Natsuki Karin Voice Synth Development Project Crowdfunding Campaign
In the days leading up to TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT‘s 4th official livestream, they teased on their official Twitter account that this stream will contain many major announcements on what they will be undertaking next with their company’s characters – Koharu Rikka, Natsuki Karin and Hanakuma Chifuyu.
Up to this point, what roles Karin and Chifuyu would be playing – other than being characters in Rikka’s universe and appearing in audio dramas and illustration contests with her – and what voice synth enthusiasts can expect from them, were not very well known. But now details on development of their voice synth products and more have finally come to light during the latest livestream!
You can watch the livestream’s archive below, and continue reading for a summary of the biggest announcements!
※All translated content on this page is unofficial
Livestream Details
Title: 第4回TOKYO6公式生放送【重大告知あります】/ 4th TOKYO6 Official Livestream 【Major Announcements Included】
Hosts:
Content:
- Future developments for TOKYO6 characters
- Hanakuma Chifuyu, Natsuki Karin outfit reveals
- Look back at Daruma Audio and Otaru City collaborations
- Message corner
Archive:
Natsuki Karin Voice Synth Software Development Project
At 26:03 into the livestream, the much advertised big news was finally announced:
The crowdfunding campaign to develop Karin’s CeVIO AI Talk and Synthesizer V AI library will begin on October 8, 2021!
Crowdfunding Details
Project name: 『夏色花梨』合成音声ソフト 制作プロジェクト / Natsuki Karin’s Voice Synth Software Development Project
Time period: October 8 at 9:00 PM JST ~ October 28 at 11:59 PM JST (20 days total)
Webpage: https://ubgoe.com/projects/68 (will go up when the crowdfunding starts; preview page can be found here)
Goal: ￥6,800,000 JPY
Crowdfund type: All-in
In order to donate, you must create an account with crowdfund host, Ubgoe. You can register here.
You can consult the picture below for what to enter during the registration step, or register with one of the provided social media services.
If you sign up with one of your social media accounts, then see below for what to enter on the next screen:
Then check your email account for an email from Ubgoe (うぶごえ), and click on the provided link in the email to complete your registration.
About the Project
After Koharu Rikka, we are now endeavoring to develop a CeVIO AI Talk Voice and Synthesizer V AI song bank for Natsuki Karin, and are announcing that we will be holding this crowdfunding campaign starting on October 8th at 9:00 PM JST.
Our company was founded by a creator with more than 10 years of experience in voice synth projects.
Natsuki Karin will be working along with Koharu Rikka and Hanakuma Chifuyu without being tied down to any specific project type. Besides holographic concerts, concerts with voice providers, collaboration video game appearances and merchandise, regional promotions and more project types well covered by voice synth characters that came before them, we hope to take on even more new project types with our characters in the future.
Because our company was founded by a voice synth fan and creator, we will be producing characters who are easy to make fan-created works for, and explore ways to give back to the creators through exhibits, live concerts and other events that are focused on the creators and their works.
We thank you for your continued support.
– Akasako Ryuuichi (Akasakov) of TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT
Goals for This Project
The first goal of this crowdfunding campaign is to develop Natsuki Karin’s “CeVIO AI Talk Voice” text-to-speech software, and her “Synthesizer V AI Library” singing voice synth software. We also aim to develop her “Pitagoe” and 3D models (MMD) as stretch goals.
Our goal is to have them released in April 2022.
※The CeVIO AI Talk Editor (sold separately) is required to run her CeVIO AI Talk Voice
Goal 1: ￥6,800,000 JPY
・Reaching this goal will confirm development of Karin’s CeVIO AI Talk Voice and Synthesizer V AI Library
Goal 2: ￥8,500,000 JPY
・Reaching this goal will unlock development of 800 voice clips for Karin’s Pitagoe product
Goal 3: ￥10,000,000 JPY
・Reaching this goal will unlock development of Karin’s 3D models
・One 3D model will be of Karin in her school uniform
・The other 3D model will be of Karin with her blouson
※Karin’s CeVIO AI Talk Voice will have 5 adjustable parameters
※Karin’s Pitagoe product will come bundled with both her CeVIO AI Talk Voice and Synthesizer V AI Library (the same product in both)
Who is Natsuki Karin?
Profile:
- 3rd year high school student
- Height: 164 cm
- Birthday: September 9
Just the above three facts. We look forward to seeing how each individual creators will interpret their own version of Natsuki Karin.
We will be holding a stamp rally starting on November 1 as part of the Otaru Shiokaze High School Project in collaboration with Otaru City.
Official Illustrations
【Official art】
【Design】
What is a CeVIO AI Talk Voice?
CeVIO AI uses the latest AI technology to recreate a human’s voice quality and speech patterns with incredibly high precision. Just by entering your desired words and sentences, you can have the software speak it out loud for you.
