VocaSphere Report: “Songs Transcend Time & Space～10th Anniversary～Kyomachi Seika with Style KYOTO Orchestra Concert”
Hello, everyone! Marumain here!
On Saturday, September 23rd, 2023, the 10th anniversary concert for Kyomachi Seika was held right in her hometown of Seika Town. Seika first made her debut as a public relations character on July 5th, 2013, conveying information on Seika Town activities and events in an interesting and easy-to-understand manner. She then, of course, made her debut as a VOICEROID voicebank in 2016, then as a Synthesizer V AI voicebank in 2022, and soon as a VOICEPEAK voicebank later this month on October 5th, 2023!
The Seika Town mascot character has come a long, long way in her past ten years, and the recent anniversary orchestra concert was the perfect way for fans to celebrate her present and future developments in a way that was uniquely Seika-like! Read on for our full report on the event!
Concert Information
Title
Japanese: 歌は時空を超えて～10th anniversary～「京町セイカ with Style KYOTO管弦楽団オーケストラコンサート」
Romaji: Uta wa Toki o Koete～10th anniversary～「Kyomachi Seika with Style KYOTO Kangengakudan Orchestra Concert」
Unofficial English translation: Songs Transcend Time & Space～10th Anniversary～Kyomachi Seika with Style KYOTO Orchestra Concert
URL: https://artsinnovator.com/works/20230923/
Location
Keihanna Plaza Hall, Main Hall
Official Announcements and Media
Credits
Music performance: Style KYOTO Orchestra
Conductor: Matsumura Hideaki
Singing and MC: Kyomachi Seika
Voice synthesizing: ぎゅや / Gyuya、だいすけP / DAISUKE-P、たかぴぃ / takapi、Dharma、とりごや / Torigoya
Imaging production: exemotion Inc.、i-Pairs Inc.
3D modeling: Studio 5
Equipment provision: 渡邉孝幸 / Watanabe Takayuki
General coordination: Seika Creates
Attending the 10th Anniversary Concert
And here, you can read about my personal experience and thoughts about Kyomachi Seika’s 10th anniversary concert!
Trip to Seika Town
To get to the concert venue from Tokyo, I opted to take the Japan Expressway Bus traveling at night starting at 10:45 PM JST on Friday, November 22nd, and arrived at Kyoto Station the following morning. Suffice to say, it wasn’t the best night’s sleep I ever got, and I arrived at my destination at the Keihanna Plaza Hotel in quite a groggy state.
However, what instantly jerked me awake was the immediate sight of Seika’s visage everywhere I looked in the building! From the rack of sightseeing pamphlets to the Seika365 promotion right outside a restaurant, I knew right away that I was in Seika Town!
And what’s more, I even saw the entrance to the Keihanna Plaza Hall where Seika’s 10th anniversary concert and the SEIKA Vocal Synth Fes 2023 event would be taking place, right in the same building as my hotel! Although I arrived before check-in time, I was able to give my luggage to the hotel staff for safe keeping while I could enjoy the concert, which was a big relief as I was previously worried that I’d have to bring all my belongings inside with me!
As I waited outside the hall, I actually heard one of Seika’s songs playing on the building loudspeakers! Its volume was turned down immediately, however, so I assume that they were just testing it. Still, it was enough to get me even more excited!
Something else that got be excited was seeing a staff member come outside the hall and booting up the air pump machine to inflate this Seika blow-up display, all right before my eyes!
Doors Open
When it was about 12:00 noon, audience members started joining me in the lobby area, and we passed the time talking. One of my conversations with a friend of mine was about which glow stick to use, but my friend informed me that glow sticks will probably not be used for this concert, which took me by surprise. To me, vocal synth concerts always equaled glowsticks set to the characters’ colors. But my friend explained that the atmosphere this particular concert will be quite different from, say, Magical Mirai where we were earlier that month, or even from Miku Symphony, its most direct comparison. After all, Seika isn’t Miku, and her events and concerts are naturally going to be very different from those of other vocal synths, something that never occurred to someone like me who was attending his first ever Seika-only concert.
