SeeU (시유) is a Korean VOCALOID developed and distributed by SBS A&T Co., Ltd. (formerly SBS Artech), and was released in October 2011 for South Korea and later in December for Japan. Her voice is provided by Korean female singer, Kim Dahee (김다희), who was a member of the K-pop idol group, 'GLAM'. Dahee recorded in Korean and Japanese for the two voicebanks.
Concept[]
A profile was written for her on the VOCALOID STORE. The profile stated "She dreams of being an idol loved not only in Asia but also in Europe as well".[1]
Etymology[]
Her name in Korean is rendered as "시유" (Siyu) and in Japanese it is "シユ" (Shiyu). During an interview with SBS A&T manager, Hyo Eun Kim, it was said that SeeU's name came to mind after thinking of a line from the 2009 film, Avatar. The line "I See You" popped into her mind and became the inspiration for 'SeeU'. According to SBS, this is only one of several meanings of her name.[2][3]
Appearance[]
SeeU was given a moe-esque design and is aimed more specifically to the general and VOCALOID Otaku fandom. SBS stated that SeeU was created to be a "cute and lively yet mysterious looking 17 year old girl." Her outfit was designed with a school uniform in mind. Her official illustrations and design were created by KKUEM.
Her cat ears/nekomimi are speakers. According to her illustrator, they are actually detachable[4] Her neckband is a CD player. Soundwaves light up on the rectangle of her flat-shoes and on the upper part of her top (chest). There is a pause button at the back of her clothes, a power button on the ribbon of her neckband and an "on" button on one of the buttons at the front of her top. During a virtual interview starring SeeU conducted by SBS, SeeU revealed her clothing size to be XXS.[5]
Relations[]
History[]
Marketing[]
VOCALOID™3 Library SV01 SeeU Limited Edition Contents
VOCALOID3 Library SV01 SeeU Limited Edition was produced for her launch in 2011, which included a SeeU Demo song CD, photo frame, stickers, badges, phone strap, manual booklet and an illustration book called "SEEU COME INTO THE WORLD".[7] SBS also promoted SeeU to the public by printing her illustration on face packs and on the side of taxi cars.
During Nico Nico Chokaigi 2012‘s “VOCALOID NEWS", SBS stepped forward and claimed to be producing an album for SeeU. On October 19, 2012, SBS Artech teamed up with Big Hit Entertainment and released an album called SV01 SeeU's Compilation Album, featuring seven notable songs from the UGC contest. The album was released in Japan and translated into Japanese lyrics on October 29, 2012.
On August 30, 2021, a special 10th anniversary project for SeeU was announced and an official Twitter account was created for the project.[8]. Details as well as a promotional video were released on SeeU's 10th anniversary, October 21, 2021.[9] The promotion included a new illustration by illustrator KKUEM[10] as well as the announcement of a crowdfunding campaign with aims to create a special collaboration album for SeeU featuring many famous Korean VOCALOID producers.[11][12][13] Various new merchandise plans including a plush doll of SeeU and an acrylic keychain were also showcased to be distributed via the crowdfund as well.[14] A special tribute message towards SeeU and her fans was written to celebrate her last ten years and an apology was issued for not meeting community expectations of the project.[15][16] It was also announced that international fans would be able to participate in the crowdfunding via Kickstarter with more details to be released at a later date.[17]
Voicebanks[]
- SeeU - Korean
- SeeU was a cute sounding teenage female and was the first Korean VOCALOID released. Her voicebank had extra English Phonetics included alongside the Korean ones.
- SeeU - Japanese
- The Japanese version was intended to match the Korean voicebank. During the VOCALOID3 era it was the highest optimum range for any Japanese VOCALOID until kokone was released.
- SeeU (VOCALOID3), October 21, 2011
- SeeU - English
- The English vocal was planned and began development after a number of fans questioned the English Phonetics in the Korean voicebank. SBS A&T Co., Ltd. claimed that English was intended all along and would be released. The project is currently presumed cancelled.
Reputation[]
Sales[]
The SBS A&T team admitted SeeU sold less than expected within South Korea and Japan. Specific number of sales have not been revealed.
Reaction[]
Because of some issues between Japan and South Korea involving fans basing opinions on political and racial issues, this gave SeeU a rough start in both countries. The issues with Japanese fans in regard to SeeU has also left SeeU's Nico Nico Pedia page subject to issues reflecting this.
Therefore, her overall popularity ranges per website from amongst the "least popular" to "most popular" of the VOCALOID3 releases. It is affected by the opinions and politics of fans within that particular circle of the fandom.
Her overall popularity according to Google trends, spiked in September 2011 a month before her release, but she has since lost most of her popularity.
In 2017, Alone became the first SeeU song to achieve 1 million views.
Impact[]
Amongst the other issues related to SeeU and her popularity, her English vocal was put on hiatus around Feb 2013. The hiatus was to raise SeeU's profile and make her more popular as SBS A&T were unsure how fans would react. Further developments to SeeU's vocal, remains unknown.
Misc[]
In 2015 a survey was made based on the popularity of VOCALOIDs on website Nico Video. For the year 2014, SeeU was the 38th most popular VOCALOID and the second least popular Japanese capable vocaloid.[18]
Achievements[]
- First Korean capable VOCALOID
- First female Korean VOCALOID
- First bilingual VOCALOID3
- First and only Korean VOCALOID3
- First VOCALOID by SBS A&T
- First Japanese voicebank produced by a non-Japanese company
- First Japanese voicebank produced by a Korean company
- First Japanese voicebank provided by a Korean provider
- First Korean VOCALOID to be on stage
- First Korean VOCALOID to perform with the voice provider
- Second female VOCALOID to perform with the voice provider in 2012
- One of the first 4 VOCALOID3 vocals released for the engine.
References[]
- ↑ link via Wayback machine
- ↑ SBS Artech Vocaloid Team Interview by Prica
- ↑ @SBS_Vocaloid tweeter
- ↑ Its detachable by KKUEM
- ↑ SBS Virtual Interview staring SeeU
- ↑ link
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1432286885959720962
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068738078265345
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068753114849281
- ↑ https://tumblbug.com/seeu
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068744344616966
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068757552500736
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068762040324100
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068748840902657
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068768491212801
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SeeU10thAnniv/status/1451068770751901701
- ↑ link
External links[]
Articles[]
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