Characters / NEXT!!! Sound of the Future

A dossier of characters in NEXT!!! Sound of the Future.

Main Characters

Shine

Shine (4N01)

Model: Hatsune Miku V4X
Occupation: Paparazzi
Affiliation: None

A Miku who, rather than become an idol, prefers to watch them from afar and sell their pictures to the highest bidder. After a stroke of bad luck leads to her losing her photos and equipment, she must find a way to regain her livelihood, but a chance meeting with a member of Hatsupress leaves her wondering about her lot in life...

---

• All the Other Reindeer: Was ostracised by the other Mikus in her training class due to her seemingly prickly nature.
• Ambitious, but Lazy: Before Shine’s singing ability worsened from her faulty voice box, she was fully convinced she was going to be on the stage of Magical Mirai (a once-a-year opportunity for Miku idols with only one open slot) despite the fact that she was more concerned with making her classmates laugh and goofing around than actually completing her training.
• Anime Hair: Her twintails are large even among Mikus, reaching down to her knees with each one being the width of her head. Justified since she's an android who was designed that way.
• Ascended Fangirl: Shine begins the story as a massive fan of Hatsune Miku idols who spends most of her spare cash on their merch yet never personally interacts with any of them. By chapter 12, she’s become friends with her favourite idol Tech and gets to go directly to Tech’s old idol agency First Sound Entertainment, where she meets famous idols Angel, Siren, and Beat, and is actively on the path to becoming an idol herself.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: She is initially ecstatic that she might have the opportunity to become an idol... Until she realizes that she has no idea what that would entail, and starts to feel the pressure she would have to live up to as a Miku.
• Born Unlucky: Tends to attract misfortune. It turns out that this bad luck has been following her since her creation, as she was "born" with a faulty vocal chip (a near-crippling issue for an android designed primarily to sing and perform) and was effectively barred from her original purpose as a result.
• Career-Ending Injury: She has a bug which leaves her unable to sing, ending any chance she had of achieving her dream of becoming an idol.
• Career Not Taken: Shine is introduced as a paparazzi who is satisfied only admiring idols through her work, but early on in the story it becomes clear that she once longed to be an idol herself but had to pursue a different career path because of her malfunctioning voice box which ruined her singing voice. By the end of the third chapter she decides to Pursue the Dream Job after meeting a doctor who claims to be able to help her.
• Celebrity Crush: She admires Tech more than she does any other popular idol, and is over the moon when she gets to talk to her.
• Chronic Self-Deprecation: Shine does not think highly of herself. Not only does she see herself as worthless because of her singing bug, she also views herself as unlucky, friendless, a social media addict, and clumsy, which she can list without a second thought. Her low self-esteem makes her constantly doubt if she can be an Idol Singer like she dreams of, even after she finds a way that she can sing.
• Class Clown: When she was in idol training, Shine would goof off in class and purposely mess up her singing and dancing, which earned her the ire of her teacher and more dedicated classmates even though her friends would laugh at her antics. This ends up backfiring on her later when she becomes physically unable to sing, and the entire class ostracizes her for it because they think she's joking around and making excuses for being lazy.
• Commonality Connection: Part of the reason she and Tech hit it off so well despite being strangers is that they're both Mikus who were the first in their model's generation.
• Compressed Hair: It's a mystery how she manages to stuff her massive twintails into a bun while she's disguised.
• Curtains Match the Window: Both her hair and eyes are a shade of teal.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Shine has a defect in her voice chip that effectively rendered her tone-deaf, and her genuine difficulty with singing was misconstrued by her teacher and peers as her being too lazy to practise and trying to sabotage the rest of the class. She only barely managed to graduate, and works as a celebrity photographer so she can admire the lifestyle she was robbed of due to her defect.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: Shine is a version of Hatsune Miku that cannot sing, ironic given that Miku in Real Life is a piece of singing software. The expectation that a Miku ought to be able to sing is also present In-Universe, which enhances Shine's storyline about overcoming the odds stacked against her in becoming an Idol Singer.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Gumiya calls her "4-umbrella-chan" after the incident where she had four umbrellas inside her coat to prepare herself in case of rain. She considers the entire thing embarrassing and wishes he would forget it happened.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first thing she does is secretly take pictures of a famous Miku, gloat about it, then immediately fall off a bridge into the water and lose her camera, which demonstrates her obsession with Mikus, dubious moral standards, and bad luck.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: In chapter 8, she changes her signature Miku pigtails for a braid after her impression of Tech and the Mikus she used to love is damaged when she finds out Tech isn't the hopeful, inspiring idol she presented herself as.
• Fangirl: She is obsessed with Mikus, to the point where she has a shelf full of expensive merch of famous ones. The main reason why she became a paparazzi was so she could get all the details about her favourites.
• Four Is Death: The number 4 is the first number in the last four digits of her serial code, and she's known to have been Born Unlucky. Her codename makes this worse, since it's easy to pronounce "Shine" the same way that "die" is pronounced in Japanese.
• Friendless Background: While she initially got along with her roommates Mimi and Momo during her idol training, her voicebox malfunctioning quickly turned their friendship sour because of Shine’s failure to perform well in class, resulting in her being ostracized by them and alone by the time she finished training. Though she has a good relationship with her neighbours Gumiya and Roll, Shine doesn’t consider them close enough to be real friends at the beginning of the story.
• Goroawase Number: Her codename, "Shine", comes from the 4 in her serial code being pronounced as "shi" in Japanese, which is combined with the N that follows it.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: The more she practiced, the worse her problem with singing got, which makes her decide to stop singing entirely. This is caused by a mistake in her voicebox making the screws dislodge each time she uses it.
• Idiot Hair: She has a prominent cowlick that demonstrates her being the Loser Protagonist.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: She's arrogant about being a Miku, saying that it'll be easy for her to be an idol because she was “put on this earth to dominate the entertainment world”. However, her failure to meet her own standards of what a Miku is supposed to be leads to her having a low opinion of herself. Her sense of inferiority was cemented when she mostly failed her Miku training, which then made her painfully aware of all her other flaws.
• Informed Flaw: She claims that she has "no real friends" when listing off her shortcomings to Tech. Yet, when she gets back to her apartment in chapter 4, her neighbor Gumiya was so concerned about her not being home late at night that he was going to go looking for her, is relieved when he finds her, and then spends time with her inside her apartment along with Roll even though he has to go to work the next day, which is a lot to do for someone you don't consider a friend.
• Ironically Disabled Artist: She's an aspiring Idol Singer with a disability that makes her unable to sing.
• It's All My Fault: She believes she ruined her own voice box after her teacher and classmates blame her for her bad singing. Her voicebox was actually created faulty, and there was nothing she could've done to prevent it from malfunctioning.
• Job Mindset Inertia: Though early on in the story she decides to quit being a paparazzi and become an idol, Shine’s paparazzi mindset surrounding when, where and how to snap photos of her favourite idols occasionally creeps into her thoughts. When Shine is bringing Tech up to speed with the new idols hired at First Sound Entertainment, many of her thoughts are about how she used to approach getting photos of them.
• Keeping the Handicap: She opts out of a simple surgical fix for her singing bug and instead decides to wear a device that would allow her to sing, at the cost of reducing her voice box's lifespan. Her reasoning is that the surgical method would put her potential idol career at risk due to tampering with Vocaloid voices being against the law.
• Loser Protagonist: As Shine herself will admit, she has no luck, close friends, or money, and as a Miku who isn’t an idol she is a failure by the standards of her society.
• Motor Mouth: When she gets excited talking about an idol she likes she can slip into speeches with no punctuation that are so long they get cut off by the speech bubble.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Caught between the friendly, optimistic Nice Guy Gumiya and sassy, cynical Little Miss Snarker Roll is Shine, who is often the victim of Roll's mean comments even though Gumiya tries to convince her to be nicer. Shine is more affable than Roll, but engages in morally dubious, law breaking behaviour as a paparazzi that Gumiya wouldn't do.
• Oblivious to Love: She cannot figure out why Gumiya doesn’t have a girlfriend even though he’s so popular... Even him admitting that just the thought of her is enough to cheer him up, how he lavishes her with praise, and his constant blushing in her presence is not enough to clue her in to his feelings for her.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Shine absolutely adores Mikus and especially Tech, having a Poster-Gallery Bedroom full of Miku merchandise, reacting excitedly when Dr. Yuki shows her that she got a picture with Tech, and being ecstatic when she finally does meet her. This makes her disappointment when she realizes that Roll is watching the Hatsupress episode of O-Len's show the first sign that Tech's disparaging words towards her in the previous chapter severely damaged her impression of her.
• Paparazzi: Her line of work, Shine is a very well-regarded photographer when it comes to pictures of whatever Vocaloid is trending at the moment.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Her disguise consists of tying her hair into a tight bun and wearing a hat. This is justified because she’s not necessarily hiding her specific identity but just that she’s a Miku, so hiding the iconic Miku twintails is enough to be effective.
• Plucky Girl: She can be very stubborn and headstrong when she needs to be, despite having gone through much hardship in her life.
• Secret Identity: Though her work as a paparazzi has given her quite the reputation, she has managed to keep her identity as a Hatsune Miku unit a secret by hiding her Miku pigtails while on the job.
• Stalker without a Crush: As a paparazzi she stalks celebrities to take pictures of them to sell to the press, like Princess at the beginning of chapter 1. She also stalks former idol Tech outside of the convenience store where she works in chapter 2 to verify if it’s actually them.
• Teacher's Unfavorite Student: Shine's teacher disliked her the most of all her students because she didn't take her training seriously.
• Trauma Button: It's best that you don't remind her of her inability to sing.

