KAITO

KAITO (カイト) is a Japanese VOCALOID developed originally by Yamaha Corporation and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc.. He was one of the 4 known "Project Daisy" vocals. His VOCALOID3 update was developed and distributed by Crypton. He was initially released in February 2006 for the first VOCALOID engine. There has since been a second installment developed for the VOCALOID3 engine dubbed KAITO V3. His voice is provided by the famous Japanese singer, Naoto Fūga (風雅なおと).
As of August 31, 2019, it was announced that there would 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 As of August 2024, however, a refined and retuned edition of KAITO's original VOCALOID3 voicebank, titled KAITO SP, was released for the PIAPRO CHARACTERS SUPER PACK; a set of Japanese voicebanks developed for the and VOCALOID4 engines. This release was noted to improve KAITO's overall balance of tone and pronunciation.https://blog.piapro.net/2024/08/ms2408011.htmlhttps://blog.piapro.net/2024/08/ms2408311.html
==Concept==
===Etymology===
The product's name was invited to be chosen by the public, and "KAITO" was selected from among the applicants, which was Shu-tP's offered idea.Fuga Naoto Blog - お返事！Morio Morito Blog - MEIKOとKAITOのパケ絵描いた人について+α "Illustrators that illustrated Meiko and Kaito" One of the reasons why his name "KAITO" was selected was because it would be easy for non-Japanese speakers to pronounce, and it looked fitting with the name "MEIKO" when they were put next to one another.INTERNET Watch - クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア社長 伊藤博之氏（前編） (Crypton Future Media president Hiroyuki Itō (part one))
KAITO's codename was "TARO";最初のコードネームは、MEIKOはHANAKOで、KAITOはTAROということですね。 it likely came from "Yamada Tarō (山田太郎)", for male characters and the Japanese equivalent to "John Smith".
KAITO is often mistakenly called "Kaito Shion" or "Shion Kaito", particularly by overseas fans. "Shion" was a fan-created term used to refer to him during the 2007-2009 period. Due to its common sighting, it is still incorrectly used by fans as his family name even as of the most recent VOCALOID engine release. Officially, the character is known just as "KAITO"; he has no family name or surname.
===Appearance===
Crypton did not set KAITO's character and profile except for his package design. Like MEIKO, he was not made with the aim of giving character or personality to vocal synthesis software.Nico Nico MUGEN wiki - KAITOWeekly VOCALOID RANKING - KAITO
KAITO has no official given age. In one doujinshi, Maker Hikoushiki Hatsune Mix he is portrayed as a middle aged man by KEI, but it should be noted that what the artist depicts in the comic is not official, as he mentioned in a magazine interview.P-Tina.net - KEIさんの描き方について聞いてみた (Interview with KEI about drawing style) A common myth within the fandom is that KAITO was intended to be middle aged, which may have generated from this fan comic. KAITO has never been officially depicted as any specific age bracket.
Because of the story of his rediscovery in 2008, KAITO was often depicted with ice cream. This gave birth to the "Item War" Internet Meme tradition.
Across all designs, KAITO is depicted as a male with short blue hair. His muffler has become one of his most iconic items and is wrapped around his neck and shoulders with the ends off to the side or behind him.
<tabber>
"V1"=
KAITO's original illustration was done by Takashi Kawasaki. 
|-|
V3=
The lack of character and profile was emphasized during the development of the V3 vocal banks, with Wat stating how different the intention of the CV series was to the intention of KAITO and MEIKO. This led to the updates taking a totally different course of development in comparison to the Appends of Miku, Len, Rin and Luka.
During his V3 update, there was fan outcry over the idea muffler being made transparent. In answer to this, Crypton stated that cloth can be made out of anything, including plastic; there was a lot more freedom with it than many realized.Wat talking about KAITO's muffler
</tabber>
===Relations===
* MEIKO - A complementary voice bank with feminine vocals.
==History==
===Marketing===
The original release of both MEIKO and KAITO was noted for their lack of marketing. Aside from a DTM MAGAZINE article, KAITO appeared in the April 2006 issuehttps://blog.sonicwire.com/2006/03/dtm4.html, but he had no other marketing as attention turned to VOCALOID2 in early 2007. At the time, VOCALOID was not expecting much in sales. The prospect of MEIKO and KAITO receiving updates was impossible post-VOCALOID and it was expected that Hatsune Miku would take over their roles going into VOCALOID2. Due to the state of the market VOCALOID was being released into at the time, there was no plan to update the pair and VOCALOID2 was expected to see a similar fate to VOCALOID.https://blog.sonicwire.com/2007/08/vocaloid2_8.html
Despite this, the act of putting a character on the box illustration was popular, though the image was not of KAITO originally. The act of putting a character on the box was carried over to following VOCALOIDs to encourage creative activities by individuals, expanding the characters based on each user's individual needs.IT Media News - 異例の売れ行き「初音ミク」「ニコ動」で広がる音楽作りのすそ野 (Extraordinary sales for Hatsune Miku as Nico spreads the music)Crypton MEDIA phage - [Vocaloid2情報] 出張終了のお知らせ。G-Search side B - バーチャルアイドル？ボーカロイド？今話題の初音ミクって何？ (Virtual Idol? Vocaloid? Hatsune Miku is the new topic now?)
Some focus was given to the older engine, but only after VOCALOID2 gained popularity, with basics (such as tutorials) produced where there was once not anything at all. 
KAITO's V3 release repeated many aspects of what made the CV series popular and he was already due a series of "beginners guides" in magazines, such as DTM, before release.
===Voicebanks===
The following covers the VOCALOID software, for future releases see Piapro Studio releases.
;KAITO - Straight
:The Original voicebank is based on a professional singer. It was a male Japanese vocal that leaned towards genres such as jazz, but due to its high compatibility with the original VOCALOID engine, was easily adaptable to many other genres of music. When KAITO was updated, the voicebank had to be completely re-done with a similar tone to the original, thus some aspects of the vocal have changed in consequential versions. The vocal was also a counter-partner to the MEIKO "Straight" vocal originally. 
* TARO (Project Daisy), unreleased.
* KAITO (VOCALOID), February 14, 2006
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, ), February 15, 2013
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)
* KAITO SP (VOCALOID4, ), August 30, 2024
;KAITO - Soft
:A vocal based on the "Straight" vocal with looser pronunciations, it is a natural sounding tone change. 
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)
;KAITO - Whisper
:A whisper-like toned voicebank much softer than "Soft" and a natural tone change. 
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)
;KAITO - English
:The English version of the voice.
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID3, Piapro Studio), February 15, 2013
* KAITO V3 (VOCALOID NEO)
;Other voicebanks
:He was due a "KAITO Append" for VOCALOID2, details of this remain vague.
:KAITO "Light" was mentioned.https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/420865420938067968
==Music featuring KAITO==
==Reputation==
==References==
==External links==
Language	Description	Site
==Navigation==
Category:KAITO
Category:Yamaha Corporation
Category:Crypton Future Media, Inc.
Category:SEGA
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Category:Big Fish Audio, Inc.
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Category:VOCALOID1
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Category:VOCALOID4
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Category:Masculine vocals
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