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Xiao Meihua (小梅花) is a voicebank for the UTAU program. She is the first character released from JAE VOCAL PROJECT.

History[]

Prior to 2014, Xiao Meihua was an adopted OC known as "Ume Kenoia". Her previous version had few illustrations and an MMD model, neither of which are in use.

2014-2017[]

During 2014, Shi Wei Migi, Purpled, TraInspud, and Mina Moonrise were working on their own UTAU projects. Shi Wei Migi was working in collaboration with Purpled to make Ume Kenoia into an UTAU. The surname, "Kenoia", was scrapped and "Ume"/"UmE" became working character names for the Japanese voicebank at the time. Due to the inclusion of a Mandarin Chinese voicebank produced by bajucy, she was also referred to as "Mei Hua" (梅花).[1] It was later decided that "Mei Hua" would be the final name. The rest of 2014 and 2015 were spent developing her vocals and working on demo songs.

Mei Hua was to expected to be released on May 25, 2016 or later. Updates and additional tones, like a "Whisper" voicebank, for the Mandarin and Japanese voicebanks were considered. Other languages, such as English and Spanish, were also possibilities. [2] She was officially released on June 3 as a bilingual vocalist.

On August 4, 2017, her name was changed again due to the development of a sister character and she was given the "Xiao" (小) surname, officially referring to her as "Xiao Meihua".

2018[]

In 2018, a small update to Meihua's Japanese vocal was released. This update fixed some issues in regards to the oto and her samples.

There was a desire to list the group's UTAUs under one name and at the time of her release, Meihua was not part of a group or project. On January 9, an official website was launched and listed Meihua and Ser0 under the JAE UTAU PROJECT. Meihua was labelled as JAE-01.

After the acquisition of a new microphone and pop filter, it decided that Meihua would receive updates to her original voicebanks. Mandarin was the first to be recorded, followed up with Japanese. For consistency, she was given two voicebanks for both languages: Natural and Sweet. Natural was similar to the original Mandarin voicebank's tone while Sweet was similar to the original Japanese voicebank. The Mandarin voicebanks were completed in December. It was then confirmed that Meihua's Mandarin 2.0 voicebanks were bajucy's last contributions to JAE UTAU PROJECT before departing the group.[3]

2019[]

The first few months of 2019 were spent on creating demos for Xiao Meihua Mandarin 2.0. It was later released on April 19.[4] According to the Mandarin update's crossfade video, it was mentioned that the default design is also known as the "Chinese design", implying that additional designs may be present in the future.[5] The Japanese update was still in production at this time.

On June 28, it was revealed that Meihua would be receiving two CVVC Arpasing English voicebanks: Natural and Sweet. Noted on the group's newsletter, additional language voicebanks for Meihua were considered since 2016. Production for an English release began in 2018, starting with the creation of a new design for the language. Purpled completed this in April 2019. The final design would not be revealed until later. Recording for the voicebanks began after Canary's release and they were programmed by bluCitrus in March.[6][7] While a release date for the English voicebanks was not solidified, it was confirmed that they were to be expected in Autumn.[8]

Meihua was expected to receive DeepVocal voicebanks along with UTAU.[9] It was later revealed that the DeepVocal voicebanks were ports from her updated Japanese UTAU banks. The UTAU versions were expected to release some time after the DeepVocal ones and were confirmed to be CVVCV. These voicebanks were named "Natural" and Sweet".[10] The DeepVocal voicebanks were released on December 21, while the UTAU versions were expected for 2020.[11]

2020[]

On March 27, 2020, the first demo for Meihua's CVVCV Japanese voicebank was released. A new design for the language was confirmed and would be revealed in the crossfade.[12] A few days later, it was confirmed she would be receiving a new update to her Chinese voicebanks. To be able to use her in DeepVocal, she needed to be recorded in a different method as her CV+VV voicebanks may not be favored by the program. This update was confirmed to be CVVChinese based on Risku's reclist and was expected to release in either 2020 or 2021.[13] Both the DeepVocal and UTAU versions were developed by ryan-kun.[14]

