GUMI

GUMI (グミ) is an official mascot character of Megpoid (メグッポイド / Meguppoido) which is a singing synthesizer application software powered by Yamaha's Vocaloid2 and was published by INTERNET Co.,Ltd. The avatar character of the software drawn by the illustrator Masami Yuuki (ゆうきまさみ Yuuki Masami).

Vocaloid 2
Megpoid was voiced by Megumi Nakajima and released on June 25, 2009. It comes with 3 sample VSQ files, "Happy Birthday", "be MYSELF", and "Hitori Yurari". "be MYSELF" is an original song by Nakajima.

There are five demos on the official site;

Gumi was illustrated by the manga artist Yuuki Masami.

Megpoid Extend; 2010
Following the success of Crypton's Append, Internet Co., Ltd had confirmed Gumi will receive a "Megpoid Extend" edition in 2011.

V3 Megpoid; 2011
On 2011/20/1 confirmation was released that recordings had started for the Megpoid Extend, several vocal recordings have already been recorded.

The first voicebank demo, Megpoid Extend Power β was uploaded on the 21/05/2011 onto Nico Nico Douga, its time spent up was only brief. Demos for Power and Whisper were also put up, but also removed a short time later. A more permanent version was uploaded later. Gumi's whisper Extend was used to sing "Fly me to the moon" and "BeMyself" in her power Extend, their upload was also temporary and were removed at a later date.

The Extend idea was later dropped and instead they were launched as new voicebanks for Vocaloid 3. The voicebanks in are sold individually or as a pack. The new update of information confirmed a October 21st release date. It is also confirmed they are no longer a expansion pack, rather then being called "Megpoid Extend" they are now called "Vocaloid 3 Megpoid" and each vocal has its own appearance to go alongside it.

Some demos have been released as well;

A introduction about her was also added.

V3 Native; 2012
Internet Co., Ltd. is working on a Vocaloid 3 revamp of Gumi's Vocaloid 2 voicebank. A clip has been uploaded of her singing "Be MYSELF" using an in-development beta version. Another clip has been uploaded of her singing "Blue Butterfly". The release date is set to be the 16/03/12, those who pre-order before the 15th will receive a technique guide. An official demo of her new Voicebank was uploaded of her singing Fragments Of Star with some info saying that "Readjustment of the speech database technology and the adoption of triphone VOCALOID3, due to modification of the portions of consonants, singing voice synthesis to achieve a sense of transparency and high-quality sound relaxed further.'

Sale of the DVD package of Megpoid Vocaloid 2 ceased on March 15th 2012, though the download version is still available from the online shop of Internet Co.

Vocaloid 3; English
Internet Co, Ltd tweeted that they have begun production of an English version of the Megpoid software, however, confirm it will take some time to produce. Recording for the data had finished in mid-2012 according to Noboru, the database for the English voicebank is 5 times the size of that of the Japanese voicebanks size, and that they are following the standard build set by Yamaha for a English voicebank. Currently they hope that the release of the voicebank will come next year.

Later confirmations expect it Feb 2013, the English version is being released in conjunction with the aim to introduce Vocaloid into America as part of "VOCALOID Trans-Pacific", this version of Megpoid is aimed at America and is therefore dubbed "the American Megpoid".

Noboru had tweeted that they had released a small snippet of GUMI English singing "- I Love You"

Currently a release date of the 28th of Feb 2013 is set.

In Jan 2013, over 4,000 phonetic connections were being checked on their pronunciation against tempo.

Concept
Gumi was the next Vocaloid to be released from Internet Co., Ltd and had a more retro-futuristic approach than Gakupo had.

Etymology
The name GUMI is from the voice provider Megumi Nakajima's nickname in her childhood. The software name of "Megpoid" is taken from the provider's name "Megumi".

Marketing
Gumi originally did not have much marketing, but has since gained enough popularity for further marketing possibilities. She is Internet co, Ltd's most successful Vocaloid and since the launch of Vocaloid 3, has seen a increase in merchandise based on her.

