there actually is a human behind miku! it’s a voice bank so it still needed a voice provider! her name is Saki Fujita. every vocaloid has their own voice provider
@@seere8906when it comes to ai in vocal synthesis (generally) it's mostly about tuning and how the program stitches the samples together that warrants ai usage which is fine.
@@seere8906 Yes theres ai, but its with the voice actors consent and voice data, similar to before. Miku's software doesnt use ai, as they want to keep her non-humaness
@@achewy7700 Yeah that's a very important thing, AI in relation to vocal synthesis (which is distinct from voice cloning/voice conversion) does not equal genAI, it is merely a different way of synthesizing the vocals, unlike Hatsune Miku which is concatenative aka samples stitched together
reply to @seere8906 they still need a voice provider for that... basically, Vocaloid used multiple samples of syllables and mashed them together, creating a more robotic sounding voicebank. Whereas SynthV AI uses AI that uses the actors singing for the data pool to use as a reference for other lyrics and words, making the voicebank sound more realistic and easier to understand. These are the benefits of using SynthV AI: • ease of use compared to Vocaloid • Voices are trained on the singer's vocal "style", allowing automatic pitch "tuning" to make the vocal more human and less robotic. • The ability to quickly analyze and combine large amounts of data, as well as the ability to automate certain tasks. The way you put your comment made it seem like they are using generative AI which is NOT true! While they ARE using AI, synthesis AI involves combining existing content to create something new. Whereas Generative AI involves generating new content based on a set of input data. if you don't know much about a subject, pls don't speak on it because more often than not you're going to spread misinformation.
This is literally all crunchyrolls fault, they have a history of cutting corners and costs that create a WORSE user experience. They've been in it for the money for a long time
@ElainaMaruyama I know they've been using the screen in Japan occasionally too, my issue isn't JUST the screen, in Japan the screen is stylized better so it blends in, but the miku expo screen is in your face, there's also the issue with the lack of communication that's been going on throughout the expo such as advertising the hologram on the site when there is no hologram, and the recent story of the fan who got permission from the venue and from CFM to give away some little miku charms and was shut down and had their stuff taken and threatened to be arrested by the staff crunchyroll hired. Not only this but the fact that crunchyroll is known for just cutting costs and causing issues, such as how their website does not work well and they never bothered fixing it, the fact that there's been accusations for years that they don't pay anime studios nearly as well as they claim they do when listening shows, their refusal to honor the people who bought digital copies of shows from funimation and just left them in the cold, and the crunchyroll store being a buggy mess, and when they acquired right stuf they STILL didn't fix any of the issues with the cruncyroll store, essentially cutting out one of their main competition but offering a worse service. The miku expo debacle is just 1 in a long list of issues that crunchyroll has been having that all traces back to them being a greedy company
When I was living in Japan, I went to a Miku concert and it was AMAZING. The holograms look incredible, there isn't a bad seat in the house bc they can make them super big so everyone can see them, and she did perform with a live band. In my case, it was a special one weekend only collaboration with a famous taiko drumming group so the energy was high and the bass was BUMPING. Best concert I've ever been to!!
She is always life-sized. The projections of Miku and the other Vocaloids are always their real heights. Not sure what you're talking about with "they can make them super big"? They don't and never have. She's 5 feet 2 inches, projection or screen.
Other commenters are mentioning extra big holograms, settle yourselves. Seeing one show is not expertise. Why challenge someone so rudely with no general level of knowledge? It's highly unlikely there was a conspiracy of commenters at the ready to lie about hologram sizes, isnt it?
@@standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory Sorry, I shouldn't have been so rude. I have however seen this same comment at least a dozen times in this comment section, and an unmentionable amount on Twitter. I have not just been to one show. I've been to three. 2016, 18, and this year. However, I'm not even saying that going myself has made me an expert. The videos for almost every Miku concert are available in full on UA-cam. You can just go watch every single one like I have over the years and see for yourself that she's never been bigger. I just don't understand where this idea is coming from. The screen being the size it is may make her seem proportionally smaller because of the big, ugly black void that surrounds her, but she's the same size she always has been. The only time they ever made her bigger, was that one special event showing in Japan (I think 2014?) where they used a fountain to spray a huge wall of water and projected her on that. I think it was 15ft, but don't quote me on that. Having a hard time finding footage for that specific show.
Sounds like Miku x Kodo! They’ve done it 3 years now and just did their last one 😭 I’m so sad because I dreamed of going to that concert specifically because I love the mix of Miku and the drums
“when someone’s historically been known to do the thing, and then you change the thing, seemingly for reasons that aren’t anything but money… people get annoyed.” pretty apt sentence considering what’s going on in the world of youtube channels wanting to make their own streaming website
I was so mad about this show. I went back in 2016 and the Vocaloids were BIG holograms projected onto a transparent screen. I went to the Portland one and it SUCKED. They ran out of VIP bags for one, and they ended up opening the merch up to the PUBLIC FIVE HOURS before doors. So by the time most people got there the merch was sold out. On the website they said the merch was INSIDE the venue only btw, and that you couldn't access it until doors at 7pm.
Miku and the other vocaloids are always shown on stage as their canon heights. Miku has always been 5 ft 2, regardless of the screen or projection. She has never once been made bigger. i don't understand why y'all keep saying this. (Been to MikuExpo 2016, 18 and 24. Veteran concert video watcher since 2011 lol)
@@lizzydarkrose I'll just assume what you said is correct without fact checking, but even so the shitty TV screen made the Vocaloids look TINY because of the character to screen space ratio. The screen and projections used in previous expos were immersive. It made the characters look and feel big/real with actual depth. I looked back on the videos I took from 2016 and there's a huge difference despite how close I was at both shows.
@@wormitha I'm not arguing that the the screen is more immersive. It isn't. I hate the screen. Almost refunded my tickets over it. Believe me, we are on the same side. I'm just also very tired of hearing people spread various pieces of misinformation to make the screens seem worse. It's not necessary, we all know it sucks. Miku's never been bigger though. She's never been 3D as people also keep saying. She's always been on a flat surface that makes side seats bad. The screen sucks, let's just be specific about why for the sake of making an actual argument to the show runners for why they shouldn't do this again.
I think it's called "Expo" because there used to be activities and stuff to do in the venue before the concert too. But the important thing is the screen has actually first been used in MikuFes in Japan this year. It's the exact same set up as MikuFes, except the Japanese event had some set dressing on the stage to hide it, since the setup didn't have to travel.
It's the same tech, but I think calling it the same set up undersells how much of a difference all the extra set dressing does to actually incorporate the screen in a way that doesn't make it feel like "substitute teacher rolling out the TV". MikuFes in Japan (and other vtuber concerts) show that you can do LED well, they just didn't do it well for Miku Expo. Ultimately it's not just the screen that people are upset about, it's the deliberate lack of transparency/false advertising + the lack of effort in making the tech appropriately fit the rest of the show. The set up and choreography and everything still feels designed for hologram Miku and it makes the LED screen stand out that much more. And especially for the prices that they're charging and all the other logistical problems they're having, it's really not acceptable.
@Jenaxu I agree with that stuff, but a lot of people think this was a change made specifically for the overseas tour, which it isn't. The Europe ticket prices were about the same (london was at least when I got mine), but some of the US and Canada ones looked extreme
Niconico 2022 had a screen too, but they did a lot with it so you barely cared it was a screen. It was also a lot larger. I saw Miku in Vancouver and in all honesty I didn't care that it was a screen. I still had a blast and was glad I went.
Major Miku fan here and want to answer few of your questions 1) it’s Miku EXPO since the songs are from a very wide array of artists around the world, most of which aren’t big enough to go on tour. It’ll be a lot of fans only chance to see their music live. 2) it wasn’t a hologram but several projections on several layers of glass to make her appear as if she’s on stage and still visible even if you’re not sitting directly in front of the panels. A lot of the ticket pages advertised for the concert with this setup, so it’s majorly messed up, especially for those who bought tickets outside of orchestra 3) the recordings used for the screen were intended to be used as a projection (hence Miku being in a black void) from a variety of past performances, hence the awkward transitions and mismatches between what’s on screen and what’s being played ( the on the rocks performance previously had someone playing a piano on stage) EDIT: some songs made specifically for the live concerts like Magical Cure Love Shot (Miku expo song contest winner) and Hyper Reality Show had renders exclusively for Miku Expo
Ticketmaster is largely responsible for the insane ticket prices. Ticketmaster has no rules against people buying up whole venues in pre-sale and selling them 3x-4x the price. It isn't just a specific Miku Expo thing, it happens all the time with musical acts who have to use these ticketing apps. The terrible thing is that tickets that were $80 were now being sold for $200-$300 on top of Crunchyroll not disclosing to fans that the show was using an LED screen instead of the usual glass screens. The Magical Mirai shows in Japan don't get this treatment so I am unsure why no one at Crypton or Crunchyroll is willing to address why they cheaped out on the North America tour.
As someone who tried to do the presale for the dimension 20 live show and couldn’t get tickets after three consecutive days, just because the site barely functioned, but also because I was seeing tickets valued at $100 be listed at $1500 … it was a wild first experience with Ticketmaster 😂
They seem to have fixed that problem for Europe or at least for the Berlin show, because they specifically disallow the resale of tickets over a certain price threshold. And the tickets are also personalized
the screen looks so small too? it probably is actually really big but they’ve positioned her in a way that somehow makes her look shorter than if she was a real person? with this kind of stuff, the verisimilitude is much more important than pure realism
@@crowkitten2661 It does for sure. The big black void swallows her and makes her look smaller. Which wasn't a problem when they used the screen in Japan because they blended it into the rest of the stage design. The set-up for MikuEXPO was not thought out well at all lol
@@lizzydarkrose oh yeah i agree that it had a lot of issues i just don’t think the size was the biggest problem i was towards the back and the vocaloid’s size in comparison to the audience looked a lot better in person than it does on camera imo
i don't know that it's like this anymore, but back in the day vocaloid was a very community focused thing. lots of miku's most popular songs are by people who were just fans of miku and got the software. the association with leeks etc was all started by fans, not to mention her VP. it wouldn't be accurate to say there's 1 or 10 or even 1000 people who "are" miku because the character's songs, quirks, etc were at least at one time all a community effort. it's a very strange niche of an idol who literally doesn't exist. the only ethical idol culture tbfh
For the most part, I think people still interpret her and other vocaloids however they want. Though not the same like it used to be, people still happen upon music producers who make the next popular things but it blasts those acts to commercialization and well, the identity changes there. I still find loads of small new channels upload music, but they get hidden by the algorithm. And then people's introduction to vocaloid is more likely to be through Project Sekai now, since the Project Diva games aren't really a thing anymore.
At least for me, I rarely come across new artists as often as I did in say 2010-2017, thanks to UA-cam constantly pushing the already insanely popular producers.
@@DOCTOR.DEADHEAD tbh i think its the opposite. yes new voca producers used to dwindle in numbers but i feel like theres a vocaloid resurgence in the past couple of years especially among younger ppl. Probably bc of the new project sekai game and how the company always commissioned songs from both popular producers and newer less known producers, and how vsynths are becoming more easy to get and use, there are more people thats interested in making vsynth musics now. Syudou, kanaria, Azari, Teniwoha, Iyowa, Guchiry, nunununu, surii, Tsumiki, Balloon, Wotaku, Oonuma parsley, slave v vr, and kairiki bear to name a few are some of newer vocaloid producers thats become insanely popular lately
@@naypinay Well I was talking specifically about the UA-cam algorithm. I do play Sekai and know that there are still plenty of new producers joining the scene, just that they rarely appear on my recommendations on this platform (again though, I can only speak for myself).
I'm glad that Swell clarified that Miku isn't AI, it seems to be a common misconception at the moment. I think the best way to describe her and other vocaloids(and utauloids) as an instrument- anyone can pick up the software and make music using her voice(made from real people's voice samples!) and have it still be a Hatsune Miku song
this isn’t true. the first vocaloids were the english vocaloids LEON and LOLA, followed by MIRIAM. MEIKO and KAITO were the first japanese vocaloids, both released for vocaloid 1. MEIKO was released the same year as LEON, LOLA, and MIRIAM, being the last to release of the 4 (in november of 2004, while LEON and LOLA released in january and miriam released in july). MEIKO and KAITO were the first 2 vocaloids to have official avatars though, and were part of the original 4 vocals being made as part of Project Daisy (the working name of the vocaloid software), though they were originally called HANAKO and TARO (LEON and LOLA were the other 2. KAITO was realeased in february 2006 due to delays but was intended to released a year and a half sooner than he did.
@@Hallows_CryptHonestly I don't know what's wrong with my brain, but I genuinely thought you said "English" and not "Japanese" and was also about to correct you. I was _so_ certain you said "English" to the point were i thought you were just straight up lying when you said you didn't, until i actually reread your comment. Maybe that's what happened to them too?
I went to a Vocaloid concert in Japan with the actual hologram and it is pretty impressive in person (when I could actually see, which was rare). They hyped up the live band a lot and each band member got a little solo show off thing which was very cool to see. The Japanese crowd energy is also soooo much better compared to what i’ve seen in clips on twitter - the Japanese crowd will *yell* the chants and it’s great. It was also literally the worst organised event i ever went to in Japan though, the staff (unsure if venue or miku staff) were awful. Also for context, Japan is veeerry strict with ticketing and resale, which might be where part of the problem with resale came from.
If you look at past Miku expo videos you’ll see a very hyped up crowd! I wouldn’t be surprised if the audiences during this Miku expo were a bit subdued because everyone’s pretty bummed out due to the whole screen thing. I’m going and I’m still excited as I’ve waited 10+ years to see Miku live but I can’t say the whole thing hasn’t dampened my joy of finally seeing her..
@@KingOfGaymes also we dont know japanese so aside from the english songs (which many people dont know or care about, tbf) theres not much chanting we can do.. idk why they went with the setlist they did when there are plenty of songs with english choruses that people know (they picked a lesser known karasuya sabou song for rin, when showtime ruler is right there? everyone knows showtime ruler) in general the setlist isnt great. and since theres a lightstick shortage a lot of people couldnt cheer visually so it looks extra dead :(
As someone who grew up listening to vocaloid music and has been wishing to go to Miku Expo for over a decade, this turn of events was not only disappointing but embarrassing. I bought tickets for Miku Expo 2020 but that was canceled due to the pandemic, so imagine my exasperation that after 4 years, we get LED screens and not even Miku's usual band (no hate to the local bands they used, but it just shows how they're willing to cut corners.)
