Dongfang Zhizi

**Dongfang Zhizi** (東方栀子,*Gardenia*) is a character created for the UTAU software. She later received NIAONiao voicebanks as well.

## Concept

Her name can be roughly translated as "The Eastern cape jasmine".

## History

Dongfang Zhizi was first appeared in the "Chinese Cultural Festival - First Annual Animation Prize giving Ceremony" on 27 Dec 2011. The project of Dongfang Zhizi was initiated by Liu Bing who is the director and host of Tian Jin TV. Liu Bing claimed that he and his team had prepared for Zhizi for 30 days. As her two ponytails hairstyle and the mini-skirt, the netizens alleged that Liu Bing had plagiarised Hatsune Miku.

In January 2013, Dongfang Zhizi received an UTAU voicebank voiced by Shan Shan. She, along with 34 other Mandarin UTAU voicebanks, Yu Niaoniao, Luo Tianyi, KAITO, and VY2, were featured in a cover of a Chinese song called "Tomorrow Will Be Better". Her voicebank was a monopitch single sound bank, with Mandarin sounds only, though she can sing in Japanese with proper aliasing and configuration. There are reviews that her voice is difficult to work with due to her voice provider not using a microphone that allowed for clear recording.

In June 2013, an update was made, Dong Fang Zhi Zi V2.0, where she was given an updated Mandarin Chinese voicebank and a CV Japanese voicebank. As of August 2013, the link has stopped working.

On December 27, 2016, an update of the Mandarin Chinese Voicebanks was made. Dongfang Zhizi\_Blossom is voiced by Ruobi (若比). Four voicebanks were released - Spring (sweet), Summer (strong), Autumn (soft)[1] and Winter (whisper)[2].

On September 27, 2021, Dongdangzhizi\_bot on Weibo announced that new CVVC Mandarin Chinese voicebank will be released on November 27,2021.[3]

Dong Fang Zhizi has also been given a NIAONiao voicebank.

On May 5, 2017, on the official NIAONiao website, a page for Zhizi was made and according to the website the link was dead, however fans have notice that the link leads to a download for UTAU voicebanks that were uploaded on December 27, 2016 a official bilibili was made for these voicebanks.

## Reputation

### Reaction

Zhizi received alot of criticism over her design. She was accused of copying the popular vocal-synth character Hatsune Miku. The conclusion was made that she was an attempt to 'cash in' on Miku's popularity by borrowing elements from her design and using the same virtual diva concept. This caused a negative reaction from Miku fans, and videos of the singer received several thousand "dislikes". This proved that singers who are similar to the point where fans believe they are 'ripping off' Miku are met with controversial outcry.

### Achievements

* First Mandarin Chinese UTAU to be on live TV.
* First Mandarin Chinese UTAU to be in a concert.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 iVocaloid Forums - 【Voicebank Distribution】 Dong Fang Zhi Zi V2.0 【Voicebank made with the Syo List & PST】
2. ↑ https://www.weibo.com/1435778811/yihOr3coq
3. ↑ YouTube "Tomorrow Will Be Better" @0:52 sec
4. ↑ link pitayachina.com
5. ↑ link tumblr post by Mario.MD
6. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bs411a7EZ?spm\_id\_from=333.999.0.0
7. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bs411a7JP?spm\_id\_from=333.999.0.0
8. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bs411a7JA?spm\_id\_from=333.999.0.0
9. ↑ https://m.weibo.cn/status/4678768595829706?
10. ↑ http://www.dsoundsoft.com/voice/info/DFZZ/
11. ↑ http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/05/04/fury-at-chinas-fake-miku/ (NSFW)

## External links

### Articles

* UTAU wiki
* UTAU wiki 2.0
* NIAONiao wiki
* Download link of DongfangZhizi\_Blossom