ripped off at Miku Expo 

there actually is a human behind miku! it’s a voice bank so it still needed a voice provider! her name is Saki Fujita. every vocaloid has their own voice provider

This is literally all crunchyrolls fault, they have a history of cutting corners and costs that create a WORSE user experience. They've been in it for the money for a long time

"I tried testifying against TicketMaster in Congress so you dont have to"

When I was living in Japan, I went to a Miku concert and it was AMAZING. The holograms look incredible, there isn't a bad seat in the house bc they can make them super big so everyone can see them, and she did perform with a live band. In my case, it was a special one weekend only collaboration with a famous taiko drumming group so the energy was high and the bass was BUMPING. Best concert I've ever been to!!

Alternative title: Amanda is annoyed at ticket sellers ft hatsune miku

“when someone’s historically been known to do the thing, and then you change the thing, seemingly for reasons that aren’t anything but money… people get annoyed.” pretty apt sentence considering what’s going on in the world of youtube channels wanting to make their own streaming website

I was so mad about this show. I went back in 2016 and the Vocaloids were BIG holograms projected onto a transparent screen. I went to the Portland one and it SUCKED. They ran out of VIP bags for one, and they ended up opening the merch up to the PUBLIC FIVE HOURS before doors. So by the time most people got there the merch was sold out. On the website they said the merch was INSIDE the venue only btw, and that you couldn't access it until doors at 7pm.

I think it's called "Expo" because there used to be activities and stuff to do in the venue before the concert too. But the important thing is the screen has actually first been used in MikuFes in Japan this year. It's the exact same set up as MikuFes, except the Japanese event had some set dressing on the stage to hide it, since the setup didn't have to travel.

The first time I heard about Hatsune Miku, she was on Thomas Jefferson's binder

Ticketmaster is largely responsible for the insane ticket prices. Ticketmaster has no rules against people buying up whole venues in pre-sale and selling them 3x-4x the price. It isn't just a specific Miku Expo thing, it happens all the time with musical acts who have to use these ticketing apps. The terrible thing is that tickets that were $80 were now being sold for $200-$300 on top of Crunchyroll not disclosing to fans that the show was using an LED screen instead of the usual glass screens. The Magical Mirai shows in Japan don't get this treatment so I am unsure why no one at Crypton or Crunchyroll is willing to address why they cheaped out on the North America tour.

the screen looks so small too? it probably is actually really big but they’ve positioned her in a way that somehow makes her look shorter than if she was a real person? with this kind of stuff, the verisimilitude is much more important than pure realism

Fun fact Meiko and Kaito were the first Japanese vocaloids ever created Meiko released in November 2004 and Kaito released in February 2006

Major Miku fan here and want to answer few of your questions 1) it’s Miku EXPO since the songs are from a very wide array of artists around the world, most of which aren’t big enough to go on tour. It’ll be a lot of fans only chance to see their music live. 2) it wasn’t a hologram but several projections on several layers of glass to make her appear as if she’s on stage and still visible even if you’re not sitting directly in front of the panels. A lot of the ticket pages advertised for the concert with this setup, so it’s majorly messed up, especially for those who bought tickets outside of orchestra 3) the recordings used for the screen were intended to be used as a projection (hence Miku being in a black void) from a variety of past performances, hence the awkward transitions and mismatches between what’s on screen and what’s being played ( the on the rocks performance previously had someone playing a piano on stage) EDIT: some songs made specifically for the live concerts like Magical Cure Love Shot (Miku expo song contest winner) and Hyper Reality Show had renders exclusively for Miku Expo

i don't know that it's like this anymore, but back in the day vocaloid was a very community focused thing. lots of miku's most popular songs are by people who were just fans of miku and got the software. the association with leeks etc was all started by fans, not to mention her VP. it wouldn't be accurate to say there's 1 or 10 or even 1000 people who "are" miku because the character's songs, quirks, etc were at least at one time all a community effort. it's a very strange niche of an idol who literally doesn't exist. the only ethical idol culture tbfh

I went to a Vocaloid concert in Japan with the actual hologram and it is pretty impressive in person (when I could actually see, which was rare). They hyped up the live band a lot and each band member got a little solo show off thing which was very cool to see. The Japanese crowd energy is also soooo much better compared to what i’ve seen in clips on twitter - the Japanese crowd will *yell* the chants and it’s great. It was also literally the worst organised event i ever went to in Japan though, the staff (unsure if venue or miku staff) were awful. Also for context, Japan is veeerry strict with ticketing and resale, which might be where part of the problem with resale came from.

