Nekomura Iroha

never the way to go.

Nekomura Iroha (猫村いろは) is a character created by SANRIOWAVE CO.,LTD. in 2009. Also with a collaboration between AH-Software, she was released as a Vocaloid2 on October 22, 2010. She is illustrated by okama, a Japanese manga artist and illustrator.

History
In October, 2010, Iroha was released, via Vocaloid2, offering: two demo songs, her appearance and the name which was also released. Her voice provider is unknown. However, it is said that she is a professional singer who passed the audition test of AH-Software.

Concept
Iroha is one of the "Kittyler" characters who love the Sanrio character Hello Kitty. She also joined the "Hello Kitty to Issho!" project in early August, 2010.

The speakers encasing her hands are called Dynamic-Phonon Buster. The other set of speakers are called Chorus-speaker, each of these move around, supporting her. The floating microphone collects her voice and Announce Booth, which is on her head, works as an amplifier and divides the sound into three classes for the speakers, according to its range; the sound for tweeters, mid-range speakers and woofers.

According to her official profile on the Hello Kitty to Issho! page, she is interested in Hello Kitty and wants to become a "Platinum Kitty".

Etymology
"Iroha" is the old Japanese variant of "ABC" (as seen in the Japanese iroha poem) and "I, Ro, Ha" means "A(La), B(Si), C(Do)" of seven-note scale. "Nekomura", her surname, means "Cat Village".

Marketing
She was originally designed by Sanrio for Comiket (Comic Market) in 2009. Iroha was released as a part of a promotional tie-in with a Vocaloid x Hello Kitty promotion.

A CD was released with two songs ("Tsubasa" and "ABBEY FLY") featuring her, along with VSQ files. She owes much of her early use to being supplied as a trial version. The offer for the free trial ended on September 30th 2010.

Until May 2011, all AH-Software Vocaloids were banned from Karen-T. However, because of her joint own over her copyright with Sanrio she was still forbidden, this lasted until Jan 2012.

Hello Kitty Merchandise
Like other Kittylers, Iroha has had the standard array of promotional merchandise. Some of these items include postcards, an illustration book, etc. Most of these promotions are unrelated to her Vocaloid self as they are done in line with the Hello Kitty franchise.

ハローキティといっしょ! ブロッククラッシュ123! !
Iroha and other Kittylers appear in a PSP and PSVITA games.
 * PSP PV
 * PSVITA PV

Figurines


Since she is owned primarily by Sanrio, the Sanrio company have commissioned several figurines of this Vocaloid.


 * For more Figurines see Template:Nav Figurines

Taiwan Release
Nekomura is one of the Vocaloids set to be released by e-capsule.

Christmas Illustration Contest
On December 12, 2011, AH-Software announced that they are holding an illustration contest of Iroha with the theme Nyanglebell (Nyan and Jingle Bell). Submissions were opened from December 12th to January 10th 2012. 4 winners were announced on AHS' page.

Karen-T Restriction
Until late May 2011, no AH-Software Vocaloids could be used for works sold via Karen-T. However, Iroha remained under ban until late Jan 2012. The ban was owed to her joint ownership with Sanrio.

Nekomura Iroha
AH software are releasing their Vocaloid 2 era Vocaloids with Vocaloid 3 starter packs. However, there have been no updates for the 4 voicebanks. Although they are sold with Vocaloid 3, they are all still Vocaloid 2 voicebanks.


 * -|Nekomura Iroha=

Demo Version
Her trial version did not have as many reported problems as Lily's had and was a closer representation of her final product than Lily's was. At this point in time, there are no known major bugs with her demo version. The demo version allowed 30 days usage for free so users could test out to see if they liked her vocals.

A 14 day trial version of the Vocaloid 2 engine for this Vocaloid was made able to be downloaded in March 2012 from Ah Softwares website. This does not allow .VSQ saving but .Wav files can be saved.

Popularity
Iroha was well received overall by both Japanese and Western fans; the Western fans especially praised her vocal capabilities, and she was amongst the fan favorite voices of 2010's releases. This was an improved reaction from the previous Vocaloids released by AH-Software, and Iroha did not have to endure the same struggle to gain popularity as her predecessors.

A independent Vocaloid search on Nico Nico Douga revealed that most Vocaloids had less then 1,000 videos uploaded on Nico Nico Douga in between July 1 and December 15 2011 with Iroha falling into that category as well.

Trivia

 * Due to miscommunication regarding advertisement of the new collaboration happening at the same Comiket booth as another event, fans initially believed that the new Vocaloid, announced to be a collaboration between AH-software and Sanrio, would be the kittyler Rio which was illustrated by KEI, the illustrator for the Crypton Future Media CV series and the Vocaloid Lily (It is to be noted that at the time, a "Kittyler" was misunderstood to be a moe personification of Hello Kitty herself rather than someone who is simply interested in the character). This sparked a controversy, and an interview with one of the members of AH-software had to clear up the misunderstanding. Rio was used for an upcoming project by Sanrio, "Hello Kitty to Issho!" and she is one of several Kittylers illustrated by multiple artists. KEI was just one of them.


 * Two MMD Models of Iroha were released from Windows 100% magazine, one in August and another in November. The first model was based upon her Kittyler attire the other is her Vocaloid attire. The creator of the models is ISAO . Her second model (Vocaloid style) was used for an official 3D movie has shown on her official page and broadcast on Youtube. In May 2011, two more models of Iroha were released, both done by the same artist, only this model was released to the public for a limited time. The models are Iroha in a more casual (dubbed idol) appearance; the first model that was released had a large bun wrap, but after much feedback ISAO edited the same model to have a side ponytail. In July 2011 a Magician model was released from Windows 100%.


 * In total, Iroha has two birthdays. Iroha's character / mascot's birthday is on May 14th. Fans also celebrate Iroha's birthday on October 22nd; the day where she is released as a Vocaloid.

Notable for...

 * Most popular AH software Vocaloid 2
 * First AH software Vocaloid to gain satisfactory levels of popularity

Gallery

 * -|Concept art =
 * -|Promotional art =
 * -|MMD models =
 * -|Misc. =