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Key words
Hatsune Miku, Vocaloid, Vocal Synthesizer, Participatory Fandom, Participatory
Culture, Prosumption, Representation, Posthumanism, Fan, Fanmade content, Otaku,
Fandom, Digital Fandom.
Abstract
Hatsune Miku is a Vocal synthesiser, a commercially produced software that comes
paired with an illustrated girl as the “performer.” People use this software to create
digital performances, borrowing Hatsune Miku’s image and posting them online, where
they often evolve as they are circulated. Her image is free to share, adapt and create
with - the surrounding “Vocaloid fandom” uses this image and voice to explore and
navigate complex and heavy topics, often extremely personal, such as grief, sexuality,
depression and relationships. While there are some works in this area, they are lacking
in depth and evidence, which is the gap I aim to fill. This study aims to examine the
appeal of using Hatsune Miku as a vehicle for these complex representations, looking
further at the surrounding fandom. Using semi-structured interviews on participants from
fandom sites such as Tumblr, gaining a breadth of qualitative information on their
connection to Miku, I am to investigate my hypothesis that the connections between
fandom and figure is comparable to that of a Body Without Organs, which in this case,
occurs with ease, due to Miku’s freely accessible image, prosumption encouraging
background and narrative lacking nature.
Acknowledgements
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I am eternally grateful for [...] unwavering support,
encouragement and excitement for this project - thank you for keeping my head straight
and inspiring me to continue, despite the setbacks.
Thank you to my family and friends for their constant support,[..] Thank you to my
fantastic, passionate and endlessly inspired participants, whom this research would not
be possible without. Thank you for taking the time to share your passion with me - your
enthusiasm is certainly felt, even through a screen.
Contents
Key words....................................................................................................................................2
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................2
Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 7
Methodology..............................................................................................................................13
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Chapter 1 - The Creative Appeal of Participation.....................................................................18
Chapter 2 - The Social Appeal of Participation ........................................................................22
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................30
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................33
Appendix....................................................................................................................................39
Introduction
With a name translating to “first sound of the future,” Hatsune Miku is a Japanese
Vocaloid software produced by Crypton Future Media in collaboration with Yamaha. At
her core, she is a voice synthesis program that uses Yamaha’s diphone concatenation
technology (Kenmochi, 2010), with a voicebank based on the japanese voice actress
Saki Fujita (Conner, 2014). The voicebank was created using phonetic samples from
the voice actress, which users then arrange in order to create words and produce a
“voice” - this voice can be freely manipulated into singing any song or saying anything
they wish. The software is given an anthropomorphic, “moe” anime styled character
mascot, which is projected as a hologram onto stage for live performances and more
importantly, freely disseminated, reworked and reproduced throughout the fandom. No
biological or personal characteristics are provided other than her description as a 16
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year old girl, with a height of 158 cm and a weight of 42 kg - her default outfit
“intentionally echoes the colourings” and retains design aspects of the iconic Yamaha
DX7 synthesiser (p. 4, Prior, 2021) and her turquoise twintails have become an iconic
and integral part of internet culture worldwide from 2007 onwards. Since her release,
over 170,000 songs have been produced using her vocaloid technology (Jørgensen,
2017) and countless artworks have been produced and shared online featuring her,
ranging from simple sketches, to animations, to intricately designed figurines. As Prior
states, “Crypton does not control the rights to Miku’s image: instead, the company is
covered by a sharealike licence” meaning fans are free to produce whatever imagery
they would like, free of legal restrictions, as long as they are not using her image for
advertising (p. 5, 2021).
Figure 1 - Official Original Illustration of Hatsune Miku, by artist KEI. From:
https://vocaloid.fandom.com/wiki/Hatsune_Miku
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Miku is a fascinating case study in fandom, as she is completely lacking in a
canon narrative to base works upon - all aspects of Miku are freely reworkable and
transformable, from emotion, sexuality and narrative, all the way to age, weight, race
and gender. Writers, programmers, translators, choreographers and artists are all able
to equally contribute toward Miku, with no requirement for advanced skills or formal
training (Hahn & Klein, 2019) and equally, completely unbound by the formalities of
music labels or copyright laws. Miku facilitates creativity without limit, her freely
accessible and open source nature allows a huge range of representations to flourish
within the online community, from fantastical cyber operas to gritty depictions of suicidal
ideation. Vocaloid videos on platforms such as YouTube and NicoNico are in some
cases, a culmination of over 2000 creators and 4000 relations between them within the
networked assemblage of fans (p.167, Hamasaki, Takeda and Nishimura, 2008). The
highly collaborative, interwoven and globally spanning fandom that surrounds Hatsune
Miku constantly engages in participatory prosuming behaviour - it exists as a “self
generating network of interactivity,” which constantly affirms, renegotiates and reworks
media throughout itself (Lam, 2016). Over the last sixteen years, the fandom and its
activities have grown massively, facilitating millions of connections, friendships,
relationships and inspired affect far and wide across cyberspace.
This research seeks to explore the appeal of participating within the fandom that
surrounds Hatsune Miku, and further investigate whether the combination of fandom
and Hatsune Miku qualifies as a Body Without Organs (Gilman, 1989).
I believe it is important to study the figure of Miku and her fandom, as combined,
they become a unique and notable case of the ability and appeal of participatory
fandom. Although a multitude of previous academic literature evaluates fanfiction and
fan works, less so considers the unique appeals and benefits of those which are not
based upon a pre-existing narrative. It is fascinating to observe the sustenance of a
uniquely collaborative fandom and the success of a group which, unlike others, is not
bound by strict copyright laws, authoritative regulation or characterisations borrowed
from a diegetic canon. I believe further investigating the appeal of fandoms such as this
one will allow us to understand how collective and participatory social groups are
encouraged to grow, develop and prosper and how this compares to more traditional
forms of fandom.
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Literature Review
This literature review will work to provide an overview of the existing literature
surrounding Hatsune Miku, with a particular focus on her nature as a “Body Without
Organs,” and maintained popularity only possible through the prosumption and
collaboration of a digital fandom. This literature review was constructed using keyword
searches of the Newcastle University Library, the electronic database Scopus, as well
as manually searching through Google Scholar. The chapter begins by looking at a wide
range of existing related literature, before focusing on the individual concepts such as
the Body Without Organs, the “Kyara” and Otaku culture more generally, followed by
prosumption and fandom. Finally, it covers the existing evidence for the importance of
fandom in relation to identity and representation.
