Kasane Teto, the Software:
Kasane Teto (重音テト) is primarily a vocal synthesizer voicebank (commonly referred to as a “voice library” in Japan) for the voice synthesis softwares UTAU, Synthesizer V, and VOICEPEAK. Put simply, voicebanks are a collection of vocal samples which, when paired with a compatible voice synthesis software, users are able to modify, arrange, and tune in order to create unique vocals for music or other projects! Think of it like a keyboard synth whose keys instead play parts of a voice. Kasane Teto’s vocal samples and voice training data were provided by singer-songwriter and illustrator Oyamano Mayo (小山乃舞世) and she is currently owned and operated by TWINDRILL (ツインドリル).
While Kasane Teto and other vocal synths are commonly referred to as VOCALOIDs, VOCALOID is its own licensable vocal synthesis engine with its own commercially produced voicebanks, though the term is still commonly used as a “catch-all” for virtual singers. Kasane Teto’s first voicebank debuted in 2008 for the previously mentioned UTAU and is still widely used today, over 15 years later!
Given this long period of time, different versions of Kasane Teto’s voicebank exist. Most revisions and variations are for UTAU, being easily accessible shareware and the platform she debuted on. For the majority of her history, she existed as a free voicebank for use solely on UTAU (and its later, unofficial successor, OpenUTAU), but in more recent times, Kasane Teto has received voicebanks for use in other vocal synth softwares, such as TALQu in 2022 (support for which is currently discontinued), Synthesizer V in 2023, and VOICEPEAK in 2025. Her Synthesizer V adaptation would be her first commercial release, featuring a paid version and a free, lite version. It’s important to note that these other releases aren’t replacements for or newer versions of her previous voicebanks, but are simply alternatives!
Kasane Teto, the History:
Kasane Teto is more than a simple voice or instrument! Like the majority of voicebanks, a fictional, virtual singer was created to act as the face of and person behind the voice and name, akin to a mascot or celebrity. So… who and what is Kasane Teto, and where did she come from?
It’s impossible to talk about Kasane Teto’s character without first exploring her unique origins. Around the release of Crypton Future Media’s first “Character Vocal Series” voicebank, Hatsune Miku, for the VOCALOID2 engine in late 2007, vocal synthesizers and virtual idols were experiencing a massive boom in Japanese culture. Fanbases formed across the internet, and on March 30th, 2008, users on the VIP board of the highly influential and now defunct Japanese textboard 2channel (2ch.net) gathered on a thread to discuss ideas for an April Fools prank targeted towards fans and users of VOCALOID and the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga (now Niconico).
These posters, referred to colloquially as vip@2ch (and later adopting the title of VIPPERs), would work over the next 48 hours to create a fake VOCALOID for Crypton’s Character Vocal Series and attempt to pass it off as genuine, when no such VOCALOID existed. Ideas for the character’s appearance, personality, and attributes were passed around between users and selected at semi-random, using 2channel’s automatically assigned post numbers. As such, Kasane Teto was formed from a collection of various jokes, unique ideas, and outside inspirations (Doraemon being one notable example, with early designs directly parodying the character). Various sketches and mock-ups were made and iterated on as the thread continued.
The origin of the name “Kasane Teto” is only partially known. “Teto” is well established to have come from the song “Tetopettenson” (テトペッテンソン), a Japanese adaptation of the French song “Le Beau Tambour”, which aired on the Japan Broadcasting Corporation television program “Minna no Uta” (みんなのうた). Viewers had found the song amusing, in part due to the animation of rectangular blocks moving to the tune that was paired with the airing. In fact, her original name was to be “Tetopettenson”, until the “-pettenson” was dropped and exchanged for the surname “Kasane”. The exact meaning and origin of the surname “Kasane” remains unknown to this day, though the most commonly accepted interpretation is the meaning “heavy sound”, “double sound”, or “stacked sound”.