As someone who grew up listening to vocaloid music and has been wishing to go to Miku Expo for over a decade, this turn of events was not only disappointing but embarrassing. I bought tickets for Miku Expo 2020 but that was canceled due to the pandemic, so imagine my exasperation that after 4 years, we get LED screens and not even Miku's usual band (no hate to the local bands they used, but it just shows how they're willing to cut corners.)

I’m the dude that said hi to you , it was great to finally meet you. Cheers!

ALGORITHM ENGAGEMENT SQUAD... ENGAGE!!!

To hear that they let you buy three light sticks proves that the vendors weren’t even following the rules they told everybody, makes me so upset because the whole time they said one light stick per person, explains why many of us weren’t able to get one Edit: yes im well aware her friends were also getting the light sticks, but if you were at the event, you would know the merch booths were outside the venues and no they did not check for tickets when you bought items. Many different venues from what I’ve seen did not honor a lot of information given through ticket emails. Also if her friends were beside her when purchasing yes it would be one per person, but if she wasn’t and the vendors were taking her word for it, it would explain why at my event people were selling the official light sticks at a $90 mark up. And why many people would carry 6 light sticks between their fingers

I dont know about any other American Miku fans but i know for me, I would be so excited to see Miku in North America as it seems (TO MY KNOWLEDGE) like shes only recently touring here. However, the screen MATTERS. I would be so disappointed if i went to see her and the other vocaloids and the screen was nothing like its supposed to be. Very confused as to what possessed them to use a different screen when the entire performance hinders on it.

the way she says kaito and meiko is driving me insane lol from what I've seen in previous concerts, they used to do like skits in between some songs, that way it wasn't awkward. there were also some pretty cool transitions. this is honestly such a low effort copy of a vocaloid concert. sad to hear the screen is happening in Japan too.

22:40 You bring up a point that has always bothered me as a long time die-hard Miku fan (Been listening to Vocaloid since 2010. I went to 2016 San Fran, 2018 San Fran, and again this year in San Jose). The transitions between songs feel lazy and, like you said, like just waiting for another video to start. They used to do this thing (sometimes) where Miku would finish her song, and then STAY visible on stage. She'd do a little transition animation where she'd nod or wave, and then pose in the starting position for the next song. If there was an outfit change, there'd be a quick glitter type animation over her. Magical Mirai 2013 is the best example of these, the whole show is here on youtube. There's a bit where Rin and Len do a song with Miku, and when it's over, they both say, "love you!" and run off stage while Miku turns around to start the next dance. (The song was SHAKE IT, transitioning into Weekender Girl.) I guess at some point Sega (or whoever funds the shows) decided that those transition animations cost too much to make, and needing to make unique song changes for every show wasn't worth it. So, they changed to just having her vanish and come back. This also makes it easier for them to use different models for Miku entirely, something else that bothers me for the sake of the "illusion" that she's a real performer. Quick outfit changes are one thing, there's a suspension of disbelief there. But, when they change from one type of model to another, and her face and physics of her hair change, that's another thing entirely that i wish they just wouldn't do anymore. To use a couple examples, the outfit changes between Miku's default outfit, to 'World is mine' and 'unknown mother Goose' are fine. She looks like the same person in different clothes and hair. But, the changes in model in songs like 'Vampire' and 'Tell Your World' bug the shit out of me. She is now a different person with a different face and body proportions. Anyway, I'm rambling. But these are things I've had well over a decade to stew on lol

Not a Miku fan and I've never been to a concert like this, but I can say that as someone with terrible anxiety I often find myself just standing there at concerts. I'm too insecure to dance or get flamboyant in public, but I want to appear engaged and show I'm actually a fan and paying attention- so I end up just standing there kinda awkwardly. Hearing you talking about the guys just standing around made me think maybe this demographic just has a lotta awkward people who don't know how to emote their excitement. Just my perspective.