Finally, as the clock struck 12:30, the doors opened and I stepped inside the SEIKA Vocal Synth Fes 2023 room! Immediately to my right was a display of Seika banners and Seika’s profile!
And to my left were two large billboards outlining Seika’s journey up to now. They showed all of her major accomplishments throughout her past decade of life from her humble origins as a mascot for Seika Town, all the way to her inclusion in VVV MUSIC LIVE!
Right next to these billboards was a white board where fans could write their own personal messages or draw illustrations of Seika for her and all to see, like a piapro wall!
One interesting fact about this board: my friend was able to find the same message that he previously wrote on it when attending one of Seika’s previous events, meaning the same board of messages was brought over from that event to this one! If they had that much space left over, then I suppose why not?
And then came the merchandise booths for Seika Town, AHS, elcre-store, SSS and more participating companies. Even the Keihanna Plaza Hotel had their own booth selling exclusive Seika goods, including ones like Seika face towels, Seika portraits, and even Seika lamp shades that can otherwise only be found in her collaboration hotel room!
Finally, near the entrance and audible from everywhere in the room was a monitor looping the music video for メガロポリス納税 / Megalopolis Nouzei! I suppose since we’re already shopping for merch for Seika and other characters, may as well play music to encourage us to contribute to Seika Town’s tax settlement!
After spending about 20 minutes shopping for merch, it was almost time for the concert to begin. So I headed out of the SEIKA Vocal Synth Fes 2023 doors and right back into the adjacent ones to enter the Main Hall. What greeted me as I went in and handed over my ticket was this lovely sight of Seika’s Synthesizer V design and a flower stand from AHS!
At first, the flower stand looked a little… lonely to me, especially when compared to the rows and rows of flower stands that I saw for the piapro characters at Magical Mirai. But then I remember that this day is a special day for Seika, the main star of today’s event. Remembering that made this sole flower stand feel a bit more intimate and heartfelt of a gift for Seika Town’s queen as she continues to grow and is about to perform in this official solo concert!
Then finally, it was time for me to take my seat inside the main concert hall. Here’s how the stage looked from my seat with the chairs for the orchestra members, and the projection screen for Seika all set up! Since photography during the concert was forbidden, this was my only chance to take a commemorative photo!
And the one who told us the rules for the concert was no one other than Seika herself! Her actual VOICEPEAK bank was used to narrate the whole program, giving concert goers a unique sneak peak as the capabilities of her as-of-yet unreleased software!
Set List
01: The Marriage of Figaro
And as the lights dimmer and the Style KYOTO Orchestra members and their conductor walked in, Seika’s 10th anniversary concert began!
…sort of. The first song performed was The Marriage of Figaro, which actually didn’t include Seika appearing or singing yet. It probably served as a warmup piece for Style KYOTO, and something that they would normally play at their regular concerts.
Before the show, I noticed that the audience was made up of young-looking people who likely came to see Seika, as well as older and nicely dressed gentleman who were likely there to listen to Style KYOTO perform. In short, there were both vocal synth fans and symphony orchestra fans there that day, so having the show’s opening number be something that the latter would enjoy was probably intentional.
02: Queen of the Night aria (The Magic Flute)
Voice tuning: Dharma
Now it was finally Seika’s chance to shine as her 3D model appeared onscreen and her Synthesizer V AI voice filled the room!
What she first she sang was an excerpt from Queen of the Night aria. And yes, she was singing entirely in German! While I can’t speak for the accuracy of the German singing, I was amazed by how genuinely opera-like her voice sounded, truly astounding for a vocal synth who isn’t Prima! Major kudos to the voice tuner, Dharma, who must have worked hard to get her to sound this way. The way that Seika’s voice could be carried through the whole room without even sounding like a vocal synth engine is no small feat!