On May 29, Meihua's new Japanese design was revealed through the "Splatter Party" demo. The final art and illustrator would be revealed later on while the voicebanks were expected to release in 2020.[15] Her Arpasing English voicebanks were released on June 26.[16]

In July, Shi Wei Migi wrote that because they were somewhat familiar with Spanish sounds and phonetics, there was a possibility for a Spanish voicebank for Meihua. They also mentioned Korean, but was doubtful it would be good quality as they were unfamiliar with the language.[17][18] In addition, they confirmed that there were Cantonese Chinese samples recorded, but the sessions never finished.[19] Overall, they noted that Meihua had too much attention around that time period and wanted to shift their workload focus to Xiao Shancha instead.[20] Meihua's Japanese CVVCV voicebanks were released on September 18.[21] Her CVVChinese voicebanks were released for both UTAU and DeepVocal on April 16, 2021.

Concept[]

While her biography was written by her creators, it is not strictly canon. Meihua may be depicted in any way as long as her character and software terms of use are not broken.

Meihua is a shy and sensitive girl who tends to be cheerful and teasing towards her closest friends. She believes that self-expression is important and tries to find ways to be and stay positive. When she sees something or someone that she likes or wants and is asked about it, she often denies that she has any interest. She is a forgetful person and often doesn’t remember what task she was doing if she was interrupted or distracted.

Despite looking adorable, sometimes people find her difficult to approach. They notice her red eyes, often mistaking her as a demon or bad omen. She reacts poorly to people bullying or antagonizing her and would respond with aggressive or violent actions involving a nailed baseball bat. These behaviors tend to reinforce the claims that she and her younger sister, Shancha, are evil demons, even though she would never react in such a way unless provoked. She also has difficulty with making new friends as she is well aware of her violent tendencies and is afraid of hurting her friends or frightening them. Sometimes, this leads her to be clingy and rather possessive.

She has a pet blood red corn snake named Edgar (艾德伽; Àidéjiā) . He is a loyal, precious, and endearing friend to her. His owner is very willing to protect him and vice versa.

Likes:

  • Plums - Her favorite fruit.
  • Soft flannel shirts - Not to wear, but to snuggle her face in.
  • Smoothies - She loves strawberry banana smoothies the most.
  • Dating sims - With no real understanding and experience of love, this is what she turns to. She has a list of favorite titles and characters.
  • Red velvet foods - Anything with the flavor of red velvet, especially desserts!

Dislikes:

  • Bugs - They're creepy and crawly, and are overall disturbing to her.
  • Sharks - Another disturbing animal to her.
  • Shaking environments - She despises being unsteady on her feet.
  • Losing friends - Her worst fear is abandonment.

Etymology[]

The surname, "Xiao" (; Xiǎo), means "small" or "little". "Mei" (; Méi) means "plum" while "hua" (; huā) means "flower" or "blossom". The "mei" part of her name was also chosen intentionally to reference her former concept "Kenoia Ume" as the word is pronounced as "ume" in Japanese. Combined, her entire name means "small plum blossom".

Her name is rendered in kana as "シァオ・メイフア".

Appearance[]

Xiao Meihua is a young woman who has pink curly hair. Her signature accessory is a ribbon or bow that's usually present on her hair or head. Her eye color is canonically red but may sometimes be interpreted as pink.

Meihua's default outfit (also known as her Mandarin Chinese design) depicts her with long curly hair with parted bangs. A red bow is tied in it and is angled to her left. Her outfit consists of a pale pink top with a white layer underneath and detached sleeves on her arms. A lavender bow is found on the back of the top and a lavender choker is located on her neck. She wears a three-tiered white skirt and brown thigh-high socks. Her heeled boots are red and opened in the front with only a lavender belt holding them together. Her armwarmers are brown: the right has two lavender belts while the left has one. Her color scheme is inspired by the plum blossoms she was named for.

