BASICALLY, as the title says. In other words: S.T.U.F.F. But it's the type of stuff I write down when I can't think of anything else to do. So I made this for you. In other words: utter mindless rubbish. It's not writing really, just my mind splatte...
Can I just point out before I start that this is NOT A RANT - just a personal observation and predictions of the future? Is that okay? Well, that's sorted...
Ah, man, I sound passive-aggressive already; that's not a good start. Sorry... ><'
First thing: I haven't been in the vocaloid fandom for ages - no where near as long as those vocaloid veterans who where around when V3s were being released - but that doesn't mean I haven't begun to notice patterns in it's progress. I like to think I'm well studied in the subject, though, and if you ask any of my friends, they'll tell you I'm quite a bit farther in than just a casual fan... Anyway, I've been around long enough for the releases of V4X and a few V4s, and this is where I started to notice a change.
Think of the newest releases: Otomachi Una, Tone Rion V4, COCOROBO, Yumemi Nemu. Now, I can summarise them all in one word. Loli. And before you get at me, I'm not just making this point because loli isn't really my cup of tea when it comes to voicebanks (hence why I didn't like Rin from the start): there's something more than that. We get it: cute girls make money, but there's a fault in that. They get a little hype, demo songs are released, their voicebanks are distributed to the public, a few covers spring up, and that's it. They disappear. As COCOROBO was a privately used voicebank, we'll disregard her from this argument, and I'll focus on Una since I know her best.
First, she was under the disguise of 'Sugar' and 'Spicy', a big mystery for the fandom to theorise. A new pair of twins? What was that round thing on their heads? And what's this thing about eels? Then, BOOM, the big reveal: Otomachi Una! Two voicebanks in one - one sweet and cute, the other powerful and strong. Along came the demo songs, with greats like Kurage-P showcasing Una's talent with yet another brilliant rock song. Yes, the fans were hyped, and even me, who didn't like voices similar to Rin's, began to love her voices. Well, voice. The reason why she did so well at first was her diversity with two different banks, and perhaps if she only had the Sugar voicebank then her popularity would have sunk. People began to find Sugar too sweet, lacking the originality in power that Spicy had, that the fans really began to fall in love with. After that downfall, you'd have thought that the companies would take a hint, but no, they gave us more sickly-sweet, loli divas.
Anyway, back to Una. Once she was distributed to the public, things almost came to a halt. Covers began to show up, but only that. Even kyaami's yet again masterpiece of a cover couldn't quite get it into motion again. Kurage-P gave her another try, but even so there was something not quite working with Una's rate of production. And I feel this is the same thing that's happening with the other vocaloids mentioned above. That is, the companies are forgetting about what really drives the fandom forward.
The producers.
Yes, it's not like there aren't producers using Una, or any of the other loli vocaloids; I've mentioned how great Kurage-P is at using Una and could carry on for most of this section, but the reason why that is is that her energetic, powerful voice is perfect for Kurage-P's lively and cute rock songs. And Rion would go well with someone like Lamaze-P, making a range of catchy, cute songs. But... that's it.
The reason I feel like Miku did so well, and is still thriving to this day, is because of how versatile her voice is. It can do cute, strong, soft, lively, dull and most things other than power. You wouldn't find Yumemi Nemu singing a keeno song, would you? Or Tone Rion in an Okame-P song, for example. The point I'm trying to make is that fans may love the cutesy vocals of loli vocaloids but many producers... don't, and will carry on to use Miku or GUMI or Rin (as much as I class her as a loli vocaloid, too). Without new original songs being produced, fans of these new vocaloids right from their release may begin to lose interest, and the fandom will make no progress.
And this 'loli vocaloid revolution' as I call it isn't just affecting new releases, it's affecting the dearest vocaloid to my heart: IA. I love her for her smooth, flexible voice, and well, this comment I made a while back on a new IA original explains how that's being changed.
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Due to her naturally mature voice, producers are instead making her girly, high-pitched and squeaky. Does anyone else feel the Sakine Meiko situation might happen again with IA? That actually scares me slightly, being such a fan of IA...
In a similar way, Iroha has become as distant as ever from the popular vocaloids, barely being used at all. I don't know which seems worse: her voice being loli-ized or her being forgotten completely. On the bright side, another of my favourites, Aoki Lapis, could benefit from the recent changes with a slight possibility of a V4 update... or maybe I'm too hopeful...
Still, it's difficult to blame anyone for this 'loli vocaloid revolution'. The main company seems to be trying to satisfy the fans, and some producers are doing that as well, whilst some aren't. I'm not even sure that the fans do want loli divas. From the polls on Vocaloid Wikia, Tone Rion and Yumemi Nemu seem fairly close in their popularity (out of the votes they have - Nemu has far less but same ratios), but Una (as well as Aoki) soars ahead, which I perceive as showing how originality, rather than cuteness, is what the fandom needs. Though, please, I'm begging you, no more crazy designs... Please...?
In conclusion, what new vocaloids need to do is interest the producers. Furthermore, with the new LUMi on the way, and her voice provider confirmed as the voice actress of Erza Scarlett (Fairytale) and Sailor Neptune (Sailor Moon), I'm actually quite hopeful that, this time, we will get a more mature female diva that both fans and producers will love. And however the vocaloid fandom continues to change, for better or for worse, at least we won't get Gachapoid V4! ... right...?
