Year-End Niconico Chart Sheds Light on Japan’s 2025 Vocaloid Scene

Earlier this month, the 2025 year-end NICONICO VOCALOID SONGS chart was revealed. The list tallies the top 20 surging Vocaloid tracks on Japan‘s video-sharing platform Niconico Douga by applying Billboard Japan’s proprietary weighting to data such as views, number of creations, comments and likes. In this article, songs using voice synthesizer software other than Yamaha’s Vocaloid products, such as CeVIO and Synthesizer V, will also be collectively referred to as “Vocaloid.”

The Vocaloid song of the year this year is DECO27’s “Monitoring.” On the mid-year list, Hiiragi Magnetite’s “Tetoris” edged out DECO27’s “Monitoring” for the top spot by a slim margin. But momentum shifted when “Monitoring (Best Friend Remix)” dropped on Sept. 5, acting as a catalyst that propelled the original track to No. 1 for the year.

At the inaugural edition of Japan’s largest international music awards, MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025, Kurousa P’s “Senbonzakura” won Best Vocaloid Culture Song. Meanwhile, Asia Creators Cross – a global expansion of Niconico Chokaigi’s Creator Cross – launched in full in November 2024, further accelerating the export of Japan’s Vocaloid culture across Asia. Popular Vocaloid producers (Vocalo-p) performed on major stages including the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing (May), Anime Festival Asia in Jakarta (June), and Anime Festival Asia in Singapore (November).

Culturally, Japanese listeners tend to favor the producers of the tracks, while English-speaking listeners often gravitate toward the characters associated with virtual singer software (voicebanks). For Satsuki’s “Mesmerizer” (No. 3), the bilingual music video composed around Hatsune Miku and Kasane Teto, two voicebanks with major fandoms; channel’s dynamic visual sense that brings the song’s rhythmic contours into focus with vivid color; and its denpa-kei sound functioned as elements that resonate overseas, and together they led to a viral moment. The video for Nakiso’s “Retry Now” (No. 8), where a magical-girl Miku appears, was also created by the same animator, channel. 

And with platforms consolidating around YouTube and TikTok, global connections have naturally become part of the landscape. Amala’s “DaiDaiDaiDaiDaikirai” (No. 7), conceived as a successor to “Mesmerizer” and again featuring Hatsune Miku and Kasane Teto, also highlights how the pair are often portrayed as opposites, a depiction that may stem from their differing origins as a Vocaloid and an UTAU-born voicebank. The internet memes and the layers of sentiment that have accumulated around these virtual singer characters can themselves function as a force that broadens the expressive range available to them.

Hiiragi Magnetite’s “Zaako,” released on Feb. 9, drew criticism from Vocaloid listeners in English- and European-language regions for evoking the Japan-specific slang mesugaki and for having Kaai Yuki – a voicebank characterized as a nine-year-old – sing sexually provocative lines. The video was taken down the same day. Nunununununununu’s “Mimukauwa Nice Try” (No. 6), which became the fastest Vocaloid song in history to reach 10 million views on China’s video platform bilibili across all Vocaloid content including Chinese-language tracks, was likewise criticized by some overseas listeners as pedophilic, sparking debate. These cases underscored the importance of creating with the assumption that the tracks will reach audiences abroad and of ensuring that an artist’s intent is not misinterpreted.

At the same time, a striking example of overseas reactions being elevated into new creation was Satsuki’s “Obsolete Meat,” posted as the follow-up to “Mesmerizer.” On June 13, 2024, Vietnamese X user Failed Vessel replied to a fan-made music video for LamazeP’s “Triple Baka,” which features Hatsune Miku, Kasane Teto, and Akita Neru — a derivative Vocaloid character — with the comment, “AND THE YELLOW ONE THAT DOESN’T APPEAR IN MESMERIZER SO I DON’T REMEMBER HER.” Then, on June 19, Australian X user MICCHI posted a fan-made animation along with the message, “Actually, the yellow one WAS in mesmerizer!,” depicting a mini-character style Miku and Teto with Akita Neru in the middle holding a swinging coin pendulum. From there, a playful meme emerged suggesting that Akita Neru was the hidden mastermind behind “Mesmerizer,” and Satsuki responded: in the video for “Obsolete Meat,” Hatsune Miku and Kasane Teto are joined by Akita Neru.

Using virtual singer characters in videos was common during the early days when character-driven music dominated, but one major difference now is that even Hatsune Miku is often presented as a reconstructed Miku with a distinct, original design. Those designs have spawned extensive fan art, cosplay and other derivative works. Today, the characters in each music video carry as much importance as the tracks themselves, and as a result, characters are beginning to stand on their own outside the music video framework – as seen in the recent live appearances by Kasane Teto.

Technological advancement and the steady work of creators have fostered a genuine win-win dynamic in the current Vocaloid scene, where producers and characters like Hatsune Miku raise each other’s visibility. Around 2019, debates around Vocalo-ps using Vocaloid as a stepping stone to become mainstream artists drew attention, yet the deep-rooted love for Vocaloid is clearly reflected in this chart and in the way artists originating from Vocaloid music who broke into Japan’s mainstream continue to express their gratitude toward the culture.

On Dec. 1, Yamaha launched the first project under VOCALOID FAN-ding, a crowdfunding-based support program designed to make the dream of “becoming a Vocaloid” a reality, kicking off a Vocaloid project for Adachi Rei. Next year, DECO27 will stage the first 3D live concert for Hatsune Miku (Lightness and Darkness) entitled DECOMIKU LIVE starring Hatsune Miku “Hello” Produced by DECO27 / OTOIRO. As Vocaloid continues to be embraced not only as a tool but as a beloved character ecosystem, the scene looks poised for further growth.

“Monitoring” is best experienced by listening first to the original and then to “Monitoring (Best Friend Remix).” Across both songs, the fear glimpsed through the door viewer proves to be illusory, pointing to the truth that a shift in perspective can instantly invert the world. That emotional impact is inseparable from the animation, threaded with light and shadow, underscoring how tightly songs and visuals are now bound together. It also hinted at the imagination and broadened perspective essential in an era of global reach. The same writerly touch that spans bold, sexual tracks and the tears of “Hello, SEKAI” — featured in COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing coming in January — shines here as well. As the reigning No. 1, “Monitoring” feels like the song that symbolized 2025’s turning point, bridging Japan and the world. Its very structure was pure storytelling.

—This article by Mio Komachi first appeared on Billboard Japan