With what would become the final design lined by Sen (線), vocals provided by “Nobuyo Oyama” (a pseudonym used by Oyamano Mayo at the time, spoofing the name of a Doraemon voice actor) edited to sound more synthetic, and other assets contributed by anonymous users, a website mimicking the style of Crypton’s official websites (under the name crvipton.jpn.org, which now redirects to Kasane Teto’s official website) was launched early April 1st, along with a video to promote Kasane Teto as the 4th addition to Crypton’s Character Vocal Series. In the video’s description, the uploader claims that they were able to get their hands on a demo version of a new, upcoming VOCALOID, which they had sing “Teto Teto ni Shite Ageru” (てとてとにしてあげる♪), a parody of the popular Hatsune Miku song “Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru”, before linking to the “crvipton” website. After enough time had passed, vip@2ch would reveal their deception and how Kasane Teto wasn’t an upcoming VOCALOID as she had been promoted. Ironically, to this day, many people new to vocal synthesizers still mistake Kasane Teto for a VOCALOID.
In the end, the elaborate hoax was considered a success, though it’s hard to get an exact estimate on how many people were genuinely fooled. Regardless, most respected the level of effort put into the joke, and videos archiving the threads in which Kasane Teto was created would be uploaded in the following days. Others would draw and share fanart of the character, even after her status as a simple prank had become more widely known. With the hoax having run its course, a few were satisfied and content to move on to other projects, Kasane Teto being the first of what would become known as VIPPERloids (ビッパロイド, pronounced VIPPALOID), referring to vocal synth characters with origins from vip@2ch. However, select users from vip@2ch were interested in continuing the Kasane Teto project well beyond a mere prank, and would work to develop the character after April 1st had come and passed.
Coincidentally, earlier that same year, a new vocal synthesis software was being developed by programmer Ameya/Ayame, which would later be named UTAU. UTAU was designed to allow users to create and synthesize their own voicebanks, as well as download voicebanks created by other users, released as free shareware in March of 2008. Its free, easily accessible nature would have it develop a separate, dedicated following separate from VOCALOID, though there would be considerable overlap. Kasane Teto would be incredibly influential in this development, as following the reveal of her identity as a hoax VOCALOID, VIPPERs involved in the project would announce that she was to be released for use on UTAU, the software being largely unheard of online at this point in time.
Utilizing the UTAU engine and vocal samples from Oyamano Mayo, VIPPERs would quickly develop a usable Kasane Teto voicebank, her first proper debut uploaded on April 6th, 2008, being a cover of “Tori no Uta” (鳥の詩). Kasane Teto’s voicebank would continue to be developed, and on April 13th, it would be widely released for public use. She was the second publicly released voicebank for UTAU (referred to online as UTAUloids), preceded by Uta Utane (also known as Defoko) and followed by Momo Momone (the grouping of the three being known as the 3 UTAU Girls). Kasane Teto would be distinguished by the fact her voicebank used human vocal samples, which had yet to be done within UTAU, and she would go on to become the software’s most iconic voicebank, almost certainly responsible for the software’s upcoming rise in popularity thanks to her unique origins.
Kasane Teto would continue to be used in the creation of song covers and duets with other voicebanks in the following weeks, and on June 1st, she would receive her first, fully original solo performance, “GO with Teto!” (テトでGO!), though the song’s lyrics simply had Kasane Teto singing “lulu” repeatedly throughout the entire runtime. The first, fully original song with unique spoken lyrics would be “Song of the Eared Robot” (耳のあるロボットの唄) by nwp8861, released on June 10th. The song would become symbolic for Kasane Teto going forward, representing the idea of something once artificial becoming or aspiring to become real. This song would be the first sung by an UTAUloid to enter the “Hall of Fame”, being a collection of vocal synth songs on Nico Nico Douga that had reached 100,000+ views.
In the following months and years, Kasane Teto would amass more covers, solos, and cameos that would be pivotal in developing the character and her fanbase, a select few notable classics being “Triple Baka” (驫麤～とりぷるばか～, in which she prominently featured alongside Hatsune Miku and popular derivative Akita Neru), “Uso no Utahime” (嘘の歌姫, meaning “Fake Diva”, a dramatized retelling of Kasane Teto’s origins), “Kasane Territory ~ Always Teto’s Turn” (重音territory, later known as Teto Territory, a parody of a Touhou fan song), and “Ochame Kinou” (おちゃめ機能, later adapted into “Fukkireta”). More and more songs would be produced as Kasane Teto’s voicebank and the UTAU software received updates and revisions, and even Ameya/Ayame would help with tuning updated versions of her voicebank.
