MEIKO

MEIKO is a Japanese VOCALOID developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc., and was initially released in November 2004 for the first VOCALOID engine. There is currently ongoing development for a second installment of MEIKO which will be for the VOCALOID3 engine. Her voice is provided by the Japanese female singer, Meiko Haigō (拝郷 メイコ Haigō Meiko).

Etymology
"MEIKO" comes directly from her voice provider's name, "Haigō Meiko."

Appearance
The illustration was done by Shogo Washizu, often called わっしー(Wasshi), who was once a member of Crypton. Crypton placed this product on the market with a box art that depicted a female illustrated character. This character had nothing to do with the singer's image, but her anime-based appearance appealed to the mainstream audience and the software sold well. Wat even stated how different the intention of the CV series and KAITO/MEIKO were during the development of KAITO V3. This even led to the direction of the updates leading to a completely different course of development compared to the Appends of Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin/Len, and Megurine Luka.

MEIKO's boxart hides the front of her jacket, it is difficult to tell what design it consists of. Due to this factor, there are many different designs, even for official artwork. There is no official given age. Although, in Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix she is usually portrayed as a middle-aged woman by KEI, he mentioned in a magazine interview that what he depicts in the comic is not official.

Spurned on by the items held by Hatsune Miku and KAITO, it became popular to feature MEIKO with One Cup Ozeki (sake).

Relations

 * KAITO; a complementary voice bank with masculine vocals.

Examples of Usage

 * -|MEIKO =

Marketing
Putting a character on the boxart proved to be a successful marketing strategy. It influenced the development and art style of other VOCALOIDs such as KAITO and Hatsune Miku. Of the Crypton Future Media VOCALOIDs, while she does have a significant amount of merchandise, MEIKO is often less likely to be promoted than some of the other VOCALOIDs.

Figurines


MEIKO has had a few figurines based on her. Due to being the least popular of the Crypton VOCALOIDs, she tends to have the least amount of merchandise.


 * For more see Figurines

Food
A box of special "MEIKO Rum Flavored Chocolates" and themed sake pack has been produced.

Calendar
Crypton Future Media VOCALOIDs have also appeared in 2013 calendars.

Clothing
ACOS has also produced an official cosplay outfit and wig.

Manicure set
MEIKO appeared on a nail varnish set along with the other 5 Crypton vocalists. The colors within the set match the colors of the VOCALOID's painted nails.

Trivia

 * A Japanese electro-pop artist, Susumu Hirasawa, announced that he used a female VOCALOID in the original soundtrack of "Paprika" by Satoshi Kon on his blog. Since Susumu Hirasawa did not reveal which VOCALOID he used for quite some time, except the fact it was a female, many producers speculated it was MEIKO. However, he later mentioned in a magazine interview that it was LOLA.


 * An old myth within the overseas fandom is that her samples were not from Meiko Haigō, but from a computer that generated samples that sounded like her.

Notable for...

 * First Japanese female vocal ever released
 * First Japanese VOCALOID vocal released
 * First Crypton Future Media VOCALOID released
 * First feminine sounding VOCALOID released from Crypton Future Media
 * First VOCALOID to have an official avatar
 * Being used in the oldest known VOCALOID related song