Nendoroid Racing Miku 2012 ver. Preview Images

Coloured Prototype images of this year's upcoming Nendoroid Racing Miku 2012 ver. is now up on the Good Smile Company website.

This year's Racing Miku design is based on an illustration by GAN.  Stepping away from 2011's more mature look, 2012's Racing Miku has more of a cute feeling to her.

As shown, one of her two faceplates is a winking expression, based on the original illustration. Her twintails also seem to consist of at least two separate parts to allow for more dynamic posing of the hair. She also comes with arm parts that allows her to be posed in a saluting stance.

A bent leg part also enables her to be posed just like in another official illustration.

Of course, following previous Racing Miku versions, Racing Miku 2012 will also come with an open and closed parasol, as well as a miniature Good Smile Racing Nendoroid Race car, which she will be able to ride in.

Nendoroid Racing Miku 2012 is available for pre-order until the 7th of May, 22:00 (JST). She will be available in several different sponsorship packages. However, only two are available for international orders, details as follows:

1. Nendoroid Course A at 8000¥  (excluding shipment fee). 
Includes:
-Nendoroid「Racing Miku 2012 ver.」
-Ticket Holder
-Metal Key Holder
-Racing Miku 2012 ver. Clear File 2-Piece Set

2. Nendoroid Course B at 30,000¥ (excluding shipment fee). 
Includes:
-Nendoroid「Racing Miku 2012 ver.」
-Ticket Holder
-Metal Key Holder
-Racing Miku 2012 ver. Clear File 2-Piece Set
-#0 Replica Folding Parasol
-Racing Miku 2012 ver. Original Backpack


Orders can be made from the Good Smile Racing Sponsorship Program website


More images of Nendoroid Racing Miku 2012 can be found at the MyFigureCollection gallery, which includes images from a recent Good Smile Company Nico broadcast. 


Image Source: Good Smile Company

Weekly Vocaloid Ranking #238

Its time for this week's Vocaloid Rankings! I'm still in the middle of exams though /shot



Naho's Opening Statement

Good evening everyone, its time for this week's Vocaran.
Next week is the long awaited NicoNico Choukaigi eh!
I feel very happy and excited!

There's VoM@s at Choukaigi too
As expected, there will be lots of new song releases.
This week's Vocaran will be 'Exciting' too.

Well lets proceed with the rankings!
Starting with 30th place!

30(New!!) : 【IA】M
ystic Dyeing【オリジナルPV】
29(23↓) : 【GUMI
】 イカサマライフゲイム 【オリジナル・PV付】
28(21↓) : 【初音ミク
】 Black Board 【オリジナル曲】
27(13↓) : 【初音ミク
＋IA】コノハの世界事情【オリジナルPV】
26(5↓) : 【GUMI
】彩愛クレパス【オリジナルPV】
25(14↓) : 【GUMI
・鏡音リン】 インビジブル 【オリジナル曲・PV付】
24(New!!) : 【鏡音レン
┗|∵|┓】 桜と僕とあの子にｈｓｈｓな気持ち by HoneyWorks
23(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】螺旋階段【オリジナル曲・PV付き】
22(New!!) : 初音ミク
- too late to tell / U-ske
21(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】ラブソングを殺さないで【オリジナルPV】
20(New!!) : 【GUMI
】 マーシャルの嬌声 【オリジナル！】
19(→19) : 『初音ミク
』千本桜『オリジナル曲PV』
18(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】 shake it！　【鏡音リン・レン】
17(New!!) : 【GUMI
】 FantasiStar 【オリジナル・PV付】
16(New!!) : 【V3 G
UMI】終末論 code:heretic【オリジナル曲MV】
15(33↑) : 【IA】シ
リョクケンサ【アレンジカバー】
14(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】薬王寺アシッドガール【オリジナル】
13(New!!) : 【GUMI
】　雪月花　【オリジナル曲】
12(2↓) : 君はいなせ
なガール／歌、IAとmiki
11(3↓) : 『風待ちハ
ローワールド』 : 初音ミク/add9(ヘリP)

