Kagamine Rin & Len

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Kagamine Rin & Len (鏡音リン ・レン) is the second product released on December 27, 2007, they are Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series developed by Crypton Future Media Ltd. (CFM), male voice (Len) and female voice (Rin). Their family name was from the developing code combining Kagami (鏡, mirror) and Ne (音, sound).

Vocaloid 2
Crypton Future Media intended to project a Vocaloid with low-teen girl's voice at first following Miku Hatsune, but there was a demand for a boy's voice, so Crypton Future Media hired a voice actress who can produce both sounds. Kagamine Rin was the first voicebank developed and introduced to the Vocaloid consumer market on November 8th 2007. However, the package included two voicebanks: one for Rin and another for Len, both provided by the seiyū Asami Shimoda (下田 麻美 Shimoda Asami), Kagamine Len was unveiled later after Kagamine Rin on December 3rd 2007. The package was priced at the same price as Hatsune Miku, even though there was two voicebanks in the box.

At the time of recording in 2007, their names had not yet been decided. Their given names of Rin and Len were said to be based on " ri ght" and " le ft" according to Asami Shimoda. She later confirmed in an interview after the Append release, the name itself was based on the names of Ken and Rin from Hokuto no Ken, the names were derived from a discussion about names that were familiar from her childhood. According to Asami Shimoda, Len's voice was achieved by singing within her chest, while Rin's at the top of her head.

Demos
 * R-Side (Kagamine Rin)
 * L-Side (Kagamine Len)
 * (Kagamine Rin/Len)

Act 2
On June 12, 2008, Crypton announced that the updated edition, named "Act2", would be released in early July 2008. Crypton Future Media apologized for the bad quality of the original Kagamine Rin/Len product. They explained that they had rushed the Kagamine product onto the market in suite of Hatsune Miku's success and promised to produce a better quality version to correct their mistake. The product itself had been in production between April and September 2007 and had not been changed between then and their release. The following April they continued to work on the vocals from where they were left off to tweak the issues surrounding them. Crypton Future Media also promised to speak more closely with the fans and keep them up to date more on their Vocaloid software progress in future.

The new version was released to address issues with the original voicebanks that affected their ability to sing clearly. The Database was reshuffled around to allow the voicebank libraries to handle the samples better and Crypton Future Media worked heavily to improve the vocals. Act2 was as an independent installation, coexisting with the initial software. During the Kagamine Act2 production, Crypton Future Media also took the time to change the End User agreement on their CV series to make it easier to understand.

Users who had bought the old version got an expansion disc free of charge, this continued until 20th September 2008 after which users could no longer register to receive the Act2 software for free. On June 18, 2008, beta demonstration songs using the new version were released on the company's official blog; and on July 18th, the act2 was released. The original version of the software is now retired from sale by Crypton Future Media themselves and it is now no longer possible to buy the software from them.

Demos
 * L-Side and R-Side Act2 demos
 * Act2 demos
 * Action (Kagamine Rin/Len - Act2)
 * 夏の海 (Kagamine Rin/Len - Act2)



As well as a new set of vocals for the pair KEI took the opportunity to fix art flaws in their artwork.

Kagamine Rin's introduction artwork
 * Rin has "Act2" on her arm under her "02" tattoo.
 * Rin's top was changed in the introductory image between versions around the armpit area. Frills were added to the bottom of her top in Act2
 * Her shoulder was not correctly drawn in the original version
 * All the yellow bands on her outfit were made bigger on Act2.
 * Her fringe was made thicker above the left eye.
 * In Kagamine Rin's artwork, her left knee was thicker and her right leg was too short. Kei corrected this in her Act2 version. Her right leg position changed and so did her Left foot position
 * Forearms have been shortened in Act2.
 * The cyber-on-normal clothing design on their detached sleeves were changed from a green bar to a blue one

Kagamine Len's introduction artwork
 * Kagamine Len has "Act 2" on his headphones.
 * The cyber-on-normal clothing design on the detached sleeves were changed from a green bar to a blue one
 * His fringe was reshaped, other strands were adjusted as well
 * Len's face, particularly around the cheekbones, have been reshaped.
 * His left knee has a minor tweak