Same! I had tickets for 2020 but it got canceled. Sad to hear this but also the tickets were close to $300 when I looked which is crazy! I couldn’t afford that so hopefully tickets get cheaper/production better in years to come 🙏🏻
I’m right with you, I’ve listened to Vocaloid since middle school and had tickets for 2020’s show. Now it’s been 4 years since and we still don’t get a hologram in the states. It’s left me so disheartened honestly
SAME HERE. I’ve wanted to see Miku live since 2011 when I discovered her. 2020 was the first Miku expo I was finally able to go to because in the past I had school, now I wasn’t in school and when it got 100% canceled I cried for almost the entire day.. Miku expo comes back in 2024 and I’m so excited especially after losing my chance in 2020 and I’m sure so many were so excited to see her come back after the pandemic.. and THIS is the big comeback? THIS is the celebration of 10 years of Miku Expo? It’s just heartbreaking. You would think they’d want this to be their best Miku Expo ever but no it’s their worst. I honestly think myself and many others would’ve rather just waited another two years for Miku to come back so we could get the hologram again.. It really just feels like Crypton didn’t give af about us international fans and slapped this together last minute because we aren't worth it to them even though we are why miku is so famous and sucessful all over the world.. it just really hurts..
the "usual" miku band literally could not perform with the scheduling? it would be impossible and insane for them to prepare different set lists for miku fes, miku expo NA, europe, miku with you, *and* australia/NZ, on top of traveling between locations. you probably didn't know about europe, au/nz, and miku with you, but even just mikufes --> expo NA --> magical mirai is wayyy too much for music of that level to be memorized and learned for concert performance. it's not like they got cheap performers either for NA, almost all of them, especially vixen, have solid portfolios and have worked on tours for big artists and have collaborations with big companies...
I dont know about any other American Miku fans but i know for me, I would be so excited to see Miku in North America as it seems (TO MY KNOWLEDGE) like shes only recently touring here. However, the screen MATTERS. I would be so disappointed if i went to see her and the other vocaloids and the screen was nothing like its supposed to be. Very confused as to what possessed them to use a different screen when the entire performance hinders on it.
She's historically been in the US every other year, staring in 2014. However, the 2020 tour was cancelled for obvious reasons, and they did not come back in 2022 like we fans had all been hoping for. After this tour, the assumption is that MikuEXPO will return to the US in 2026 and continue the even year pattern. However, with how poorly this tour has been handled and received, who knows.
Miku expo has been happening in the U.S. since 2014, it’s the tenth anniversary of it this tour. So it’s not recent and they’ve used the hologram for the past NINE Miku Expo’s just fine, so there is NO REASON they couldn’t have done it (even FAN CONCERTS are capable of the hologram tech) unless it’s crunchyroll to blame or Crypton just suddenly hates fans outside of Asia and thinks we don’t deserve the hologram , which would be upsetting.. International fans deserve to see the same Miku the Asian concerts get..
her first US concert was Mikunopolis Los Angeles in 2011! the tickets were $15 and honestly.. doesnt look that different from the recent concerts you can watch the whole thing on youtube :D
22:40 You bring up a point that has always bothered me as a long time die-hard Miku fan (Been listening to Vocaloid since 2010. I went to 2016 San Fran, 2018 San Fran, and again this year in San Jose). The transitions between songs feel lazy and, like you said, like just waiting for another video to start. They used to do this thing (sometimes) where Miku would finish her song, and then STAY visible on stage. She'd do a little transition animation where she'd nod or wave, and then pose in the starting position for the next song. If there was an outfit change, there'd be a quick glitter type animation over her. Magical Mirai 2013 is the best example of these, the whole show is here on youtube. There's a bit where Rin and Len do a song with Miku, and when it's over, they both say, "love you!" and run off stage while Miku turns around to start the next dance. (The song was SHAKE IT, transitioning into Weekender Girl.) I guess at some point Sega (or whoever funds the shows) decided that those transition animations cost too much to make, and needing to make unique song changes for every show wasn't worth it. So, they changed to just having her vanish and come back. This also makes it easier for them to use different models for Miku entirely, something else that bothers me for the sake of the "illusion" that she's a real performer. Quick outfit changes are one thing, there's a suspension of disbelief there. But, when they change from one type of model to another, and her face and physics of her hair change, that's another thing entirely that i wish they just wouldn't do anymore. To use a couple examples, the outfit changes between Miku's default outfit, to 'World is mine' and 'unknown mother Goose' are fine. She looks like the same person in different clothes and hair. But, the changes in model in songs like 'Vampire' and 'Tell Your World' bug the shit out of me. She is now a different person with a different face and body proportions. Anyway, I'm rambling. But these are things I've had well over a decade to stew on lol
I'm so glad you put into words what I've been thinking myself these past years watching Vocaloid concerts on UA-cam. They were so much more creative and had more effort put into them before! And it's not like it takes too much work to just have Miku change position for the nest song, or have the Vocaloids say a little "thank you" and walk off screen. Those little things made them seem more real. I also miss when they used to do cool effects, like have Miku grow wings and fly up to the screen above in Mikupa 2013 during the Intense Singing, or had her play around with the stage lights during Eh? Ah, Sou? Nowadays they won't even give them more outfits to wear other than their original clothes or Miku's comissioned outfit for the concert.
I’m going to Miku Expo next week as of writing this comment! Learning about the screen usage definitely did bum me out, but I told myself that a big majority of the experience for a Miku Concert, is being among fans of vocaloid, and not to mention, this’ll be my first, and possibly only time to experience a Miku Concert LIVE, so I’m blessed for this opportunity! The cost cutting of the Expo overall, can ALL be traced back to Crunchyroll, who are fully sponsoring the expo, not on the company, Crypton, behind Miku. Either way, I’ll try my best to have fun with other vocaloid fans, and I’m happy to see you continuing to branch out and experience things you aren’t interested in!
I went to the concert in Denver on April 21, and honestly it was a lot of fun! The merch situation was awful, but the concert itself was a lot of fun. The band had a lot of energy, the screen looked great, and everyone in the crowd had fun. Honestly, I understand the disappointment over the hologram, but it was still a great time.
Yeah, ive got tickets for the Europe one later in the year and i’m just pumped to listen to banging songs and be around other fans. Hopefully it goes better than the NA one anyway, i think crunchyroll is also involved so idk
Stop. The LED screen was used at MikuFes in Japan so yes, it IS Crypton. Stop lying and spreading bullshit just because you hate Crunchyroll. You're not wrong for hating Crunchyroll because they're a scum company but saying its not on Crypton is a straight up lie.
Can’t wait for the ticket industrial complex dismantling video. With so many artists on tour this year feel like I’ve paid more TM fees than actual base ticket prices themselves. It’s absurd how pricy concerts are getting
the way she says kaito and meiko is driving me insane lol from what I've seen in previous concerts, they used to do like skits in between some songs, that way it wasn't awkward. there were also some pretty cool transitions. this is honestly such a low effort copy of a vocaloid concert. sad to hear the screen is happening in Japan too.
@@littlezorkie9311 When they say skits they might mean the Vocaloids talking a little. Look at Magical Mirai 2013 or 39's Giving Day 2012. All the Vocaloids say something, even if it's just a little "Thank You" after singing the songs. Miku also introduced the band herself. The transitions between songs were much better too.
To hear that they let you buy three light sticks proves that the vendors weren’t even following the rules they told everybody, makes me so upset because the whole time they said one light stick per person, explains why many of us weren’t able to get one Edit: yes im well aware her friends were also getting the light sticks, but if you were at the event, you would know the merch booths were outside the venues and no they did not check for tickets when you bought items. Many different venues from what I’ve seen did not honor a lot of information given through ticket emails. Also if her friends were beside her when purchasing yes it would be one per person, but if she wasn’t and the vendors were taking her word for it, it would explain why at my event people were selling the official light sticks at a $90 mark up. And why many people would carry 6 light sticks between their fingers
I think Amanda was in the queue with Chris and Anarchy, so it was still only one light stick per person the only difference was Amanda was paying for all three. Hopefully she can confirm
@@disaidra yes Amanda was buying them for the people she was with, however, what this does mean like OP was trying to say, is that the people selling the glow sticks didn’t bother with the rule that it was one glow stick per person. How did he know that Amanda was telling the truth? It just means it was really easy to lie and buy more than one glow stick for one person if you wanted to.
i think she bought three for her and her two friends WITH her but the vendor couldnt process her three lightsticks in one transaction because of this rule... so technically they were following the rules but still the small amt of lightsticks provided at each show is insane.
i saw the queen Hatsune Miku many years ago when she was an opener for Lady Gaga on her Art Pop tour. best concert i’ve been to to this day (both Miku & Gaga were amazing). Miku’s glass protections looked so real, there were many so it looked like she walked around the stage and she did a ton of crowd interaction. plus her band was so good and lively!! so sad to see it’s changed :(
Just saw Mitski at the Shrine a couple weeks ago and the line to get in was a breeze and they had a merch truck outside the venue as well as a set up in the expo hall. Just so wild seeing the difference of two different events at the same venue. I don’t even comprehend how it would take so long to get in there for your show.
The shrine is notorious for this tho. I’ve been to multiple different events and some are super well organized, quick to get people in, and awesome set up, and some have been complete cluster f’s where I had to wait 1 HOUR just because I entered from the south entrance instead of the north. It’s really what the crew makes it (or pays for).
In the previous miku expo I went to they had fun little transitions between songs or skits like saying hi to the audience, it was pretty seamless! It's always a shame when stuff gets worse for no reason except greed 😅
extra tidbit of info! Hatsune Miku is NOT a VTuber like Amanda says, however! All Vocaloids do require a human voice bank (think of it as someone donating their voice to be altered/modulated). Miku's voice bank is the "seiyu," or Japanese voice actress, Saki Fujita! Thank you for giving us weeb topics every once in a while, Amanda!! :D
Furthermore - to offer a meaningful clarification - a voice bank is a collection of samplings, often collected at times or in ways wholly unrelated to their eventual use. This allows the vocaloid to be _based_ on the voice of a voice actress. It is inaccurate to say Saki Fujita is the voice actress for Hatsune Miku. Hatsune Miku has what is advertised as an original voice, "based on Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita." My intended tone here is friendly. It seems like you care about the character so I care a little more about the inaccuracy. Many actual humans do "donate" their voice, yet it seems core advertising for Hatsune Miku highlights her "orignal voice" as something of an exception. Then again... I remain open to the possibility that every time I read "voice based on," what they mean is "voice donated by." This just seems like a case where not doing that is part of what makes them special. *jazz hands*
@@kneau I refer to what Amanda says :D That's why I said extra tidbit. I wasn't here to fully info dump on someone else's video, but to explain it like someone was 5 to make it easier bit sized info for someone. But thanks for adding more info for people! edit: actually, upon rereading your comment, I think you just misinterpreted what I had written out. I was trying to explain that Saki Fujita herself is a seiyu or VA. She donated parts of her voice to be used for Miku. As someone who's been into Vocaloid since before 2010, and watched the utaite and producer community, I am very well aware of how Vocaloid tuning and stuff works even in software. Sorry however if I had upset you, or seemingly spread minsinformation about our lord and savior, minecraft creator, michael hatsoon.
@@kneau I read CatNaps' comment as agreeing with Amanda about her not being a VTuber but then goes in and adds additional information..So maybe chill out on the rough morning comment.
Not a Miku fan and I've never been to a concert like this, but I can say that as someone with terrible anxiety I often find myself just standing there at concerts. I'm too insecure to dance or get flamboyant in public, but I want to appear engaged and show I'm actually a fan and paying attention- so I end up just standing there kinda awkwardly. Hearing you talking about the guys just standing around made me think maybe this demographic just has a lotta awkward people who don't know how to emote their excitement. Just my perspective.
I'm from the UK. I've been to both 2018 & 2020 expos as a VIP, and the experience it was amazing. SO, finding out that that it's now LED is disappointing, especially with how they've set it up. The most recent MIKUFES had it as LED and integrated it well. My problem is that none of the fans were told it would be LED, and all advertisements showed holograms. It's now more expensive for an overall worse experience. I have never heard that VIP need to show their emails. At both concerts, I just showed my tickets, and we were good to go, so it's very weird they stopped you.
I don’t get why people are saying Mikufes was integrated well, like she was still in a black void far away from the rest of the band. It was jarring watchin the mikufes footage honestly. I really hope they haven’t subjected miku to led jail forever.
So excited a creator I follow is covering this!!!! I went to one of the Phx shows, and it was such a huge let down, especially for being my first Miku/Vocaloid experience. The live band is what kept the energy, and the fans next to me that kept making eye contact with me, smiling, when a song we were both excited for came up, and mimicking Miku dances. I would say my experience was worth it, since the ticket I bought, for ground floor, was only $21; which, like Amanda, I was very surprised at how readily available the tickets were; but, that's because I was unaware of the controversy, until AFTER I purchased my ticket, and shared on my socials that I was going; then, friends started messaging me, saying they were going too, on the first day in Phx, but were not looking forward to the LED screen. *shocked Pikachu* I just hope that if Miku comes back to North America, they don't skip out on the experience again. Edit: i meant to add that i also bught my ticket last minute. I think about 3 weeks prior to the actual show, because i remeber scrambling to try to get a cosplay together 😅
Which day did you go to? I was day 1 floor and imo the vibes were great, everyone was screaming and excited and despite a tiny technical glitch with the screen the vibes ended up making up for it
@@Pilapuzzles day 2. I saw the videos of the glitch for day 1 😭 to my knowledge, no technical glitches happened on day 2. By the time I managed to get to the venue (accident on the I-10 that delayed me over an hour, because what's a Miku experience with out a car accident), most of the merch was already gone, and there were still VIPs standing in line, so I didn't even bother. The venue felt pretty empty as well, which was just an odd experience, for how big the space was, especially being on ground level.
@@xhelxhelcosplay yeah, I think a lot of people mainly just planned on going day one and then people went to day 2 more last minute because of cheap tickets, sorry you didn't get to have as good of a full crowd experience! When I was there for day one it was pretty packed! You could look up the stands and see like a sea of light sticks :)
The standing but not dancing thing makes sense to me. Being up and with the crowd is kinda part of the experience (if this is anything like the kpop concerts I've seen) but not everyone feels comfortable dancing, especially around other people
Small correction to the article you read from: Peppers ghost is a reflection based technique, the image/object is below and a pane of glass, at a 45 degree angle from the viewer and the image, reflects it Miku is projected on a pane of glass parallel to the audience. They're very different techniques, and they look very different. Both have advantages and disadvantages but on the whole I'd say peppers ghost looks better, appears to have more "depth" than projection
Also it’s neat bc the pane of glass has to have a slightly opaque layer for crisp projection, as just glass will look very faint, the light just passing right through. It’s really fascinating
6:41 I firmly believe the reason why LA was so cheap is not because of controversy, but because it was a LATE addition to the lineup. Only months in they announced an addition for LA as well as 2nd shows for Phoenix, Denver, and Dallas. Which I have no idea why they decided to do that because LA is the only city out of the four with reasonable demand. I loved Phoenix's 2nd show, the line was so Peaceful and the crowd was small but the everyone was so friendly, I wouldn't trade Phoenix 2nd show away for anything in the world! But you could tell no one asked for it since it was the only show with third party SINGLE DIGIT resell prices from scalpers. Denver's additional show (technically Day 1 since it was put in the day before) was also dead but Day 2 was CHAOS from what I heard online.
