Hatsune Miku fans have been enraged by the decision of Japan Rail East to throw out the top voted names for its new E5 Shinkansen, which included “Hatsune,” instead picking the name which came 7th with just 2% of the vote.
JR put the naming of its new locomotive to the vote, and the train soon captured the attention of Miku fans with its familiar green styling, causing them to flood the poll with “Hatsune” votes.
In the final count, 150,000 votes in all, “Hatsune” came second, with first place going to “Hatsukari,” the name of a scrapped train, likely block-voted by creepy train otaku.
However, organisers ignored these and selected “Hayabusa” (“Falcon”), which came 7th with only 3,129 votes, saying they liked its “sense of speed” and its “friendliness.”
2ch was generally displeased:
What was the point of voting?
I get the impression they decided on Hayabusa beforehand…
What, 7th? Make it Hatsune, god damn it!
Thank god it wasn’t Hatsune!
If they’re just going to pick 7th, what’s the point of voting? Who cares if they don’t pick Hatsune, but what is up with that?
Don’t knock otaku pressure – they got a space shuttle renamed “Enterprise” in the US.
Nice one JR, serves those creepy otaku right!
Leaving aside the issue of whether or not the organisers were right to stage a vote and then throw out all the entries in favour of an utterly trite and forgettable name, by passing up “Hatsune” they seem to be passing up a huge marketing coup – hardly a display of good commercial sense.
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Comparing Star Trek with Otaku in Japan show how little the denizens of 2ch understand Star Trek.
No Boku no Pico reference ?
But seriously, they had it coming with that color scheme... Our minds have been programed to see Miku when we see those colors.
But whatever JR's decision, nothing is stopping the train from having a fan name of Hatsune.
Boring, but right decision, they did not want to link creepy otaku to their train.
who cares how it's named, it's just a train =\
"Don’t knock otaku pressure – they got a space shuttle renamed “Enterprise” in the US."
Um no we didn't actually it was just that NASA has been a haven for geeks since day one.
gene Roddenberry had more to do with it than the fans did truth be told
We have had a lot of ships, mostly naval, named "Enterprise".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise
Democracy at it's finest.
JR was being a jerk, though. With that color scheme, anyone could see that they were asking for trouble regarding the name.
Could be worse though... a shinkansen-ita isn't too far away.
Even if they do call it Hayabusa, otaku are probably just going to call it Hatsune anyway.
Otaku have been disenfranchised. The time has come for revolution.
i predict this will create a new trend of redundant polls where the outcome isn't even taken into consideration
JR? Justice Runners from some other gallery?
Every time when something like this is happening, I think about all sorts of election. Democracy, yeah.
Hayabusa sounds more like a motorbike rather than a train.
Wasted marketing opportunity indeed.
"by passing up “Hatsune” they seem to be passing up a huge marketing coup – hardly a display of good commercial sense."
Since there was no agreement with whatever company that owned the character Hatsune, it seems wise that they passed it up just now.
Maybe for a next series of Shinkansen they can do licensing deal, but this probably would have led to tears (or more likely lawsuits) all around.
Hayabusa seems like a good enough name to me anyway.
Ninsheart said -
^^ Oh god. The train otaku are flooding Sankaku too, now! ^^
lulzes
^_^
TL;DR iminent
why the fuck would they do that? seriously, had the top vote been "anal rape" or something ridiculous like that than I could imagine, but with miku meaning future, and that being a new train and all (not to mention THE OBVIOUS COLORS) why would they name it something bland and unoriginal like "falcon"? let alone the ninja gaiden jokes bound to flood in...
seriously, its not like miku fans have a bad reputation like furries (avatards included), and yet we get kicked around just as much as they do as if we where the cancer killing the internet, like we where loc ker z or something. besides, why would they be embarrassed when miku is the most popular thing in japan next to touhou?
[/rant]
TL;DR: Internet is full of dicks, as always
its like COLBERT vs NASA all over again.
Same flack... the top two were:
COLBERT as in Stephen Colbert
Serenity as in the ship from FireFly, which came in 2nd and was on NASA's list.
NASA went with: Tranquility
That name sucks. WTF bother with the VOTE NAME game and waste people time and piss them off? thats negative advertising.
1.2million people voted, about 250,000 voted Colbert.
no one fucking care about this, except they are weeaboos.
Friendlyness?
They never felt a Falcon Punch.
I voted for Hatsune...
Next time just build a train that looks like a leek.
Otakus will be happy, train otakus wil be happy, company will be happy because of no problem with licensing :)
No matter what they name it, it still looks like a dick...
