#kzn | CeVIO AI | VoiSona | | | Originals | |
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“ | 「みんなと、あなたとつながりたい」 I want to connect with everyone and you. |
” |
— Kizuna AI, kizunaai.com Description
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#kzn, known as Kizuna (キズナ), product name: Kizuna AI Original Singeroid “#kzn”, also known simply as Kizuna-chan (キズナちゃん) is a Japanese Song Voice developed by Kizuna AI Inc. based on the virtual YouTuber Kizuna AI, and released for CeVIO AI in February 2023. She was also released as a Song Voice for VoiSona in April 2023.[1]
Her voice is provided by the virtual YouTuber, Kizuna AI.[2]
Concept[]
#kzn is modeled after her voice provider and character basis Kizuna AI. Kizuna AI is a virtual talent "AI" who started online activities in December 2016. As the world's first proclaimed Virtual YouTuber, she specializes in YouTube-centric content with the goal of connecting with her viewers. Her content has included but is not limited to gaming, music, livestreaming as well as live performances.[3] #kzn serves as a hub to connect fans and music creators, to keep supporting Kizuna AI as she goes into an indefinite hiatus.[4]
Appearance[]
#kzn's design was taken from a cover of DÉ DÉ MOUSE and Kizuna AI's album "Here For You", thus being very similar to Kizuna AI's but with more vivid pink colors.[5][6]
#kzn has wide, greenish-blue eyes, pink eyelashes and hot pink medium-length hair, extending down her upper back with light blue highlights in a similar style to Kizuna AI's hairstyle with a small pink bow, also similar to AI's. Her main attire consists of a tranparent, neon-pink cropped jacket over a black and white turtleneck-styled shirt with pink detailing and glowing red lights. "KznAI" is printed on the front left of the jacket in bold black lettering and a small black image of Kizuna AI's iconic bow on the right. #kzn wears a short pleated skirt with a thin white stripe wrapped around the base and pink futuristic accents wrapped around her hips. She wears a pair of long, black fingerless gloves with pink gauntlets strapped behind her forearms and long, black, thigh-high boots with pink accents and heart-shaped patches on the shoes. The words "vocal/kizuna ai" is printed on various sections of the design. #kzn wears a pair of large, wing-tipped, hot pink headphones with Kizuna AI's official logo over glowing white LED lights. She is slightly shorter than Kizuna AI herself at only 140.4cm. In the original concept illustration, the track listing for the "Here For You" album and various other digital signage can be seen on #kzn's right thigh.
#kzn's character design was confirmed to be illustrated by the official Kizuna AI artist, En Morikura with concept artwork illustrated by KEIGO INOUE. Her official 3D model is reminiscent of the original Kizuna AI model created by MikuMikuDance 3D modeler Tomitake (トミタケ) and modeling supervisor Tda.
Etymology[]
#kzn's name, pronounced "Kizuna" is written as "キズナ". This is derived from Kizuna AI's name ("キズナアイ" or "絆愛"), translating to "Bonded Love". #kzn was named officially by Kizuna AI.[7]
Relations[]
- Kizuna AI - Voice provider and basis for #kzn's character.
Marketing[]
An official Twitter account was created for #kzn.[8]
#kzn was featured alongside Kizuna AI in an article for the VTuber Style March 2022 Special Edition magazine. A special acrylic stand featuring the pair was released alongside the magazine and are pictured on the back cover.[9]
A series of short arcade-style games titled KZN BLASTER[10], KZN SLINGER[11] and KZN RUNNER[12] respectively were created for #kzn based on various animated GIF images of her that were made with GIPHY Arcade.
On July 28, Kizuna AI Inc. released the official website and purchase location on the Kizuna AI Official STORE. #kzn was announced to be releasing as digital download Song Voice (priced at ¥10,780 yen) and Starter Pack (priced at ¥19,000 yen) options. A series of merchandise including an acrylic stand, two different can badge options, a sticker set featuring the key visual and logos as well as an acrylic logo keychain only available through the 24-hour pre-sale period beginning August 8, 2022 (0:00 JST) to August 8, 2022 (23:59 JST). A special one-shot manga titled "My Singeroid #kzn" (キズナちゃんとわたし) was also released during the pre-sale period.[13]
Along #kzn's pre-sale release date on August 8, three contests were announced to be held, the first of which was a #kzn Song Contest which began accepting song compositions that would be used as part of the set list for an upcoming "#kzn 1st Live "play with me"" concert, announced to be held in February 2023. Producers were directed to post original song compositions using #kzn's CeVIO AI Song Voice on YouTube or Nico Nico Douga using the hashtag "#kznSongContest" The application period ran from August 8, 2022 to October 31, 2022. The concert was officially held on February 26, 2023 via the SPWN online entertainment space, alongside #kzn's CeVIO AI release date and birthday celebration.[14] A segment of the concert was uploaded to the official Kizuna AI YouTube channel featuring the original song "AI Music" by picco.[15]
The second contest announced was the Collaboration Illustration Ambassador Contest! presented by kzn's illustrator KEIGO INOUE who also participated as a judge. The contest would be held to select six illustration ambassadors for #kzn. It was to be held in conjunction with the 24-hour limited pre-sale of #kzn on August 8, 2022. Illustrators selected as illustration ambassadors were requested to create illustration content related to #kzn for a fee for about half a year. Contestants were asked to create illustrations with #kzn as a motif under the theme of “play with me” and post it on the relevant social media websites using the hashtags “#kzn_IllustAmbassador” and “##KEIVIコンテスト ” for application. The theme is to make secondary creations using #kzn freely so that everyone and #kzn can play together. "A new #kzn based on your free ideas, not bound by stereotypes".[16]
