SeeU

SeeU (시유, シユ) is a voicebank for Vocaloid3, the first Vocaloid capable of singing in Korean and is the first Korean and Japanese speaking bilingual Vocaloid. The voice provider is the artist Dahee Kim (18 year old member of the K-Pop idol group GLAM). Her release was on October 21, 2011 (South Korea) and December 16, 2011 (Japan).

History
A demo called I=Fantasy was produced by Bang Shi Hyuk (a.k.a. Hitman Bang) and was originally released introducing her to the Vocaloid fandom during the Vocaloid3 announcement. On August 30, 2011, her name and appearance were revealed. There was a limited edition version of her software as a starter pack.

SeeU's limited edition product also comes with many bonus. It also comes along with a SeeU illustration book called, SEEU COME INTO THE WORLD drawn by KKUEM.

Preorders for SeeU took place on October 14, 2011 and a community called "CreCrew" was opened for her. She was released on the 21st of the same month with a Vocaloid 3 starter option or without. She also has a limited edition with just her voicebank and a book. SBS mentioned they were keeping the prices down on SeeU. Overseas buyers will have to purchase through eBay. She was released in Korea on October 21, 2011. SeeU was released in Japan on December 16, 2011.

Demo Songs

Korean Demos

 * Run YouTube Broadcast
 * Never Let You Go_Remix YouTube Broadcast
 * Shining Star Youtube Broadcast
 * I=Fantasy Youtube Broadcast
 * Umbrella Youtube Broadcast
 * I=Fantasy Breathing Effect Youtube Broadcast
 * Mission Youtube Broadcast (Yamaha Promotion)

Japanese Demos

 * 願いを込めて Youtube Broadcast
 * 明日を向いて Youtube Broadcast
 * Mission Youtube Broadcast (Yamaha Promotion)
 * ITA BASAMI Youtube Broadcast (Yamaha Promotion)
 * 神話色のミステリイ Youtube Broadcast (Yamaha Promotion)
 * こんなアタシDOでShow!? Nicovideo Broadcast (Yamaha Promotion)

English Voicebank
Throughout pre-Vocaloid 3 release promotions, SBS stood by a claim that you can recreate English with SeeU's Korean voicebank and in Dec 2011 even went so far to say SeeU is actually "trilingual", even though the comment seemed odd as SeeU had only two voicebanks. Since her release, producers working with her had discovered a number of unlisted phonetics that had been included in her Korean voicebank by SBS for English recreation. Such Phonetics were unneeded for the Korean language recreation and the matter also became a controversal issue over the claim, and some producers questioned the need for them at all.

Finally, after a fan asked SBS about it, they explained that English samples were included in SeeU's Korean library and that they did not have time to make a full English voicebank required to make high quality English results. SBS had argued that an English voicebank was unneeded anyway since most of the sounds needed for English were in the Korean voicebank already. In Feb 2012 they stated that they were now working on the recordings for a high quality English voicebank but it is not determined how much the voicebank will cost. SBS will be trying to release it within the next year.

In early August 2012, SBS reported that the recordings for the voicebank have been completed and is now going through a tuning process. Her English VB will be similar to an append and her design will be slightly adjusted. SBS announced that they cannot reveal any more of their plans as of now.

Concept
SeeU was given a moe-esque design and is aimed more specifically to the general and Vocaloid Otaku fandom. SBS stated SeeU was created to be a "cute and lively, yet mysterious looking 17 year old girl."

Her outfit was designed with school uniform in mind.

About her design:
 * Her cat ears/nekomimi are speakers.
 * Her neckband is a CD player.
 * Soundwaves light up on the rectangle at her flat-shoes.
 * Soundwaves light up on the upper part of her top (chest).
 * There's a pause button at the back of her clothes.
 * There's a power button at the ribbon on her neckband.
 * There's an "on" button on one of the buttons at the front of her top.

During a virtual interview starring SeeU conducted by SBS Artech, SeeU revealed her clothing size to be XXS, putting her bust size close to 31.5 inches according to standard US apparel size guide.

Etymology
During an interview, Hyo Eun Kim, the manager of SBS Artech, said she thought of SeeU's name after thinking of a line from the movie Avatar. The line "I see you" popped into her mind and that's how her name was created.

Her name is read as "See you" as in "I see you". According to SBS, this is one of several meanings of her name.

Marketing
A limited edition with illustration book was also produced for her during the 2011 period.

SBS promoted SeeU to the public by printing her illustration on face packs and on the side of taxi cars.

During Nico Nico Chokaigi 2012‘s “VOCALOID NEWS," SBS Artech stepped forward and claimed to be producing an album for SeeU. On October 19, 2012, SBS Artech teamed up with Big Hit Entertainment and released an album called SV01 SeeU's Compilation Album featuring seven notable songs from the UGC contest. The album is planned to be released in Japan and translated into Japanese lyrics on October 29, 2012.

