Dream Smasher: Hatsune Miku (Guest Article)

This guest Dream Smasher was created by @_TheyWhoRemain_ on Twitter, and thanks to Cart Boy for help with edits.

Super Smash Bros. is as much a celebration of the gaming industry as it is of the video games themselves, representing a sizable amount of them with characters, music, and other such additions. Something that’s noticeably absent, however, is the expansive rhythm and music-game genre. While references, including Donkey Kong’s original Final Smash and Spirits of characters from the Rhythm Heaven series, show it hasn’t been ignored completely, a genuinely impactful addition for the genre, such as a playable fighter, has never made it in. 

Given how much of Smash‘s appeal is in its ability to blend together so many different types of games, a lack of representation for such a successful genre seems surprising. In this article, I’d like to explore why I think the VOCALOID series is the perfect choice to fill this void, and how Hatsune Miku, despite not originating from a video game in the traditional sense, would perfectly fit the world of Smash.

Who Is Hatsune Miku?

Hatsune Miku is a J-Pop idol superstar who has achieved worldwide fame thanks to her massive concerts, unique catchy voice, and enormous library of varied music. The most surprising aspect of this is that Miku’s success and appeal come from her being entirely digital! All of her performances, live or online, are created using the voice synthesizing software called VOCALOID, which is also the title given to Miku and the rest of the cast who perform songs composed using the software.

In the video game series Project DIVA, Miku’s popstar status is even more prominent as she and her fellow Vocaloids put on concerts for everyone to enjoy. She’s good friends with many of these Vocaloids, including the soft-spoken, charming GUMI, the more mature-sounding, seasoned MEIKO and KAITO, the childlike, adored siblings Rin and Len, and venerable Luka, whose performances and popularity rivals Miku’s.

Importance to Nintendo & Series

Hatsune Miku debuted in 2007 as a new voicebank for the YAMAHA-developed voice synthesizer software VOCALOID, created by Crypton Future Media. Though not the first voicebank created for the VOCALOID software, the new approach taken when designing Miku, as well as the improved quality of the voice samples which were provided by voice actress Saki Fujita, helped to propel the company and the software into an unprecedented spike in popularity. Singlehandedly, Miku brought attention to the software’s potential, and as the first virtual voice to reach such mainstream attention, it’s no surprise that many of her songs like “World Is Mine,” “MATORYOSHKA,” and “Rolling Girl” have become cultural touchstones, serving as introductions to the larger world of VOCALOID and its many unique talents.

Miku’s appearances in video games began in 2009 when she debuted in Project DIVA, the first in a series of rhythm games developed by SEGA and Crypton Future Media. Miku and VOCALOID have reached broader audiences thanks to crossover and cameo appearances in titles such as Persona 4 Dancing and Yakuza 5, as well as Taiko no Tatsujin and Monster Hunter, and even in marketing for Genshin Impact. Naturally, Miku eventually made an appearance on Nintendo consoles, beginning with her debut in the 2013 3DS-exclusive Project Mirai trilogy, as well as her appearance in the Japanese version of Just Dance on the Wii U. Finally, in 2018, Project DIVA Mega Mix on the Nintendo Switch marked the first time a major title in the Project DIVA series debuted on a Nintendo console.

Because of Hatsune Miku, the VOCALOID brand has carved a unique place in the music industry. Notable Japanese artists like Wowaka, Supercell, and samfree come to mind. Their musical careers were either started or improved by the use of VOCALOID, later being recognized thanks to the impressive music they’ve composed using the software, allowing them to be approached to compose for such mediums as advertising and anime. This reach has gone beyond Japan as Miku starred in commercials alongside actress Scarlett Johanson, and opened a concert tour for Lady Gaga, cementing her status as a pop culture icon. While her origins may not traditionally lie in video games, I believe Miku’s strong association with them, as well as her influence and iconicity, help make for a compelling argument in favor of her inclusion.

Colors & Design

Designed by the artist KEI, Miku’s signature appearance has remained fairly consistent since her debut. She’s an android who appears as a teenage girl with long teal-blue twin-tails, wearing a gray shirt with a teal tie and black detached sleeves, a black skirt with teal trimming, thigh-length black boots with teal soles, a microphone headset and pink hair clips, and the number ‘01’ in magenta on her left arm. Miku’s look has changed over the years thanks to the work of many talented artists, but I believe it makes the most sense to use her original design for her appearance in Smash on account of its recognizability and easy-to-translate look.

Miku’s costumes could reference both her debut in VOCALOID, and the Project DIVA games. By adjusting the colors of her hair and clothing, she can reflect her five most famous costars: pink hair and a dark shirt with gold highlights references Megurine Luka, a white shirt with blonde hair and golden accents channels Kagamine Rin & Len, a green / orange combo invokes GUMI Megpoid, MEIKO is honored through an alt with brown hair, red clothes, and white highlights, and making Miku’s hair and highlights blue references KAITO. 

