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OtapediaSuna no Wakusei (song by Hatsune Miku)

"Suna no Wakusei" (砂の惑星), known by its official title "DUNE", is a song by Hachi, a very popular musician from Tokushima prefecture. On July 21, 2017, the music video was released simultaneously on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube. The song was produced as the theme song for Hatsune Miku Magical Mirai 2017 and is sung by voice synthesizer software Vocaloid's Hatsune Miku. In commemorating the event, the compilation album included DUNE and was also released as a digital single on August 31. Yonezu released a version of the song on his fourth original album BOOTLEG in which he sings the song by himself. The song references other well-known VOCALOID songs, including Senbonzakura, Matryoshka, "Panda Hero", "Melt", and "World's End Dancehall".

Background

Before his major debut, Hachi had been producing music using VOCALOID software under the moniker Hachi since 2009, and uploaded many of his works to the video platform, Nico Nico Douga. After his major debut, he had not produced any Vocaloid songs since Donut Hole in 2013 and DUNE was the first VOCALOID song released in roughly 4 years.

Hachi had received an offer to compose the theme song for Hatsune Miku Magical Mirai 2017, to celebrate the 10th year of Hatsune Miku, and watched many music videos on Nico Nico Douga while thinking about whether or not to accept it. He noticed that earlier music was from a clearly different era than present-day music (including a decrease in the number of views, as well as fewer producers), and felt that the lack of visitors to Nico Nico Douga seemed like a "desert". He came to realize that that would be the theme for his next song. The song title was taken from the novel series by American author Frank Herbert.

Musical Organization

DUNE uses a temp of 95 beats per minute (BPM). Compared to the average BPM of music that Yonezu produced under Hachi, this was considerably low and showed a conscious decision to promote a different style of production than before. He wanted to introduce a new style and genre of music that employed a slight hip-hop nuance to the Nico Nico Douga community which would be characterized by vocals that rhyme quickly. He wrote his lyrics with the decrease in users on Nico Nico in mind, relating it to a desert. Furthermore, he incorporated the idea of passing the baton over to the next generation of creators. Layered throughout the song are phrases that pay tribute to multiple Vocaloid songs that had been previously released. Referenced songs include Matryoshka, Melt, Senbonzakura, Mozaik Role, and Children Record.

Ratings

After DUNE was released on Nico Nico Douga and Youtube, it immediately reached the Billboard Japan Hot 100 charts, debuting in 8th place even though sales for the single had not yet started. It moved within the top 100 until the Magical Mirai album was released, followed by the sales of the single. Yonezu's self-covered version of DUNE was included in his album "BOOTLEG" that was released on November 1, 2017. It appeared on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 charts in 25th place on November 13.

Music Video

DUNE's music video was released alongside the upload of the song to Nico Nico Douga and YouTube. The video is a full-length animation produced by the Southern Research Institute with whom Yonezu had collaborated several times. It depicts Hatsune Miku walking through a desert with 18 mysterious masked figures. Various considerations about the video were raised from viewers. In particular, the number of masked figures matches the number of music videos that Yonezu had posted under his Hachi moniker, and viewers suggest that Yonezu would be leaving the Vocaloid scene in favor of self-covers, but there has been no confirmation from anyone involved with the project.

The song quickly gained over 100,000 views within the first 6 hours of its upload and was trending on Twitter in Japan. The song was also the fastest to reach other milestones the fastest, including for every million views up to 7 million on Nico Nico Douga. On YouTube, the song is one of only a small handful to reach 30 million views and currently stands at over 48 million views.

It currently holds the record for the most-viewed official upload of a VOCALOID song.

Producer's Comments

Hello, it's Hachi. I think that the environment encircling Vocaloid has changed a fair bit since I was in it. Using the opportunity of having the matter of the theme song being given to me, I thought: if I, as Hachi, were to make a song with Miku now, what would be the most appropriate? This was the result. While reminiscing of the Vocaloid landscape that I saw and the castles we had built in the sandbox, and seeking the perfect balance between nostalgic feelings and new feelings, there was "Dune."

DUNE has appeared in the following concerts:

Song Information

  • Hachi (music, lyrics, arrangement)
  • Hatsune Miku (vocal)
  • Minakata Laboratory (video)

Links

Nico Nico Douga
ハチ MV「砂の惑星 feat.初音ミク」HACHI / DUNE ft.Miku Hatsune - YouTube
砂の惑星 - Hatsune Miku Wiki (atwiki)
砂の惑星 (Suna no Wakusei) - Vocaloid Wiki | Fandom
砂の惑星 (曲) - Wikipedia

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