Tsuina-chan

Tsuina-chan (ついなちゃん), also known as Kisaragi Tsuina (如月ついな), is a Japanese VOCALOID developed and distributed by Internet Co., Ltd. in collaboration with Tsuina, the Ogre Hunter Project, and released as an AI voicebank for the VOCALOID6 engine in September 2024. She was originally released as a product in November 2019; she later released as Standard and voice databases for in November 2021.https://x.com/ahsoft/status/1456457051459055619https://x.com/ahsoft/status/1456457517769248774
Her voice provider is Mai Kadowaki, a Japanese voice actress and radio show host.
==Concept==
Tsuina-chan originates from a popular "meme" character in the online Japanese anime community - . Oniko was created by denizens of in order to combat a particular Chinese ethnic slur against Japanese people by using that term and making it into a "cute anime girl." By doing so, they would "embrace" said term and make it useless as an insult.
She is the first VOICEROID to have both standard and dialects, the second of which is due to a stretch goal for her crowdfunding campaign having been reached. Previously, this was achievable with , but as two separate characters. Tsuina-chan considers her VOCALOID6 to be the first using Kansai dialect, despite the fact that singing synthesizers do not use dialects for singing.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829411662505603102https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829418392132133029
Tsuina-chan resulted from a member of the "Hinomoto Oniko Project," Saki Ohenri, wanting to create a "rival" character to Oniko - as Oniko is an ogre, Tsuina-chan was conceptualized as an ogre hunter. Tsuina-chan made her official online debut on Oohenri's pixiv on February 3, 2011 (the initial upload was since deleted). Her character was inspired by the "Tsuina" Event, which is an annual ceremony performed on December 30 each year. It is a ceremony designed to exorcise ogres and bad spirits, which was the basis of Tsuina-chan's character. Elements of the ceremony (instruments, wooden masks, traditional clothing) were all part of her character design.
In November 2021, Tsuina-chan had an update to her website and more details about her character were given. Her blood type is "O-ni".
===Etymology===
Her real name is "Kisaragi Tsuina" (如月ついな), though she's also commonly referred to as "Enno Tsuina" (役ついな or 役追儺). She prefers being referred to as "Enno" as she considers it cooler than "Kisaragi" (which she is embarrassed by).https://twitter.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1227231473142337538
Kisaragi (如月) is an outdated term referring to the second month of the year, known as February. Tsuina-chan's original online debut was February 3, which is also her character birthday.
Enno (役) can be translated to "role," "duty," "responsibility," etc. When combined with the kanji of Tsuina's first name, 追儺, which means "the ceremony of driving out evil spirits", her full name can be translated to "the duty of driving out evil spirits," which is the basis of her character.
Her name is rendered in katakana as "ツイナチャン".https://dreamtonics.com/synthesizerv Her name is rendered in Simplified Chinese as "追傩酱" (Traditional: 追儺醬; Zhuīnuó-jiàng).https://dreamtonics.com/zh-CN/synthesizerv/
===Appearance===
Tsuina-chan is a petite fourteen-year-old girl with long pale pink twintails. Tsuina-chan’s illustration for VOCALOID6 features a brand new outfit designed specifically for VOCALOID6, based on cutting edge design trends in vocal synthesizer scenes and features many hidden meanings and references to Tsuina-chan.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829406815735701791https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829475684735156562https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829406604913233982 The outfit appears as a more “active” design for Tsuina-chan featuring a black top and red skirt combination based on the concept of “Xuan Yi” (玄衣) and “Shou Shou” (朱裳) with an overall gold tone, a color prominent in Gardenia (≒クチナシ) or , which symbolizes Hōsōshi (方相氏) and Buddhism. makes an appearance alongside Tsuina-chan in a matching jacket with the same designs. Goki will take on the appearance of a badge to disguise herself and will attach herself to the back of Tsuina-chan's skirt in this form.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829424963364986986https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829467050160357622https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829408204230631508 Parts of the design were influenced by the costumes worn by Hōsōshi of the and use some traditional motifs.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829425629802205619 The main theme of the outfit was designed to feature a "girly, street-like atmosphere", similar to something one would find hanging out around a basketball court in front of Akihabara Station.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829523198507171969
Tsuina-chan’s official Twitter noted that drills were opted out of the VOCALOID6 design to lower animation costs, and were illustrated in a way to be distinct from characters who have twintail designs, aiming to avoid being referred to as a “pink Hatsune Miku". She did note users may illustrate her with drills if they wish.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829409454636610034 Her eyes feature a “boar’s head” design motif that was often used in Buddhist temples.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829464166752756133 Her fingers are crossed, which is a common gesture among Westerners, and it was noted if they are pointing at you it means "Good luck."https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829478011756040535https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829479114580910317 The number "217" was added onto her shoulder as a form of "proof" that she is a VOCALOID, a reference to how some VOCALOID characters have a number printed on their shoulders, such as Hatsune Miku.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829839727379562710 A skateboard was added to make the design around her feet look less "lonely".lonely Tsuina-chan noted that the illustration was overall perceived well by Japanese fans, but observed that it was a “mixed-bag” or had mixed reviews among overseas fans.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829433602758922380https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1829775210842648603
===Relations===
* - The four-eyed gigaku mask on Tsuina-chan's head. He is described as "quiet and a nice guy".Tsuina-chan's secrets part 7
* & - Tsuina-chan's , the front and back demons (式神). A pair of demons originally of a married couple who serve as Tsuina-chan's companions.https://x.com/tuina_chan_pj/status/802704488775548928https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/801940848589950980
* - Known as Saki-chan, is Tsuina-chan's friend and daughter of .https://fantia.jp/posts/879937 She is a keeper of a magic stone, the , and is one of the heroines in Tsuina-chan's story.https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1433052035562106886https://x.com/Tuina_chan_PJ/status/1433059168433238016
* - Saki and Tsuina-chan's childhood friend.https://fantia.jp/posts/879937#post-content-id-1381505 He has an oblivious crush on Tsuina.
* - Tsuina-chan's grandfather. He is a mad scientist and a priest.Tsuina-chan's secrets part 26
* (役小角奈) - Recognized alongside Tsuina-chan at the Kisshousouji Temple.
* (日本鬼子) - Ogre and formerly Tsuina's rival. The Tsuina, the Ogre Hunter Project is no longer affiliated with the Oniko Project as of the release of Tsuina's VOICEROID in 2019.
==History==
===Marketing===
WIP
===Voicebanks===
;AI Tsuina-chan
:A Japanese AI vocal based on the singing style of Mai Kadowaki.
:* AI Tsuina-chan (VOCALOID6), September 30, 2024.
==Music featuring Tsuina-chan==
==Reputation==
==References==
==External links==
Language	Description	Site
==Navigation==
Category:Tsuina-chan
Category:Tsuina, the Ogre Hunter Project
Category:Internet Co., Ltd.
Category:VOCALOID
Category:VOCALOID6
Category:Feminine vocals
Category:Japanese vocals