Megurine Luka

Megurine Luka (巡音ルカ), codenamed CV03, is a Japanese VOCALOID developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc., and was initially released in January 2009 for the VOCALOID2 engine. She is the third release of Crypton's Character Vocal Series and is a Character Voice VOCALOID. In March 2015, additional voicebanks and an upgrade to the VOCALOID4 engine were released.

Her voice is provided by the Japanese voice actress and singer, Yū Asakawa (浅川悠 / Asakawa Yū), who was recorded in Japanese and English for the voicebank.

Concept
Luka's original concept was that of a bilingual VOCALOID and according to Crypton Future Media, Luka was originally going to be called "Hatsune Miku", prior to the change of concept plans for the Character Vocal series.

Etymology
Her surname combines "Meguri" (巡, circulate or around) and "Ne" (音, sound), while the name "Luka" invokes the Japanese homonyms "nagare" (流, flow) and "ka" (歌, song) or "ka" (香, scent), thus making: "songs to all around the world as scent spreads."

Her codename of "CV03" means "Character Voice 03".

Appearance
According to KEI, who was asked by Crypton to illustrate her, her design was made to be asymmetrical due to her bilingual software so she would look different in various angles. Unlike previous mascots in the series, her costume is not based on a school uniform. She is based on the "Yamaha VL1 VL-1". Her dress was designed to look old-fashioned to make her represent the past. As a form of contrast, the "∞" on her neck area represents "sound around". Her design incorporates woodwind and brass instruments. The gold curl design on her chest mimics brass instruments and a circulatory organ. The blue jewel near her throat represents moisture in the air and water drops.

VOCALOID fans tried to assign an item to Luka as they had done with past VOCALOIDs, sparking heated debate over the choice. Tako Luka marked the end of the "Item War" system where items were assigned to VOCALOIDs based on Internet Memes. Despite the Internet Meme's popularity, she is often seen with a tuna fish. This is a result of comparing the Japanese word for "tuna" (maguro) with her last name.

Relations

 * Hatsune Miku; fellow member of the Character Vocal Series
 * Kagamine Rin/Len; fellow members of the Character Vocal Series.

Music featuring Megurine Luka
Examples of usage

Marketing
Despite the inclusion of English, Megurine Luka was not aimed at a worldwide audience. Instead, she was focused primarily at Japanese producers.

Crypton future Media applied for trademark for Luka on January 29, 2015.

Trivia

 * While the software was in the alpha stage of development, Crypton was hoping for a voice that sounded sexy. However, due to the level of softness in the results, the vocals were unable to achieve this.
 * Some call her "Ruka" or "Luca", however, this is incorrect. Though the romanized version of the name could be either, the English version was confirmed as "Luka" and since there is no dubbed version to content with, this remains the only official name in existence for the VOCALOID.
 * Luka can be heard in the original musical score "Arisen Anew" from a Homestuck album called AlterniaBound.

Reputation

 * Google Trends, "Megurine Luka"