God yeah. I've heard many bad things about this Expo. But also it was Crunchyroll so I'm not surprised.

I’m going to Miku Expo next week as of writing this comment! Learning about the screen usage definitely did bum me out, but I told myself that a big majority of the experience for a Miku Concert, is being among fans of vocaloid, and not to mention, this’ll be my first, and possibly only time to experience a Miku Concert LIVE, so I’m blessed for this opportunity! The cost cutting of the Expo overall, can ALL be traced back to Crunchyroll, who are fully sponsoring the expo, not on the company, Crypton, behind Miku. Either way, I’ll try my best to have fun with other vocaloid fans, and I’m happy to see you continuing to branch out and experience things you aren’t interested in!

my childhood dream was to go to a miku concert, but that was with the expectation to see the hologram. really sucks to think that i may never be able to fulfill that dream now

Can’t wait for the ticket industrial complex dismantling video. With so many artists on tour this year feel like I’ve paid more TM fees than actual base ticket prices themselves. It’s absurd how pricy concerts are getting

So excited a creator I follow is covering this!!!! I went to one of the Phx shows, and it was such a huge let down, especially for being my first Miku/Vocaloid experience. The live band is what kept the energy, and the fans next to me that kept making eye contact with me, smiling, when a song we were both excited for came up, and mimicking Miku dances. I would say my experience was worth it, since the ticket I bought, for ground floor, was only $21; which, like Amanda, I was very surprised at how readily available the tickets were; but, that's because I was unaware of the controversy, until AFTER I purchased my ticket, and shared on my socials that I was going; then, friends started messaging me, saying they were going too, on the first day in Phx, but were not looking forward to the LED screen. *shocked Pikachu* I just hope that if Miku comes back to North America, they don't skip out on the experience again. Edit: i meant to add that i also bught my ticket last minute. I think about 3 weeks prior to the actual show, because i remeber scrambling to try to get a cosplay together 😅

Also, any time Crunchyroll is involved it will be BAD.

Just saw Mitski at the Shrine a couple weeks ago and the line to get in was a breeze and they had a merch truck outside the venue as well as a set up in the expo hall. Just so wild seeing the difference of two different events at the same venue. I don’t even comprehend how it would take so long to get in there for your show.

6:41 I firmly believe the reason why LA was so cheap is not because of controversy, but because it was a LATE addition to the lineup. Only months in they announced an addition for LA as well as 2nd shows for Phoenix, Denver, and Dallas. Which I have no idea why they decided to do that because LA is the only city out of the four with reasonable demand. I loved Phoenix's 2nd show, the line was so Peaceful and the crowd was small but the everyone was so friendly, I wouldn't trade Phoenix 2nd show away for anything in the world! But you could tell no one asked for it since it was the only show with third party SINGLE DIGIT resell prices from scalpers. Denver's additional show (technically Day 1 since it was put in the day before) was also dead but Day 2 was CHAOS from what I heard online.

i saw the queen Hatsune Miku many years ago when she was an opener for Lady Gaga on her Art Pop tour. best concert i’ve been to to this day (both Miku & Gaga were amazing). Miku’s glass protections looked so real, there were many so it looked like she walked around the stage and she did a ton of crowd interaction. plus her band was so good and lively!! so sad to see it’s changed :(

The Meiko and Kaito pronunciation has me dead

The worst part is it’s not even a *good* LED screen. I was on the stage crew and it’s one of the cheapest screens I’ve ever put up.

In the previous miku expo I went to they had fun little transitions between songs or skits like saying hi to the audience, it was pretty seamless! It's always a shame when stuff gets worse for no reason except greed 😅

extra tidbit of info! Hatsune Miku is NOT a VTuber like Amanda says, however! All Vocaloids do require a human voice bank (think of it as someone donating their voice to be altered/modulated). Miku's voice bank is the "seiyu," or Japanese voice actress, Saki Fujita! Thank you for giving us weeb topics every once in a while, Amanda!! :D

you said a girl did a presentation on miku in your class, i immediately thought of lilypichu who did a presentation on vocaloids for school

I'm from the UK. I've been to both 2018 & 2020 expos as a VIP, and the experience it was amazing. SO, finding out that that it's now LED is disappointing, especially with how they've set it up. The most recent MIKUFES had it as LED and integrated it well. My problem is that none of the fans were told it would be LED, and all advertisements showed holograms. It's now more expensive for an overall worse experience. I have never heard that VIP need to show their emails. At both concerts, I just showed my tickets, and we were good to go, so it's very weird they stopped you.