Was also at 2nd day Phx show! As an avid concert goer, the small crowd for the event was so weird feeling, especially for a name like Miku; but it was really nice to be able to chat with other fans in line, because it felt like we were just a small community of fans, getting together, and making the best of something we care about.
They did almost no advertising for the 2nd day they added to my stop. Like I was talking to people in line and no one went he first day because none of us even knew it was happening…. And like the second day was packedddd… there were lots of weird issues with the tour but I still had fun
my childhood dream was to go to a miku concert, but that was with the expectation to see the hologram. really sucks to think that i may never be able to fulfill that dream now
Me too, especially after 2020 was canceled which in retrospect would have been Miku’s final holographic tour of the states. I had tickets for that show but now that dream will die with miku’s hologram
Same, I really hope it isn't true and that future US tours get the hologram, because I honestly am not interested in traveling overseas just to get that experience
Girl are you like 85? There's a miku tour in the states about every four years. Last one was in 2016, there was another one lined up for 2020 but it was cancelled. This tour is for 2024, so they are keeping up with the pace of things. You just have to wait until 2028, hopefully they're have the projections in by then lol
@@clownfromclowntown i'm not a girl. there's no guarantee they'll ever bring the hologram miku back, cfm's only statement doesn't imply anything about the future. there is anxiety in uncertainty
@@clownfromclowntown I mean, I can only speak for myself but due to previous obstacles like money, a strict parent, and tickets selling out, this was the first year that I would've been able to go. So yeah, that coupled with the possibility the hologram may never return here is a bit disheartening.
They've done this in the past if i remember correctly it might be hard for people to understand though because she sounds very robotic sometimes. Also there are actual splatoon concerts? That's so cool
they do this in the japanese concerts because shes much easier to understand than in english. her english bank is notoriously awful and im surprised at how well she talks during her intro at miku expo, they mustve hired someone really talented lol
Were the dudes smelly? I got VIP tickets in 2017 and the people pushing their way to the front Were a bunch of very stinky dudes who were going from location to location. Archetypal creepy guy in basement. It was weird.
This video reminded me of a coworker of mine. He has traveled from Puerto Rico to Japan a couple of times just to see her. Huge fan of hers...he has all the desk covered.
I think most of the hype comes from the band and just being among other fans, which is why this can be a weird experience for non-fans. Also an LED screen had been used in other miku concerts, but the stage has been dressed up better to better immerse the audience. Also from what I've heard the side angles don't look good LED screen or not. Also the other vocaloids almost always perform at Miku concerts so every fan goes to see all of them.
Company: We're downgrading the product and not lowering the price...we'll maybe even raise it a little Consumers: Uh hello? This sucks wtf are you doing? Company: We appreciate the feedback
went to 2014 LA miku expo way back and the "holograms" do make a difference. i wasn't even a miku fan, had no idea about her, and was confused about the idea of simping for a virtual avatar but my friend bought me a ticket and the concert experience made me an instant fan. its crazy to me that a concert from 10 years ago is of better quality than the one in 2024. its unfortunate ppl today won't get to experience that for this tour. here's hoping they take the feedback and improve in the future :/
The thing about the 2014 concert is that they only had 2 in the US. One in NY and one in LA. This tour is Miku's biggest one yet, with shows in 17 cities in like 1 and a half month. They started prioritising quantity over quality
As someone less in the community for the vocaloids and similar fanbases I went for the fun of experiencing something new. While it is unfortunate we saw the use of the screen, I feel that with some fairly simple restaging of the set to better accommodate the screen it could have been a negligible issue. Biggest gripe is staging lighting behind the screen framing it more obviously. IMO all they'd have to do to make it great is move the back wall forward to level out with the screen so there was never something coming from behind it and move the physical musicians forward to compensate and it would have been better. Overall I had a fun time for a fairly cheap price and would consider going to another in the future more if it was the traditional pepper's ghost effect just to experience that IRL as well. At times it did feel like the mix may have been a little instrument heavy but that also could have been due to my seating location or other factors etc. etc.. I'd give it like a 6-7/10. Was fun but could use improvement which they'll hopefully learn after doing it this time. (Either meaning they go back to the pepper's ghost style or restage the set design to better accommodate the screen). [Edit] Also adding, I was at the same show at the Shrine and I was seated up in the balcony and it was pretty good from that perspective.
i wanted to resale my tickets after i saw the led screen. and then i didn’t and went anyway and im really glad i didnt. it was amazing & the screen made her look so real from the floor, definitely not for people in the seats. it was so good!
The kaito/meiko performance where kaito is playing the grand piano is a specific reference to the on the rocks song's music video from most of the project diva games (the rhythm game series that exists for vocaloids) where kaito is shown playing a piano and the original version does have piano in the background! otherwise great video the current miku expo is such a mess
I used to be a big vocaloid fan, but I pretty much wrote off ever going to a concert since US versions only looked like they'd ever touch the west coast. Now seeing that they've gotten really frugal with them I don't even care if they're more widely available, because it doesn't seem worth the price tag to me.
I went to Miku Expo in 2016 in NYC and I gotta say, the glass screen projection is what really made the whole thing seem real. You could still see the glass if you really focused on it, but it was easy to forget it's there and just focus on the Vocaloids on stage. The clear screen also let them do a lot of fun stuff with the lighting around and behind the glass, since it's clear so you can see behind the performers. They would project special effects around the Vocaloids for some songs; If you look up Remote Controller from 2016 , you can see how they project some of the song's lyrics onto the screen with Rin & Len and it's super cool and fun! (I think the videos on UA-cam are from the Toronto show, but it was the same at the NYC show I saw) all the footage I've seen from this year's tour is just the Vocaloids dancing alone on that huge black void of a screen, blocking out everything behind them. maybe people just haven't posted footage of it, but it looks like they're not doing those fun effects around the performers anymore? and that's super lame. in your footage I can see how the screen blocks the lighting fixtures behind and around it depending on the angle. idk even if the Vocaloids themselves look good and crisp on the screen, it still looks like the production value took a huge hit here in a lot of ways. just way less interesting staging and effects and everything. pretty disappointing :/ I'm glad I didn't end up getting tickets this year, and I hope they reconsider their setup the next time they tour NA
One of the panels even had a dead spot during a show 😭 I’m a stagehand too and this whole led screen thing is just so baffling to me, especially because this just isn’t how concerts… look? Like, when you go to see Taylor swift for instance, it’s not just a lady on a stage with some disco lights, there’s also going to be another REALLY BIG screen above her with a live zoomed-in camera feed, that way people in the back of the stadium can see her face! Hell, even if you’re just going to see Jim And The Boys at a smaller venue, they’re also going to have a big screen so you can see the band members better, it’s an extremely standard thing! I just don’t understand why she was so SMALL lmao
So to help explain the guys that were standing around just watching it's my understanding that they're there just to enjoy the concert and not make a fuss about it. You see them around in every type of event and concert, but you don't notice them most of the time unless they're standing or sitting next to you. It's just low key people who are there to enjoy the thing in their own way.
Yes, there's a lot of people I met there that have talked about this is the most people they've ever had to deal with at the same time but they still wanted to be there. Everyone around me was super hyped in the pit but I know a lot of people stood on the edges to just watch.
It's called Miku "Expo" because they had actual exhibitions when they started in 2014. In 2014 Miku Expo was only in 2 cities in USA and one city in Indonesia, so they had time to put out an entire exhibition hall. But since they started having bigger tours in NA and Europe with little time between shows the exhibitions are usually skipped there. It would take too much time for them to set everything up for a day just to move on to the next city/country a day or two later.
They used to have her introduce the band, and she talked a bit more in the 2012-2013 concerts. I never understood why they stopped doing that. There's a chinese Vocaloid called Luo Tianyi who has concerts with other Vocaloids from her company like Miku does, and she actually has several moments where she has conversations with the audince. It even sounds like they got her voice actress to speak her lines too. I wish Crypton/Sega would do things like that.
I hope some people confused about Vocaloid see this - Miku is less of a pop star and more of an INSTRUMENT. Miku has gotten a lot of extremely confusing press that makes it really difficult for people to understand wtf she is. As someone who's been a fan for over 10 years-- think of Miku (and all Vocaloids) as sample libraries. Most musicians use sample libraries for instruments (like a sample library for a piano, drums, violin, etc), but Vocaloids are libraries of the human voice. Each character corresponds to a real person who painstakingly recorded a TON of samples of their voice singing individual syllables at certain pitches. (Except the twins, who share a single voice provider! The way the two of them sound different is because of the actress's skill as well as the versatility of the Vocaloid software). The reason Vocaloid is so beloved is not just because of the lovable character designs and interesting voices - but because people have used these instruments to express their own creativity. Unlike a traditional band or artist, Miku doesn't have a designated team making all her music, shows, etc. Anyone can purchase this instrument and create a song with it. That's the real beauty of Vocaloid - the concert you went to most likely featured no more than 1 or 2 songs by the same person, because thousands of people all over the world make and share these songs. It's a sort of communal creativity that you don't really get anywhere else in quite the same way. Cypton Future Media has made a brand out of the Vocaloids you saw at the concert, for sure - but the spirit of creativity is still at the heart of everything. In a way, it's less about people coming together to celebrate this fictional singer "Miku" and more like, Miku is something that brings a ton of creative people together. A lot of famous (mostly Japanese) musicians got their start as rookies composing music in the Vocaloid scene - and it still thrives today, although advances in audio technology and accessibility of home audio production have resulted in most modern Vocaloid works being on a more refined technical level than the more underground, indie-type scene in the early days. To sum it up... Vocaloid is an instrument, which can be purchased and used by anyone, from beginners to experts. The songs you hear them sing are composed by a huge variety of people, from amateurs to professionals, young and old, from Japan to America to Germany to all over the world. Vocaloid would not exist without its thriving community of musicians, artists, writers, singers, dancers, cosplayers, and simply passionate fans - which makes this snub by Crunchyroll all the more painful.
When she opened for Gaga’s 2014 tour artRAVE it was a screen as well! I’m no Miku expert but it was Gaga having her open that opened my eyes to her and k-pop group Crayon Pop
Worked LA live with anime expo in conjunction...yes. They will take a cut of merch sold inside venues, that's why everyone will sell outside, because that's fully ridiculous.
Omg, Swell and Jaiden Animations both going to a Miku show recently, and Swell saying she first heard about Miku through a presentation in Mass Media class, then Jaiden admitting she did a presentation on Miku in her senior high school year 😂 I just watched Jaiden’s video today and I’m arriving to this one now, and I almost flipped tf out briefly thinking Swell was coincidentally referring to Jaiden. Would’ve been so insane.
At Miku Expo 2018, there were transitions and "crowd work" (e.g., "hello city!" stuff) between songs which made the song transitions feel like a normal band/singer. Also Miku was on the glass.
I was at the first Coachella weekend and when I tell you I was HEARTBROKEN when miku was just a box…. Like I think I left after 2 songs because I was too cringed by my OWN PRESENCE
I'm a fan of Miku (and have been since around 2010 or so) and was at the Vancouver,BC show with some friends. While I had fun and dont regret going to see the concert, I was immensely disappointed that it wasnt the hologram/projection. There was no indication that that would he the case either. I was also disappointed in some of the song choices, there are majorly popular songs that were left out of the show. If this is the new normal so to speak I dont think I will be going to another one. Which is also disappointing because we werent even able to get merch due to the long likes and short supply
I've got tickets to one of the shows this week and when the news started coming out about the screens it was so disheartening. I think for me, part of it is the illusion of the hologram is gone which already sucks but also-- THE LIGHT STICKS. Normally you have to buy special light sticks for a miku concert that are dimmer than normal so you don't interfere with the hologram. And this is what they said this time too. You can only buy our light sticks also they're expensive and also we only have like eight of them so good luck~ ON AN LED SCREEN IT DOESN'T MATTER. Normal light sticks won't interfere which means they banned normal light sticks for just more profit. ://
I saw you leave halfway through, I was like is that swell?? For fans who are don't have a stick up their ass, it was very enjoyable despite the screen. Its a niche thing and if ur not into it ur not into it. Motion capture is used for every vocaloid dance and has real choreographers behind it. Theres a real voice behind every major vocaloid, and songs are made very very meticulously by real people. Nothing about her is AI. Reason why people don't dance is because every Jpop group has chants and specific ways to move the penlight, People will study them religiously and get mad if others sing and dance. I had people side eyeing me for singing and dancing. Another thing is her phasing in and out after every song is something she's always done, it looked the same with the holograms.
They've had better transitions for songs in past concerts though. Like in Magical Mirai 2013 where they go from Suki Kirai to Shake it to Weekender Girl and Freely Tomorrow without the screen going blank. You actually see Rin & Len run off stage saying "thank you, bye bye" and Miku changing outfits for Weekender Girl and Freely Tomorrow. Sure there were times where they would just fade out and the screen is empty for a while, but nowadays they seem to do that between every song for every concert. They've really gotten lazier.
I went to the Miku Expo in AZ - the line was let in SO slowly - we started like half an hour late due to them still letting people in. It was our first Miku concert too, we did not have seats in the center. (It took place in a Hockey arena out here, so we were sitting sideways from the screen, lol). Honestly, it was a much better view than I thought it would be for us. We bought the tickets before the "no pepper's ghost" news came out, so I was very apprehensive. I even asked my sisters if we still wanted to go at that point. When we decided to go still, I figured we would have a pretty terrible view of the screen and that things would look slightly wonky, but it looked pretty good - not perfect, obviously, but there were moments that you could forget the screen was there (and then they would shine ridiculously bright lights behind it and we would be blinded because the screen wasn't blocking the direct view of those). The videos we got look horrendous, and that's is annoying, but probably the biggest downfall of the LED screens for us. Well, that and the fact that half the concert (including Len's song, and he's my fave) had a red rectangle on one side of the screen whenever one of the vocaloids crossed to that side. Not being a huge fan, the weirdest part of the concert for me was having to yell Miku's name for the encore. That was very weird. I felt like we should have been yelling for the live band to come back instead. I would actually go again, even with just LED screens. It was pretty fun, and definitely not my worst concert experience by any means.