Pick Up(--↑) : 【鏡音・ア
ペ】コスメティックラブ!!【オリジナル曲】

10(--↑) : 【V3GU
MI】故に、おちた理由。【オリジナルMV】
9(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】┌（┌＾o＾）┐ﾎﾓｫ…【ほもをくれ】
8(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】HALO【至高のコラボ！】
7(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】 世迷言ユニバース 【オリジナル】
6(New!!) : 【GUMI
】チェックメイト【オリジナルPV】
5(New!!) : 【鏡音リン
】　少年少女カメレオンシンプトム　【オリジナルPV付】
4(1↓) : 【IA】六
兆年と一夜物語【オリジナル曲・PV付】

This week in history
5 : 【GUMI】「夜空にふたつ」【オリジナル】
4 : 【初音ミク】キミノカケラ【オリジナル曲】
3 : 【初音ミク】ラストエフェクト【オリジナル】
2 : 【GUMI】進化論 code:variant【オリジナル曲MV】
1 : 【GUMI】 マーメイド 【オリジナルPV】

3(New!!) : 鏡音レンオ
リジナル曲　「マジカル☆ぬこレンレン　新劇場版」
2(New!!) : 【初音ミク
】 非実在少年は眠らない 【オリジナルPV】
1(New!!) : 【GUMI
】幻奏歌【オリジナルPV】

Ending Song : 【巡音ルカ
】 さ く ら 【オリジナル】

Naho's Closing Statement
And that was this week's 1st place~

Right after NicoNico Choukaigi, there's also a music-related doujin event named M3,
It will be at Tokyo Ryuutsuu Centre on the 30th of April.
This event comprises of Vocaloid related CDs, Touhou and also original works.

Maybe, there are people who would go for three days straight! (NicoNico Choukaigi & M3)

And here's 31st rank and below.

Lat Miku Dancing on Your palm - Now available on Android

Tenorin, an augmented reality (AR) Android app by KDDI, that enables users to have character models dance on their palms, was recently updated with a new MMD model that features the popular Lat. Type Miku model.

The model's availablility was announced by renowned MMDPV director/creator MASATAKA, on his Twitter and Facebook page. The Lat Miku model herself (or itself?) is a winning design from a previous contest, the Tenorin Hatsune Miku Original Costume Contest in collaboration with PIAPRO.

Android users may download the free Tenorin app from the Google Play Store. Once installed, users will be able to download the Lat Miku mod for free via Tenorin's Market option.

MMD users may also download the model itself for usage in MMD at the Tenorin website.

And now for a little showcase of how the app works on my Galaxy Nexus. Note that the Lat Miku mod must be set as the default model first, under "Downloaded Data"

Users will first be asked to set their palms as shown on the screenshot above.

Once properly positioned, Miku will then appear on the user's palm and start dancing to a new song, Happy Happy☆Orange (ハピハピ☆オレンジ)

However, the palm detection may be a little fuzzy if the user's palm is not held still - Miku may disappear and re-appear all over the screen if not held correctly. 

Source reference : Vocaloidism

DJ Hellcove Time: Hang in there!

Yo, people! Its another week of waking up early and enduring the pain of dealing with daily life works. Sometimes a life of a NEET and hikokomori are tempting~ Just kidding, hang in there guys!

As usual, tonight I gonna entertain you with selection of Vocaloid songs I stumble in Nico~ But first, let me show you this video~

Oh, Japan. You never cease to amaze me :3

Let start off with something that is old but also quite recent, like this year recent. The first song is a duet between the duo Megurine Luka and Hatsune Miku and it has struck a first place in the Weekly Vocaloid Ranking once for its awesome PV and catchy beat.

Everyone, I present you Akatsuki Arrival by Last Note!

YT Link 

Ah, good song is good~ this song is the latest I heard from Last Note, hoping for more. The song can be purchased electronically via Hear Japan, click here to support the artist with your 50 Yen~

Alright then, let us proceed with the next song. This song is quite the unique one, as expected from the producer Pinocchio-P. A song with the message 'Love take many forms', I give you Hatsune Miku singing the song 'Do Not Kill The Love Song'. Enjoy.

YT Link

Third song is another duet. Another new song this week by Luka and GUMI with a nice illustration style PV. The song title is Unison, music arranged by emon and composed by Imama/ユニゾン. Enjoy~

Since its new, quite impossible to find YT link now, so sorry guys~

Anyway, forth and final song for tonight is called Catastrophe. The song is composed by 音坂 キョーヘイ , a work of Sound Factory. Let Miku and GUMI sings my goodbye for tonight, accompanied with awesome violin and piano arrange. Until next time~

"Megurine Luka & Hatsune Miku x LincEnglish" Collaboration Confusion

LincEnglish, a Japanese-based online English teaching centre had previously announced a planned collaboration of "Megurine Luka & Hatsune Miku x LincEnglish" with Vocaloid-related teaching materials, which was scheduled to start on April 1st.
However, a slight misinformation had occurred when the classes started.

