Kagamine Rin & Len

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).

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.

According to Asami Shimoda, Len's voice was achieved by singing within her chest, while Rin's at the top of her head.

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.

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".

English version
Crypton Future Media was considering an English version of the software. They later announced they will make one.

Concept
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. The keytar Len is often featured holding in merchandise is a Yamaha KX5 of which both the Kagamine designs take certain design elements from.

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 announced that they are neither siblings nor lovers.



As well as a new set of vocals during the Act2 release, 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

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

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.

Etymology
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.

Their surname was from the developing code combining Kagami (鏡, mirror) and Ne (音, sound).

Marketing
The Kagamine's were marketed as a "2 vocals for the price of 1" package, and aimed to catch interest of the growing Vocaloid fandom. Unlike Hatsune Miku, they were not an imediate hit, failing to meet marketing expectations despite recieving the same level of promotion as Miku was recieving at the time of their release. After the release of "Act2" sales picked up steadily and are one of the more heavily market Vocaloids, though have never met the marketing strength Miku did before them.

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. Pullip Dolls were released for both Rin and Len alongside Miku. Rin and Len were released as Dal's, and Miku was released as Pullip.

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


 * For more see Figurines

Clothing
They have appeared on T-shirt designs, often to promote themselves or particular albums by Producers.

In 2011, Piapro held a contest with members to design Goth Lolita clothing for Vocaloids, the designs were produced by the company Putumayo. Amongst the winners were designs based on the Kagamines' own attaire.

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.

From episode 12-16 of Hyouka, there are Miku, Rin, Len, and Luka cosplayers.

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

5th Anniversary
Crypton Future Media are celebrating the Kagamine's 5th Anniversary, along with Megurine Luka's 4th, with a number of goodies.

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. After the release of "Act2", the original vocals became referred to as "Act1" by both Crypton Future Media and Vocaloid fans.

This particular package had a reputation for being difficult to work with and Crypton Future Media had recieved many complaints from Producers who had high expectations after Hatsune Miku's release. Despite the improvements done in Act2, the original Kagamine package is still favoured by producers for its flexiablity, this allowed the vocals to be used for a much higher varity of songs despite the lesser quality singing results.


 * -|Kagamine Rin =
 * -|Kagamine Len =

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 update 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.


 * -|Kagamine Rin Act2 =
 * -|Kagamine Len Act2 =

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.

The Appends also are designed to be a "expression of colour" for the pair and like the two original Kagamine vocals are not based on a professional singer's results. They can often fail to maintain a natural sounding tone and are not intended to sound natural.


 * -|Rin Append; Power =
 * -|Rin Append; Warm =
 * -|Rin Append; Sweet =


 * -|Len Append; Power =
 * -|Len Append; Cold =
 * -|Len Append; Serious =

V3 Kagamine Rin/Len (CV02)
Unreleased

Update of their Vocaloid2 vocal "Kagamine Rin/Len Act2".
 * -|Kagamine Rin =
 * -|Kagamine Len =

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.
 * -|Kagamine Rin; English =
 * -|Kagamine Len; English =

Examples of Usage
To our readers and editors, for section notes please read; Notes; Examples sections.


 * -|Kagamine Rin/Len =
 * -|Kagamine Rin/Len "Act2" =
 * -|Kagamine Rin/Len Append =

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. Their 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 5,327,456 views and 477,046 mylists, and Len managed with 4,555,580 views and 413,901 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 Mylists. 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.

Their Append outsold the Miku Append during the period after their release. The Act2 package and Append secured 4th and 5th spot between them in Crypton's end of year top 10 Vocaloid sales despite only being released for a short period of time(mostly owed, but not entirely, to pre-orders). However, they did not maintain this, in June 2011, their Append had fallen to 8th place, one below Kaito's Vocaloid voicebank.

Google Trends "Kagamine Rin"

Google Trends "Len vs. Rin" in Japan

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.
 * 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

Gallery
[source]
 * -|Boxart =
 * -|Concept art =
 * -|Promotional art =
 * -|MMD models =
 * -|Game art =
 * -|Misc. =