Projection is hard. The ambient light can be dull the image. LEDs can be super bright. You also need to get the projector in the right place to throw the image correctly. I bet they used LED because it can be set up almost anywhere in most lighting conditions. Just was easier to deal with compared to projection.
@@viheart true. LED systems can look pretty good. I was mostly commenting on why they might have used LED vs projection. The potential reason for the switch.
As a techie myself I can appreciate those reasons but like they didn’t have to make it look like dog. There are a lot of creative ways to get a screen to look really good and they didn’t even try
I live in Japan and went to Hatsune Miku x Kabuki last year, which isn't a concert but with Hatsune Miku performing alongside real Kabuki actors on stage. For that show they also used a screen instead of a hologram, but compensated that with framing the screen to be part of the set and having other scenes project or move her to other areas of the stage. It was a really impressive performance even though it felt a bit flat with the screens alongside real actors. I'd be disappointed after experiencing that to attend Miku Expo, seems like quite a downgrade
They turned off our ability to resale our tickets. And we bought them almost a year in advance, also no merch left when we got there, and no glow sticks. So we thought wed just go have fun with what we got.
In 1990, i was convinced boom boxes would eventually play hologram videos (you can tell how much i know about electronics that i assumed the boom box would be the final form for playing music), so this is pretty cool to me! We really thought holograms were going to be EVERYWHERE.
I saw hatsune miku in a side room at sort of small j-culture convention in london and they had a damn projection hologram. You're telling me this place had screens?!
Totally agreed with the start and stop issue. I’m very close friends with the drummer Dylan, and am a lifelong musician myself. So I know the band is running on an automated set, they don’t have much to change on their end. Maybe Vixen or Leanne swapping instruments out, but you can have backing tracks or the keys player Tobias play SOMETHING. Even though the music was so diverse, you can make ways for clean transitions between songs so there’s not a big loss of energy. That was my biggest takeaway since I was there, for free, to see the band, not to see the vocaloids 🤣
24:27 the song is ON THE ROCKS by OSTER Project. Kaito is portrayed to play the piano in Project Diva (Rhythm game series) games while Meiko (actually pronounced MEI- Ko lol) sings. I don’t remember if Japan concerts have piano or a band member keyboard but overall…hopefully this helps the confusion!
as a fan of Miku who did not go to concert this felt like a thunder in the middle of a sunny day. Its like, people historically went to concerts to see the "hologram" Miku, and so seeing the borders of the screen makes her prescense less real on stage, ruining the experience. I hope its just a one-off and they will not be doing this again.
im a vocaloid fan that just went to the expo in TX on the 24th. my bf and i were disappointed and concerned about the screen at first, but honestly had such a fun time and werent bothered by it at all once she got on stage. sure, seeing the hologram live was always a dream, but i thought the animation/rendering was honestly so satisfying. her facial expressions were awesome and it still felt like she was really there to us. i cried almost the whole show, so maybe im just biased. hearing those songs live and hearing the crowd singing along was very touching.
hearing about crunchy roll cutting corners suckeddd sooo badddd and crushed my hopes for a good minute. but i think if youre not looking for things to complain about, u could still enjoy the event. a lot of these songs are unlikely to be played live again, which is something that feels quite special to fans. we also dressed up in miku cosplays and took a micro dose of mushrooms, so the good time was going to happen either way.
I was at the first Phoenix show where they had dead pixels for three of the songs. Can't really show more of a problem with the LED screen than that. I've wanted to go to a Miku concert since I was 10, and I'm 20 now. I had a good time but I will absolutely not go again if they don't fix this next year. I've heard the same from other people who went. It seems everyone settled to attend rather than being enthusiastic to see it as it was updated
Hey Swell! I would love a video about ticketmaster/the ticket industry in general and what has been happening with concert tickets, all the issues that come with it and everything! I think its a very prominent issue right now and I would love to hear your takes on it.
Rin and Len are a weird case where they look like twins but have several romantic songs together, some including Miku in like a love triangle. None of the vocaloids really have lore so producers can come up with whatever storyline they want to fit the characters into at any time. This includes their ages, Miku being 16 isn't always canon and is just listed for marketing purposes. I think Kaito is less liked because it's harder to make his voice sound good, but you should check out his and Miku's cover of Bring Me to Life, it's a masterpiece.
Thanks for sharing your Miku Expo Experience with us on UA-cam. Sounds like everything was just thrown together and not thought out; especially for those ridiculous ticket prices. Glad you all had a fun time though. Subscribed and thanks for the 10% off Gamer Supps - used it today. 😊
I was at the Vancouver show while the build up was somewhat shitshow i still enjoyed it probably only because my friend managed to get the VIP tickets. All emails and web updates doubled down on no outside/off brand lightsticks due to it interfering with the hologram including an announcement right before the show and then no hologram so it left us more confused than anything. VIP emails saying there would be a separate merch booth indoors so we didnt show up 7 hours before the show began and they actually took all the indoor merch outside so everything was sold out before we got there. Thankfully they still had the VIP bags tho so we just used the mini fans to cheer along with.
"I know she's real to you guys" that took me out 😂😂😂 But on a real note the projector version of miku is amazing live. She literally GLOWS so bright it’s really cool. I’ve seen both versions and this expo was….. alright ig.
As someone in the vsynth community THANK YOU for making this, sooo many videos abt vsynth/vocaloid stuff from outsiders just ends up being 99% misinformation but I found this very interesting and informative!! (Also thanks for making this before any of those lazy commentary channel's got to the topic hajsjsiwksisk)
I feel like if Turtle Talk with Crush at Disney can have Crush interact with people, then I i feel like they could have Miku, or some sort of MC fill the transition time and give the humans time to reset.
the guys who were just standing and not dancing.... as an autistic person, i can guarantee you that's autistic behavior. which in itself is very fitting bc miku and vocaloid in general are huge among neurodivergent people. to outsiders, that kind of standing around at a concert might seem weird, but to me it makes perfect sense: they want to make sure they're seeing everything, so they're standing, and dancing is uncomfortable and unnecessary for them, so they don't do it. just standing and seeing every bit of the stuff they paid to come to see, the stuff that means a lot to them :)
I get the disappointment of the projection thing, but I fall under the category of people who was not that stressed about the LCD. I *also* was right in the middle of the pit for San Jose and my friend and everyone around me were having the time of their lives. I am just super happy to see an honest reaction, even if it's from someone who's not into Vocaloid. I'd rather see this than a lot of what I've seen which is just being upset because they can be. Always look forward to your videos especially since I was hoping someone would make you go to this 😂
Went to the one in my state last night and had a great time! It was a lot of fun! I brought my own light stick and they let me in with it, and like it made the whole night super fun. I was worried because of all the upset reviews I’d seen but I genuinely still had a great time… the performers they had for our location were super fun as well, the drummer especially
My main issue with the event seems like it really is just listening to a Miku youtube video in a big room with a bunch of sweaty dudes. Its also not worth it to go to a different country for this. I will gladly just watch her performances and music on youtube and save some money for a figurine or something. VR is also so good these days that you can get pretty much any anime character perform for you in full 3D in the comfort of your own home.
I got vip specifically in hopes of getting a better spot! I’m not happy about the screen but I’m super excited to experience a miku concert regardless! I’m going to the show in Dallas tomorrow night!
I went to the concert in LA. It was my first Miku Expo and I was so excited when I realized I could still get tickets, because I'd figured after the first day that the sales opened that I'd missed my opportunity. I thought surely everything will have sold out immediately and never bothered to check. Shortly after purchasing my ticket I was made of aware of the issue with the screen but I decided that LED screen or hologram, I was going for the music and would make the most of it. We were in row 30 and to the left. Not all the way in the back, but still quite a ways from the stage. At first when we took our seats I was worried because I'm short and there were some taller people sitting in front of me, but if I shifted a little bit I was able to see the screen okay. That all changed when the concert started and everyone got to their feet. I had to bob and weave the entire night to see the screen between the taller people in front of me who started in their seats, and then migrated into the aisles. People from the back realized there was nothing stopping them from running up and literally just forming standing room in the aisles. At that point it became really difficult. My chronic pain condition started acting up but if I sat I couldn't see a thing. Really, the music was awesome and the band was amazing. They were probably the best part, honestly. Because the screen was hard to see, and filming it turned up crap quality because the smoke machine just messed with my phone camera. It couldn't adjust properly to record clearly. It was fun to watch when I could see but it was very clearly an LED screen. It felt more like watching a delayed viewing, like when I went to the theater to see the last Walkure concert. It didn't have the immersion of the Miku Expo videos I've seen online.
I GOT SO EXCITED SEEING THIS TITLE!! I went to the Portland show, the 2d show to happen, and I have a few things I can share!!! So the merch was a TERRIBLE situation, because it sold out online TWICE, and even with having thousands of people wanting a lightstick, they stocked a mere 90 in the merch booth. Me and my friends actually were the first people to show up at the venue and we waited SEVEN HOURS because we knew the lightsticks were highly sought after. Worth the hours in a perpetual drizzle because we're all crazy ✨️ ANYWAYS my friends actually went viral on twt for posting a video of the screen before the show started, since she had to go in to use the bathroom and the doors were open for some reason (it was around 2:00pm at this point). A lot of people called it AI and were in denial about the screen so people were PISSED about it. During the show itself, there was only one song that Luka sang by herself. The entire theatre was chanting her name. The Luka stans were very disappointed (me included in that). The live band was very good and it WAS fun being around so many people who loved Miku, but the corners they cut left a bad aftertaste. The other things that sucks is that the lightsticks were a HUGE money grab- because the entire reason you can't bring your own lightsticks is because normal ones mess with the hologram. And they ADVERTISED THAT as the reason you could only use official Miku lightsticks- which is false advertising because there was no hologram! Not being able to bring your own lights is bogus if the entire reason you couldn't bring them in the first place doesn't exist. But yeah, the way crunchyroll handled things was awful, but it was still fun to go see a bunch of fellow Miku fans (a lot of cosplays too, I was cosplaying as well) and the music was still great.
So here's my thoughts. I was at Miku Expo NY in 2014 and 2016 and will say, the projections look great in person. BUT the glass screen does have its own set of problems. Even with the use of official light sticks, a lot of light sticks still reflected off the screen. And while the glass screen does blend in better than the LED, you can absolutely still tell that it's there. Additionally, at certain angles, either the characters look faded or a projection light is blinding your eyes. Projections or LED, you'll still need to suspend your disbelief. Miku Expo has never been as well done as Magical Mirai and logistically really can't be. I'm okay with the LED, but I'm disappointed for my friend who is coming with me (who has never been to Miku Expo before). They and I have been in the fandom since 2010, and the "holograms" are a REALLY cool experience that I wish they and I could see together. But anyway, all of this to say that I totally understand the disappointment and anger about paying a lot of money for a show that wasn't as advertised. The lame statement from CFM doesn't help. But I wish that everyone could turn down the drama over it a bit. It should still be a fun time (I'll be at Detroit)! Constantly talking about the controversy is going to give people attending a bad mood about it before they even step inside the venue. Especially for first time goers, it should be an awesome positive experience. And a lot of people have said that the LED really isn't bad in person. The pessimism keeps people from even having fun for what it is. Like, keep contacting CFM and Crunchyroll so that changes can be made in future tours. But if you aren't selling your tickets over your outrage then just have fun for everything we ARE getting here.
there actually is a human behind miku! it’s a voice bank so it still needed a voice provider! her name is Saki Fujita. every vocaloid has their own voice provider
they are starting to make voices now with ai i think? but i don’t keep up with those so i’m not sure
@@seere8906when it comes to ai in vocal synthesis (generally) it's mostly about tuning and how the program stitches the samples together that warrants ai usage which is fine.
@@seere8906 Yes theres ai, but its with the voice actors consent and voice data, similar to before. Miku's software doesnt use ai, as they want to keep her non-humaness
@@achewy7700 Yeah that's a very important thing, AI in relation to vocal synthesis (which is distinct from voice cloning/voice conversion) does not equal genAI, it is merely a different way of synthesizing the vocals, unlike Hatsune Miku which is concatenative aka samples stitched together
reply to @seere8906 they still need a voice provider for that... basically, Vocaloid used multiple samples of syllables and mashed them together, creating a more robotic sounding voicebank. Whereas SynthV AI uses AI that uses the actors singing for the data pool to use as a reference for other lyrics and words, making the voicebank sound more realistic and easier to understand.
These are the benefits of using SynthV AI:
• ease of use compared to Vocaloid
• Voices are trained on the singer's vocal "style", allowing automatic pitch "tuning" to make the vocal more human and less robotic.
• The ability to quickly analyze and combine large amounts of data, as well as the ability to automate certain tasks.
The way you put your comment made it seem like they are using generative AI which is NOT true! While they ARE using AI, synthesis AI involves combining existing content to create something new. Whereas Generative AI involves generating new content based on a set of input data. if you don't know much about a subject, pls don't speak on it because more often than not you're going to spread misinformation.
This is literally all crunchyrolls fault, they have a history of cutting corners and costs that create a WORSE user experience. They've been in it for the money for a long time
Wrong. If you actually do research they've been using the LED screen in Japan too.
@ElainaMaruyama I know they've been using the screen in Japan occasionally too, my issue isn't JUST the screen, in Japan the screen is stylized better so it blends in, but the miku expo screen is in your face, there's also the issue with the lack of communication that's been going on throughout the expo such as advertising the hologram on the site when there is no hologram, and the recent story of the fan who got permission from the venue and from CFM to give away some little miku charms and was shut down and had their stuff taken and threatened to be arrested by the staff crunchyroll hired. Not only this but the fact that crunchyroll is known for just cutting costs and causing issues, such as how their website does not work well and they never bothered fixing it, the fact that there's been accusations for years that they don't pay anime studios nearly as well as they claim they do when listening shows, their refusal to honor the people who bought digital copies of shows from funimation and just left them in the cold, and the crunchyroll store being a buggy mess, and when they acquired right stuf they STILL didn't fix any of the issues with the cruncyroll store, essentially cutting out one of their main competition but offering a worse service. The miku expo debacle is just 1 in a long list of issues that crunchyroll has been having that all traces back to them being a greedy company
@@ElainaMaruyamathat just means that even the Japanese companies have also been cutting corners.
nah, its crypton.
@@ElainaMaruyama the rebound capitalism maneuver after covid. either way, still bad.
"I tried testifying against TicketMaster in Congress so you dont have to"
When I was living in Japan, I went to a Miku concert and it was AMAZING. The holograms look incredible, there isn't a bad seat in the house bc they can make them super big so everyone can see them, and she did perform with a live band. In my case, it was a special one weekend only collaboration with a famous taiko drumming group so the energy was high and the bass was BUMPING. Best concert I've ever been to!!
idk man, I've been too and the 'hologram' is still a projection on flat glass, so the far sides are still pretty bad seats 😆
She is always life-sized. The projections of Miku and the other Vocaloids are always their real heights. Not sure what you're talking about with "they can make them super big"? They don't and never have. She's 5 feet 2 inches, projection or screen.