Boxart changes;
 * Kagamine Rin's leg position was changed in their boxart so it was lifted up off the ground, the only way the previous position would have worked was if her leg was deformed or broken.
 * Kagamine Rin's knee is rounded instead of sharp
 * Both had the cyber-on details changed on their detached sleeves

Append - the Future of Rin/Len
After Miku Append began, Rin and Len (鏡音リン・レン・アペンド) were confirmed to have appends being worked on. Len Append was in the process of production first and demos of his voice were given out; (high voice demo), (low voice demo). The append was officially released on December 27, 2010. The total number of voicebanks for each one is 6. There are 3 voicebanks being assigned to each Kagamine and had been created from vocal performance of their voice providers. . Sample demo songs have been given out on Crypton's official page and their official YouTube channel online. Rin's appends are "power", "warm", and "sweet". Len's appends are "power", "cold", and "serious".

Their Append outsold the Miku Append during the period after their release. However, they did not maintain this, in June 2011, their Append had fallen to 8th place, one below Kaito's Vocaloid voicebank.

English version
Crypton Future Media is considering an English version of the software.

Marketing
As they were under development, Crypton had the concept of making a pair of male and female voicebanks. The first idea of the concept was twin voices of a girl and her mirror image of opposite gender, just like twins.

CFM had an intention to distribute them as twins, but this was not adopted either. After seeing many works that depict their relationships differently, Crypton announced on a magazine interview that those would meet their ideal. Crypton did not decide to announce they are neither siblings nor lovers, as they did not want to tie down each user's free creative activities.

KEI was given the concept Crypton intended, their approximate ages, an image of mirror, and an image of androids, but was not given any other directions when he was asked to illustrate Rin and Len by Crypton, as Kei had already illustrated Miku before. Rin was the first one to be illustrated and Len was made to match her, following Crypton's concept. Their leg parts are designed to mimic speakers.

Their Append design and the Official Illustration of those ones were made by オサム (osamu).

Good Smile Racing
See Good Smile Racing

Figurines


The Kagamines have had several figurines made for them. Some are based on one and not the other, other times they have had a model each but were released seperately and on some occasions together.

Kagamine Rin has more figurines than Kagamine Len. As well as having a standard Figma and Nendoroid figurine each, Rin has had a figurine based on the "Meltdown Hard R.K. mix" PV. She has also appeared alongside Miku and Luka in the Good smile racing figurine promotions. When the first Pullip Dolls were released, both Rin and Len were released alongside Miku, they were based on the same body model as each other.

The pair have seen a number of Garage Kit packs as well.


 * For more Figurines see Template:Nav Figurines

US Debut
The Kagamines appeared in the Los Angeles Mikunopolis concert in July 2, 2011, along with Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka. Rin performed "Meltdown" in her Hard Rock remix outfit and Len performed 'Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder' (Ft. Rin).

Guest Appearances
In Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei a pair of Len and Rin look a likes are seen in the waiting queue during the auditions of the role of Meru Meru, however they do not have the Kagamine's known colors.

In the anime Maria†Holic Rin and Miku appear on a scene on episode 12, which can be seen on Youtube

In the manga Comic Party, during the fair there is a person wearing Rin's ribbon and has the same hairstyle as hers.

Vocaloid 2

 * The Kagamines have songs in the Nico Nico Douga Hall of Fame
 * Comparison between the Vocaloid and voice provider
 * Book on how to use Hatsune Miku & Kagamine Rin/Len

Kagamine Rin/Len (CV02)
The Kagamine were released as a more advanced Vocaloid package than Hatsune Miku and contained 2 voicebanks for a male and a female vocal. Since they were sold together as a pair at the same price as Hatsune Miku, the Kagamine package was considered a bargain for producers. Kagamine Rin's vocal is set as the default and users will have to switch to Kagamine Len's vocal manually. After the release of "Act2", the original vocals became referred to as "Act1" by both Crypton Future Media and Vocaloid fans.

The Character vocal series have characteristics about them which centres around their vocal abilities, and the Kagamine's focus is on the two opposing vocal packagaes Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len and are sold as one package. Rin is a deeper teenage vocal than Hatsune Miku. Rin's pronounications are sharp compared to Kagamine Len's.

