Snow Miku Time Announcements: Snow Miku 2022 Winner
This month we were able to enjoy another instalment of Yuki Miku no Jikan (Snow Miku Time)! With so many interesting events and collabs happening, this broadcast works as a very neat roundup of the biggest Miku-related news going on now.
The episode is available as an archive, so feel free to read our coverage and translations while you watch if you want:
Here are our MCs, who (alongside a couple of other familiar faces) would be running us through all of the announcements this time (from left to right – Good Smile Company’s Hamako, Snow Mikudayo and Crypton Future Media’s Wasshoi. Noguchi also appears to help throughout):
The main topics for today were as follows:
- Announcement Time > Information about the newest collabs and events featuring Miku and friends!
- Snow Miku Time > Announcement of the winner for the Snow Miku & Rabbit Yukine design contest 2022
- Answers Time > Results from the last questionnaire and answers to any questions. Winners of the free gift campaign will also be announced.
1. Announcement Time
>Hatsune Miku Pacific League 6 Teams Collaboration
- A collaboration between Miku and the 6 baseball teams from the Pacific League (also known as the パ・リーグ / Pa-league. Includes the baseball teams Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Saitama Seibu Lions, Chiba Lotte Marines, Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Promo illustrations feature Miku alongside each of the teams’ mascots! Merchandise with the said promo arts was available until August 29th 2021.
We got some images of what the merchandise looks IRL too:
Find out more here: https://www.miku-baseball.com/
>Hatsune Miku x Wendy’s Collaboration
- The collaboration between Hatsune Miku and Wendy’s First Kitchen in Japan is still going strong! Visitors will be able to celebrate Miku’s birthday with a simple but fun collaboration menu and a variety of piapro characters-themed merchandise until September 5th 2021!
Find out more here: https://wendys-firstkitchen.co.jp/news/?nwid=847
>SONY Headphones x Hatsune Miku collaboration model(s)
- Featuring a main visual of Miku NT from none other than iXima, these headphones are stylishly understated compared to similar, previous products, making them suitable for overt and covert otaku (people who want to seamlessly integrate their love of Miku in their regular, everyday wear). Preorders are still open until November 15th, so make sure to get yours soon!
Find out more here: https://www.sony.jp/headphone/store/special/1000x-miku/?s_pid=st_headphone_1000x-miku_sonyjp_heajrny
>Hatsune Miku VR world Mikuland 2021 Summer Vacation
- Join Hatsune Miku in the virtual world of Mikuland once again! There’ll be exciting areas to visit, fun merchandise and outfits to get for your avatar, you can enjoy swirling sparklers and even get the opportunity to try some watermelon smashing, a popular Summer game in Japan!
Find out more here: https://mikuland.com
>Cho Kabuki featuring Hatsune Miku to return this September
>Enjoy the fusion of the Japanese tradition of Kabuki with cutting-edge technology, which allows us to see Hatsune Miku like never before. Fans unable to buy tickets for the real-life events in Japan can still pay to watch it at home, since it will be broadcasted a few days later.
>Hatsune Miku Birthday Message Campaign
- All of the messages collected from fans from the events MIKU EXPO 2021 Online, Digital Stars 2021 and Magical Mirai 2021 were displayed and animated to their respective theme songs during two broadcasts – one of Miku’s birthday (August 31st) and one on September 1st.
Find out more here: https://piapro.net/mikusync2021/index_en.html?fbclid=IwAR0agScU0DtfBopHYjWHATMt9w7dHrTxHhDpGhb_c4bY6TULARn5aDJ4a7A
> Hatsune Miku Digital Stars 2021
- Following the success of the last Digital Stars, the next broadcast was set for August 29th and featured a whole host of talented DJs and songwriters! And not to forget the iconic collaboration between GUMI and Miku that’s coming up later this November!
Find out more:
- Digital Stars 2021: https://digitalstars.club/hmds21/index_en.html
- Digital Stars feat MIKU & GUMI: https://digitalstars.club/dsmg21/index.html
>Magical Mirai 2021 event news
- As with every year, there’ll be two main events for Magical Mirai this year – one in Osaka in October and one in Tokyo in November. The official album for the event is being released on September 29th, and should be available from all local CD retailers (in Japan), costing ￥2,200 including tax. It will consist of a CD with 10 songs (including the MM 2021 theme song Hatsune Creation Myth from cosMo@bousouP and KAITO’s 15th anniversary song “Rainy Snowdrop” from Re:nG) and a DVD with the official MVs for the two theme songs.
- The “Live Cheering Project” will also be making a comeback, and fans will be able to send in their videos of them cheering for the chance to be featured in the official Magical Mirai performance.
