We would like to give a very warm LoliDudes welcome to one of our friends, magnetic_rose, who was kind enough to agree to grace our pages and be our very first guest blogger on lolidudes.com! In this post, she shares some of her personal picks among the the Vocaloid’s ever-growing repertoire. Enjoy~! ^_^

Vocaloid is a voice synthesizer software application developed by the Yamaha Corporation. The Vocaloid software is aided by character voice packs released by other companies – the most popular of which are Crypton Future Media (creators of Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin and Len, and Megurine Luka) and SSW Internet Co. Ltd. (creators of Gacktpoid and Megpoid).

Vocaloid users have managed to create awe-inspiring pop and rock tunes wtih the software, and have released their works via video-sharing sites Nico Nico Douga and YouTube. These five tracks are my top picks for required viewing for new Vocaloid fans, as well as great classic tracks to sing along with for veteran fans.

Koi wa Sensou (Love is War) – Hatsune Miku

Supercell is a Japanese composer and producer (it is unclear if he is one person or several different persons) who specializes in utilizing Vocaloid 2 software in producing album-quality pop and rock tracks. Supercell has a number of other Vocaloid hits including Melt, World is Mine, and Black Rock Shooter, but for me Love is War is still his more seminal and most influential work.

Love is War is a song about a young girl who is determined to fight for her love, sacrificing all else to attain her one true happiness. There have been many adaptations and versions of this song (even some sung by humans as opposed to software), but my favorite is the reworked track featuring raunchier guitars and a heavier drum track.

Koi wa Sensou (Love is War) – Kagamine Rin

Not to be outdone by big sister Miku, Kagamine Rin also has her own version of Love is War, but instead of going for the power ballad sound, out little Rin looks towards dance and trance as her inspiration. Although this version is no longer by Supercell, Vocaloid fans have agreed that it is one of the best remixes for his groundbreaking track.

Under the Darkness – Gacktpoid

Under The Darkness is immediately recognizable to BL fangirls — it is the opening theme of the steamy Boys Love Visual Novel Kichiku Megane. Gackt, on the other hand, is a popular Japanese pop star and former vocalist of Malice Mizer. When Gackt was asked by SSW to produce a vocal package for Vocaloid 2, fans immediately used his distinctive voice to recreate C.G. mix’s sexy technopop track. Full-blooded males beware – you are stepping into fujoshi territory!

Aku no Meshitsukai (Servant of Evil) – Kagamine Ren

Servant of Evil is actually the middle track in a trilogy of music videos – the first one being “Daughter of Evil” and the last one, “Message of Regret”.

The trilogy features the Kagamine twins as brother and sister who were separated at a young age; Rin was raised as a princess and Ren as her servant. Rin falls in love with Kaito, a prince from a neighboring country, but he is already engaged to Princess Miku. Rin then orders a war fought between the countries in an attempt to exact revenge. Due to her rash actions, she was eventually imprisoned and was slated for execution when Ren switches places with her. His story and the sacrifices he had to make for his beloved sister make up the lyrics of Servant of Evil.

Servant of Evil is easily the best track among the three Evil songs, not just because of the message it conveys, but also the way Ren’s young masculine voice was utilized in the programming. The first song, Daughter of Evil has Miku’s nasal, almost annoying voice singing vaudeville-style – not exactly the best fit. The last track Message of Regret, on the other hand, was nice enough for Rin’s voice, but the composition and arrangement felt contrived and silly.

Anyway, there are several versions of Servant of Evil floating around – including a choir version, but the original is still the best.

World is Mine – Gacktpoid

World is Mine is originally another Supercell track for Hatsune Miku featuring soaring vocals and rapid changes form 1/16 to 1/24 time. This track is not for the faint of heart. Personally I prefer the Gacktpoid version of World is Mine, perhaps due to the song’s similarity to some older Malice Mizer tracks – making it perfect for Gackt’s voice. I would, however, scrub my eyes out with lye if I ever saw Gacktpoid wearing the white summer dress and black tights Miku wore on the cover art of her version of this single.