyu). See below for details!
3. Your country (look up how your country name is written in Chinese, and find it in the drop-down menu)
4. Your mobile phone number
5. Click to open the verification test.
You will be shown a screen similar to the one below that has two or three Chinese characters shown in the upper-right (circled)
In this example, they are 糖, 葱, and 饼
You will also see them appear in the picture.
What you need to do is click on each of the characters in the picture in the order that they appear from left to right.
In this example, 糖 appears first (leftmost), then 葱, and finally 饼 (rightmost). So I will click on and number them 1, 2, and 3 respectively in the picture.
Then I click on 確认 (circled above) to complete.
Doing so should get you a text message on your mobile phone with the verification code
6. Enter the verification code that you receive after completing Step 5 above
7. Agree to their terms and privacy policies
8. Register
On the next screen, you may see the following:
If you do, hover your mouse pointer over the three green bars to open another verification game.
Click and hold on the three green bars, and drag the puzzle piece rightward to the empty slot.
Doing so will complete your registration.
Posting on Bilibili
After you complete registration and sign in, click on the large pink button in the upper-right corner that says “投稿.”
On the next page, click on the blue button that says “上传视频” if you wish to upload a video.
If you wish to upload other media, click on where it says
Then choose from among the following:
1. Pictures (original works, doujin, illustrations, manga) 2. Photograph (cosplay, JK, Lolita, traditional garb) 3. General (share what’s on your mind)
If you wish to upload a picture, here are the guidelines:
1. Upload image 2. Type: ○Doujin (based on an existing character/property) ○Original 3. Classification: ○Manga ○Illustration ○Other 4. Title
5. Description (optional, but highly recommended) 6. Main tag (tag the character(s) whom you are portraying): ー Stardust / 星尘 ー Haiyi / 海伊 ー Cangqiong / 苍穹 ー Shian / 诗岸 ー Chiyu / 赤羽 7. Other tags (make sure to include #五维介质创作赛# in order to enter the contest) 8. Reprint authorization ー a. No settings ー b. Open authorization, non-commercial use ー c. Author permission required, only for non-commercial use ー d. Forbid reprints 9. Submit
Contest Guidelines
1. As long as entries are your own original works, they can be of anything format that you wish, including but not limited to: animated GIFs, short videos, original songs, cover songs, dance videos, MMD videos, written tributes, illustrations, cosplay photos, etc.
2. Reprinted or copied works will not be accepted.
3. Entries will be accepted between August 12 and September 15. You can continue giving “Likes” to entries until September 18, 12:00 am (CST). Winners will be announced after the contest concludes.
4. Entries must be about the Medium 5 characters, and each must comply with each one’s terms of use.
5. Entries must contain the hashtag #五维介质创作赛# to be entered into the contest. Entries celebrating Stardust’s birthday can also be tagged with #星尘2019诞生日#. Furthermore, be sure to include some words of recommendation in the entry description (where it says “粉丝动态” for video uploads, and ” 作品简介” for illustration uploads below) for your entry to attract fans. Tags alone will not get you into the trending lists. ※Please keep in mind that the majority of Bilibili users are Chinese-speaking
For video uploadsFor illustration uploads
6. If you are submitting non-video entries, please write a entry description recommending your entry, and tag your upload with #五维介质创作赛# (entries celebrating Stardust’s birthday can also be tagged with #星尘2019诞生日#) , and this will greatly increase the chances of your entry being seen by others. Illustrations can further be tagged with #原创绘图# (“original illustration”), photographs with #摄影#, cosplays with #Cosplay#, etc. ※Looking up how your desired tag is written in Chinese can help.
7. Any kind of advertisement content used for commercial intent will not be acceptable (this is including but not limited to video watermarks, promotional trailers, etc.)
8. Video content that is explicit or violates any laws or policies will not be accepted.
9. Bilibili holds all the final decision-making power in this contest. If you have any questions, please contact the users 大家的音乐姬 or 诺诺小熊猫
Prizes
Prize-winning categories will be:
Excellence Award Popularity Award Creativity Award Newcomer’s Award
The number of winners will be determined by the amount of entries made in the contest. The Popularity Award will be determined solely by amount of Likes, while the rest will be based on the quality and creativity of the entries.
Prizes given to winner(s) of the Excellence Award are as follows:
A complete set of Medium 5 character gashapon figures (to be released in April, 2020)
Stardust Swimsuit Ver. Figure
Official Bilibili merchandise (to be revealed)
Winner(s) of the Excellence Award will also receive official recognition from Media 5, and will even have the chance to work with them on an upcoming album artbook!
The previously reported collaboration between Luo Tianyi and Shumen is in full swing, and there have been some exciting announcements for players!
Login Game
A login game is now playable on your web browser here. It can also be played on your mobile phone by scanning the QR code above.
The game is available until October 10, and it lets players roll a dice once a day to move around a grid and let Tianyi collect prizes for them. Please note that you will need an 11-digit Chinese cell phone number in order to play the game, however.
New Outfit and Contest
Tianyi now has a new design with fox ears and a tail by Catcan! Below, you can even find wallpapers featuring the design, which all come from here.
Furthermore, a contest is currently being held that makes use of the new outfit!
Between now, and October 16, fans are challenged to create something themed around “Sichuan Cuisine” and using Tianyi’s new design.
Acceptable entries include but are not limited to: illustrations, comic strips, chibi manga, clay sculpture, MMD model, etc., as long as it uses Tianyi in her new design and is themed around “Sichuan Cuisine.”
※Note: all translations and transliterations below are unofficial
The Tohoku Zunko collaboration with War of Zodiac (also known as “WoZ”) was first announced back in April, and has been promoted ever since. Now the collaboration – officially titled “Wow of Zunda” ~To the Zunda Cafe in WoZ~ – is finally live in the mobile RTS game! Here’s what players can now enjoy.
This year’s collaboration between Hatsune Miku and Twin Magicians Lico and Gli (mascots of Glico) has been revealed!
Starting on August 20, anyone who purchases at least 3 pieces of Glico products at participating AEON malls in Japan (Honshu and Shikoku only) will receive a set of A6 clear file folders!
These folders will come as one, but can be detached down the center to become two separate folders! They feature artwork of Miku, MEIKO, and KAITO, and Luka with Lico, Gli, and other Glico characters illustrated by 燈彩 / Hiiroto.
Whether or not these folders will have special AR capabilities like in past collaborations remains to be seen. However, the main news page announcing the collaboration contains a link to the Twin Magicians Lico and Gli app on the App Store and Google Play, implying that perhaps the app can be used with the products in some way. We will see if any announcements regarding this are made!
VocaSphere 