As stated in the title, the following article is my opinion on the Miku Expo 2015 performance. Beforehand, I’d like to say that the concert appeared to be very well organised, and I love the variety of music they included this year! I’d also like to apologise that the photos aren’t high-quality, since not many images are currently available. They are simply screenshots.

After quickly viewing a reprint that a fan sent to me of the Miku Expo in Shanghai, I noticed something very odd. Did they perhaps get a little lazy this year?

Throughout the concert, depending on the performance, the actual model design itself changed. Not a costume switch – the models actually swapped between MikuPa, 39’s Giving Day models, and Magical Mirai models. Mostly, the Magical Mirai model was onstage, but every now and then, some familiar faces appeared.

For instance, think back to the 2012 performance of World’s End Dancehall at the ‘Miku no Hi Dai Kanshasai 39’s Giving Day’, using the old SEGA models. That was the final concert where those models were used, before being replaced by new ones (the current Magical Mirai models). However, that exact 2012 performance can be seen in this year’s Miku Expo. By ‘exact 2012 performance’, I mean the exact choreography, models, and modules/costumes, without any changes or updates. Not only that, but MikuPa models crop up too.

I assumed that for older songs that have been performed before, the same choreography would be reused, but that they’d at least use the current models. For example, for World’s End Dancehall, I would have assumed that they’d use the old choreography used in concerts/Project DIVA Arcade, but replace the models with the newest versions. Instead, it seems that they’ve recycled the exact same performances without updating them.

To me, the transition was most noticeable between Pane Dhiria (Shinjou-P) and Change Me (shut-t). For Pane Dhiria, it featured the MikuPa performance, whereas for Change Me, it featured the Miku no Hi Dai Kanshasai 39’s Giving Day performance. The change in the model quality, shape and overall design was quite prominent, to me at least. The other more noticeable change was between World’s End Dancehall (Wowaka – Miku no Hi Dai Kanshasai 39’s Giving Day performance) and Akatsuki Arrival (Last Note – Magical Mirai performance) – one minute, Luka’s hair was silky smooth, the next it was a lot thicker! You can see the difference below.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think it’s acceptable to use models from different years/concerts, or should they all match?

I have added some screenshots of Miku Expo below, showing:

Tell Your World (Livetune) – MikuPa model

World’s End Dancehall (Wowaka) – original SEGA model

Sharing The World (BIGHEAD) – current SEGA model As for the setlist itself, it was a nice mix, bringing back old and new songs alike. The full setlist, provided by @LOVEKAITOsan, can be viewed on VocaDB below:

http://vocadb.net/SongList/Details/2868

Below are some links worth visiting!

Official Miku Expo album on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155825580010637.1073741929.10150149727825637&type=3

Official Miku Expo 2015 website:http://mikuexpo.com/shanghai

Official Miku Expo website:http://mikuexpo.com

Official SEGA ft. Hatsune Miku Project website:http://miku.sega.jp

Goodsmile Company ENGLISH post about the new nendoroid:https://www.facebook.com/goodsmileenglish/posts/830150507068270

Find us on other websites!

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanVocaloidFans

Twitter:https://twitter.com/Cakey_Chan

Instagram:https://instagram.com/cakey96/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBuLS-nsrZ_MJPgeGQZyeJA

EDIT: Some people are pointing out that most Vocaloid concerts tend to recycle content. Whilst this is true, this is quite a different matter. For example, MikuPa often re-uses the same performances for each concert. That’s no secret. However, this time, it’s actually a ‘mash’ of old and new performances from the different concerts. They have re-used old performances from 2012ish, and not actually updated them in any way.

-cakey