Originally, Gumi songs were not allowed to be sold on Karen-T, this was later changed and INTERNET Co., gave permission for both her and Gakupo in 2009.

Her English version is aimed more at the English speaking market. This is the first actual English capable vocal to be purchasable from the Vocaloid shop itself as well as the the developers own website. Her vocal can be bought by anyone in the USA or the UK, though other English speaking countries still cannot purchase the vocal.

Taiwan release
On Dec 11th, 2010, the president of INTERNET Co. announced that Kamui Gakupo, GUMI and Lily will be distributed in Taiwan.

Robot Gumi
Megpoid was one of 3 voicebanks the robot model HRP-4C was set up to react to, the other two being Miku Hatsune and Crypton's non-commercial Vocaloid named CV-4Cβ.


 * Youtube broadcast: 開発者による産総研ロボット＆ボーカロイドの解説 CEATEC Japan (HRP-4C as Gumi)
 * Youtube broadcast: 産総研ロボットHRP-4C 未夢（ミーム）「異邦人」CEATEC Japan (HRP-4C Singing)

King Run Anison Red and White Concert
Gumi and Gakupo made special appearances in the 2010 new year celebration event known as King Run Anison Red and White.

The songs they covered were;
 * アニソン紅白2010 M-32[Love Letter]神威がくぽ(がくっぽいど) "Love Letter" covered by Gackupo originally from "Mobile Suit Z Gundam", which had originally been sung by Gackt himself.
 * アニソン紅白2010 M-33[星間飛行]GUMI(メグッポイド) "Interstellar Flight" covered by Gumi from "Macross Frontier", which had originally been sung by Megumi Nakajima herself.

Their appearance was strictly a one off event.

3D Concert
Gumi and Akikoloid-chan appeared in a concert together in Japan dancing on stage. Though other concerts have been done for Vocaloid, this is the first official "3D" concert, previously all concerts had been done with 2D technology. Later a merchandise related to the concert was released including DVD and CDs of the event.

On the 2nd of November a video-clip about the 3D Concert "Vocaloid x LiveAR" was released
 * "Vocaloid x LiveAR" at DIGITAL CONTENT EXPO 2011 Youtube Broadcast

On the 15th-16th of December Gumi, VY1V3 , Akikoloid-chan, Tone Rion and Aoki Lapis appeared in a 3D concert at VOCAFARRE 2011

Figurines
The first of two figurines based on Gumi's art on an Exit Tunes album are due for release. Details are currently unknown. Gumi is also due a Nendoroid figurine produced by the Good Smile company. There is also going to be a few figurines based on her Vocaloid3 design. Details are also unknown.

Vocaloid-P Data Series
Vol.3 of the Vocaloid-P Data Series had only Megpoid songs in it and was released on the 16th of March 2012, the same day of V3 Megpoid - Native's release, as part of a promotion of the new updated voicebank.

Song Contest
In May 2012, a song contest was announced for Gumi, which was hosted by CreoFUGA. Producers entering the contest could use any Vocaloid2 or Vocaloid3 Gumi voicebank. Winning entries would make it into a game made by NAMCO Bandai. The contest began on May 26, 2012 and ended on June 26, 2012. As part of promotion, CreoFUGA will offer coupons to buy other Internet co., Ltd Voicebanks before the end of the competition.

V3 Song Contest
Commemorating Lily’s 2nd anniversary and VOCALOID3 GUMI’s 1st anniversary, Avex Management and INTERNET Co., Ltd are holding a music contest, accepting entries in the span of time between August 25, Lily’s release date and October 15, with winners being announced on October 21, VOCALOID3 GUMI’s release date. To enter, the applicant must upload a song made using Lily and/or GUMI to Nico Nico Douga before the deadline, add the tag “LilyGUMI楽曲コンテスト” and lock it. The fine print says that previously uploaded works are eligible, although uploaded songs must be the original work of the uploader. The grand prize winning song nets 100,000 JPY of prize money and gets added to the upcoming 2013 “LilyxMegpoid Split Album”. Three songs receiving an award of excellence will net 30,000 JPY in prize money. Finally, three special prize winners will result in a copy of Singer Song Writer 9 Professional each.