After these would be Sakura Miku, a pastel pink and white palette swap that decorates Miku in flowery patterns on her hair and clothes. This costume is one of Miku’s most iconic and has been in almost every Project DIVA title. The second alternate costume could be a Project DIVA original, design for the game’s music videos. For this concept, I’ve chosen an outfit that sees Miku’s usual attire swapped for an all-black Japanese girl’s school uniform and darker and messier hair, as well as covering Miku in a couple of bandages. Making its debut in the music video for “Rolling Girl,” this costume could pay tribute to the late Wowaka who composed the song, representing another iconic part of VOCALOID history.

How Would She Play?

First, I’ll briefly cover Miku’s portrayal in Smash, as most people might only be familiar with her appearances in music videos, something helpful for maintaining relevance outside of video games, but not much help when it comes to Smash. A character’s portrayal can make or break how people perceive them, and a good example is found in Incineroar, whose inclusion was preceded by one of the franchise’s most popular monsters, Greninja, who was given a silent and reserved nature, as expected of such a sneaky character.

By focusing on personality and leaning into the bragging persona of a heel wrestler, Incineroar’s over-the-top nature helps it feel unique next to Kalos’ water-type wonder. Swinging back to Miku, Project DIVA has provided the basic template for her characterization; she loves to perform and she’s very friendly. Sticking true to this and leaning into her role as an idol, Miku in Smash could be depicted as loving to put on a show with clear evidence that she doesn’t take fighting seriously, each match more akin to a performance rather than a battle.

Miku’s stats and properties:

• Weight: ~ Greninja (88)
• Height: ~ Bayonetta
• Overall Speed: ~ Bayonetta
  • Walk Speed: 1.224
  • Run Speed: 1.936
  • Air Speed: 1.208
• Jump Height: ~ Fox (35)
• Multi-jumping? No
• Crawling? No
• Wall jumping? No

(A closer look at the stats)

Miku provides a bit of a challenge when designing a moveset, as she has no traditional attack references to pull from, making the next best thing to get inspiration from Project DIVA and her large library of music. We fall into a dangerous trap when designing a moveset this way, however, as we could easily get lazy and make every move a reference to a cool song and end up with a lackluster, unbalanced moveset. While Miku’s moveset necessitates the use of many references, the goal should remain making her feel like a natural addition to Smash. With dance moves in mind, Miku can be envisioned as a fast-paced brawler with moves that carry a lot of momentum behind them, able to set up for combos easily. As mentioned prior, we can also look to the mechanics of rhythm games for inspiration to make a gimmick that acts as the core of her moveset.

Miku’s gimmick would be called Fever. After landing either a smash attack or an enhanced special move on the opponent, an arrow appears over them and begins to slowly spin clockwise, disappearing once it completes a rotation. If you land another attack on the opponent while they are marked with the arrow, one of three things would happen. If you land an attack too early, the word ‘SAFE’ appears and nothing happens. If you land an attack while the arrow has made over half of its rotation, ‘FINE’ appears and your attack deals a little more knockback than usual. Lastly, if you land an attack at the same time the arrow makes its full rotation, ‘COOL’ appears, your attack gains more hitstun, and the arrow begins another, slightly faster rotation, allowing you to try and continue the combo and maintain Fever. This incentivizes getting in close to the opponent for rewarding combos, inspired by similar mechanics in rhythm games that reward the completion of faster note combos with higher scores and ranks.

Boxing Ring Title: Diva of the Future!

Series Icon	Stock Icon	Kirby Hat (Courtesy of Hamada)

