New Lapis Song

Heart Shooter (nothing to do with Black Rock Shooter!) has just been uploaded to YouTube today, obviously as part of the fairy's second anniversary celebrations. It's quite good, and suits her distinctive voice fairly well, though it isn't outstanding.

Despite a lack (so far) of an English translation of the lyrics, and the video comprising essentially just a still image (though a very appealing one) with ocasional 'pop-ins' of a second Lapis, it is certainly worth giving this one a listen, I feel...

Fairy Anniversary

Yes, today is fairy Lapis Aoki's second anniversary, having been released on 6 April 2012. Here is a nice song and an alternating-slides video to go with it, to help us celebrate...

Konata's Song For Her Dad?

The song here has the slightly dubious title of I'm Glad You're A Lolicon, which I gather is a term for someone who likes the younger ladies perhaps a little too much to be entirely healthy. In the anime series Lucky Star, Konata had long realised that her dad was one such, though in practice he seemed to be harmless enough.

It seems to be not all that uncommon in Japan, possibly caused by all the 'cutesy' outfits worn in and out of school. Anyway, it's all well beyond me, so let's just enjoy fairy Lapis and her dancers (Mayu and a shorter-haired Miku variant) performing the song of that title in a brand new video.

There are no English words provided – and for all I know that might be just as well, as I might not have felt comfortable posting this otherwise, depending what the lyrics mean (and no, I don't wish to know, so don't anyone tell me!) This is just a musical and visual feast, and I rather like it on that basis. Besides anything else, it is rare to encounter those wonderful Saboten eyes on Mayu and Lapis together – which, if I'm being brutally honest with myself, was the final straw that made me want to share this here. Predictable, I know...

Their colourful outfits, both at the start and after the first change, are somewhat reminiscent of the psychedelia-inspired fashions of the 'sixties that one could find in places like Carnaby Street and Camden indoor market. Although they might be thought almost garish, they do actually work very well in these settings and with this quite tuneful song...

Daydream Flight – New Video

This is, in effect, the video of that Vocafarre Augmented Reality (AR) performance by little fairy Lapis, but with a few extras now added. For example, the blue studded AR 'target' that we saw on the guitarist's shoulder for Little Wish makes an appearance here. It went up on YouTube just twelve days ago.

It is also good to get a closer-in and clearer (despite the low resolution) view of more of what was going on, and from different camera angles this time, including going up the steps at the start. Obviously the tech issues with that starting sequence during the Vocafarre live performance don't exist in this version either.

There are no English words this time, so just enjoy the spectacle and the music. The words are subtitled in the version I posted here not so very long ago (just search for Vocafarre in the 'blog's Search box) so are easy enough to find here, and of course from the usual external sources, if desired...

Lapis is in my Fluffoughts

New year, new versions of old favourites, and here's delightful fairy Lapis (in her 'natural' size) performing this little song Leave In Summer, Yet You're In My Fluffoughts on a kind of staggered piano keyboard.

It's yet another nicely done video, with good motion, an excellent model, and an interesting stage. Although there no English words provided, this really isn't one of those songs where words are all that important, and one can simply enjoy it as is – in High Definition too...

Immature World

That title is a good description for Planet Earth and specifically its human population anyway, but I don't know if the meaning of this song accords with that broader view either in part or in total. Probably not at all...

This, though, is the promised duet of the fairy sisters, Merli and Lapis, that vanished shortly after first being uploaded to YouTube earlier this week. Here it is back again, presumably with whatever was found wanting in the earlier version now fixed. The song is by Taishi.

It won't be to everyone's taste as songs go (but, then again, what is?) but is a useful demonstration of how the two voices can work together. While they are not an automatic complementary pair, for items such as this they actually work well together; and I think this pairing opens up another of those areas that perhaps haven't really been well suited to Vocaloid usage before now.

Yes, I know: I'm probably being too analytical, betraying my background as more behind-the-scenes in and close to the music industry in years gone past, but it's a useful perspective to have sometimes, especially in this relatively new and supremely exciting area of the industry...

Voc-Xmas 2013 – Lux et spes KOBE

It's not in English, but this is so nice that I don't think the lack of English words really matters, any more than it does for Latin Christmas and other songs, carols and hymns. That said, I shall of course post the English-subtitled (or captioned) version if and when it appears and I find it!