Roll

Roll (6RU9-R)

Model: Kagamine Rin V4X
Occupation: Celebrity Informant
Affiliation: None

Gumiya's roommate, a grouchy and somewhat slobbish Rin who supplies information to the press about nearly every major player in the Vocaloid scene. Uses she/they pronouns.

---

• Animal Motif: Their most commonly worn outfit is a bear hoodie, representing how young they are in comparison to the rest of the main cast and how in spite of appearing small and cute they can be quite harsh and violent towards other people.
• Cynic–Idealist Duo: She and Gumiya are roommates with contrasting outlooks on life. While Gumiya is optimistic and believes in people pursuing their dreams even if they face hardship, Roll is cynical and thinks people should stick to what they know they can do. They give Shine differing advice about her desire to be an idol: Gumiya thinks she'd make a great one, but Roll thinks she should stay as a paparazzi.
• Deliberately Cute Child: Roll puts on the act of an innocent, adorable little sister type in chapter 11 to fool Idol Singer Tech into trusting her, since Roll's real personality is of a cutthroat celebrity informant and Tech is trying to avoid being in the public eye.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: On Roll's character profile, there's a note by Gumiya saying that he worries about her but doesn't tell her because she wouldn't appreciate his concern.
• Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: Always has these, adding to their grungy emo appearance.
• Girly Girl And Tomboy: Serves as the tomboy to Shine's Girly Girl. Shine has long hair that she wears in Girlish Pigtails, whereas Roll has short hair. Roll is more abrasive and blunt compared to the outwardly upbeat Shine. Roll's fashion sense also skews more androgynously than Shine's.
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Her left eye is covered by her bangs, which symbolizes how she closes herself off emotionally with her standoffish behavior.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As abrasive and rude as she is on the exterior towards Shine, she does genuinely care about her to some extent, which is why she gives her so much harsh advice in the first place. And as much as she might outwardly doubt Shine's ability to become an idol, she's still willing to support her if she's dead set on doing it.
• Little Miss Con Artist: She's a tiny 14 year old girl who gets information as an informant in whatever way she deems necessary, which includes conning people. In chapter 6 she convinces Shine to pretend to be Princess' friend so they can confirm if she frequents a specific coffee shop.
• Little Miss Snarker: She frequently makes snarky comments at Shine's expense, and was made to resemble a fourteen year old girl.
• Mr. Exposition: As a celebrity informant, Roll gives a lot of exposition to Shine (and the reader) about how the idol world works and the best ways to become a celebrity.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The "mean" to Gumiya's "nice" and Shine's "in-between". They have no filter when it comes to insulting Shine and ignore Gumiya's suggestions to be nicer to her. At one point they say that Shine's life is less valuable than her equipment, which is technically true but still rude.
• Pointless Band-Aid: They wear a bandage over their nose, which is particularly useless since she’s an android.
• Street Smart: She has an incredible ability to read people, knows all the best ways to get information, is skilled at convincing people to do things, and is not above dirty tricks to get what she wants.
• Tiny Tyrannical Girl: They're the shortest and bossiest character in the entire cast, frequently demanding for Shine to live her life how they think she should even though she’s just her neighbour.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Roll is only 14, but has a lot of knowledge about the inner workings of the idol industry, what kinds of traits are useful to becoming an idol, and the best ways to get information out of people.

