6-month Hatsune Miku production course to be offered in Tokyo

TOKYO —
Love Hatsune Miku and wish you could create your own Vocaloid music and music videos?

Digital Hollywood, a Tokyo-based school offering degree and certification programs in IT and digital media, announced they will be holding a 6-month course on CG animation and music video production using Vocaloid software and characters.

The course is called “HATSUNE MIKU, Loves Creator” and promises to give participants the skills and hands-on-expertise needed to become world-class Vocaloid media producers.

Students will study basic 3D CG animation using Autodesk Maya and practice composition using the Hatsune Miku Vocaloid software. All students must complete a “graduation piece” that will be shown at a special presentation in early March.

The course begins Sept 25, with explanatory sessions being held at the Digital Hollywood Tokyo campus on Sept 18.

Vocaloid beginners and amateurs alike are encouraged to apply, though the course is capped at 30 students and a screening test will be held if there an excess of applicants.

Those who are lucky enough to get in will officially be registered under the school’s new “Hatsune Miku film major” and attend two 3-hour hands-on training sessions on Tuesday and Friday of every week, as well as an occasional 3-hour lecture on Wednesday.

While Digital Hollywood does seem to offer an exchange program for its degree courses, the Hatsune Miku course looks like it will be conducted in Japanese only.

If you do have the language skill and want to participate what could be a fantastic opportunity to participate in a burgeoning Japanese pop-culture phenomenon, be sure to sign up for one of the information sessions here.

Source: Digital Hollywood

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Meet FamilyMart’s newest employee - Hatsune Miku

TOKYO —
A while back we reported on Hatsune Miku’s hijacking of four FamilyMart convenience stores. This time, however, FamilyMart has turned the tables by hijacking Hatsune Miku herself and hiring her as a store clerk.

The news comes during a display at Wonder Festival (Wonfes) Summer 2012 by figurine makers Good Smile Company. In the display, figures of Miku sporting a FamilyMart Uniform (with a few cute alterations) could be seen. These will be part of an upcoming promotional event between the popular Vocaloid and convenience store chain.

This FamilyMart promotion is called Happy Kuji and is a type of lottery in which 800 yen will give you a chance to pull a ticket out of a box. With a little luck you could walk away with some Hatsune Miku swag including these limited edition figures.

The first one is a 1:6 scale Hatsune Miku statue with her wearing the short sleeved shirt with mint green stripes that make up the current FamilyMart uniform. Interestingly, you might have not even noticed she was wearing a uniform since the colors almost exactly match the ones she typically uses in her regular outfit.

There are also two kinds of Nendoroid figures of super deformed “Hachune Miku” who instead of holding her usual green onion is holding a piece of FamilyMart chicken. The detail in the chicken is exquisite in that you can even see the QR code on the tiny wrapper.

There was also a Jumbo Nendoroid Miku made by master figure maker Yukio Ageta, but it looks like this was only for the display and not part of the promotion.

The promotion starts in the middle of August and beyond the lottery, FamilyMart is also offering various Miku related products like fried noodles, vegetable juice, and the highly anticipated Mikuman Hatsune Miku themed steamed meat dumplings (nikuman). Family Mart is keeping details of the Mikuman highly under wraps for longer than expected.

So with these figures being only available through the contest and no info on Mikuman, the masses are getting restless. In return we demand that all FamilyMart staff adopt Hatsune Miku’s style of uniform with pleated white miniskirt, thigh-high boots, and blue hair.

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New goth-loli Vocaloid ready to take the stage

TOKYO —
A new Vocaloid character named Mayu was announced by Exit Tunes, a Japanese record label that produces Vocaloid albums, during their live event at Saitama Super Arena on May 6.

Mayu dresses in goth-loli style, wearing a black dress with red ribbons and a beret that with a speaker attached. She holds a plush rabbit with a microphone at the top its head and pictures on the official site suggest she uses the doll when performing.

While red ribbons and plush bunnies sound adorable enough, Japanese netizens have noticed one slightly discomforting detail: Mayu is gripping an axe with her right hand.

Why a Vocaloid would need a weapon is beyond us and we’re pretty sure the image of a sweet young girl nonchalantly holding an axe is the stuff of nightmares for some people.

While it remains to be seen if Mayu will take the axe on stage with her, Exit Tunes has made it clear that they’ll be providing fans a staggering amount of freedom regarding derivative works. According to Mayu’s official website, individuals and dojin circles are free to use Mayu’s character design, voice and name for items sold or distributed in a limited scale without the permission of Exit Tunes.

The site currently offers no information about the actual Vocaloid software, though there are a few wallpapers and icons up for download and two demo videos featuring Mayu’s voice have been uploaded to the unofficial YouTube channel MayuVocaloid.

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