Move Type	Description
On-Screen Appearance	Stage lights appear from left and right as Miku emerges from a puff of smoke, waves to the camera, then faces her opponent.
Stance	Miku stands confidently with her arms at her side while swaying back and forth and looking ahead.
Idle #1	Miku stretches her legs and then returns to her battle stance.
Idle #2	Miku closes her eyes while nodding and tapping her foot.
Walk	Miku holds her stance as close as possible, somewhat leaning into a sway as she walks ahead.
Dash & Run	Miku closes her eyes and goes into a sprint with her arms held up and to the side as her twin tails flow behind her.
Crouch	Miku takes a knee with her hands on the ground beside her.
Jump	Miku performs a standard jump, followed by a front flip for her double jump.
Damage	Miku’s eyes swirl as she recoils for a moment.
Shield	Miku covers her ears and closes her eyes as the shield forms around her.
Dodge	Miku slides away gracefully while bending backward for her dodge. For her spot dodge, like with Bayonetta’s, she’ll spin on the spot.
Floor & Edge Attacks	For her floor attack, Miku does a quick spinning sweep and recovers to her feet shortly afterward, similar to Bayonetta’s floor attack. For her edge attack, Miku lifts herself onto the stage while performing a cartwheel handstand maneuver to knock away any nearby enemies, falling forward, landing on her feet, and returning to her battle stance.
Neutral Attack: Leek Spin	Miku swipes her leek twice, going left to right, if the button is tapped, or flails it around rapidly while looking away and finishing with a final swing upwards if the button is held, reminiscent of Meta Knight’s neutral attack.
Forward Tilt: Miku-Miku You!	Miku first stretches her arms out, bringing them together to clap her hands, then stretches one hand out to the side, hitting any foes in the way.
Up Tilt: Up and Up and Up!	Miku stands on one foot and smiles gleefully while pointing upwards three times, alternating between her left and right hands, serving as a decent way to launch foes upwards, or to work as an anti-air tool.
Down Tilt: Fan Sweep	Miku sweeps the ground with an ornamental fan, somewhat similar to Pit’s down tilt.
Dash Attack: Diva Slide	Miku slides forward, leaning towards the ground with her arms outstretched on either side as a trail of musical notes forms behind her.
Forward Smash: My Hand? You Wish!	Miku takes one step to the side and swings her arm out while looking in the opposite direction (i.e, if the attack is used facing right, Miku looks left) and covers her mouth. Enemies that are close enough are dragged into the attack and get hit by a barrage of flashy effects before getting launched away.
Up Smash: One More!	Miku jumps with her legs outstretched and her hand raised. Enemies close enough get dragged into the attack and are hit three times in quick succession by symbols representing the Japanese words for “one more time” (もう一回) and then get launched upwards.
Down Smash: Break It Down!	Miku performs a leg sweep maneuver in a circle around herself. The move has a weaker hitbox on the farthest part of the sweep that can trip opponents.
Neutral Aerial: Superstar!	Miku stretches her arms and legs out to form the shape of a star with her body to hit nearby opponents. This would be her fastest and weakest aerial, perfect for extending combos with Fever.
Forward Aerial: Kick Flair	Miku performs a simple aerial kick.
Back Aerial: Shimmy Swipe	Miku swipes her hand behind herself.
Up Aerial: Raise The Roof!	Miku raises her microphone stand above her head and spins it rapidly. This would be her slowest and strongest aerial.
Down Aerial: Mic-Drop!	Miku swings her microphone stand in an overhead arc to hit the area beneath herself, similar to Byleth’s down aerial. The move has the potential to spike opponents.
Grab: Be My Guest!	Miku grabs the opponent’s hand with one arm and holds a microphone in her free hand.
Pummel: Vocal Warm-Up	Miku sings ‘Do’, deciding that a grab is the perfect time for a voice warm-up, as a musical note quickly flies from the microphone and hits the opponent. Each pummel afterwards would continue the short verse, ‘Do, re, mi, fa…’ and so on, until after seven hits, it returns to the beginning of the verse.
Forward Throw: For The Fans	Miku throws the opponent forward and winks while pointing in the same direction.
Back Throw: Flourishing Fling	Miku leans backward while simultaneously throwing the opponent over and behind her, kicking her foot out slightly as she does so.
Up Throw: Skyward Show-Off!	Miku throws the opponent sky-high with both hands while also taking the time to pose for the audience by standing on one foot.
Down Throw: Tsundere Shove	Miku pushes the opponent to the ground and looks away as they slide away a short distance.
Neutral Special: Melodic Modifier	Miku grabs her microphone and belts out a powerful high note, after which Miku glows for a short period. During this time, the effects of her other special moves are enhanced. The glow lasts about five seconds and cannot be applied again until Miku loses its effects. The enhancements are loosely based on the rhythm game modifiers seen in most Project DIVA titles.
Side Special: Rolling Girl + HI SPEED	Miku dives headfirst into a roll and travels along the ground swiftly, damaging and launching opponents up into the air. With a second press of the button, Miku jumps out of the roll with a kick, knocking away anyone in front of her. In the air, Rolling Girl sends Miku forward and rapidly down, making it a poor recovery option unless used from high up. When enhanced by Melodic Modifier, Miku will travel slightly faster when rolling, and when used in midair, Miku will now descend slightly slower.
Up Special: Catch The Wave! + NO FALL	Miku gets launched into the air with a soundwave that damages nearby foes. Pressing the button again causes another soundwave to send Miku further. This can be done three times before Miku goes into freefall. You can use other attacks in between each soundwave to mix up how you return to the stage. When enhanced by Melodic Modifier, Miku will not go into freefall after the third use of the attack in the air, but you will not be able to use the move again until you land.
Down Special: Cherry Blossom Dash + SUDDEN	Miku pulls out an ornamental fan and covers her face with it, returning to her normal stance after a short pause. If Miku is hit during this period, she first explodes into cherry blossom petals which stun the attacker if they’re close enough, and with an input of either left or right on the joystick, Miku will dash in that direction. The stun and dash combination makes this move one of her best combo starters. When enhanced by Melodic Modifier, Miku’s dash will be replaced by an instantaneous teleport either left or right, akin to Mewtwo’s up special.
Final Smash: All Eyes on Miku!	Miku claps her hands together and points forward as waves of energy travel a short distance ahead of her, starting a cinematic if it hits any opponents. The screen switches to Miku on stage joined by any pair of random VOCALOID characters as backup performers while Miku sings a portion of her most famous song, “World is Mine.” The opponent, meanwhile, is dragged towards the stage by the energetic and cheering crowd, taking continuous damage as this happens, finally being hit by a powerful sound wave and launched away.
Up Taunt: Shortcake!?	Miku looks up with a finger to her chin as a thought bubble appears above her, showing an egg, a strawberry, and a slice of cake. She frowns and returns to her battle stance as the thought bubble disappears.
Side Taunt: I Can Do It!	A ringtone suddenly plays and Miku pulls a cell phone out of her pocket and looks at the screen. One of a variety of messages of encouragement from her friends will show up in a speech bubble, causing Miku to smile before putting the phone away.
Down Taunt: Electric Love	Miku faces the screen and leans forwards to blow a kiss to the audience, returning to her battle stance afterwards.
Victory Pose #1	For her first victory pose, Miku begins to dance on the spot by swaying from side to side, ending with her holding out a hand to the screen, referencing one of her most repeated dance moves.
Victory Pose #2	Miku is shown about to eat a slice of shortcake, much to her delight, but upon seeing the camera, she stubbornly turns away and the cake gets thrown off-screen in a comedic manner.
Victory Pose #3	The camera zooms in on Miku as she stands while swinging her arms around rhythmically, then brings them together and forms the shape of a heart with her hands and winks at the camera.
Victory Pose #4	If Miku wins using her Final Smash, the screen will show the results of the match stylized to look like the clear screen of the Project DIVA games, with Miku on the side and doing a little dance as the words ‘PERFECT CLEAR’ appear.
Victory Fanfare	For her victory theme, Miku’s most iconic song, “World Is Mine,” is the clear choice. Composed by Supercell, this song was one of the first to reach mainstream popularity and helped shape the early music scene of VOCALOID for other rising talents. It’s considered Miku’s definitive song; it appears in every Project DIVA title, so it’s a lasting and memorable part of the beginning of the franchise, and since it’s already been featured heavily in her moveset, including it here was a no-brainer. I envision the victory theme beginning with a short drum roll before leading into a bombastic instrumental take on the opening lyrics of the song 「世界でいちばんおひめさま」, (roughly “I’m the #1 Princess in the world!”). Using a fusion of instruments reminiscent of the original song: strings, piano, and guitar, as well as an electronic synth lead, referencing the digital diva herself. For the unique victory screen, the song “Various Feelings,” composed by shu-t, would play on loop instead. Debuting in Project DIVA Future Tone, this song plays as the default clear music in most Project DIVA titles.