Gumiya

Gumiya (L9Y8)

Model: Megpoid V4 Sweet
Occupation: Accountant
Affiliation: None

A Megpoid who lives with Roll in an apartment next-door to Shine. Unlike many Vocaloids, he is mostly uninvolved with the idol world, preferring his unremarkable job as an accountant over the glamourous life of an idol. He is kindhearted, helpful, and seems to get along well with a lot of people. Though to Shine he is merely her friendly neighbor, his feelings for her may go deeper than friendship...

---

• Attractive Bent-Gender: He used to look like an attractive girl because he was manufactured to be a female idol. When Gumiya shows Shine a photo of him pre-transition, she calls him cute without realizing it was him due to how different he looked.
• Boy Next Door: He's Shine's next door neighbor who has a crush on her, and he's one of the people that she's closest to. He's friendly and pleasant, but plain compared to the idols that Shine admires.
• Crush Blush: He blushes often when around his crush, Shine.
• Curtains Match the Window: Both his hair and eyes are the same shade of green.
• Cynic–Idealist Duo: Gumiya is an idealist and Roll is his cynical roommate. He has a lot more faith in Shine succeeding as an idol than Roll does, and advises Shine to go for her dream while Roll tells her to give up.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Him quitting being an idol and becoming an accountant was met with doubt from both himself and other people. The stress from repeatedly being rejected by potential employers caused him to barely eat or sleep, and he was unable to afford body mods to physically transition. He started to worry he made a mistake leaving that life behind due to missing his family and being treated like an outcast. In spite of the fact that he had started to regret his decision, he didn't give up, and is thankful for that in the present.
• D-Cup Distress: Before he got surgery, he had a large chest that he would bind with bandages to the point of causing himself breathing problems. He was insistent to the surgeon that he wanted them gone.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: His character design in the afterword of chapter 2 is slightly different than his appearance in chapter 4 and onward: he had smaller eyebrows and visible pupils.
• Easy Sex Change: Downplayed; he got surgery to flatten his chest quickly and painlessly once he had saved up enough money for it and convinced the surgeon to make it completely flat. His facial structure is also more masculine in the present, which implies he got other surgeries as well.
• Establishing Character Moment: He is introduced expressing concern about Shine not having returned to her apartment late into the night, showing both his kindness and his fondness for Shine.
• The Everyman: Unlike Shine and Roll, who are more involved in the idol industry (even if from afar), Gumiya has a normal job and a lifestyle more resembling a human than a Vocaloid.
• Good with Numbers: His character profile states that math is one of his specialties, a necessity for his profession.
• Goroawase Number: The "8" in "L9Y8" can be read as "ya" in Japanese, which added to the end of his given name makes "Gumiya".
• Hidden Buxom: After starting to live as a man, he hid his large chest with bandages, a temporary solution while he saved money for a body mod.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Even though he was created to be an idol, he had no interest in that exceptional life, so he quit and got a mundane accounting job that he is much happier with.
• Love at First Sight: He became enamored with Shine on the rainy day when they first met, blushing and being rendered speechless at the mere sight of her before she even offered him her umbrella. Shine did not place nearly as much importance on the encounter as he did, however.
• Nice Guy: One of his main character traits is his kindness, as noted by Shine and Nurse Kiyoteru. He's generous, letting Shine borrow his phone without a second thought after she loses hers, and he shows concern for others, like on Roll's character profile where he says that he worries about her and when he's prepared to go looking for Shine late into the night when she hasn't returned to her apartment.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Serves as the "nice" with Roll as the "mean" and Shine as the "in-between". He frequently tells Roll to be nicer to Shine and is much more sympathetic to her plight than Roll is.
• Only One Name: His name is just "Gumiya", lacking a last name (like all Megpoids).
• Queer Establishing Moment: To cheer Shine up after she tells him that she doesn't think she can be an idol, Gumiya shows her a picture of himself from the past when he used to be one. He also happens to be a trans man who was still presenting as female at the time, which causes Shine to mistake him for his sister and for Gumiya to clarify that the picture is actually of him, conveying that he's trans.
• Refreshingly Normal Life-Choice: Like all Vocaloids, the purpose behind his creation was for him to be part of the entertainment industry. He spent the first part of his life preparing to be in an idol group with his sisters, but was never passionate about doing that and instead decided to become accountant. Though he faced difficulty, he ended up fully content with his normal life.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Despite being well-liked and popular he’s still single because of only having eyes for Shine.
• Sobriquet Sex Switch: His given name was "Gumi" and he currently goes by "Gumiya". He changed his name when he transitioned.
• Trans Tribulations: Even though being a robot made his physical transition easy, he still struggled to be able to afford it and agonized over whether he would be able to socially transition.
• Vague Age: His profile gives him an age range of teen/young adult. Androids don't age without getting a mod and it's ambiguous whether he's gotten one, but he does work a full time as an accountant which implies he's mentally closer to being an adult. Gumiya considers his age to be "15 to 25".