23:57 in splatoon concerts they have the idols talk with the audience during these breaks, maybe that would've worked

Small correction to the article you read from: Peppers ghost is a reflection based technique, the image/object is below and a pane of glass, at a 45 degree angle from the viewer and the image, reflects it Miku is projected on a pane of glass parallel to the audience. They're very different techniques, and they look very different. Both have advantages and disadvantages but on the whole I'd say peppers ghost looks better, appears to have more "depth" than projection

I think most of the hype comes from the band and just being among other fans, which is why this can be a weird experience for non-fans. Also an LED screen had been used in other miku concerts, but the stage has been dressed up better to better immerse the audience. Also from what I've heard the side angles don't look good LED screen or not. Also the other vocaloids almost always perform at Miku concerts so every fan goes to see all of them.

The disrespect on my mans kaito smh :p

they should have Miku talk to the audience while the band is shifting songs

The standing but not dancing thing makes sense to me. Being up and with the crowd is kinda part of the experience (if this is anything like the kpop concerts I've seen) but not everyone feels comfortable dancing, especially around other people

AMANDA KNOWS VOCALOID!?!?!?

This video reminded me of a coworker of mine. He has traveled from Puerto Rico to Japan a couple of times just to see her. Huge fan of hers...he has all the desk covered.

I hope some people confused about Vocaloid see this - Miku is less of a pop star and more of an INSTRUMENT. Miku has gotten a lot of extremely confusing press that makes it really difficult for people to understand wtf she is. As someone who's been a fan for over 10 years-- think of Miku (and all Vocaloids) as sample libraries. Most musicians use sample libraries for instruments (like a sample library for a piano, drums, violin, etc), but Vocaloids are libraries of the human voice. Each character corresponds to a real person who painstakingly recorded a TON of samples of their voice singing individual syllables at certain pitches. (Except the twins, who share a single voice provider! The way the two of them sound different is because of the actress's skill as well as the versatility of the Vocaloid software). The reason Vocaloid is so beloved is not just because of the lovable character designs and interesting voices - but because people have used these instruments to express their own creativity. Unlike a traditional band or artist, Miku doesn't have a designated team making all her music, shows, etc. Anyone can purchase this instrument and create a song with it. That's the real beauty of Vocaloid - the concert you went to most likely featured no more than 1 or 2 songs by the same person, because thousands of people all over the world make and share these songs. It's a sort of communal creativity that you don't really get anywhere else in quite the same way. Cypton Future Media has made a brand out of the Vocaloids you saw at the concert, for sure - but the spirit of creativity is still at the heart of everything. In a way, it's less about people coming together to celebrate this fictional singer "Miku" and more like, Miku is something that brings a ton of creative people together. A lot of famous (mostly Japanese) musicians got their start as rookies composing music in the Vocaloid scene - and it still thrives today, although advances in audio technology and accessibility of home audio production have resulted in most modern Vocaloid works being on a more refined technical level than the more underground, indie-type scene in the early days. To sum it up... Vocaloid is an instrument, which can be purchased and used by anyone, from beginners to experts. The songs you hear them sing are composed by a huge variety of people, from amateurs to professionals, young and old, from Japan to America to Germany to all over the world. Vocaloid would not exist without its thriving community of musicians, artists, writers, singers, dancers, cosplayers, and simply passionate fans - which makes this snub by Crunchyroll all the more painful.

