Hatsune Miku as Imagined Technology: Materiality, Connections, and the Utopia of Networks

ABSTRACT Hatsune Miku, a virtual diva/software tool that enables anyone to use “her” voice, is featured in over 100,000 fanmade songs. This essay examines how the music videos of kz‐livetune's “Tell Your World” and Mikito‐P's “39 Music!” construct Miku herself as a form of utopian technology capable of connecting people across the world and how this message connects to the networked fan labor that creates and engages with Miku and the problems and potentials of Miku‐as‐utopian‐technology.

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Publication Details

Journal
Popular Culture Review
Published
2025-10-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/pcr4.70001
Primary Topic
Japanese History and Culture
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Hatsune Miku as Imagined Technology: Materiality, Connections, and the Utopia of Networks

Anni Perheentupa
Popular Culture Review
Japanese History and Culture
article

Hatsune Miku as Imagined Technology: Materiality, Connections, and the Utopia of Networks

Anni Perheentupa
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hatsune Miku, a virtual diva/software tool that enables anyone to use “her” voice, is featured in over 100,000 fanmade songs. This essay examines how the music videos of kz‐livetune's “Tell Your World” and Mikito‐P's “39 Music!” construct Miku herself as a form of utopian technology capable of connecting people across the world and how this message connects to the networked fan labor that creates and engages with Miku and the problems and potentials of Miku‐as‐utopian‐technology.

Popular Culture ReviewVol. 36(2)
University of California, Riverside (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 67%
Japanese History and Culture
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