Wakamatsu Akashi

Wakamatsu Akashi
Character information
Gender	Male
Pronouns	He/Him
Age	26
Birthday	July 17
Height	182 cm
Weight	68 kg
Technical information
Language	Japanese
Voice Provider	Kokuri Raku
Illustrator	onidaruma
Release date	February 22, 2023
Group	VirVox Project

Wakamatsu Akashi (雀(わか)松(まつ)朱(あか)司(し)), also known as SUZAKU (スザク), is a Japanese vocal synthesizer character developed by VirVox Project. He is the fourth character from the VirVox Project and was initially released as a series of exVOICE samples in July 2022. He would later be released as an A.I. text-to-speech library for the VOICEVOX text-to-speech synthesizer in February 2023.

His voice is provided by the Japanese Virtual YouTuber, Kokuri Raku (狐(こ)狗(く)狸(り)ラク).

Concept

VirVox project's goal is to increase the variety and number of masculine vocals in vocal synths.

Etymology

His alias "スザク (SUZAKU)" means "red bird". In Japanese mythology, it is one of the four guardian spirits of Kyoto and one of the four symbols of the Chinese constellations (the "Azure Dragon", the "Vermilion Bird", the "White Tiger", and the "Black Tortoise"), which are said to be four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and are viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions it also represents the west as a direction, fire as the Chinese element and the summer season.

While the kanji for "SUZAKU" is written as "朱雀" in both Japanese and Chinese, the Chinese pronunciation is "Zhuque" (Zhūquè).

His name is taken from the hanzi of Zhuque (朱雀), his last name takes the second hanzi (雀) to make Wakamatsu (雀松) while his first name takes the first hanzi (朱) to make Akashi (朱司).

Appearance

He is associated with the color red. He has tan skin and bright red hair that reaches the base of his nape. His hair is combed backwards on the right side while his bangs hang on his left side, covering his left eye. He has gray eyes short red eyebrows.

He wears a white button-up short-sleeved mandarin shirt with a mint argyle sweater vest on top. Over that he wears a red waist cardigan with mid-length sleeves. He wears gray slacks and brown loafers.

Personality

Akashi is described as a gentle and even-tempered young man. Although he can be a bit of an easygoing airhead who goes at his own pace and a klutz.

Likes

• Favorite Food: Cocoa Biscuits, Tomato Pasta
• Western clothes
• Singing (both listening and doing)
• Reading
• Cleaning
• Shopping

Dislikes

• High places
• Trying to remember the location of items he's put away long ago

Relations

• Kurono Takehiro - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
• Shirakami Kotarou - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
• Aoyama Ryusei - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
• Mizusawa Takuto - fellow VirVox Project vocal.
• Kigashima Sourin - fellow VirVox Project vocal.

History

2021

Akashi was revealed on twitter with a short introduction on June 11.

2022

On January 24, they announced that Akashi would be receiving exVOICE samples and standing picture materials however due to conflicts with the voice provider's schedule they aren't able to record just yet. On February 7, they announced that recording can finally start. On March 4, they announced that recording has been going smoothly. On March 29, they revealed a sneak peek of Akashi's voice. On July 17, his first exVOICE pack and standing picture materials was released. His voice provider was revealed to be Kokuri Raku.

On October 14, Akashi and Kigashima Sourin were announced to be in production for VOICEVOX and were expected to release in 2023.

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. Akashi and Sourin were announced to be the second and third members of the 7th generation of VOICEVOX libraries. 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.

2024

An update for Akashi's VOICEVOX was announced on July 17, 2024, adding an additional vocal style for Akashi and was scheduled to be released, alongside a vocal style update for Kurono Takehiro, as part of the 10th generation of VOICEVOX vocalists.

On October 1, VirVox Project posted a press release announcement that all artwork, including those featuring Akashi 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 hoped that fans would enjoy the new illustrations that would "bring a new world view to the series." 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. A full explanation of the situation was released on October 12.

Marketing

Like the rest of the VirVox Project characters, Akashi received an acrylic stand available on their BOOTH.

Voicebanks

Wakamatsu Akashi

Talk voicebank for Wakamatsu Akashi

• Wakamatsu Akashi (VOICEVOX), February 22, 2023

Reputation

Trivia

• His naming pattern differs from Takehiro, Kotarou and Ryusei.
• His birthday was initially listed as "Summer". His birthday was updated to July 17, the same day of his first exVOICE release.

External links

Official

• Profile

Articles

Synthesizer V Wiki