Looking Back at Proseka and MEIKO Original Songs (Part 1)
Introduction
Thank you for your hard work on the WL2 MEIKO chapter! It was a tough battle this time as well, but I am filled with emotion that I was able to safely make it into the Top 200.
And congratulations on the 5th anniversary of Proseka. I personally started Proseka before the 2nd anniversary. I feel it is a grateful connection that I met MEIKO there and have continued to support her this far.
As Proseka reaches its 5th anniversary, I wanted to do a retrospective project, so I started writing this by focusing on the relationship between Proseka and MEIKO through original songs. It is a clumsy piece of writing, but I hope you enjoy looking back on it.
Proseka Year 1
I feel that the first year of Proseka had many parts that were trial and error. "Blessing/halyosy" and "Nostalogic/yuukiss" were added as initial songs, and "on the rocks/OSTER project" was added during the 20-day consecutive daily song addition campaign after release. Especially regarding Nostalogic, it is a song that would likely be Virtual Singer ver. only nowadays, but it was implemented as a More More Jump! cover. (By the way, Nostalogic is the first and last time a MEIKO solo song was covered by a unit.)
Also, as a Virtual Singer ver. of the initial More More Jump! unit song "Idol Newcomer/Mitchie M", there was a version sung by the four Crypton girls including MEIKO. The call part is different from the Sekai ver. and is in a form that properly calls the four Crypton members, and it is one song I want to see performed live as a Virtual Singer ver. someday.
On October 17, 2020, "Run Blue!/marasy" was added. It is a song written as the CM song for "Pocari Sweat," the official drink of the Tokyo Marathon 2020, and as one of the official ambassadors, MEIKO participated in the singing along with many VTubers. The version included in Proseka was the Hatsune Miku solo version, but I would be happy if I could hear MEIKO's singing as an Another Vocal someday.
On December 20, 2020, "Rainbow Stories/OSTER project" was written for Wonderlands x Showtime in the event "This Singing Voice on a Holy Night." This event, which was also the first appearance of Wonderlands x Showtime MEIKO, attracted attention as a rare combination of two original characters x MEIKO x KAITO for a unit original song. This background is related to the initial constraint of matching the Vocaloid used by the Vocaloid P with the Vocaloid singing the original song. As a result of wanting to have both MEIKO and KAITO, who have few Vocaloid Ps using them, sing, it settled on a 4-person song because it was impossible to have 6 people sing at the time. Because of these complex circumstances, despite being one of the few early original songs for MEIKO and KAITO, it had not been performed at events for a long time. However, I am very happy that it was able to see the light of day in the form of a MEIKO x KAITO Another Vocal at the 4th Anniversary Proseka Thanksgiving Festival.
Four months after Rainbow Stories, the event "Secret Distance" was the first appearance of 25-ji, Nightcord de. MEIKO. The original song "Idsmile/Toa," released on April 19, 2021, was the first 3DMV for MEIKO. This song is very popular, and it was selected among the 3D songs of 25-ji, Nightcord de. when the 3DMV was renewed. Also, the Vocaloid P Toa purchased MEIKO because of this event, and has become one of the Vocaloid Ps with a deep connection to MEIKO, such as writing "Scar Tissue" and "Image Song" as one of the songs for the Snow Miku 2025 compilation album.
On May 21, 2021, MEIKO had her first original song singing for More More Jump! with "Ai no Material/Junky," and on September 10, 2021, she had her first original song singing for Leo/need with "Pulse of the Meteor/*Luna." By the way, "Pulse of the Meteor" is a Len solo song in the version posted by the Vocaloid P, but in the version included in Proseka, the 5 Crypton members including MEIKO are doing the chorus, and they are credited as singing members.
Proseka Year 2
The second year of Proseka was also a year when criticism from fans of the adult group (MEIKO, KAITO, Megurine Luka) erupted. Although several original songs began to be implemented, existing songs and covers were not added for these three for a long time since their release dates, and it was a year where negative aspects such as lack of supply and a small number of cards stood out for users who play because they like these three.