Despite Hatsune Miku’s position as one of the most fascinating and successful
cases of convergence (Leavitt, 2016) and fan prosumption, a small amount of existing
literature deeply considers her appeal to online fandom and the reasoning for the
intense range of prosumption that takes place around her. A selection of the established
work on Miku focuses on the economic and technical aspects of such a program and
character (Conner, 2014; Damar and Hartono, 2018; Jørgensen, 2017; Prior, 2018;
Sajadeih, 2023; Isfiaty, 2020), and the works that consider fandom more closely often
address aspects such as the visual representations of her character, or musical analysis
of what fans have produced (March, 2023; Zaboroski, 2018). While there are a wide
range of both contemporary and more historical texts on Otaku culture, as well as anime
fandom and videogames, (Condry, 2013; Galbraith, 2009, 2014, 2019; Itao, 2012;
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Macwilliams, 2008) these works do not strictly apply to the participatory nature of Miku
as a Vocaloid program, who differs in nature and concept from the provided, fleshed out
characters originating in story driven video games, anime or manga. I aim to contribute
towards filling this gap in literature and examining more than simply the fan produced
media texts related to Miku - looking at her in an creative and social manner, rather than
as an economic vehicle.
To gain a more in depth understanding of Hatsune Miku, her continued popularity
and success throughout internet and fandom culture, the relevant selection of literature
around this research area suggests that Hatstune Miku is best understood as a “Body
Without Organs,” (BwO) a concept from Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical work
(1989) which developed from Šuvaković’s determining of the body as a “paradoxical
symptom of representation, presence, absence and existence” (2008). This was then
expanded on by Deleuze, stating that the body is something “inceptive, arousing,
effectuating, producing or performing,” most importantly, “between many potentialities.”
Guga ties these looser definitions together, stating that it is precisely the “bodies in
between’ that represent the dynamic relation of a fandom’s corporeality” and the
“ultimate virtuality personified” in the communal figure of Hatsune Miku, whose potential
for creation is reliant on the prosumers throughout the digital networked fandom (2015).
Within some of the literature that draws upon this idea, there is a focus on the
concept of “Kyara,” such as Annet’s work (2015). She defines Miku as a “Kyarakutaa,”
(from the English loan word “character”) a simple, one dimensional brand mascot that is
copyrighted and disseminated by a major corporation. A Kyara, is a “highly stylized or
simplified visual figure that can be easily reproduced and consumed outside of its
original context” (p.125, Galbraith, 2009). She describes Kyara as “not deep, rounded
subjects” but rather characters without stories, more akin to a surface, or a “vessel to
facilitate the play of desire,” and attributes this to Miku. Wilde however, expands and
elaborates on the definitions of “Kyara” and “Kyarakutaa,” explaining that Kyara “are
best understood as mediated performers,” figures to participate in any narrative or
“fictional role attributed to them” within the participatory culture (2019). He recognises
that theorists such as Itō (2010) or Azuma (2009) maintain a difference between
“Kyarakutaa” and “Kyara,” the latter being a “meta-narrative nodal point” - Kyara can
freely be separate, or brought back into narrative (Kyarakutaa) contexts, as they are not
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bound to any diegetic context or to any specific authorial intention - which is closer to
how Miku operates in the digital fandom space.
While it can be argued that Miku has expanded far beyond her role as a “brand
mascot,” I believe considering Annett’s assessment of Miku as a Kyara, particularly as a
surface to facilitate the play of desire, is important to furthering my understanding of her
and her popularity amongst fans online. Annett ties together the Kyara and the BwO,
while recognising and acknowledging that Deleuze and Guattari’s ideas are explicitly
opposed to other more structuralist models of desire, such as those put forward by
Freud and Lacan - who argue that we are constituted as subjects by lack, or, for our
longing for unattainable objects of desire (2015). Annett acknowledges that despite
pushing against Freud and Lacan’s structuralist interpretations of desire, they remain
significant in the study of Kyara, and by extension, Miku, as these interpretations tend to
underpin a number of other key scholarly works on otaku and their desire for “virtual”
characters, such as those by Saito (2011) and Azuma (2009). Viewing Miku through a
less structuralist lens (and disregarding the appeal as constituted by lack) allows us to
understand the appeal of fan participation as separate to desires such as sexuality and
possession, and provides more of a focus on the aspects of her as a surface for
creativity to emerge.
While Saito and Azuma’s works remain tangentially relevant and are worth
exploring as key texts on Otaku culture, their focus on anime and manga characters
prewritten with personality and narratives creates a form of barrier in my application of
their ideas to Hatsune Miku. Aspects of Saito’s work, particularly those which
acknowledge the active engagement and participatory consumption of Otaku, are
somewhat helpful in providing context to prosumptive fandoms such as Miku’s, however
his discussions on fandom tend to be skewed primarily towards male Otaku, and often
attribute attraction to characters as a purely sexual phenomenon, lacking in
consideration of female audiences, and more general character appeal (Gardner, 2002).
I feel it is important to consider Japanese academics’ points of views on matters of
otaku fandom, to provide a richer and deeper contextual understanding of the subject
matter, including cultural and social intricacies that may be lost in translation if only
using western, anglophone academics, however they must be used cautiously in cases
such as this one. A far more relevant and up to date piece, rich in cultural context is
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Sone’s (2017), which considers Miku’s position within modern Otaku culture - he builds
upon the foundations provided in Saito and Azuma’s work in his discussion of Kyara
and fan’s attraction to them, using Saito’s assessment of “Kyara Moe” (2011) and,
similarly to Annett (2015), applying this concept to Miku in a way that provides a rich
framework to assess her appeal to fans, regardless of the lack of narrative to support
her as a “character.”
As mentioned previously, prosumption and convergence (Jenkins, 2006) are core
aspects of the post digital culture that thrives around Hatsune Miku - to better
understand her, and her situatedness within it, considering the influential work of
Jenkins on fandom and participatory culture is an important starting point (2006, 2013,
2015). The term “post digital” in this case is in reference to not only digital tools such as
Miku herself, but to the ubiquity and pervasiveness of the networked infrastructures that
constitute modern culture, including that of fandom culture (Leeker, 2017). Jenkins
works such as Textual Poachers (2013) are essential in understanding the nature of
fandom, however are less relevant than his more recent works such as Participatory
Culture (2015), which apply more closely to Miku due to the rapid development of online
fandom and internet fan culture, as well as the recurring issue of lack of narrative to
poach, in Miku’s case. This convergence - the flow of Vocaloid content across multiple
media platforms, along with the cooperation and willingness of audiences to travel and
circulate the media they want (Jenkins, 2006) and perform prosumption with it, as well
as the vastly the varying stylistic representations across Miku’s fandom works (Sousa,
2016) raises questions of why this fan behaviour occurs. When applying concepts such
as convergence and prosumption in these specific cases, it should be considered that
other authors, such as Galbraith and Karlin, argue that Jenkins work is limited in it’s
applications, due to his assessment of convergence and participatory fandom in a
primarily American context, leaving room to consider how it plays out across different
cultures and technologies (2016). Hanh and Klein’s work is more suited in this instance,
as it is far more up to date, and builds upon Jenkins’ ideas of participatory fandom,
considering not only the ways in which we relate to online networks and contribute and
participate in internet culture, but how these correspond to Hatsune Miku and the
surrounding context in particular, using Miku as a “globally dispersed” example of
prosumerism (2019), borrowing the term from Toffler (1980). They also incorporate
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Bourriaud’s concept of “post production” (2010) in their discussion of the evolved modes
of collaboration that take place over the internet, explaining that more people gain
access to collaborative tools due to the possibilities of modern networked digital
cultures. Hanh and Klein acknowledge Miku as a “communal figure,” only possible
through these networked modes of collaboration and prosumption, which further
suggests that she is comparable to the concept of the Body Without Organs (2019).