8:34 WE REALLY COULD THOO !! we just need a leader to organize the change, we can take down the ticket industry i will join the protests

went to 2014 LA miku expo way back and the "holograms" do make a difference. i wasn't even a miku fan, had no idea about her, and was confused about the idea of simping for a virtual avatar but my friend bought me a ticket and the concert experience made me an instant fan. its crazy to me that a concert from 10 years ago is of better quality than the one in 2024. its unfortunate ppl today won't get to experience that for this tour. here's hoping they take the feedback and improve in the future :/

I saw you leave halfway through, I was like is that swell?? For fans who are don't have a stick up their ass, it was very enjoyable despite the screen. Its a niche thing and if ur not into it ur not into it. Motion capture is used for every vocaloid dance and has real choreographers behind it. Theres a real voice behind every major vocaloid, and songs are made very very meticulously by real people. Nothing about her is AI. Reason why people don't dance is because every Jpop group has chants and specific ways to move the penlight, People will study them religiously and get mad if others sing and dance. I had people side eyeing me for singing and dancing. Another thing is her phasing in and out after every song is something she's always done, it looked the same with the holograms.

Company: We're downgrading the product and not lowering the price...we'll maybe even raise it a little Consumers: Uh hello? This sucks wtf are you doing? Company: We appreciate the feedback

As someone less in the community for the vocaloids and similar fanbases I went for the fun of experiencing something new. While it is unfortunate we saw the use of the screen, I feel that with some fairly simple restaging of the set to better accommodate the screen it could have been a negligible issue. Biggest gripe is staging lighting behind the screen framing it more obviously. IMO all they'd have to do to make it great is move the back wall forward to level out with the screen so there was never something coming from behind it and move the physical musicians forward to compensate and it would have been better. Overall I had a fun time for a fairly cheap price and would consider going to another in the future more if it was the traditional pepper's ghost effect just to experience that IRL as well. At times it did feel like the mix may have been a little instrument heavy but that also could have been due to my seating location or other factors etc. etc.. I'd give it like a 6-7/10. Was fun but could use improvement which they'll hopefully learn after doing it this time. (Either meaning they go back to the pepper's ghost style or restage the set design to better accommodate the screen). [Edit] Also adding, I was at the same show at the Shrine and I was seated up in the balcony and it was pretty good from that perspective.

So to help explain the guys that were standing around just watching it's my understanding that they're there just to enjoy the concert and not make a fuss about it. You see them around in every type of event and concert, but you don't notice them most of the time unless they're standing or sitting next to you. It's just low key people who are there to enjoy the thing in their own way.

I so badly want to go to a Vocaloid concert but only if it's a hologram. The first Vocaloid anything I saw was a Len and Rin concert on YT when I was like 9 and I've wanted to go to one ever since.

i wanted to resale my tickets after i saw the led screen. and then i didn’t and went anyway and im really glad i didnt. it was amazing & the screen made her look so real from the floor, definitely not for people in the seats. it was so good!

i'm dead this is a gift

Hatsune Miku? I don’t even know you! …I’ll see myself out

I'm a fan of Miku (and have been since around 2010 or so) and was at the Vancouver,BC show with some friends. While I had fun and dont regret going to see the concert, I was immensely disappointed that it wasnt the hologram/projection. There was no indication that that would he the case either. I was also disappointed in some of the song choices, there are majorly popular songs that were left out of the show. If this is the new normal so to speak I dont think I will be going to another one. Which is also disappointing because we werent even able to get merch due to the long likes and short supply

Just want to say the hair is really hairing right now and I'm all for it.

I used to be a big vocaloid fan, but I pretty much wrote off ever going to a concert since US versions only looked like they'd ever touch the west coast. Now seeing that they've gotten really frugal with them I don't even care if they're more widely available, because it doesn't seem worth the price tag to me.

The kaito/meiko performance where kaito is playing the grand piano is a specific reference to the on the rocks song's music video from most of the project diva games (the rhythm game series that exists for vocaloids) where kaito is shown playing a piano and the original version does have piano in the background! otherwise great video the current miku expo is such a mess

I clicked the like button right away after you said "I hate all ticket companies with a burning passion"

I live in Japan and went to Hatsune Miku x Kabuki last year, which isn't a concert but with Hatsune Miku performing alongside real Kabuki actors on stage. For that show they also used a screen instead of a hologram, but compensated that with framing the screen to be part of the set and having other scenes project or move her to other areas of the stage. It was a really impressive performance even though it felt a bit flat with the screens alongside real actors. I'd be disappointed after experiencing that to attend Miku Expo, seems like quite a downgrade

Projection is hard. The ambient light can be dull the image. LEDs can be super bright. You also need to get the projector in the right place to throw the image correctly. I bet they used LED because it can be set up almost anywhere in most lighting conditions. Just was easier to deal with compared to projection.