The spoof Crvipton website would be converted into a forum to download the voicebank, as well as to archive the creation of and host discussions on Kasane Teto, and the character would only further grow in popularity. However, this growth led to questions about the proper ownership and distribution rights of Kasane Teto, which would need to be addressed if she were to continue to develop beyond an internet joke. To this end, VIPPERs involved in the creation of Kasane Teto would form TWINDRILL in July of 2009, her official circle and rights holder, originally comprised of representatives a__san (あーさん) and MXLuneV63k, along with illustrator Sen and vocal provider/organizer Oyamano Mayo. The circle comprised a number of anonymous volunteers and a sound team, as well. As development of this circle continued, the Crvipton website would be retired and the contents migrated to kasaneteto.jp, which remains the current, official site for TWINDRILL and Kasane Teto. To this day, TWINDRILL still operates as Kasane Teto’s main rights holder and distributor.
Due to her origin as a mimic, the logo associated with Kasane Teto drafted by vip@2ch was purposely very similar in resemblance to those in use by Crypton Future Media. TWINDRILL was looking to change the logo in order to avoid potential legal difficulties, and on October 10th, 2009, they announced that they were hosting submissions for a new logo. Artists of all skill levels were encouraged to create submissions. The contest was open until November 9th, after which fans were allowed to vote on their favorites. The entries with the most votes would be judged and deliberated upon between the TWINDRILL representatives, Oyamano Mayo, and Sen. On December 13th, the results of the contest were broadcasted live on Nico Nico Live, and in the end, the submission by artist “shisei” (市井, or “ukum” at the time of submission) was chosen as the overall winner and adapted after a few small adjustments.
The chosen date of October 10th isn’t a coincidence, as starting in 2009, the date would be declared as “Teto Day” due to the combined English and Japanese pronunciation of 10/10 sounding similar to “Teto” (“te” derived from “ten” and “to” from “十”). This day and celebration is separate from her actual anniversary of April 1st.
Thanks to the formation of TWINDRILL and her ever increasing popularity, Kasane Teto would be acknowledged by Crypton Future Media that same year, who would then become a commercial point of contact for the character going forward. Posts about Kasane Teto would be allowed on Piapro, a Crypton run website hosting fan creations, starting on April 1st, 2010. 2010 would further prove to be a large year for Kasane Teto, as she would later be featured on a label CD release, being “EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocaloanthems feat. Hatsune Miku”, with “Ochame Kinou” included as a bonus track. She would also go one to receive some of her first merchandise releases in August of that same year.
On October 10th, 2011, Kasane Teto made her first appearance in Project DIVA (初音ミク -Project DIVA-), a series of Hatsune Miku rhythm games, introduced as DLC for Project DIVA 2nd. She was the first UTAUloid to appear in Project DIVA and she would become a common inclusion in the franchise from then on. On more than one occasion, the idea of producing a VOCALOID compatible version of Kasane Teto was experimented with. In 2012, vocal synth distributor and developer AH-Software approached Oyamano Mayo with the interest of creating such a conversion, but these ideas never came to fruition and were later shelved altogether. However, this wouldn’t stop Kasane Teto from enjoying exponential growth.
To be incredibly brief, her inclusion in Project DIVA opened many doors that would usually be considered unusual for a UTAUloid to feature in, and starting from 2011 and onwards, she would appear in dedicated albums releases (the most prominent example being 2012’s “0401 – The Best Days of Kasane Teto”, an album dedicated to her most popular songs), theatrical plays, merchandise, stage performances, and everything in between. Particularly notable is her inclusion in the 2018-2019 Miku Symphony, a live concert in which Kasane Teto featured alongside Hatsune Miku to celebrate her 10th anniversary. Earlier in 2018, the first TETOFES would be organized, an unofficial live concert specifically focused on Kasane Teto, with the same intention of celebrating her 10th anniversary. TETOFES would later see further concerts in 2020 (unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19) and 2024, and currently continues to be organized and operated. This same year would see the first Kasane Teto figurine made for a specific song, being “Yoshiwara Lament” (吉原ラメント) by ASA (亜沙), the song being released in 2014 and the figurine produced by GoodSmile in 2018. In 2022, Kasane Teto received her first official, public release on a software outside of UTAU, being a speech voicebank for TALQu, released on January 8th.
