Hatsune Miku Character Items
Vocaloid characters are often depicted holding a particular item, for example, Hatsune Miku is often depicted holding a leek and Kagamine Rin a mikan orange. This is often a source of confusion for many people unfamiliar with Vocaloid characters, as the relevance of these items is not immediately obvious.
The association of Vocaloid characters with certain items has its roots in "item wars" (持ち物戦争, mochimono sensou) that took place between fans online. Fans would depict their favorite Vocaloid in artwork or memes with a certain item, usually based on their color scheme or supposed personality. These depictions grew in popularity, sometimes with differences of opinion over which item would best suit each character, the "item wars."
Although not part of the original character design, most popular Vocaloids have a fan-designated character item, many of which have been officially recognized by the original creator due to their immense popularity among fans. For example, while a leek was never part of Hatsune Miku's original character design, it is now not at all uncommon to see official illustrations and figurines depicting her holding the white and green vegetable.
Hatsune Miku
The character of Hatsune Miku The leek is a long, cylindrical, white and green vegetable. The origin of Hatsune Miku's association with leeks dates back to 2006, when the flash animation Loituma Girl (also known as "Leekspin") became a popular internet meme. This flash animation depicts the Bleach anime character, Inoue Orihime, twirling a leek to the rhythm of the traditional Finnish folk song "Ievan Polkka."
In 2007, a Vocaloid cover of "Ievan Polkka" was released, sung by Hatsune Miku and accompanied by an animation of Hatsune Miku waving a leek. This video was a huge success, which, along with Hatsune Miku's teal green color scheme, led to Hatsune Miku often being depicted holding a leek. The leek has become the unofficial character item of Hatsune Miku, and fans can often be seen brandishing both official and unofficial leek-shaped items, including glowsticks and sometimes even actual leeks, at Hatsune Miku-related events.
Kagamine Rin/Len
Kagamine-Rin and Len's character objects are generally considered to be the mikan orange and banana fruits, respectively. Rin's yellow hair combined with her large white bow-like accessory would resemble a mikan orange with leaves attached, while Len's yellow but unruly hair would resemble a bunch of bananas.
The Kagamine twins also share another character item, though they are not usually seen carrying it. In many fan illustrations and videos, they are seen riding a steamroller (similar to a road roller) together, often for comedic effect. The origin of their affiliation with the steamroller is said to be a fan video released in December 2007, after Kagamine Rin was announced but before the product was actually released. Road rollers are also associated with the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure character Dio Brando, who threw one as a weapon and whose unique battle cry is "WRYYY." Since road rollers are also yellow and "WRYYY" resembles "Rin," the video comically suggested that Rin's character item should be a road roller, an idea that gained popularity and is now officially recognized.
Megurine Luka
Megurine Luka has several character items , due to divided opinions that led to an intense item war. Before Luka's official release, the Vocaloid fanbase had narrowed down several potential character items for her, as usual, based on her color scheme and supposed personality. These included items such as whips, peaches, flamingos, and wine, though the two most popular items were a frozen tuna and the Sword of Gluttony from Final Fantasy XI.
In February 2009, less than a week after Megurine Luka's release, a video of Tako Luka (たこルカ, lit. Octopus Luka) singing PoPiPo was uploaded to Nico Nico Douga, which gained immense popularity due to its cuteness and silly appearance. The popularity of this video and character ended the feud between the Frozen Tune and Gluttony Sword factions, and the Tako Luka meme eventually became the object/mascot for the Megurine Luka character.
Tako Luka is a spin-off character created by a fan who thought Luka's hair resembled an octopus, and while not an "item" per se, Luka is often depicted with Tako Luka and has been depicted together in a Nendoroid figure. As both octopuses and tuna share the common theme of being seafood in Japan, frozen tuna has also managed to remain one of Luka's character items, with Luka often being depicted in comedic situations using his frozen tuna as a weapon. It is also believed that another reason why frozen tuna remains Luka's character item is that the Japanese word for "tuna" (maguro), slightly resembles Luka's last name "Megurine".
KAITO
Kaito's character item is an ice cream. He is often depicted holding a light blue ice cream bar, which is likely due to his blue and white color scheme. Kaito was originally thought to have first been depicted as an ice cream lover in a series of videos uploaded to Nico Nico Douga in September 2007.
Although released a year earlier, KAITO wasn't very popular at the time. In response, a fan posted a video of Hatsune Miku singing the opening line of the song "you" from the game Higurashi When They Cry. In the video, Miku sings to KAITO, "I wonder where you are and what you're doing right now," in an indirect comment from the video's director that due to KAITO's lack of popularity, he had disappeared from the internet, nowhere to be found. Another user made a joke video. It was KAITO's response to Miku, who responded by singing, "Oh? Actually, I was just eating ice cream." This humorous video led to a resurgence in KAITO's popularity, and since then, fans have agreed that KAITO loves ice cream, especially Häagen-Dazs, which are popular throughout Japan.
MEIKO
While Meiko doesn't have an official age, being one of the first Vocaloids to be released, Meiko has the image of a slightly more mature female in the Vocaloid family, especially compared to younger Vocaloids who obviously have outfits based on school uniforms. This, combined with her more mature voice bank, has led fans to believe that Meiko is at least of legal drinking age and therefore it wouldn't be unusual for her to enjoy drinking alcohol.
MEIKO is often depicted enjoying Japanese sake, particularly Ozeki One Cup. The origin of this meme is said to be a song by One Cup-P , who had ordered Hatsune Miku at the time, but her delivery was delayed. In the song, he has MEIKO sing, "Everyone's getting their Hatsune Miku delivery, but my delivery was delayed, so I'm going to drown my sorrows by drinking this One Cup in one go." While these were obviously One Cup-P's personal thoughts at the time, the fact that One Cup-P used MEIKO's voice for the video is considered one of the main reasons why MEIKO is now considered by fans to enjoy One Cups, sake, and alcohol in general. While Ozeki One Cups are individual servings of Japanese sake, fans have decided that Meiko has a high alcohol tolerance and enjoys drinking large quantities, which is why she is now usually depicted with large bottles of Japanese sake instead of Ozeki One Cups.