Tech

Tech (X0T9)

Click ^here  to see her as an idol

Model: Hatsune Miku V2
Occupation: Cashier
Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment (formerly)

A former idol who reached incredible amounts of fame due to being a member of Hatsupress, the first batch of Hatsune Miku androids created. Left the idol world behind with no explanation a few years ago, with the other Hatsupress Mikus quitting soon after. Has largely gone under the radar since her retirement and currently works as a cashier at a Lawson.

---

• Age Insecurity: Because she's been retired for years she doesn't expect younger Vocaloids to know who she is, which makes her happily surprised when Shine says she's a huge fan of hers. She's horrified to discover that the oldest idol currently working at her former idol agency is even younger than the youngest idol that worked there before she retired.
  Tech: Aw, I'm just some old has-been...
• Beneath the Mask: Like any other idol, she outwardly loved her job and inspired hope in her fans, an image which has persisted years after she retired. Though her love for music remains, a traumatic event has left her bitter about the darker parts of the idol industry and completely unable to sing which initially makes Shine feel like Tech was deceiving her the entire time. In chapter 9 they reconcile and become friends, even if Tech isn't exactly who Shine thought she was.
• Berserk Button: Vocaloids trying to enter the idol industry is a sore point for her. Shine telling Tech that she's going to be an idol instantly shifts Tech's mood and leads to her angrily shouting at Shine that she should stay far away from that career path.
• Celebrity Is Overrated: She has negative feelings about her former fame, hating the need to push down her emotions and her lack of individuality. She's stayed as a cashier because of the pain being famous brought her.
• Commonality Connection: She gets along well with Shine despite having just met her because they're both Mikus who were a part of the first generation of their models.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: She has black eyes without any shine in them, which is contrasted with the photo of her in her prime where she still had a shine in her eyes.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: When she was an idol, she had the iconic twintails that most Mikus share, but in the present she has cut her hair short, showing how she is at least ambivalent about maintaining her image as a Miku.
• Famed In-Story: She used to be a legendary idol, and although her fame has somewhat dissipated since she retired, there are still younger vocaloids who admire her (such as Shine).
• Famous for Being First: As a first press Hatsune Miku unit (known as "Hatsupress") much of her fame came from being one of the first Mikus made.
• Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: She genuinely enjoys receiving praise for her work as an idol and still does have some fond memories of her performances, but the pressure placed on her by her agency to always seem cheerful and her individual work being discredited left her feeling bitter.
• The Hero's Idol: She serves as Shine's main favorite Idol Singer and is the one who inspired Shine to try and be an idol. Though Tech was horrified at first by Shine's desire to become an idol because of knowing how difficult it is as an industry veteran, she eventually comes around and supports Shine's dream.
• Hidden Buxom: As her measurements show, her chest is quite large. She doesn't really dress in a way that makes that obvious, though, unlike in her idol days.
• Idol Singer: She was created as a marketable product to perform music and sell the image of Hatsune Miku. She received a great deal of success as part of First Sound Entertainment, an idol agency, until she quit for unknown reasons.
• The Illegible: Both the map she draws for Shine and her autograph are messy and barely legible, though Shine was still happy to receive them.
• Informed Attractiveness: Tech’s character profile says she’s known for her “mature beauty”, but she’s not drawn to be particularly conventionally attractive compared to the other characters (even ones stated to be average looking like Shine) because of the artstyle’s Generic Cuteness.
• Jaded Professional: Her idol career took a toll on her worldview over the years. She warns Shine that nothing good will await if she tries to be one because of idol agencies and fans treating Vocaloids like machines and not respecting their feelings or who they are as people.
• Job Mindset Inertia: The values instilled on her from her time as an idol haven't completely left her. Being treated as worthless for her trauma-induced inability to sing makes her push that belief onto Shine when she's trying to convince her not to be an idol, which makes Shine so upset she can't stop thinking about it days later. Tech eventually recognizes that she was wrong and believes those values should be kept in the past.
• Perpetual Frowner: In their initial appearance in chapter 2, their default expression is a frown. She smiles more after meeting Shine, suggesting that she's having a positive influence on her emotional state.
• Reluctant Retiree: While the exact circumstances of her retirement are unknown, she really did love music and only quit because she psychologically can’t bring herself to sing after a traumatic event, which made it impossible for her to continue as an idol.
• Retired Badass: They were one of the most famous idols in the industry until they retired for unknown reasons. Given their current demeanor, it seems their experiences in the industry and/or the circumstances behind their retirement were not pleasant.
• Super Gullible: She usually takes what people say at face value, no matter how obviously untrue. She believes every single one of Shine's lies during their first conversation (that Shine came back to ask for directions, that she works as a photographer, and that she was fine not being an idol). They also buy into Roll's innocent little girl act enough to give her free food without a second thought.
• Trauma Button: An unspecified past traumatic experience made her completely unable to sing at all despite how much she used to love it. Even just thinking about it makes her hands start shaking.
• Unfulfilled Purpose Misery: She was created to be an idol, and genuinely did love singing and music, but is currently retired and works as a cashier. At the beginning of the series she's unable to pursue her passion because of being traumatized by the idol industry, but meeting Shine inspires her to write music again even if she still can't bring herself to sing.

Hakase

Hakase (KN7Y)

Model: Megpoid

Occupation: (Unlicensed) Doctor

Affiliation: None

Hakase is an eccentric engineer/"doctor" who specialises in illegally modifying Vocaloids, giving them changes that can drastically improve their lives and careers...for the right price, of course. Uses any pronouns.