Competition
An art competition was held related to her. According to SBS Artech, the winner receives a limited version of her software and a Intuos tablet, second place will win the normal software package and the Vocaloid 3 editor, and third place will just receive the limited edition voicebank. The winners of the competition were revealed on September 17, 2011. All winning and notable entries appeared in SeeU's newest demo PV. On the 23rd, her official first demo song was uploaded, featuring all the winners and honorable mention artwork.

On November 17, 2011, SBS Artech announced 1st UGC competition for SeeU. The winners of the competition were finally announced on Febuary 3, 2012. SBS Artech held an award ceremony for the winners and had famous Korean producer Bang Shi Hyuk attend the ceremony as well as SBS news announcer Kim MinJi (김민지.)

A second competition is was held. It was a SeeU Product Design Contest held from April 23rd to June 1st by SBS Artech. Anything over 3rd place was promised to be made and the 1st place winner is given the opportunity to work as SBS Artech/11th street’s character goods designer.

Crecrew
The website Crecrew (A combination of the words "create" and "crew") was opened for Vocaloid artists and fans alike by SBS Artech. It is much like Crypton Future Media's Piapro website in that it provides a hub for users to collaborate, however the conditions are different for the artwork and videos uploaded onto the website; third-party content is allowed to a greater degree.

SBS announced a surprise party for SeeU on Crecrew for her first birthday. Producers and artists will have a chance to earn goodies made by the SBS team by drawing a picture or creating a short 30 second birthday song for SeeU. The translated version of the event can be found here.

Game
SeeU songs were added to the iOS app game "Krazy Rain 2 Battle" (크레이지레인2 배틀), a rythym game. The app is free but the songs must be purchased seperately, since the app is set up as a arcade style, it will cost 25 or 30 points (you get 2000 points for $2) per play, although some songs are free to play. Songs included are some popular songs from CreCrew and a couple of her demo songs. More songs may be added later.

Twitter
SeeU has a twitter account.

Music Push
SBS Arctech has announced that SeeU will have an artist page on the UK website Music Push.

Performance
On July 18, 2012, an administer from SBS Artech posted a poster to introduce SeeU's first "live" performanceon a Korean music show called 인기가요 (Inkigayo), broadcasted by SBS. SeeU performed with her voice provider, Dahee, as well as the other members of Dahee's group, GLAM. SeeU appeared as a hologram designed by a 3D designer on crecrew who goes by the name of 처리 (ChuhRi). The show was aired to the public on July 22, 2012.

At some point after this live concert, SeeU and GLAM performed in a different music festival together, singing and dancing to I=Fantasy. Other songs included Party (XXO) and Glamorous.

Even before that performance GLAM did a pre-debut version of I=Fantasy by themselves, with a screen showing a practice run of the dance before it was aired.

Interview
During a recent interview with Prica by the SBS Artech team, SBS has announced some plans they will be doing. SBS claimed they have started a company called VMP Korea (Vocaloid Music Publishing Korea) to publish CDs out of songs uploaded to Crecrew. SeeU and GLAM will be appearing in an international 3D contest. They are planning an event with Dongne Festa (a Doujin event) towards the end of the year. Winners from SeeU's Birthday competition will recieve the limited edition of SeeU's Birthday products. The UGC contest winner will recieve a CD.

SV01 SeeU

 * Using SeeU to create Konglish
 * SeeU tips and tutorials

SeeU has both a Japanese and a Korean voicebank, allowing her to switch between the languages where needed. By default her software is set to her Korean voicebank, users will have to manually select her Japanese voicebank. Both her Korean and Japanese vocals currently house the highest known optimum vocal range for released for Vocaloid 3.


 * -|SeeU; Korean =
 * -|SeeU; Japanese=

SeeU; English
Unreleased


 * -|SeeU; English =

Notable SeeU Songs

 * SBS Artech 1st UGC Competition Submissions

Popularity
SeeU was popular with overseas prior to her release. However, within Japan some issues between Japanese and Koreans involving fan based opinions on political and racial issues made SeeU hit a rough start. Her overall popularity ranges per website from amongst the least to most popular of the Vocaloid 3 releases and is affected by the opinions and the politics of the fans within that circle of the fandom.

The SBS Artech team admitted SeeU sold less than expected. Specific number of sales has not been revealed.

Trivia

 * SeeU's design felt "familiar" to some fans.

Notable for...

 * First Korean capable Vocaloid
 * First female Korean Vocaloid
 * First Vocaloid by SBS Artech
 * First female Vocaloid by SBS Artech
 * First Korean/Japanese bilingual Vocaloid
 * First Japanese voicebank produced by a Korean company
 * First Japanese voicebank provided by a Korean provider
 * First trilingual Vocaloid announced to be developed (Korean/Japanese/English)

Gallery

 * -|Boxart =
 * -|Concept art =
 * -|Promotional art =
 * -|MMD models =