In terms of realism, however, she is about the same as Kagamine Len as that was not the focus of the Character Vocal series and is not very realisitic at all. Also, she does not sound like Asami Shimoda as a consquence of this. She can be made to sound realistic, but it is noted to be harder to achieve then Hatsune Miku. Her vowel sounds are choppy and overall lacked smoothness with a number of vowel related sounds being absent. Compared to Hatsune Miku, Rin is considered difficult to use and requires some experience to be able to use her successfully. There are some complaints towards the Vocaloid within the Japanese fandom on how she sounds. One of the major issues is that she hardly pronounces her consonants.

According to Asami Shimoda, some say Rin's voice echoes within their head and makes them feel dizzy.

The Character vocal series have characteristics about them which centers around their vocal abilities, and the Kagamine's focus is on the two opposing vocal packages Rin and Len. Len's vocal expands the software capabilities by offering a vocal that fulfills a male role. He is a young boy sounding singer and the vocal range is in the Soprano scale. He can harmonize with Rin relatively easier than most Vocaloids due to having similar vocal capabilities. His vocal range capabilities are also slightly larger than Rin. At a known optimum vocal range of #C5 Kagamine Len has the highest male vocal within the Vocaloid 2 range, however, take in mind that he was voiced by a female vocalist.

Len has a slight lisp-like sound which separates his voice from Kagamine Rin. Even by retuning the voice of either Kagamine to sound like the other, results are never identical, and veteran Vocaloid fans can tell who is actually voicing the song. His vocals are not always as strong as Rin's on the high notes. Of the two voicebanks however, Len is often considered more difficult to work with than his counterpart, Rin. A particular noted weakness of Len's voicebank is that he is limited in his capabilities of matching masculine vocal tones, owed to his voice provider being female. Therefore, he cannot produce a satisfactory low masculine vocal tone. In terms of realism, however, he is about the same as Kagamine Rin as that was not the focus of the Character Vocal series and is not very realisitic at all. Also, he does not sound like Asami Shimoda as a consquence of this. He can be made to sound realistic, but it is noted to be harder to achieve then Hatsune Miku. His vowel sounds are choppy and overall lacked smoothness with a number of vowel related sounds being absent. Compared to Hatsune Miku, Len is considered difficult to use and requires some experience to be able to use him successfully.

According to Asami Shimoda, there are some complaints towards the Vocaloid within the Japanese fandom on how they sound. Some say Len's high vocals do not appeal to those not fond of the pair.

Kagamine Rin/Len - Act 2 (CV02)
Act 2 was released to solve the Kagamine's pronunciation problems. Act 2 is a separate installation, this version of the software later replaced the original and the original voicebanks were phased out of sale completely. Just as with the original, the default voicebank is Kagamine Rin and users will have to manually select Kagamine Len.


 * (Rin Act1, Rin Act2), (Len Act1, Len Act2)

For users with both versions, they have a choice between four voicebanks overall: the newer voicebanks or the older voicebanks, both with slightly different results. Though an updatre of the original Kagamine package, this version is still outdated in terms of overall quality and later Vocaloid2 standards. Len remains the weaker of the two voicebanks in terms of ease of use.

Changes

 * Kagamine Rin Act 2 has improved vocals in Act 2 and is clearer and easier to use.
 * The improvements mean the vocals are smoother and better suited for less experienced Vocaloid users than the previous voicebank was.
 * Rin's consonants issue has also been adjusted so that they sound clearer. Because of the off vocal differences between the original Kagamine voicebanks and Act 2, there is a large advantage with owning the newer version as they can be used for different results.
 * Her voicebank is less vivid and flexible and does not allow delicate settings or editing which gives a wider range of expression to experienced users. )*She cannot pronounce the h\ phonetic data and is missing some other phonetic pronunciations in addition to what was missing from their original software release. Despite improvements, the remaining missing data still makes the Act 2 voicebank sound choppy in comparison to other Vocaloid voicebanks.
 * Because of the change of tone, songs that suited the original voicebanks might not suit the new Act 2 version.
 * Unlike Len, she sounds closer to her provider's vocal, though as a character vocal she still does not sound realistic.