Naturally, her continual upward growth would gradually plateau as the years added up, but she always enjoyed a popular seat within VOCALOID and vocal synth communities. Producers continued to use her voicebank to make music, with TWINDRILL diligently working to allow the character continued support and appearances in merchandise and media. Her popularity was more localized in Japan than in the rest of the world, but very sizable, dedicated fanbases were still maintained in the west. This would continue to be the case for the foreseeable future until early 2023. AH-Software, partnering with TWINDRILL, had been working to develop a new Kasane Teto voicebank for Synthesizer V (shorthanded to Synth V), a vocal synthesis engine created by Dreamtonics and released on August 19th, 2018. This new release of Kasane Teto was made for the most recent, succeeding version of the software, Synthesizer V AI, which utilizes deep learning artificial intelligence to assist in the creation and synthesizing of vocals. This voicebank, still using Oyamano Mayo’s vocal samples and training data, would be announced on April 1st, 2023, and released on April 27th, becoming Kasane Teto’s most recent and first commercial voicebank release. The Synth V release of Kasane Teto would feature a major outfit redesign by artist Sakauchi Waka (坂内 若), to help differentiate this release from her UTAU counterpart.
This brings us to today. The Synth V release of Kasane Teto has brought about an unprecedented, meteoric rise to the character. New and old vocal synth producers alike have used the voicebank to great effect, dominating charts, and she is more popular than she has ever been in the past 15+ years of her existence. Notable releases featuring Synth V Kasane Teto include “Mesmerizer” (メズマライザー), “Override” (オーバーライド), “Tetoris” (テトリス), and “Liar Dancer” (ライアーダンサー), to name a few. In 2024, Kasane Teto featured in three of the top five most viewed original vocal synth releases, and was the second most used voicebank, behind Hatsune Miku. To this day, she remains one of Synth V’s best selling voicebanks, lauded for her realistic, clear voice. In large part thanks to Mesmerizer’s unexpected, rapidly growing, immense popularity, Kasane Teto has extended to reach audiences magnitudes larger than years prior.
That isn’t to say UTAU Kasane Teto was left behind, of course! Her UTAU voicebank is still widely promoted and used by producers, and releases featuring the voicebank have reached record numbers of views. Think of both as variations of each other rather than predecessor and successor; each has their advantages and uses, and each is widely enjoyed by fans!
On April 1st, 2025, Kasane Teto’s 17th anniversary, TWINDRILL, AH Software, and Dreamtonics would announce the release of a Kasane Teto voicebank for VOICEPEAK, a text-to-speech vocal synthesis software, with several different presets available. Released on April 24th, the VOICEPEAK version of Kasane Teto would once more feature an outfit redesign by Sakauchi Waka.
Lasting through mid-April to late-May of 2025, Kasane Teto would feature in the “Hatsune Miku JAPAN LIVE TOUR 2025 ~BLOOMING~” concert, a virtual concert which toured through various cities across Japan. Mesmerizer was included in the song list for all locations, and would have Kasane Teto appear and perform live on stage with Hatsune Miku as a holographic projection. This would mark Kasane Teto’s first official live performance at a Crypton Future Media operated concert. While similar live performances featured songs associated with Kasane Teto and she had appeared on stage at numerous fan-organized events, this is her first time on stage in a wholly official capacity.
On October 11th, 2025, TWINDRILL would hold a livestream on Nicovideo celebrating Teto Day, in which it would be announced that a version of Kasane Teto for Synthesizer V 2 was currently in development. Later that month, on October 29th, TWINDRILL and AH Software would properly announce that the Kasane Teto voicebank would be receiving an update for Synthesizer V 2, scheduled to relese on November 27th.
With this new breath of life and unprecedented burst of ever growing fame, Kasane Teto has gone on to reach heights never before seen by a UTAUloid – and rarely seen by any other form of voicebank, for that matter! From hundreds of new songs created by passionate fans, to brand deals with large names such as McDonalds Japan, The Pokemon Company, and likely more to come, it remains to be seen how far our favorite UTAU, VIPPA, Synth V, VOCA-kinda LOID will go! We hope to share the music and community of this chimera for years to come!
