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SeeU VOCALOID3 English | Songs Albums Notable Originals


SeeU (시유) is a Korean VOCALOID developed and distributed by SBS A&T (formerly SBS Artech), and was released in October 2011 for South Korea and later in December for Japan. Her voice is provided by Korean female singer, Dahee Kim (김다희 Gim Da-hui), who was a member of the K-pop idol group, 'GLAM'. Dahee recorded in Korean and Japanese for the two voicebanks. On November 25th, 2022, Starlike Inc. an event and gaming development team, has announced that they would be licensing her and UNI.[2]

Concept[]

A profile was written for her on the VOCALOID STORE. The profile stated "She dreams of being an idol loved not only in Asia but also in Europe as well".[3]

Etymology[]

Her name in Korean is rendered as "시유" (Siyu) and in Japanese it is "シユ" (Shiyu). During an interview with SBS A&T manager, Hyo Eun Kim, it was said that SeeU's name came to mind after thinking of a line from the 2009 film, Avatar. The line "I See You" popped into her mind and became the inspiration for 'SeeU'. According to SBS, this is only one of several meanings of her name.[4][5]

Appearance[]

SeeU was given a moe-esque design and is aimed more specifically to the general and VOCALOID Otaku fandom. SBS stated that SeeU was created to be a "cute and lively yet mysterious looking 17 year old girl." Her outfit was designed with a school uniform in mind. Her official illustrations and design were created by KKUEM.

Her cat ears/nekomimi are speakers. According to her illustrator, they are actually detachable[6] Her neckband is a CD player. Soundwaves light up on the rectangle of her flat-shoes and on the upper part of her top (chest). There is a pause button at the back of her clothes, a power button on the ribbon of her neckband and an "on" button on one of the buttons at the front of her top. During a virtual interview starring SeeU conducted by SBS, SeeU revealed her clothing size to be XXS.[7]

The illustration for SeeU's "Library Renewal Limited 400" project was illustrated by Renian.[8]

Relations[]

For more on VOCALOID relationships, see the FAQ.

  • Gompang-i - A fungus-like friend of SeeU.
  • ZeeU - The official male derivative of SeeU.[9]

History[]

Marketing[]

SeeU Limited Edition Contents

VOCALOID™3 Library SV01 SeeU Limited Edition Contents

VOCALOID3 Library SV01 SeeU Limited Edition was produced for her launch in 2011, which included a SeeU Demo song CD, photo frame, stickers, badges, phone strap, manual booklet and an illustration book called "SEEU COME INTO THE WORLD".[10] SBS also promoted SeeU to the public by printing her illustration on face packs and on the side of taxi cars.

During Nico Nico Chokaigi 2012‘s “VOCALOID NEWS", SBS stepped forward and claimed to be producing an album for SeeU. On October 19, 2012, SBS Artech teamed up with Big Hit Entertainment and released an album called SV01 SeeU's Compilation Album, featuring seven notable songs from the UGC contest. The album was released in Japan and translated into Japanese lyrics on October 29, 2012.

On August 30, 2021, a special 10th anniversary project for SeeU was announced and an official Twitter account was created for the project.[11]. Details as well as a promotional video were released on SeeU's 10th anniversary, October 21, 2021.[12] The promotion included a new illustration by illustrator KKUEM[13] as well as the announcement of a crowdfunding campaign with aims to create a special collaboration album for SeeU featuring many famous Korean VOCALOID producers.[14][15][16] Various new merchandise plans including a plush doll of SeeU and an acrylic keychain were also showcased to be distributed via the crowdfund as well.[17] A special tribute message towards SeeU and her fans was written to celebrate her last ten years and an apology was issued for not meeting community expectations of the project.[18][19] It was also announced that international fans would be able to participate in the crowdfunding via Kickstarter with more details to be released at a later date.[20]

On September 22, 2023, ST MEDiA Co., Ltd. hosted a livestream to discuss new information. Regarding SeeU, there were still SBS A&T employees who were still fond of her and would like to work on her again, but the executives disapproved as they believed that it would not be profitable. SBS A&T still owned the rights to SeeU fully and was the final decisionmaker in regards to her. ST MEDiA considered purchasing the license from SBS A&T, but the individuals who were worked on her were hurt, so it was not possible as ST MEDiA felt it would be disrespectful to do. Instead, it was decided to "stop dreaming" about a SeeU update or remake as it was impossible without SBS A&T's permission. In regards to SeeU's stocking issues, it was confirmed that she only had the stock number from her original launch. Once they were sold out, there was nothing left, though the Japanese editions were still available. There was a Chinese company in 2020 who had purchased new SeeU serial codes and intended to sell her with Chinese packaging, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, this never happened. It was confirmed that there were 400 SeeU serial codes left, and after those were sold out, it was over for SeeU. The last 400 codes would be potentially sold as digital and packaged deals. The current plan was to update the packaging design, but more interestingly, SeeU's design, so it could be treated as a commemorative release. This was planned to be a crowdfunding campaign later in the year, and SeeU's design would be modernized as the company felt that it would be difficult to 3D model, but the changes would not be too major. It was confirmed that KKUEM would not be returning as the illustrator due to a scheduling conflict. Despite that these final codes would mark the end of SeeU as a voice library, ST Media still wanted to continue in promoting her character.[21]