Lastly, it is important to consider why these practices of prosumption take place
amongst the digital fandom culture. The first wave of fandom studies, originally taking
aspects from de Certeau’s work (1984), suggests that fandom practices are tactics of
the disempowered, going against the strategies of the powerful, defining fan behaviour,
and presumably, their prosumption, as a power struggle. As Fiske elaborates, fan
activity is “associated with the cultural tastes of subordinated formations of the people”
making reference to those disempowered by various combinations of gender, age, class
and race (2011). While I am applying these ideas to my study of Hatsune Miku, it again,
must be acknowledged that the work written on pre-existing narratives does not strictly
apply - however despite this, the developed idea than fan prosumption takes place as a
struggle for representations for those who may be considered “subordinated” is a key
aspect of why an accessible figure such as Miku is so appealing. More literature from
second, but primarily third waves of fan theory is important to consider as it applied
more closely to the digital nature, however these core ideas are still relevant and should
be used as foundations to build upon. More closely applicable, considering the
historically prosumptive nature of Otaku and “doujinshi” culture as a whole allows for a
closer understanding of how Miku’s fandom operation was so successful. Looser
copyright laws throughout Japan and its social media platforms allowed for doujinshi
culture to thrive, Otaku often deconstruct images and sounds down into their constituent
parts, remix and reassemble them to circulate new forms of affect in the form of fan
comics known as “doujin” (Galbraith, 2011). Despite stereotypes, otaku culture has
always been a richly social network of interactions, the exchange of doujins, artwork,
products and information thus informed the online social conditions in which Hatsune
Miku entered upon her release (Eng, 2012).
This Literature review has covered the existing related literature around Hatsune
Miku, providing a view into the aspects of her already covered, as well as how I will
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build upon these. It provides a general introduction to the literature proposing and
supporting concepts of the “Body Without Organs,” the “Kyara” and Otaku culture, as
well as their application to Hatsune Miku, and how some previous literature has begun
to draw these connections. Finally, it covers the basics of fandom literature in relation to
the importance of building a fan culture that allows potentially “subordinated” people to
develop, explore and share their ever shifting identity and representations of their
thoughts, emotions and selves. After reviewing this literature, I am interested in finding
evidence from fans that shows they are indeed participating in a Body Without Organs,
as well as whether the appeal of Hatsune Miku is indeed due to the ease of access to
prosuming around the narrative lacking voice and image of Hatsune Miku.
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Methodology
This chapter will explore the methodological strategies employed to answer my
research questions. Interviews were used to investigate how the fandom interacts with
the figure of Hatsune Miku, and whether this interaction and participation qualifies as
the participation in a ‘Body Without Organs.’
This research is most suited to a postmodern epistemological standpoint, due to
the complex, qualitative and participatory nature of the subject, as well as the behaviour
of the online fandom. The postmodern approach values the subjectivity and multitude of
fandom constructions as equally important and valuable, rather than assigning objective
value and single truth to individual aspects - this is suited to the operation of vocaloids
such as Miku, as their continued popularity and existence is wholly reliant on the
mediated compositions provided by thousands of converging fan interactions and the
combined fandom prosumption (Leavitt, 2016; p. 75, Han and Klein, 2019). Postmodern
approaches such as the one I am taking, build upon Lyotard’s idea that that knowledge
is fundamentally fluid, fragmented and unstable - subject to constant negotiation and
reinterpretation, in the same way that the identity, narratives and meanings surrounding
Hatsune Miku are fluid and regularly renegotiated and reinterpreted (1984). Within the
scope of my study, all fans who participate within fandom’s prosumption practices are
placed at equal importance in terms of their contributions and readings of the media
texts, with no figure placed above others. The Qualitative knowledge that is produced
from interviews can be defined as postmodern in itself, as the information provided by
participants is made up of practices of interactions, taking place within an “interwoven
web of networks” in the form of online, participatory fandom (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2024).
Ontologically, a constructionist outlook applies to the knowledge that exists within and
around the fandom - it allows an exploration of the ways that Miku fans negotiate and
perform their identities, experiences and concepts through their creative and
collaborative outputs, without focus on finding an inherent truth about these
experiences, rather explore the implications of these experiences (Braun and Clarke,
2022). This ontological standpoint considers engagement and contributions to not only
Hatsune Miku’s fandom, but acknowledges the socially constructed nature of fandom in
a broader sense. With the constructivist and postmodern approaches taken into
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account, this research does not claim that all people within the Miku fandom experience
their participation in a particular way, nor does it claim that there is an objectively correct
way to participate within online, networked fandom communities.
I chose a purposive, homogeneous sampling strategy to gather participants,
utilising a research only Tumblr account - one created for the purpose of the research,
rather than a pre-existing account for personal use - to access users who displayed
consistent weekly activity within the fandom tags, as well as a considerable account
history (Etikan et al, 2015). I defined weekly consistent activity as between two to five
posts a week, and considerable account history as this activity taking place for at least
three years. Most participants were found through the searching of common fandom
tags such as “#HatsuneMiku” or “#Vocaloid.” I built up a small presence through the
research blog by reblogging and interacting with art circulated within the community.
Tumblr Messages were sent to users who fit the sampling criteria, and invited
them to fill out an ethics agreement and contact me in return. The messages were met
with overwhelmingly positive, friendly responses - even rejections to participation
wished me luck and remarked how excited they were to see research done within the
community. I selected nine participants with at least 3 years active within the fandom,
from a range of locations, including the UK, West Europe, USA, and East Asia. The
resulting make-up of participant ages was between 18 and 30. I aimed to target those
within this age range and this level of active participation years in order to investigate
the longer term effect that participation within the fandom, and the figure of Hatsune
Miku herself, had had on them. I felt that three years of consistent participation was a
reasonable timeframe to develop strong emotions, bonds and engage in collective
fandom practices. Due to my familiarity with the fandom preceding this research, and
considering Miku’s official launch in 2007, I felt that seeking participants outside of this
age range was less likely to provide relevant data. I was limited in my outreach due to
issues organising interviews around conflicting time zones and work schedules.
Interviews were carried out through Discord, as this platform was familiar and
comfortable for all the participants, due to its regular usage within the online community
and their practices. Users made use of the various affordanced of the platform, such as
emojis, gifs and images, creating a sense of informality that allowed them to
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communicate more openly and casually. Four participants were comfortable carrying
out interviews over voice calls, and five preferred text-based interviews.
