What looked to be a breakthrough in the long battle to peep up the virtual superstar’s skirt turns out to be a dead end.
About a decade since the queen of virtual pop Hatsune Miku appeared and went on to dominate the vocaloid scene, a certain subculture has developed of men (presumably) who want to see what’s going on under her skirt.
You may wonder exactly how horny a guy would have to be to put any significant effort in glimpsing a pair of CGI underwear. However, at this point, it almost doesn’t even seem sexual any more. Miku’s short skirt, which seems to defy physics by staying between her nether-regions and the camera as she twirls, elicits a sort of Ahab-whale complex in certain people.
It has driven several derivative works such as completely bottomless figures, VR programs with the sole purpose of looking up her skirt, and this…thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83wO9tVIM28
But the white whale has always been sneaking a peek in an official licensed Hatsune Miku game or video.
Speaking of VR, being the virtual idol she is, Hatsune Miku has always been closely linked with virtual reality. As we have documented before, several homebrew VR programs have used her as a muse where they allow you to sleep next to her, share a drink with her, or be her.
So it should come as no surprise that an official virtual reality game by Sega is coming out on 13 October called Hatsune Miku VR Future. Rather than watch the virtual idol in reality, you can now enter and witness a Hatsune Miku performance in her virtual world.
Unlike previous Hatsune Miku games, which used fixed camera angles, players can roam around the concert venue and look at anything they like. They can stare her straight in the face, or go backstage and see what it would look like from there. Also, technically, this would allow certain kinds of players to bend down and finally see what color underwear she wears.
To make this pervy task seemingly easier, there will also be an edit function allowing players to pause the performance and make alterations in the background or other items to suit their tastes. In this state it would be all too easy to look where no man has looked before.
However, in an interview with Dengeki Online, Hatsune Miku VR producer Seiji Hayashi said that anytime a player looks up a character’s skirt, it will only appear black. Although honorable in terms of upholding a sense of common decency and protecting the privacy of Miku, the declaration may not have been the best business move.
To illustrate, here is some of the reaction to the news.
“Wha?”
“That was the only reason to get this game! Stupid!!”
“I don’t want it anymore.”
“But that’s why they invented virtual reality, isn’t it?”
“Maybe they can still add it as downloadable content…”
“Maybe he just means her underwear is black. That’d be pretty good.”
Although that last comment is logically possible, we’re pretty sure Hayashi meant that anything above and inside the skirt line will appear like a shadowy abyss that will stare back into you if you look at it long enough.
Time will tell whether announcing no up-skirt views will hurt the sales of Hatsune Miku VR Future or whether, like Ahab, these skirt chasers will be so gripped by their obsession that they simply won’t heed warnings of the blackout and buy it anyway. Smart money’s on the latter.
Source: Dengeki Online via My Game News Flash (Japanese)
Images: PR Times (top image edited by RocketNews24)
Video: YouTube/Ryu Huifen