Mikunopolis in Los Angeles Limited Edition Blu-ray & Cd Combo Set

I bought this video mainly because I'm intrigued by the vocaloid software and its application in a concert environment. These videos are overpriced nevertheless!

It looked like SEGA got the help of Industrial Light and Magic with the CG

Hatsune Miku (who's name means "First sound of the future") is possibly the biggest virtual idol to come from Japan.A national phenomenon in Japan, Miku is a blue-haired digital female avatar and the most popular of the Vocaloid Character Series software originally created by Crypton Future Media and using Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 engine. The innovative software enables users to create synthesized vocal tracks using Hatsune Miku's vocals by simply typing in lyrics or inputting a melody. Crypton's Vocaloid program uses vocals that are derived from pre-programmed samples of the voices of many popular actors/singers.And then those who had the software started making their own songs using Hatsune Miku and then came figurines, books, arcade games, video games, apparel, food and sure enough, many Hatsune Miku music soundtracks (plus the many international Miku (and friends) cosplay at anime conventions worldwide.In July 2011, Miku performed live in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and appeared on stage as a 3D hologram, backed by her live band called the "39s members".In promotion for the performance, Toyota did a national commercial plus social media to promote Miku driving a Toyota care but also promoting the concert which was very successful and received major press coverage which fascinated people because thousands turned out for an live concert event for an animated character.The 98 minute concert featured songs performed by Hatsune Miku and other Vocaloid characters Megurine Luka, Kagamine Rin and Len . The event also featured popular otaku host, Danny Choo.And now the concert will be released on Blu-ray+CD courtesy of Aniplex Inc."Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku] Track Listing:Project Diva Desu. [Live] 3:01 t.Komine (うたたP) Feat. 初音ミクワールドイズマイン (World is Mine) [Live] 2:58 supercell Feat. 初音ミクえれくとりっく・えんじぇぅ (Electric Angel) [Live] 3:26 ヤスオP Feat. 初音ミク恋スルVOC@LOID [Live] (Voc@loid in Love) 3:17 OSTER project Feat. 初音ミククローバー・クラブ [Live] (Clover Club) 3:04 ゆうゆ Feat. 初音ミクぽっぴっぽー [Live] (Poppippo) 3:01 ラマーズP Feat. 初音ミクロミオとシンデレラ [Live] (Romeo and Cinderella) 3:20 doriko Feat. 初音ミク裏表ラバーズ [Live] (Uraomote Lovers) 2:34 wowaka (現実逃避P) Feat. 初音ミクパズル [Live] (Puzzle) 1:42 クワガタP Feat. 初音ミクVOiCE [Live] 0:41 ラヴリーP Feat. 初音ミク1/6 -out of the gravity- [Live] 2:21 ぼーかりおどP Feat. 初音ミクmoon [Live] 3:13 iroha (sasaki) Feat. 初音ミク初音ミクの消失 [Live] (The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku) 2:20 cosMo@暴走P Feat. 初音ミク右肩の蝶 [Live] (The Butterfly on My Right Shoulder) 3:38 のりぴー Feat. 初音ミク炉心融解 [Live] (Roshin Yokai) 3:57 iroha (sasaki) Feat. 鏡音リンJust Be Friends [Live] (Just Be Friends) 3:14 Dixie Flatline Feat. 巡音ルカワールズエンド・ダンスホール [Live] (World's End Dancehall) 3:43 wowaka (現実逃避P) Feat. 初音ミク, 巡音ルカfrom Y to Y [Live] 3:08 ジミーサムP Feat. 初音ミクサイハテ [Live] (The Furthest Reaches) 2:41 小林オニキス Feat. 初音ミクファインダー (DSLR remix-re:edit) [Live] (Finder) 3:39 livetune Feat. 初音ミクSPiCa [Live] 4:13 とくP Feat. 初音ミク愛言葉 [Live] (Aikotoba) 3:13 DECO*27 Feat. 初音ミクStargazeR [Live] 4:00 骨盤P Feat. 初音ミクハジメテノオト [Live] (The First Sound) 3:32 malo Feat. 初音ミクVIDEO:"Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku]" is presented in 1080p High Definition. For the most part, picture quality when it comes to showcasing the band members and the audience looks very good in HD. Even a distant shot of showcasing Hatsune Miku and others, looked very good in HD. But when it comes to closeups of the actual projection, that is where things get a bit blurrier. But that is to be expected. If anything, the editing for the concert was well-done, so shots don't focus on a certain character, band member or audience member for too long.I didn't notice any banding or compression artifact issues during my viewing of the Blu-ray, but the picture quality of "Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku]" was very good!AUDIO & SUBTITLES:"Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku]" is presented in Japanese Linear PCM Stereo 2.0 and Dolby TrueHD 5.1. My preferences were more for the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 for the dynamic range. Also, good use of the surround channels for the audience and overall ambiance. But if you are a Miku fan, those with the gear to take advantage of the concert in lossless will enjoy the overall soundtrack.The Blu-ray comes with both English subtitles (via English translation) and Romaji. It's important to note that for tracks 8-11, there are no English subtitles in order to keep the creators intention in mind for the medley portion.SPECIAL FEATURES:"Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku]" comes with the following special features:The Making of MIKUNOPOLIS - (3:54) A photo and video clip of Miku and staff arriving to Los Angeles for their performance at Nokia Theatre.Opening Act - (13:14) Featuring the opening act with Danny Choo and the Danceroids (and two dance performances by them).EXTRAS:"Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku]" comes with the Blu-ray, CD soundtrack (featuring the same live concert tracks featured on the Blu-ray concert disc), deluxe digipak, PET clear case and a 2-sided poster.JUDGMENT CALL:I happened to be in Los Angeles during the day of "Mikunopolis in Los Angeles" and I know that the excitement for the concert could be felt, especially the number of Vocaloid cosplayers in the area.But prior to this concert, I was telling my staff of how important this concert was in the United States.Go back more nearly 15-years ago, during my review for an anime OVA series titled "Macross Plus", the series featured a