The final contest announcement was the "NEWVIEW AWARDS 2022" a global award for extended reality (XR) content in the fields of fashion, culture, and art, and is to be held by the project and community “NEWVIEW”, a "pioneer of new creative expressions and experience designs in 3D space." The theme of the 2022 year is "Create a Melting Reality." Various award-winning artists would be given the opportunity to collaborate with various artists and brands and create new works. One of the prizes is the "ULTRA STAGE Prize," a collaboration with #kzn. The artist who won the ULTRA STAGE Prize were be able to participate in the stage space production of #kzn's 1st live performance scheduled in February 2023. In addition, winners were awarded up to $5,000 USD in production assistance. There is a possibility that more than one person would be selected as a winner. If more than one person would be selected, the production support fee would be divided according to the number of people.[17]
On August 24, 2022, #kzn was announced to be performing alongside other CeVIO vocalists for the second VIRTUAL MUSIC JAM -CeVIO PARTY- installment to be held on October 11, 2022.[18] Tickets would be sold beginning September 8, 2022.[19]
On September 9, 2022, GEMDROPS GAME STUDIOS announced the production of a Kizuna AI-themed rhythm game titled Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat! (キズナアイ タッチ・ザ・ヒート)[20] The game is slated to be released in early 2023.[21] Following the announcement on September 18, 2022, was a GEMDROPS official livestream where developers discussed details of the game including the announcement of #kzn being implemented into into the game and a special prize copy of the game would be awarded to the winner of the aforementioned #kzn Song Contest. A special mini live concert was held where #kzn appeared on screen and performed her first demo song Kizuna AI to AI.[22][23]
Three "#kzn HOT NEWS" announcements were made on September 15, 2022, the first including the announcement of a live DJ event titled "#DJ_kzn_vol1" where #kzn would appear as a DJ playing user-submitted songs collected through an official collection form. The event was held on October 1, 2022 at 21:00.[24] The second announcement was that of a second 24-hour pre-sale that ran from September 15 at 10:00 AM through September 16 ending promptly at 9:59 AM.[25] The final announcement was the release of the finalized official logo design for the #kzn 1st live “play with me” event scheduled previously announced to be held in February. The logo was designed by Japanese typeface designer YUTAONE (ゆうたONE).[26]
Two additional "#DJ_kzn" (vol.2 and vol.3) were performed live on November 4 and December 2, 2022.[27][28] Also on December 2, an original music video, MOVIE STAR featuring #kzn with additional vocals provided by Mod Sun and Global Dan alongside musicians Steve Aoki and TeddyLoid was released in collaboration with the 2D sandbox game The Sandbox.[29]
On January 4, 2023, #kzn performed a live AR performance of MOVIE STAR and what am I over the Shibuya Scramble Crossing using NEWVIEW ULTRA XR technology. A large-scale 3D model of #kzn danced atop the crossing with various visual effects and lights.[30]
Voicebanks[]
- #kzn
Media featuring #kzn[]
- "CeVIO Kizuna" on Niconico Video
- "CeVIO Kizuna" on YouTube
- "CeVIO Kizuna" on bilibili
- "CeVIO Kizuna" on SoundCloud
- "CeVIO キズナ" on Niconico Video
- "CeVIO キズナ" on YouTube
- "CeVIO キズナ" on bilibili
- "CeVIO キズナ" on SoundCloud
- "CeVIO #kzn" on Niconico Video
- "CeVIO #kzn" on YouTube
- "CeVIO #kzn" on bilibili
- "CeVIO #kzn" on SoundCloud
- "VoiSona Kizuna" on Niconico Video
- "VoiSona Kizuna" on YouTube
- "VoiSona Kizuna" on bilibili
- "VoiSona Kizuna" on SoundCloud
- "VoiSona キズナ" on Niconico Video
- "VoiSona キズナ" on YouTube
- "VoiSona キズナ" on bilibili
- "VoiSona キズナ" on SoundCloud
- "VoiSona #kzn" on Niconico Video
- "VoiSona #kzn" on YouTube
- "VoiSona #kzn" on bilibili
- "VoiSona #kzn" on SoundCloud
Reputation[]
Status
Misc |
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Achievements |
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References[]
- ↑ https://www.techno-speech.com/news-20230421a
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KizunaAIinc/status/1497531521275596806
- ↑ https://kizunaai.com/biography/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KizunaAIinc/status/1497531521275596806/photo/1
- ↑ https://kizunaai.com/news/music/1541/
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/here-for-you-single/1595308041
- ↑ https://youtu.be/GTa2HxIsBPM
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KZN_dayo
- ↑ https://goods.appli-style.jp/vtuber-style/10530/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KZN_dayo/status/1537756730007859200
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KZN_dayo/status/1537756730007859200
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KZN_dayo/status/1541375790213914625
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KizunaAIinc/status/1552489021674323969
- ↑ https://virtual.spwn.jp/events/23022617-kzn1stlive
- ↑ https://youtu.be/R4xz5Zdmk-w
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg_n-4_hVMp/
- ↑ https://newview.design/awards
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CeVIO_st/status/1562383177087594498
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CeVIO_st/status/1568162621068824576
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Gemdrops_JA/status/1568128368830476288
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Gemdrops_EN/status/1570246031094185988
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CeVIO_News/status/1571363507647709189
- ↑ GEMDROPS Livestream Timestamp https://youtu.be/-4kUiv6KUJY?t=1053
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kzn_dayo/status/1570215825046441985
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CeVIO_st/status/1570224182134460416
- ↑ https://kizunaai.com/kzn/news_20220915/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kzn_dayo/status/1587097310902636544
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kzn_dayo/status/1596111459699683331
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KizunaAIinc/status/1598245291966492674
- ↑ https://youtu.be/tTyDwJRs08A