Kasane Teto, the Character:
Physical Characteristics:
Let’s take a look at the “who” of Kasane Teto, and what the VIP board would eventually land on for her character, starting with her physical attributes.
While she is referred to using the pronouns “she/her”, the specifics of Kasane Teto’s gender are ambiguous, being listed in official settings as “chimera”. While the intent of this submission during her creation may have differed, today, TWINDRILL states that the exact meaning of her gender is up to interpretation. Early designs of Kasane Teto shared on the original threads would feature chimera-like inspirations more plainly, such as the inclusions of horns, wings, or serpent-like features, but these would be culled in her final design. In early works (and continuing to this day), you will most often see this “chimera” gender expressed through the addition of a pair of freely retractable, bat-like wings on Kasane Teto’s back (the size of which vary between portrayals), and from the conversion of the strap that hangs off of her skirt into a quasi-tail. This chimera aspect of Kasane Teto is occasionally linked to her purported “second form”, which we will return to later. While these aspects were included by vip@2ch in Kasane Teto’s first finalized biography, they have since been effectively retconned, and it’s important to note that no singular portrayal of this chimera aspect is recognized as truly “official” – get used to hearing this!
Another aspect of Kasane Teto that has been subject to heavy scrutiny is her age. Kasane Teto is 31 years old, though she has the appearance of what one might interpret to be a much younger woman. Due to this, both vip@2ch and later fans would try to explain this apparent discrepancy, attributing this youthful longevity to her status as a chimera. Furthermore, the idea is commonly shared that 31 years old in “chimera years” equals roughly half of that in human years, placing her around 15 years old relative to a human. However, this is merely an interpretation. TWINDRILL has stated that, while she is strictly 31 years old in official settings, you are free to portray Kasane Teto as whichever age you please.
Kasane Teto stands at 159.5 cm (5’2”), weighs 47 kg (103 lbs), and her bust, waist, and hip measurements are 73 cm (28.7”), 54 cm (21.2”), and 88 cm (34.6”), respectively. Of course, these measurements are only for official settings and fans are free to portray Kasane Teto with whatever measurements they please, within reason.
In terms of her appearance and styling, Kasane Teto’s most distinguishing, iconic feature is her red hair. Specifically, her two, spiral-shaped pigtails, which are often referred to as “drills” (this being where TWINDRILL gets its name). These distinctive drills are usually how one can instantly identify Kasane Teto, regardless of artstyle or apparel, though naturally, the concept has been played with by artists over the years. Relating back to the previously mentioned “second form”, Kasane Teto’s pigtails are often portrayed as being able to spin rapidly and serve as literal drills, akin to a pair of power drills, whenever she is sufficiently worked up or angry. This idea is occasionally linked with the addition of bat-like wings and other “chimera” aspects, and is said to be an alternative “form” that she is capable of accessing. Mentions of this second form would be included in vip@2ch’s first finished biography, in which it’s stated that seeing a mouse/rat is what would trigger her to enter the other form. Again, however, this has since been retconned by TWINDRILL and left up to fan interpretation. Her hair also features thick bangs and a distinctive ahoge (or cowlick) which sticks up prominently from the part leading to said bangs.
Kasane Teto’s eyes are described as being ovular and droopy, with irises of a blood-red color, and her nails are painted a similar red to match. The number “0401” is written on her left arm in red, along with “Kasane Teto” under it in smaller text. This number was originally drawn as simply “04”, and was meant to replicate the “model number” that Crypton Future Media’s VOCALOIDs featured on their arms, with her being the supposed 4th addition to Crypton’s Character Vocal Series. Once the hoax regarding Kasane Teto’s identity was revealed, however, the number on her arm was changed to “0401” to instead reflect the date of her creation, April 1st. This same date is considered to be her birthday and is frequently host to announcements regarding her.
Outside of seasonal events, Kasane Teto has been portrayed as wearing three main, distinct outfits in official settings, one being associated with her use as an UTAU voicebank, one associated with her use as a SynthV voicebank, and the last associated with her use as a VOICEPEAK voicebank. We will start with her original, UTAU outfit, being her first and longest used design, and the one that is most commonly associated with her “default” appearance.
