History YMMV / VOCALOID

** Crypton Vocaloids VS Vocaloids from other companies. Crypton Vocaloids were some of the earliest made on top of being the creators of [[SpotlightStealingSquad Miku]] herself, which often causes them to be some of the most well known among casual fans, to the point that some believe [[PopCulturalOsmosis Vocaloid is just the ones produced by Crypton]]. Fans of Crypton Vocaloids also tend to be some of the most vocal when it comes criticizing new Vocaloids from other companies, either for being too similar sounding to Crypton Vocaloids or ''not sounding similar enough''. This has caused fans of Vocaloids from other companies to view them as a SpotlightStealingSquad undeserving of their fame; to the point some even question [[OnceOriginalNowOverdone how they got so popular in the first place]].

* OnceOriginalNowOverdone: The [=VOCALOID2=] era is widely considered to be the program's golden age, as a lot of popular and iconic songs were released during its lifespan. But going back to the songs from that era can be rather rough for those in the late 2010s and 2020s, as the voices themselves, without significant editing, can sound extremely flat and robotic compared to later versions of the program. The raise of AI replication software that can generate near pitch perfect human sounding, ''emotional'' voices can also make it hard to see the appeal of the era. One needs to keep in mind however that back then, such tech was ''genuinely'' cutting edge, as most vocal, text to speech programs were extremely robotic, speak and spell sounding voices. The fact that Vocaloids could even sing ''at all'' back then was very impressive, let alone sounding remotely human in the process.

** There have been some issues of infighting as well as competitiveness between fans of Music/SynthesizerV, [=CeVIO=] AI and VOCALOID fans due to [=CeVIO=]'s KAFU voicebank rising to prominence and the increasing rise of attention on AI voicebanks. A lot of fans ignore the drama and happily welcome more diversity of characters and voices in the vocal synth scene, but many others have been known to become indignant that VOCALOID - and Miku by extension - could become dethroned as the most popular synths. What makes it worse is the increasing favor shown by fans towards [=SynthV=] due to its ''much'' more realistic vocals and ease of use compared to [=VOCALOID5=] and 6/AI, which have been poorly received for their shaky quality and lack of (if not removal) of significant quality-of-life features for music-making and tuning. The fact that several companies have been moving their characters (such as Yuzuki Yukari and IA) to [=SynthV=] and [CeVIO=] and forgoing renewing them for VOCALOID updates has only increased the bad blood between the programs' fanbases.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: While many voicebanks are this to some degree, flower in particular has earned something of an infamous reputation for being incredibly polarizing. This largely has to do with how she sounds, which can be politely described as an acquired taste, with ''extremely'' fierce arguments between fans who love her sound and others who hate it.

** Song wise, it's not uncommon for Vocaloid producers to use voicebanks from other programs in the same songs as the Vocaloids. For example, Nilfruits' "Baba Yaga" features both Flower and [=CeVIO=]'s KAFU.

** Wowaka is not the original creator of ''Music/HatsuneMiku'' (or by extension, the other Crypton Future Media Virtual Singers). Sasaki Wataru, [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname known by fans as Wat]], is. This misconception came along after the death of famous Vocaloid producer Wowaka, due to his death being a ''huge'' deal within the community, but especially to veteran Vocaloid fans, when it was announced, leading newer Vocaloid fans to believe that he either created Miku due to the mentions of her when eulogizing him or had a hand in her creation. Neither are true, though he played a big part in getting Miku out there, with him being considered one of the pioneers of the Vocaloid community.
** It's a common misconception that Hatsune Miku is the first Vocaloid, especially among newer Vocaloid fans. As mentioned above, the first Vocaloids were Leon and Lola, who were released in 2004. The first ''Japanese'' Vocaloid was MEIKO, who was also released in 2004 though 6 months later in November. Miku isn't even the second Japanese Vocaloid, as KAITO, who also doubled as the first Japanese male Vocaloid, would be released a little over a year later in after MEIKO in February 2006. Miku wouldn't make her debut until 2007, 4 years after the first Japanese Vocaloid was released. She isn't even the first Vocaloid2 voice bank, that would be Sweet Ann.
** Miku (16), Len and Rin (14), and Luka (20) are the only Crypton Vocaloids with official ages. While KAITO and MEIKO are widely believed to be adults due to their voices and appearances, they have never been given official ages by WordOfGod. As well, while it is a common misconception, KAITO is not 50 years old or a middle-aged man. That was KEI Garou's gag headcanon for his comedic, unofficial book. Even the Character Vocal Series' ages are [[DependingOnTheWriter not completely set in stone]], as Miku has been depicted drinking wine and Luka has been depicted as a high schooler in some official media and merchandise.