Other commenters are mentioning extra big holograms, settle yourselves. Seeing one show is not expertise. Why challenge someone so rudely with no general level of knowledge? It's highly unlikely there was a conspiracy of commenters at the ready to lie about hologram sizes, isnt it?
@@standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory Sorry, I shouldn't have been so rude. I have however seen this same comment at least a dozen times in this comment section, and an unmentionable amount on Twitter.
I have not just been to one show. I've been to three. 2016, 18, and this year. However, I'm not even saying that going myself has made me an expert. The videos for almost every Miku concert are available in full on UA-cam. You can just go watch every single one like I have over the years and see for yourself that she's never been bigger. I just don't understand where this idea is coming from.
The screen being the size it is may make her seem proportionally smaller because of the big, ugly black void that surrounds her, but she's the same size she always has been.
The only time they ever made her bigger, was that one special event showing in Japan (I think 2014?) where they used a fountain to spray a huge wall of water and projected her on that. I think it was 15ft, but don't quote me on that. Having a hard time finding footage for that specific show.
Sounds like Miku x Kodo! They’ve done it 3 years now and just did their last one 😭 I’m so sad because I dreamed of going to that concert specifically because I love the mix of Miku and the drums
Alternative title: Amanda is annoyed at ticket sellers ft hatsune miku
“when someone’s historically been known to do the thing, and then you change the thing, seemingly for reasons that aren’t anything but money… people get annoyed.” pretty apt sentence considering what’s going on in the world of youtube channels wanting to make their own streaming website
April's theme is this quote because the Ghoul Boys were not the only ones doing this.
Was searching for a comment like this...the quote is too accurate to this situation 😅
Oooooooooo tea is hot today 🍵
Tho creators did it (making their own platform) with nebula and nebula is great
I was so mad about this show. I went back in 2016 and the Vocaloids were BIG holograms projected onto a transparent screen. I went to the Portland one and it SUCKED. They ran out of VIP bags for one, and they ended up opening the merch up to the PUBLIC FIVE HOURS before doors. So by the time most people got there the merch was sold out. On the website they said the merch was INSIDE the venue only btw, and that you couldn't access it until doors at 7pm.
Miku and the other vocaloids are always shown on stage as their canon heights. Miku has always been 5 ft 2, regardless of the screen or projection. She has never once been made bigger. i don't understand why y'all keep saying this. (Been to MikuExpo 2016, 18 and 24. Veteran concert video watcher since 2011 lol)
@@lizzydarkrose I'll just assume what you said is correct without fact checking, but even so the shitty TV screen made the Vocaloids look TINY because of the character to screen space ratio. The screen and projections used in previous expos were immersive. It made the characters look and feel big/real with actual depth. I looked back on the videos I took from 2016 and there's a huge difference despite how close I was at both shows.
@@wormitha I'm not arguing that the the screen is more immersive. It isn't. I hate the screen. Almost refunded my tickets over it. Believe me, we are on the same side.
I'm just also very tired of hearing people spread various pieces of misinformation to make the screens seem worse. It's not necessary, we all know it sucks.
Miku's never been bigger though. She's never been 3D as people also keep saying. She's always been on a flat surface that makes side seats bad.
The screen sucks, let's just be specific about why for the sake of making an actual argument to the show runners for why they shouldn't do this again.
2016 Miku Expo was fun
@@lizzydarkrose i can't believe hatsune miku is taller than me
I think it's called "Expo" because there used to be activities and stuff to do in the venue before the concert too. But the important thing is the screen has actually first been used in MikuFes in Japan this year. It's the exact same set up as MikuFes, except the Japanese event had some set dressing on the stage to hide it, since the setup didn't have to travel.
they just started set dressing after this LA show. too little too late unfortunately
It's the same tech, but I think calling it the same set up undersells how much of a difference all the extra set dressing does to actually incorporate the screen in a way that doesn't make it feel like "substitute teacher rolling out the TV". MikuFes in Japan (and other vtuber concerts) show that you can do LED well, they just didn't do it well for Miku Expo. Ultimately it's not just the screen that people are upset about, it's the deliberate lack of transparency/false advertising + the lack of effort in making the tech appropriately fit the rest of the show. The set up and choreography and everything still feels designed for hologram Miku and it makes the LED screen stand out that much more. And especially for the prices that they're charging and all the other logistical problems they're having, it's really not acceptable.
The MikuFes screen was bigger tho, the expo one is way smaller
@Jenaxu I agree with that stuff, but a lot of people think this was a change made specifically for the overseas tour, which it isn't. The Europe ticket prices were about the same (london was at least when I got mine), but some of the US and Canada ones looked extreme
Niconico 2022 had a screen too, but they did a lot with it so you barely cared it was a screen. It was also a lot larger. I saw Miku in Vancouver and in all honesty I didn't care that it was a screen. I still had a blast and was glad I went.
Major Miku fan here and want to answer few of your questions
1) it’s Miku EXPO since the songs are from a very wide array of artists around the world, most of which aren’t big enough to go on tour. It’ll be a lot of fans only chance to see their music live.
2) it wasn’t a hologram but several projections on several layers of glass to make her appear as if she’s on stage and still visible even if you’re not sitting directly in front of the panels. A lot of the ticket pages advertised for the concert with this setup, so it’s majorly messed up, especially for those who bought tickets outside of orchestra
3) the recordings used for the screen were intended to be used as a projection (hence Miku being in a black void) from a variety of past performances, hence the awkward transitions and mismatches between what’s on screen and what’s being played ( the on the rocks performance previously had someone playing a piano on stage)
EDIT: some songs made specifically for the live concerts like Magical Cure Love Shot (Miku expo song contest winner) and Hyper Reality Show had renders exclusively for Miku Expo
Ticketmaster is largely responsible for the insane ticket prices. Ticketmaster has no rules against people buying up whole venues in pre-sale and selling them 3x-4x the price. It isn't just a specific Miku Expo thing, it happens all the time with musical acts who have to use these ticketing apps. The terrible thing is that tickets that were $80 were now being sold for $200-$300 on top of Crunchyroll not disclosing to fans that the show was using an LED screen instead of the usual glass screens.
The Magical Mirai shows in Japan don't get this treatment so I am unsure why no one at Crypton or Crunchyroll is willing to address why they cheaped out on the North America tour.
supposedly TM is gonna be sued by the Justice Department, so here's hoping our government does SOMETHING right finally
I fucking hate Ticketbastard.
Because they thought you wouldn't care; as long as you got some sort of Miku experience.
They don't have a high opinion of "gaijin".
As someone who tried to do the presale for the dimension 20 live show and couldn’t get tickets after three consecutive days, just because the site barely functioned, but also because I was seeing tickets valued at $100 be listed at $1500 … it was a wild first experience with Ticketmaster 😂
They seem to have fixed that problem for Europe or at least for the Berlin show, because they specifically disallow the resale of tickets over a certain price threshold. And the tickets are also personalized
the screen looks so small too? it probably is actually really big but they’ve positioned her in a way that somehow makes her look shorter than if she was a real person? with this kind of stuff, the verisimilitude is much more important than pure realism
it doesn’t look small irl . it looks pretty big like she’s taking the whole stage
She is the same size on the screen as she is as a projection. Life sized, 5ft 2
it definitely looks smaller in photos and in videos in person it looks a lot bigger
@@crowkitten2661 It does for sure. The big black void swallows her and makes her look smaller. Which wasn't a problem when they used the screen in Japan because they blended it into the rest of the stage design.
The set-up for MikuEXPO was not thought out well at all lol
@@lizzydarkrose oh yeah i agree that it had a lot of issues i just don’t think the size was the biggest problem i was towards the back and the vocaloid’s size in comparison to the audience looked a lot better in person than it does on camera imo
I’m the dude that said hi to you , it was great to finally meet you.
Cheers!
Can you share your experience and thoughts too? Did you have a good time at least?
@@aval5098 the concert was great and so loud too as she mentioned . The change was weird but I quickly got over it.
i don't know that it's like this anymore, but back in the day vocaloid was a very community focused thing. lots of miku's most popular songs are by people who were just fans of miku and got the software. the association with leeks etc was all started by fans, not to mention her VP. it wouldn't be accurate to say there's 1 or 10 or even 1000 people who "are" miku because the character's songs, quirks, etc were at least at one time all a community effort. it's a very strange niche of an idol who literally doesn't exist. the only ethical idol culture tbfh
For the most part, I think people still interpret her and other vocaloids however they want. Though not the same like it used to be, people still happen upon music producers who make the next popular things but it blasts those acts to commercialization and well, the identity changes there. I still find loads of small new channels upload music, but they get hidden by the algorithm.
And then people's introduction to vocaloid is more likely to be through Project Sekai now, since the Project Diva games aren't really a thing anymore.
At least for me, I rarely come across new artists as often as I did in say 2010-2017, thanks to UA-cam constantly pushing the already insanely popular producers.
@@DOCTOR.DEADHEAD tbh i think its the opposite. yes new voca producers used to dwindle in numbers but i feel like theres a vocaloid resurgence in the past couple of years especially among younger ppl. Probably bc of the new project sekai game and how the company always commissioned songs from both popular producers and newer less known producers, and how vsynths are becoming more easy to get and use, there are more people thats interested in making vsynth musics now. Syudou, kanaria, Azari, Teniwoha, Iyowa, Guchiry, nunununu, surii, Tsumiki, Balloon, Wotaku, Oonuma parsley, slave v vr, and kairiki bear to name a few are some of newer vocaloid producers thats become insanely popular lately
@@naypinay Well I was talking specifically about the UA-cam algorithm. I do play Sekai and know that there are still plenty of new producers joining the scene, just that they rarely appear on my recommendations on this platform (again though, I can only speak for myself).
The first time I heard about Hatsune Miku, she was on Thomas Jefferson's binder
Ironically "Miku binder Jefferson" scans to Alexander Hamilton, and it's going to be an earworm all day
@@wsmurfiest thank you for cursing me with this information
I thought you meant a kid in your class had a photo of her on his (their?) binder, like a trapper keeper.
I'm glad that Swell clarified that Miku isn't AI, it seems to be a common misconception at the moment. I think the best way to describe her and other vocaloids(and utauloids) as an instrument- anyone can pick up the software and make music using her voice(made from real people's voice samples!) and have it still be a Hatsune Miku song
People are becoming paranoid
Fun fact Meiko and Kaito were the first Japanese vocaloids ever created Meiko released in November 2004 and Kaito released in February 2006
this isn’t true. the first vocaloids were the english vocaloids LEON and LOLA, followed by MIRIAM. MEIKO and KAITO were the first japanese vocaloids, both released for vocaloid 1. MEIKO was released the same year as LEON, LOLA, and MIRIAM, being the last to release of the 4 (in november of 2004, while LEON and LOLA released in january and miriam released in july). MEIKO and KAITO were the first 2 vocaloids to have official avatars though, and were part of the original 4 vocals being made as part of Project Daisy (the working name of the vocaloid software), though they were originally called HANAKO and TARO (LEON and LOLA were the other 2. KAITO was realeased in february 2006 due to delays but was intended to released a year and a half sooner than he did.
@@sleepysystem i just said Meiko and Kaito were the first Japanese vocaloids not first vocaloids in general
@@sleepysystemplease edit your comment. The comment is still true. They never said first vocaloid EVER, just first Japanese vocaloids.
@@sleepysystembut they said that-
@@Hallows_CryptHonestly I don't know what's wrong with my brain, but I genuinely thought you said "English" and not "Japanese" and was also about to correct you. I was _so_ certain you said "English" to the point were i thought you were just straight up lying when you said you didn't, until i actually reread your comment. Maybe that's what happened to them too?
I went to a Vocaloid concert in Japan with the actual hologram and it is pretty impressive in person (when I could actually see, which was rare). They hyped up the live band a lot and each band member got a little solo show off thing which was very cool to see. The Japanese crowd energy is also soooo much better compared to what i’ve seen in clips on twitter - the Japanese crowd will *yell* the chants and it’s great. It was also literally the worst organised event i ever went to in Japan though, the staff (unsure if venue or miku staff) were awful.
Also for context, Japan is veeerry strict with ticketing and resale, which might be where part of the problem with resale came from.
what was awful?
If you look at past Miku expo videos you’ll see a very hyped up crowd!
I wouldn’t be surprised if the audiences during this Miku expo were a bit subdued because everyone’s pretty bummed out due to the whole screen thing. I’m going and I’m still excited as I’ve waited 10+ years to see Miku live but I can’t say the whole thing hasn’t dampened my joy of finally seeing her..
@@KingOfGaymes also we dont know japanese so aside from the english songs (which many people dont know or care about, tbf) theres not much chanting we can do.. idk why they went with the setlist they did when there are plenty of songs with english choruses that people know (they picked a lesser known karasuya sabou song for rin, when showtime ruler is right there? everyone knows showtime ruler) in general the setlist isnt great. and since theres a lightstick shortage a lot of people couldnt cheer visually so it looks extra dead :(
As someone who grew up listening to vocaloid music and has been wishing to go to Miku Expo for over a decade, this turn of events was not only disappointing but embarrassing. I bought tickets for Miku Expo 2020 but that was canceled due to the pandemic, so imagine my exasperation that after 4 years, we get LED screens and not even Miku's usual band (no hate to the local bands they used, but it just shows how they're willing to cut corners.)
Same! I had tickets for 2020 but it got canceled. Sad to hear this but also the tickets were close to $300 when I looked which is crazy! I couldn’t afford that so hopefully tickets get cheaper/production better in years to come 🙏🏻
I’m right with you, I’ve listened to Vocaloid since middle school and had tickets for 2020’s show. Now it’s been 4 years since and we still don’t get a hologram in the states. It’s left me so disheartened honestly
SAME HERE. I’ve wanted to see Miku live since 2011 when I discovered her. 2020 was the first Miku expo I was finally able to go to because in the past I had school, now I wasn’t in school and when it got 100% canceled I cried for almost the entire day..
Miku expo comes back in 2024 and I’m so excited especially after losing my chance in 2020 and I’m sure so many were so excited to see her come back after the pandemic.. and THIS is the big comeback? THIS is the celebration of 10 years of Miku Expo? It’s just heartbreaking. You would think they’d want this to be their best Miku Expo ever but no it’s their worst. I honestly think myself and many others would’ve rather just waited another two years for Miku to come back so we could get the hologram again..
