Miku Day 2026
Another year, another March 9th comes along and makes me reflect on a character I appreciate so much after all these years. It's not so much her as an avatar or character, but what she stands for in a lot of people around the world. She in a way gave a voice to so many people and allowed so many people to express themselves, whether you are a musician or composer or artist or writer or cosplayer or any other creative and non-creative field like a listener.
Miku and Vocaloid/Vocasynths are such an amazing phenomena in today's modern culture in so many ways that it cannot be understated how important the impact it has in so many media spheres. From David Letterman to Coachella to now Fortnite. And that's just the "western" sphere.
Anyways, I'm not here to talk ethnomusicology (as much as I want to). You can read my undergrad paper for that. I do want to talk about why Miku is important to me, and why it makes me so gosh darn emotional sometimes.
As a wee lad, I had unfettered access to the internet. However, I knew better to go on those weird sites with weird people. I first started my social internet journey on a forum called GameFAQs. Who then put me onto various MMOs and web games. Then ultimately the real trouble: imageboards. You know the one.
Looking back at it, that is where I became entranced with otaku culture. I learned Evangelion, Touhou, Rance, Index, Fate, and so much more at the time. Although I didn't have some of the means to truly access them, through osmosis and understanding context through their memes I sorta started to get it. Through being a lurker, you become in-tune with new things coming out where you would never know through traditional means at the time.
One of them was a certain KEI image of a twin-tailed, blue-haired girl-shaped creature by the name of Hatsune Miku.
Somehow, I clicked on a Youtube link and listened to my first Vocaloid song: Ai Kotoba (Love Words) by DECO*27. As her voice entered my ear, I was confused yet curious. Is she a robot? An AI? She's not human, but she's trying to sound like one.
As the song ended, I listened to it. Again, and again, and again. The story of this girl trying to express how much she loves you in a fun and a bit coy way. The way the instrumental is just grooving and rocking and fantastic. The big question for me was: how can such a robotic voice affect me so much, as much as a human voice and performance can?
I then went on my path to listen to more and more Miku songs, starting from DECO*27's distography to whatever I could find on Youtube.
This was in 2009. And since then, my love for Miku and Vocaloid and Vocasynths has persisted, if not expanded.
I started a playlist in 2015 collecting all these different Miku/Vocaloid/Vocasynths songs on Youtube and as of now it has over 2,200 videos in it.
I also have been to every Miku Expo in the US since 2014 (I also had a chance to see Miku perform in 2011's Anime Expo and blew it lmao).
I can go on and on in the very specific and individual ways Miku and Vocalsynths as a whole impacted my life. I can go on and on about the ways Vocalsynths have impacted music and culture as a whole. I can go on and on about the dramas that have happened over the years in the community at large. And I can go on and on about the songs that mean a lot to me.
But I'll keep this short for you, dear reader. Let's save it for next time, if you really ask.
For now, happy Miku Day~!! I am proud to be a Miku Boomer. And I think I will continue to be one until the day I die. Until then, catch me at the next Miku Expo.