Talk:V Flower
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Citations related to v flower's appearance on Billboard JAPAN's rankings and possible removal of character design section?
[edit]A while back, a lot of VOCALOID voicebank articles were deleted and merged with the main article for their associated version. I understand the underlying motivation for this, but there are still problems with this approach, specifically that the lists available are not all-encompassing, include unreleased products without much separation, and are slightly misleading overall. To me, these lists imply that the voicebanks are derivative of the engine, or are included in the engine, when voicebanks are independently produced products that run on the VOCALOID engine purchased separately, with ultimately little influence from Yamaha's developers sans licensing.
v Flower is one of the products of this kind that I feel absolutely warrants its own article, in case that conversation should return to this article. The main reason for this, I feel, is v Flower's historical significance as a synthesized voice. The song Goodbye Sengen, featuring v Flower, entered Billboard JAPAN's rankings. The massive success of this song influenced the creation of a VOCALOID-specific rankings board from Billboard. I can't find a great news source for this. I read one, but am having a lot of trouble retracing my steps. Does anyone have a lead? The significance of this really can't be understated in representing the influence of the voice synth doujin music scene on a cohort of youth culture. English Wikipedia in general has a problem with representing this software in the lens of the english-speaking fandom community that is very focused on character designs and is aware of popular songs, but doesn't grasp the wider (and very real) influences and contingencies of the music scene.
I think this topic could be expanded into its own sub-section on this article and potentially replace the character design section. I don't hate the idea of a section discussing the character's design in concept, but I don't think this is actually that relevant to the article. Compared to Hatsune Miku, which has such a strong motif it is used in musical releases constantly, Flower's is, anecdotally, rarely included in the accompanying music videos and illustrations for released songs, creators instead opting to provide their own characters to tell their stories. The design itself is acknowledged by fans as being a good design, but there are no good sources discussing its influence. Asciigarden (talk) 18:26, 23 January 2023 (UTC)