Kasane Teto’s original outfit is heavily derivative of Hatsune Miku’s school-style uniform, being a two-piece dress consisting of a sleeveless blouse and skirt, an accessory strap hanging from the skirt, bell sleeve arm warmers, a pair of headphones, and a pair of black thigh-high boots. However, Kasane Teto’s outfit makes a handful of notable changes; the main color of her blouse, skirt, and sleeves is a dark navy blue, with prominently featured red trims across the whole of her uniform. Her outfit is also distinctly more “militarized”, her blouse being a chunkier button-up lacking a tie and featuring two large breast pockets, along with either sleeve having two, buttoned cuffs near the ends. Her headphones are a warm purple and the strap hanging from her skirt features an alternating triangle pattern, much like Hatsune Miku’s. However, Kasane Teto’s strap is shown to be clipped to the inside of her skirt rather than the outside, which is an unintended error in the original illustration, but one that would become a part of the design, regardless.
For Kasane Teto’s Synth V release, TWINDRILL and artist Sakauchi Waka majorly redesigned her outfit to be more unique; easily distinguishable from her appearance as an UTAU voicebank and more reminiscent of modern idol fashion. Kasane Teto’s iconic hairstyle remains largely unchanged, though the pair of headphones have been removed and the drill on the left side of her head now features a white ribbon tied around it, with the two ends of the knot sticking up prominently. This white ribbon is one of the easiest ways to distinguish between UTAU and Synth V Kasane Teto, regardless of attire. Her outfit is intended to resemble the design of a fife and drum corps uniform.
Her top is a light-grey, long sleeve, cropped and double-breasted shirt with two rows of golden buttons across the breast and a high stand collar. On the collar is a small nameplate with “0401” written. A pair of much shorter, frilled sleeves adorn her shoulders leading into the main, longer sleeves of her shirt, with the right shoulder featuring a second, shorter layer above the previous. The ends of the longer sleeves have black cuffs with two red belts on each. Each shoulder also features a set of gold shoulder marks, from which two black belts strap over her chest; the belt strapping over her left shoulder extends across the entirety of her chest, while the one over her right ends after intersecting the other belt in the center of her chest.
Her skirt is a matching light-grey and is high waisted, with a black, fringed petticoat worn underneath. Another pair of black belts strap around the back of the skirt, ending at the front. Two silver zippers run down the front of the skirt leading into the thick red trim. At the bottom of the skirt is a silver hoop that holds a red, patterned strap which hooks underneath the skirt, identical to the one seen in her UTAU design. She wears black, laced combat boots with the laces tie around the back of the boots, and with crimson socks.The whole of the outfit prominently features red trims, along with a pattern of five, wavy lines across the shirt and skirt, meant to resemble the look of a blank music staff.
TWINDRILL and Sakauchi Waka would work together once again for her VOICEPEAK redesign, again with the aim of creating a design distinct from her UTAU and Synth V appearance. Instead of white ribbon tied into her left drill, both sides of her head have three sets of white ribbons weaved in columns behind her drills. Otherwise, her hairstyle is unchanged. Her overshirt is a greyish olive-green, collared, cropped, long bell sleeve double breasted shirt. One the collar is a drill-shaped insignia patch with her name and the number “0401”. Half of the shirt is a darker olive-green and the other half a lighter shade. The shirt features silver buttons and a red belt looped around the waist for cinching, the end of the belt hanging loosely from her back. Once more, each cuff of her sleeves features two red belts. Her undershirt is a white, cropped dress shirt with long bell sleeves and unbuttoned cuffs.
Her bottom is a matching greyish olive-green culotte skirt. A partially undone silver zipper is on the right-hand front side of the culotte, and a very pale olive-green belt is fastened through the belt loops. On the right side of the culotte, another belt of the same color hangs from a belt loop on the front and connects to another belt loop at the back. On the left side of the culotte, her iconic red-patterned strap hangs from the belt loops, mirroring the other side. The back of the culotte has two pockets. The left-hand side of the culotte has a knife-pleated overhang of cloth, further giving the appearance of a skirt. Underneath the culotte, she wears a slightly longer, knife-pleated bifurcated skirt. On both the shirt and the culotte, a lighter-colored pattern resembling an audio wave runs through the center of both garments. Lastly, she wears a pair of chunky black boots with a large velcro strap and a zipper starting from the vamp and running up the length of the shaft. The pull loop and toe cap are accented red and she wears white socks underneath. With this outfit, she is seen carrying a red walkie talkie with a small, simplistic depiction of her head on the screen.
