Nekomura Iroha

Nekomura Iroha (猫村いろは) is a Japanese VOCALOID developed and distributed by AH-Software Co. Ltd., and was created in collaboration with SANRIO and the Hello Kitty to Issho! Project. She was initially released in October 2010 for the VOCALOID2 engine. She was upgraded to the VOCALOID4 engine in June 2015. Her voice provider was initially unrevealed, but was eventually confirmed to be utaite and Showa-style singer Kyounosuke Yoshitate on June 18th, 2015.

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".

Appearance
She is illustrated by okama, a Japanese manga artist and illustrator.

The speakers encasing her hands are called Dynamic-Phonon Busters. The other set of speakers are called Chorus-speakers. 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 that divides sounds into three classes for the speakers, according to ranges: the sound frequencies for tweeters, mid-range speakers and woofers.

Profile
Iroha is canonically a "Kittyler", someone who loves the Sanrio character Hello Kitty. She joined the Hello Kitty to Issho! Project in early August 2010. 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". Also a story about how she became a Kittyler was included.

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 30, 2010.

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

Hello Kitty To Issho! Block Crash 123!!
Iroha and other Kittylers appear in a PSP and PSVITA games, Block Crash, in Japanese "ハローキティといっしょ! ブロッククラッシュ123! !".

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


 * For more see Figurines

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

KARENT restriction
Until late May 2011, no AH-Software VOCALOIDs could be used for works sold via KARENT. However, Iroha remained under ban until late January 2012 due to AH-Software's joint ownership of her with Sanrio.


 * iOS App

They also appear in the app "AR Vocaloid Walk", a Augmented Reality app. Several other VOCALOIDs, UTAU and Derivative characters also appear in the app.

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 VOCALOIDs Lily & galaco (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, and the other on 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, but 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 14. Fans also celebrate Iroha's birthday on October 22, the day when she was released as a VOCALOID.