Which Vocaloid?
The Vocaloids have done pretty well this year. There's four of them already in the top tens (Kagamine Rin and Len, Hatsune Miku, All Vocaloids, and Megurine Luka). Everyone seems to be eager to have a computer voice program sing, but which one?The best choice is probably - all of them! This way, everyone's happy, and vocaloids that were never seen before could get their chance in the spotlight! The only problem is that even if it's first, they're probably not going to be able to put all of them there, and it's going to be hard to make over 15 realistic 3D models and motion in less than two years. But if we really try and the rampage is strong enough, we might make it happen!
Most people have heard of Hatsune Miku. She has been the "main character" of Vocaloid, as she was the first actually successful one. But this also means that her quality isn't the best. Although she is cute and has a pretty voice, many fans are complaining that she takes too much attention away from the other vocaloids.
If Miku's the favorite child, Rin and Len would be the neglected twins. Crypton was so excited by Miku's success that they rushed their development a lot. Originally only Rin was planned because they were going to make another teenage girl, but fans said they wanted a boy. Instead of starting over with a new male vocaloid, they just kept Rin's design and hired one singer to do both voices, putting them into one package. You can kind of imagine what happened next. Rin ended up extremely high-pitched, and Len was at a pitch that could be mistaken for Luka.
Even though their quality was eventually improved, Rin and Len were still often pictured as sidekicks of Miku, Luka, and even MEIKO (another less popular vocaloid) despite the fact that in many polls, Len himself is more popular than Miku. Kagamine fans are seizing this chance to carry out the "gekokujyo" (revolution) against Miku.
Luka has been an extremely undernoticed vocaloid. Many vocaloid songs had been produced before she came out and the main 5 vocaloids- MEIKO, KAITO, Miku, Rin, and Len- had already been established, and many beginner vocaloid fans don't reach Luka's songs. Even so, she was the second really successful vocaloid, the first to have an effect on Miku's sales. For weeks after she came out, she held many songs in the top 30 vocaloid weekly ranking, including the first place.
A downside of vocaloid is that the visualizations of the voices are like typical moe anime characters. Some people completely resent anime, and would hate to hear a high pitched 3d anime hologram sing at the olympics. This is where Luka stands out. Her voice, unlike many of the other girls', is pitched at a normal human level. If she were an anime character at all, she would be the quiet, sexy college student sitting in the corner, reading. Although some of her songs deviate widely from this personality, she's still the least anime-like.
Samples-
Miku: I was able to find one I liked and have good music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QHPAkI51cY
Rin and Len: The first one is the one I think they sound best in, the second is a 3D animation of a different song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtsgmIJOWPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ks3LxP90-k
Luka: She doesn't sound the best in some parts, but the reverb really brings out her strengths. And the costume she switches to close to the end is her original costume.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yHDj6gaF48