Closing Thoughts

For over fifteen years, Hatsune Miku has continued to endure as an integral part of pop culture, maintaining relevancy and appeal long after VOCALOID‘s dip in popularity, a true testament to her iconicity even though she debuted as mere box art. That debut and her origins admittedly give a fair argument against the likeliness of her joining the roster, but this only accounts for the voice of Hatsune Miku, and overlooks that the character we all know today didn’t really debut until the Project DIVA games. Miku’s inclusion would deliver another fan-favorite to the roster, and pay a long-overdue homage to one of gaming’s most successful genres. The proposed moveset gives an example of a fun way to emulate the feel of rhythm games and helps make Miku stand out amongst the cast, ensuring a unique and fresh addition to the game. The inclusion of Sora proved how even the most unlikely collaborations could happen with enough time, and the addition of Steve proved that games as unique and diverse as Minecraft have a chance of being represented. With this in mind, it feels like the stage is set for Miku to one day join the roster and leave a unique impact on the game.

Credits

All footage of Project DIVA/SEKAI/Mirai is owned by SEGA and Crypton Future Media. ‘Sakura Miku’ was designed by putidevil, ‘Rolling Girl Miku’ was designed by Minakata Laboratory. Footage of the ‘Rolling Girl’ PV is from ghostsubs on YouTube, ‘OHEDO JULIA NIGHT’ PV is from Mitchie M on YouTube, and ‘World is Mine’ PV is from Deviant Otaku on YouTube.

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Hamada

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