A prominent Vocaloid composer. His name is usually stylized with an asterisk, and is pronounced "Deco Niina".
He was born in the year 1986, and his major influences include bands such as Bump of Chicken and Blink 182. DECO*27 plays a lefty Gibson Les Paul Jr Double Cutaway and often provides backing vocals to his Vocaloid songs; he is known for writing powerful, philosophical love songs that all reference and cross-reference each other. He currently owns Hatsune Miku and Gumi, and while many of his Miku songs were big hits in Japan, he has shot to overseas fame with his Gumi rock ballad "Yowamushi Montblanc". Whenever he produces a new song, it is likely to spend an ungodly amount of time on Nico Nico Douga's weekly ranking ("Mozaik Role" has spent five months up there and is still going strong).
Many of DECO*27's recent works have been produced with music videos created by amateur animator akka; the two started working together after she created an unofficial PV for his song "Nisoku Hokou" ("Two Breaths Walking"). After seeing its quality, DECO*27 commissioned her to make the PV for "Yowamushi Montblanc", and the rest is history. The two often work with illustrator mirto, and the three sometimes call themselves the "Amatou Trio".
DECO*27 has announced that he wants to try shifting from an indies, Vocaloid sound to a full band sound, and his album Aimai Elegy featured a number of songs either performed or covered by marina (who was the musical half of Angel Beats!' own Iwasawa Asami, original lead singer of Fake Band Girls Dead Monster). This is a progression from his previous albums, which often include popular utata covers of his singles.
In 2018, he established the music studio OTOIRO, under which all of his newer songs have been produced. The studio's staff includes himself, arranger Rockwell, and fellow producer Teddyloid as music development and akka, Roduki, Yuma Saito, DMYM, Hachisan, Awashima, and NNNuventus on illustration and video production.
Discography
- Sou Ai -so i- (2009)
- No You, No Me (2009)
- Love Gazer (2009)
- Sou Ai Sei Ri Ron (2010)
- Parallel world (2010)
- Aimai Elegy (2010)
- Yume Yume (2012)
- Love Calender (2012)
- Decoustic (2012)
- DECO*27 VOCALOID COLLECTION 2008~2012 (2013)
- Conti New (2014)
- Ghost (2016)
- Android Girl (2019)
- Undead Alice (2020)
- Mannequin (2022)
Tropes relating to DECO*27 include:
- Anti-Love Song: Tons of these, particularly in GHOST. Among them are "Android Girl", "Streaming Heart", "Anti-Beat", and "MKDR".
- Arc Number: 27, of course. "39" also shows up numerous times due to it being a play on words of "Miku".
- Since it's DECO*27, he plays around with this on occasion: in "Ai Kotoba II", it's referenced that 3 times 9 is 27, while in "Snow Song Show", the sum of the date that Miku becomes Santa (December 27th) is 39.
- Arc Words: "Thank you" tends to crop up a lot in his songs.
- Bilingual Bonus: "HIBANA", and later "Rookie", both have a verse in English. "U" from the MANNEQUIN album is also written entirely in English. (Which means that the titular song of that album also has an English verse.)
- Break Up Song:
- "118 (Iiya)" is about someone desperately attempting to distance themselves and break up with the person they're with after realizing they've come to hate them.
- "Pseudo-Hope Syndrome" is similar, though it's more about finally finding the courage to break up with someone after making numerous excuses to keep staying with them.
- From Mannequin, "Dilemma".
- Call-Back: In "Rookie", the main character has tattoos representing all of Deco's previous albums.
- Christmas Episode: "Snow Song Show", which is also a collaboration between him and fellow Miku producer sasakure.UK.
- Concept Album: Love Calander tells the story of the relationship of two high-schoolers over the course of a year, with each track corresponding to a month.
- Crossover: He participated in the 2023-2024 Vocaloid/Pokémon collaboration Project Voltage via the song "Volt Tackle", in which Miku has a Pikachu and a serious crush on someone. The song also features various musical cues and sound effects from the mainline Pokémon games.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The original fan PV (considered canon by Android Girl's release) of "Two Breaths Walking" and its official remake are completely in monochrome.
- "Dilemma"s PV also makes use of a lot of grays.
- Destructive Romance: "118", "Streaming Heart", "LIAR DANCE", "Android Girl", "Mozaik Role" and more.
- Hurricane of Puns: In the lyrics, in the titles; DECO*27 has this trope in spades.
- If I Can't Have You……: In "Psychogram":If you won't give me an answer, I DON'T NEED YOU.
- Intercourse with You: "Otome Dissection" has a couple of shades of a Friends with Benefits type relationship.
- "Vampire" and "Animal" also have some rather innuendo-filled lyrics.
- Possibly his most blatant is "Rabbit Hole".
- Implied to be what happens in the second verse of "Cinderella (Giga First Night Remix)".
- Mood Whiplash: Used interestingly in "Psychogram". The main verses are very oppressive, heavy and rock-like to fit the claustrophobic hold the narrator has on their victim, while the chorus abruptly switches to a lighter, sweeter tone as the narrator tries to convince their victim that they're doing it because they love them.
- Also happens a bit in "Rookie". The English verse and the cheering switches to a more oppressive rock style, then the part immediately after has a more sweet look and sound, before it switches back to the regular instrumental.
- Obsession Song: "Psychogram" and "Mono Poisoner".
- Pun-Based Title: "Ai think so," (pronounced like "I think so") and "Ai Kotoba" (being a play on "aikotoba" ("password") and "ai kotoba" ("love words")).
- The name of the Module costume for the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA version of "Two Breaths Walking" is a play on the words "Bless You" and "Breathe You". The official title goes with "Breathe With You".
- Product Placement: "Salamander" has a label for Nissin Cup Noodles scroll past during the instrumental segment between the first chorus and the second verse. The lyrics are also based on "Spicy" and "Chili Tomato" flavor Cup Noodles.
- The Reveal: The end of the PV for "Mannequin" reveals that only Dilemma!Miku is the real Miku - the rest of them are simply mannequins.
- Robot Girl: The eponymous Android Girl from "Android Girl".
- Saving Christmas: "Snow Song Show" involves Miku trying to save Christmas from being forgotten by becoming the new Santa.
- Sequel Song: All over the place, with the references and connections in lyrics and music videos. "Ai Kotoba" and its three sequels also count.
- Silly Love Songs: All the Ai Kotobas, "Stickybug", "Heart a la mode", "A You Who's Like Me, A Me Who's like You", and even more.
- Solo Duet: An interesting case in his collaboration with fellow producer Pinocchio-P, "(Not) A Devil": Miku is the only singer, but due to the difference between the producers' tuning styles for her voice, it sounds like two different vocalists.
- Tsundere: Miku in "Cinderella", though it's mainly based on her insecurities rather than her feelings toward the "prince".
- Yandere: Once again "Psychogram" and "Mono Poisoner".