On the subject of Latin, there are some Latin words (just a few) within this, captioned at top-right, about three and a half minutes in...

Caelum lucidum
Levis corde
Plenus lumine noctis
KOBE

Lux et spes means 'light and hope', I should explain for those who do not know Latin. – and no, 'Levis corde' does not mean a brand of corduroy jeans(!)

This video features the ever-charming fairy Vocaloid Lapis Aoki, whose delightful voice is absolutely perfect here...

Ur-Style

This is such an unusual item that it needs to be shared, so here is Ur-Style -arbitrary style-(I kid you not) featuring the lovely Saboten model of fairy Lapis. Just look at those eyes, and you know it's Saboten's.

The stage is also interesting in design, in distinct layers, front to back, each with its own character – and demonstrating considerable depth. We've seen such deep stages  before, but entirely outdoors, rather than looking out on them from inside as is done here. The arch-like structure reminds me of the Wall's Ice Cream logo(!)

Even without English words (which, in this case, would I suspect have little significance, as becomes evident as one goes through this) it makes for a pleasant and absorbing diversion for just under two and a half minutes...

Honey – Yukari and Friends

I haven't featured  any of those multi-performer videos for a while, but this one is actually quite well thought-out and fairly well executed. The motion isn't the most natural, but it's better than many and most of the pitfalls seem to have been successfully avoided.

Here, then, is Honey, with Yukari taking the singing solo lead, and it's switchable to High Definition too.

The performers are, left to right in the following order for most of the track (and no, I hadn't heard of the little UTAUloid on the far left either): Nana Haruka, Lapis Aoki, SeeU, Yukari Yuzuki, IA, CUL and Akikoloid...

Shake It! in two minutes

Fairy Lapis shows us how to Shake It! in just a shade over two minutes, leaving fairy trails behind her. It's a nice smooth motion, which as regulars here will have picked up on, is one of my pet aspects of these videos.

The model is stated incorrectly, I think, at the video's YouTube page: to me it looks to be the Saboten model instead, which is my favourite, I think – though they are all very good. There are small differences in her outfit and skin tone between the various versions, which I have found the easiest way to tell...

Happy Birthday, Lapis!

And to celebrate the start of her second year of existence in the world, this clip is depicted as being from her birthday concert, with a couple of familiar members of the audience. There is one design flaw in the video: the backgrounds are so white that Lapis' arms seem to disappear from time to time. I have left a comment at the YouTube page mentioning this.

Keep it going after the song ends, there's a little of what the Japanese call omake – extras...

Oppa Lapis Style!

This is a funny and cute version of PSY's song. No animation this time, just a nice pic. Incidentally, sometimes it's written oppa, at other time oppan. Listening carefully to it all, from the PSY original to this version, one gets the impression that the 'n' is just about there, in much the same way as it is (for slightly different reasons) at the end of some Japanese words and the Japanese pronunciations of our words.

This version by Lapis Aoki is a bit like Marmite, in that you almost certainly either love it or hate it. I don't think there's much if any middle ground here! The general opinion seems to be positive, so it's definitely worth having on my 'blog.

I eventually lost count of how many 'cute' and 'adorable' comments there are at the YouTube page (accessed as always via the YouTube button on the player when it's active) but it must have been somewhere around a hundred, with a few 'kawaii' as well. It took me a long time to skim-read them all, carefully discounting the blocks of duplicates (a YouTube bug that I encounter frequently).

The only oddity is that, strictly speaking, the song is written from a male perspective, admiring a shy lady. Then again, if it works for SeeU (as we know it does), there's no reason why Lapis can't do it too...

Dragoon by Lapis

Actually, it's obvious that this song – originally performed by Miku under the same title – refers to riding on a dragon, not a dragoon! It works better with Lapis's voice, though, as a number of songs have been found to do since the fairy's release.

There's no animation in this video, only a delightful picture of Lapis. I intend to showcase a few Lapis items that we haven't had here before because they don't have stage performances, but that stand on their merits just as illustrated songs.

There are English subtitles in this video, and I think they are well worth following. I found that they, like the dragon's mighty wings, are in their own way uplifting...