It really just feels like Crypton didn’t give af about us international fans and slapped this together last minute because we aren't worth it to them even though we are why miku is so famous and sucessful all over the world.. it just really hurts..
the "usual" miku band literally could not perform with the scheduling? it would be impossible and insane for them to prepare different set lists for miku fes, miku expo NA, europe, miku with you, *and* australia/NZ, on top of traveling between locations. you probably didn't know about europe, au/nz, and miku with you, but even just mikufes --> expo NA --> magical mirai is wayyy too much for music of that level to be memorized and learned for concert performance. it's not like they got cheap performers either for NA, almost all of them, especially vixen, have solid portfolios and have worked on tours for big artists and have collaborations with big companies...
I dont know about any other American Miku fans but i know for me, I would be so excited to see Miku in North America as it seems (TO MY KNOWLEDGE) like shes only recently touring here. However, the screen MATTERS. I would be so disappointed if i went to see her and the other vocaloids and the screen was nothing like its supposed to be. Very confused as to what possessed them to use a different screen when the entire performance hinders on it.
She's historically been in the US every other year, staring in 2014. However, the 2020 tour was cancelled for obvious reasons, and they did not come back in 2022 like we fans had all been hoping for. After this tour, the assumption is that MikuEXPO will return to the US in 2026 and continue the even year pattern. However, with how poorly this tour has been handled and received, who knows.
I wish she would come to Australia, I'd even take the led screen at this point🫠
@@lizzydarkrose 2026? Jesus christ crunchyroll wanted money desperately then
Miku expo has been happening in the U.S. since 2014, it’s the tenth anniversary of it this tour. So it’s not recent and they’ve used the hologram for the past NINE Miku Expo’s just fine, so there is NO REASON they couldn’t have done it (even FAN CONCERTS are capable of the hologram tech) unless it’s crunchyroll to blame or Crypton just suddenly hates fans outside of Asia and thinks we don’t deserve the hologram , which would be upsetting.. International fans deserve to see the same Miku the Asian concerts get..
her first US concert was Mikunopolis Los Angeles in 2011! the tickets were $15 and honestly.. doesnt look that different from the recent concerts
you can watch the whole thing on youtube :D
22:40 You bring up a point that has always bothered me as a long time die-hard Miku fan (Been listening to Vocaloid since 2010. I went to 2016 San Fran, 2018 San Fran, and again this year in San Jose). The transitions between songs feel lazy and, like you said, like just waiting for another video to start.
They used to do this thing (sometimes) where Miku would finish her song, and then STAY visible on stage. She'd do a little transition animation where she'd nod or wave, and then pose in the starting position for the next song. If there was an outfit change, there'd be a quick glitter type animation over her. Magical Mirai 2013 is the best example of these, the whole show is here on youtube. There's a bit where Rin and Len do a song with Miku, and when it's over, they both say, "love you!" and run off stage while Miku turns around to start the next dance. (The song was SHAKE IT, transitioning into Weekender Girl.)
I guess at some point Sega (or whoever funds the shows) decided that those transition animations cost too much to make, and needing to make unique song changes for every show wasn't worth it. So, they changed to just having her vanish and come back. This also makes it easier for them to use different models for Miku entirely, something else that bothers me for the sake of the "illusion" that she's a real performer. Quick outfit changes are one thing, there's a suspension of disbelief there. But, when they change from one type of model to another, and her face and physics of her hair change, that's another thing entirely that i wish they just wouldn't do anymore.
To use a couple examples, the outfit changes between Miku's default outfit, to 'World is mine' and 'unknown mother Goose' are fine. She looks like the same person in different clothes and hair.
But, the changes in model in songs like 'Vampire' and 'Tell Your World' bug the shit out of me. She is now a different person with a different face and body proportions.
Anyway, I'm rambling. But these are things I've had well over a decade to stew on lol
idk why they used that model for vampire it looks weird. the rest of the show uses project diva models lol
i was at the 2016 miku expo in sf too!
the hologram was really cool, and it makes me sad that ppl seeing the show now dont get to experience it :/
I'm so glad you put into words what I've been thinking myself these past years watching Vocaloid concerts on UA-cam. They were so much more creative and had more effort put into them before! And it's not like it takes too much work to just have Miku change position for the nest song, or have the Vocaloids say a little "thank you" and walk off screen. Those little things made them seem more real.
I also miss when they used to do cool effects, like have Miku grow wings and fly up to the screen above in Mikupa 2013 during the Intense Singing, or had her play around with the stage lights during Eh? Ah, Sou?
Nowadays they won't even give them more outfits to wear other than their original clothes or Miku's comissioned outfit for the concert.
I’m going to Miku Expo next week as of writing this comment! Learning about the screen usage definitely did bum me out, but I told myself that a big majority of the experience for a Miku Concert, is being among fans of vocaloid, and not to mention, this’ll be my first, and possibly only time to experience a Miku Concert LIVE, so I’m blessed for this opportunity!
The cost cutting of the Expo overall, can ALL be traced back to Crunchyroll, who are fully sponsoring the expo, not on the company, Crypton, behind Miku.
Either way, I’ll try my best to have fun with other vocaloid fans, and I’m happy to see you continuing to branch out and experience things you aren’t interested in!
I went to the concert in Denver on April 21, and honestly it was a lot of fun! The merch situation was awful, but the concert itself was a lot of fun. The band had a lot of energy, the screen looked great, and everyone in the crowd had fun. Honestly, I understand the disappointment over the hologram, but it was still a great time.
The fans are what made the show, honestly. It was so fun watching people around me get excited, and dance along with Miku. I hope you have fun too!
it was so fun. the band is extremely talented and if you have floor seats it looks amazing
Yeah, ive got tickets for the Europe one later in the year and i’m just pumped to listen to banging songs and be around other fans. Hopefully it goes better than the NA one anyway, i think crunchyroll is also involved so idk
Stop. The LED screen was used at MikuFes in Japan so yes, it IS Crypton. Stop lying and spreading bullshit just because you hate Crunchyroll. You're not wrong for hating Crunchyroll because they're a scum company but saying its not on Crypton is a straight up lie.
God yeah. I've heard many bad things about this Expo.
But also it was Crunchyroll so I'm not surprised.
was there a time without crunchyroll?
@@JeskidoYT I am not the person to ask my friend.
@@JeskidoYTthis is the first time they’ve partnered with crunchyroll, they never have in the past
Can’t wait for the ticket industrial complex dismantling video. With so many artists on tour this year feel like I’ve paid more TM fees than actual base ticket prices themselves. It’s absurd how pricy concerts are getting
Yes please! I'd love to watch that honestly
I just got a concert ticket at a Spanish website and paid nothing in fees...I almost cried
the way she says kaito and meiko is driving me insane lol
from what I've seen in previous concerts, they used to do like skits in between some songs, that way it wasn't awkward. there were also some pretty cool transitions. this is honestly such a low effort copy of a vocaloid concert. sad to hear the screen is happening in Japan too.
What concert did they used to do skits??
i think u may be thinking of nico nico douga concerts
@@littlezorkie9311 When they say skits they might mean the Vocaloids talking a little. Look at Magical Mirai 2013 or 39's Giving Day 2012. All the Vocaloids say something, even if it's just a little "Thank You" after singing the songs. Miku also introduced the band herself. The transitions between songs were much better too.
To hear that they let you buy three light sticks proves that the vendors weren’t even following the rules they told everybody, makes me so upset because the whole time they said one light stick per person, explains why many of us weren’t able to get one
Edit: yes im well aware her friends were also getting the light sticks, but if you were at the event, you would know the merch booths were outside the venues and no they did not check for tickets when you bought items. Many different venues from what I’ve seen did not honor a lot of information given through ticket emails. Also if her friends were beside her when purchasing yes it would be one per person, but if she wasn’t and the vendors were taking her word for it, it would explain why at my event people were selling the official light sticks at a $90 mark up. And why many people would carry 6 light sticks between their fingers
I think Amanda was in the queue with Chris and Anarchy, so it was still only one light stick per person the only difference was Amanda was paying for all three. Hopefully she can confirm
@@disaidra yes Amanda was buying them for the people she was with, however, what this does mean like OP was trying to say, is that the people selling the glow sticks didn’t bother with the rule that it was one glow stick per person. How did he know that Amanda was telling the truth? It just means it was really easy to lie and buy more than one glow stick for one person if you wanted to.
i think she bought three for her and her two friends WITH her but the vendor couldnt process her three lightsticks in one transaction because of this rule... so technically they were following the rules but still the small amt of lightsticks provided at each show is insane.
@@Zack_Byrd I think they might have just stood next to her.
@@duqial ohhhhj you’re probably right my bad lol
i saw the queen Hatsune Miku many years ago when she was an opener for Lady Gaga on her Art Pop tour. best concert i’ve been to to this day (both Miku & Gaga were amazing). Miku’s glass protections looked so real, there were many so it looked like she walked around the stage and she did a ton of crowd interaction. plus her band was so good and lively!! so sad to see it’s changed :(
Just saw Mitski at the Shrine a couple weeks ago and the line to get in was a breeze and they had a merch truck outside the venue as well as a set up in the expo hall. Just so wild seeing the difference of two different events at the same venue. I don’t even comprehend how it would take so long to get in there for your show.
The shrine is notorious for this tho. I’ve been to multiple different events and some are super well organized, quick to get people in, and awesome set up, and some have been complete cluster f’s where I had to wait 1 HOUR just because I entered from the south entrance instead of the north. It’s really what the crew makes it (or pays for).
In the previous miku expo I went to they had fun little transitions between songs or skits like saying hi to the audience, it was pretty seamless! It's always a shame when stuff gets worse for no reason except greed 😅
extra tidbit of info!
Hatsune Miku is NOT a VTuber like Amanda says, however! All Vocaloids do require a human voice bank (think of it as someone donating their voice to be altered/modulated).
Miku's voice bank is the "seiyu," or Japanese voice actress, Saki Fujita!
Thank you for giving us weeb topics every once in a while, Amanda!! :D
Are you having a rough morning? Amanda, at 1:13 no less, differentiates Hatsune Miku from VTubers.
Furthermore - to offer a meaningful clarification - a voice bank is a collection of samplings, often collected at times or in ways wholly unrelated to their eventual use. This allows the vocaloid to be _based_ on the voice of a voice actress.
It is inaccurate to say Saki Fujita is the voice actress for Hatsune Miku. Hatsune Miku has what is advertised as an original voice, "based on Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita."
My intended tone here is friendly. It seems like you care about the character so I care a little more about the inaccuracy.
Many actual humans do "donate" their voice, yet it seems core advertising for Hatsune Miku highlights her "orignal voice" as something of an exception.
Then again... I remain open to the possibility that every time I read "voice based on," what they mean is "voice donated by." This just seems like a case where not doing that is part of what makes them special.
*jazz hands*
@@kneau I refer to what Amanda says :D That's why I said extra tidbit. I wasn't here to fully info dump on someone else's video, but to explain it like someone was 5 to make it easier bit sized info for someone.
But thanks for adding more info for people!
edit: actually, upon rereading your comment, I think you just misinterpreted what I had written out. I was trying to explain that Saki Fujita herself is a seiyu or VA. She donated parts of her voice to be used for Miku. As someone who's been into Vocaloid since before 2010, and watched the utaite and producer community, I am very well aware of how Vocaloid tuning and stuff works even in software. Sorry however if I had upset you, or seemingly spread minsinformation about our lord and savior, minecraft creator, michael hatsoon.
@@kneau I read CatNaps' comment as agreeing with Amanda about her not being a VTuber but then goes in and adds additional information..So maybe chill out on the rough morning comment.
@@kneau they were just saying a fun fact, what with the "rough morning " thing? Are you the fun police?
Not a Miku fan and I've never been to a concert like this, but I can say that as someone with terrible anxiety I often find myself just standing there at concerts. I'm too insecure to dance or get flamboyant in public, but I want to appear engaged and show I'm actually a fan and paying attention- so I end up just standing there kinda awkwardly. Hearing you talking about the guys just standing around made me think maybe this demographic just has a lotta awkward people who don't know how to emote their excitement. Just my perspective.
I'm from the UK. I've been to both 2018 & 2020 expos as a VIP, and the experience it was amazing. SO, finding out that that it's now LED is disappointing, especially with how they've set it up. The most recent MIKUFES had it as LED and integrated it well. My problem is that none of the fans were told it would be LED, and all advertisements showed holograms. It's now more expensive for an overall worse experience. I have never heard that VIP need to show their emails. At both concerts, I just showed my tickets, and we were good to go, so it's very weird they stopped you.
I don’t get why people are saying Mikufes was integrated well, like she was still in a black void far away from the rest of the band. It was jarring watchin the mikufes footage honestly. I really hope they haven’t subjected miku to led jail forever.
@@306yopiI doubt it, there’s no way they’d let magical Mirai be a screen since that’s Miku’s biggest concert
@@KingOfGaymesSPOILER ALERT! LED confirmed at Magical Mirai 2024! Deal with it boi! 😎
@306yopi Honestly I do hope it goes back to hologram for all Miku events! I'm not happy with the situation at all.
So excited a creator I follow is covering this!!!!
I went to one of the Phx shows, and it was such a huge let down, especially for being my first Miku/Vocaloid experience. The live band is what kept the energy, and the fans next to me that kept making eye contact with me, smiling, when a song we were both excited for came up, and mimicking Miku dances.
I would say my experience was worth it, since the ticket I bought, for ground floor, was only $21; which, like Amanda, I was very surprised at how readily available the tickets were; but, that's because I was unaware of the controversy, until AFTER I purchased my ticket, and shared on my socials that I was going; then, friends started messaging me, saying they were going too, on the first day in Phx, but were not looking forward to the LED screen. *shocked Pikachu*
I just hope that if Miku comes back to North America, they don't skip out on the experience again.
Edit: i meant to add that i also bught my ticket last minute. I think about 3 weeks prior to the actual show, because i remeber scrambling to try to get a cosplay together 😅
Which day did you go to? I was day 1 floor and imo the vibes were great, everyone was screaming and excited and despite a tiny technical glitch with the screen the vibes ended up making up for it
@@Pilapuzzles day 2. I saw the videos of the glitch for day 1 😭
to my knowledge, no technical glitches happened on day 2. By the time I managed to get to the venue (accident on the I-10 that delayed me over an hour, because what's a Miku experience with out a car accident), most of the merch was already gone, and there were still VIPs standing in line, so I didn't even bother. The venue felt pretty empty as well, which was just an odd experience, for how big the space was, especially being on ground level.
@@xhelxhelcosplay yeah, I think a lot of people mainly just planned on going day one and then people went to day 2 more last minute because of cheap tickets, sorry you didn't get to have as good of a full crowd experience!
