William Gibson, the author who kick-started the cyberpunk genre and popularised the notion of a virtual idol, is singularly unimpressed by Hatsune Miku it seems.
What Gibson’s twittering about her “rez” is all about is less than clear, but that he is not enamoured by her is clear enough:
Hatsune Miku doesn’t really rock me. I want higher rez, less anime.
[...]
So Hatsune Miku involves some sort of ongoing crowd-sourced evolution?
His followers also seem less than enthused by the world’s leading virtual idol:
From what I understand she will change as the trends change, the idea being an idoru that can never fall out of favor.
[...]
Yeah, most of her songs are developed by fans, refined by the people at Crypton and then synched to her visuals.
[...]
Think of her as a piano with a personality and a publisher – you get enough composers and some rise to the top.
Fortunately, the world’s media now seems to agree Miku is actually a hologram and not a virtual idol after all…
Japanese observers continued a discrete parallel conversation about his comments in Japanese, wondering just what the hell he was on about:
The great SF writer William Gibson has mentioned Hatsune Miku!
He seems pretty past it. We should explain to him about Miku at an SF con if we get the chance.
By “rez” he means “high rez,” right? He wants her in realistic 3D, not anime style? I’m sure Sega can help with that.
I suppose it would be a bit weird if Gibson praised her; though actually, when I met Crypton’s CEO in San Francisco he was wearing a Neuromancer T-shirt…
Well, it’s less about Miku herself and more about the spontaneous formation of a community of creators and fans around her image.
Also we have to do something about this idea that Miku is a holographic virtual idol which is spreading overseas. I think that coloured Gibson’s comments about her there.
“Doesn’t rock me” – I think we can safely translate that as “みくみくにされなかった”
Hiroyuki Itoh, Crypton’s CEO, chimes in:
So William Gibson tweeted about Hatsune Miku. I read Neuromancer 20 years ago!
When I think about it, it all seemed more futuristic back then. Now the real future is here, we have to be conscious of it. The feeling that the future’s not really living up to the hype kinda sucks.
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Who gives a fuck what Bill Gibson thinks, I think Philip K Dick and Ridley Scott did more for cyberpunk that Gibson ever did.
He's clearly only complaining about Miku's lack of visual detail clarity. Let's see him do a better job after going a standing stop to where Miku is in just a few years eh.
Writing a book is not the same as computer programming Dick. You should already know that.
i watched some vids on youtube about one of Mikus concerts. In my oppinion she could have had a better resolution on the screen. in my eyes she looked kinda misty, or blurry. (dont know how describe it proberly)
If that is his problem i definitely can understand him, but time will improve the grapics anyway so we just need to wait.
She was pretty low quality in the concert. But the concert was also not filmed in great quality either.
he clearly mention that he doesn't want miku being in anime style, he prefer rez or whatever it is called i don't really care. well, his opinion doesn't matter thought, who the hell want this fucking rez, i prefer anime style you shithead. if you want to be rocked, then i'll gladly throw rock at you as long as you want. if he want the realistic one why don't he go grab someone in RL, that will be very-very-very realistic compare to the imaginative one being in 3D. JUST GO TO HELL you dipshit
That "rocked" part of the comment just made my day and calmed my anger a bit about this too.
I agree with you about Gibson. But, you know, PKD wasn't really cyberpunk.
Do I give a fuck if Gibson doesn't like my lovely Miku?
umm... No?
he want to be rocked, or maybe he's gay
So he prefers Miku to have a more "3D" design (as in similar to those in post-FF10 character design.)
Looks creepy to me
I guess he'd like her to have a human like appearance. Well, too bad. ^_^
well, but others do not want it. one person's opinion doesn't really matter right. no matter how professional he is, all that matter is people would enjoy it or not.