- This is as well as the return of the “Programming Contest”, whereby fans can program a lyrics video for the song of their choosing! For an idea as to what to expect for this contest, check out our coverage from last year here.
- We also got some looks at MM2021 merchandise (an umbrella, keychains which can be strung together, a set of three microfibre towels, a towel and towel holder clip and a double sided shopping bag). Merchandise is available to preorder from now until September 13th, so don’t miss out!
Find out more here: https://magicalmirai.com/2021/
>New figures from GoodSmile Company
Hatsune Miku if
- Based on the initial design concept of Hatsune Miku drawn by KEI, this Nendoroid has a cute “pouty” face and sports a ponytail instead of Miku’s now-iconic twintails. She’s available for preorder until September 22nd 2021 at ￥5,500 including tax, and is scheduled for delivery this December.
Preorder here: https://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/11452/Nendoroid+Hatsune+Miku+if+Ver.html
1/7 Scale Figure Hatsune Miku Land of the Eternal
- A figure based on the key visual drawn by Rella featuring Miku for the Kyoto Nippon Festival 2019. Buy it from the Official GSC Online Shop and receive an exclusive A4 clear file as a free gift! Our MCs were commenting on how Miku’s face here looks so perfect, like the epitome of serenity.
Preorder here: https://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/11680/Hatsune+Miku+Land+of+the+Eternal.html
Nendoroid Hatsune Miku NT
- We finally get to see the fully coloured Miku NT Nendoroid in real life! She has some rather unique, interesting parts, including a “pleading” style hand part, blushing and pouty faceplates as well as legs which turn inwards cutely. Preorders will begin on August 31st 2021.
>Hatsune Miku Symphony 5th Anniversary Scale figure / Mikudayo 10th anniversary figure
- Both are in the works, although no prototypes or concepts have been released yet! Stay tuned for more details.
2. Snow Miku Time
The time came to find out the results of the Snow Miku 2022 Design Contest! Which person’s design would become a world-famous part of Snow Miku history?
The answer was revealed to be….
でつ / Detsu‘s design, no#3:
And the artist for the main visual for the event was announced to be ワダアルコ / Wadaaruko! Look forward to more details coming soon. You can find out more about the design, including comments from the artists, in our previous article here.
3. Answers Time
Here are translations of the questions given to the MCs, as well as the main body of any answers given.
Questions submitted by fans via the last questionnaire
Question: What kind of collaboration do you want to see Snow Miku do in the future?
Wasshoi (our MC on the far right) mentioned how they’d like to see another collaboration between Miku and a popular sweets-making company, mentioning how wonderful the Shiroi Koibito collab was previously.
Answers:
- “I want to see her do a collaboration café or some sort of other food-related collab!” The MCs discussed this and also mentioned a company called “Kani-honke“, a restaurant specialising in crab-related dishes and other seafood (which would almost certainly match the theme of “Hokkaido oceans”).
- “I want to see her do some sort of real life AR/VR experience”,” potentially similar to what was available at Miku Chronicle, where projections of Miku giving introductions could be seen. The MCs also mentioned the idea of “Nazo toki” (puzzle solving) games, which could be quite fun.
- “I’d like to see her do a study in regards to drift ice” (since that’s part of the theme and character design)!
- “I want an event where we can participate even from far away” (e.g. at home). The MCs did mention the various art contests that have been running as of late, and having things like this became more commonplace because of the current pandemic.
Question: Who/what specifically do you want to see do a collaboration with Snow Miku?
Answers:
- “I want to see her do a collab with a famous convenience store in Hokkaido!”. Wasshoi mentioned the convenience store “Hot Chef” from Seico Mart as a potentially good collab opportunity, stating how good quality the food is there.
- “I want to watch a collaboration winter sports event!”. The MCs replied by thinking about potential sports, such as skiing or snowboarding, the latter of which brought to mind the design for Snow Miku 2016. Curling and ice hockey could also be interesting, and Miku could act as an ambassador for some sort of big competition or event in Hokkaido.
- “I’d like to see her do a collab with a conveyor belt sushi restaurant!”, such as Toriton or Matsuriya.
- “It’d be cool if they did a collaboration with an aquarium!” Our MCs referenced a previous event held at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise which featured a Deep-sea Girl Miku statue.
- “I’d like to see more collaborations featuring tableware and glassware from Otaru!” This could consist of cute glasses/cups, plates and light stands.
Question: What Snow Miku merchandise would you like to see?
Answers:
- Snow Miku Cosme [makeup] – The MCs mentioned how it’d be nice to have different makeup or palettes related to different Snow Miku designs.
- Apparel with Snow Miku motifs – hair accessories and (sun)glasses were brought up.
- Coats, jackets or other outerwear – there were also mentions of accessories such as boots and jewellery.