I went to Miku Expo in 2016 in NYC and I gotta say, the glass screen projection is what really made the whole thing seem real. You could still see the glass if you really focused on it, but it was easy to forget it's there and just focus on the Vocaloids on stage. The clear screen also let them do a lot of fun stuff with the lighting around and behind the glass, since it's clear so you can see behind the performers. They would project special effects around the Vocaloids for some songs; If you look up Remote Controller from 2016 , you can see how they project some of the song's lyrics onto the screen with Rin & Len and it's super cool and fun! (I think the videos on RU-vid are from the Toronto show, but it was the same at the NYC show I saw) all the footage I've seen from this year's tour is just the Vocaloids dancing alone on that huge black void of a screen, blocking out everything behind them. maybe people just haven't posted footage of it, but it looks like they're not doing those fun effects around the performers anymore? and that's super lame. in your footage I can see how the screen blocks the lighting fixtures behind and around it depending on the angle. idk even if the Vocaloids themselves look good and crisp on the screen, it still looks like the production value took a huge hit here in a lot of ways. just way less interesting staging and effects and everything. pretty disappointing :/ I'm glad I didn't end up getting tickets this year, and I hope they reconsider their setup the next time they tour NA

I just watched another video of someone who just went to the concert and it's the same cheap TV screen. So crazy that anyone would pay to watch a screen. Great video !!

as a fan of Miku who did not go to concert this felt like a thunder in the middle of a sunny day. Its like, people historically went to concerts to see the "hologram" Miku, and so seeing the borders of the screen makes her prescense less real on stage, ruining the experience. I hope its just a one-off and they will not be doing this again.

Worked LA live with anime expo in conjunction...yes. They will take a cut of merch sold inside venues, that's why everyone will sell outside, because that's fully ridiculous.

Idk if maybe you cut it recently or just styled it differently but your hair looks really nice in this video! 💛

I've got tickets to one of the shows this week and when the news started coming out about the screens it was so disheartening. I think for me, part of it is the illusion of the hologram is gone which already sucks but also-- THE LIGHT STICKS. Normally you have to buy special light sticks for a miku concert that are dimmer than normal so you don't interfere with the hologram. And this is what they said this time too. You can only buy our light sticks also they're expensive and also we only have like eight of them so good luck~ ON AN LED SCREEN IT DOESN'T MATTER. Normal light sticks won't interfere which means they banned normal light sticks for just more profit. ://

When she opened for Gaga’s 2014 tour artRAVE it was a screen as well! I’m no Miku expert but it was Gaga having her open that opened my eyes to her and k-pop group Crayon Pop

Omg, Swell and Jaiden Animations both going to a Miku show recently, and Swell saying she first heard about Miku through a presentation in Mass Media class, then Jaiden admitting she did a presentation on Miku in her senior high school year 😂 I just watched Jaiden’s video today and I’m arriving to this one now, and I almost flipped tf out briefly thinking Swell was coincidentally referring to Jaiden. Would’ve been so insane.

They turned off our ability to resale our tickets. And we bought them almost a year in advance, also no merch left when we got there, and no glow sticks. So we thought wed just go have fun with what we got.

It's called Miku "Expo" because they had actual exhibitions when they started in 2014. In 2014 Miku Expo was only in 2 cities in USA and one city in Indonesia, so they had time to put out an entire exhibition hall. But since they started having bigger tours in NA and Europe with little time between shows the exhibitions are usually skipped there. It would take too much time for them to set everything up for a day just to move on to the next city/country a day or two later.

oh boy u know that something serious happened if swell covers it 😮

I love how respectful you were of Vocaloid and Vocaloid culture in this video despite not being a hardcore fan :’) Thank you for this video

Thanks for sharing your Miku Expo Experience with us on RU-vid. Sounds like everything was just thrown together and not thought out; especially for those ridiculous ticket prices. Glad you all had a fun time though. Subscribed and thanks for the 10% off Gamer Supps - used it today. 😊

24:27 the song is ON THE ROCKS by OSTER Project. Kaito is portrayed to play the piano in Project Diva (Rhythm game series) games while Meiko (actually pronounced MEI- Ko lol) sings. I don’t remember if Japan concerts have piano or a band member keyboard but overall…hopefully this helps the confusion!