Video Game
Gumi made a guest appearance in Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai. This is the second time an Internet Co., Ltd Vocaloid has appeared along side Crypton Future Media Vocaloids, the first being Kamui Gakupo in Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix.

Gumi is due to have a video game produced starring her, this will be released for the PSP in 2013.


 * For more see Megpoid the Music♯

iPhone
A iPhone featuring Gumi on its casing has been produced.

Calendar
A calendar for 2013 was also produced for Gumi.

Manga
Gumi is due to get her own manga series.

Vocaloid 2

 * Gumi has songs in the Nico Nico Douga Hall of Fame
 * Comparing VY1(β version), Miku Append (Soft), Gumi, Lily
 * Comparison between the Vocaloid and voice provider

Megpoid
Megpoid, was the second of Internet co., Ltd's "Vocaloid Artist" series and was designed to be a professional standard vocal of noted quality. She was also the second addition to Internet co., Ltd's "poid" series. Vocaloid 2 Megpoid was offered alongside other software deals when it was released. These deals made Gumi a bargain for those interested in both her and the software she was sold with.
 * -|Megpoid=

V3 Megpoid
Gumi's new voicebanks are sold as a pack ("V3 Megpoid - Complete") or individually and do not require the Vocaloid 2 Megpoid or V3 Megpoid - Native software to use. Unlike the Appends of Crypton's CV series, this means you are not forced to purchase voicebanks you have no interest in, and can acquire them all or only the ones you want specifically. There are some differences between the voicebanks overall quality and usage so users will have to bare this in mind. However, overall the quality of these voicebanks is much higher then those of the original Vocaloid 2 voicebank. This originally was intended to be a expansion pack for Vocaloid 2 Megpoid.

All of V3 Megpoid's Voicebanks use [br1]-[br5], but however, can still use the import feature too. They also share the same optimum vocals range and tempo as the original, resulting in the package providing Gumi with simple change of tone in each voicebanks. This is a contrast to the Crypton Future Media Character Vocal "Append" series, which act as a "expression of colour" for each vocaloid and allows Megpoid to maintain a more natural sound of tone rather then a contrasting tone. It makes this package relatively simpler to use and editing is less demanding (though not unavoidable) and the same VSQ files in the original Gumi vocals will working for each of these vocals.

The downside is that on occasion the vocals can sound far too close to the original Megpoid vocal and do not offer as much of a contrast as the Crypton "Appends", but are intended to produce a more natural tone rather then be expressive. The result is a more professional singing vocal sound rather then a more expressive one and therefore is the result is that there is less distinction between the voicebanks, however, changing voicebanks mid-song is less noticeable and the Megpoid software can more easily maintain a good singing vocal performance.


 * -|V3 Megpoid; Power =
 * -|V3 Megpoid; Whisper =
 * -|V3 Megpoid; Adult =
 * -|V3 Megpoid; Sweet =

V3 Megpoid - Native
V3 Megpoid - Native is a additional vocal that has been added to the previous V3 Megpoid line up, although its production and release were set at different times to them. It is being sold seperately to other voicebanks and is not included in the "V3 Megpoid - complete" package. Several software package deals were offered with the Megpoid Vocaloid 2 voicebank included, this voicebank will replace Vocaloid 2 in those packages. It was designed to be as close in tone to the original voicebank as possible. This voicebank is created to replace the Vocaloid 2 voicebank and includes improvements over the original, removing some of the issues that users experienced with the old Voicebank.

Since this voicebank is basically a Vocaloid 3 version of the original Megpoid voicebank, it still has some of the problems of the original, though overall due to the improvements there are less of the original Vocaloid 2 version's flaws. However, for users with the original Vocaloid 2 Megpoid voicebank there may not be a rush to purchase this voicebank as it still similar enough to the Vocaloid 2 version.