Whats wrong with anime visuals? It looks great, sometimes even better than real life people. Not the detail, but they appear to how the artist want it to appear (which is as perfect as possible) so it looks better overall (in style anyways).
seeing all these comments that support Miku and against her...make me remember the scened in Oremo no Imouto, well its glad that we can share our opinion, but please... stop the bashing and stuff, we are all human that are free to express correct, but also sometime need to watch the words to be used^^,
On a side note, I am Hatsune Miku fan, I bought a 55 Singapore Dollar ticket just to see her 3 songs in AFAX 2010 concert, bought a 15 dollar magazine just for her poster with Rin,
people said I am weird, but people this is how I show my appreciation to Miku and those that make her popular as she is now today...
to those who judged me with cold eyes, I DONT CARE! I LIKE HER AND HER SONGS! So, HATERS, *middle finger*
Thats all, have a nice day^^
Finally someone with some sense in their mind. You like Miku, fine. I personally don't like her, which is also fine.
Can we now please go on?
Holy crusades are unstoppable. Internet is serious business.
lol true that itll be until william gibson dies when its done
If Miku's fans stop acting like rabid retards, there wouldn't be any bashing.
Well look who threw the first stone in the first place. If you Gibson fans stop acting so defensively innocent then there wouldn't need to be any arguing as well.
"Crap, some of her fans are acting like the Twilight kids when Stephen King ripped their little 'preciouses' a new asshole."
This. Thank you for wording it perfectly.
I sure hope you can back that accusation up.
I really didn't see it as stone-throwing.
He just doesn't like Miku. She isn't his cup of tea, so what? There are going to be some people who just don't like her, or even, not really care one way or another.
Crap, some of her fans are acting like the Twilight kids when Stephen King ripped their little 'preciouses' a new asshole.
Gibson who? Oh yeah, THAT William Gibson who wrote "The Sprawl Trilogy" which is the base of everything cyberpunk, including but not limited to Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed.
Imagine your favourite movie is getting an award.
is it wrong to talk about it passionately with others?
It's like that.. Vocaloid has never been this famous. So let us have some fun ok? No need to insult miku if you don't like it.
Translation: I spent years and decades doing shit and I didn't even managed to do any technologic conquests as quick as this green haired little girl did? Damnit!!
Translation: I spent years and decades writing novels about high-technology based on hard facts and technology of the age and somehow I managed to inspire some green-haired little girl with one of the most annoying voices in existence? Damnit!!
^^^^^^^^^
Fixed that for you, bro.
Vocaloid inspired by Gibson? Don't make me laugh. Come on, you can't actually believe this bullshit yourself.
He wasn't the first to work with the concept of a virtual idol by far, and none of the Vocaloids were ever meant to be virtual idols in the first place. It just happened by itself. It was a decentralized process and therefore not inspired by anything.
Annoying voices eh? Lol I find your wierd American english accent to be more annoying >.>
Willaim Gibson can suck mah jewish dick, miku~.
There will always be those who play down just how epic Miku. I'm guessing he wants her more like the idol in Macross. To be honest though, it she was like that, I doubt she'd be as popular. That's just me though.
like the French TV show.
You can't say something like that about Miku.. she's like.. awesome.. Even if she has no real body, or anything. She lives in my heart! and that's what really matters. QuQ
I used to be his fan, but now he crossed the line!
*throws all her gibson books away*
Don't throw them away give it to me and i'll use them as toilet paper.
Burn them and post the pictures on the Internet in true otaku fashion. Become that which you hate.
You're a moron.
You can kill yourself too with miku :] .
Miku cant die :P
William Gibson? Aah!! Ano hito ka??? ...Dare dakke? Maa ii ka. Po Pi Po Pi Po~
BLASPHEMY she will conquer the world no matter wut u say
"William Gibson Not Impressed by Hatsune Miku"
- my first thought was: "who to hell is William Gibson ?"
Gibson, the game, you lost it...
(for the guys who don't know why we are talking about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idoru)
I seriously thought he's a music critic.
I like the songs in Miku's voice, what else matters?
If she is making the songs herself? I could care less.
If she is constant in her looks and doesn't follow trends? So they adapt Miku to what is popular, if I like it I like it, else I'll just listen to her earlier stuff.
If this Gibson person doesn't like it, why doesn't he make an idol himself.
This isn't totally surprising. For one thing, Gibson is infamously out of touch with technology, and it took him forever to even get away from using a typewriter and fax machine and actually embrace the Internet. He's not really into Japanese culture, but will visit Japan for a few weeks for a dose of the weirdness of the "mirror world" and more inspirations for his books.