You can hear the non-live concert version of this song here.
Talk interval
After amazing the audience with her first performance, Seika reappeared on stage in her VOFAN-designed Synthesizer V outfit to greet and thank us all for attending her 10th anniversary concert. She also mentioned how nervous she was, and even asked us how her singing was, to which everyone applauded in approval! Seika also introduced the Style KYOTO members and conductor, also expressing surprise in how she gets to celebrate her 10th anniversary with them like this.
And as mentioned, this was entirely done with her VOICEPEAK bank, sounding great and crystal clear even when being projected throughout a concert hall!
03: Amazing Grace
Voice tuning: Dharma
Then it was on to Seika’s second song, John Newton’s Amazing Grace. As a native English speaker, it’s without any exaggeration at all when I say that Seika’s version of the song was the clearest, most moving rendition of the famous melody that I’ve ever heard performed live. Even more fabulous than her perfect English pronunciation was the sheer power in her voice that sent goosebumps down my spine and melded perfectly with the orchestral rendition of the song.
Even with Synthesizer V AI’s cross-lingual feature, it would still require tremendous amounts of effort and time to get a Japanese voice bank like Seika sounding like this, so good as to rival native English-speaking human singers. I again give major kudos to Dharma for the herculean feat of tuning Seika to sing in both German and English and sounding so incredibly appealing to fans of opera and English-language songs alike!
Talk interval
After the thunderous applause following Seika’s fantastic performance of Amazing Grace, Seika appeared again to speak with us. This time, she described the song that she just sang as one meant to spread peace and happiness to its listeners, and hoped that her performance of it properly conveyed those messages to us and brightened up our lives a little. I may be speaking personally here, but I say that she succeeded with flying colors.
Then Seika said that her next two songs performances are ones meant to give people encouragement and make them feel good. I quite liked how Seika was commenting on each of the songs that she performed that day and what her singing goal for each one was!
04: All About That Bass
Voice tuning: Dharma
Seika wasn’t kidding when she said that the next song would be quite the change of pace: Meghan Trainor’s All About That Bass. Seika was once again singing in English, though this time with lots of pop and even hip hop verses in the mix. This was also her most “animated” song performance yet, as she was even doing a lot of light dancing and even clapped during intervals between singing, drawing the audience into it too! Even the Style KYOTO members would put down their instruments and clap along to the catchy melody at times!
Despite not being a big fan of American pop or knowing this song well, I cannot deny that I was charmed by Seika’s adorable performance of this song. Every song performance in this concert so far has been vastly different despite having the same singer and music performers. If their goal was to show off Seika’s versatility and potential, then they’ve already succeeded!
All the while, I didn’t see a single glow stick in sight, not even for this upbeat song. My friend was right when he said that this concert would be of the more formal nature to match Seika’s image and marketing. So this was also very much a learning experience for me as I attend more solo concerts made specifically for a particular vocal synth!
05: Feel Special
Voice tuning: ぎゅや / Gyuya
Immediately following All About That Bass was another pop song, specifically K-pop: Feel Special (Japanese version) by TWICE. This is the fifth song into the concert, and it was the first time tonight we hear Seika actually singing in Japanese! Once again, despite not knowing the song prior to this concert, Seika’s cover of it still got me and everyone in the audience clapping and bobbing our heads to the catchy melody and her wonderful singing voice. The orchestral arrangement also sounded appropriately sweeping in parts, and complimented Seika’s singing very nicely.
Talk interval
Then Seika appeared to talk with us again. asking us if we feel good now after her pop song performances. She went on to explain that her next two songs will finally be her own original songs. Though we may have heard them online a lot, she promised that they will sound fresh and new again when listened to live with an orchestra!
