Hanakuma Chifuyu

Hanakuma Chifuyu
Character information
Gender	Female
Pronouns	She/Her
Birthday	March 2
Height	151 cm
Technical information
Product code	Synthesizer V: SAHS-40408 (physical) SAHS-40409 (digital) CeVIO AI Talk: SAHS-40412 (physical) SAHS-40413 (digital) SAHS-40414 (Starter Pack, physical) SAHS-40415 (Starter Pack, digital)
Type	CeVIO AI, Synthesizer V Studio, Synthesizer V AI
Language	Japanese
Voice Provider	Okuno Kaya
Illustrator	Teshima Nari
Release date	October 20, 2022
Company	TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT AH-Software Co. Ltd.
Affiliation	CeVIO Project Dreamtonics Co., Ltd.

Hanakuma Chifuyu (花(はな)隈(くま)千(ち)冬(ふゆ)) is a CeVIO AI Talk Voice and Synthesizer V Studio/AI voicebank developed by TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT in collaboration with AH-Software Co. Ltd..

Her voice provider is Okuno Kaya (奥(おく)野(の) 香(か)耶(や)).

Concept

Hanakuma Chifuyu is a first-year student attending the fictional Otaru Shiokaze High School. She can play the drums and is noted to have "serious withdrawal thoughts". She decided to enroll and join the music club after seeing Natsuki Karin performing live. She is described to be addicted to taking photos with an old camera she found in her warehouse.

She is themed around the winter season.

Etymology

Hanakuma (花隈) is an existing Japanese surname with Hana (花) meaning "flower" & kuma (隈) meaning "corner/nook/recess" while Chifuyu (千冬) translates to "a thousand winters".

Appearance

Chifuyu is a high school student with long black hair tied into braids extending past her shoulder and small white bows tied to the tips of the braids. Her eye color is a pale green and she wears a pair of black glasses, although she also wears contact lenses sometimes. Her Synthesizer V AI design omits the glasses.

Chifuyu wears a standard school uniform - a grey top with a green tie and a dark blue/white accented long sleeved jacket over it. She also wears a short, dark blue pleated skirt, black leggings with a pair of black and white-striped socks, and grey calf-length boots.

Larkpatch (ラークパッチ Raakupacchi), her companion who was also called Professor Larkpatch (ラークパッチ教授(きょうじゅ) Raakupacchi-Kyouju or ブロフェッサー、ラークパッチ Purofessaa Raakupacchi), is a light blue stuffed bear with black claws and dark blue patches over his left eye, arms and legs. He wears a dark blue tie and has a small top hat on his head. He has a white bandage on his right arm and has a pair of tattered yellow wings on his back. His name "Larkpatch" is inspired by Doctor William Smith Clark, an American professor of chemistry, botany and zoology and a colonel during the American Civil War and the word "patch" in reference to the patches on his body.

Likes

• Matcha
• Reading
• Cameras

Dislikes

• Sweetness

Relations

• Larkpatch - Stuffed bear companion
• Koharu Rikka - fellow student & music club member at Otaru Shiokaze High School.
• Natsuki Karin - fellow student & music club member at Otaru Shiokaze High School.

History

2021

On May 20, 2021, a silhouette was shown on TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT's twitter account. Details were to be released on May 22. This was later revealed to be Hanakuma Chifuyu, a character introduced through a campaign titled "Koharu Rikka x Otaru Collaboration (小春六花×小樽コラボ)". She was confirmed to be a student enrolled at the fictional Otaru Shiokaze High School and was in the same music club as Koharu Rikka. Details about Chifuyu as a character were released and she was confirmed to be voiced by Kaya Okuno for a promotional video. She was illustrated by Teshima Nari and the logo was created by Hiroaki Watanabe. It was noted in a TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT livestream that there were plans to create a voice library for Chifuyu and Natsuki Karin, which were confirmed in June to be Synthesizer V AI and CeVIO AI.

On August 8, due to some concerns regarding business activities related to Synthesizer V, Dreamtonics Co., Ltd. noted that Chifuyu was on the list of "yet-to-be-published" voices and initiatives. For many overseas fans, this was the first time they became aware of these voice databases as there was no official announcement via social media nor newsletter of the productions and website adjustments. Due to language barriers, the livestream featuring the announcement was also overlooked.

On October 3, it was announced that Chifuyu would be the third character in the lineup, meaning that Karin was to be prioritized over her. A crowdfunding campaign for Chifuyu would be launched around June 2022 with details to release in the spring.

On October 26, it was confirmed via livestream that recordings for a test Chifuyu bank had begun and would continue onto the next day. Samples were expected to be provided in the spring.

2022

On January 4, 2022, TOKYO6 confirmed that crowdfunding for her Synthesizer V AI voice database and CeVIO AI Talk Song library would start this year and that their production was planned to be finished before the year's end.

On February 16, Chifuyu's official Twitter feed reconfirmed the crowdfund to take place in June, with aims to get both of her CeVIO AI and SynthV AI libraries released in October. During the AHS live broadcast the next day (where TOKYO6 acknowledged their cooperation in the development of VOICEPEAK, AH-Software's new text-to-speech software based on Dreamtonics' Syllaflow AI speech-synthesis engine), her October release month was confirmed at least for her CeVIO AI Talk voice.

