Miku Expo 2024 chose to use a giant LED screen to introduce Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku, instead of the hologram that fans had been expecting.
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If Hatsune Miku were a real person and not a hugely popular virtual pop star Vocaloid (a software that composes songs from input of lyrics and melody), she would be in big trouble with her fans right now after her latest series of concerts. Miku Expo is an annual international tour where Vocaloid developer Crypton Future Media and anime streaming company Crunchyroll bring Hatsune Miku fans together for a concert, exhibition, and other fan events, all leading up to a virtual appearance by the character herself, usually via a hologram. But this year, Miku's appearance was projected onto an LED screen at at least two of the first two concerts of the tour, and that's just one of the big issues fans have had with the concerts so far.
Miku Expo in Vancouver on April 4th opened the tour, and things quickly took a turn for the worse after footage from the concert began to surface online. The footage, shared on social media platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), shows the audience's reaction as they realize that Miku's appearance will be on a giant screen, rather than the hologram usually associated with the character's live events. To give you an idea of how much worse the giant screen representation was compared to the hologram, here's a comparison between a previous Hatsune Miku concert and the one at Miku Expo 2024:
As some attendees have pointed out, if you're close to the stage and in the middle of the crowd, Miku's "appearance" doesn't seem as shocking as it does if you're far away or on the sides of the stage. But the degradation in quality, no matter where you sit, is quite noticeable. After the concert footage was revealed, some people who paid to go to future Miku Expo dates began putting their tickets up for sale on platforms like Stubhub, with tickets selling for as little as $5.
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Other fans have created a Change.org petition for full refunds, claiming that Crypton Future Media and Crunchyroll failed to make it clear that Miku Expo 2024 would feature a screen instead of the hologram seen at previous Hatsune Miku concerts. On the official Miku Expo website, the ticket booking section does not detail how the character will be displayed at the event. The page states that unauthorized LED lights or cellphone flashlights may affect the concert, but does not elaborate further. The site’s photos from past events show the hologram. In addition to the Miku Expo website, some venues, such as Boston’s Wang Theater, explicitly state that the performance will use “a giant transparent screen in the center of the stage” when Miku Expo comes to town on May 9.
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“We all deserve full refunds for the shows that had a screen and not a hologram,” the petition states. “At this time, none of us know if the European tour following the North American tour will have this giant screen on stage. We also demand that for future Miku Expo concerts, the Miku Expo team MAKE IT CLEAR whether there will be a hologram OR an LED screen before tickets are purchased. We also demand an EXPLANATION of why they decided to change it without informing us.”
Many attendees have also reported that the Miku Expo had insufficient stock of glow lanterns for the concert’s merchandise booths, which have become an integral part of Hatsune Miku concerts. Some fans posted photos of merchandise boxes at the April 6th concert in Portland that appeared to only carry 95 glow lanterns to the event. Social media users are arguing over the number, as the label also states that this is the “10 of 27” box, but attendees believe that this number covers all merchandise boxes at the event, not just the glow lanterns. Whatever the case, many attendees say they were unable to obtain glow lanterns at the event, so whatever they brought, it appears to have been under-demand.
Source: kotaku