I performed semi-structured interviews with participants, using specific phrases
as prompts to guide conversation towards my research questions and consider the
various defined characteristics of the ‘Body Without Organs’ (Gilman, 1989). Aspects of
the conversations that I felt were relevant were followed up and expanded upon to gain
a deeper sense of what in particular was meaningful and impactful to the participants.
The free flowing nature of semi-structured interviews lended itself to the postmodern
epistemology, as it allowed for exploring the details and interactions that built participant
perceptions, beliefs and understandings around Hatsune Miku, as well as themselves
and their connection to her emotionally and spiritually. Following up certain areas of the
discussions allowed for investigation not only into the emotions and participation itself,
but why this mattered to participants, as well as the personal motivations, reasonings
and impact this has had on their lives. Some users were uncomfortable with interviews
over voice call, preferring text based communications - while this made establishing
rapport with some participants more difficult, it provided access to those from a wider
range of geographic locations, who were simply less confident in speaking english over
a call. Text based interviews still provided a wealth of information and insight into the
research topic, proving themselves to be valuable nonetheless. As more interviews
were performed, questions and prompts were reworked and built upon to gain more
relevant answers from participants.
Within my research I aimed to produce new, original information and conclusions
through re-examining the existing knowledge of the subject, while combining these with
my original data. I strived to produce valuable conclusions that both answer my
research questions, as well as tie together the previous research performed within the
subject area (Bertrand and Hughes, 2005).
Interviews were transcribed with reflexive practices in mind - as some consider
transcription a form of analysis itself (Hammersley, 2010; Rapley, 2018). Considering
this, I was careful to create a condensed transcript that only eliminated irrelevant
sounds, stutters and words that did not affect the meanings of questions or answers.
Intensive reading of the transcripts took place, analysed through a mix of priori and
emergent coding. A priori coding sheet was created through identifying and selecting
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key themes from literature around the Body without Organs (Gilman, 1989; Adkins,
2015) and emergent coding was used to select recurring themes within the participants
fandom experience, thoughts and emotions. I used a mix of the two methods as my
questions and conversations were a mix of both the specific features of a Body without
Organs, as well as other practices and experiences not previously considered or
accounted for - this allowed me to ensure that the relevant philosophical themes were at
the forefront of the analysis process, while taking in and considering additional aspects
of the participant’s fandom participation. The codes gathered from data were paired with
a thematic analytical approach, drawing similarities between the different interviews and
previously established literature to draw conclusions on where the appeal of Miku lies,
as well as whether it qualifies as participation within a Body without Organs.
As Clough and Nutbrown state, it is crucial for a researcher to carefully consider
not only their own impact upon the study, but transparency in “analysing data and
reporting findings faithfully” (2012). Borrowing the label of “reflexivity” from Hertz (1997),
I kept a research journal and have been careful to remain reflexive over my research,
intentionally taking note of how my own perspectives, experiences and attitudes
towards the topic may shape not only my own understandings of the data gathered, but
the way I approach the research design and participant interactions as a whole. I made
an active effort throughout the planning and interview process to avoid interjecting or
suggesting my own thoughts and experiences as objective truth, and remained
consciously aware of the space I needed to provide for participants to comfortably share
their own thoughts and feelings, considering my “own situatedness within the research”
(p. 220. Berger, 2015). Throughout the process I had followed from Sacks’ suggestion,
that to better understand and analyse a participant’s responses, you must consider
analysing them through the lens of where they occurred, rather than simply in response
to my own questions - this allowed for a deeper understanding of how and why these
experiences took place as well as what affect and emotion is brought forwards from this
(p. 27, 1992).
While designing the research, consideration was taken to protect participants.
Informed consent was given, not only through the consent form provided, but through
ensuring during the interview that they fully understood each aspect - clarification was
provided where needed. A debrief was also given at the end, thanking participants and
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reminding them that they were free to withdraw at any point. Identities and user data
were confidential and safeguarded through the use of assigned aliases, stored securely
and not shared outside of my own documents. Due to the interviews being performed
online, the chance of participant’s friends and family being present during the interview
was more of a risk than it would have been in person, so participants were asked to
engage with the questions alone (Salmons, 2016). While discussing potentially sensitive
topics, reassurance was provided to participants that they did not have to answer, and
they could move ahead at any time.
The methods outlined within this chapter were employed within the research to
answer my research questions as accurately and ethically as possible - the following
chapters will explore the findings of the research.
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Chapter 1 - The Creative Appeal of Participation
Within this analysis chapter, I will focus on discussing what fans find appealing about
Hatsune Miku and her fandom, in terms of the creative and productive art sharing within
the community. I will use empirical findings from my interviews to discuss the points of
appeal, and explore how this data aligns with the concept of the Body Without Organs.
A number of core themes re-occurred throughout the interview process with
participants, with the most noticeable being the versatility of Hatsune Miku. Participants
noted that the freedom allowed when creating with Miku naturally encourages the
exploration of a wide range of narratives, accessibility of difficult and potentially
controversial topics, as well as unlimited potential for explorations and representations
of the self, other and emotion. One participant described the creative freedom afforded
by Miku, saying “I think Miku is like a blank canvas that everyone can paint on. There
are no strict rules in creating art with her. She’s everyone’s personal canvas to play with
like a Barbie doll. I grew up in an early era of NicoNico videos where people shared
different stories, music, ideas of her. I grew up listening to Miku in different themes,
stories, lyrics, art, all in weird, similar or opposite genres on the internet - despite the
differences in themes and genre, Miku never feels out of character.” Other Participants
such as Delta alluded to the infinite potentiality that lies behind such a character, stating
that she has “’endless possibilities’’ which allows fans to “carve out their own version of
her” while exploring others own interpretations and subgenres that develop within the
community. Lima and others similarly mentioned that any image or sound produced and
shared is clearly individual, described as “your own thing,” but at the same time is
always recognisable as Miku. Mako, who has made a mark within the community with
their unique interpretations of Miku, particularly a “Chubby Miku’’ art style, remarked that
this versatility and allowed them to explore producing art around this initially unfamiliar
body type, while still providing a “sense of belonging” and support for their work in an
accepting community. Notably, other participants interviewed also highlighted Mako’s
“Chubby Miku’’ as inspirational in their own works, revealing to me a small cross section
of the multiplicity of connections and overlapping intensities that are spread throughout
the fandom (p,101. Adkins, 2015). The creator of Miku, Wataru Sasaki, has spoken on
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the topic of fan’s unique relationship between themselves and media texts, saying “It’s
the users that make the music and once it’s theirs, it’s theirs” (Hutchinson, 2014).