I went to one of the San Jose shows and had a great time, but was also pretty disappointed especially because this was my first Miku concert, I've literally waited *over a decade* to go to one. I was in line from 10am till the doors opened, half of it spent in the merch line. I know there's a lot of people saying the screen doesn't actually feel small when you're there in person but i was right up in the pit and she was definitely small and hard to see, I wish they'd used a larger screen if it absolutely HAD to be an LED :/ the crowd and people were amazing though, i has such a blast trading little goodies and stickers with people, and the BJD owners were so cool, those dolls can be thousands of dollars each so to see so many in person was kinda wild. 17:24 why was it so mf loud, i know i was up front and closer to the speakers, but i had ear plugs in and still could barely hear most of the singing over the instruments! It was actually one of the most disappointing things about my experience, aside from being short so I could hardly even see the screen bc of people's heads in the way 😭

The irony of the ticket seller thinking you were a bot while buying tickets for a robot singer...

i love miku and vocaloids and im so happy you made the video, i was looking forward to the miku expo dates in Germany bc thats the closest to me, but it seems like its going to be LED too so I'm probably better off saving the 100 euro or more tbh

Went to the one in my state last night and had a great time! It was a lot of fun! I brought my own light stick and they let me in with it, and like it made the whole night super fun. I was worried because of all the upset reviews I’d seen but I genuinely still had a great time… the performers they had for our location were super fun as well, the drummer especially

I saw hatsune miku in a side room at sort of small j-culture convention in london and they had a damn projection hologram. You're telling me this place had screens?!

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE 👏 Thank you!!!

It’s so crazy I had to do a double take a Swell doing this

At Miku Expo 2018, there were transitions and "crowd work" (e.g., "hello city!" stuff) between songs which made the song transitions feel like a normal band/singer. Also Miku was on the glass.

oh boy. i work at one of the theatres that's going to host the tour in the next month or so. the ticketing issue isnt surprising, ticketmaster's handling of resale tickets has massively screwed us over in the past. half of the time their map of our theatre doesnt line up, so people will get limited view seats without knowing, or seats that dont exist. even just over the past two years i've been working at the theatre the ticket handling apps have gotten worse and worse. no communication with buyers or theatres. a lot of the time it ends up being the ticket scanner who has to make a call on what to do because we cant call the box office over every single problem, since there are so many. and man. i can't imagine how the people on the top floor of our building will fare with the screen instead of the hologram. at that high angle i can only hope that there's a solution that'll let them see anything of the performance.

So here's my thoughts. I was at Miku Expo NY in 2014 and 2016 and will say, the projections look great in person. BUT the glass screen does have its own set of problems. Even with the use of official light sticks, a lot of light sticks still reflected off the screen. And while the glass screen does blend in better than the LED, you can absolutely still tell that it's there. Additionally, at certain angles, either the characters look faded or a projection light is blinding your eyes. Projections or LED, you'll still need to suspend your disbelief. Miku Expo has never been as well done as Magical Mirai and logistically really can't be. I'm okay with the LED, but I'm disappointed for my friend who is coming with me (who has never been to Miku Expo before). They and I have been in the fandom since 2010, and the "holograms" are a REALLY cool experience that I wish they and I could see together. But anyway, all of this to say that I totally understand the disappointment and anger about paying a lot of money for a show that wasn't as advertised. The lame statement from CFM doesn't help. But I wish that everyone could turn down the drama over it a bit. It should still be a fun time (I'll be at Detroit)! Constantly talking about the controversy is going to give people attending a bad mood about it before they even step inside the venue. Especially for first time goers, it should be an awesome positive experience. And a lot of people have said that the LED really isn't bad in person. The pessimism keeps people from even having fun for what it is. Like, keep contacting CFM and Crunchyroll so that changes can be made in future tours. But if you aren't selling your tickets over your outrage then just have fun for everything we ARE getting here.