Also, in the original song "Lower/Nuyuri" for the 25-ji, Nightcord de. event "My Footprints, Your Destination" implemented on October 31, 2021, MEIKO's solo part was only the first 12 characters. Even though this reflected the non-interfering stance of 25-ji, Nightcord de. MEIKO, criticism arose that it was too much. I am really glad that it was later saved in the form of an Another Vocal.
Responding to such voices from fans of the adult group, the 1.5th anniversary song addition campaign added the three representative songs "Luka Luka Night Fever/samfree," "Piano x Forte x Scandal/OSTER project," and "Thousand Year Solo/yanagi P," and in the Cup Noodle x Project Sekai tie-up held during Golden Week in 2022, they gradually improved by singing in "Blue Paint/Kujira" and "Tokugawa Cup Noodle Prohibition/Mitchie M."
On May 20, 2022, "Moonlight/Tatsuya Kitani x Harumaki Gohan" was written for the event "THE POWER OF UNITY," and it became the first singing for Vivid BAD SQUAD MEIKO. Despite being an initial Virtual Singer for the Street Sekai, she had no singing parts for over a year and a half, and because there were no songs she could sing even in Connect Live, she could not appear in singing, so this was a long-awaited singing, and from here, the opportunities for Vivid BAD SQUAD MEIKO to play an active role will continue to increase.
On June 28, 2022, "Melody of the Starry Sky/PolyphonicBranch" was written for the event "Life or Death!? Island Panic!," which is the first 3D song for Wonderlands x Showtime MEIKO. Speaking of PolyphonicBranch, they wrote "Two People's White Map" for MEIKO's 16th Anniversary, and in the Virtual Singer ver., the 5 Crypton members excluding Megurine Luka were singing, and she was allowed to sing the good parts in the second position following Hatsune Miku. It is also one of the original songs that does not have a 2DMV yet, and I am looking forward to it.
Proseka Year 3
The third year of Proseka began, and the biggest event was the implementation of the 25-ji, Nightcord de. MEIKO cover of "Phony/Tsumiki." This song, which was added in the 2nd anniversary song addition campaign, was the first MEIKO cover song in two years since "Nostalogic." Just as "Phony" was the first song recorded by Cevio AI Kafu, singing by synthetic voices other than Crypton increased in earnest after the 2nd anniversary, and along with that, the opportunities for cover singing by the adult group, which has few existing songs, expanded.
Around the 2nd anniversary, the addition of existing MEIKO songs also stood out. "Fraulein=Bibliotheca/Daitensai-P" was added on July 30, 2022, before the 2nd anniversary, "Bad∞End∞Night/Hitoshizuku x Yama△" was added on October 7, 2022, for the 2nd anniversary song addition campaign, and "Change me/shu-t P" was added on November 4, 2022, after the 2nd anniversary.
Also, MEIKO's 3DMV rush continued, such as getting More More Jump! MEIKO and Vivid BAD SQUAD MEIKO's first 3D with the original songs "DREAM PLACE/Easy Pop" and "Kashika/RyoRyo," and MEIKO's first cover 3D with the Wonderlands x Showtime cover song "Loveka/Hiiragi Kirai."
On November 26, 2022, "Hurray/HoneyWorks" was added. It is a collaboration song between Pocari Sweat and Project Sekai, and it is the second song related to Pocari Sweat to be added after "Run Blue!" In the Virtual Singer ver., MEIKO sings along with Hatsune Miku due to her connection as a Pocari Sweat ambassador, and I still remember the excitement of MEIKO being appointed in a HoneyWorks song.