06: ウラナク/ URANAKU
Voice tuning: たかぴぃ / takapi
And so Seika sang her first original song of the day: ウラナク / URANAKU by takapi. Anyone familiar with the producer will know that he is no stranger to fantastic voice tuning, even having lots of experience tuning vocal synths for live concert performances. So it should come as no surprise that Seika sounded incredibly powerful during this performance!
The musical accompaniment by Style KYOTO is to be commended as well, performing such a fast-paced and loud song in symphony orchestra form, indeed sounding completely new like Seika promised. Also done well was the stage production with background lighting fading out during the low-key parts of the song, and flashing brightly during the sweeping chorus.
07: 大好き♥精華町！/ Daisuki♥Seika-chou!
Voice tuning: だいすけP / DAISUKE-P
Following the very impressive performance of ウラナク/ URANAKU, Seika immediately proceeded to her next original: 大好き♥精華町！/ Daisuki♥Seika-chou! by DAISUKE-P! Right away, the background lighting turned bright green to fit this very signature Seika song.
Perhaps given the subject of the song (the title translates to “I Love♥Seika Town!”), Seika herself was also super into this performance, more so than all the ones before. During instrumental intervals, Seika would always clap her hands, prompting us to join her, which we always happily would! Her choreography and facial expressions were also a lot more dynamic compared to previous performances, showing a lot more of Seika’s playful character. In many ways, this performance reminded me of a Miku live, especially given all the green lights and Seika’s energetic side on full display!
Seika even concluded the song with an “Arigatou!” and waved at the very end! Suffice to say, this was the most enjoyable song yet, for both the audience and for Seika! Despite the high energy, though, never once did anyone in the audience raise their voice or cheer loudly for Seika, again confirming what my friend said about the more formal and mild-mannered natured of this concert.
08: Sicilienne
Then the mood changed completely again with a performance of Sicilienne without Seika, with only the Style KYOTO orchestra playing what is likely more akin to what they usually play.
09: I Dreamed a Dream
Voice tuning: Dharma
But the star of the show didn’t remain gone for long. Seika returned to the stage to sing I Dreamed a Dream (English version) which once again showed off Dharma’s masterful work in tuning Seika to sing wondrously in English.
This was definitely the most somber song from the whole concert, and we could hear the raw emotion in Seika’s singing voice. Though very different in theme and style to the other songs in this concert, the wonderful music played by Style KYOTO and Seika’s dramatic performance made this song another one of thehighlights of the day for me.
The non-live concert version of this song can be heard here.
Talk interval
When Seika reappeared, she talked about the song she just sang as one filled with sadness and fleetingness, and asked if any of those feelings reached us, the audience. But she added that she hopes that those feelings can help give people hope and energy to build a better future, especially for those in Seika Town, the town she loves and supports with all her heart. She also took this moment to mention the SEIKA Subculture Fes and Niconico activities and promotion, again expressing hope for a bright future for Seika Town, and for all.
Speaking of Niconico, Seika then announced that her next song will be a cover that gained a lot of traction when it was uploaded on Niconico!
10: 群青 / Gunjou
Voice tuning: ぎゅや / Gyuya
Said song turned out to be 群青 / Gunjou by YOASOBI! This was another one of her more animated song performances, as Seika would clap her hands in front of her when singing the part leading up to the main chorus, and of course we would join her! And with her voice booming throughout the room during said chorus, it kept some people clapping even when Seika herself stopped clapping. When a song is so good that it gets people wanting to join in even without prompts, you know that the performer succeeded!
You can listen to the Niconico upload for the song here.
Talk interval
Seika stayed on stage to give us another MC portion, this time sounding really happy and peppy, asking us if we feel the same as her right now! She even urged us to give the Niconico upload of the song a listen with the three Tohoku sisters even joining in during the chorus!
