KAITO

KAITO is a Japanese VOCALOID developed originally by Yamaha Corporation and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc., and was initially released in February 2006 for the first VOCALOID engine. There has since been a second installment developed for the VOCALOID3 engine dubbed KAITO V3. His voice is provided by the famous Japanese singer, Naoto Fūga (風雅 なおと).

Etymology
The product's name was invited to be chosen by the public, and "KAITO" was selected from among the applicants, which was Shu-tP's offered idea. One of the reasons why his name "KAITO" was selected was because it would be easy for non-Japanese speakers to pronounce, and it looked fitting with the name "MEIKO" when they were put next to one another.

KAITO's codename was "TARO" ; it likely came from "Yamada Tarō (山田太郎)", a placeholder name for male characters and the Japanese equivalent to "John Smith".

KAITO is often mistakenly called "Kaito Shion" or "Shion Kaito", particularly by overseas fans. "Shion" was a fan-created term used to refer to him during the 2007-2009 period. Due to its common sighting, it was incorrectly used by fans as his family name even at the time of the VOCALOID4 engine's release. Officially, the character is known just as "KAITO"; he has no family name or surname.

Appearance
The illustration was done by Takashi Kawasaki. Crypton did not set his character and profile except for his package design. Like MEIKO, he was not made with the aim of giving character or personality to vocal synthesis software. This was also emphasized during the development of the V3 vocal banks, with Wat stating how different the intention of the CV series was to the intention of KAITO and MEIKO. This led to the updates taking a totally different course of development in comparison to the Appends of Miku, Len, Rin and Luka.

KAITO's muffler has become one of his most iconic items. During his V3 update, there was fan outcry over the idea of it being made transparent. In answer to this, Crypton stated that cloth can be made out of anything, including plastic; there was a lot more freedom with it than many realized.

KAITO has no official given age. However, in Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix he is usually portrayed as a middle aged man by KEI. Despite this, what the artist depicts in the comic is not official, as he mentioned in a magazine interview.

Because of the story of his rediscovery in 2008, KAITO was often depicted with ice cream. This gave birth to the "Item War" Internet Meme tradition.

Relations

 * MEIKO: a complementary voice bank with feminine vocals.

Marketing
The act of putting a character on the boxart was carried over to following VOCALOIDs to encourage creative activities by individuals, expanding the characters based on each user's individual needs.

KAITO's V3 release repeats many aspects of what made the CV series popular, and he is already due a series of "beginners guides" in magazines such as DTM.

Trivia

 * Since YAMAHA and Crypton printed different dates for KAITO's release (YAMAHA: 14th, Crypton: 17th), some fans within the Japanese VOCALOID community celebrate KAITO's release date anniversary during all days between the different dates.


 * When it came to the KAITO update, the voicebanks went under much experimentation throughout the developing process. This was because although Crypton were veterans at producing VOCALOID voicebanks, they did not have so much experience with masculine toned vocals such as Fuuga Naoto's. This was due to the fact all of their other VOCALOIDs intended for the consumer market had come from female vocalists.


 * Owed to the difference between VOCALOID KAITO and VOCALOID3 KAITO, Wat himself referred to the two packages as like "brothers" due to their very separate natures.

Notable for...

 * First Japanese male vocal ever released
 * Only VOCALOID voicebank announced as a "failure"
 * Subject to a sudden opinion change around
 * Most popular VOCALOID voicebank
 * Last VOCALOID voicebank produced
 * First VOCALOID voicebank to be updated
 * First male bilingual VOCALOID.
 * Was used in the oldest known VOCALOID related song ever released
 * First VOCALOID by Crypton to be updated to VOCALOID3