Changes

 * Kagamine Len Act 2 has improved vocals in Act 2 and is clearer and easier to use.
 * The improvements mean the vocals are smoother and better suited for less experienced Vocaloid users than the previous voicebank was.
 * Len's vocal has the most improvements overall out of the two voicebanks within the package and was much closer sounding to his intended vocal type (young boy) than his previous version.
 * It is less vivid and flexible and does not allow delicate settings or editing which gives a wider range of expression to experienced users.
 * He cannot pronounce the h\ phonetic data and is missing some other phonetic pronunciations in addition to what was missing from their original software release. Despite improvements, the remaining missing data still makes the Act 2 voicebanks sound choppy in comparison to other Vocaloid voicebanks.
 * Songs that suited the original voicebanks will not always work well with his Act 2 and because of his bigger vocal changes between the two versions, this can often be more so with Len than with Rin.
 * Though the Kagamines were never designed to be realistic, Len is even further away from sounding like his provider then his original voicebank.

Kagamine Rin/Len (CV02); Append
The Append release also gave older Kagamine users the chance to update the Vocaloid2 engine to a newer version, as the Append had the latest engine version. Users also need the Kagamine Rin/Len Act2 voicebanks to be able to install and use the Append voicebanks - the Append will not work with the original voicebanks. Though there are differences in the 6 Append voicebanks in terms of performance and smoothness, the Appends themselves were overall much smoother and of a higher quality than the original voicebanks.

Unlike the previous Hatsune Miku Append (in regards to her Append; SOFT voicebank), this particular Append has no voicebanks that match the original optimum range and tempo. Thus, it is much harder to escape the need to edit VSQ files that originally fit the Kagamine Rin/Len Act2 vocals. If one complies with using the vocals offered with the Append with the correct Kagamine vocal, they will find that there is a lot less options to expand Rin or Len than what the Miku Append offered (just 3 vocals for each compared to Miku's 6). This makes the Kagamine Appends much harder to use overall, while fitting in with the Kagamine's intention of being a more advance product than the Hatsune Miku vocal was. However, due to the increased contrast in vocals compared to the Miku Append, this particular Append allows the Kagamines to expand out into very different genres, more so than the Miku append offered for Miku.

Rin's POWER Library makes up for her relative glitchiness in her ACT1/ACT2 releases. This voice is powerful and is suited for intense screaming and is the most realistic and advanced of the Rin Append voicebanks. This is also the most used Kagamine append voicebank.

On lower notes, her voice can become formanted like Gachapoid or Tone Rion, giving an unpleasant "froggy" effect.

Rin's WARM Library is meant to bridged the vocal gap between her POWER and SWEET libraries, giving a balance of strength and softness.

This is the weakest voicebank in terms of smoothness for Rin out of the Appends. Her softness can lead to clicking or metallic consonants and she sometimes suffers the dreaded "rasp" soft VOCALOID banks have.

Much like Miku's SWEET Library, Rin's SWEET voice is the quietest of her appends, and is good for slow, peaceful songs, such as lullabies and ballads.

Due to her being the quietest, the VOCALOID enging (2 or 3, depending on the user) may sometimes cause volume irregularities with her consonants, and due to her whispery nature, she is not the smoothest Append (POWER is the smoothest)

Len's POWER Library is able to give a sufficient sounding male voice his ACT1/ACT2/other Appends could not provide, it being the smoothest and strongest of his append Libraries. This is also the most used Kagamine append voicebank.

Len's POWER Append suffers from low-to-high octave transition, and he will start to sound less like a man and more like a girl in the higher octaves (due to Asami Shimoda having to switch to her head voice)

Like Rin's WARM Append, Len's COLD Append serves as a bridge between his POWER and SERIOUS Appends. COLD has a more 'open' tone than SERIOUS, but is softer than POWER.

This is the weakest of the Append voicebanks for Len in terms of easy transactions between a few vowels. COLD is the least-used of Len's Append voicebanks. It also has the smallest vocal range of them.

Len's SERIOUS Append can handle softer and slower songs better than POWER or COLD. SERIOUS has a natural breath-sound, and is considered the most 'emotional' of Len's Append voicebanks.

SERIOUS, being a 'whisper' voicebank, has the potential to suffer from raspiness.

V3 Kagamine Rin/Len (CV02)
Unreleased

Update of their Vocaloid2 vocal "Kagamine Rin/Len Act2".

V3 Kagamine Rin/Len (CV02); Append
Unreleased

Update of their Vocaloid2 vocal "Kagamine Rin/Len;Append".

V3 Kagamine Rin/Len (CV02); English
Unreleased

This is a new vocal that Crypton Future Media are planning. This vocal will allow much higher quality results in English than using their Japanese version for English results.