I feel like if Turtle Talk with Crush at Disney can have Crush interact with people, then I i feel like they could have Miku, or some sort of MC fill the transition time and give the humans time to reset.

I went to the Miku Expo in AZ - the line was let in SO slowly - we started like half an hour late due to them still letting people in. It was our first Miku concert too, we did not have seats in the center. (It took place in a Hockey arena out here, so we were sitting sideways from the screen, lol). Honestly, it was a much better view than I thought it would be for us. We bought the tickets before the "no pepper's ghost" news came out, so I was very apprehensive. I even asked my sisters if we still wanted to go at that point. When we decided to go still, I figured we would have a pretty terrible view of the screen and that things would look slightly wonky, but it looked pretty good - not perfect, obviously, but there were moments that you could forget the screen was there (and then they would shine ridiculously bright lights behind it and we would be blinded because the screen wasn't blocking the direct view of those). The videos we got look horrendous, and that's is annoying, but probably the biggest downfall of the LED screens for us. Well, that and the fact that half the concert (including Len's song, and he's my fave) had a red rectangle on one side of the screen whenever one of the vocaloids crossed to that side. Not being a huge fan, the weirdest part of the concert for me was having to yell Miku's name for the encore. That was very weird. I felt like we should have been yelling for the live band to come back instead. I would actually go again, even with just LED screens. It was pretty fun, and definitely not my worst concert experience by any means.

I get the disappointment of the projection thing, but I fall under the category of people who was not that stressed about the LCD. I *also* was right in the middle of the pit for San Jose and my friend and everyone around me were having the time of their lives. I am just super happy to see an honest reaction, even if it's from someone who's not into Vocaloid. I'd rather see this than a lot of what I've seen which is just being upset because they can be. Always look forward to your videos especially since I was hoping someone would make you go to this 😂

im a vocaloid fan that just went to the expo in TX on the 24th. my bf and i were disappointed and concerned about the screen at first, but honestly had such a fun time and werent bothered by it at all once she got on stage. sure, seeing the hologram live was always a dream, but i thought the animation/rendering was honestly so satisfying. her facial expressions were awesome and it still felt like she was really there to us. i cried almost the whole show, so maybe im just biased. hearing those songs live and hearing the crowd singing along was very touching.

SWELL AND MIKU LETS FUCKIN GOOOOOOOO

I was at the Vancouver show while the build up was somewhat shitshow i still enjoyed it probably only because my friend managed to get the VIP tickets. All emails and web updates doubled down on no outside/off brand lightsticks due to it interfering with the hologram including an announcement right before the show and then no hologram so it left us more confused than anything. VIP emails saying there would be a separate merch booth indoors so we didnt show up 7 hours before the show began and they actually took all the indoor merch outside so everything was sold out before we got there. Thankfully they still had the VIP bags tho so we just used the mini fans to cheer along with.

literally watched this as soon as i got home from the dallas stop. this was my first miku expo and i personally am not a big fan but i went with a group who are all fans and had been to a previous expo. i think a lot of the issue with the screen ultimately comes down to how the venue is set up and lit. i feel like the lighting was done in a way at this stop where the screen didn't feel invasive imo. i understand why a lot of people may not like the few empty seconds of transition but it seemed like a lot of people took the opportunity to guess what came next and get their light sticks ready, which honestly made it a fun time. I'd check it out again, screen or holo, depending on the cost.

I loveeee this haircut on you! Gorgeousss

In 1990, i was convinced boom boxes would eventually play hologram videos (you can tell how much i know about electronics that i assumed the boom box would be the final form for playing music), so this is pretty cool to me! We really thought holograms were going to be EVERYWHERE.

I got vip specifically in hopes of getting a better spot! I’m not happy about the screen but I’m super excited to experience a miku concert regardless! I’m going to the show in Dallas tomorrow night!

Your hair looks extra red in this video, it’s beautiful!

I remember hearing about the backlash on this year's Miku Expo on Twitter. I'm still surprised to see you covering Miku Expo though. One of my dreams was to see a Miku concert, hologram and all. If I was in the area for a Miku Expo and I saw a screen...I'd be pretty disappointed. I'll probably go to a specific artist's US concert instead e.g. Kikuo