As part of the 2022 year-end and New Year daily song addition campaign, "Feres / Yuri Kuriyama" was added as a Vivid BAD SQUAD cover on January 5, 2023. This song choice was a surprise, both because it was a new song released on March 19, 2022, and because I had assumed that if a song by Yuri Kuriyama were to be included, it would be "Jitterbug," which has the most views on YouTube. This song, sung with Vivid BAD SQUAD, rapidly grew in popularity and became one of the representative duets for Hatsune Miku and MEIKO, even being performed at Magical Mirai 2023.
Following that, it was impressive to see a significant increase in Vivid BAD SQUAD MEIKO content, with songs like "Hitsuji ga Ippiki / Peg" and "Egoist / Paseri Onuma" following "Feres." In particular, "Egoist" was the first 3D cover song for Vivid BAD SQUAD MEIKO, and the staging that seemed to shoot through the viewers the moment the final door closed was truly captivating.
Also, MEIKO's inclusion as part of the Crypton 6-member group stood out in the Virtual Singer versions of original songs. It was impressive that songs featuring all six Crypton singers were added in succession: the event original song for Wonderlands x Showtime, "Mr. Showtime / Hitosizuku x Yama△"; the April Fools' event original song, "Be The MUSIC! / Kinoshita"; and the first Proseka Ultimate adopted song, "Jinsei / Anmerutsu-P."
Furthermore, on April 3, 2023, as part of the 2.5th Anniversary song addition campaign, the MEIKO 17th Anniversary song "Watashi no Koi wa Hellfire / SLAVE.V-V-R" was added. While MEIKO is becoming a regular in song addition campaigns, this song was also part of the Virtual Singer solo 3D MV project. This song, which features repeated ultra-high-pitched shouts, left a huge impact and became a catalyst for the impression that MEIKO solo songs are high-difficulty. The sequel, a song called "Watashi no Koi wa Hellthunder," is also very cool and highly recommended.
Amidst the stabilization of MEIKO content, with the Leo/need event original song "Aioi / Yairi," the Nightcord at 25:00 MEIKO cover of "Inochi Bakari / Nuyuri," and the first Leo/need MEIKO 3D cover of "Kaisei / Orangestar," "Akujiki Musume Conchita / mothy (Akuno-P)" was implemented on May 23, 2023. This was a revival of the Proseka x Seven Deadly Sins collaboration held in December 2021. Despite it being one of MEIKO's representative songs, it was not included in the first collaboration because "Daughter of Evil" and "Servant of Evil" were prioritized, so MEIKO fans who had been feeling impatient were finally rewarded here.
While there was a More More Jump! MEIKO cover of "Kyu-kurarin / Iyowa," the final MEIKO-sung song of the third year of Proseka was "Kirapipi★Kirapika / Dai-Tensai-P," which was written for the Wonderlands x Showtime event "Our Happy Ending" and implemented on August 21, 2023. The pre-training illustration of the 4-star MEIKO "Storyteller of Happiness" implemented in this event is so popular that it ranks second in my favorite MEIKO illustrations, partly due to MEIKO's gentle expression wishing for the happiness of the four Wonderlands x Showtime members. I also remember being surprised by the effort put into the post-training illustration, with the animal ears clearly aimed at piercing the hearts of MEIKO fans. Additionally, the high-quality tuning of MEIKO in this original song became a major topic of conversation. In the Virtual Singer version, MEIKO sings the lead alongside Hatsune Miku, and seeing the six Crypton members singing freely in a musical style makes me have to say, "As expected of Dai-Tensai-P." As you can tell from listening to "Ultra Scarlet," which was produced to celebrate MEIKO's 20th anniversary, I am truly grateful to Dai-Tensai-P for loving MEIKO.
Conclusion
By the time I finished writing up to the third year, it was about 5,000 characters, which is longer than I expected, so I would like to end the first part here. I hope to write the second part when I have more time, and thank you for reading such a long text. I would be happy if this helped you reminisce about the relationship between Proseka and MEIKO and think, "Oh, that happened too."