On March 28, it was announced that Chifuyu's CeVIO AI and Synthesizer V AI production crowdfund was scheduled to launch on June 26. Details were to come in mid-May. On May 2, TOKYO6 tweeted that a live broadcast was scheduled for May 20 at 19:30 JST with appearances from Yoshino Aoyama, Miyu Takagi, Kaya Okuno, and Akasako. Discussions about Rikka's birthday festivities, "Koharu Rikka 1st LIVE! First Day of School!", Karin's release commemoration, and Chifuyu's crowdfund outline for June 26 were to be expected. Chifuyu's CeVIO AI Talk Voice and Synthesizer V AI voice database were confirmed to be showcased at the live broadcast.

On May 20, during TOKYO6's livestream, Chifuyu's crowdfunding was announced to begin on June 26 at 9 PM JST during another broadcast and would be hosted on ubgoe. It was scheduled to end on July 26 at 23:59 JST. The first goal, at 6 million yen, included the confirmation of Chifuyu's CeVIO AI Talk Voice and Synthesizer V AI voice database. The second goal, at 8 million yen, included 800 PitaGoe samples. The third goal, at 10 million yen, included a 3D model and an additional demo.

On September 25, listings for Chifuyu's physical box were made available for pre-order on Amazon Japan with no prior announcement. According to the listing, she was planned to release on October 20. The listing was later taken down, with TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT tweeting that they were making final adjustments with retailers to release Chifuyu's products in mid-October, marking the release date as undecided for the time being. A follow-up tweet was posted to remind crowdfund supporters to adjust their addresses if necessary. On September 30, AH-Software announced that Chifuyu's CeVIO AI and Synthesizer V AI voices would be released on October 20 as physical and digital copies. She was confirmed to be releasing as both CeVIO AI Song Voice only and Talk Starter Pack options. Shipment for crowdfund backers was scheduled for October 7.

Due to the additional funds gained from the campaign in June, on September 29, TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT announced that there would be four additional standing art (illustrated by MtU, Karei, Niijima Akiichi, and Yume no Owari) and a total of six demos for Chifuy's Synthesizer V AI voice database, which included the previously shown "Himetaru.NE". Half of the demo songs were to be launched on October 19, the day before her release, while the other half were scheduled for February 6, 2023. Some of the demos were confirmed to be: a song produced by Kazawara, a song produced by Minato Itsuki, the full version of "Himetaru.NE", a trio song, and more. Crowdfund rewards, including the voice database, would be shipped on October 7. On October 19, Chifuyu's demos were uploaded and crowdfund backers were invited to post their works with the "#花隈千冬" tag. AH-Software also announced that shipment for Chifuyu's physical CeVIO and Synthesizer V packages was scheduled for the day. Chifuyu released on October 20 as expected.

Marketing

On May 22, 2021, Chifuyu received an official acrylic keychain. A cocktail collaboration with Bar V, a bar in Susukino Sapporo, was also announced. On May 24, three contests as part pf the Koharu Rikka x Otaru Collaboration were launched one of which was to name Chifuyu's and Karin's stuffed bear companions. Finalists of the Otaru Collaboration radio FM, Mascot Name and Audio Drama contests were announced during the second TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT Official Live Broadcast on July 21. Twelve entries were submitted for the stuffed bear mascots for Karin and Chifuyu respectively. Of the winning entries, Larkpatch-Kyouju (ラークパッチ教授, lit. Professor Larkpatch or ブロフェッサー、ラークパッチ) was selected by Kaya Okuno, Chifuyu's voice actress, as the name for Hanakuma Chifuyu's mascot submitted by Twitter user Mamon; this name would be later simplified to just Larkpatch (ラークパッチ) on Chifuyu's official character page.

On April 22, 2022, Kaya Okuno performed "Himetaru.NE" at "Koharu Rikka 1st LIVE! First Day of School!".. It was a song written by Itsuki Minato, Takapira's keyboardist, that was intended to be a future demo for Chifuyu.

An official 3D MMD model for Hanakuma Chifuyu was announced on September 25, 2022 and was confirmed to be made by Tsumidango and included with the purchase of Chifuyu's CeVIO AI Talk Voice. On September 29, the MMD model and official standing art were made available.

Voicebanks

Hanakuma Chifuyu

The speaking voicebank for Chifuyu.

• Hanakuma Chifuyu (CeVIO AI), October 20, 2022

Hanakuma Chifuyu

The singing voicebank for Chifuyu.

• Hanakuma Chifuyu (Synthesizer V Studio), October 20, 2022
• Hanakuma Chifuyu Lite (Synthesizer V Studio), November 2, 2022

Reputation

Reaction

Upon revelation of Koharu Rikka's companion characters, Hanakuma Chifuyu and Natsuki Karin were met with excitement as the second and third new characters of TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT's line. This led to anticipation and hope that the pair would receive voice databases in the future. In June 2021, their productions for CeVIO AI and Synthesizer V AI were officially confirmed via livestream, but as the video was available only in Japanese, the lack of announcement via social media, and no notification of a website update, many overseas fans did not become aware of the production until August that year. Regardless, fans were excited to know that the two would be joining Rikka as voice synthesizer characters.

Impact

Chifuyu's CeVIO AI and Synthesizer V AI productions were made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign that was launched from June 26 to July 26, 2022. She reached the main goal within minutes since launch, with the final stretch goal reached after an hour. She managed to accumulate a total of 23,920,803 yen by the end with 1007 backers, reaching 398%.

External links

Official

• Character Page
• Koharu Rikka x Otaru Collaboration Website
• Official Twitter
• Crowdfund Page

Articles

• CeVIO Wiki
• Synthesizer V Wiki