On December 22, 2023, pre-order sales for the 400 remaining serial codes and limited-time goods will be live on Character Planet.[22] Each renewal package contained a USB of SeeU's VOCALOID3 Library, commemorative album, badge, medal, and metal key ring.

All 400 remaining serial codes sold out in less than 24 hours, making SeeU permanently unavailable for purchase. She is the second VOCALOID vocal to run out of serial codes completely, after MIRIAM, and the first VOCALOID3 vocal to do so.

Voicebanks[]

SeeU - Korean
SeeU was a cute sounding teenage female and was the first Korean VOCALOID released. Her voicebank had extra English Phonetics included alongside the Korean ones.
SeeU - Japanese
The Japanese version was intended to match the Korean voicebank. During the VOCALOID3 era it was the highest optimum range for any Japanese VOCALOID until kokone was released.
  • SeeU (VOCALOID3), October 21, 2011
SeeU - English
The English vocal was planned and began development after a number of fans questioned the English Phonetics in the Korean voicebank. SBS A&T Co., Ltd. claimed that English was intended all along and would be released. The project is currently presumed cancelled.

Music featuring SeeU[]

  • On this wiki, SeeU is featured in 336 songs , 14 albums , 1 series , 1 events.
SeeU logo
천 년의 시
YouTube logo
[yt]
Translation 천 년의 시 (Cheon Nyeonui Si)
Featuring
SeeU
Producers
Categories Original song
Description
A traditional Korean-style epic that depicts one person's life through four different phases, represented by the four seasons.
数字遊びクイズ
YouTube logo
[nn][yt]
Translation 数字遊びクイズ (Suuji Asobi Quiz)
Featuring
SeeU
Producers
zzZ
Categories Original song
Description
One of zzZ/Makura-P's Japanese songs under the new name, formerly known as zzZ.
할리퀸
YouTube logo
[yt]
Translation Harley Quinn
Featuring
SeeU
Producers
Categories Original song
LINE OF FIRE
YouTube logo
[yt]
Translation LINE OF FIRE
Featuring
SeeU
Producers
Categories Original song
Search for music featuring SeeU [show/hide]

Reputation[]

Status

Google Trends

SeeU,시유,シユ

Sales

The SBS A&T team admitted SeeU sold less than expected within South Korea and Japan. Specific number of sales have not been revealed.

Reaction

Because of some issues between Japan and South Korea involving fans basing opinions on political and racial issues, this gave SeeU a rough start in both countries. The issues with Japanese fans in regard to SeeU has also left SeeU's Nico Nico Pedia page subject to issues reflecting this.

Therefore, her overall popularity ranges per website from amongst the "least popular" to "most popular" of the VOCALOID3 releases. It is affected by the opinions and politics of fans within that particular circle of the fandom.

Her overall popularity according to Google trends, spiked in September 2011 a month before her release, but she has since lost most of her popularity.

In 2017, Alone became the first SeeU song to achieve 1 million views.

Impact

Amongst the other issues related to SeeU and her popularity, her English vocal was put on hiatus around Feb 2013. The hiatus was to raise SeeU's profile and make her more popular as SBS A&T were unsure how fans would react. Further developments to SeeU's vocal, remains unknown.

Misc

In 2015 a survey was made based on the popularity of VOCALOIDs on website Nico Video. For the year 2014, SeeU was the 38th most popular VOCALOID and the second least popular Japanese capable vocaloid.[23]

Achievements
  • First Korean capable VOCALOID
  • First female Korean VOCALOID
  • First bilingual VOCALOID3
  • First and only Korean VOCALOID3
  • First VOCALOID by SBS A&T
  • First Japanese voicebank produced by a non-Japanese company
  • First Japanese voicebank produced by a Korean company
  • First Japanese voicebank provided by a Korean provider
  • First Korean VOCALOID to be on stage
  • First Korean VOCALOID to perform with the voice provider
  • Second female VOCALOID to perform with the voice provider in 2012
  • One of the first 4 VOCALOID3 vocals released for the engine.

References[]

External links[]

Language Description Site
Korean SBS A&T official homepage Link
English Image Official Comics from Limited Edition Illustration Artbook Link
Korean Ate Li , art and media community Link
English deviantArt , art and media community Link
Japanese Pixiv , art and media community Link

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