---

• Ambiguous Gender Identity: While it's likely they were assigned female due to being a Megpoid, her gender is listed as "?" on her character profile.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Is able to tell what’s wrong with Shine’s voicebox just by listening to her talk.
• Back-Alley Doctor: He does illegal body mods on other Vocaloids, including voicebank modifications that would get a licensed doctor in trouble.
  Shine: Wait, but then wouldn't you lose your operating license?
  Hakase: Oh! No need to worry about that, I never had one!
• Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: When Shine first meets her, she’s wearing a scarf that conceals the stitches on her neck and her hair is covering her eyes while her signature goggles are on her head instead, making her look like a normal Megpoid and not the Mad Scientist that she really is.
• Black Bead Eyes: Her eyes are small black dots. Rather than making her look cutesy, they make her goggles more of a defining feature by having her eyes be smaller and simpler in contrast.
• Creepy Good: They may be a criminal and a Mad Scientist with little regard for ethics, but he does ultimately care about helping Vocaloids that were effectively abandoned by the industry (even if it's through very illegal means). She's noticeably a lot gentler with Shine after learning of her past, suggesting that much of their bombastic persona is an attempt to seem tougher than he actually is.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": In place of a codename, he asks to be called "Doctor", with the other characters using the Japanese word for doctor, "Hakase".
• Eyes Out of Sight: Whether they're wearing goggles as part of their Mad Scientist getup or have their bangs in front of their face, their eyes are never visible.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a long line of stitches running across their throat, presumably a result of testing her mods on herself.
• Lab Coat Of Science And Medicine: She's a Mad Scientist who wears a white labcoat. A lot of the practical purposes for wearing one would be unnecessary since they work with inorganic lifeforms, so their style is just an indicator of the nature of their work.
• Mad Scientist: She is eager to "help" androids who need body modifications, although he's technically only a mechanic rather than an actual licensed doctor. Their desire to treat androids is rooted more in scientific curiosity than altruism given them calling their patients "projects".
• Meaningful Name: "Hakase" is Japanese for "professor", fitting her reputation as a Back-Alley Doctor.
• No Brows: They don't have eyebrows, adding to their unusual appearance befitting of a mad scientist who has modified their body.
• Non-Human Non-Binary: An android with an unknown gender, although unlike many examples of this trope most of the other non-humans in the setting identify as either male or female.
• Opaque Lenses: Their eyes are sometimes obscured by the thick goggles that they wear, often when there's a glare on her goggles.
• Professor Guinea Pig: Implied. She's one of few doctors willing to do voicebank modifications, and the stitches on her neck seem to indicate that she's gotten hers altered. The other stitches on her body seem to serve more than just an aesthetic purpose given that her hand is a different skin tone.
• Quirky Doctor: Hakase is an unlicensed android surgeon who has no qualms about breaking the law. She’s covered in stitches even though surgery on androids usually doesn’t leave noticeable scars, has No Brows, and her skin tone is mismatched on various parts of her body. Personality-wise she’s weirdly enthusiastic about getting to mod her robotic clients, completely disconnected from social media and human society in general, and has little tact when discussing her clients’ medical problems. Shine is often incredulous at her off-putting behaviour.
• Scary Stitches: The stitches she has around her neck add to her unnerving Mad Scientist image, and are also a visual indicator that she does not follow the law (since voicebank modification is illegal).

Hatsupress

Lucky

Lucky (777G)

Model: Hatsune Mikuo V2

Occupation: Influencer

Affiliation: Hidden Gems Agency (formerly)

A first press Hatsune Miku android (also referred to as "Hatsupress"), and the only idol among them who came out of retirement. He was the first Vocaloid hired at Hidden Gems Agency.

---

• Became Their Own Antithesis: He went from being so feminine that he panicked at the suggestion of doing something masculine to coming out as trans and living as a man.
• Beneath the Mask: When he was still an idol he presented as an extremely feminine girl, which made him coming out as a trans man shocking to most people. While Shine wonders if he had been aware the whole time and presented himself differently to the public on purpose, Gumiya figures he didn’t actually know he was a man at the time and Roll adds that he probably had little control over his image as an idol.
• Career Resurrection: In-universe example. He was famous for almost his entire life until he spent a few years in retirement before coming back to showbusiness.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: In his appearance in an old episode of O-Len's talk show that took place before he retired, he lacks the eye shine that his current self has (the opposite of his fellow Hatsupress member Tech, who lost hers after she retired).
• Expository Hairstyle Change: His change in hairstyle from Girlish Pigtails to a low ponytail distinguishes his current identity as a man from his previous feminine idol image.
• Gendered Outfit: He wears a masculine version of the typical Miku outfit, which trades the short skirt for pants. He wore the feminine version of the outfit in the past while he was still presenting as female.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: While Hakase has stitches all over her body to show how she’s a Mad Scientist, Lucky has two relatively aesthetically pleasing scars under his chest from his top surgery (which even match the pink tattoo on his chest) which represent his pride in his trans identity.
• Intimate Marks: He has the “01” Hatsune Miku tattoo that’s normally found on the upper arm on his chest instead, showing it off in his idol photocard with his shirt opened in the front to show how much confidence he’s gained after transitioning.
• Late Coming Out: Though not old by human standards, he’s chronologically one of the oldest Vocaloids alive at 11 years, and he only came out as a trans recently before the start date of the comic long after his idol career had finished.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He has long hair that goes down to his waist and is one of the only idols shown who chooses to market himself off attractiveness as seen in his idol photocard’s Shirtless Scene.
• Lucky Seven: His codename, "Lucky", comes from the 777 at the end of his serial code.
• Nervous Tics: During Lucky's old appearance on “OMAKASE!!! Len-kun no Jikan!!!”, he nervously grabs his hair when he's panicking about the task that O-Len suggests for him to do.
• The One Guy: The only male member of Hatsupress and the only male Hatsune Miku unit to have been mentioned in the story at all during the prologue (although another one can be seen in the background of the debut announcement image). Chapter 10 reveals that there are 2 male Miku units manufactured each year (not counting ones who transition) which makes Lucky not the only one in the comic but still the one with the most story prominence.
• Queer Colors: Lucky’s colour palette matches the trans flag: his hair and tie are blue, his shirt is white, and the ribbon tying his hair is pink. Even the pink 01 Miku tattoo and top surgery scars he has add to this.
• Queer Establishing Moment: It’s established that he’s a transgender man when Dr. Yuki accidentally calls him “she” and corrects herself to “he”.
• True Blue Femininity: Played With. His signature colour (the colour of his shading and dialogue boxes) as well as his actual hair colour and parts of his outfit are further towards the blue spectrum than most of his fellow teal-haired Miku units. Before he transitioned, he was known to be a highly feminine idol who refrained from doing "unladylike" things, as seen on his appearance in O-Len's show. However, blue remains prominent in his colour palette after he takes on a more masculine presentation, and even ends up being part of how his outfit references the colours of the trans flag.