Just like with Koharu Rikka, Natsuki Karin’s product will come with 5 emotion parameters – Happy, Normal, Angry, Sad, Calm – and users can adjust her reading speech and voice pitch.
CeVIO AI Talk Voice package design by 手島nari / Teshima nari
【Natsuki Karin CeVIO AI Talk Voice samples】
What is Synthesizer V AI?
Synthesizer V AI is a new-age voice synthesis software capable of using artificial intelligence to sing lyrics with an incredibly human-like singing voice. Some of its defining traits are its compatibility with Windows, Mac and Linux, and its ease of use.
Natsuki Karin will come with the Synthesizer V Studio Basic editor with which her software can be used. We are also selling her with the Synthesizer V Studio Pro editor with even higher performing and responsive controls and rendering.
Synthesizer V AI package design by 手島nari / Teshima nari
【Natsuki Karin Synthesizer V AI samples】
イエナイコトバ / Ienai Kotoba (Forbidden Words) by たかぴぃ
あの星を探して / Ano Hoshi o Sagashite (Searching for That Star) feat. Natsuki Karin by アカサコフ / Akasakov
What is Pitagoe?
Pitagoe is a collection of voice clip material usable for commercial and business needs. Owners may use them for their videos and songs.
【Natsuki Karin Pitagoe Sample Vol.1】
Messages of Support from Related Companies
Below, you can hear messages of support from Tomohide Ogata of AHS, Mr. Oura of Techno-Speech, Inc., and Kanru Hua of Dreamtonics.
Message from the Company
Thank you for your interest in our project. This is Akasako Ryuuichi of TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT.
Natsuki Karin is our second company-created character after Koharu Rikka. After we decided to create Rikka, we immediately wanted to bring other characters into Rikka’s universe for fans to enjoy – characters who would converse and sing with her. And of course they could also stand as individual characters and even collaboration partners, all with their own uniqueness.
Natsuki Karin will be interacting with Koharu Rikka and Hanakuma Chifuyu during our collaboration with Otaru City, but as mentioned above, we first wish to give her the means to undergo projects as a voice synth character and software, and have started this project for that purpose. (Hanakuma Chifuyu is our third company-created character, and we are planning her crowdfunding campaign for June 2022)
We first announced development of Koharu Rikka on May 16th, 2020, held a crowdfunding campaign through which we received a generous total donation of ￥320,000,000 JPY from over 1,400 donors, and finally released her CeVIO AI Talk, Synthesizer V Standard, and Synthesizer V AI products on March 18th, 2021.
However, there are many details behind the decision to switch development goals midway from VOICEROID to CeVIO AI Talk for her text-to-speech software, resulting in the return of some funds to donors who had hoped to see her become VOICEROID software.
As a result, there are probably some individuals who may feel doubt towards our targeted development goal for this crowdfunding effort. Therefore, in order to ease some of that doubt, in cooperation with our development partners at AHS, the CeVIO Project, and Dreamtonics, we decided to go ahead with early development of Natsuki Karin’s software, and let the public hear her actual, in-development voices. We have also released messages of support from each of these companies.
Funding for this early development was supplied by our partner companies and from sales of Koharu Rikka’s software. However, it would be difficult to secure all of the necessary funds to complete Natsuki Karin’s software development by ourselves, so we will be using donations from this crowdfunding campaign to carry out this project.
We at TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT fully embrace all the different voice synth engines out there, and this new age of voice synth development that our characters have been born in. As characters created by a single individual, we hope to help Koharu Rikka, Natsuki Karin and Hanakuma Chifuyu shine for years to come, and support an environment in which other creators can easily produce works with them through our activities, spreading in numerous directions.
We look forward to your support as Natsuki Karin takes her first step down this brand new path.