Popularity
They were slow to gain popularity in the Japanese fandom after the backlash of their original voicebanks and although they have 2nd highest number of songs combined, they are not as popular as Hatsune Miku who came before them. Thier designs have also spawned many producer based derivatives.

In the Japanese fandom, Rin is the more popular of the two Vocaloids with more related works than her counterpart Len. Part of the problem in the Japanese fandom was owed to the backlash of Kaito's failure, male voicebanks had so little demand at that time and Len's voicebank was left as the only male Vocaloid 2 vocal until Gakupo's release, and was not used as often as Rin's voicebank.

A independant Vocaloid search on Nico Nico Douga revealed that most Vocaloids had less than 1,000 videos uploaded on Nico Nico Douga in between July 1 and December 15 2011. The Kagamines, however had managed to gain enough views not to fall into this problem. Rin had received 2811 uploads while Len had received 2021. Rin had the 3rd highest total views during this period of any Vocaloid with 5327456 views and 477046 mylists, and Len managed with 4555580 views and 413901 mylists. When sorted by average, Len was third with 2254.12 views per video (and 204.8 mylists, which was more than Miku’s) and Rin’s was 1895.22/169.71. However, when the views were based on the more accurate mean total number of views, Len and Rin rounded out the top six with 355 views/16 mylists and 349 views/16 mylists respectively per video coming bottom of the top 6 Vocaloids. The Kagamine software was the only Vocaloid package to be be in all top 6 lists besides Gumi.

The Appends for the Kagamine Vocaloids were better received than the Miku Append, though they did not sell as well overall as the Miku Append and did not remain in the top ten Crypton Future Media software rankings.

Trivia

 * It took 25 hours (4 hours a day) to record all the Kagamine Appends.
 * Some call Rin and Len by the incorrect names "Lin" and/or "Ren". Though the romanized version of the word could be either, the English version has been confirmed as "Rin and Len" and since there is no dubbed version to contend with, the names remain the only official names in existence for the Vocals. This is also backed up by the origins of their names as "R" (Rin)" and "L" (Len).
 * Note; "L" and "R" mean "Left and Right", they are the letters you find on a set of headphones (and sometimes other equipment such as speakers). Usually there is not enough space to write "left" and "right" on headphones. "L" refers to left ear and "R" is right ear.
 * On the Mikunopolis website their profile reads the following statement: "The Kagamine twins are well known for their very clear and precise vocals". Considering their history of lack of clarity and/or pronunciation problems, as well as Act 2 of the software missing a pronunciation entirely, this is a little bit of an exaggeration on the webhost's part. Also the statement, "Just with a few tweaks here and there they could sing almost any other genres as well," is also somewhat questionable due to their reputation of requiring previous experience to use and often at times needed more than just a few tweaks to make them work.
 * Rin has a G-clef (Treble-clef) on her shirt, and Len has a F-clef (Bass-clef) on his. In their Append redesigns they are found on chokers rather than their shirts.
 * With a total of 10 voicebanks, Asami Shimoda is the vocal provider with the most Vocaloid voicebanks for commerical sale based on any single vocaloid provider. This also makes the Kagamine package the most expansive set of vocals within the Vocaloid 2 era and to date the most of any Vocaloid package. However, most new users will only have access to 8 vocals due to the original's retirement.
 * Continuing the tradition of the Item War Internet Meme, many items were preposed for the pair. In the end, Len's item was a Banana because his hair was commented to resemble a bunch of bananas, while Rin's item was an Orange since her bow gave the impression of orange leaves. Before her release, Rin had the Road Roller assigned to her by accident in a video that recieved many views suddenly on December 1, 2007. Kagamine Len had yet to be revealed at the time of the Road Roller meme.
 * In piano sheet music, the Bass-clef is played with the left hand, while the Treble-clef is played with the right hand. It is believed that this is used for Rin and Len's names (Right for Rin and Left for Len). There is also a Treble-clef on Rin's shirt and a Bass-clef on Len's shirt.

Notable for...

 * First and only dual voicebanks released with two "Vocaloids" in one package
 * First Vocaloids to be updated
 * First male (Len) released for Vocaloid 2
 * First vocal (Len) released not to be the same gender as the provider
 * First male (Len) to be Appended