MAIKA

MAIKA is a Spanish VOCALOID developed and distributed by Voctro Labs, S.L., and was released in December 2013 for the VOCALOID3 engine.

In 2014, Giuseppe revealed that both MAIKA and ONA are the same VOCALOID3 library. While MAIKA represents the Spanish usage of the vocals, ONA represents the Catalan usage.

On May 5, 2014, Voctro Labs confirmed on twitter that ONA and MAIKA were actually two different designs for the same voicebank.

Appearance
According to Noriko Hayashi, MAIKA was based on the "Pop Diva" appearance requested by Voctro Labs.

She has a play/pause tattoo (▶ ll) located on her left cheek. The little droid that accompanies her acts as a pet, microphone and speaker; on October 16, MAIKA's Facebook page started a poll asking fans to give a name to the floating droid. Later, on December 22, the site stated that the winning name was "NOVA".

It was reported via a YouTube video that MAIKA's design was made to look mature like MEIKO's. However, it was accepted that MEIKO's design was a little plain, and so Noriko Hayashi went for a design that was more like Lady Gaga. The hairstyle was a main focus in the design. Due to the number of female VOCALOIDs out, it was felt that if the hair was not something bold, MAIKA would not stand out. The lineart was completed first; Voctro Labs requested Noriko to adjust the hair color scheme. The last one was to avoid comparisons with previous VOCALOIDs like IA or Megurine Luka, as originally, the hair was a gradient of peach to light pink. Noriko tested various color combinations with Voctro choosing the final color scheme. She was asked also to make MAIKA look a little happier, so her face was adjusted slightly. NOVA was purposely created to make her design different from other VOCALOIDs. The design itself did not pull any references from Spanish culture, as it was decided that a more international feel would make her more approachable by non-Spanish people and would avoid racial cliches.

Details about her biography such as her height, age, etc, are included within her package.

2nd Anniversary Design Contest
In November 18, 2015, celebrating MAIKA's second anniversary, Voctro Labs, along with Noriko Hayashi, Akuo and Yoistyle organized a contest to create a brand new outfit for MAIKA based on the "Sky" theme.

The winner's design appeared in Maika's artbook, which was released in the first half of 2016 and illustrated by Noriko. The runner ups also received prizes, though their designs weren't included in the artbook. Prizes included a signed and dedicated MAIKA artbook and MAIKA merchandise. The winning piece was considered as a new official design.

In January 18, 2016, the winners were announced. First place was by Yukina Esteban, while second and third place were by Marisol Azcarate and Namy-bot. Noriko Hayashi stated that some honorable mentions would be listed in the final artbook.

Relations

 * NOVA - A floating robot that acts as MAIKA's microphone and speaker.

Music featuring MAIKA
Examples of usage

Marketing
MAIKA's promotion was handled very differently to her predecessors. An illustration contest was held which would allow fans to participate in her design. She was heavily marketed as a young pop idol with a versatile voice bank, and her demo songs were done by popular VOCALOID producers in the western fandom.