When I was there for day one it was pretty packed! You could look up the stands and see like a sea of light sticks :)
The standing but not dancing thing makes sense to me. Being up and with the crowd is kinda part of the experience (if this is anything like the kpop concerts I've seen) but not everyone feels comfortable dancing, especially around other people
Small correction to the article you read from:
Peppers ghost is a reflection based technique, the image/object is below and a pane of glass, at a 45 degree angle from the viewer and the image, reflects it
Miku is projected on a pane of glass parallel to the audience.
They're very different techniques, and they look very different. Both have advantages and disadvantages but on the whole I'd say peppers ghost looks better, appears to have more "depth" than projection
It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when people say Miku is done using peppers ghost like NoOOOO 😭
Also it’s neat bc the pane of glass has to have a slightly opaque layer for crisp projection, as just glass will look very faint, the light just passing right through. It’s really fascinating
6:41 I firmly believe the reason why LA was so cheap is not because of controversy, but because it was a LATE addition to the lineup. Only months in they announced an addition for LA as well as 2nd shows for Phoenix, Denver, and Dallas.
Which I have no idea why they decided to do that because LA is the only city out of the four with reasonable demand. I loved Phoenix's 2nd show, the line was so Peaceful and the crowd was small but the everyone was so friendly, I wouldn't trade Phoenix 2nd show away for anything in the world! But you could tell no one asked for it since it was the only show with third party SINGLE DIGIT resell prices from scalpers. Denver's additional show (technically Day 1 since it was put in the day before) was also dead but Day 2 was CHAOS from what I heard online.
Was also at 2nd day Phx show! As an avid concert goer, the small crowd for the event was so weird feeling, especially for a name like Miku; but it was really nice to be able to chat with other fans in line, because it felt like we were just a small community of fans, getting together, and making the best of something we care about.
They did almost no advertising for the 2nd day they added to my stop. Like I was talking to people in line and no one went he first day because none of us even knew it was happening…. And like the second day was packedddd… there were lots of weird issues with the tour but I still had fun
my childhood dream was to go to a miku concert, but that was with the expectation to see the hologram. really sucks to think that i may never be able to fulfill that dream now
Me too, especially after 2020 was canceled which in retrospect would have been Miku’s final holographic tour of the states. I had tickets for that show but now that dream will die with miku’s hologram
Same, I really hope it isn't true and that future US tours get the hologram, because I honestly am not interested in traveling overseas just to get that experience
Girl are you like 85? There's a miku tour in the states about every four years. Last one was in 2016, there was another one lined up for 2020 but it was cancelled. This tour is for 2024, so they are keeping up with the pace of things.
You just have to wait until 2028, hopefully they're have the projections in by then lol
@@clownfromclowntown i'm not a girl. there's no guarantee they'll ever bring the hologram miku back, cfm's only statement doesn't imply anything about the future. there is anxiety in uncertainty
@@clownfromclowntown I mean, I can only speak for myself but due to previous obstacles like money, a strict parent, and tickets selling out, this was the first year that I would've been able to go. So yeah, that coupled with the possibility the hologram may never return here is a bit disheartening.
you said a girl did a presentation on miku in your class, i immediately thought of lilypichu who did a presentation on vocaloids for school
I thought of that too lmao
JaidenAnimations did too!
23:57 in splatoon concerts they have the idols talk with the audience during these breaks, maybe that would've worked
They've done this in the past if i remember correctly it might be hard for people to understand though because she sounds very robotic sometimes. Also there are actual splatoon concerts? That's so cool
@@mfkai6080 Yeah they're super cool and very similar to vocaloid, I'm obssessed with them
they do this in the japanese concerts because shes much easier to understand than in english. her english bank is notoriously awful and im surprised at how well she talks during her intro at miku expo, they mustve hired someone really talented lol
They used to do that for a bit during 2011-2014 i Japan, even had Miku introduce the band herself! But then they stopped for some reason.
The Meiko and Kaito pronunciation has me dead
Maiko and Keito
megureen & kagameen
ah my favorites, MIKE-O and KATE-O
Were the dudes smelly? I got VIP tickets in 2017 and the people pushing their way to the front Were a bunch of very stinky dudes who were going from location to location. Archetypal creepy guy in basement. It was weird.
especially considering meiko and kaito were named JUST on the basis of being easy to pronounce for non japanese people 😭😭😭
This video reminded me of a coworker of mine. He has traveled from Puerto Rico to Japan a couple of times just to see her. Huge fan of hers...he has all the desk covered.
I think most of the hype comes from the band and just being among other fans, which is why this can be a weird experience for non-fans. Also an LED screen had been used in other miku concerts, but the stage has been dressed up better to better immerse the audience. Also from what I've heard the side angles don't look good LED screen or not. Also the other vocaloids almost always perform at Miku concerts so every fan goes to see all of them.
Company: We're downgrading the product and not lowering the price...we'll maybe even raise it a little
Consumers: Uh hello? This sucks wtf are you doing?
Company: We appreciate the feedback
Also, any time Crunchyroll is involved it will be BAD.
The irony of the ticket seller thinking you were a bot while buying tickets for a robot singer...
ALGORITHM ENGAGEMENT SQUAD... ENGAGE!!!
_Transforms into a giant UA-cam robot_
*Initiate Magical Girl Transformation*
Deploying replies, go!
*pew pew pew* COMMENTS DEPLOYED
SENDING IN THE LIKES!
went to 2014 LA miku expo way back and the "holograms" do make a difference. i wasn't even a miku fan, had no idea about her, and was confused about the idea of simping for a virtual avatar but my friend bought me a ticket and the concert experience made me an instant fan. its crazy to me that a concert from 10 years ago is of better quality than the one in 2024. its unfortunate ppl today won't get to experience that for this tour. here's hoping they take the feedback and improve in the future :/
The thing about the 2014 concert is that they only had 2 in the US. One in NY and one in LA. This tour is Miku's biggest one yet, with shows in 17 cities in like 1 and a half month. They started prioritising quantity over quality
I clicked the like button right away after you said "I hate all ticket companies with a burning passion"
As someone less in the community for the vocaloids and similar fanbases I went for the fun of experiencing something new. While it is unfortunate we saw the use of the screen, I feel that with some fairly simple restaging of the set to better accommodate the screen it could have been a negligible issue. Biggest gripe is staging lighting behind the screen framing it more obviously. IMO all they'd have to do to make it great is move the back wall forward to level out with the screen so there was never something coming from behind it and move the physical musicians forward to compensate and it would have been better. Overall I had a fun time for a fairly cheap price and would consider going to another in the future more if it was the traditional pepper's ghost effect just to experience that IRL as well. At times it did feel like the mix may have been a little instrument heavy but that also could have been due to my seating location or other factors etc. etc.. I'd give it like a 6-7/10. Was fun but could use improvement which they'll hopefully learn after doing it this time. (Either meaning they go back to the pepper's ghost style or restage the set design to better accommodate the screen). [Edit] Also adding, I was at the same show at the Shrine and I was seated up in the balcony and it was pretty good from that perspective.
i wanted to resale my tickets after i saw the led screen. and then i didn’t and went anyway and im really glad i didnt. it was amazing & the screen made her look so real from the floor, definitely not for people in the seats. it was so good!
8:34 WE REALLY COULD THOO !! we just need a leader to organize the change, we can take down the ticket industry i will join the protests
The kaito/meiko performance where kaito is playing the grand piano is a specific reference to the on the rocks song's music video from most of the project diva games (the rhythm game series that exists for vocaloids) where kaito is shown playing a piano and the original version does have piano in the background! otherwise great video the current miku expo is such a mess
I love how respectful you were of Vocaloid and Vocaloid culture in this video despite not being a hardcore fan :’) Thank you for this video
I used to be a big vocaloid fan, but I pretty much wrote off ever going to a concert since US versions only looked like they'd ever touch the west coast. Now seeing that they've gotten really frugal with them I don't even care if they're more widely available, because it doesn't seem worth the price tag to me.
The disrespect on my mans kaito smh :p
I know right xD I love him so much and he's my favorite vocaloid.
I went to Miku Expo in 2016 in NYC and I gotta say, the glass screen projection is what really made the whole thing seem real. You could still see the glass if you really focused on it, but it was easy to forget it's there and just focus on the Vocaloids on stage. The clear screen also let them do a lot of fun stuff with the lighting around and behind the glass, since it's clear so you can see behind the performers. They would project special effects around the Vocaloids for some songs; If you look up Remote Controller from 2016 , you can see how they project some of the song's lyrics onto the screen with Rin & Len and it's super cool and fun! (I think the videos on UA-cam are from the Toronto show, but it was the same at the NYC show I saw)
all the footage I've seen from this year's tour is just the Vocaloids dancing alone on that huge black void of a screen, blocking out everything behind them. maybe people just haven't posted footage of it, but it looks like they're not doing those fun effects around the performers anymore? and that's super lame. in your footage I can see how the screen blocks the lighting fixtures behind and around it depending on the angle.
idk even if the Vocaloids themselves look good and crisp on the screen, it still looks like the production value took a huge hit here in a lot of ways. just way less interesting staging and effects and everything. pretty disappointing :/ I'm glad I didn't end up getting tickets this year, and I hope they reconsider their setup the next time they tour NA
The worst part is it’s not even a *good* LED screen. I was on the stage crew and it’s one of the cheapest screens I’ve ever put up.
One of the panels even had a dead spot during a show 😭 I’m a stagehand too and this whole led screen thing is just so baffling to me, especially because this just isn’t how concerts… look? Like, when you go to see Taylor swift for instance, it’s not just a lady on a stage with some disco lights, there’s also going to be another REALLY BIG screen above her with a live zoomed-in camera feed, that way people in the back of the stadium can see her face! Hell, even if you’re just going to see Jim And The Boys at a smaller venue, they’re also going to have a big screen so you can see the band members better, it’s an extremely standard thing! I just don’t understand why she was so SMALL lmao
@@juliannafranchini7975 oh yeah I was super surprised when they tested it, she was about the same size as me, and I'm tiny!
the bad part is that the LED screen is still so much higher quality than the hologram/glass panel..
So to help explain the guys that were standing around just watching it's my understanding that they're there just to enjoy the concert and not make a fuss about it. You see them around in every type of event and concert, but you don't notice them most of the time unless they're standing or sitting next to you. It's just low key people who are there to enjoy the thing in their own way.
Yes, there's a lot of people I met there that have talked about this is the most people they've ever had to deal with at the same time but they still wanted to be there. Everyone around me was super hyped in the pit but I know a lot of people stood on the edges to just watch.
It's called Miku "Expo" because they had actual exhibitions when they started in 2014. In 2014 Miku Expo was only in 2 cities in USA and one city in Indonesia, so they had time to put out an entire exhibition hall. But since they started having bigger tours in NA and Europe with little time between shows the exhibitions are usually skipped there. It would take too much time for them to set everything up for a day just to move on to the next city/country a day or two later.
they should have Miku talk to the audience while the band is shifting songs
Haikara/Bankara (Splatoon) Live
They used to have her introduce the band, and she talked a bit more in the 2012-2013 concerts. I never understood why they stopped doing that.
There's a chinese Vocaloid called Luo Tianyi who has concerts with other Vocaloids from her company like Miku does, and she actually has several moments where she has conversations with the audince. It even sounds like they got her voice actress to speak her lines too. I wish Crypton/Sega would do things like that.
I hope some people confused about Vocaloid see this - Miku is less of a pop star and more of an INSTRUMENT.
Miku has gotten a lot of extremely confusing press that makes it really difficult for people to understand wtf she is. As someone who's been a fan for over 10 years-- think of Miku (and all Vocaloids) as sample libraries. Most musicians use sample libraries for instruments (like a sample library for a piano, drums, violin, etc), but Vocaloids are libraries of the human voice. Each character corresponds to a real person who painstakingly recorded a TON of samples of their voice singing individual syllables at certain pitches. (Except the twins, who share a single voice provider! The way the two of them sound different is because of the actress's skill as well as the versatility of the Vocaloid software).
The reason Vocaloid is so beloved is not just because of the lovable character designs and interesting voices - but because people have used these instruments to express their own creativity. Unlike a traditional band or artist, Miku doesn't have a designated team making all her music, shows, etc. Anyone can purchase this instrument and create a song with it. That's the real beauty of Vocaloid - the concert you went to most likely featured no more than 1 or 2 songs by the same person, because thousands of people all over the world make and share these songs.
It's a sort of communal creativity that you don't really get anywhere else in quite the same way. Cypton Future Media has made a brand out of the Vocaloids you saw at the concert, for sure - but the spirit of creativity is still at the heart of everything. In a way, it's less about people coming together to celebrate this fictional singer "Miku" and more like, Miku is something that brings a ton of creative people together.
A lot of famous (mostly Japanese) musicians got their start as rookies composing music in the Vocaloid scene - and it still thrives today, although advances in audio technology and accessibility of home audio production have resulted in most modern Vocaloid works being on a more refined technical level than the more underground, indie-type scene in the early days.
To sum it up... Vocaloid is an instrument, which can be purchased and used by anyone, from beginners to experts. The songs you hear them sing are composed by a huge variety of people, from amateurs to professionals, young and old, from Japan to America to Germany to all over the world. Vocaloid would not exist without its thriving community of musicians, artists, writers, singers, dancers, cosplayers, and simply passionate fans - which makes this snub by Crunchyroll all the more painful.
When she opened for Gaga’s 2014 tour artRAVE it was a screen as well! I’m no Miku expert but it was Gaga having her open that opened my eyes to her and k-pop group Crayon Pop
Worked LA live with anime expo in conjunction...yes. They will take a cut of merch sold inside venues, that's why everyone will sell outside, because that's fully ridiculous.
Omg, Swell and Jaiden Animations both going to a Miku show recently, and Swell saying she first heard about Miku through a presentation in Mass Media class, then Jaiden admitting she did a presentation on Miku in her senior high school year 😂
I just watched Jaiden’s video today and I’m arriving to this one now, and I almost flipped tf out briefly thinking Swell was coincidentally referring to Jaiden. Would’ve been so insane.
At Miku Expo 2018, there were transitions and "crowd work" (e.g., "hello city!" stuff) between songs which made the song transitions feel like a normal band/singer. Also Miku was on the glass.