** Yasuo-P 's Electric Angel" is originally a Miku song. However, Giga-P's remix that used Rin and Len is much more famous, to the point some peope mistaken it as the original.

** The "Len dies" meme has crossed into this as well in recent years, due to the number of songs where said thing happens greatly decreasing over time and no longer being as relevant to Len as a character. Many people in the fandom consider that unfair to label him as "the one who's always dying" when other Vocaloid such as Miku and Rin (espescially the latter) also dies a lot.

** Original fan-made derivatives turned semi-official voicebanks Haku Yowane and Neru Akita are both very popular with fans, to the point that they are more popular and recognized than some of the ''actual Vocaloid voicebanks''.

** Say that ''Vocaloid'' is an anime to any Voca-fan and watch the flames rise.

** Claiming that the Crypton Vocaloid characters originated from ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDiva'' and ''VideoGame/ProjectSekai'' is a very quick way to rile up fans.

** There have been some issues of Vocaloid infighting as well as competitiveness between fans of [=CeVIO=] AI and Vocaloid fans (and Synth V, to a lesser extent) due to the recentness of [=CeVIO=]'s Kafu voicebank rising to prominence, as well as Flower, who is still currently categorized as a Vocaloid, seeing a second boost in popularity among producers and listeners. Most fans tend to ignore this drama and welcome new voicebanks to diversify the current climate of Virtual Singers (which is currently primarily dominated by Miku and Flower), though some others appear to be more fixated on the idea that Hatsune Miku will be unseated one day as the most popular vocal synthesizer.
** Ironically, in the Japanese side of the fandom there is a bit of heat between some ''Vocaloid'' fans and ''VideoGame/ProjectSekai'' players due to the treatment of the Virtual Singers compared to the OriginalGeneration, leading to accusations that it's not a real ''Vocaloid'' game and that the Crypton Vocaloids/Vocaloid songs are simply there for the sake of marketability. ''Vocaloid'' fans have opted to keep ''Project SEKAI'' related things separate from ''Vocaloid'' projects[[note]]Such as not wanting ''Project Sekai'' associated with ''Magical Mirai'' or ''Miku Symphony''[[/note]] due to viewing them as entirely different things. Some fans of other Vocaloids also take umbrage with the fact that ''[=ProSeka=]'' features songs originally sung by non-Crypton vocal synthesizers, but often get covered by the Virtual Singers and the original characters while the original synthesizers have their original song as a mere alternate track. Except GUMI for a number of songs... for some reason.
** Crypton Vocaloids VS Vocaloids from other companies. Crypton Vocaloids were some of the earliest made on top of being the creators of Miku herself, which often causes them to be some of the most well known among casual fans, to the point that [[PopCulturalOsmosis Vocaloid is just the ones produced by Crypton]]. Fans of Crypton Vocaloids also tend to be some of the most vocal when it comes criticizing new Vocaloids from other companies, either for being too similar sounding to Crypton Vocaloids or ''not sounding similar enough''. This has caused fans of Vocaloids from other companies to view them as a SpotlightStealingSquad undeserving of their fame; to the point some even question [[OnceOriginalNowOverdone how they got so popular in the first place]].

** Some people call Cyber Diva Cyva (a shortening of her official name) or Athena (Her most popular demo song).

** Despite being competing software, Vocaloid fans are fairly lax about the existence of Cevio AI, NEUTRINO, [=SynthV=], and other singing synthesizer software, so much so that you can find many songs that use them in "Vocalopost" tags on social media without issue. It likely helps that many Vocaloid producers have begun to use Cevio AI along with Vocaloid starting from the late 2010s, including using both in some songs.

** Yohioloid was widely disliked in the western fandom and was considered a failure by Power-FX due to its low sales, but he has a small but dedicated fanbase in Japan. His Japanese voicebank certainly helped. Big-Al also got more use for originals in Japan than in the western fandom, even making it onto the Vocaran on several occasions. Oliver is extremely popular in the Japanese Vocaloid fandom and has made it onto the Vocaran several times, but he is just as loved in the western fanbase.

