Sanrio Made a Vocaloid 15 Years Ago… And She’s Finally Returning

Androgynous voices are not new to Vocaloid. V-Flower has been a favorite for years now, but their voice provider remains anonymous.

On October 22nd, the forgotten Hello Kitty themed Vocaloid is getting an update for her 15th anniversary – another androgynous, powerful voice – with a voice provider who is even vocal about their place in the LGBTQ community.

She has been my favorite Vocaloid since her original release 15 years ago, so let’s look at her unique story and what makes her stand out from the crowd.

Nekomura Iroha’s Origins

Nekomura Iroha was originally released as a collaboration between Sanrio and Vocaloid. She is a “Kittyler”, a cosplayer and super fan of Hello Kitty. Yes, that is a made up word by Sanrio, and it stands for Hello Kitty + Lover.

Her design spawned from the “Hello Kitty to Issyo” project from 2009-2012. The project was a collaboration between famous artists who created humanoid fanart of Sanrio characters. Nekomura Iroha was one of the most popular designs from the project.

An official Vocaloid voicebank was released for Iroha in 2010. The voice was imagined to be more androgynous and powerful compared to other Vocaloids at the time. Not something you would expect from a cute Hello Kitty character.

Iroha’s Updated V4 Voicebank Design

For whatever reason, she never became a main Vocaloid and wasn’t a popular choice for producers. Her most popular song was a banger and one of my most favorite Vocaloid songs of all time, Neko Neko Super Fever Night by samfree (RIP).

Because of her unique status as a Sanrio promo design, she got a run of figurines despite being an underdog in the Vocaloid voice bank game.

Her Vocaloid design reminds me a bit of Luka Urushibara from Steins;Gate.

Iroha’s Voice

The official voice provider was kept a secret until her V4 re-release in 2015.

His name is Kyounosuke Yoshitate. He is a professional singer who also uploads various covers to YouTube.

You can hear his voice in this cover of Bad Apple.

When Iroha’s voicebank and this cover were recorded, Yoshitate was still presenting as genderless. They wanted fans to focus less on their gender and more on their art and music.

He made a video addressing all of the comments asking about their “real” gender four years ago. He has since been very open about their transition and choices on his YouTube channel.

I don’t want to wrongly summarize their feelings, so check out their video with English subtitles.

Transgender issues are much less related to politics and religion in Japan, leading to open media representation like Nekomura and V-flower’s androgynous voices and character designs.

But, there are still problems with judgement and fitting in, like explained in the video. I am not here to offer opinions of my own, but I think the differences in cultures are interesting and can serve as a fresh perspective about people’s own identities.

Iroha’s Updated Sound

There isn’t any official lore for Iroha other than that she really likes Hello Kitty. Maybe she is just a bit of a tomboy, or she just happens to be a girl with an incredible lower range – that’s up for the producers to decide. I hope she gets some new songs soon that help build her story.

Iroha’s updated voicebank trailer was just released this past weekend. It sounds amazing and clearer than ever, and I am really excited to see what new songs will be made with her beautiful voice.