For her Japanese design, Meihua has long curly hair with bangs parted in the middle. She wears a white polar bear cap that has an angry expression, red eyes, red eyebrows, and a yellow mouth. A dark blue bow is located on the back of its right ear. Meihua also wears purple glasses with round rims. She wears a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with lighter blue stripes. Over the shirt is a pair of black overalls and on her legs are beige leggings with light diamond and speckle patterns printed on them. She wears dark blue fingerless gloves and yellow high-top shoes. Her jacket is white with long-sleeves. The sleeves are loose except for her wrists and around the forearms. It is buttoned with a strap from left to right at the top, but the rest of the buttons are not secured and are running on her left. The color scheme is inspired by the night skies.

For the English design, Meihua's hair is tied in a high ponytail and she has parted bangs. The length of her hair is shorter than usual and on the crown of her head, she wears a light blue bow that's angled to her right. The outfit's silhouette is similar to the Mandarin (default) design with some differences. Rather than a top and a skirt, the outfit became a one-piece dress. The sleeves are also rounded and poofier than the original. According to Riisago's art, she has two belts on both armwarmers rather than two on the right and one on the left, however, in Purpled's concept, her left armwarmer is open for interpretation since it is hidden behind her head. The bow behind her dress is angel wing-shaped and she wears ankle-strapped shoes. The thigh-high white socks are paired with orange garters. The color scheme is inspired by sunsets.

Relations[]

  • Ser0 - friend. Meihua respects her and does her best not to cross her. Ser0 in return cherishes Meihua but sometimes likes to mislead her.
  • Canary - friend. Meihua likes to teach him about Earth-related things but sometimes tricks him. She's amazed with his abilities.
  • Xiao Shancha - younger sister. While they differ in personality, Meihua and Shancha generally get along. However, Shancha has a tendency to tease her big sister.
  • JD - friend. Meihua likes to tease and pester JD in particular, but is sensitive to his feelings.
  • kEna - friend. To Meihua, kEna is fun and daring. She finds these traits to be respectable.
  • Yu Junjie - friend. Meihua views Junjie as an older brother figure. He helps her study and learn about new things.
  • Seishi Starchaser - friend. Seishi views Meihua as a role model while she finds him adorable and enjoys his company.
  • Xiao Meiye - male derivative.

Voicebank distribution[]

Voice Reclist ; Range Description ; Download
Mandarin 1.0 CV+VV; B3~B5 "Uses Shi Wei Migi's natural voice. This voicebank was developed by bajucy. Uses October's reclist.; Retired"
Japanese 1.0 CV; A#3~D#5 "A voice-acted vocal with a childish, bright, and sweet tone. This was intended to be her official voice. Developed by Purpled. Uses GrayOblivion's reclist.; Retired"
Japanese 1.1 CV; A#3~D#5 "An updated oto, added missing hiragana (h samples), added a vocal sample, made vowels compliant with typical Japanese aliasing (- a compared to -a), added vowel endings (a -), n is now a vowel. Developed by Purpled. Uses GrayOblivion's reclist. Released in 2018.; Dropbox
Baidu Drive (Password: avph)
"
Mandarin 2.0 CV+VV; Mezzo-soprano "Consists of two voicebanks: Natural and Sweet. This update improves on pronunciation and sound quality. Developed by bajucy. Uses October's reclist. Released on April 19, 2019.; Dropbox
Baidu Drive (Password: ehoh)
"
Arpasing English 1.0 CVVC; Mezzo-soprano "Consists of two voicebanks: Natural and Sweet. It is noted that the Sweet voicebank may not be faithful to her Sweet for other languages. Developed by bluCitris. Uses Kanru Hua's reclist. Released on June 26, 2020.; Dropbox
Bowlroll
"
Japanese 2.0 CVVCV; Mezzo-soprano "Consists of two voicebanks: Natural and Sweet. This update improves on pronunciation and sound quality. It is noted that the new Sweet voicebank may not be faithful to the original release. Developed by Kale and peYton. Uses Zurui's reclist. It is also available on DeepVocal since December 21, 2019. The UTAU version released on September 18, 2020.; Dropbox
Bowlroll
"
Mandarin 3.0 CVVC; Mezzo-soprano "Consists of two voicebanks: Natural and Sweet. This update improves on pronunciation and sound quality. It was created in order to be used in both UTAU and DeepVocal as the CV+VV format may not be functional in the latter. Developed by ryan-kun and Feng Quan. Uses Risku's reclist. Released on April 16, 2021. Please note that only the Natural voicebank current has the oto adjusted by Feng Quan. Sweet will be re-released later and only uses Ryan-kun's original oto.; Dropbox
Baidu Drive (Password: 1pj2)
"

