Interest

Hatsune Miku Marks 6th Birthday With English Debut

Crypton Future Media will release the Hatsune Miku V3 English singing voice synthesizer package on August 31, the Vocaloid's sixth birthday. Big Fish Audio is collaborating to release the virtual idol's first English software in North and South America, and the downloadable version will cost US$149. Release date and price details for a planned international packaged version will be announced in the future.

The complete package will include the English vocal database itself from original Miku voice Saki Fujita, the vocal editor Piapro Studio, a set of over 200 PreSonus sound files for instruments, and the Studio One 2.5 Artist Piapro Edition digital music workstation software.

In July, the official Hatsune Miku channel began streaming the song "Coming Together" by BSC a.k.a. kuni to showcase the upcoming software. Crypton Future Media debuted the song at Japan Expo and Anime Expo last month. The company had revealed in 2010 that it will release Hatsune Miku in English.

Hatsune Miku's official YouTube channel also began streaming the song "Six Greetings" by Kikuo as the Hatsune Miku V3 software's official demo song on Friday. The song features mostly Japanese lyrics in the video and includes the English phrase "What's up brother?" Crypton Future Media will release Hatsune Miku V3 for 16,800 yen (about US$174) in Japan on September 26.

Live Viewing Japan will also host the American theatrical premieres of the Hatsune Miku Magical Mirai Concert 2013 events in Los Angeles and New York City on August 31. The Vocaloid virtual idol's live concerts — one in the afternoon and one in the evening — will take place at the Yokohama Arena a day earlier on August 30.

Thanks to Mohawk52 for the news tip