Happy 2nd Birthday, Namine Ritsu!

貴方に届けばいい by Wanwano

The date is the 12th of October 2011 and it’s a day to celebrate the birthday to our elegant UTAULOID idol, Namine Ritsu! To celebrate the occasion, I’ve prepared an introductory segment dedicated to both UTAU and VIPPERLOIDs further down in the article; do give it a read through.

The VIPPERLOID, Namine Ritsu, was born as a result of collaboration of the collective of posters in the VIP board of Japan’s largest BBS Board, 2ch. Some of the major contributors of the project are the real voice of Ritsu, an internet songstress with the nickname Canon, and artistic prowess of the veteran illustrator known as Caffein, who is rather famous as the father figure of the fanmade VOCALOID, Yowane Haku. However, Caffein took on a different name while working on the project, gleefully calling himself ゼニガメ/ZENIGAME, which can hold the meaning of either one of these: a species of turtle popular in Japan as pets or the Japanese name of Squirtle of “Pokemon” fame. It’s also worth noting that the birth date of Ritsu does not equal the release date. Ritsu was officially released on 17th October of 2009.

Personally, this author is drawn in by Ritsu’s overall look and sound, which conjures an imagery of grandeur and the warm, vibrant colors of autumn. Both themes really do feel very fitting of the character illustration by Caffein, an image which is further enhanced by the voice of Ritsu.

Now that the appetizer is finished, it’s high time we move onto the main course!

These are songs selected from the cache contributed by the participants of the celebration on Nico Nico Douga! Most of the songs duets with a single trio and ending with a very gorgeous MMD, and they are all highly enjoyable, considering that they’re made to celebrate an anniversary.



Do pay these links a visit if you wish for more: Ritsu 2011 Birthday NND Tag and Namine Ritsu NND Tag.

The following are images made by members of Pixiv specifically to commemorate Namine Ritsu’s 2nd birthday!


りっちゃん 2才 by ママチャリ★バース

波の歌声 by 青狼
りっちゃんに踏まれたい!!! by みこた
りったん by 白王

「全部届いてるよ ありがとう」 by 窓

If these please you, you can also give Ritsu a visit under the following tags on Pixiv: Ritsu 2011 Birthday Pixiv tag and Namine Ritsu Pixiv tag!

That is all that I wish to convey to you. I hope that by reading this, you’ll come to like Namine Ritsu as much as you like Hatsune Miku and the rest! Finally, I’ll close this article with an apology, as there is a reason to why I avoided labeling the character in question a she, her, or even an it.

He is a trap, which might come as a surprise to you, valued reader!

More information on Namine Ritsu can be found here, here, as well as the voicebank here.
His official homepage can be found here, while this link leads to the Ritsu’s Wiki.


-A brief introduction to both UTAU and VIPPERLOIDs-

Voice Synthesizer UTAU is the brainchild of an upstanding member of the Japanese society who operates under the nickname of Ameya/Ayame. It has its root in VOCALOID. A freeware made in the year of 2008, it was created with the purpose of mass distribution in mind, though it lacks the finer functionality of the higher quality VOCALOID. On the plus side, community members and participants can produce their own voicebanks to use in UTAU. It’s also a common practice for voicebank creators to personify their own voicebanks, thus, came the term UTAULOID.

But then, therein lies a different foe and obstacle during its debut. UTAU came out in the shadows of the more popular VOCALOID. It was never as popular as it is today until a certain event which blown the whole concept to a world-wide phenomenon. An event lesser than that of the VOCALOID, but is just as well-received by all.

Most of you would probably know that the concept VIPPERLOID started off as an April’s Fool trolling attempt cooked up by the posters of 2ch’s VIP board to trick unsuspecting viewers into believing in the “new” VOCALOID. Teto was the pioneer of such an effort . What appeared to be a measly prank for one’s own satisfaction turned into a full-blown project to turn the “April’s Fool VOCALOID” into a fully voiced and functioning product. That, in turn, blew the popularity of the Voice Synthesizer UTAU out of proportion. Since then, seven more personalities were added to VIPPERLOID roster. As of now, there are a thousand or more UTAULOIDs in the internet, including the VIPPERLOIDs. One can find and download them by searching through both Youtube and Nico Nico Douga.

In conclusion, both UTAU and VOCALOID are as competent as they are popular. Both softwares have their ups and downs, and can be used in conjunction with each other. Some very highly-regarded songs utilize both softwares to bring the best of creativity into reality!

For those who are interested, I’ve provided links below:
– A more comprehensive introduction to UTAU can be found on Wikipedia’s article on UTAU.
– Manuals and guides to utilizing UTAU can be found in UTAUwiki site, along with a very large library of voicebanks information.
– An introduction to Teto can be found in a href=”http://utau.wikia.com/wiki/Teto_Kasane”>her UTAUwiki article.
– Download links to UTAU and Teto both can be found at UTAUwiki’s download and installing manual link, along with instructions on downloading and installing.
– Do read through the UTAU Operation Tutorial provided on UTAUwiki before attempting anything.
2ch BBS board (in Japanese).
– Finally, you can also check out Ameya/Ayame’s blog (in Japanese).


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