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To celebrate the $3,500 USD donated within the first 24 hours of the VOCAMERICA Kickstarter, EmpathP hosted a live stream where she gave more information and once again opened up questions to the fans! During the stream, the Kickstarter reached $4,000, making VOCAMERICA only $1,000 USD short from being funded. However, there’s still a lot to go until the final stretch goal of $100,000 is reached.
Planned Songs
During the Kickstarter, EmpathP, Kenji-B, Myst, and CircusP all discussed quite a bit about what’s going on in VOCAMERICA and their current plans. One of the biggest things was what songs that EmpathP plans to have in the concert.
DEX and DAINA will open the concert with “Fade”, a song by CircusP. They will also close the concert with an unannounced song featuring them and RUBY. This song will be announced after the Kickstarter ends.
RUBY will sing “Hands” and will possibly cover “Barrier“. However, it’s unknown at the moment if this performance will be ready in time.
MAIKA is set to sing in both English and Spanish. For English, she’ll sing “Define Me“. For Spanish, she’ll sing “En tu mirar“.
Aiko and Namida will sing “Face to Face”, a song written by Myst.
Stretch Goal Songs
While EmpathP said she’s trying not to plan songs for the stretch goal VOCALOIDs until they’re reached, she did mention a few things she wanted to do.
For AVANNA, EmpathP still hopes that she can get “Sad Machine” to be in the concert. She asks that everyone not get their hopes up as it’s not definite.
OLIVER will definitely perform “Starlight Keeper” if allowed to.
If YOHIOloid is reached, EmpathP wants to add either “NeapolitaN” or songs by GHPZ and TechniKen.
In addition, EmpathP hopes to have OLIVER and YOHIOloid perform a duet if both of those stretch goals are reached. There’s actually a Japanese producer who uses both of those VOCALOIDs!
As for SONiKA, she hopes to have something by AdyS but is also looking into other producers as well.
For each VOCALOID performer stretch goal, the goal will fund two full songs performed by that VOCALOID.
Merch
EmpathP not only teased merchandise during the stream but also showed previews of what to expect from the Kickstarter merch!
Kickstarter Merch
EmpathP revealed not only the designs for the regular key chains but also the special inverted colors versions that we spoke of earlier. Shadow Fox Daina and Ginger Wolf Dex are only available through the Kickstarter. The regular key chains are obtainable through both the Kickstarter and the VOCAMERICA store, which will open after the first VOCAMERICA concert.
The key chains will be double-sided and acrylic, making them high quality.
In addition, she also previewed the t-shirt design.
This is, of course, not the finished design but simply the line art of part of the design. The full design shows their bodies but the clothing hasn’t been drawn on yet.
Possible Merchandise
In addition to the merchandise that will be sold at concerts (the t-shirt and key chains), there is a possibility for more merchandise.
The $7,000 stretch goal will unlock more merchandise including key chains of all the VOCAMERICA singers, custom glow sticks, and possibly even DEX and DAINA plushies. The plushies are very expensive to make however and can’t be promised. EmpathP is also considering trying to get acrylic stands made.
In addition, the $7,000 stretch goal will also unlock life-sized cutouts of DEX and DAINA. These will likely be images of their MMD models and not their box art. VOCAMERICA staff will take pictures of people with these cutouts (though you’re allowed to take pictures as well), and people who take pictures will be featured in the documentary EmpathP is making.
Q&A
Finally, EmpathP answered quite a few questions from fans.
Who bought the UTAU reward? That’s a secret until the Kickstarter ends! In order to protect the person’s privacy and identity, EmpathP will not reveal them until after the Kickstarter is over and the person has paid. However, she said that the UTAU is capable of singing in both Japanese and English, and that it will likely make its debut at Otakon next year if all goes well.
Will there be concerts on the West Coast? Yes! EmpathP wants to do a concert in California but also wants to go to Otakon Vegas and Anime Boston. This is all reliant on how well the first concert goes though. She needs a portfolio to show interested cons.
What about concerts overseas? Concerts in Europe are a possibility but will be very difficult and expensive to do. For this reason, she would need a convention that’s interested before considering it.
Will Japanese VOCALOIDs with English banks be added to the concert? No. EmpathP will not add any Japanese VOCALOIDs with English banks (such as KAITO, Nana, Miku, etc.). She is open to collaborating with companies to do joint events but she wants VOCAMERICA to remain focused on the western VOCALOIDs that don’t get as much attention as the Japanese VOCALOIDs do.
Can I buy merchandise later? Again, yes! Once the first concert is over, VOCAMERICA will open a Store account that will let people buy all the VOCAMERICA merch they want. However, the Shadow Fox Daina and Ginger Wolf Dex key chains will NOT be available. They are Kickstarter exclusives.
Will we be able to get the MMD models after the Kickstarter ends? No. The only way to get the MMD models will be from pledging $100 or more to the Kickstarter. After this, the models will no longer be available legally. Don’t pirate. It’s wrong.
Speaking of illegal activities… While this isn’t a question, it’s something that was brought up several times: Do not resort to illegal activities to get the money for the Kickstarter! Selling your VOCALOIDs is illegal and should EmpathP find out that you sold your VOCALOIDs or did something else such as crowdfunding to get the reward, she will refund your money and refuse your donation.
Other Information
Namida is there as the Empathy Studios mascot. While some fans feel it’s unfair for EmpathP to have both DAINA and Namida in the concert, the two are completely different entities and should be treated as such. DAINA is a VOCALOID that EmpathP wants to share with the world. Namida is an UTAU that retired and became the mascot for EmpathP’s record label. She is there to represent EmapthP’s brand as EmpathP funded the concert on her own up until this point.
While the Nekocon concert will happen even if the Kickstarter fails, the Kickstarter is vital to VOCAMERICA’s success in the long run. Not only will donations help EmpathP recover money that she’s spent but also it will help to improve the concert. And if that doesn’t sell you, consider that the Kickstarter is also a way to show conventions how much interest there is. The more money the Kickstarter raises, the more cons know fans want this.
Anyone who donates will get to see the finished MMD models before anyone else as well as all other updates.
The DEX model was featured in the Kickstarter video without any shaders, shadows, or filters. Everything you see is just from the textures.
There will be a poll as the Kickstarter progresses that will let fans decide if they want to see DEX’s and DAINA’s kemonomimi designs in the concert.
A large chunk of the $100 donations will go to giving Yoistyle a big bonus for making the models.
How to Donate
You can find the VOCAMERICA Kickstarter here. Fans have until Thursday, July 28, 2016, at 7:15 PM EDT to donate. In addition, you can find the Kickstarter widget right in our sidebar as long as the Kickstarter is going on. So should you want to donate later, you can always find it no matter what page of VNN you’re on.
The last stretch goal is $100,000. This goal is for the best equipment possible, which will cost VOCAMERICA $66,000 USD. This equipment will make the projections appear the brightest and the grandest possible.
More Information
For previously released information on VOCAMERICA, including the previous Q&A, check out the links below.
VOCAMERICA Kickstarter is Live!
VOCAMERICA Performers Announced
VOCAMERICA Kickstarter Stretch Goals Announced
VOCAMERICA Q&A Stream Recap
DEX MMD Model Revealed for VOCAMERICA!