From these discussions, it can be seen that when creating with Miku, the fans use the
character as a versatile and accessible “surface for the circulation of desire,” with desire
being defined by Deleuze and Guattari as the force of creative production (Annett,
2015). Fans are able to circulate intensities, such as this desire, freely and comfortably,
which in turn allows for the exploration of new potentialities within these groups. The
circulation of intensities is an aspect which is essential to the existence and sustenance
of a Body Without Organs - Deleuze describes a BwO as only able to be populated by
intensities, which “pass and circulate” within the body, mirroring the manner in which the
creative force can be seen circulating within the fandom (Gilman, 1989). Miku appears
to provide a purpose and reasoning for the fans to explore and circulate intensities such
as creative force, as she, and the fandom are an accessible and welcoming surface for
them to work with - as Lam suggests, directly applying to the case of Mako, the
fandom’s “mutually supportive responses” to the exploration of new potentialites
encourages fans to create more, and continue the circulation of creative force through
the surface of Hatsune Miku (2016).
This versatility, as participants discussed, lends the character of Miku naturally to
the exploration of narratives, and extended storytelling. Through the exploration of
narratives, those creating and consuming these stories are allowed to explore an
essentially unlimited range of concepts - they are not tied to, or weighed down by pre-
existing narratives or relations to “real people,” and can be experienced and built upon
in a standalone manner. Dew expressed through our conversation that ascribing
narratives onto Miku can be done with ease, as the lack of pre-existing canon means
“picking whatever you like from others’ media texts and working with that.” In a similar
vein, other participants described using Miku as more akin to playing with dolls, than
anything else. Lima elaborates, saying “I feel like it allows for a lot of storytelling too, it’s
a phenomenon that i haven’t observed so much in other music, unless it’s the genres
whole purpose - it’s not really a thing that happens a lot outside of the specific niche, but
for some reason, I do believe its cause of the characterisation, it does work - like the
“Story of Evil” series, a lot of one off or short series of songs that are all storytelling, I
feel like this is one of the few mediums that allows for this to flourish”
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In Jenkins’ discussion of participatory fandom, he uses Hall’s (1973) framework on
“negotiated readings” to conceptualise the sustenance of fan culture, describing fan
narratives as a series of negotiations, with individuals affirming, reworking and
transforming each other’s readings of texts (2018). Vocaloid’s fandom culture and the
narrative sharing community is sustained in a similar way, though considering what Dew
had mentioned, there is more ease is granted to interactions with fan narratives as they
are not diegetically bound, but instead built upon each other in a way that can more
closely be described as a networked “game of make believe” around the image of Miku
(p. 223. Wilde, 2018). Hatsune Miku and her fandom are best thought of as an
assemblage (McFarlane, 2011), where new possibilities can emerge at any time - a
continuous site of becoming, due to the “desiring-production” collectively taking place
without the constraints of a central narrative (Adkins, 2015). The features of the fandom
explored within the interviews, including the versatility of Miku and narrative freedom,
align with Deleuze and Guattari’s claims that an assemblage “always possesses
tendencies toward both stasis and change as the abstract poles of a single continuum”
(Adkins, 2015). This can be seen in both the recognition of fan’s prosumptive media
texts as belonging to and contributing towards the stagnant character of Miku, as well
as existing as uniquely their own works. The affirming, reworking and transformative
nature of exploring narratives within the fandom is a tendency towards change. All
media texts developed around Miku are focusing on a stagnant concept - Miku is Miku,
she remains stationary (Hahn & Klein, 2019). Examining the appeal of Miku through the
lens of assemblage allows us to see where the urge to create around her stems from -
fans are granted the opportunity to contribute to a point of stasis, providing feelings of
community, value and purpose in their creativity, while still affirming their own agency in
their unique and recognisable contributions.
Potentiality can be seen in the abundant inspiration and encouragement of
creativity across the fandom - multiple participants remarked that despite, in some
cases, surpassing ten years as active members of the fandom, they still “had a lot of
learning to do” and were regularly spurred on creatively by the shared love for Miku that
echoes throughout the network. Lima also explored the idea that Miku as a surface
facilitates the exploration of new potential and the generation of new intensities, new
artworks, songs, animations and more - they explained that they regularly explore low
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view, amateur music created with Miku on YouTube, remarking that the fandom is a
welcoming and encouraging space where fans are encouraged to create and develop
unfamiliar practices, saying “It’s really cool to still find original stuff, like even now -
because there’s a lot of pressure to be right off the bat, polished, professional, really
good music, so I worry that desktop musician culture gets lost in the mix a bit, a lot of it
is super polished now, which is not a bad thing, but I still think its really cool that you
can still stumble on amateur DTM stuff using Miku.” From the participant’s experiences,
the group provides a considerable amount of space for creativity, narrative exploration
and fosters authentic artwork to grow and circulate, even if it does not meet commercial
or profitable standards. Nearly all participants discussed viewing all contributions toward
Miku, whether amateur, sub one hundred view videos, or officially recognised and
licensed designs, as equally contributing towards the concept, or assemblage, of Miku.
The framework of assemblage and the BwO allows for an understanding of the anti-
hierarchical nature of the communal contributions toward Miku, as well as showing how
the multiplicity of connections across the network mutually support and encourage
further circulation of creative flows. Considering Deleuze and Guattari’s definitions of
desire, being fundamentally “productive, rather than predicated on a lack,” as long as
this intensity of creative desire remains circulating amongst the fandom as it is currently,
it will always exist and continue to function as a Body without Organs (Adkins 2015).
Within this chapter, I have explored some aspects of the creative appeal
surrounding Hatsune Miku and her fandom. The facets of Hatsune Miku presented and
discussed within this chapter align with the features Deleuze and Guattari believe make
up the Body Without Organs - one of these being the versatility and freedom of
exploration that comes with the character, which naturally provides a surface for the
circulation of desire, and generation of new potentialities; this free flowing of intensities
is defined as essential to the existence and sustenance of a Body Without Organs. As
well as this, the lack of base narrative for fans to centre works around allows for the
constant affirmation, reworking and transformation of fan narratives into whichever they
choose to accept as canon, creating as previously mentioned, an expansive, networked
and communal game of “make believe” with the figure. The lack of legal or narrative
limits with the character of Miku allows fans to push boundaries and their own creativity
further than typically seen or studied within the traditional media text based fan cultures.
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With this communal, participatory and creative play in mind, Miku and her fandom are
best thought of as an assemblage. This assemblage exists as a continuous site of
becoming, due to the “desiring-production” taking place, as well her stasis, as she is
always recognisable as Miku. Discussing Miku in terms of an assemblage allows for a
deeper understanding of the interconnectivity of the fan culture, their productive nature
and how they collectively make use of the affordances of Miku as a tool, and as a
surface to explore the fields of possibility through which their creativity can emerge. The
creative energy of the fans is made possible, and sustained through the supportive
community, lack of corporate control, and overall the assemblage that they partake in -
Miku and her fans as an assemblage provides a surface and reasoning for the
circulation of creative energy. Literature in the future may consider the exploration of
self sustaining fan cultures such as this one, those which exist almost entirely
separately to a pre-existing media text, sustaining their own surfaces for creative play.