virtual idol named Sharon Apple, which many would watch her perform live.I wrote about how one of these days, we will probably see virtual idols and purchasing CD's from them. And a year later, it didn't take long as the cyber idol Kyoko Date released her first single and I was so happy to purchase the single when it was first released. The concept of using CG to have these characters dance, sing and even perhaps have them featured on a Japanese music show, I felt that technology was giving us a chance to go further in exploring those possibilities.While virtual idols would continue to be featured on photo books and magazines, the exploration of virtual idol in music would not take place again until a decade later with "Space Channel 5″ creator Tetsuya Mizoguchi and record producer Kenji Tamai working on a virtual band known as The Genki Rockets.While the goal in the past was to strive for realism, it wasn't until Yamaha Corporation created the Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 synthesizing technology using the humanoid persona created by Crypton Future Media. People were creating their own music and music videos and posting on the popular Japanese video sharing website Niconico . Also a video sharing website that cater to otaku taste in anime, computer games and pop music.And immediately, people all over the world began experimenting with the voice samples of Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin and Len, Megurine Luka for their music, while others started to enjoy the look of the Vocaloid characters and began cosplaying as them at conventions.But then merchandising for Vocaloid's exploded. From video games to nendoroids and action figures, many fans wanted anything related Vocaloid merchandise. And in 2012-2013, the Vocaloid especially the Hatsune Miku name doesn't seem to be heading south as Family Mart (a convenience store in Japan) began selling Hatsune Miku food items, t-shirts, action figures. Suffice to say, people can't get enough of Hatsune Miku and her Vocaloid friends!And here we are in April 2013 with the first Hatsune Miku concert Blu-ray release in America. Featuring her concert at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles from July 2, 2011The concert features 3D imaging created by SEGA and supervised by Crypton Future Media, the concert was Hatsune Miku's first in America and performing with a live band.First, lets discuss the music. For those who love idol pop will be entertained by Hatsune Miku's music. From her supercell hit "World is Mine", her vegetarian cute pop song "Clover Club" and upbeat vegetarian juice song "Poppippo". Or the super quick wowaka track "Uramote Lovers" or even quicker "The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku", Vocaloid fans get to enjoy the Kagamine Rin/Len track "Roshin Yukai" and Megurine Luka, Dixie Flatline track "Just Be Friends". Plus a duet with Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka for "World's End Dancehall".Featuring a total of 24 songs, fans will surely enjoy the excitement of the concert.Will it appeal to Japanese music fans? While the music of Hatsune Miku and music using the vocaloid is popular among many fans worldwide, it's a style that may or many not appeal to people. Because the software uses the Vocaloid software, the software enables users to synthesize singing by typing in the lyrics and melody. And the software uses technology with specially recorded samples digitally manipulated for each song. Also, the songs are idol J-Pop, and if you like that, then chances are you will enjoy the music from this concert.As for Blu-ray enthusiasts wanting to know how the picture quality and lossless audio is. For picture quality, there were a good amount of cameras recording from direct center, above the audience, towards the audience, towards the Vocaloids and a camera aimed at each of the members of the band.Picture quality was very good when focusing on the audience and also from the characters from a distance. You can see the two projector lights from behind a black screen (which does show reflections of the audience at times) but while the 3D imaging looks very good, it only becomes a bit problematic when it focuses too close on the 3D characters because you can tell it's a projection and it's not crisp and clear.But for the most part, editing is well-done, not dizzying and the lighting was also done very well.The lossless audio is very good with a good amount of crowd ambiance filling the surround channels nicely. While you do get a LPCM stereo lossless track, I opted for the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack for the better dynamic range.As for special features, you do get two special features. One featuring Miku arriving to Los Angeles and the other is Danny Choo and the Vocaloid dancers. The Aniplex Blu-ray release also comes with a live concert CD, digipak case and a 2-sided poster.I just can't help but be fascinated with the progress of virtual idol technology. For me, the whole concept of virtual idols and also the Vocaloid Software has been quite intriguing for me and I have followed the development of virtual idols for many years now and to see how popular Hatsune Miku has become and how the character has been marketed, especially via videogames, Figma figures, nendoroids, clothing, food... Hatsune Miku is no doubt a phenomenon. In my many years of covering Japanese entertainment, I have never seen anything like this before. And it's pretty fascinating and also exciting to see this happening.Especially seeing Toyota do a national commercial for Hatsune Miku and a virtual idol concert with thousands of people in the audience in America screaming and singing along to the songs... That's pretty awesome!Overall, "Mikunopolis in Los Angeles [Happy to Meet You I'm Hatsune Miku] is a wonderful Blu-ray concert release for Hatsune Miku and Vocaloid fans. Recommended!