SONiKA

Sonika (ソニカ　Sonika) is the 5th Vocaloid created by Zero-G. Released on 14th July 2009, she is the third English speaking Vocaloid to use the updated Vocaloid2 software.

History
Zero-G felt that a young and frivolous singer would make for an overall interesting singer, providing the fresh and innocent voice that professional singers do not provide. She is the first English speaking vocaloid to use a character design and profile as part of the product. She was released with profile/biographical information on the back cover of the software package, similar to the other Vocaloid2 products.

Sonika on Twitter
Following her release, Zero-G took a unique stance with her post-release development. They have created and maintained a Twitter page for Sonika, something unheard of for any past vocaloid. Tweets have included pictures of herself with a different hair color, announcing her favorite food is sashimi tuna and announcing upcoming interviews in media articles. She has even made direct reference to fans discussing what her character item should be.

She also reports things like Tonio's late arrival and may even make a reactions to the release of other vocaloids like "Big-Al".

Sonika boxart 2009
On Nov 2, 2009 and ending on Nov 30, 2009. Zero-G announced a competition; about giving Sonika a new look. The winner would receive a copy of the "Sonika Vocaloid2 Software".

Nearing the end of November, an image was uploaded on Crypton Catalog that represented Sonika's new appearance. It was drawn by artists Mario Wibisono (aka raynkazuya) at the request of Zero-G. And with the image being found out during the New Look Competition and also uploaded to Zero-G's site a few days later, this greatly confused fans and Submitters who thought that this was the winning image.

This was quickly corrected, with Zero-G stating that the competition rules never included anything about the winning image being used for boxart.

Usage for Music
She has a British accent and is better suited for post late 20th century pop and sings with a soft and innocent sounding voice. However she has a limited vocal range and heavy editing may be needed. Though marketed to an English speaking audience, Sonika can potentially speak any language due to the fact that her vocal bank is not limited to syllables and phonetics, so she is able to produce any consonant and vowel combination imaginable. Though this gives her a large advantage over many other vocaloids, she is said to be difficult to work with and produces flat notes, however a tutorial was created to give tips and suggestions.

eMancipation
Music and lyrics by SeriousMF
 * YouTube broadcast

USBMine
Music and lyrics by SeriousMF
 * YouTube broadcast

Dinky Dink No Time To Think
Music and lyrics by So-Pop


 * YouTube broadcast
 * Nico nico Broadcast

Come to me
Music and lyrics by So-Pop


 * YouTube broadcast

Ninety-Nine Red Balloons
Sung by Nena Covered by So-Pop


 * YouTube broadcast

Cybermoon
Song by Andromeca


 * YouTube broadcast

Unifikation
Song by Andromeca


 * Nico broadcast
 * YouTube broadcast

Sonika Says
Song and Lyrics by Giuseppe
 * YouTube broadcast
 * Her demo debut.

Whispering Waves
Sung by Donna Summer Covered by Giuseppe
 * YouTube broadcast

Sora
Song and Lyrics by kuriputon-P

Covered by Giuseppe


 * Nico broadcast
 * YouTube broadcast

えんばん (Discus)
Song and Lyrics by PressureRain


 * Nico broadcast
 * YouTube broadcast

TIN-GE
Song and Lyrics by PressureRain


 * Nico broadcast
 * YouTube broadcast

Melt (Piano Version)
Duet with Prima Song by ryo (Supercell) Covered by AkyuP


 * Nico broadcast
 * YouTube broadcast

Koi Wa Sensou (Love is War)
Song by ryo (Supercell) Covered by Doofus-P (matt9five) in English
 * YouTube broadcast

Saihate
Song by Kobayashi Onyx Covered by NoNeed4Vocaloid


 * YouTube broadcast

Real Emotion (English)
From: Final Fantasy X-2 Sung by Jade Villalon Covered by Doofus-P (matt9five)
 * YouTube broadcast

Still Alive
From: Portal Sung by Ellen McLain Covered by Doofus-P (matt9five)
 * YouTube broadcast

Butterfly
Song by SMiLE dk Covered by cityedge


 * Nico broadcast
 * YouTube broadcast

Lion Sleeps Tonight
Orginally recorded by The Tokens


 * Youtube broadcast

Bad Romance
Orginally sung by Lady Gaga Cover by matt9five


 * Youtube broadcast
 * Nico broadcast

Last Night, Good Night
Cover by sango312


 * Youtube broadcast

Butterfly On Your Right Shoulder

 * Youtube broadcast

If U Seek Amy
Orginally sung by Britney Spears Cover by matt9five


 * Youtube broadcast

3
Orginally sung by Britney Spears Cover by matt9five


 * Youtube broadcast

Love Game
Orginally sung by Lady Gaga


 * Youtube broadcast

Trivia

 * The winner of Sonika's New Look Competition was Kjbionicle, her entry was number 30.
 * She was initally poked fun at by both English and Japanese fans for resembling Megpoid. Her look was said to resemble a simplified version of Gumi's own outfit and the colors also were similar to each other.
 * The reaction to Sonika's new look has been mixed, with positive comments stating that the look is an improvement over the original CG and also stylish, and negative comments stating that the look appears too sexual and looks nothing like the original Sonika. While others have pointed out that the new look does not fit Sonika's soft voice. Sonika herself reacted on Twitter to the negative feed back.
 * The English community debated over which item would be Sonika's character item. The most popular choices were a golden ring, based off her name's similarity to "Sonic the Hedgehog", and a bell, based off her demo song "Ring my Bell". The Japanese community has focused on a pineapple, due to her appearance's similarity to a pineapple (patterned gold shirt and spikey, green hair).
 * Although she was not the first English vocaloid to use an avatar on her boxart, she was however the first to mimick the Japanese style of avatars.