Personality:
While users and fans are free to portray Kasane Teto with whatever personality and characteristics they like, she still has a collection of officially listed traits that can be referenced. Most of these traits originate directly from the thread of her creation or early fan works.
Kasane Teto is said to be innocent, cheerful, and eager, but is no stranger to being mischievous or delinquent. She is also said to fall into the tsundere archetype, meaning she feigns disinterest or hostility towards people who she is attracted to, though to a lesser degree than is typical of the archetype. She can be prone to self-centered thinking and enjoys receiving attention. She dislikes when people believe her pigtails to be actual drills, or when people call out her age and refer to her as old or aged. (The Japanese term “misoji” (みそじ), meaning a person who is in their thirties, is often used to refer to Kasane Teto. She vehemently dislikes this.)
Kasane Teto’s favorite food (and favorite thing in general) is bread, specifically baguettes, and she is commonly depicted with them. This is most likely a relic from the Item War (持ち物戦争), a phenomenon in the early VOCALOID fandom that involved assigning characters specific items to be associated with and representative of them, such as Hatsune Miku’s spring onion. The vaguely French origin of Kasane Teto’s name could be why a baguette was submitted in particular. She is said to get very upset and discomposed if she has not eaten bread for one day, or if someone is eating bread and not sharing it with her.
Kasane Teto’s favorite country is Norway, and in the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series, she received an alternate outfit referencing this, in which she wears a hoodie featuring Norway’s flag prominently. She describes herself as being good at extending DVD rental time periods and says she isn’t good at singing. It is stated that she dislikes DMC, though what exactly “DMC” refers to is unknown. It was chosen randomly during her creation on 2ch and was never elaborated on, this fact being admitted by TWINDRILL in a previous FAQ. Some claim it to be the Japanese gag manga “Detroit Metal City” (デトロイト・メタル・シティ), which was having its original run around the same time, but this isn’t confirmed. (So who knows; perhaps Kasane Teto has a deep hatred for Devil May Cry.) It is also claimed that she dislikes mice/rats, though this has never been explicitly stated in an official capacity, and only ever previously linked to her changing forms. Therefore, it is up to interpretation how Kasane Teto truly feels about mice and/or rats. Lastly, Kasane Teto’s catchphrase is “どんなマイクも握ります” (which can translate to “I’ll hold any microphone”) and her more iconic, signature line is “君はじつに馬鹿だな” (which can translate to “You really are an idiot”). This line in particular was originally addressed to those who believed her to be an authentic VOCALOID, and was taken from a Doraemon comic strip that was frequently shared as ASCII art on vip@2ch.
Kasane Ted:
While significantly less popular and prominent than Kasane Teto herself, a notable derivative of the character was created early on in her lifespan, being a masculine presenting counterpart named “Kasane Ted” (重音テッド). Whether or not Kasane Ted is interpreted as Kasane Teto’s brother, other family member, lover, friend, or unrelated party is entirely up to the user.
Kasane Ted was created as a male counterpart of Kasane Teto by Sakururi (さくるり), introduced in a now deleted video from October 5th, 2008. Kasane Ted’s voice is created by adjusting the gender flag parameters for Kasane Teto’s voicebank to +30. Kasane Ted shares many characteristics with Kasane Teto, such as having the “chimera” gender, though most of the specifics are unconfirmed or left to viewer interpretation. Kasane Ted is often portrayed as wearing formal attire and glasses, with his hair featuring a lengthy, drill-shaped ponytail. However, once more, there is no set or official portrayal of how Kasane Ted should look. The most popular and commonly shared depiction of Kasane Ted that would inspire future interpretations is an illustration by his creator, Sakururi.
Kasane Ted would be acknowledged by TWINDRILL and become an officially recognized derivative, featuring on Kasane Teto’s website and TWINDRILL’s social media accounts. Content featuring Kasane Ted is encouraged to be produced and shared.