Megurine Luka

Megurine Luka (巡音ルカ), codenamed CV03, is a Japanese VOCALOID developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc., and was initially released in January 2009 for the VOCALOID2 engine. She is the third release of Crypton's Character Vocal Series and is a Character Voice VOCALOID. In March 2015, additional voicebanks and an upgrade to the VOCALOID4 engine were released.
Her voice is provided by the Japanese voice actress and singer, Yū Asakawa (浅川悠 / Asakawa Yū), who was recorded in Japanese and English for the voicebank.Yū Asakawa's Official ProfileYū Asakawa's Blog
As of August 31, 2019, there will be no further installments with the VOCALOID program. Instead Crypton is focusing on their own program, .https://blog.crypton.co.jp/l/2019/08/n1908311/https://twitter.com/labopton/status/1167698329389551616?s=19
==Concept==
Megurine Luka was the first VOCALOID designed to fully support producing vocals in both Japanese and English, and the first addition to the Character Vocal Series software line characterized as an adult.http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/0902/10/news036.html
===Etymology===
Her surname combines "Meguri" (巡, circulate or around) and "Ne" (音, sound), while the name "Luka" invokes the homophonous pronunciations of 流 (ru, flow), 歌 (ka, song) and 香 (ka, scent), thus making: "songs to all around the world as scent spreads."
Her name is based on her concept, which is "travelling sound", meaning words which are translated from one language to another.https://blog.sonicwire.com/2009/01/post-95.html
Her codename of "CV03" means "Character Voice 03".
===Appearance===
VOCALOID fans tried to assign an item to Luka as they had done with past VOCALOIDs, sparking heated debate over the choice. Tako Luka marked the end of the "Item Wars" system where items were assigned to VOCALOIDs based on memes. Despite the Internet Meme's popularity, she is often seen with a tuna fish. This is a result of comparing the Japanese word for "tuna" (maguro) with her last name.
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According to KEI, who was asked by Crypton to illustrate her, her design was made to be asymmetrical due to her bilingual software so she would look different in various angles. Unlike previous mascots in the series, her costume is not based on a school uniform. She is based on the "Yamaha VL1 VL-1". Her dress was designed to look old-fashioned to make her represent the past. As a form of contrast, the "∞" on her neck area represents "sound around".http://sekiseblog.blog51.fc2.com/blog-entry-150.html
Her design incorporates and . The gold curl design on her chest mimics brass instruments and a circulatory organ. The blue jewel near her throat represents moisture in the air and water drops.IT Media News - 「巡音ルカ」は「ミク」「リン・レン」とどう違う？ (How is Luka different from Miku and Rin/Len?)
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===Relations===
*Hatsune Miku - Fellow member of the Character Vocal Series.
*Kagamine Rin & Len - Fellow members of the Character Vocal Series.
==History==
===Marketing===
Despite the inclusion of English, Megurine Luka was not aimed at a worldwide audience. Instead, she was focused primarily at Japanese producers. Her VOCALOID2 software and promotions therefore were restricted for a long time to within Japan and not even software support was offered in English.
Crypton Future Media applied for trademark for Luka on January 29, 2015.http://www.trademarkia.com/megurine-luka-79159406.html
On August 11, 2021 at the "Hatsune Miku Chronicle" (初音ミク・クロニクル) art exhibition event, merchandise featuring Megurine Luka's original concept artwork now known as Megurine Luka if. (巡音ルカ if) were revealed with a finalized illustration of the original design by KEI.https://piapro.net/39chronicle/ex.htmlhttps://www.hmv.co.jp/artist_%E5%88%9D%E9%9F%B3%E3%83%9F%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD%E3%83%8B%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB_000000000875231/
===Voicebanks===
The following covers the VOCALOID software, for future releases see Piapro Studio releases.
;Megurine Luka - Japanese
:The original voicebank for Japanese voicebank. Luka was intended to be a moody sounding vocal with a soft sound and was voice acted, though represents a more experienced singer. 
:This vocal has since been retired. In the later V4x version the only way to recreate this vocal was via the use of colour "Native", as further releases favoured a more realistic vocal for Luka over a voice acted one, though there are significant differences between the original and E.V.E.C.s "Native" colour. 
* Megurine Luka (VOCALOID2), January 30, 2009
;Megurine Luka - Soft
:A more realistic version of the Megurine Luka vocal designed to sound more like Yū Asakawa, this version has softer sounds for more precise pronunciations. 
* Megurine Luka V4X (VOCALOID4, ), March 19, 2015
;Megurine Luka - Hard
:A more realistic version of the Megurine Luka vocal designed to sound more like Yū Asakawa, this version has harder sounds for more precise pronunciations. 
* Megurine Luka V4X (VOCALOID4, Piapro Studio2), March 19, 2015
;Megurine Luka - English Straight
:The English version of the Megurine Luka vocal, intended to have the same vocal tone as the Japanese version. 
* Megurine Luka (VOCALOID2), January 30, 2009
* Megurine Luka V4X (VOCALOID4, Piapro Studio2), March 19, 2015
;Megurine Luka - English Soft
:The "English Straight " vocal adjusted to have a softer tone.
* Megurine Luka V4X (VOCALOID4, Piapro Studio2), March 19, 2015
;Other voicebanks
:She was due an Append in VOCALOID2 and a example of this was heard on the VOCALOID3 promotional album "The VOCALOIDs", but due to the switch from VOCALOID2 to VOCALOID3 production was changed in favour of VOCALOID3. In VOCALOID3 the production was also impacted by the switch to VOCALOID4. 
:Details of voicebanks remain vague on these versions. 
==Music featuring Megurine Luka==
==Reputation==
==References==
==External links==
Language	Description	Site
==Navigation==
Category:Megurine Luka
Category:Crypton Future Media, Inc.
Category:SEGA
Category:E-capsule Co. Ltd
Category:Big Fish Audio, Inc.
Category:VOCALOID
Category:VOCALOID2
Category:VOCALOID4
Category:Character Vocal Series
Category:Feminine vocals
Category:Multilingual vocals
Category:Japanese vocals
Category:English vocals
Category:VOCALOIDs with updated voicebanks