Voice details[]

  • Input - Romaji encoded and Kana aliased
  • System - Microsoft Windows
  • Optimum - Genre: Ballads, Tempo: 100~200 BPM (Mandarin 1.0), 100~200 BPM (Japanese 1.0/1.1)
  • Details - Meihua's voicebanks generally have two tones of voice: a natural and a sweet tone. As the name implies, the Natural voicebank uses Shi Wei Migi's natural voice and was the tone used for the original Mandarin voicebank. The sweet tone was recorded for the original CV Japanese voicebank and sounds brighter and childish compared to Natural. Voicebanks that later feature these two tones were made to mimic the original Mandarin and Japanese voicebanks respectively, though may not be exact. Other tones for Meihua are being considered but not prioritized.
  • Issues -
    • The original Mandarin and Japanese voicebanks' qualities were relatively poor and samples, especially those beginning with "b" and "p", had "popping" noises. There were also some breath noises in the beginning of some samples. This was due to the voicebanks being recorded on a dynamic microphone built for video games and that socks were used as pop filters.
    • The tones between the original Mandarin and Japanese voicebanks are drastically different. This is due to the fact that the sweeter tone of the Japanese vocal was meant to be the character's official tone of voice. However, this could not be replicated in the original Mandarin voicebank. Shi Wei Migi had difficulty voiceacting while trying to focus on pronunciation, so the voicebank was recorded using their natural tone of voice instead. If a user intended to use the vocals together, but did not like the difference in tone, this was a drawback. Future voicebanks may come in a Natural and Sweet pair by default to correct this or may feature Natural only depending on the difficulty.

Voice samples[]

Playlists[]

Crossfades[]

Additional information[]

Character Terms Of Use[]

  1. Do not claim Xiao Meihua or official artwork as your own.
  2. NSFW content is allowed. This does not apply to MMD models and other works from people who are not from the JAE VOCAL PROJECT group. Please follow the rules of the creators! If their works are not allowed to be used for NSFW content, then do not use them for NSFW content!
  3. For commercial use of her character, permission is not required as long it falls under doujinshi (self-published) works. Contacting JAE VOCAL PROJECT is optional and encouraged as the members would like to see and support the work.
  4. Derivatives must be made with permission.
  5. Shippings and pairings are allowed, but do not force as canon. Do not portray Meihua and Xiao Shancha as a romantic couple as they are canonically sisters. This also applies to any derivatives based on their characters. Do not ship Meihua with characters under the age of 18.
  6. Do not use Meihua's character for hate speech.
  7. Political use is not allowed.
  8. Roleplay and ask blogs are allowed if permission from JAE VOCAL PROJECT is given. If permission is granted, the following must be adhered:
    • Must credit JAE VOCAL PROJECT and/or Shi Wei Migi for character rights.
    • Must credit the appropriate artists if using official. Do not use art from non-members without their permission.
    • Cannot violate existing ToS (no incest, shipping with minors, hate speech, etc).
    • For any questions, please contact JAE VOCAL PROJECT.
  9. Any relations with NFTs is prohibited.
  10. Creating the character of Xiao Meihua through AI artwork generation applications and software is prohibited.
  11. Using artwork of Xiao Meihua to train AI artwork generation applications and software is prohibited, especially without the explicit consent of both JAE VOCAL PROJECT and the original artist.

