Kaito Vocaloid

KAITO VOCALOID1 VOCALOID3 | Piapro Studio | Songs Albums Notable Originals KAITO (カイト) is a Japanese VOCALOID developed originally by Yamaha Corporation and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc.. He was one of the 4 known "Project Daisy" vocals. His VOCALOID3 update was developed and distributed by Crypton. He was initially released in February 2006 for the first VOCALOID engine. There has since been a second installment developed for the VOCALOID3 engine dubbed KAITO V3. His voice is provided by the famous Japanese singer, Naoto Fūga (風雅なおと).

As of August 31, 2019, there will be no further installments with the VOCALOID program. Instead Crypton is focusing on their own program, Piapro Studio.[1][2]

Etymology
The product's name was invited to be chosen by the public, and "KAITO" was selected from among the applicants, which was Shu-tP's offered idea.[3][4] One of the reasons why his name "KAITO" was selected was because it would be easy for non-Japanese speakers to pronounce, and it looked fitting with the name "MEIKO" when they were put next to one another.[5]

KAITO's codename was "TARO";[6] it likely came from "Yamada Tarō (山田太郎)", a placeholder name for male characters and the Japanese equivalent to "John Smith".

KAITO is often mistakenly called "Kaito Shion" or "Shion Kaito", particularly by overseas fans. "Shion" was a fan-created term used to refer to him during the 2007-2009 period. Due to its common sighting, it is still incorrectly used by fans as his family name even as of the most recent VOCALOID engine release. Officially, the character is known just as "KAITO"; he has no family name or surname.

Appearance
The illustration was done by Takashi Kawasaki. Crypton did not set his character and profile except for his package design. Like MEIKO, he was not made with the aim of giving character or personality to vocal synthesis software.[7][8] This was also emphasized during the development of the V3 vocal banks, with Wat stating how different the intention of the CV series was to the intention of KAITO and MEIKO. This led to the updates taking a totally different course of development in comparison to the Appends of Miku, Len, Rin and Luka.

KAITO's muffler has become one of his most iconic items. During his V3 update, there was fan outcry over the idea of it being made transparent. In answer to this, Crypton stated that cloth can be made out of anything, including plastic; there was a lot more freedom with it than many realized.[9]

KAITO has no official given age. In one doujinshi, Maker Hikoushiki Hatsune Mix he is portrayed as a middle aged man by KEI, but it should be noted that what the artist depicts in the comic is not official, as he mentioned in a magazine interview.[10] A common myth within the fandom is that KAITO was intended to be middle aged, which may have generated from this fan comic. KAITO has never been officially depicted as any specific age bracket.

Because of the story of his rediscovery in 2008, KAITO was often depicted with ice cream. This gave birth to the "Item War" Internet Meme tradition.

Relations

 * MEIKO - A complementary voice bank with feminine vocals.

Marketing
The original release of both MEIKO and himself was noted for their lack of marketing. Aside from a DTM MAGAZINE article, he appeared in the April 2006 issue[11], he had no other marketing as attention turned to VOCALOID2 in early 2007. At the time, VOCALOID was not expecting much in the way of sales. The prospect of MEIKO and MEIKO receiving updates being impossible post-VOCALOID and it was expected that Hatsune Miku would take over their roles going into VOCALOID2. Due to the state of the market VOCALOID was being released into at the time, there was no plan to update the pair and VOCALOID2 was expected to see a similar fate to VOCALOID.[12]

Despite this, the act of putting a character on the boxart was popular, though the image was not of KAITO originally. The act of putting a character on the boxart was carried over to following VOCALOIDs to encourage creative activities by individuals, expanding the characters based on each user's individual needs.[13][14][15]

Some focus was given to the older engine, but only after VOCALOID2 had gained popularity, with basics such as tutorials produced where there was once not anything at all.

KAITO's V3 release repeats many aspects of what made the CV series popular, and he was already due a series of "beginners guides" in magazines such as DTM before release.

Voicebanks
The following covers the VOCALOID software, for future releases see Piapro Studio releases.


 * KAITO - Straight
 * The Original voicebank is based on a professional singer. It was a male Japanese vocal that leaned towards genres such as jazz, but due to its high compatibility with the original VOCALOID engine, was easily adaptable to many other genres of music. When KAITO was updated, the voicebank had to be completely re-done with a similar tone to the original, thus some aspects of the vocal have changed in consequential versions. The vocal was also a counter-partner to the MEIKO "Straight" vocal originally.


 * TARO (Project Daisy), unreleased.
 * KAITO (VOCALOID), February 14, 2006
 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)


 * KAITO - Soft
 * A vocal based on the "Straight" vocal with looser pronunciations, it is a natural sounding tone change.


 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)


 * KAITO - Whisper
 * A whisper-like toned voicebank much softer than "Soft" and a natural tone change.


 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)


 * KAITO - English
 * The English version of the voice.


 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
 * KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)


 * Other voicebanks
 * He was due a "KAITO Append" for VOCALOID2, details of this remain vague.
 * KAITO "Light" was mentioned.[16]
 * - Kaitonation
 * - Kaitonation