Bell

Bell (BE4S)

Model: Hatsune Miku V2

Occupation: Unknown

Affiliation: 246pro (formerly)

The last of the first press Mikus to get signed to an agency, helping 246pro get started in 2009 two years after her creation. Quit around the same time as the other Hatsupress idols with her current whereabouts being unknown.

---

• Butt-Monkey: All of her appearances as of chapter 8 have her being the butt of the joke, from taking two whole years to get signed to an agency to getting made fun of and laughed at twice on the O-Len show.
• Famous for Being First: Downplayed compared to the other Hatsupress since it took her the longest of them to get hired. Still, she was considered to be one of 246pro's founding idols and received a fair bit of fame, she just didn't automatically become famous purely off of being one of the first Mikus like the other ones.
• Quirky Curls: She has frizzier and poofier hair than most Mikus, and she's also the most high energy and silly Hatsupress member.

V2

V2 (39FS)

Model: Hatsune Miku V2

Occupation: Image Unit

Affiliation: CFM

CFM's image unit for Hatsune Miku V2, making her the only member of Hatsupress who was never an idol. Though technically a member of Hatsupress, she's sometimes excluded from being considered among them.

---

• Famed In-Story: She is the representative for all Hatsune Miku V2 models, which makes her one of the most famous Mikus in existence, even more than the other first press units.
• Famous for Being First: She's famous for being one of the first Hatsune Miku androids ever made.
• Meaningful Name: Her serial code, "39FS", is a reference to Hatsune Miku's name in two ways: 39 can be pronounced as Miku in Japanese, and "FS" could stand for "Future Sound", which is partially what the name Hatsune Miku means.
• Odd Name Out: The only member of Hatsupress without a codename based on her serial code, which adds to her being out of place among the rest of Hatsupress as an image unit rather than an idol.
• You Are Number 6: She's referred to by her model version ("V2") unlike most Mikus, a result of her being CFM's image unit who has to represent her model as a whole.

Top Mikus

Null

Null

Model: Hatsune Miku

Occupation: Idol

Affiliation: Hidden Gems Agency

Hidden Gems Agency's most popular idol, making her one of the most famous Hatsune Miku models currently performing.

---

• Controversy-Proof Image: The fact that she does dark rock music is why she's able to remain popular despite (or perhaps because of) her controversial music.
• Exotic Eye Designs: She has spiral eyes, which gives the sense that she's eccentric.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: In-universe example. Her popularity can at least partially be attributed to her debut album being controversial.
• Signature Headgear: Her twintails seem to be tied with large, noticeable X symbols, which both reference her codename "Null" and make her instantly recognizable, which is useful in an industry with hundreds of other Mikus with a similar hairstyle.

Bright

Bright (BR41)

Model: Hatsune Miku

Occupation: Idol

Affiliation: Hidden Gems Agency

A newly debuted idol signed to Hidden Gems Agency struggling to succeed following poor sales on her debut album. Mainly known for being hardworking and producing her first album, she still feels disillusioned with her ability to succeed until she runs into a certain paparazzi who loves her music.

---

• A Day in the Limelight: Bright gets an entire focus interlude from her perspective exploring her feelings about her fans and desire to get more popularity for her work.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Her main internal struggle is over her lack of popularity and desire for people to really appreciate the music she writes.
• Determinator: She has a reputation for working hard on her music, to the point where her fans praise her for almost ending up in the hospital after staying up late to finish a song. According to Shine, the overreliance on this narrative by her idol agency is a detriment to her popularity because it's not specific or interesting enough to catch people's attention.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Instead of pupils, her black eyes have a white triangular outline that looks like a guitar pick, a reference to how she plays the guitar and likes to produce her own music.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: The outfit she wears to not be recognized off her idol job is a pair of Purely Aesthetic Glasses and a hoodie, which is somehow effective enough to fool idol superfan Shine.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: She wears glasses as part of her disguise when she's not performing even though she doesn't need them.
• Singer-Songwriter: She worked hard on writing and producing her first album and wishes she could make more music instead of endlessly promoting her previous work. Her agency even threatens to have Null ghostwrite her next music instead of letting her write it herself, despite the self-made quality of her work being part of the appeal to her fans.
• Stuck in Their Shadow: In-Universe example. No matter how hard she works, her coworker Null's explosive popularity and Candy's legacy means she's overshadowed within her own agency and can't break into the same mainstream success they have.

53

53 "Sunshine" (53N4)

Model: Hatsune Miku V4X

Occupation: Idol

Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment

First Sound Entertainment's top idol, and one of the top Mikus in the industry. She quickly became famous after her debut album's popularity.

---

• Cool Mask: She wears a black face mask as part of her idol outfit, which adds to her seeming melancholy and mysterious.
• Goroawase Number: "3N4" can be pronounced as "San-N-Shi" in Japanese, which is where her codename "Sunshine" comes from.
• Ironic Nickname: Her codename is "Sunshine" despite the fact that she wears all black and tends to sing songs with more serious and depressing subject matter.
• Multi-Gendered Outfit: Though she's referred to by she/her pronouns and is known as a Miku, her gender is covered up on her character profile and she wears a boys' school uniform top combined with a skirt as her idol outfit.
• Mysterious Past: Invoked; all her personal details have been kept a secret from the public on purpose by her idol agency, giving her a mysterious public image.
• You Are Number 6: She's referred to as 53, taken from her serial code, in place of her codename.