Fragments of the Star Princess

This is a rather nice song for our temporarily-enlarged fairy, Lapis Aoki, and with a guest appearance about two-thirds of the way through.

Lapis' voice is one of the most natural-sounding of all the female Vocaloids, and along with her image (even just stills!) has prompted no end of comments to her videos along the lines of "cute!", "sweet", "kawaii!" and similar.

In fact, it was in one of those threads that I discovered the (new to me) expression "cuteness overload!" which has a strong feel of appropriateness...

PonPonPon

Little fairy Lapis Aoki here gives us her rendition of PonPonPon, which is another of those songs well known to those who have been following all this stuff but probably not to anyone else outside Japan.

Anyway, here Lapis is at her normal (15 centimetres high) size, so the raindrops featured in the song and here in the video are actually quite menacing in theory; but I suspect the fairy is using her magic to avoid being sploshed. There's even some 'robot dancing' in this outing...

Wonder Boy by Wonder Fairy

On occasion, little fairy Lapis Aoki switches to human size, especially for duets with other vocaloids,but occasionally for solo performances, as here.

The song is Mr. Wonder Boy, and features some very reddish-pink local foliage and a lot of butterflies(!)...

Only A Fairy Can Do This

I know: I've tried it with others, but it just doesn't happen. They remain stuck inside the computer and firmly attached to its screen.

I don't know the title of this entertaining little song (just over two minutes long) but it's one of those that suit little Lapis Aoki better than anyone else, and is quite charming...

Fairy Nuff

Certainly enough fairies! There are four (perhaps more by now) slightly different software 'models' of the fairy vocaloid Lapis Aoki, and this video has all four of them together. It's worth showing this, despite a small reservation I have with the production, as it probably isn't widely known that anyone with the right software can create a model from the published characteristic of a vocaloid.

Once one has appeared and widely accepted, others' creations are usually closely matched to that appearance; but there are a few notable exceptions, which I might look at in detail one of these days. With these four, the detail on the back of the costume is perhaps the most obvious variation on the description from which the modellers all worked (including the famous Saboten, I notice here).

As for Fairy Nuff: I have mentioned before that I think that we at my Youth Group might have been the first with that name for a pantomime character, back in 1968 – but there's no need for me to retell the whole story here...

The song is Poker Face, and we saw this multiple performer version in that 11-vocaloid concert I featured earlier this month. It's the hand actions from those with their backs to us in one part (starts at 55 seconds in) that is the single biggest clue to that.

The camera angles feature too much of what anime fans refer to as 'fan service' for my taste (my taste is for none of that looking-up-from-below at all) but it is harmless enough, and I can't do anything about it anyway, so: as it isn't even real, and as this is a genuinely entertaining performance (the Poker Face 'motion' is always great fun!), let's just go with it this time...

Daydream Flight

For those visitors who didn't fancy going through the Vocafarre event video I posted recently, even after missing the chunk at the start as I suggested (and most of us have busy lives so I do understand), here is what I consider to be the highlight of the event.

This is fairy vocaloid Lapis Aoki with one of her demo songs, Daydream Flight. It really is a very beautiful item, and her voice is so good, so natural, that I am not surprised that one of the audience messages scrolling along the walls is "the voice is great" (at 2 mins 23 secs).

The 'holographic jitters' I mentioned when I posted the video of the whole event occur at the start of the song intro, caused (I think) by whoever was controlling the projection system trying to align Lapis's steps up onto the platform correctly. That could have been handled better, and hopefully will in future.

Anyway, do go through this right to the end: it's definitely worth it and might even take your breath away...

Fairy Vocaloid

Little Lapis Aoki (Gemstone Blue-Princess) is a 15 cm high (6 inches) fairy, and the sweetest of them all. For some reason, Japanese fairies don't necessarily have wings...

I shall be featuring her again in the near future, but for now you can judge her 'sweetness factor' for yourself, with this good choice of song for her, Nekomimi Switch, which is, naturally enough, about cat ears and a mysterious yellow switch. I'm sure you'd already worked that out(!)

Here are the lyrics, in both Japanese (romajii, so we can follow them on the video) and English; and here is that video...