Miku’s fan culture in particular raises questions of whether fandoms such as this can
even be considered “fans” in the traditional sense, as in reality, they are not focused
around a media text, they have developed so far outside of this that they are more
accurately considered fans of each other and themselves.
Chapter 2 - The Social Appeal of Participation
Within this analysis chapter, I will move to focusing the discussion on what fans find
appealing socially around Hatsune Miku and her fandom. I will use empirical findings
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from my interviews to discuss the points of social and participatory appeal, and will
explore how this data aligns with the concept of the Body Without Organs.
I feel as though it is worth noting that the responses to my invitations to interview
were all enthusiastic, friendly and extremely welcoming - those invited who turned down
the opportunity still did so with an appreciation and understanding of my work, and
wished me luck. Though a small experience in the grand scheme of the community, the
welcoming nature of those within it was undeniable, as far as this research went. Many
fans similarly remark that the welcoming and appreciative sense of community is
something that they often find other fandoms lack in comparison to Hatsune Miku’s.
Examining participant’s discussions, it appears that this can attributed to the communal
practices that are common place, such as the celebration of March ninth as “Miku day” -
in Japanese, three can pronounced “mi” and nine “ku” which can also be pronounced as
“san” and “kyuu” (“thank you”), which over time, has led to a collective understanding
that this day should be a special occasion for the fandom (Annett, 2015). One fan
described the excitement of the event and others similar, saying “I see the special days
as little traditions that allow fans to celebrate their shared love for Miku! Miku day, the
countdowns, her birthday… they’re all occasions where everyone is involved, from
producers, to artists, to fans and Crypton themselves.” These observed celebrations
often lead to increased output of artwork, wider reaching collaborations as well as
special fan gatherings and concerts. Multiple participants noted that they had increased
their fan activities and collaborative works around the celebration of “Miku Day,” and
went on to elaborate on how communal, shared fandom practices affected their social
lives, encouraged a deeper sense of community, as well as inspiring further creative
ventures - Lima in particular explained that most of their online friendships were
established through seeking collaboration on Miku focused projects, and mentioned that
a lot of the community has established friendships with each other in a similar manner.
Echo also discussed reaching out to other creators to let them know when their works
and representations of Miku resonated with them, or inspired aspects of their own,
leading to a direct encouragement of the creative flow amongst connections. Miku thus
provides not only a surface for the play of desire and creativity for fans, but draws the
group together to circulate intensities amongst each other, whether that is creative
inspiration, affect, or simply friendship and companionship through direct artistic
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collaboration. The collaborative nature of many Miku focused projects naturally lends
itself toward these partnerships, and desire is then circulated even more directly. Using
the concept of assemblage and the Body without Organs to examine these social
interactions helps us understand further the network of support, flow of desire and
allowance of agency that provides the conditions for such a range of works to emerge
from. The interconnectivity, feeling of community, collaboration and contribution that
those within the assemblage experience is self sustaining - the lack of hierarchy, in the
form of interference from outside powers (such as an overarching corporation) as well
as the fans ability to curate their surroundings and “canon” has led to this self sustaining
flow of desire remaining uninterrupted.
A large range of representations have developed throughout the fandom since
Miku’s release, many of which have grown to be personally and emotionally important to
fans. Participants remarked that the manner in which representations are shown
through Miku differs from other characters - Dew expanded on this by saying that while
they can somewhat relate to “trans characters” in typical media, there is still a diegetic
context barrier in place, due to a character’s potentially unrelatable backstory, which
then often prevents a full connection with the figure. On the contrary, they explain that
Miku rather “represents experiences and emotions - concepts rather than an idea of a
group or demographics - she isn’t a demographic, she is an experience.” This allows for
a unique connection, seemingly closer to the exact emotion and experience itself, rather
than the character as a whole. Another example brought forward by a participant would
be their experience with the song 1/4 by circusP. The song released as they were
experiencing a terrible breakup, they recall the lyrics resonating with them to the extent
that the song was played multiple times a day for a number of weeks, as a means of
comfort and grieving of the relationship. They said “I didn’t feel alone, but like my
vocaloid friends were right next to me, helping me through it.” They followed this by
saying that “thanks to the community being so vast, there’s so many different works
about so many different things, and I think that’s what encourages people to share their
own experiences through them.” The sharing of representations and reflections of
various identities and beliefs within fandom is crucial for fans to develop and explore
their own identities (Sonvilla-Weiss, 2010; Williams, 2015; Itō, 2012), shared
understandings and dialogues created with representations allow for constructions and
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deconstructions of complex concepts, ideas and feelings (Hall, 1997). With the huge
range provided by such an accessible surface for these representations, and space for
these constructions and deconstructions to take place, the fandom is given the agency
to explore not only a wider range of concepts, but a deeper level of emotion and
personal experiences in a communal and safe environment. This accessible space for
exploration was described by some participants as a “veil of safety.” Through the
combination of some of the aforementioned points of appeal, such as immense
versatility of the character, as well as the freedom of narrative exploration, fans are free
to, and encouraged to explore representations and themes that are traditionally less
accessible or discouraged from being attached to pre-existing characters or the artist
themselves, with Lima saying “the veil is protective of the artist and that ability to
communicate what they would like without putting their actual real life identity or
personalisation, a characterisation of themselves at risk or in the spotlight.” Participants
believe Miku provides a “perfect vehicle for authenticity,” as she allows them, and others
to be less reserved in sharing their own experiences, and opens the door for people to
create when they otherwise wouldn’t have, due to the layer of anonymity provided.
Participants brought forward songs that discuss the breaking of gender norms,
discomfort within the self and society, and remarked that creating behind a veil
“provides a safe spot for people to create without worry.” There are a number of songs
that tackle complex issues, such as Japan’s political state, hateful groups throughout
society and further social issues - a participant went on to say that they had observed
some “really messed up stuff from some writers - I don’t go hunting down for them,
obviously, but the worst I’ve heard was a transphobic song sung by Miku” then go on to
say “that being said, the songs that tend to get popular are almost never the hateful
ones or the ones that pedal very questionable values, it’s always usually the ones about
fighting against society.” The safety afforded by the fans in both explorations of these
topics, as well as agency in the curation of their space provides room for the emergence
of rebellious ideas and free exploration of power struggles from the subjugated fan’s
perspective (Certeau,1984) - Those fans who are disempowered by various
combinations of gender, age, class and race (Fiske, 1992) are also given further agency
due to the lack of corporate control over their chosen representations, concepts and
artwork. Fans are able to shape the relations between themselves and Miku to create a
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space in which they can comfortably emerge as a creative subject. It is through this, that
the anti-hierarchical nature of the Body without Organs is most visible, and applies
closely to the overall assemblage of Miku, furthering our understanding of the appeal of
participating within the fandom, despite clear structure or hierarchy to abide by.
