KAITO

KAITO (カイト) is a Japanese VOCALOID developed originally by Yamaha Corporation and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc.. He was one of the 4 known "Project Daisy" vocals. His VOCALOID3 update was developed and distributed by Crypton. He was initially released in February 2006 for the first VOCALOID engine. There has since been a second installment developed for the VOCALOID3 engine dubbed KAITO V3. His voice is provided by the famous Japanese singer, Naoto Fūga (風雅なおと).As of August 31, 2019, it was announced that there would be no further installments with the VOCALOID program. Instead Crypton is focusing on their own program, Piapro Studio.[1][2] As of August 2024, however, a refined and retuned edition of KAITO's original VOCALOID3 voicebank, titled KAITO SP, was released for the PIAPRO CHARACTERS SUPER PACK; a set of Japanese voicebanks developed for the Piapro Studio for V4X and VOCALOID4 engines. This release was noted to improve KAITO's overall balance of tone and pronunciation.[3][4]The product's name was invited to be chosen by the public, and "KAITO" was selected from among the applicants, which was Shu-tP's offered idea.[5][6] One of the reasons why his name "KAITO" was selected was because it would be easy for non-Japanese speakers to pronounce, and it looked fitting with the name "MEIKO" when they were put next to one another.[7] KAITO's codename was "TARO";[8] it likely came from "Yamada Tarō (山田太郎)", a placeholder name for male characters and the Japanese equivalent to "John Smith".KAITO is often mistakenly called "Kaito Shion" or "Shion Kaito", particularly by overseas fans. "Shion" was a fan-created term used to refer to him during the 2007-2009 period. Due to its common sighting, it is still incorrectly used by fans as his family name even as of the most recent VOCALOID engine release. Officially, the character is known just as "KAITO"; he has no family name or surname.