Kigashima Sourin (麒ヶ島宗麟) also known as KIRIN (キリン) is a Japanese vocal synthesizer character developed by VirVox Project. He is the sixth character from the VirVox Project and was initially released in January 2022 for the CoeFont CLOUD A.I. text-to-speech software platform. He was later released for the VOICEVOX text-to-speech synthesizer in February 2023.
His voice is provided by the Japanese VOCALOID producer (or Vocalo-P) and Virtual YouTuber, KuroLeoP.
Concept[]
It was revealed that Sourin was originally supposed to be revealed alongside the rest of VirVox characters back in May 2021, although since they couldn't find a fitting voice provider, the plan was abandoned. However, sometime during the latter half of 2021, they were introduced to an appropriate voice, KuroLeoP and he was able to join the cast of VirVox.[1]
VirVox project's goal is to increase the variety and number of masculine vocals in vocal synths. Sourin boasts a refreshing yet austere uncle's voice.
Etymology[]
His alias "キリン (KIRIN)" is a chimera-like beast appearing in East Asian cultures. In Japanese culture, it is said that there are different colors of Kirin, blue (聳弧 Shouko), red (炎駒 Enku), white (索冥 Sakumei) and black (角端 Rokutan), the yellow ones are just called Kirin, similar to the myth of the Four Symbols (the "Azure Dragon", the "Vermilion Bird", the "White Tiger", the "Black Tortoise" and the "Yellow Dragon") they are based on the Wuxing. In fact, in some versions of the myth of the Four Symbols, Qilin replaces the yellow dragon, Huanglong, which reins over the four symbols. It represents the center as a direction, earth as the Chinese element and the changing of seasons.
While the kanji for "KIRIN" is written as "麒麟" in both Japanese and Chinese, and is pronounced the same way, the Chinese pinyin is "Qilin" (Qílín).
His name is taken from the hanzi of Qilin (麒麟), his last name takes the first hanzi (麒) to make Kigashima (麒ヶ島) while his first name takes the second hanzi (麟) to make Sourin (宗麟).
Appearance[]
He has dark tan skin and yellow hair that's tied into a pony tail although there is slight graying here and there. He also has gray eyes with small irises. His eyebrows are small and gray-ish yellow. His beard is the same color of gray-ish yellow. He has eye wrinkles and a pale scar on the right side of his forehead that reaches past his right eyebrow.
He wears a black zip-up turtleneck with matching black pants and black boots. On top he wears a yellow modern yukata-like coat with a white collar, accents and inner lining. Draped over his shoulder and back is a grayish brown fur boa.
Personality[]
Sourin is described as being a fashion-conscious, yet stern and respectable old man. He's described with the words Ibushi Gin "いぶし銀", which is an idiom for, despite not being the main character, a highly-competent middle-aged man with a high reputation and respect. Despite that, he's also a trend-follower, jumping from one fad to the next and a yes-man, easily swept away by the atmosphere.[2]
Likes[]
- Favorite food: Beer, Onsen Tamago[2]
- Hot springs
- Traveling
- Photography
- Visiting power spots (spiritual veins?)
- Bathing
- Posting on social media
Dislikes[]
- Hunger
- Being tied down, restrained
Relations[]
- Kurono Takehiro - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
- Shirakami Kotarou - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
- Aoyama Ryusei - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
- Wakamatsu Akashi - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
- Mizusawa Takuto - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
History[]
2022[]
Kigashima Sourin was teased with a silhouette and a short introduction on Twitter on January 24.[3] He was announced to receive exVOICE (.WAV) voice samples and a CoeFont CLOUD A.I. voice database in the future.[4] He was officially revealed the next day on January 25 with another short introduction.[5] His voice provider was revealed to be LeoBlack/KuroLeoP.[6] On the same day his CoeFont CLOUD library was released, described as a high-end model with four main emotions (Sorrow, Joy, Happy and Anger) and 9 speech patterns, including a high-end normal voice.[7] On February 18, his first exVOICE pack and standing picture materials was released.[8][9]
On October 14, Sourin and Wakamatsu Akashi were announced to be in production for VOICEVOX and were expected to release in 2023.[10]
2023[]
Following an apology for the delay, VirVox Project announced on February 21 that Akashi and Sourin would be releasing for VOICEVOX the following day on February 22, 2023.[11] Akashi and Sourin were announced to be the second and third members of the 7th generation of VOICEVOX libraries.[12] Akashi and Sourin, along with the release of †Holy Knight Benizakura†, were added to the software as of the 0.14.5 update released on February 22 as expected.[13]
2024[]
On October 1, VirVox Project posted a press release announcement that all artwork, including those featuring Sourin and the other VirVox Project characters that have been illustrated by the former official illustrator, onidaruma, would be removed from the official website following a legal dispute and official separation between the artist and the project over the use of conceptual designs. VirVox Project noted that they plan to focus on designs with various concepts by a variety of illustrators and hoped that fans would enjoy the new illustrations that would "bring a new world view to the series."[14] It was stated that as the illustrations used for VOICEVOX and A.I.VOICE were commissioned pieces, VirVox Project noted that users could continue to use the released artwork as normal and would continue to be allowed for use in derivative works, such as creating videos using derivative character images or illustrations.[15] A full explanation of the situation was released on October 12.[16]
Voicebanks[]
- Kigashima Sourin
- Talk voicebank for Kigashima Sourin
- Kigashima Sourin (CoeFont CLOUD), January 25, 2022
- Kigashima Sourin (High End)
- Kigashima Sourin ・ Happy
- Kigashima Sourin ・ Angry
- Kigashima Sourin ・ Sad
- Kigashima Sourin ・ Fun
- Kigashima Sourin (VOICEVOX), February 22, 2023
Reputation[]
Trivia[]
- Despite being the 6th character from the project, he's the 5th character to be revealed and the 4th character to receive a voice database.
Achievements[]
- CoeFont Studio Happy emotion won the Pixiv award at CoeFont Fes 2022.[17]
References[]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1485935906846511109
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 VirVox site Profile
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1485598264271388674
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1485600505821032451
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1485930452108017665
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KuroleoP
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KuroleoP/status/1485940274363011078?s=20&t=k9kirkEsoSh7pZ2MpvmTBA
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1494623289217777664
- ↑ https://virvox.booth.pm/items/3665651
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1580860978203344897
- ↑ https://x.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1627609011070828544
- ↑ https://x.com/voicevox_pj/status/1627670488632922112
- ↑ https://x.com/voicevox_pj/status/1628319893295861761
- ↑ https://x.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1841106133689516166
- ↑ https://x.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1842392553053892740
- ↑ https://x.com/VirVox_pjt/status/1845075749054849488
- ↑ https://coefont.cloud/coefontFes2022
External links[]
Official[]
Articles[]
[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||