The feelings of community that come from participation, even when just listening
to songs, and consuming a range of representations from fans, were brought up as
deeply important to the participants - Kilo mentioned that “vocaloid music is genuinely
the first music I’ve ever truly related to or felt less alone with. ‘Rolling girl’ still holds a
place in my heart! But I’ve had so many songs that have struck a chord with me over
the years for multiple reasons.” Another participant directly relates the Kikuo song ‘You
are a Worthless Child’ to their experience growing up as an Asian child, saying “this is
like an everyday song to us.” One step further than this, a participant brought forward
the example of the interview with artists Deco*27 and Wowaka, wherein they joked
about seeing Miku as their daughter and mother respectively, laughing about their
relationship was brought together by her (Natalie.mu, 2017). Through these discussions
and others similar, it appears that fans of Miku experience affect in response to the fan-
made media texts on a much stronger and more personal level than they may with
“normal” characters. Miku as a surface for the circulation of desire is thus not only fully
capable of circulating intensities, but she does so on a level which is both more freely
accessible, and potentially more closely impactful than that of others. This allowance of
affect may contribute toward the deep, almost familial attachments that many fans have
to Miku (such as Deco*27 and Wowaka); the lack of narrative does not prevent a
complete attachment to her, but rather encourages the presentation and circulation of
more abstract experiences and emotions, leading to a different mode of attachment
than that which is seen typically. Miku as an assemblage thus provides space for the
fans to participate in a state of potentiality - their lives are enriched by the bearing of
their souls through this surface, and as new connections are created, boundaries
between themselves, others and “Miku” become blurred - which inevitably leads to the
circulation of intense and deeply moving emotion, as seen by these participants
experiences.
A deep sense of Community and affect experienced as a result of interaction with
Miku is not only limited to the online space, but reaches into the physical. One
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participant travelled to Japan to see a Miku concert - not fully understanding how to
communicate in Japanese, they expressed that despite this, while the concert was
taking place, there was “an immediate connection with everyone in the room,” a flow of
sensation that surpassed a language barrier - they noted that it was one of the best
experiences of their life, and that it had genuinely brought a tear to their eye. This
intense, bodily participation with others in the community, paired with the songs
performed being the fans’ own creations, collaborations and representations, creates
what can be an overwhelming sensation, as explained by the participant. They
remarked that there was an intense “energy to the crowd, everyone knew exactly when
to cheer, how to cheer, everyone was in sync.” Miku concerts are known for the crowd’s
immersive, choreographed dance moves, waving of green glow sticks in “almost perfect
synchronisation with others” and the participation in “deliberate, well ordered and
powerful” “call and response” chants, that have developed collectively over time (p. 14,
Prior, 2021).
Figure 2 - A Live Miku concert, fans waving their glowsticks. From: https://jrocknews.com/2019/03/live-report-
hatsune-miku-sold-out-show-in-london.html
Jordan explores the idea that collective movement such as dancing can create a
Body without Organs, as a circulation of intensity is set into motion through the
collective movement (1995). Naturally, the same is applicable to live Miku concerts, as
they also “generate immense crowd energy” (p. 173, Annett, 2015), yet with a more
singular focus than a traditional concert or rave - this intense, physical experience of
Miku fandom is particularly applicable to how Deleuze and Guattari describe a Body
Without Organs at its core, as a “connection of desires, conjunction of flows, continuum
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of intensities,” all of which can be clearly seen through the participation within a live
Miku performance - connection is built through movement and sensation alongside
fellow fans,, desire and energy flows throughout the crowd, and intensities are
sustained and felt throughout the duration of the event (Gilman, 1989). Viewing Miku as
a BwO, particularly in regards to in-person events such as concerts, provides us a
framework to better understand the flow of desire and overwhelming emotion that is
brought forwards for these fans, particularly considering that in this instance, they are
experiencing a deeply shared intensity, through the use of their own songs and art, with
each other.
With all of the previous social aspects of participation considered, Miku appears
comparable to that of a religion - many of the fans interviewed were very open in
discussing how Miku remains somewhat omnipresent in their lives, multiple mentioned
how the figures on their bookshelves sparked joy every day, or that they and friends
have a tattoo that mimics the red “Vocaloid 01” on Miku’s upper arm, keeping her with
them always. Many participants noted that Miku was still present within their time on the
internet even before their active participation within the fandom - they noted that she is
deeply ingrained within early internet culture, long running memes, and remains present
in multiple overlapping fandom spaces to this day. One participant expanded on the
idea of Miku as a religious figure, saying “One can certainly draw comparisons with the
iconography of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity to the ‘iconography’ of fandom… it
does tick a lot of the checkboxes for a religion, out of sheer technicality, doesn’t it?
Fandom too has a canon, one can… call the statues and paintings of figures like
Buddha and Christ fanart? This was probably what the story of the golden calf in the
bible was talking about. Who would’ve known that a false idol would be, so to speak, a
‘false idol’?” The concept of the Body without Organs itself draws upon Artaud’s
discussion of judgement by God (1947), this undercurrent of connection with religion,
paired with participants direct comparisons of Hatsune Miku with a religion and religious
figure proves further that the concept is not only directly applicable, but further explains
the wide reaching and cross cultural nature of the fandom, as well as the life impacting
emotions and connections found within participation in the fandom space. Participants
also discussed potentiality, and their belief that Miku and her fandom, the Body Without
Organs will continue to grow, almost indefinitely. Delta remarked that even if change
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was to come to regulations around her usage, there is no way that the vast multiplicity
of connections, representations and artworks could ever be censored or erased, the
assemblage runs so deeply and widely across internet culture that it would be
completely impossible to remove it. “How I see it, as long as there is humanity, Miku will
outlive us all.”
Within this chapter, I explored a number of aspects of the social appeal of
participation within the Hatsune Miku fandom. The concepts explored here align with the
core features outlined by Deleuze and Guattari in their discussion of the Body Without
Organs, most notably, the experiences of physical affect as a result of Miku’s media
texts and live concert participation. The fandom places great emphasis on the
participation within communal practices, such as the aforementioned “Miku Day.” The
points of note in relation to Miku Day in particular were the recognition of “everyone’s”
involvement and the recognition and association of Crypton Future Media with the
event. The whole fandom is seen to mobilise in celebration, creating an overwhelming
feeling of community, one which is then justified and encouraged by the acceptance and
support of Crypton. The feeling of a shared love of Miku is circulated intensely around
this time, and clearly inspires further creativity and emotional connection with fans.
