Virtual Japanese idol Hatsune Miku officially turns 17 on August 31st, 2024. Over the years, her production studio, Crypton Future Media, has successfully spread her vocal font through Vocaloid. In 2016, she collaborated with the American chiptune band Anamanaguchi for her first English song.
Anamanaguchi’s Reputation
Anamanaguchi is an American band known famously for providing music for the Scott Pilgrim franchise. In 2008, the band signed a contract with Ubisoft to create a soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. The game would be advertised alongside the film adaptation of Brian O’Malley’s Canadian comic series.
With the success of Scott Pilgrim, Anamanaguchi’s name later grew into the otaku spaces of the Internet from 2011-2013. Listeners loved their strange and addictive chiptunes fused with alternative rock. Soon, they would become the first American band to create an original English song for Hatsune Miku.
Hatsune Miku’s Influence
Around the early age of YouTube, Hatsune Miku debuted as the first virtual idol on August 31st, 2007. Her first song, “01_ballade” showcased the Japanese music industry vocal sound font. The production would be under Vocaloid for her robotic singing and design. Her voice appeared everywhere on YouTube as anime media integrated around Europe and the United States.
Miku’s vocals attracted many young listeners and musicians because she can adapt to various music genres, including speech. Her natural voice was achieved by recording voice actress Saki Fujita and phonetic coding. She helped pioneer Japan’s electronic music scene, including music producers Wowaka and Ryo of Supercell.
A Song About Miku
In 2016, Anamanaguchi partnered with Hatsune Miku for her English single named after her. Their listeners were greeted with a hypnotic earworm. She sings along with a seemingly friendly melody going “ooh-ee-ooh” repeatedly. She kindly thanked fans for their support until her lyrics sounded more distorted. Finally, the song ends with Miku taking over her listener’s mind as she laughs manically.
Band leader Peter Berman and composer Ary Warnaar revealed their thought process behind the song to VICE in 2017. “We all thought, ‘What would Miku do?” We gave her a catchy tune to the point it felt disturbing. She’s become a sensation as a virtual idol.” The song was created as an anthem for Hatsune Miku’s 8th anniversary. The song is available in both English and Japanese thanks to Sarah of Kero Kero Bonito’s translation.
A Listener’s Verdict
Hatsune Miku is a song that Vocaloid listeners may feel conflicted about. It’s enchanting futuristic snare beats and synth-wave melody lures you into this sense of comfort. Until Miku says she is hiding in your wi-fi and looking through your rearview. The chorus is terrifying when she changes the phrase ‘follow you’ to ‘do nothing they can never do’.
It may not be the catchiest Vocaloid song, but Anamanaguchi succeeded in creating a futuristic fantasy rhythm. Miku sounds beautiful in Japanese and English because her sound font is based on sounding out words. The song’s outro is poetically threatening as she does not want anyone to stop thinking about her. Eight years later, the chorus intro became a meme as a joke on someone thinking about her. “I’m thinking Miku, Miku, ooh-ee-ooh.”
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