Those whom enrolled had expected Vocaloid-related teaching materials, complete with textbooks and exercises revolving around the Vocaloid universe, complete with its characters and illustrations.

According to the website later on, it was revealed that the normal teaching materials could not use the illustrations as shown on the website, but promises an original novelty present upon registration for their classes.

Hopes of having Luka-nee or Miku-nee teaching eager fans have been dashed, as it was purely a marketing strategy, none of it related to the educational means for those who've enrolled.

However, a notable and favourite illustrator of mine handled the main banner, Murakami Yuichi (村上ゆいち), the man whom is also responsible for the visual key of Racing Miku 2011, which has ended up with Nendoroid, figma and currently a 1/8 scaled renditions. 

If you'd like to follow him and his artworks, please refer to his links below;

• Murakami Yuichi's Blog
• Murakami Yuichi's Pixiv 

Album Review - Last Color

From the crossfade video above, I'm sure you could tell that this album review would be on SCL Project's latest album - Last Color! Basically this is the first and the last major album for VanaN'Ice, so fans of VocaRock and male Vocaloid2 characters should not miss this!

Before that, let's wiki attack to get an introduction on VanaN'Ice and also the team behind this superb album!

Kagamine Len, Kamui Gakupo and Shion Kaito were united as a single vocal group to form a virtual band known as VanaN'Ice where Gakupo plays the bass while Kaito and Len plays the guitar. Often these virtual idols are featured in virtual Kei style. Thus these Vocaloid2 characters are often dressed in extravagant costumes as illustrated in most of their PVs.

The most notable song of VanaN'Ice would have been [Imitation Black] which have hit 1.2 million views on NicoNicoDouga recently. [Setsugetsuka] is another song which is rising in fame too.





SCL Project is the production team that produced all the songs for the virtual band, VanaN'Ice. natsu-P is in charged of the music, vocal tuning as well as the lyrics where else Haku is responsible for the mixing and the playing of musical instruments such as guitar, bass, drums, etc. Finally, let us not forget HaruAki who contributed pretty illustrations and PVs that inspired the cosplay community all around the world!

Besides songs featuring VanaN'Ice members, I would like to recommend another song by SCL Project - [Spiral Game]




Now, let us move on to the actual album! Here's the song list as shown below. Alternately, you can check that out on VocaDB (link)

1. 眼
2. LOVELESS×××
3. Le rouge est amour
4. 背徳の記憶〜The Lost Memory〜
5. Dark Side of the Moon
6. Tears Rain
7. 13943号室
8. Arrest Rose
9. 桜舞イ散リヌ-麗-
10. Last Letter
11. Escape
12. Eternal Song
13. IMITATION BLACK (BONUS TRACK)
14. Fate:Rebirth (BONUS TRACK)
15. 刹月華 (BONUS TRACK)
16. LOVELESS -piano ver- (BONUS TRACK)

First and foremost, I would have to mention that the songs in this album were listed in a very beautiful order! The first 8 songs, with [背徳の記憶〜The Lost Memory〜 ] in particular, gave a rather dark/emotional feel to the album. That would definitely touch the hearts of fans with a liking for sentimental and emotional melodies.

After these songs, the album turns back to the usual rock feel, with several solo songs featuring each of the band member. Kagamine Len, Kamui Gakupo and Shion Kaito have their spotlight moment in  [Dark Side of the Moon], [Le rouge est amour] and [Tears Rain] respectively!

To end this post, I would like to share one particular song with a sweet xylophone melody - [桜舞イ散リヌ-麗-]

Vocaloid Lily gets Nendoroid Treatment

A rather quiet announcement from the anim.o.v.e website has started that Nendoroid Lily has been decided!

The announcement states the Nendoroid version will come with her signature mic, as seen in her 1/8 scale counterpart, along with tentative names for the decided faceplates:

• Calm Face
• Singing Face
• Honey Lily = Hari Face

More info to be released later on, and hopefully an official announcement by Mikatan herself sometime soon.