Voicebank Terms Of Use[]

  1. Do not claim Meihua's voicebanks as your own.
  2. NSFW content is allowed, but do not use the voicebank in songs portraying her in a relationship with those under the age of 18 or with Shancha.
  3. For commercial use of her voicebanks, permission is not required as long it falls under doujinshi (self-published) works. Contacting JAE VOCAL PROJECT is optional and encouraged as the members would like to see and support the work.
  4. Derivatives must be made with permission.
  5. Oto.ini editing is allowed.
  6. Do not edit Meihua's samples.
  7. Do not use Meihua's voicebanks for hate speech.
  8. Political use is not allowed.
  9. Voicebank redistribution is forbidden.
  10. Any relations with NFTs is prohibited.
  11. Using Xiao Meihua's voicebanks to train and create, use, and distribute AI voices and voicechangers is prohibited without explicit consent of both JAE VOCAL PROJECT and Shi Wei Migi.

Marketing[]

Meihua had an official Facebook page and Weibo account. Both are discontinued. The Facebook page was deleted and the Weibo account was used for Shi Wei Migi's personal use instead.

In September 2015, Meihua received an official Twitter account. This was used to share news in regards to the group's projects before the JAE VOCAL PROJECT account was opened. It was used for interaction with fans and roleplaying. Meihua's Twitter account officially closed on December 1, 2021.[22]

Official merchandise can be found on the JAE VOCAL PROJECT Storenvy and Redbubble.[23][24] Storenvy was later replaced with Ko-Fi due to technical difficulties.[25]

Third party works, such as an MMD model by OSformula[26] and a Lipsync model by PRISMkidd, have been made available.[27] A second Lipsync model by partialkakera was also made available.

She has an official Mii provided by Shi Wei Migi on the JAE VOCAL PROJECT website. This could be downloaded for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo WiiU systems.[28] A Nintendo Switch version was later distributed in May 2021.[29]

Trivia[]

  • Meihua's release date, June 3, is treated as her birthday.
  • Meihua has no official sexual orientation and can be paired with anyone as long as they are not under 18 or Shancha (including derivatives).
  • Meihua had various age changes since debut:
    • When Meihua was first released, her age was 18.
    • After some time since Shancha's production, it was changed to 19.
    • As of March 2022, it was changed to 22.[30]

  • Aside from the drastic overhaul of Meihua's appearance and concept, these were listed as the most notable changes between her and Ume Kenoia:
    • Meihua and Xiao Shancha were not originally conceptualized as siblings. This is due to the fact that Ume and Shancha's former version, Chavil, were unrelated characters. This was later changed.
    • Ume originally had a brother or male alter ego known as Uno Kenoia. Uno later became Yu Junjie, Meihua's friend.
    • Ume originally had blue eyes. During the redesign process, they were accidentally changed to red. When Shi Wei Migi was making the new concept, thy only remembered her long and curly pink hair as her most notable physical trait, and falsely recalled that she had red eyes. Shi Wei Migi and Purpled decided to keep the red color because they thought it suited her overall design better.
  • Meihua's original name was "Kenoia Ume", but was later referred to as simply "Ume" (or stylized as "UmE"), meaning "plum". She was later named after the Chinese version of the original SeeU song by Indigo Aria: "Maehwakkot Pil Jeoge". This version was called "梅花" (Méihuā) and featured Luo Tianyi. "Méi" is the "plum" part of the name.
  • For the color schemes of Meihua's alternative designs, they were mostly based on colors of the sky.
    • Her default UTAU/Mandarin color scheme was not based on the sky at all. Rather, it was based on the plum blossom.
    • For Japanese, the scheme was based on the night skies.
    • For English, the scheme was based on sunsets.
    • For Japanese DeepVocal, it was based on dark winter skies.
    • For Mandarin DeepVocal, it was based on volcanic skies.
  • Meihua's Japanese design depicts her with a polar bear cap. This was chosen because the polar bear is one of Shi Wei Migi's favorite animals. It is also inspired by the official Hetalia Kumajirou hat.