But then her voice turned more serious as she mentioned how fun times go by so fast, and announced that the next song will be the last one. Then Seika remained silent for about the next four seconds, likely expecting the audience to exclaim “Ehhhhh!?” during this interval like they would often do at other concerts. However, the audience actually remained dead silent during the first three seconds. Remember that up to this point, no one was waving any glow sticks or raising their voices at all, not even during the most high-octane song performances. Everyone was minding the orchestra etiquette, even up to this point when we were expected to break etiquette! There was, I believe, one person in the audience who actually did have the guts to raise their voice and go “Ehhhh!?” at the final second of the silent part of Seika’s talk. Of course it was a bit late by then, and Seika had to start talking again!
After that unintentionally awkward moment, Seika went on to explain that this “last” song is another one that is meant to give inspiration and vigor to young girls.
11: 天城越え / Amagi-goe
Voice tuning: ぎゅや / Gyuya
This last song turned out to be 天城越え / Amagi-goe by Ishikawa Sayuri. This one showed off Seika’s ability to sing in yet another genre, enka, the most Japanese-like out of all songs in this concert. Enka singers are known for powerful ballad vocals, and Seika sang in such a way that would do them proud. She held all the long notes with proper power and vibrato to sound so much like the real deal that one would think that she specializes in enka like Sachiko! The sweeping orchestral music and red lights in the background added to the traditional Japanese feel of this song performance wonderfully.
Seika then concluded the song with a bow as her 3D image faded away, and the conductor himself also took his exit during our applause.
Encore
But as the lights dimmed, we heard a surprise voice fill the room. It was none other than Frimomen, and he was urging us all to call for an encore! The turquoise-blue one even led the chant for us to clap to!
Talk interval
After about a minute of Frimomen’s help, both the conductor and Seika re-appeared back on stage! She thanked us for the encore call, and expressed how happy she was to be back! To share this happy feeling, she decided that she will sing the song いちご / Ichigo! The song title, by the way, means “strawberry,” and Seika then used this moment to plug the Seika Strawberry Festival held each year! She knows and does her job well, to say the least!
12: いちご / Ichigo
And so Seika proceeded to sing いちご / Ichigo by Yuzu! It was another upbeat song that Seika could show her happy-go-lucky side when singing. She was once again clapping a lot between choruses and inviting us to join her. What a great way to start the encore, and to get us in the mood to return to Seika Town this autumn to enjoy some strawberries!
Talk interval
Seika was once again feeling refreshed and filled with joy, and again encouraged us to enjoy Seika Town in the spring as well when there will be even more festivals. Then she said how the next song will really, really be the final song of the concert, and she will sing it to leave us with one big, important and final lasting message from Seika to all her fans:
Go support the Seika hometown tax settlement!
13: フルサト・ノウゼイ / Furusato-Nouzei
And with that (not) surprising message, Seika proceeds to sing the final song of her 10th anniversary concert: フルサト・ノウゼイ / Furusato-Nouzei by とりごや / Torigoya! As the last song, the Style KYOTO orchestra spared no energy and played the song very loudly. But Seika’s voice was not to be drowned out, and she sang with equally big volume to perfectly accompany the music. She was also sparing no remaining energy, again clapping hard between choruses and dancing a lot, probably to fire us up and get us into the tax-paying mood!
Ending
And thus concluded the final performance of Kyomachi Seika’s 10th anniversary orchestra concert. After the last song, Seika thanked us one last time for coming, and took this last opportunity to remind us to support the Seika Town hometown tax settlement! Because, let’s be honest with ourselves, that’s the real reason for all Seika events!
Seika then expresses hope that there will be more events like this for her to meet us, and bowed deeply as her 3D model faded away for the final time, concluding the concert.
After the concert
As we were leaving the concert hall, all attendees were given a pamphlet with today’s setlist, credits and lovely illustrations of Seika on the front and back cover! We were also given a survey about the performance that asked us what we liked about it and took suggestions. I shared my honest feelings about the concert and added comments about how much respect I have for the voice tuners of each song performance!