Yeah. Otaku got snubbed alright. The most logical choice would have been the most marketable (Hatsune) or the actual winner of the contest (Hayabusa).
Someone up there doesn't like us.
doesnt hatsune mean sth like first sound ?
although it has resemblence to miku, "first sound" as a name for something fast as a train is kinda odd.
TGV only means fast train, ICE is an intercity express...
Hayaku could have been an option, too...
So the space shuttle wasn't named after the CV-6?
The original cast even rolled out with the thing before they launched it, saw a video of it ages ago.
well, i think it's a very pretty train regardless. we don't get such nice-looking trains where i live ):
People are all bent out of shape that the top answers in the polls were thrown out, but one thing that isn't clear to me is whether the company actually said at the beginning that they would use the most popular name.
I don't read Japanese, I don't know, they may have - but there have been many contests where people send in suggestions for things and the results are based on what some judge of some sort likes, not what popular opinion is.
Now, a lot of people ASSUME that when you have a poll and people can send in suggestions that the majority should win, but that doesn't have to be true.
And frankly, if I were a public-service-oriented company, I'd want the right to veto results. What if pranksters had stuffed the ballot with some other name, like "Mint Dildo" or some such?
What was wrong with 3rd-6th place?
1st--too historical/old/recycled/train otaku... you want a forward-looking name, fine
2nd--too otaku... with all the baggage with the normal people, OK
But the rest? Why vote at all?
this is a sweet revenge for deriding the beautifully made Chinese MAD Miku song
They're commercial loss. If I were them, I'd pick "Hatsune" since it would be worshiped by anime otaku while train otaku would like it any other way. "Hayabusa" or Falcon sounds so plain and generic. Fits better on a Yu-Gi-Oh card imho.
But to be fair,"Hatsukari", the most voted one, should have been picked if the whole contest was worth anything.
Or was it just a brainstorming session to them...
I'll agree there, hell if I ever visit Japan I'd ride the train just for kicks.
It probably won't affect their image with a stunt like this too much but still I would've went with "Hatsukari" anyway if it were my company, I say probably but who knows with the general public.
But yeah... for those that didn't know anyway, I googled it because I was curious. It IS a Yu-Gi-Oh card lol
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Hayabusa_Knight
*facepalms*
...
...
...
Someone should make a picture of Ryu Hayabusa in Hatsune Miku's clothes...
Ryu Hayabusa in Hatsune Miku's clothes = Failed Trap
"Hatsune" should have been the winner, even if we are gonna see some otaku chaos.
Stupid a train is a train, it haven't a name, just a serial number damn. Marketing are stupid these day, truly a lak of imagination (sorry no english).
Hayabusa is a very lame name, its been used too much. Sounds like if 12 year olds named it to sound cool.
Ninja Gaiden Otaku FTW!
Completely disregarding the fact that hayabusa, like the article mentions, means falcon, amirite?
And Ryuu means dragon, what of it?
The train is ugly. It's good it's not called Hatsune. Only beautiful things should have this name :)
"Japanese" and "commercial sense" - two things that don't fit together :) -see lawson's eva store, minori etc.
To quote Shogo from battle royale
"I like what you just said"
yea,think of that EVA lawsons...
if they named it Hatsune her followers would pay once to get inside her and then never get off!
well... i mean get off in the 'disembark' sense...
they'd be getting off in every car...
So how many otaku are willing to commit suicide by jumping before this train to prove their point? If they all have a letter with them stating "If only the train was named Hatsune, I wouldn't have to die" it will become quite the spectacle!
I just pissed my pants.
A good way to rid the planet of some idiots. ^_^
I'll call the Darwin Awards, we can record this for posterity and laugh about it later again.
In this case, for the sake of history, they should have gone with “Hatsukari” the name of the scrapped train.
Although I have to say, Hatsune would be a beautiful name for a train. Trains rule!
And face a number of copy right infringements right?
At least it will be a train free of Creeppy Otaku!
...Or could be a Train of enraged and vengaful creeppy otakus!
They probably didn't want otakus causing that Asuka incident again. I don't see how this is bad commercial sense by preventing otakus from blocking the train in order to take pictures of it just because it has the same name as their favorite anime character in the future. That would be just bad for business.
Hatsune certainly would have attracted more business.
Don't worry, they named it after a Miku song praising the Japanese satellite Hayabusa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoBW-uhia9A
Did you guys miss the part about Hatsukari actually winning?