Siren

Siren (3I0N)

Model: Hatsune Miku V3JP

Occupation: Idol

Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment

An idol signed to First Sound Entertainment who is mostly known for modelling and occasionally singing opening themes for drama tv series.

---

• Big Little Sister: She asks Mikuo if she can continue to refer to him as a big brother even though she's not a Mikuo anymore because of Mikuo viewing his fellow Mikuo units as his little brothers. Siren is nearly an entire head taller than him.
• Bishie Sparkles: In both her idol photocard and when Shine first meets her she's surrounded by sparkles, representing how she's a beautiful Idol Singer who Shine admires.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Her transition from a Mikuo to a Miku is visually communicated by her past self having short hair instead of the long twintails she has in the present.
• Goroawase Number: Her codename "Siren" is derived from the 3 in her serial code being pronounced as "sa" and the 0 being pronounced as "re" which combined with the rest of the letters forms "Sa-i-re-n".
• Meaningful Name: Her codename of "Siren" pairs nicely with her being an Idol Singer who loves the beach.
• Queer Establishing Moment: Chapter 12's footnote establishes that she's a transgender woman by having her ask if it's ok for her to continue calling Mikuo "onii-san" even after she transitioned, since Mikuo usually requests to be called that by his fellow male Miku androids.
• Sobriquet Sex Switch: When she transitioned she changed her name from "Mikuo" to "Miku", in line with how the naming works for Mikuo and Miku units who are manufactured that way.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's 195cm tall- by far one of the tallest Mikus in the idol industry- and a model. When Shine meets her, she's immediately in awe of both her height and beauty.

Beat

Beat (XB2K)

Model: Hatsune Miku V3JP

Occupation: Idol

Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment

An idol signed to First Sound Entertainment who is mostly known for her dancing skills.

---

• Anime Hair: Her twintails are ridiculously large and have gravity-defying volume, a single one being bigger than her entire body. One of Shine's reactions to seeing her in person for the first time is to mentally comment on how striking her hair is.
• Cool Shades: She wears a pair of stylish round glasses, adding to her "cool" idol image.

Angel

Angel (J104)

Model: Hatsune Miku V3JP

Occupation: Idol

Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment

An idol signed to First Sound Entertainment who is mostly known for being small, cute, and having a unique sound. Her single with Candy from Hidden Gems Agency kickstarted her popularity.

---

• Child Popstar: At 13 years old she's one of the youngest Mikus in the idol industry. Given that Miku androids appear to be 16 when they're created, her age is an intentional choice to make herself smaller and cuter.
• Girlish Pigtails: She's a small 13 year old who has relatively tiny pigtails compared to most Mikus, adding to her cutesy, youthful idol image.
• Goroawase Number: The 4 in her serial code can be pronounced as "shi" in Japanese, which leads to "10-shi" or "tenshi", Japanese for "Angel".
• Nature Lover: She enjoys going for walks deep into the woods and loves fishing.

Other Celebrities

Princess

Princess (1M4Y)

Model: Hatsune Miku V2

Occupation: Influencer

Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment (formerly)

A famous Miku who Shine got intel on and tried to take pictures of. She is a popular target for the paparazzi given that she is rarely spotted outside. Has recently made controversial statements online. Though she used to be one of the top Mikus in the idol industry, she has since retired and now works as an influencer.

---

• The Fashionista: Princess' character profile notes that she's mainly known for her beauty and fashion sense on social media.
• Goroawase Number: The number 1 can be pronounced as "hi" in Japanese, which combined with the "M4Y" makes "hi-may" or "hime", which is Japanese for "Princess".
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: In-Universe example. As Shine states, her controversial opinions only make information on her more valuable for the paparazzi.
• Signature Headgear: She wears large ribbons in her hair, which the barista in chapter 6 mentions in her physical description of her. Her ribbons are so iconic that Roll and Shine are able to deduce that Princess was the person the barista was talking about knowing only that and her hair colour.
• Tea Is Classy: Shine spots her sipping tea, which combined with her name, gives her the air of royalty.
• This Is My Name on Foreign: Princess’ name is translated from the Japanese word for princess, “hime”, which she gets from the letters and numbers in her serial code.
• True Blue Femininity: Her hair is noted to be further on the blue spectrum than most Mikus, with her tie and the frills on her skirt matching the color of her hair, and she's one of few characters who has an explicitly feminine codename.

Mimi

Mimi (3MII)

Model: Hatsune Miku V4X

Occupation: Solo Idol

Affiliation: Unspecified Agency

One of Shine's former roommates from when she was in training. She and Momo got along well with her, at least until a certain problem started to present itself... She is currently working as a solo idol.

---

• Goroawase Number: The 3 in 3MII is where the first “Mi” of her codename “Mimi” is from.
• Those Two Guys: She and Momo are this. They are together in every scene they're in, have little difference in personality, and have similar sounding names. Their only role in the story is to be Shine's former friends who went from commentating on her humorous behavior to judging her for her worsening singing ability.

Momo

Momo (M0M0)

Model: Hatsune Miku V4X

Occupation: Gravure Idol

Affiliation: Unspecified Agency

One of Shine's former roommates from when she was in training. She and Mimi got along well with her, at least until a certain problem started to present itself... She is currently working as a gravure idol.