** Fukase has become a borderline EnsembleDarkhorse for the Western fandom due to his quirky design, [[MemeticMutation memetic potential]] and above-average English capabilities (especially for a bilingual Vocaloid voiced by a Japanese singer), despite being largely skimmed over in Japan [[note]] though, this is partially due to his rather restrictive character licence preventing many Japanese producers from using him extensively, such as for albums[[/note]].

* HardToAdaptWork: Despite its popularity, Vocaloid has never received a true anime adaptation based off of them[[note]]Certain songs have received anime adaptations, such as ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' and ''Anime/MekakucityActors'' (based off of "Music/KagerouProject") and Vocaloids (particularly Hatsune Miku) have made cameo appearances in a ton of anime, but a full fledged anime based on the Vocaloids themselves has yet to be produced[[/note]], with fans chalking it up to them being "unadaptable". Basically, the intention of Vocaloid is that they are {{blank slate}}s, with no distinct personalities and traits. While this approach works well in the sense that they can be used for anything, ironically, this makes it difficult to translate them into an anime, as doing so will mean having to craft "official" personalities for them from scratch, which could taint and hurt their status as interpretive characters, which is a big part of what made them appealing to fans and content creators in the first place.

** Before Vocaloid was released, someone used an existing speech-to-text program and gave us [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7dLUpyh3AQ MC Hawking]], a rap parody of Stephen Hawking. Even that became hilarous down the line given Plogue created [[https://www.plogue.com/products/chipspeech/ Chipspeech]], a vocal synthesizing software using the voices of soundchips from old hardware.

** Some of the most famous Vocaloid songs, such as "Senbonzakura", tend to be less hyped up by the newer generation of Vocaloid fans, with some even asking why they're so popular.

** Aoki Lapis is generally seen as this).

** Neru Akita, being the little tsundere she is, often decipted having a crush on Len, being friends with Yowane Haku (see example above, also), and although she is shown to sometimes be hated and a "troll", she secretly wishes that people would get along with her.

** KAITO has suffered from this amongst the older generation of Vocaloid fans, but especially those that are aware of his past reputation, the fact that he was deemed a commercial failure after his initial release is something that is often brought up when comparing the current popularity of the voicebanks, even though this stopped being the case after his revival in 2008 following success sparking interest in him. The reason for his lack of popularity at the time is often left out, as is the fact that KAITO was fairly successful after his revival, with his software topping sales charts and displacing the other Cryptons packages, including Miku's, for quite some time.

** Kagamine Len can't seem to leave behind his reputation of either [[TheyKilledKennyAgain dying]] in songs or being depicted as a womanizer due to how supposedly common it was for him to meet either fate in some of his early hits such as "SPICE" or "Seasonal Feathers". The meme has persisted for nearly his entire lifespan as a Vocaloid, to the point where it isn't uncommon to see people leave comments on his less tragic songs praising it for avoiding the cliche, despite the fact that songs featuring Len dying or womanizing dwindled over the years.

** In fact, this applies to any popular non-Crypton Future Media voice bank, as popular as a voice bank does not necessarily translate to popularity as a mascot. For example, Gumi has some of the most popular Vocaloid songs of all time. However, the mascot attached to the voicebank is less known and far less talked about than the more recognizable Hatsune Miku. In recent years following a revival of interest in her, this also applies to flower, as some Vocaloid fans don't even recognize the mascot despite being a fan of some of her biggest hits.

* OnceOriginalNowOverdone: The Vocaloid 2 era is widely considered to be the programs golden age, as a lot of popular and iconic songs were released during its lifespan. But going back to the songs from that era can be rather rough for those in the late 2010s and 2020s, as the voices themselves, without significant editing, can sound extremely flat and robotic compared to later versions of the program. The raise of AI replication software that can generate near pitch perfect human sounding, ''emotional'' voices can also make it hard to see the appeal of the era. One needs to keep in mind however that back then, such tech was ''genuinely'' cutting edge, as most vocal, text to speech programs were extremely robotic, speak and spell sounding voices. The fact that Vocaloids could even sing ''at all'' back then was very impressive, let alone sounding remotely human in the process.

** Hell, even in non Miku/Luka fanfics, Gakupo is often typecast as the villain. Because EvilSoundsDeep?
* SailorEarth: Back in the olden days of the Vocaloid community, along with the creation of Utauloids there were a lot of fan derivatives created, especially ones that followed the Hatsune Miku character design pattern. It has gotten to the point where were even derivatives created to ''mock'' the creation of fan-made Vocaloids, particularly ones that were deemed low-effort or unoriginal, had begun to spring up such as [[https://fanloid.fandom.com/wiki/Kagami_Kawaiine Kagami Kawaiine]].