Exactly. Hatsukari won, and JR didn't want that one for whatever reasons.
In that case, JR would have to sign some paperworks with crypton
Maybe that is what JR what to avoid doing.
"In that case, JR would have to sign some paperworks with crypton
Maybe that is what JR what to avoid doing."
good try, but whit the name they chose now they will need to do some paperwork whit someone QUITE bigger than the little company that made Hatsune if they would even need to do it to use that name...
on tip, when you hear the name Hayabusa you don't think of trains, but something awfully fast on 2 wheels... and mostly they have some form of trademark on that name, and Suzuki isnt just a little "backyard" shop you can steal names from, and not the name of the fastest mass-produced motorcycle ever made...
but then again, they are both ridiculous fast... :P
lots of people have that name and have probably used the name in a lot of commercial vehicles (not literal ones for those that don't follow).
i don't really think it would be possible to copyright that...
"Hatsune" is a name much as "John" is a name. They wouldn't have to do anything extra.
"Ride Hatsune today!"
Hahahaha!! Never has that collection of lines sounded more appropriate.
Good one, Anon.
"Hatsune lets me grope"
"It was so tight in Hatsune"
"Today Hatsune was so wet"
"Hatsune came pretty fast"
"I rode Hatsune all night long"
I agree. Even if Hatsune is NOT Miku's name, a train with a name like "Hatsune" sounds nice to me, IMHO.
You mean Miku's surname, Anon?
Oh god. The train otaku are flooding Sankaku too, now!
2ch sucks!
To me, that train looks more like a giant vibrator than anything else >.>
A leek dildo as new accessory for Miku? ^_^
trains have otaku? GOD DAMN IT!
He's one of the privileged in terms of not knowing all that lurks on the internet, don't ruin it for him :D
Train otaku are quite common actually O_O
Why was there a vote if they just ignore it?
public transports are flooded in japan most of the time and naming it Hatsune or Hatsukari would have flooded this one with either Vocaloid Otaku or Train Otaku which was most likely tried to avoid here
That damn thing needs to die if they just throw out every vote. I'm sure 2ch are firing up their internet haet machines as we speak.
It isn't absolutely fine. This is about basic honesty.
I care neither for the name they gave it nor for the #1 choice, but I do think the way JR handled this is extremely dishonest and that they should have respected the public's choice.
That said, I think they shouldn't have held the like this poll at all. Such polls are easily flooded and hacked, and even if they aren't they suffer from serious selection bias problems. They should have polled differently or not at all. But once you decide to poll, you should stick to it and throwing out the results because you don't like them is too low for words.
Seems to happen all the time. Colbert won out by far in a vote to name a space module, and NASA ended up naming the treadmill after him. BTW, they ended up naming the space module after the name that came in 8th place.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30217550/
I don't know what's their problem. It's absolutely fine. Pointless otaku nerdrage...
"Hatsune came second"
THERE ARE MORE TRAIN THAN ANIME OTAKU IN JAPAN!?
@CoreFlood
I doubt a rail company constantly facing near maximum capacity loads on its trains really give a crap about consumer trust. They're like Kadokawa, trollin and not givin a crap.
I don't really mind about JR trolling otaku with not naming it Hatsune, as it came in second anyways. What makes me laugh, is that Hayabusa was picked because it sounds friendly...
A falcon? Friendly? They hunt and look cool while doing it.
Making me laugh even further, is that Hayabusa reminds me of a certain ninja that used to dress in blue, now in black. Ryu Hayabusa has never conjured an image of friendliness in my childhood memories, and certainly not in my recent ones.
What was third place I wonder.
Or fourth, fifth and sixth?
I just can't help but think that the train doesn't match the scenery so well. It looks like something from the future.
On another topic, why do I never see bird poop on trains?
regulary cleaning, perhaps?
How many otaku came before Miku? ^_^
It's just like when Colbert was snubbed from getting a space station hub named after him.
Seriously, those guys are epic trolls. They know how the otaku can't do anything about it.
Actually, they're more likely to just stand around the train, taking pictures of it, than actually get in it, and ride it. Even if they do, they'd pack the train constantly, leaving little room for regular customers.
The commercial sense is that people who would otherwise not take it (in this case, Hatsune Miku otaku) would take it therefore adding more ticket sales to revenue.
*CoreFlood is thinking: what are the chances that 2ch to make up a large part of JR's consumer base and then they boycott it causing the company to go under*
Wonder if it will damage consumer trust in the company...
just another epic trolling...
"commercial sense"? What does that mean? People would still take that train regardless of its name.