---

• Expy: She is one of Princess Peach. Her bangs, eye shape, and full lips are similar, and her hair is the same colour as Peach’s earrings. On her character profile, she wears peach shaped earrings, and peaches are listed as one of her likes, meaning the similarities were intentional.
• Fanservice Model: She is stated to work as a Gravure Idol (a type of idol who's specific purpose is to be more risqué than the average idol) on her character profile.
• Those Two Guys: She and Mimi are this. They are together in every scene they're in, have little difference in personality, and have similar sounding names. Their only role in the story is to be Shine's former friends who went from commentating on her humorous behavior to judging her for her worsening singing ability.

Hasami

Hasami (83MI)

Click ^here  to see her from training

Model: Hatsune Miku V4X

Occupation: TV Correspondent

Affiliation: OMAKASE!!! Len-kun no Jikan!!! (Leave it to Len!)

One of Shine's former roommates from when she was in training. She was much more dedicated and serious than her three roommates, and ended up working as a TV correspondent. Her role on "OMAKASE!!! Len-kun no Jikan!!!" has her paired with O-Len as the Straight Man in a Boke and Tsukkomi Routine where her sharp wit and serious personality has made her quite popular.

---

• All Work vs. All Play: The main contrast between Hasami and her roommate Shine is their dedication to completing their idol training. Shine goofs off, skips her lessons, and purposely sings poorly to be funny, while Hasami is The Stoic who wakes up for her training earlier than her three roommates and participates in her lessons without complaint. This difference between them leads Hasami to ask Shine if she has any intention of being an idol at all, which Shine responds to by saying that she’s obviously going to end up on the stage for Magical Mirai. When Shine’s faulty voice box starts to affect her singing ability, Hasami has already characterized Shine as a slacker who doesn’t try hard enough, making her have No Sympathy to Shine’s legitimate physical issues with singing.
• Chekhov's Gunman: She's introduced during Shine's backstory in chapter 3 with little indication that she's going to be any more important than Shine's other classmates. She ends up being the connection between Shine and O-Len's show because of her role as a TV correspondent in chapter 9.2.
• The Comically Serious: She takes on the role of the perpetually serious Straight Man (or "tsukkomiku") of her and O-Len's interactions on his talk show, keeping an even expression and tone even when she's infiltrating a yakuza den.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: While she keeps her hair in twintails, they're smaller and tied lower on her head to give her a more professional appearance instead of the Girlish Pigtails she had while in training, representing how she's matured and grown as a person (even if she's still 16).
• Goroawase Number: She gets Hasami out of her serial code of 83MI by pronouncing 8 as "ha" and 3 as "sa".
• Meaningful Name: "Hasami" is Japanese for "scissors", fitting her "sharp personality" and being referenced in the pose she does on her character profile where she frames her eye with a "v" gesture, like a pair of scissors (which also pairs with O-Len framing his eye with an "o" gesture in reference to his nickname).
• Old Shame: Hasami's dismissive reaction to Shine's confession of her voice bug has weighed on her enough that she agrees to interview Shine primarily to apologize to her.
• Punny Name: Her nickname of "Tsukkomiku" references both how she's the "tsukkomi" of a Boke and Tsukkomi Routine and her given name, "Miku".
• The Stoic: Displays little emotion due to how serious she is about completing her training. She barely reacts to Shine telling her that she can't sing besides to tell her that she doesn't believe her, and while she clearly doesn't appreciate how Shine isn't taking her training seriously she doesn't display much irritation about it either. This trait of hers landed her a job on O-Len's show where her serious personality contrasts with O-Len's silliness.
• Took a Level in Kindness: While she was never an outright Jerkass, Hasami was so focused on her training that she never had much compassion or sympathy towards her classmate Shine's problems, harshly shutting her down when she asked Hasami for help. When they meet again, Hasami is regretful of how she used to act and apologizes for her lack of sympathy towards Shine, and goes out of her way to help her become an idol through her connections with O-Len.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Her deadpan insults towards O-Len might give the impression that she dislikes him, but she's perfectly fine with working with him even if she wants to kill him sometimes.

O-Len

O-Len

Model: Kagamine Len V2 Append

Occupation: Talk Show Host

Affiliation: OMAKASE!!! Len-kun no Jikan!!! (Leave it to Len!)

A Kagamine Len android with an unknown serial code who hosts his own popular talk show, "OMAKASE!!! Len-kun no Jikan!!!" (Leave it to Len!).

---

• The Ageless: He makes his inability to age as an android into a selling point for his show.
  O-Len's profile: Your favorite eternally-14 host!
• The Face: Even though his show has a whole cast of correspondents, his charisma and charm gives him the role of the main host and namesake for the show's title.
• Improbable Age: He’s a 14 year old who hosts his own talk show.
• In-Series Nickname: "O-Len" is not his given name. His serial code is hidden from the public judging by its absence from his character profile, making the origins of his nickname a mystery unlike most of the other characters. His real name is used for his show title but he's usually referred to by his nickname.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He’s an openly gay celebrity who hosts his own popular talk show and has faced controversy for rumors of him being rude to his staff, similarly to Ellen Degeneres. Their names are also only two letters off from each other.
• Queer Establishing Moment: His sexuality is first referenced when Gumiya mentions that an episode of his show took place "before he came out". Later, his boyfriend, an Oliver unit, is shown calling him "darling", and his profile mentions his boyfriend as one of his likes, making it clear that he’s gay.

Mikuo

Mikuo

Model: Hatsune Mikuo V2

Occupation: Influencer

Affiliation: First Sound Entertainment (formerly)

The first ever Hatsune Mikuo model manufactured. He was formerly signed to First Sound Entertainment, but after his relationship with Princess became public he retired and became an influencer.

---

• Big Brother Instinct: As the first Mikuo created he considers himself a big brother figure to other Mikuos and likes being called "onii-san" by them.
• Big Little Brother: When Mikuo calls Lucky his "little brother" as a fellow Mikuo, Lucky points out that since he's older he ought to be seen as Mikuo's big brother instead, even though Lucky is a fair bit shorter than him.
• Rule 63: He's the original custom made male Hatsune Miku model, and the first of many to be made because of his popularity.