Mikudayo-

About

Mikudayo- (Japanese: ミクダヨー, Mikudayō) is a nickname given to the full-body Nendoroid^[1] costume of Hatsune Miku made by Good Smile Company (GSC) in 2011. The caricature version of the Vocaloid heroine has since gained a cult following in Japan and became known as the overbearing creature separated from Miku, as portrayed in the photo collages on Futaba Channel (2chan). Due to its popularity, Mikudayo's character has been incorporated into the official Hatune Miku product lines.

Origin

The costume made its first appearance at the video game convention Tokyo Game Show 2011^[2] as a promotional mascot for SEGA's Vocaloid video game for Nintendo3DS Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai.^[3] While the promoters sought to emulate the exaggerated appearance of Nendoroid-style vocaloid characters featured in the game, the life-size mascot character was largely perceived as an inaccurate portrayal of Hatsune Miku.

Spread

In the beginning, this costume was referred to as Kigurumiku (着ぐるミク), a pun for Kigurumi (着ぐるみ, full-body costume) and Miku (ミク), while its poor quality became a popular subject of mockeries in the Japanese internet communities. Particularly on Futaba Channel, some users even began favoring her over the original character, leading to a series of parody photo collages on the site. As the ironic fandom surrounding Kigurumiku emerged, a unique persona of an overbearing friend was developed for the character and by February 2012, she had become known as "Mikudayo-" (ミクダヨー), which is derived from the phrase "I am Miku" (ミクだよ, Miku dayo). The character has been also referred to as Mikudayo-San (ミクダヨーさん) among a few diehard fans.

The popularity of Mikudayo continued to grow outside of Futaba Channel and by March 2012, photo collages featuring the character had been featured on several Japanese blogs.^[4][5][6] As a result, a manager at SEGA's Hatsune Miku project team took notice and tweeted about it on March 28th, 2012.^[7]

ﾐｸﾀﾞﾖｰって何じゃ？と思ってgoogle先生に聞いてみた。とても申し訳ない気持ちで一杯になった。

— 中の人（１号） (@nakanohito_1go) March 27, 2012

Transcript:

I asked Google "WHAT is Mikudayo-?". My mind is filled with a sort of apology.

Though this could be seen as a sad tweet, other staff members didn't think so. When several of them in GSC and SEGA attended at a Nico Nico Live program broadcasted on April 8th, 2012, they called their mascot as "Mikudayo-"^[9][10] without hesitation^[8] and the nickname caught on with journalists reporting on the event as well. At that moment, Mikudayo- gained its recognition as a widespread term, making it the quasi-official name of the character on the Japanese web.

Feedback to the Official

On July 29th, 2012, it made a headline on the Japanese web that GSC, the production maker of Nendoroid series, announced the release of Nendoroid Mikudayo- in the next winter at Wonder Festival 2012 Summer.^[11] Moreover, at the launching of the official product page of Nendoroid Mikudayo- on November 5th^[12], it was also announced that Mikudayo- would appears on the package of Fujiya's Pop Candy from next December in a collaborating campaign with Japanese confectionery maker Fujiya.^[13]

Meanwhile, on October 22nd, it was revealed that SEGA, GSC and Crypton Future Media, Inc. applied for an application for trademark registration of "Mikudayo-" in union on September 24th.^[14] This companies' decision was basically received favourably among internet users though some of them expressed discomfort with a commercial use of Mikudayo-, which might inhibit users free creations.

As of the end of November 2012, any continued announcements hasn't come yet, but their attitude tells that they attempt to franchise "Mikudayo-" products in more various markets.

Mikudayo-2

In August 2012, SEGA prepared a new full-body costume of Hatsune Miku as a promoting mascot for a video game for PlayStation Vita Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F.^[16] Its official codename was "A Costume for Hatsune Miku No.2" (初音ミクの着ぐるみ2号), but it was usually called as Mikudayo-2 (ミクダヨー2号, Mikudayō Nigou) among fans and media because it gave people the same impression they felt to the first Mikudayo- even though it was a quite different shape from her.

Notable Examples

Photo Collages

Compilation

Videos

On Nico Nico Douga (NND), there are many Mikudayo- parody videos mostly utilizing Miku Miku Dance models for her.^[17] Compared to Futaba's photo collages, NND videos render Mikudayo- as more creepy/scarly monster.

Illustrations

Many illustrations of Mikudayo- are posted to the Japanese illustrators community pixiv^[18] and Nico Nico Seiga, an image uploader section in niconico.^[19]

Search Interest

External References

Editor’s Note: Futaba relating websites basically prohibit people from introducing their URLs in the external. Do not write the URLs in articles or comments. Please use search engines.