** Every Vocaloid has had their time in the sun with this trope. Either it was because [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks they sounded like a previous Vocaloid]], or they constantly compare them to the hugely popular Crypton Vocaloids (and [[SixthRanger Gumi and Gakupo]]). Though for a while, the resident Scrappy of the Vocaloid banks was Chika, a V3 Vocaloid whom many thought was just a higher-pitched Gumi, didn't have many originals ''or'' covers, and was noted to be the least popular Vocaloid bank of 2014.

*** It seems that Stardust can't get a break with this one: her final design led to several jokes of her looking too much like Yukari.

* ToyShip: Ryuto and Kaai Yuki, sometimes thanks to them being the Vocaloids that look the most like children.

** For some, any Vocaloid song can qualify because of the lack of tonal variation that doesn't come with a natural speaking/singing voice. It's very easy to tell apart a human voice and a Vocaloid voice. [=Vocaloid6=] has attempted to address this issue, as it utilizes AI technology in order to give it's voicebanks a more natural sound.

** Although most Vocaloid songs are straight GirlsLove or BoysLove when this is concerned, "World's End Dance Hall" is rife with ambiguity. Depending on the PV version you will see, what Miku and Luka have been going on is either PseudoRomanticFriendship, RescueRomance, a SuicidePact, or even UnresolvedSexualTension... the only thing missing so far is a PV that actually has an explicit romantic relationship.

** [=VY1=] and [=VY2=] weren't given appearances to the voices ''specifically'' so people would focus on the music itself and let those editing them alter the voices however they like. This is did not people from making appearances for them to fit with the other Vocaloids. The same is also true of Leon and Lola; the ''[[OlderThanTheyThink very first]]'' Vocaloids.

** Miku (16), Len and Rin (14), and Luka (20) are the only Crypton Vocaloids with official ages. While KAITO and MEIKO are widely believed to be adults due to their voices and appearances, they have never been given official ages by WordOfGod. As well, while it is a common misconception, KAITO is not 50 years old or a middle-aged man. That was KEI Garou's gag headcanon for his comedic, unofficial book. Even the Character Vocal Series' ages are not completely set in stone, Miku has been depicted drinking wine and Luka has been depicted as a high schooler in some official media and merchandise.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: While many voicebanks are this to some degree, flower in particular has earned something of a reputation for being incredibly polarizing. This largely has to do with how she sounds, which has a tendency to come off as shrill and can politely described as an acquired taste, with ''extremely'' fierce arguments between fans who love her sound and fans who hate it.

* NeverLiveItDown: Among the older generation of Vocaloid fans, but especially those that are aware of his past reputation, the fact that he was deemed a commercial failure after his initial release is something that is often brought up when comparing the current popularity of the voicebanks, even though this stopped being the case after his revival in 2008 following success sparking interest in him. The reason for his lack of popularity at the time is often left out, as is the fact that KAITO was fairly successful after his revival, with his software topping sales charts and displacing the other Cryptons packages, including Miku's, for quite some time.
** To the disgruntlement of KAITO fans, some can't seem to leave behind the old Nico Nico Douga meme age of KAITO where he was often portrayed as a deranged gag character that ran around [[NakedPeopleAreFunny wearing nothing but a scarf]]. Some even believe that this is the ''proper'' way to portray KAITO and look down on the works that makes him a [[CoolBigBro cool, reliable older brother figure]] instead, despite this being how pretty much all of Crypton's official media portrays him, up and into ''VideoGame/ProjectSEKAI''.

** How seriously should official sources and WordOfGod be taken? While it is true that most virtual singers are intended to be interpretive {{blank slate}}s,[[note]]Though [[CommonKnowledge contrary to popular belief, not all of them are]], as some virtual singers do have officially fleshed out backgrounds and personalities[[/note]], that hasn't stopped Crypton and other companies from providing official info about their characters, such as their ages, general personalities, relationships, etc. This has divided the fandom on whether to accept these facts, the "canonicity" of the statements, and if it matters. Some fans don't take issue with this and accept the bits of info as "canon", while others argue it nullifies the point of them being {{blank slate}}s, with many being quick to [[FanonDiscontinuity reject such info]] (especially if it doesn't align with {{fanon}}). Unsurprisingly, these debates often devolve into mudslinging from both sides.