 * -|V3 Megpoid; Native =

Demo Version
A trial version was issued with the June 2012 DTM magazine issue. The trial period will expire in 14 days. However, it is fully functional; the user can save VSQX project files.

Megpoid - English
Unreleased

The English version of the Megpoid software comes with its own custom default dictionary. This is design to phonetically correct some of the issues presented with the vocaloid voicebank. This can be downloaded despite this for use with the trial version of the software, which does not include this.

Despite being released for the Vocaloid3 engine, so far the English version not confirmed part of the actual "V3 Megpoid" range.


 * -|Megpoid; English =

Demo Version
At NAMM information was given out on a trial version. The trial will be downloadable from Jan 28th- Feb 14th 2013.

In this version, it is known at least of a few issues with pronunciations (which may or may not remain in the final version). A few vowel issues result in a lack of vowel distinction, a typical example is with the vowels "o" and "u", which although are often phonetically identical on Vocaloids Xampa system, do at times have a level of distinction that clearly defines one sound from another. For example, in the other "together" the "[th V]" (the sound needed for the "to" in "together") is pronounced as "[th u:]" (resulting in "tu gether"), therefore vowels often need particular attention. A few of the ending type consonants such as "[tS]" do not seem to sound out particularly well at times and also need further attention. She also has a habit of producing a thrilled "R" sound even where not needed.

The issues with the language are mostly down to the accent of the provider, she has otherwise fairly good clarity.

In addition, the trial version leaves out the custom made dictionary that Internet co, Ltd will provide with the full version.

Examples of Usage
To our readers and editors, for section notes please read; Notes; Examples sections.
 * -|Megpoid=
 * -|V3 Megpoid=

Popularity
Gumi has seen a faster growth of usage within the Japanese fandom, gaining popularity faster than her predecessor Gakupo. She has quickly become a fan favorite in both Japanese and Western fandoms and arguably has been the most commonly used non-Crypton Future Media Vocaloid.

By 2010, Gumi's popularity was on par with Crypton Future Media's voicebanks and had also out sold her predessor Kamui Gakupo, becoming the most popular and well known non-Crypton Vocaloid. In 2011, her usage grew and in a number of weeks, she would even have more songs in the top 100 rankings then some of the Crypton Future Media based Vocaloids.

In 2011 a independent report was made into the popularity of Vocaloid and revealed that most Vocaloids had less then 1,000 videos uploaded on Nico Nico Douga in between July 1 and December 15, 2011. Gumi, had managed to succeed at grabbing more attention then most Vocaloids and at 2,107 uploads was the 3rd highest video upload related to a Vocaloid. At 9,538,464 views and 929,810 Mylists, Gumi was the Vocaloid to receive the 2nd highest number of views overall. Based on average views, managed to come out on top with 4,527.04 views (and 441.3 mylists) on average per video. When the mean count was performed on the Vocaloid results, Gumi remained on top with 485 views and 34 mylists per video and Gumi was the only one besides the Kagamine's to successfully be on all lists performed in the report.

Trivia

 * Gumi has proven to be quite a popular Vocaloid for MMD model makers and has several models compared to most other Vocaloids. One of them is ISAO's model, available by purchase of Windows 100% magazine and MMD Starter Pack magazine.
 * Less experienced overseas fans often mislabel Gumi as a "Megpoid" rather than a "Vocaloid" and sometimes dismiss that she is a Vocaloid altogether. This is owed to the confusion over the name.
 * Gumi's design is often said to be influenced by Ranka Lee's character (one of the first roles done by Megumi Nakajima as seiyuu). Ranka Lee's main notable outfit had the colours green, yellow, and orange also. This has never been confirmed as anything more than coincidence; still it is a popular assumption in both Japan and overseas Vocaloid fans.

Notable for...

 * First female Vocaloid from Internet Co. Ltd.
 * One of 3 voicebanks used by the robot HRP-4C.
 * First Vocaloid from Internet Co. Ltd to be upgraded to Vocaloid 3.
 * First Internet Co. Ltd. Vocaloid to get an Extend.

Gallery
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