The Ideal Idol

Abstract

Hatsune Miku is immensely popular. Since debuting in 2007 over 10,000 songs have been produced for her and she has appeared in 250,000 videos on-line. 4000 professional recordings have been released of her songs and numerous dolls, games, and other seemingly unlimited forms of merchandise feature her big violet eyes, floor-grazing blue pigtails and futuristic schoolgirl uniform. Hatsune Miku is actually a type of vocal synthesizer software produced by Yamaha and marketed by Crypton known as “Vocaloid 2.” Other vocal synthesizer softwares with associated characters have come before, but none have enjoyed the same success as Hatsune Miku. Hatsune Miku’s performance – whether in amateur produced songs posted on Piapro or in multi-million-dollar live 3D productions – raises many questions about the potential effects of Vocaloid software on the future of making music in Japan. Through the technical production of songs, the quality of vocals, and her presence on stage, Hatsune Miku slides back and forth between a position of classic passivity to one of female empowerment and feminist approaches to equity. This chapter further explores Hatsune Miku’s complicated position as a performer who perpetuates an objectified position of women in popular music while at the same time promotes democratic music making.