** In spite of WordOfGod coming out long ago to tell people that it's up to one's own interpretation, Len and Rin's relationship with each other has been subject to debate for years, especially after Vocaloid had begun to gain traction in the west. Some fans interpret them as siblings due to their similar appearance and last names, while there are other camps that believe they're IdenticalStranger's or gender bends of each other. These debates can become heated, with some even being verbally attacked for shipping the two romantically, which isn't helped by the fact that Len and Rin being siblings is a commonly held belief despite not being the case canonically.

** The "Len dies" meme has crossed into this as well in recent years, due to the number of songs where said thing happens greatly decreasing over time and no longer being as relevant to Len as a character. Many people in the fandom consider that unfair to label him as "the one who always dying" when other Vocaloid such as Miku and Rin (espescially the latter) also dies a lot.

** Related to the Fukase entry above, the "meme gang shitposts" that consist of Fukase, V Flower, Len, and Oliver (some people also including Miku) also start to cross into this for the same reason.

** Applies to all of the Crypton Vocaloid voicebanks, as they're the most recognizable of any voicebank's released and each has a dedicated fanbase that supports them as they would real idols.

** IA can be considered this, as she was the first voicebank released to have broken Miku and Gumi's reign over the NND charts due to her association with Jin's Kagerou Project series. Though she's since been dethroned by v flower, she still remains one of the more popular and beloved characters and is still seen with the Crypton and Internet characters in fanworks fairly frequently.

** Opinions vary ''quite'' a bit on what, if anything, the song "Rolling Girl" could be about, with theories ranging from suicide to an abusive relationship.

** Mistaking Miku as the first Japanese Vocaloid could earn the ire of MEIKO fans, as the latter was released first (2005) before Miku even exists (2007).

** In the olden days of Vocaloid, any of the Vocaloids paired with either of the Kagamines was met with this reception. Usually from the particularly [[DieForOurShip vehement]] supporters. This has calmed down in the recent years, however.

** Gachapoid has been at the absolute bottom of the rankings ever since his debut every year save 2014[[note]]It was Chika that year, see above[[/note]]. In America, [[FanonDiscontinuity he's even less well liked.]] It gets so bad that most people call him "Gachapoid" more than "Ryuto", his avatar name, unlike Gackpoid and Megpoid (Gakupo and Gumi, respectively). It also doesn't help that he's the only voicebank based off a character explicitly inhuman-sounding (Gachapin of ''Hirake! Ponkikki''), which turns off users who don't mind his design that know Vocaloid more for its humanlike vocals.

** Miku (16), Len and Rin (14), and Luka (20) are the only Crypton Vocaloids with official ages. While KAITO and MEIKO are widely believed to be adults due to their voices and appearances, they have never been given official ages by WordOfGod. As well, while it is a common misconception, KAITO is not 50 years old or a middle-aged man. That was KEI Garou's gag headcanon for his comedic, unofficial book. Even the Character Vocal Series' ages are not completely set in stone, Miku has been depicting drinking wine and Luka has been depicted as a high schooler in some official media and merchandise.

** Miku (16), Len and Rin (14), and Luka (20) are the only Crypton Vocaloids with official ages. While KAITO and MEIKO are widely believed to be adults due to their voices and appearances, they have never been given official ages by WordOfGod. As well, while it is a common misconception, KAITO is not 50 years old or a middle-aged man. That was KEI Garou's gag headcanon for his comedic, unofficial book.

** It's a common misconception that Hatsune Miku is the first Vocaloid, especially among newer Vocaloid fans. As mentioned above, the first Vocaloids were Leon and Lola, who were released in 2004. The first ''Japanese'' Vocaloid was MEIKO, who was also released in 2004 though 6 months later in November. Miku isn't even the second Japanese Vocaloid, as KAITO, who also doubled as the first Japanese male Vocaloid, would be released a little over a year later in after MEIKO in February 2006. Miku wouldn't make her debut until 2007, 4 years after the first Japanese Vocaloid was released.

** While it is true that Vocaloid voicebanks gained a massive popularity boost in Japan that helped spread its usage wide, it didn't ''originate'' there. The first couple of Vocaloids were English-speaking and were used as background singers for certain projects as well, such as using LOLA in ''Anime/{{Paprika}}''.