Donation Courses & Rewards
Voice of Gratitude course (￥500 JPY)
- Voiced message of thanks from Natsuki Karin
(Recorded by her voice provider, Takagi Miyu)
※To be sent via online storage such as email or messaging
Audio Drama course (￥3,000 JPY) ※１
- Everything in the “Voice of Gratitude course”
- Official audio dramas set in Otaru Shiokaze High School x3
※These audio dramas will be uploaded online to YouTube and Niconico one year after they are sent to donors
※To be sent via online storage such as email or messaging
Pitagoe course (￥5,000 JPY)
- Everything in the “Voice of Gratitude course”
- Donor exclusive Pitagoe voice lines (100 normal lines, 100 binaural lines)
※To be sent via online storage such as email or messaging
Audio Drama + Pitagoe course (￥8,000 JPY)
- All of the above
※To be sent via online storage such as email or messaging
CeVIO AI Talk Voice + Pitagoe course (￥15,000 JPY) 【Limited to 150 donors】
- Everything in the “Pitagoe course”
- Package version of Natsuki Karin’s CeVIO AI Talk Voice software
Synthesizer V AI + Pitagoe course (￥15,000 JPY) 【Limited to 50 donors】
- Everything in the “Pitagoe course”
- Package version of Natsuki Karin’s Synthesizer V AI software
CeVIO AI Talk Voice + Goods course (￥21,600 JPY) ※２
- Everything in the “Audio Drama course” and “Pitagoe course”
- Package version of Natsuki Karin’s CeVIO AI Talk Voice software
- T-shirt
- Acrylic keychain
- Acrylic stand figure
- Postcard (2 types)
- Can badge (2 types)
※Donors may select their T-shirt size
Synthesizer V AI + Goods course (￥21,600 JPY) ※２
- Everything in the “Audio Drama course” and “Pitagoe course”
- Package version of Natsuki Karin’s Synthesizer V AI software
- T-shirt
- Acrylic keychain
- Acrylic stand figure
- Postcard (2 types)
- Can badge (2 types)
※Donors may select their T-shirt size
CeVIO AI + Synthesizer V AI + Goods course (￥30,000 JPY)
- All of the above
Autograph and Special Voice Message of Gratitude course (￥45,000 JPY) 【Limited to 140 donors】
- All of the above
- A postcard autographed by Takagi Miyu
- A postcard autographed by 手島nari / Teshima nari
- Voiced message of thanks from Natsuki Karin in which she speaks your name
(Recorded by her voice provider, Takagi Miyu; to be sent via online storage like email or messaging)
※Donors will be asked to provide the name that they wish for her to say (12 characters maximum). Names that TOKYO6 deems as inappropriate will be rejected.
Special Live Concert course (￥90,000 JPY) 【Limited to 60 donors】
- All of the above
- Invitation to a special live concert consisting of 12 songs (6 performed by Takagi Miyu, 3 by Aoyama Yoshino, and 3 by Okuno Kaya)
- Written invitation will be mailed to you
- You name will be printed on the setlist card that will be handed out on the day of the concert
- Exclusive special concert T-shirt x1
- 57 mm can badge exclusive to donors of this course
※This special live concert will not be broadcasted online or sold on DVD or Blu-ray
※The special T-shirt and can badge are planned to be sent in August 2022
※Donors will be asked to provide their desired name to be printed on the setlist card
Warning:
The special live concert is planned to be held on September 11, 2022 in Tokyo. Donations will not be refunded if donors cannot make it there. If the COVID-19 situation worsens, there is the possibility that the concert may be postponed. Travel and lodging expenses are not provided.
Notes:
※１ Audio drama content
- Episode 1: “The Secret of Taiyaki“, a story from Karin’s time as a first year student with her upperclassmen
- Episode 2: “The Day I Became a Senpai“, a story of when Rikka entered the scene as a first year student
- Episode 3: “Part-time Job“, a story about Karin, Rikka and Chifuyu getting part-time jobs – requiring them to wear maid outfits – in order to raise school club money
Rikka, Karin and Chifuyu will be voiced by Aoyama Yoshino, Takagi Miyu and Okuno Kaya, respectively
Episodes to be sent to donors in Spring 2022.
※２ Merchandise details
- T-shirt
– Crowdfunding exclusive
– Uses an illustration of Karin’s teddy bear, EKATERINA, designed by 手島nari / Teshima nari
– Available sizes are S / M / L / XL - Acrylic keychain
– Crowdfunding exclusive
– Uses a chibi illustration of Karin by 手島nari / Teshima nari - Acrylic stand figure
– Crowdfunding exclusive
– Uses Karin’s official illustration without the background
※Similar merchandise using the same illustration may get released in 2023 - Postcards
– Crowdfunding exclusive
– 2 postcards using Karin’s official illustration, and the same illustration of EKATERINA as the T-shirt - Can badges
– Crowdfunding exclusive
– 76 mm
– Use EKATERINA icon marks
※General sales of these badges are being planned
The color for the T-shirt will be purple, as picked by fans who voted for it on Twitter.
Hanakuma Chifuyu Voice Synth Development Project
This is no doubt an exciting time to be fan of Karin. But what about the other TOKYO6 character, Chifuyu, you may be wondering?
Well, wonder no more, because TOKYO6 also confirmed during their fourth livestream that Chifuyu’s own voice synth development project is real, and they are also planning to hold a crowdfunding campaign for her voice bank development in June 2022!
Expect more details on Chifuyu to come next spring!
Fans may recall how Rikka’s crowdfunding campaign reached its goal within just 15 minutes of starting, and fans who tuned in to the 156th AHS Official Livestream watched it all unfold in awe. Will we see similar results with Karin’s crowdfunder? Only time will tell!
Make sure to show your support for Karin if you want to see her become the next big TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT star!