- An illustration book showing off the history of Snow Miku.
- Easy to use kitchenware, dinnerware etc. – sashimi plates would be cute, or Yukine kitchen scissors and earthenware pots / “donabe” .
Question: What should the theme of the next Snow Miku contest be?
Answers:
- Outer space
- Aurora
- Hokkaido mountains (if you can have “the oceans of Hokkaido” then surely this could work…)
- Cyber style
- Fairy tale / children’s story
There were also mentions about “gemstones” being brought in as a theme or concept, as well as “flowers/plants of Hokkaido” (which is when they joked about having a design based on corn or asparagus) and animals [native to Hokkaido].
Crypton Future Media and Goodsmile Company staff answer your questions
Q. Which has been the most difficult Snow Miku to render as a Nendoroid/figma etc?
A. The one that was considered particularly difficult to make was the Snow Miku 2016 (Snow Owl) figure, mainly because the hat she wears in the Nendoroid version was actually a knitted one! At this time it was quite rare to see different media used for making figures (consider how they only started making Nendoroid Dolls, known for having fabric clothing, in 2018 – two years after Owl Miku was released!). It was also a challenge because the theme for that year – winter sports – was quite different from previous years, and trying to come up with ideas for appropriate poses was hard because many of them hadn’t actually done snowboarding before.
Q. Could you tell us the inside details of designing the final Nendoroid concepts based on a design (e.g. for the Snow Miku ones).
A. You usually have the standard faceplates for the figures, but they want to try and create more face designs which reflect the work of the design creator, and they look at how fans envisage the new Miku design for inspiration. Otherwise, it’s a situation where Hamako etc. will consider what they think would be really cool to incorporate into that particular figure. The costume design will also influence the poses and expressions they will try to create, such as with the Hatsune Miku if Nendoroid : they felt like her clothes are very cute and stylish and that she gave off a more pouty girl- type vibe in comparison to the regular Miku design.
Q. Have there been any memorable moments/designs in regards to Snow Mikus up until now?
A. In reality, there are probably such stories when it comes to any year of hosting the Snow Miku contests and whatnot, but one thing that sprang to mind was with 2019’s design for the theme of “princess”. It was a theme they were really excited to do, and there was an opportunity to win one of the Miku Nendoroids as part of it!
Q. I’m curious as to how it came about that Snow Miku Skytown was opened at an airport (New Chitose Airport).
A. There was one of the Snow Miku events being held around 2014 at the airport, and illustrator KEI drew the promo artwork for it. KEI is actually from Chitose originally and there was apparently a meet and greet-style event with KEI. They went on to hold various events and exhibitions at the venue, including one with race car(s) and they got a lot of visitors who wanted to come and “meet” Snow Miku. So after having some talks, this full-time attraction at the airport became a reality. Even Hamako (centre) was able to go on the day of the livestream apparently!
Q. Are there any Snow Miku plans/projects that got rejected and are there any such plans or projects that you’d like to do someday, even despite the potential difficulty?
A. Wasshoi remembered a time, either in 2011/2012, where there was a stage at the Sapporo Snow Festival, and they had this 3D projection mapping show of Miku. It was held in the middle of winter but because of certain traffic regulations, not many people were able to come and gather there, and in the end only about 100 people attended the show. This is an example of something that didn’t go so well that they’d potentially like to try again someday.
Q. Yukine first appeared with Snow Miku in 2014, but why was Yukine chosen as Miku’s pet? And could you give more information about Yukine’s general activities?
A. The theme for that year was “Magical Girl”, and typically when you think of any type of magician/magical girl, they always have some sort of companion with them. We were really nervous as to which type of companion would work for Miku though, and at first he was just referred to as “Snow Miku’s pet” – he didn’t have any kind of proper name. Then their boss mentioned how “If we had the pet as a rabbit, it would be rather nice if it could talk”. They went through various names until finally settling on “Rabbit Yukine”. They also mentioned how Yukine recently got to 10,000 followers on Twitter as well, which is rather impressive for a rabbit mascot.
In terms of his recently activities, he headed the “Hokkaido Wherever You Are Bon Odori with Domingo”, a live event that people could join in with at home. He also tends to join in with illustration contests and features in YouTube videos.
Winners of the free gift campaign
Those who submitted something to the questionnaires from previously were eligible to win prizes! The winners this time were ごりしま / Gorishima and まる / Maru.
Hopefully you enjoyed the announcements from this episode of Yuki Miku no Jikan! You can most probably look forward to the next livestream from the team coming up next month on piapro TV, so make sure to follow the relevant accounts linked below to keep up to date with the latest news. You can also check out our coverage of piapro TV here:
>> Piapro TV #01 Roundup
Links
Snow Miku
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