Starting on September 9th, 2020, Hatsune Miku was appointed as a Coronavirus Countermeasure Supporter in Japan, joining a team of eight other representatives to help spread awareness of ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier today, a video message featuring Hatsune Miku was uploaded and posted to the official Coronavirus prevention site in Japan. Check out the video above!
The team includes several sports athletes, doctors, CEOs of high-profile Japanese companies, the Pepper robot from Softbank Robotics, and of course the virtual singer Hatsune Miku herself. She will serve her position as representative until March 31st, 2021. We may hear other news or messages along the way until then, so stay tuned!
For Fans By Fans has officially launched their first-ever fan-designed, officially-licensed Hatsune Miku pin set, designed by artist Wawa!
Make beautiful music with our Record Scratcher Enamel Pins! Featuring your favorite Piapro characters Hatsune Miku, Meiko, Megurine Luka, Kaito, and Kagamine Rin and Len etched in a shiny sterling gold metal with enamel finish, designed like they are on a cover of a record album by Wawa! Collect all 5 colorful pins and show them off to your friends!
The pins are available for order on For Fans By Fans’s online shop individually for $10 USD each or as a complete set of 5 for $45 USD.
Crypton Future Media has announced plans via their official Miku Expo Twitter account to launch a crowdfunding campaign to power the next Miku Expo event in 2021, which will be held online. The event will be made free to all viewers, but seeks to use crowdfunding to bring the best online experience possible using the latest technologies.
Exhibitions and work shops will also be held online this time around to create a safe but fun environment for participants from all over the world. Crowdfunding for the event is expected to begin Mid-November of 2020. More info on this is expected to be announced at a later date, so stay tuned!
#MIKUEXPO2021 🎉🎉 In November we will be launching a crowdfunding campaign for “HATSUNE MIKU EXPO 2021 Online,” the first ever online version of the MIKU EXPO live concert. The show itself will be streamed for free! pic.twitter.com/Opg4WCR1hG
Goodsmile Racing finished their 100th race in 8th position at the fifth round of Super GT at Fuji Speedway. Prior to the race on the previous day the team qualified in 9th position to determine their starting position for the race.
The race started off with drama even before the GT300 cars began racing when the #3 Craftsports GT-R spun the #16 Mugen NSX around bringing out the safety car as debris was littered onto the track including the bonnet of the GT-R who had to pullover and retire from the race.
The race restarted on the 5th lap and the #4 Hatsune Miku AMG would fight her way up to 7th until their mandatory pitstop and driver change. The team opted to change all four of their tyres.
The race ended with the #39 Denso Supra winning the race in GT500 and the #56 Realize GT-R winning in GT300. The #4 Miku AMG would finish in 8th after falling behind as low as 12th, but eventually fought back into points scoring position.
With 3 points scored in this race, Goodsmile Racing currently stands in 13th in the drivers’ standings. The next race will be at Suzuka International Circuit on the 24th and 25th of October.
The full race can be seen on ‘The Race’ YouTube Channel.
On September 24, 2015, the Vocaloid community mourned the loss of samfree.
Best known for the infectious Eurobeat track “Luka Luka Night Fever,” samfree was one of the first Vocaloid producers, creating tracks in the genre’s early days and rising to prominence within the Japanese community and later, the international community. Five years after his passing, his works retain their popularity and continue to inspire new generations of Vocaloid producers and fans. While most fans know him for “Luka Luka Night Fever,” samfree’s work encompassed more than this one smash hit.
Sano Takayuki was born on September 9, 1984, in Niigata, the capital city of Niigata, Japan. He uploaded his first Vocaloid track, “Daybreak,” to Nico Nico Douga on November 11, 2007, less than 3 months after Crypton Future Media first released the Vocaloid software for Hatsune Miku. The lyrics speak of wandering through darkness in search of the light, a light that will always come at daybreak. While the 1:56 track has garnered a mere 15,302 views over the past 13 years, it was the start of many things to come for the young producer.
In the span of 8 years, samfree uploaded a grand total of 65 Vocaloid tracks to Nico Nico Douga, averaging close to 2 tracks per month. While most of the tracks are his original works and remixes sung by Vocaloids, some feature samfree himself and others singing along to Vocaloid tracks from other producers such as kz-livetune and Dixie Flatline. His most popular tracks comprise the “Night” series: Luka Luka Night Fever, Tako Luka Maguro Fever, Megu Megu Fire Endless Night, Miki Miki Romantic Night, and others. By far, “Luka Luka Night Fever” is his most popular track to date, clocking in at almost 5 million views as of the writing of this article. Uploaded on February 12, 2009, it is widely regarded as one of Megurine Luka’s unofficial theme songs.
The final Vocaloid track samfree uploaded to Nico Nico Douga was “Mind Voice,” featuring IA, debuting on August 21, 2015. It is believed that samfree composed this track knowing that he did not have much time left in this world and that the most important thing is to never give up. As the track’s lyrics say, “What you have to go on is what lies in your heart.” To date, “Mind Voice” clocks in at 260,591 views, with many comments from users around the world expressing their condolences upon his sudden passing just over one month later, at the young age of 31.
While Sano Takayuki’s life was cut short too soon, his contributions to the Vocaloid community are many, and perhaps both his well-known and lesser-known works will inspire others in 2020 and beyond.