I'm pretty sure his idea for the titular "Idoru" came from the now long forgotten virtual idol, DK-96, who looked like she was modeled after a human (3D model), and voiced directly by an actual singer.
Now, he's not even a sci-fi author. At least at "Pattern Recognition" where I stalled on actually reading his books. It's like he's always written about the early 21st century, but now it's not fiction, so he just writes about normal people. The bridge trilogy ("Idoru," etc) was very thinly cyberpunk, but mostly contemporary.
I guess what I'm saying is... Yeah, there's no reason to expect he'd be hip to something strange and synthetic like Miku. He's not any kind of otaku and is even known for being out of touch. He just has a good feel for how a technology will be practically used over time, and for what emotional connections people will make to curios and nicknacks.
He shouldn't be impressed by Miku. No matter how you look at Miku, there's still plenty of room for development. While I like the design a lot (I like contemporary anime character design anyway), the actual singing leaves much to be desired. I have yet to hear a Hatsune song that didn't sound highly artificial in a negative way. Maybe in 10 years Gibson will change his opinion, proving it's not just prejudice.
No one said it was perfect. Anyway most of the works are made by everyday people, I have yet to see an expert make a song yet. But the "World is Mine" song is a lot better than most of our pop music "singers" (they are horrible at singing, the talented singers I know are all underground).
I can list them but you know who they are.
Just do what everyone is doing. Show your support for Miku!
whoa, that sound pretty much like fanatic Christians or nazis
Fanatic Christians? Nazis? Come on, they're tame compared to Miku's legion!
SACRIFICE THE WORLD FOR HER MAJESTY! WAIT FOR THE CHOSEN DAY, FOR THE DAY OF THE PROMISED LAND OF MIKU!! ALL HAIL THE GODDESS OF THE NEW WORLD!!!!
*cuts wrists*
except that we don't kill nor religiously persue heretics.....We just listen to the music and continue with our lives. I like many just like Miku and won't be put down of my preferences by no one....not even a "living legend" or so they call this man....>_>
@anon 04;11
Nah, It's more like Gibson doesn't like miku.
Well that's up to Gibson, whatever his opinion is won't change a thing.
You,however,makes it seems like Gibson VS Miku by flaming miku's fans.
@anon02:28
And who the hell do you think you are? Gibson's wife or kids? or just some Gibson's fan?
In case you don't realize, you're bashing miku because "some" of miku's fans insult gibson. Not because of miku herself. Get it? your idiocy?
Or..maybe even if miku's fan stay silent you're still gonna bash miku?
Then don't use gibson as your tools for bashing miku. You're disrespecting both of them you fools.
Well said for all anons :)
@anon05:10 "You,however,makes it seems like Gibson VS Miku by flaming miku's fans."
Because there's really few that are worse than rabid fanboys/fangirls. It doesn't matter which fandom.
Blind fans vs Blind haters hehehehehehe
I understand that, and I never implied that he was bashing us, just used it as an example which referred to those here that are really bashing us. But yeah, I know that he is entitled to his opinion and I like many here understand and respect that. Wish I could say the same for the trolls here >_>
>>I know that he is entitled to his opinion and I like many here understand and respect that.
Oh really now. Have you read comments of your fellow Miku fans here? If not, let me copy-paste some for you:
"I guess he gave up on real women that he now want to see all virtual characters having "real-life" design."
"I'm sure William Gibson might have something insightful to say about Miku. Too bad he said something retarded instead."
"What does an old man have to say to the New-Gen Anime World, he should stick with his 60's oldies music and working with a typewriter."
Do you want me to give you more examples or will you still continue blindly saying something idiotic?
In case you did not notice, this whole article is about Gibson and Miku. Christ, are all you Miku fans this dumb?
dont feed the trolls and will die as slugs on salt :)
look at the reaction over here and other not favorable miku notices.
no one is triying to put down your proferences.
WG haves his opinion, we could agree or not but bashing him for have an opinion is a fanatic reaction.
@anon03:20
And why do you think I don't hate Miku herself? Her character design is tacky, generic, and her synthesized voice is annoying. She's overrated and, to be perfectly blunt, devoid of any personality whatsoever. You Miku fans are just making it worse.