Guillotine

For those that have been fans of the Vocaloids the day that has been anticipated by many has arrived. The announcement of the latest Vocaloid has been made official after months of teasers and silhouettes the curtain has finally been drawn and Megurine Luka is born.

A lot of folks are likening her design to several fantasy anime or RPG characters, but me being a big fan of Pangya thought even back when I first saw the silhouette that she reminded me of the character Lucia that was introduced in Season 4 of Pangya, and after seeing the reveal I’d say my first intuition was right on the money… Even down to the pink hair. Of course I imagine everyone’s past tastes will dictate what character she reminds them of, but that’s what my first thought was (matter of fact I just realized the names Lucia/Luka… Coincidence??? Maybe).

Putting aside the looks and going into the Vocaloid itself the differences between Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin/Len this one has a bit of a deeper voice. A bit more sultry if you will. Megurine Luka also has a trick up her sleeve that the other Vocaloids regardless of the many attempts made by several people have not achieved. She can sing English lyrics. Granted it’s still not perfect, and she is still native Japanese, but it’s a step in the right direction. The voice demos I’ve heard so far aren’t that impressive, but then I don’t think Miku’s were all that great out of the gate either. Once the software is released (January 30, 2009) and some of the Vocaloid masters get their hands on it I suspect NicoVision will quickly fill up with new works, and the we’ll see what she’s capable of.

The voice sampling for Megurine Luca was done by Asakawa Yuu who voiced the characters of Miss Sakaki in Azumanga Daioh, Itoko Osakabe in School Rumble, Julia Basil Elden in Vandread, Motoko Aoyama in Love Hina, and many others. Not a bad heritage there.