  • When participating in OC memes on Deviantart and Twitter, Shi Wei Migi was asked to write facts about Meihua. The following are their headcanons:
    • Her Halloween outfit is a devil.
    • Due to her obsession with dating sims, she may be very picky and her expectations for romance may not be realistic or it's too high
    • If abandoned, she ends up very heartbroken and would cry. This would not lead her to become violent.
    • Meihua likes to meet new people and make new friends, but is too shy to instigate conversations.
    • She loves having her head patted as long as her hair doesn't become ruined.[31]
    • She is Chinese American and is from New England. She would love to to visit China some day.
    • She can't perform cartwheels very well and she's not good at swimming. She can doggie paddle, but she relies heavily on floaties.[32]
    • She is commonly interpreted as human or android although neither is canon.
  • When carrying Edgar around in public, he sometimes hides in her hair.

  • In terms of otome and yumemuke games:
    • Her favorite series is NTT Solmare Corporation's "Shall We Date?". She also has her own list of favorite titles and characters.
      • J.J. from The Niflheim was referenced to be one of them.[33]
      • Her favorite characters from Obey Me! are mainly Beelzebub and Belphegor, however, she likes all of them so far.[34] It is the first Gacha game and yumemuke genre she is known to play and she would also excitedly recognize that Lucifer's birthday is only three days after hers.[35]
      • Upon the termination of many "Shall We Date?" free apps on March 25, 2020, she became devastated.[36] She reacted similarly to the announcement of Wizardess Heart ending.[37]
    • She specifically takes notice of Jumin Han's birthday, hinting that he is a favorite character. Jumin is from Mystic Messenger.[38]
    • She has a tendency to like characters who are painfully stupid or characters who are smart, but not condescending. She also likes dating sims with voiced lines.[39]
    • Depending on the game and main character's origins, she uses the following names as default: "Ume" for female Japanese MCs[40], "Minori" for male or gender-neutral Japanese MCs[41], "May" for western female MCs[42], and "Maverick" for western male or gender-neutral MCs.

  • Reputation[]

    Work in progress

    Gallery[]

    References[]

    1. https://www.weibo.com/5628264209/DylDi3LJN
    2. https://imgur.com/a/uftPa2A
    3. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/xiao-meihua-mandarin-sweet-demo-1
    4. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/jae-01-xiao-meihua-mandarin-20-release
    5. https://youtu.be/Mh-VMEfbm5s
    6. https://twitter.com/JaeVocalProject/status/1144694313575751680
    7. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/xiao-meihua-english-in-production-demo-1
    8. https://twitter.com/JaeVocalProject/status/1144683984603009024
    9. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/deep-vocal-announcement-canary
    10. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/new-video-pi
    11. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/deepvocal-release-xiao-meihua-shancha
    12. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/xiao-meihua-cvvcv-japanese-demo-1-utau
    13. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/xiao-meihua-cvvchinese-demo-1
    14. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1247189507247669248
    15. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/xiao-meihua-cvvcv-japanese-utau-demo-3
    16. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/utau-release-xiao-meihua-arpasing-english-10
    17. https://t.bilibili.com/415084953961148289?tab=2
    18. https://t.bilibili.com/415084640428534043?tab=2
    19. https://t.bilibili.com/415085477941918249?tab=2
    20. https://t.bilibili.com/415086178025785500?tab=2
    21. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/utau-release-xiao-meihua-cvvcv-japanese-10
    22. https://twitter.com/JaeVocalProject/status/1462458008726904850
    23. https://twitter.com/JaeVocalProject/status/1120132073338093568
    24. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/official-redbubble
    25. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1377439332445851648
    26. https://twitter.com/OS_formula/status/1005507957109424130
    27. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/lipsync-models
    28. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/official-miis-added
    29. http://jaevocalproject.weebly.com/news/jae-vocal-project-miis-for-miitopia
    30. https://twitter.com/JaeVocalProject/status/1499117336443473924
    31. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1195358802436079616
    32. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1195200989864833024
    33. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1160332601867026434
    34. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1226253652333080580
    35. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1265655739084832768
    36. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1242823117313114113
    37. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1265655404090064896
    38. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1180685950998994944
    39. https://twitter.com/YuezhengMigi/status/1195202274148175874
    40. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1241780261295214597
    41. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1242821292249792512
    42. https://twitter.com/MeiHuaSmoothie/status/1229811755616030720

    External links[]

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