Fans flocked to the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last November to see Hatsune Miku perform. Glow sticks lit up the darkened arena while concert attendees of all ages sang with Hatsune Miku. Many fans came dressed as her in various versions.

The concert unfolded like any other concert – a performer on stage and fans swaying and singing with the music. But one thing was different– Hatsune Miku was just a singing and dancing image projected on a screen. She is not real.

Developed by Crypton Future Media, Hatsune Miku is a singing voice synthesizer or a Vocaloid. Her voice is modeled after voice actress Saki Fujita, who provided vocal samples at a controlled tone and pitch, through the Vocaloid software, users can program Miku to sing.

To be clear, Hatsune Miku is not a product of AI (Artificial Intelligence) as users still need to input lyrics and melodies for her to sing. Human intervention is required to operate Miku, unlike an AI product which can perceive the environment, learn, and then adapt appropriate actions or solutions.

Hatsune Miku is credited for singing over 100,000 original songs all made possible through technology and user-enabled music production. But Miku is not just a voice, she is a product created from the image of a 16 -year-old girl with turquoise twin pigtails. The color was based on Yamaha’s synthesizer’s signature color.

Her name – Hatsune Miku –literally means ‘the first sound of the future’. She was “released” in August of 2007 and has since gained a global following and has remained popular among fans of all ages. Eighteen years later, Miku remains a 16-year-old girl.

But to her fans and followers (2.4 million on Facebook) Hatsune Miku is as real as it gets.

Cosplayer Pomponmy, who has 34,000 followers on her Facebook page, has been a Hatsune Miku fan since 2009. “I saw her on YouTube and in Otaku (anime fan) magazines and I have been a fan ever since,” she said.

“I was a shy kid growing up, and Hatsune Miku’s music and character brought so much joy to my life. She really is a big inspiration to me,” Pomponmy said.

“When I heard that she was having her first concert here in Manila, I had to get tickets to her show, and it fulfilled my dream of seeing her live,” Pomponmy said of Miku’s first show in the country.

The Manila stop was a part of “Miku Expo” which is a series of world tours organized by Crypton Future Media. The tours started in 2014 in Indonesia. The recent concert was Manila’s first time to be included, marking this as a historic event among Vocaloid fans in the country.

Though Miku’s pre-recorded vocals and image are shown on a screen, the show includes a live band, which gives the show a live concert feature.

“A lot of people would question spending money to see a concert where the artist is just projected on the screen, but you also have to appreciate the many different and talented artists it took to develop the concert,” Mar, 15, who came to the concert dressed as Miku, said.

By the way, other Vocaloids performed in the concert, among them Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, Megurine Luka, Meiko and Kaito.

With all the technology that makes her existence possible, what makes Hatsune Miku real to her fans is the basic human connection with her community. Fans can create songs using her software. Musicians can create music through her without having to go through a record label. Artists can create images and videos of Miku. Cosplayers can dress up like her. It is this shared creative energy and a supportive community that has helped Miku stay relevant through the years, even appearing on popular gaming platform Fortnite and performing in Coachella in 2024.

When asked why Miku is still so popular today, 14-year-old Sophie, who became a Vocaloid fan from the moment she found Hatsune Miku said: “I think it’s because Miku is timeless, and she is loved by her community. She will never die as long as her community lives.”