Then it was off to my hotel, but I could somehow still hear Seika’s voice reverberating. Was I so entranced by the concert that Seika’s singing voice continued to resound in my head? Was I having such a transcendental vocal synth concert experience again?
…or was it just that the hotel loudspeakers were playing Seika music for us? Okay, yes, that was it! And the song that they wanted us to keep on hearing was (you guessed it) メガロポリス納税 / Megalopolis Nouzei!
And once in my hotel room, I got to enjoy the spoils of my shopping trip, which included many of the new and even exclusive Seika merchandise!
Given how I didn’t cheer or wave glow sticks at all during the show, I was surprised by how exhausted I still was after the concert and merch shopping. Sure, I may have slept on a bus the previous night, but the exhaustion was very likely also due to how absorbed I was in the concert for the whole hour that it lasted. It reminded me of how there are many different ways to experience a live concert, many ways to enjoy them, and thus many ways to be exhausted by them! I thus went straight to sleep afterwards.
The following day, I would spend the entire day going on a walking tour of Seika Town, as planned out by the official Seika Town walking trip brochure. I would see tons of other Seika-related sights and many of the locations that Seika Town is known for, and even download a new pedometer in which Seika herself encourages me to walk more. However, that’s a story for another day!
Conclusion
This trip to Seika Town to attend Kyomachi Seika’s 10th anniversary orchestra concert marked many “firsts” for me: my first Seika-only live show, my first time in Seika Town, my first time attending a vocal synth concert of such a formal nature, and more. Getting the chance to experience it was absolutely worth the trip all the way from Tokyo!
Thanks to the experience, I feel like I’ve gained a greater understanding of what Seika is about, having seen the town that she promotes, and seeing what a Seika live concert is like compared to concerts for other vocal synths. Seika’s air of formality and maturity was well reflected in this show, something that I could only learn by attending.
Extra cool was getting to listen to both her Synthesizer V AI and VOICEPEAK voices on full display in the most amazing way possible. In fact, I believe this concert marked the first ever concert that used only those software from Dreamtonics! So in a way, it was also a Dreamtonics-only live concert! To see vocal synth technology progress in such a way that we get to hear AI-powered voices on stage with a symphony orchestra performance was a truly refreshing experience, making this feel like a concert from the future!
It’s my sincere hope that this concert will someday get released on home media format (Blu-ray, etc.) or made available via online archive. It was too amazing of an experience for those of us in attendance to never relive, and for those who couldn’t make the trip to Seika Town to miss out on this truly one-of-a-kind vocal synth concert! Fingers crossed that Seika Creates makes it happen!
Returning home from this landmark concert that celebrated Seika as well as Dreamtonics and AHS software was a bit sad, but I already can’t wait for my next trip back to Seika Town and the chance to experience a local Seika event again! Seika Town has become something of a second home for me in Japan, a place that I’m willing to travel long distances in order to go to and get new experiences! That’s the influence that Seika has had on me, and I’m sure many others. I can tell you firsthand that she has worked her “magic” on me, and her function as a town mascot absolutely works!
Here’s hoping we’ll see another big event in Seika Town again soon! Look forward to more reports when we next attend them!
Hi, I am Dharma who did the voice tuninig for Amazing grace and others at the concert. I feel that the fusion of the wonderful voice synthesis technology and the performance of the orchestra made the concert one-of-a-kind. Thanks for listening and enjoying the concert.
I would like to point out one thing: the last song of the encore is not Megalopolis-Nozei, but Furusato-Nozei by Torigoya.
(It was not a good idea that the organizers did not provide written information.)
He and I would be happy to have the information corrected.
The organizer seems to want to have another concert next year, so I hope we can meet again next year in Seika-cho.
Hello, Dharma-san. Thank you for your comment, and for your correction, which I have just made in the report. My deepest apologies for the error, and for the lateness of this correction.
I, too, hope for another concert in Seika-cho next year for us to attend again.