I’m sure a lot of people are aware of PinocchioP, one of the largest producers out there with ~395M views on YouTube and is a big impact on the modern vocal synth scene right now. He himself isn’t new to the vocal synth scene, though, starting out in 2009 with the song Hanauta (Nose Song), and gradually grew up from there. His song Kamippoi na (God-ish) became a staple song on Japanese TikTok, and amazingly amassed more views then he had previously, with some of his music still going viral, such as the one I’m going to talk about today: Tokumei M (Anonymous M) featuring Hatsune Miku and ARuFa, a human singer.
Background
A notable thing about Pinocchio’s music is that a lot of them are very difficult to understand upon first listen, and he is very well known for the interesting lyrics he puts in his music alongside his diversity in sound. However, most of his songs have one thing in common: a message that pushes deep into the very purpose of the track, to the point it sometimes gets lost in translation, being in another language or sometimes even the original Japanese subtext. Pinocchio is no stranger to “dark” music, and it’s sort of an inside joke with my friends that Pinocchio can make any humorous-looking song a deep ridden message about life and mental struggles (ex: Riaru ni Butto basu/KICK-ASS *LITERALLY, Mei Mei).
When it comes to existentialism in vocal synth music, a lot of people mention Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu (The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku) by cosMo@BousouP, or the Infinity Series in general, where Miku is aware of her status as a VOCALOID. I haven't listened to every song, but I have listened to its "response" song, Real Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu (The Real Disappearance of Hatsune Miku), also by cosMo. In many people's eyes, it's a song about the anger producers get when their songs are credited to the synth and not the producer, which is a huge problem on its own. However, my interpretation of it is how VOCALOID as a software is slowly getting old, and mascots are essentially being replaced by their producer.
Obviously, the song is a product of its time. It was released in 2015, which was a time where fans thought VOCALOID was dying, and today, vocal synths are in its biggest boom thanks to TikTok and the popularity of Project SEKAI, and recently has its own Billboard Japan Top 10 chart. However, Tokumei M is different, as it tackles the feelings of the mascot outright in a scene no longer like the late 2000s to early 2010s.
The first thing you notice is that it's heavily based off of ARuFa's brand for collaboration purposes. He's a writer and musician famous for his black bar covering his eyes, and quit his dream job as a teacher because a student recognized him. In short, he stays as anonymous as possible, which is why Miku is in the same situation, and her voice is pitched up like news stations would usually do to keep the person anonymous. PinocchioP, however, took the "anonymous" theme to give Miku a degree of "in-character existentialism" without "identifying her" to other people, such as her producers. Of course, we all know it's her, but it gives us an insight either way.
The Song
The song goes as follows, ARuFa is the interviewer, a nod to his status as a writer, and asks Miku questions that you would hear in typical interviews (how old are you, what's your favorite food, what are your likes/hobbies/pet peeves, etc.), Miku answers, saying she's not human, ARuFa stays professional.
When asked if she has anything else to say, Miku says;
"Lately, [BEEP] doesn't let me sing. Some start singing by themselves, switch characters, lose interest and so on."
This is one of the most direct nods to the vocal synth scene so far. With the rise of GUMI in the earlier vocal synth days, flower in the late 2010s, and KAFU in the 2020s, as well as more vocal synths having the opportunity to be used widely, Miku has had more intense competition throughout the years. Since the name is bleeped, Miku could be referring to anyone, as there's many producers that just use her once, or used to use her, but don't anymore, or have started their own independent careers.
Unlike in HACHI's "Suna no Wakusei" or some of the Infinity Series, where Miku shows no sadness to the producer's who've left, Miku expresses disdain, but this is a point I'll get to later.
The song immediately follows up with;
"But I understand they each have their own situation, it would be a burden if I hold them back. I'm okay as long as everyone's happy!"
"― That's life, isn't it?"
"No, because I'm not human."
It's one of the subtle hints that show you Miku can't really feel anything that makes the viewers like me uneasy. You never really get a blunt "Miku isn't actually real" in VOCALOID music, and when we do, it's usually directly from Miku in hopes that she can be human. Many early founding VOCALOID music for the pillar of mascot creation show Miku being excited to sing and interact with the producer. But in Tokumei M, Miku goes on to say;
"What image would you put on my lifeless body?"
It's scarily self aware.
"― So, what do you think of humans?"
"I haven't thought about it much, but I'm amused by the fact that they exist."
"― You're amused."
"From the non-existent point of view, it seems like some kind of joke."
It should be no secret now that the song goes against the VOCALOID character pillars. Miku's not endearing, but relatable in the sense that she can't feel what humans do, going on to angrily talk about how humans will "end", or die, in equivalent to her becoming irrelavent. Even so, she goes on to praise her producers;
"But thank you for everything, even though you're going to end! Thank you for all of your works! Thanks to all of you, I can continue singing…!"
"― That's very touching."
…
"Well, someone's just making me say all of this."
That line was the line that made me stop listening for a second to collect my thoughts. It's a PinocchioP song that's so scarily straightforward that it messes with the vocal synth scene, what people believe in when it comes to Miku. It hurts to see such a painfully aware song that doesn't make Miku hurt, because we know she can't hurt, or be happy, or filled with disdain. She's software, and says it herself;
"I'm just a music software, pretending to be human."
Near the end of the song, in the third chorus, the line about Miku having a lifeless body is replaced with the opposite;
"I used to be empty, but now I'm filled with memories. I'm Anonymous M. It all feels so strange."
While the song ends, ARuFa signs off with his signature outro "Well then, goodbye", Miku nearly exposes herself, in which the black bar is moved from Miku for a split second, before she calls herself "Anonymous M" and signs off.
My Thoughts
I can't really lie when I say it's a scary song. While vocal synths are now at the height of their popularity, PinocchioP, a pioneering VocaP for the 2020s, puts us into a perspective of these character mascots where we recognize that they aren't real. They're software meant to sing, and it gives us the site of the scene now, where people are rarely using the mascots and applying their own characters to the songs they sing.
I hardly believe the vocal synth scene is dying, if I could give my opinion, I'd say it's bigger and better than ever, but the usage of character mascots are slowly fading away, and it isn't inherently a bad thing, because it means people can express themselves more without the restrictions of the character, because we know that's what vocal synths were supposed to do before the introduction of the Character Vocal Series.
I believe this song is certainly the best song from the perspective of the vocal synth on the "reason to sing". It isn't sugar coated and it's frightening, but there can't be any other genuine reason through the perspective of the synth. They can't feel, they can only sing what the person tells them to, because they're software. Any feeling they do have is through the perspective of the producer, and it makes you question yourself. It's fantastically done, even when it isn't following the typical PinocchioP formula, and you can easily apply it to any other vocal synth.
Fanon content is the only way for vocal synths to survive, and it's the connection of one character to bring so many people together. While the song is somber, it leaves you with the thought that you add to a character's life and make it slightly more human.
We have a fascination for the digital and producing life from it, from the beginnings of singing synths in the IBM 7094 to the current vocal synthesizer applications in our laptops. It's all human to us because we're behind it. It's all from the efforts of the living.
Even though Miku isn't human, she exists in a tiny box of software, and we bring life to it.