The unique form of representation that can be explored through the surface of Miku is
also of note - potentiality can be seen in the exploration of more direct emotion and
abstract experiences presented through Miku, as this leads to boundaries between
Miku, the representation, creator’s encoded experience and emotion and the fan
themselves to become blurred, more so than in a traditional fandom context. With this,
the veil of safety and potential for anonymity afforded through Miku allows for these
direct and abstract representations of emotion and experience to be explored in depth,
authentically and without putting the creator at risk. The exploration of these intense
emotions can then be seen to lead to intense affect experienced by fans interacting with
and decoding them - but particularly those fans fortunate enough to experience Miku
media through the vehicle of a live concert. It has been shown that the bodily sensation
provided by this participation is almost overwhelming, and certainly qualifies as
participation within a Body Without Organs, so much so that the fandom of Miku is
directly comparable to that of a traditional religion - one that has the potential to outlast
many lifetimes. Literature in the future may consider the further exploration of affect and
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potential generation of a Body Without Organs through fan events such as concerts or
conventions - the unique emotion generated through the sharing of fan works in a
larger, in person context, with people who so closely understand the objects of your
affection, would provide an interesting further development of the application of the
Body Without Organs to fandom and community.
Conclusion
This research sought to explore the social and creative appeal of participating within
Hatsune Miku’s fandom. I explored what encourages the collaborative prosumptive
behaviour around Miku and whether her, combined with the fandom as an assemblage,
align with the concept Deleuze and Guattari’s Body Without Organs. I believe that this
research successfully explored, and brought forwards a more in depth understanding of
Hatsune Miku, her fandom and the appeal that fans find in participating within it.
Choosing to build upon similar literature and applying the concept of the Body Without
Organs was a successful way to understand this appeal and continued success, as it
allowed for the closer inspection of the fandom as an active “body” and the ways in
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which flows of desire circulate upon Hatsune Miku as a surface and encourage
participation and creativity.
Through discussion with fans, I can conclude that viewing and analysing Miku
through the lens of “Kyara” (Annett, 2015) is a good starting point, however it does not
accommodate for a fuller, detailed understanding of the reasons for fandom
participation and prosumption. Annett’s rejection of structuralist interpretations of desire
was important to consider throughout the development of my methodology, participant
discussions and analysis process, as my participants (and presumably a considerable
amount of the rest of the fandom) are not lacking in their possession of Miku, rather,
they are brought together by a shared flow of creative energy, accommodated by her.
Jenkins works on prosumption and convergence did prove to be influential works on
understanding Miku’s situatedness within networked participatory fandom culture (2006,
2013, 2015). Equally, notable works on fandom studies, particularly those that explore
how fans develop their identities, interpret concepts, ideas and feelings (Sonvilla-Weiss,
2010; Williams, 2015; Mizuko, 2012) were useful in interpreting meanings from the data
collected throughout the interview process - though, works more directly focused on
Miku (Annett, 2015; Lam 2016) provided far more support, as she and her fandom are
such a particular case study.
The Body Without Organs (Gilman, 1989) proved to be a suitable theoretical
concept in its application to fandom studies, particularly the unique nature of vocaloid
and its online fan cultures - understanding group participation through the concept of
flows and circuits of intensity and desire proved helpful in understanding the appeal of
Hatsune Miku, the emotions brought forwards from participation, as well as fans
sustained, dedicated and communal contributions to the community’s practices. From
the application of the Body Without Organs to Hatsune Miku, I can conclude that it is
precisely this unique sharing of the flows of desire which not only separates Miku’s
process of participation from other fandoms, but leads to the intense emotional
connections that fans have with the figure and each other as a combined assemblage.
Application of this philosophical work also helped the understanding and explanation of
the affect felt through participation, not only through emotive connections with online
artworks, but the intense physical and emotional sensation experienced by fans when
attending a live concert in the presence of other fandom members.
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From my research, I gathered that one of the most important points of appeal
and aspects of a successfully maintained fan community is freedom - freedom to create,
to share and to explore concepts with your fellow fans without the limit of overarching
authority. The freedom and space to create afforded by Crypton Future Media to fans of
Miku, and by extension Vocaloid as a whole, is a key difference between this fandom
and others and is a huge contribution to Miku’s unique appeal and sustenance
throughout the internet. Myself and participants both noted that the lack of boundaries,
even though in some instances, this leading to negativity, is extremely refreshing in the
contemporary internet space, particularly as corporations desire more control, regulation
and mediation over their media properties and fan activities developing around them.
The freedom provided for fans to create and share any media text they wish and
participate in this communal play - whether representations shared are positive,
negative, deeply personal or silly - allows for the development of smaller, tight knit sub-
communities and friendships, unique and developing genres of work and most
importantly, affords fans the agency to curate their surrounding fandom experience,
exploring and negotiating works they accept and develop comfortable, or challenging
surroundings that personally allow for their own creative force to emerge.
Hand in hand with this creative freedom is the community - Hatsune Miku’s
fandom is a space built upon creativity and long standing communal links - the
circulation of creative flows amongst the deeply interconnected assemblage leads the
figure of Miku to exist as a continuous site of becoming, one which supports and
encourages communal participation in the act of creation and readings of art. The
further I explored Miku and her fandom, the more I realised that it is not a question of
simply being “fans of Miku” rather, it was about the community as fans of each other.
Miku indeed provides a surface for the circulation of desire, but with this, provides a
surface for social, emotional and creative connection with other humans. The freedom
for human connection, even when through a veil of anonymity, naturally leads to the
development of intense emotions, such as those seen through the discussion of Miku
with participants.
Further research may look more to the idea of fandom as “fans of each other”
rather than their association with a media property itself, particularly how this transpires
in the modern internet age. Further exploration of the features of online social platforms
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and their affordances for the expansion, maintenance or limitation of a Body Without
Organs may also be of interest, as it may expand further on the successes or failings of
particular fandoms. Future research may also consider the crossing of Japanese
cultural objects and communities into western, Anglophone spheres; how cultural
interests and points of fandom affection can completely surpass language barriers and
connect solely through a circuit of energy and emotion.
Other corporations could also take note from Crypton Future Media, and potentially
benefit from the loosening of regulation upon their media properties, in order to similarly
encourage a wider development of sustained fan creativity and community.
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Annett, S. (2015) ‘What Can a Vocaloid Do?: The Kyara as Body without Organs’,
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Appendix
Participant Information and Consent Form
This study will involve answering and discussing semi-structured interview questions,
which requires your informed consent. You are welcome to revoke your consent and
withdraw from the study at any time - If you do not want to answer a question during the
interview, you are welcome to ask to move on. This research will be used to support a
Dissertation at Newcastle University, investigating the appeal of Hatsune Miku, as well
as determining how the fandom surrounding Miku feel about her and themselves within
the fandom. Information provided in interviews will be recorded and examined through
the lens of various academic frameworks to better understand the research topic. All
information will be anonymised. You have been asked to take part due to your
engagement with, discussion of, and familiarity with Hatsune Miku, and her surrounding
fandom. For further information, you can contact me at any point during the process -