I was at the first Coachella weekend and when I tell you I was HEARTBROKEN when miku was just a box…. Like I think I left after 2 songs because I was too cringed by my OWN PRESENCE
I'm a fan of Miku (and have been since around 2010 or so) and was at the Vancouver,BC show with some friends. While I had fun and dont regret going to see the concert, I was immensely disappointed that it wasnt the hologram/projection. There was no indication that that would he the case either. I was also disappointed in some of the song choices, there are majorly popular songs that were left out of the show. If this is the new normal so to speak I dont think I will be going to another one. Which is also disappointing because we werent even able to get merch due to the long likes and short supply
I've got tickets to one of the shows this week and when the news started coming out about the screens it was so disheartening. I think for me, part of it is the illusion of the hologram is gone which already sucks but also--
THE LIGHT STICKS. Normally you have to buy special light sticks for a miku concert that are dimmer than normal so you don't interfere with the hologram. And this is what they said this time too. You can only buy our light sticks also they're expensive and also we only have like eight of them so good luck~
ON AN LED SCREEN IT DOESN'T MATTER. Normal light sticks won't interfere which means they banned normal light sticks for just more profit. ://
I saw you leave halfway through, I was like is that swell?? For fans who are don't have a stick up their ass, it was very enjoyable despite the screen. Its a niche thing and if ur not into it ur not into it. Motion capture is used for every vocaloid dance and has real choreographers behind it. Theres a real voice behind every major vocaloid, and songs are made very very meticulously by real people. Nothing about her is AI. Reason why people don't dance is because every Jpop group has chants and specific ways to move the penlight, People will study them religiously and get mad if others sing and dance. I had people side eyeing me for singing and dancing. Another thing is her phasing in and out after every song is something she's always done, it looked the same with the holograms.
They've had better transitions for songs in past concerts though. Like in Magical Mirai 2013 where they go from Suki Kirai to Shake it to Weekender Girl and Freely Tomorrow without the screen going blank. You actually see Rin & Len run off stage saying "thank you, bye bye" and Miku changing outfits for Weekender Girl and Freely Tomorrow. Sure there were times where they would just fade out and the screen is empty for a while, but nowadays they seem to do that between every song for every concert. They've really gotten lazier.
I honestly feel for the Miku community because this is up there as one of those shitty rug pulls. Hope who requested a refund got them
I went to the Miku Expo in AZ - the line was let in SO slowly - we started like half an hour late due to them still letting people in. It was our first Miku concert too, we did not have seats in the center. (It took place in a Hockey arena out here, so we were sitting sideways from the screen, lol).
Honestly, it was a much better view than I thought it would be for us. We bought the tickets before the "no pepper's ghost" news came out, so I was very apprehensive. I even asked my sisters if we still wanted to go at that point. When we decided to go still, I figured we would have a pretty terrible view of the screen and that things would look slightly wonky, but it looked pretty good - not perfect, obviously, but there were moments that you could forget the screen was there (and then they would shine ridiculously bright lights behind it and we would be blinded because the screen wasn't blocking the direct view of those). The videos we got look horrendous, and that's is annoying, but probably the biggest downfall of the LED screens for us. Well, that and the fact that half the concert (including Len's song, and he's my fave) had a red rectangle on one side of the screen whenever one of the vocaloids crossed to that side.
Not being a huge fan, the weirdest part of the concert for me was having to yell Miku's name for the encore. That was very weird. I felt like we should have been yelling for the live band to come back instead.
I would actually go again, even with just LED screens. It was pretty fun, and definitely not my worst concert experience by any means.
lol Swell, the head bob is the most advanced dance move those dudes know. You’re seeing it all!
Projection is hard. The ambient light can be dull the image. LEDs can be super bright. You also need to get the projector in the right place to throw the image correctly. I bet they used LED because it can be set up almost anywhere in most lighting conditions. Just was easier to deal with compared to projection.
I think LEDs can actually work well if done right but the screen they used was small and noticeable to the audience.
@@viheart true. LED systems can look pretty good. I was mostly commenting on why they might have used LED vs projection. The potential reason for the switch.
As a techie myself I can appreciate those reasons but like they didn’t have to make it look like dog. There are a lot of creative ways to get a screen to look really good and they didn’t even try
I live in Japan and went to Hatsune Miku x Kabuki last year, which isn't a concert but with Hatsune Miku performing alongside real Kabuki actors on stage. For that show they also used a screen instead of a hologram, but compensated that with framing the screen to be part of the set and having other scenes project or move her to other areas of the stage. It was a really impressive performance even though it felt a bit flat with the screens alongside real actors. I'd be disappointed after experiencing that to attend Miku Expo, seems like quite a downgrade
They turned off our ability to resale our tickets.
And we bought them almost a year in advance, also no merch left when we got there, and no glow sticks.
So we thought wed just go have fun with what we got.
In 1990, i was convinced boom boxes would eventually play hologram videos (you can tell how much i know about electronics that i assumed the boom box would be the final form for playing music), so this is pretty cool to me! We really thought holograms were going to be EVERYWHERE.
I saw hatsune miku in a side room at sort of small j-culture convention in london and they had a damn projection hologram. You're telling me this place had screens?!
Totally agreed with the start and stop issue. I’m very close friends with the drummer Dylan, and am a lifelong musician myself. So I know the band is running on an automated set, they don’t have much to change on their end. Maybe Vixen or Leanne swapping instruments out, but you can have backing tracks or the keys player Tobias play SOMETHING. Even though the music was so diverse, you can make ways for clean transitions between songs so there’s not a big loss of energy. That was my biggest takeaway since I was there, for free, to see the band, not to see the vocaloids 🤣
24:27 the song is ON THE ROCKS by OSTER Project. Kaito is portrayed to play the piano in Project Diva (Rhythm game series) games while Meiko (actually pronounced MEI- Ko lol) sings. I don’t remember if Japan concerts have piano or a band member keyboard but overall…hopefully this helps the confusion!
as a fan of Miku who did not go to concert this felt like a thunder in the middle of a sunny day. Its like, people historically went to concerts to see the "hologram" Miku, and so seeing the borders of the screen makes her prescense less real on stage, ruining the experience. I hope its just a one-off and they will not be doing this again.
Idk if maybe you cut it recently or just styled it differently but your hair looks really nice in this video! 💛
im a vocaloid fan that just went to the expo in TX on the 24th. my bf and i were disappointed and concerned about the screen at first, but honestly had such a fun time and werent bothered by it at all once she got on stage. sure, seeing the hologram live was always a dream, but i thought the animation/rendering was honestly so satisfying. her facial expressions were awesome and it still felt like she was really there to us. i cried almost the whole show, so maybe im just biased. hearing those songs live and hearing the crowd singing along was very touching.
hearing about crunchy roll cutting corners suckeddd sooo badddd and crushed my hopes for a good minute. but i think if youre not looking for things to complain about, u could still enjoy the event. a lot of these songs are unlikely to be played live again, which is something that feels quite special to fans. we also dressed up in miku cosplays and took a micro dose of mushrooms, so the good time was going to happen either way.
I was at the first Phoenix show where they had dead pixels for three of the songs. Can't really show more of a problem with the LED screen than that. I've wanted to go to a Miku concert since I was 10, and I'm 20 now. I had a good time but I will absolutely not go again if they don't fix this next year. I've heard the same from other people who went. It seems everyone settled to attend rather than being enthusiastic to see it as it was updated
Hey Swell! I would love a video about ticketmaster/the ticket industry in general and what has been happening with concert tickets, all the issues that come with it and everything! I think its a very prominent issue right now and I would love to hear your takes on it.
Rin and Len are a weird case where they look like twins but have several romantic songs together, some including Miku in like a love triangle. None of the vocaloids really have lore so producers can come up with whatever storyline they want to fit the characters into at any time. This includes their ages, Miku being 16 isn't always canon and is just listed for marketing purposes. I think Kaito is less liked because it's harder to make his voice sound good, but you should check out his and Miku's cover of Bring Me to Life, it's a masterpiece.
Thanks for sharing your Miku Expo Experience with us on UA-cam. Sounds like everything was just thrown together and not thought out; especially for those ridiculous ticket prices. Glad you all had a fun time though. Subscribed and thanks for the 10% off Gamer Supps - used it today. 😊
I was at the Vancouver show while the build up was somewhat shitshow i still enjoyed it probably only because my friend managed to get the VIP tickets.
All emails and web updates doubled down on no outside/off brand lightsticks due to it interfering with the hologram including an announcement right before the show and then no hologram so it left us more confused than anything.
VIP emails saying there would be a separate merch booth indoors so we didnt show up 7 hours before the show began and they actually took all the indoor merch outside so everything was sold out before we got there. Thankfully they still had the VIP bags tho so we just used the mini fans to cheer along with.
"I know she's real to you guys" that took me out 😂😂😂
But on a real note the projector version of miku is amazing live. She literally GLOWS so bright it’s really cool. I’ve seen both versions and this expo was….. alright ig.
As someone in the vsynth community THANK YOU for making this, sooo many videos abt vsynth/vocaloid stuff from outsiders just ends up being 99% misinformation but I found this very interesting and informative!! (Also thanks for making this before any of those lazy commentary channel's got to the topic hajsjsiwksisk)
I feel like if Turtle Talk with Crush at Disney can have Crush interact with people, then I i feel like they could have Miku, or some sort of MC fill the transition time and give the humans time to reset.
There's a reason why I bring a walking stick to concerts I attend, so people don't give me shit for sitting.
the guys who were just standing and not dancing.... as an autistic person, i can guarantee you that's autistic behavior. which in itself is very fitting bc miku and vocaloid in general are huge among neurodivergent people. to outsiders, that kind of standing around at a concert might seem weird, but to me it makes perfect sense: they want to make sure they're seeing everything, so they're standing, and dancing is uncomfortable and unnecessary for them, so they don't do it. just standing and seeing every bit of the stuff they paid to come to see, the stuff that means a lot to them :)
It’s so crazy I had to do a double take a Swell doing this
I get the disappointment of the projection thing, but I fall under the category of people who was not that stressed about the LCD. I *also* was right in the middle of the pit for San Jose and my friend and everyone around me were having the time of their lives.
I am just super happy to see an honest reaction, even if it's from someone who's not into Vocaloid. I'd rather see this than a lot of what I've seen which is just being upset because they can be. Always look forward to your videos especially since I was hoping someone would make you go to this 😂
Omg it was so loud over here as well. I went to the Miku Expo in Amsterdam yesterday and even with my earplugs it was super load. So unnecessary
Went to the one in my state last night and had a great time! It was a lot of fun! I brought my own light stick and they let me in with it, and like it made the whole night super fun. I was worried because of all the upset reviews I’d seen but I genuinely still had a great time… the performers they had for our location were super fun as well, the drummer especially
My main issue with the event seems like it really is just listening to a Miku youtube video in a big room with a bunch of sweaty dudes. Its also not worth it to go to a different country for this. I will gladly just watch her performances and music on youtube and save some money for a figurine or something. VR is also so good these days that you can get pretty much any anime character perform for you in full 3D in the comfort of your own home.
I got vip specifically in hopes of getting a better spot! I’m not happy about the screen but I’m super excited to experience a miku concert regardless! I’m going to the show in Dallas tomorrow night!
I went to the concert in LA. It was my first Miku Expo and I was so excited when I realized I could still get tickets, because I'd figured after the first day that the sales opened that I'd missed my opportunity. I thought surely everything will have sold out immediately and never bothered to check. Shortly after purchasing my ticket I was made of aware of the issue with the screen but I decided that LED screen or hologram, I was going for the music and would make the most of it.
We were in row 30 and to the left. Not all the way in the back, but still quite a ways from the stage. At first when we took our seats I was worried because I'm short and there were some taller people sitting in front of me, but if I shifted a little bit I was able to see the screen okay. That all changed when the concert started and everyone got to their feet. I had to bob and weave the entire night to see the screen between the taller people in front of me who started in their seats, and then migrated into the aisles. People from the back realized there was nothing stopping them from running up and literally just forming standing room in the aisles. At that point it became really difficult. My chronic pain condition started acting up but if I sat I couldn't see a thing.
Really, the music was awesome and the band was amazing. They were probably the best part, honestly. Because the screen was hard to see, and filming it turned up crap quality because the smoke machine just messed with my phone camera. It couldn't adjust properly to record clearly. It was fun to watch when I could see but it was very clearly an LED screen. It felt more like watching a delayed viewing, like when I went to the theater to see the last Walkure concert. It didn't have the immersion of the Miku Expo videos I've seen online.
I GOT SO EXCITED SEEING THIS TITLE!! I went to the Portland show, the 2d show to happen, and I have a few things I can share!!! So the merch was a TERRIBLE situation, because it sold out online TWICE, and even with having thousands of people wanting a lightstick, they stocked a mere 90 in the merch booth. Me and my friends actually were the first people to show up at the venue and we waited SEVEN HOURS because we knew the lightsticks were highly sought after. Worth the hours in a perpetual drizzle because we're all crazy ✨️ ANYWAYS my friends actually went viral on twt for posting a video of the screen before the show started, since she had to go in to use the bathroom and the doors were open for some reason (it was around 2:00pm at this point). A lot of people called it AI and were in denial about the screen so people were PISSED about it. During the show itself, there was only one song that Luka sang by herself. The entire theatre was chanting her name. The Luka stans were very disappointed (me included in that). The live band was very good and it WAS fun being around so many people who loved Miku, but the corners they cut left a bad aftertaste. The other things that sucks is that the lightsticks were a HUGE money grab- because the entire reason you can't bring your own lightsticks is because normal ones mess with the hologram. And they ADVERTISED THAT as the reason you could only use official Miku lightsticks- which is false advertising because there was no hologram! Not being able to bring your own lights is bogus if the entire reason you couldn't bring them in the first place doesn't exist. But yeah, the way crunchyroll handled things was awful, but it was still fun to go see a bunch of fellow Miku fans (a lot of cosplays too, I was cosplaying as well) and the music was still great.
So here's my thoughts. I was at Miku Expo NY in 2014 and 2016 and will say, the projections look great in person. BUT the glass screen does have its own set of problems. Even with the use of official light sticks, a lot of light sticks still reflected off the screen. And while the glass screen does blend in better than the LED, you can absolutely still tell that it's there. Additionally, at certain angles, either the characters look faded or a projection light is blinding your eyes. Projections or LED, you'll still need to suspend your disbelief. Miku Expo has never been as well done as Magical Mirai and logistically really can't be. I'm okay with the LED, but I'm disappointed for my friend who is coming with me (who has never been to Miku Expo before). They and I have been in the fandom since 2010, and the "holograms" are a REALLY cool experience that I wish they and I could see together. But anyway, all of this to say that I totally understand the disappointment and anger about paying a lot of money for a show that wasn't as advertised. The lame statement from CFM doesn't help. But I wish that everyone could turn down the drama over it a bit. It should still be a fun time (I'll be at Detroit)! Constantly talking about the controversy is going to give people attending a bad mood about it before they even step inside the venue. Especially for first time goers, it should be an awesome positive experience. And a lot of people have said that the LED really isn't bad in person. The pessimism keeps people from even having fun for what it is. Like, keep contacting CFM and Crunchyroll so that changes can be made in future tours. But if you aren't selling your tickets over your outrage then just have fun for everything we ARE getting here.