Kotonoha Akane & Aoi

* **VocaDB:**

* + Base entry
	+ Akane tag
	+ Aoi tag
* Voice Synthesizer Lyrics Wiki (Akane)
* Voice Synthesizer Lyrics Wiki (Aoi)

**Kotonoha Akane & Aoi** (琴葉 茜 ・ 葵) are a pair of Japanese vocals developed and distributed by AH-Software Co. Ltd. in collaboration with AI, Inc., and were released as a single shared Standard voice database for *Web Synthesizer V* and *Synthesizer V Studio* in July 2020. They originally debuted as *VOICEROID+* speech voicebanks in April 2014 and later updated to *VOICEROID2* in June 2017.

Their voice provider is Yui Sakakibara, a Japanese singer-songwriter.

## Concept

The Kotonohas are a pair of sisters, with Akane being the elder sister and Aoi the younger sister. Akane is described by Aoi as a "natural airhead", while Aoi has a gentle personality, but is more firm than Akane. Because Akane lived in Kansai for a long time, she is used to speaking in the Kansai-ben dialect.

Their birthday is April 25, the same day they originally released as VOICEROIDs.

### Etymology

*Kotonoha* (琴葉) is derived from the words *koto* (琴, 13-string Japanese zither), *no* (の, Japanese possessive particle that in classical Japanese was often omitted in writing, especially when writing down full names of people from important clans) and *ha* (葉, leaf, plane, lobe, [pine] needle, blade [of grass], spear, fragment, piece). Literally, it can be translated to either "leaf of a koto" (if using the most common definition of 葉) or "fragment or piece of a koto". Thus, both Akane and Aoi can be considered to be two fragments of a metaphorical koto which when joined together complete the instrument (or, in this case, the voice library).

*Akane* (茜) refers to both *Rubia argyi* (Japanese madder, an east Asian flowering plant) and the red dye that is extracted from such flower. *Aoi* (葵) refers to a hollyhock flower like the one incorporated into the Tokugawa shogunate's official seal or *mon* (which was officially called 丸に三つ葉葵 *Maruni Mitsuba Aoi*); it also shares furigana with *aoi* (青い, "blue").

Their names are rendered in kana as "コトノハ　アカネ　アオイ".

### Appearance

Kotonoha Akane and Aoi wear matching traditional-inspired thigh-length dresses embroidered with music notes along the front and their matching iconic string knots (reminiscent of Japanese Kichō knots 几帳結び) on their chests. They wear matching hair ribbons on opposite sides of their heads and thigh-high visualizer-inspired boots. Both girls have long waist-length hair and hime-style cut bangs. Akane's theme is pink and black while Aoi's is blue and white.

## Voice Libraries

* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi (*VOICEROID+*), April 25, 2014
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi (*VOICEROID2*), June 9, 2017
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Standard (*Web Synthesizer V*), July 22, 2020
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Standard (*Synthesizer V Studio*), July 30, 2020
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Standard Lite (*Synthesizer V Studio*), September 24, 2020
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi (*A.I.VOICE*), February 22, 2021
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Tsubomi (*A.I.VOICE*), February 22, 2021
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi (*Voidol*), October 12, 2021
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi English (*A.I.VOICE*), December 10, 2021
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Song Library (*NEUTRINO*), April 25, 2022
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi (*Seiren Voice*), May 17, 2022
* Kotonoha Talk Chinese (*A.I.VOICE*), September 22, 2022

## Additional Information

### Marketing

On June 30, 2020, AH-Software Co. Ltd. held a Twitter campaign in which users were able to apply by DM to receive a set of Synthesizer V Studio Pro, Synthesizer V Kotonoha Akane & Aoi, and Synthesizer V Saki packaged versions. Ten users were ultimately selected.

Merchandise featuring the Kotonoha sisters' Synthesizer V designs were distributed on the official Kotonoha Akane & Aoi BOOTH account. Merchandise included an embroidered polo shirt with the Kotonoha logo and a 15-inch PC case.

On February 27, 2021, Akane & Aoi appeared at a live concert performance titled *Kotonoha Rock Fes 2021* (コトノハロックフェス2021) held by i-Pairs Inc. in celebration of the release of their Synthesizer V library. The sisters performed live on stage as a projection on a screen with a live band performing various original and cover songs.. The event started as a crowdfund with a goal of raising 3,400,000 yen. Over 4,183,444 yen would eventually be raised prompting for the creation of exclusive MikuMikuDance models of the girls' Synthesizer V costumes.

Akane & Aoi won the Grand Prix Music Category Award for the "*35th Vector Pro-Registry Award*" on Vector PC Shop

On June 24, 2022, Dreamtonics Co., Ltd. announced its first creation contest in collaboration with AH-Software, Animen, AUDIOLOGIE Co., Ltd., and Eclipsed Sounds, LLC with three competition areas: originals, covers, and cross-lingual synthesis. Creators were encouraged to submit their work regardless of language restrictions. Prizes included cash distribution from bilibili, digital copies of certain Synthesizer V voice databases, and the physical boxed copy of ANRI. Akane and Aoi were listed as eligible vocals for this contest.

### Reputation

Kotonoha Akane & Aoi's character status
**Achievements**

* First AH-Software Synthesizer V characters released.
* First female Synthesizer V voice database from AH-Software.
* First Synthesizer V voice database from AH-Software.
* First VOICEROIDs to receive a Synthesizer V voice database.
* First AH-Software Synthesizer V voice database to receive a Lite voice database.
* First AH-Software Synthesizer V voice database to be available for Web Synthesizer V.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Hello\_World\_/status/1276490493761748993
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/1276349537079029760
3. ↑ https://www.ah-soft.com/charactor/
4. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152100161857804
5. ↑ https://dreamtonics.com/synthesizerv
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/1277532326893776896
7. ↑ https://kotonoha-sisters.booth.pm/
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/kotonoha0425/status/1281401741678833665
9. ↑ https://kotonoha-sisters.booth.pm/items/2181963
10. ↑ https://kotonoha-sisters.booth.pm/items/2181537
11. ↑ https://readyfor.jp/projects/kotonoharockfes
12. ↑ https://twitter.com/KotonohaRockFes
13. ↑ https://twitter.com/KotonohaRockFes/status/1365567764614684673
14. ↑ https://readyfor.jp/projects/kotonoharockfes/announcements/151762
15. ↑ https://twitter.com/KotonohaRockFes/status/1342026419946225664
16. ↑ https://twitter.com/KotonohaRockFes/status/1333419589640749058
17. ↑ https://twitter.com/KotonohaRockFes/status/1327204933641256964
18. ↑ https://pcshop.vector.co.jp/service/special/award/#13
19. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv17237015

## External links

* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Synthesizer V Product Page
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi VOICEROID Product Page
* Kotonoha Akane & Aoi Official Twitter
* AI, Inc. Official Kotonoha Website
* Kotonoha Sisters BOOTH Account