Hsppy Birthday VY1!

Today marks the first birthday of the first ever character-less, genderless Vocaloid, Yamaha’s VY1. Now is the time to sit back and reflect on their past year.
In August 2010, Yamaha announced that it would for the first time develop its own Vocaloid database, improving on elements of the VOCALOID2 software for clarity and ease-of-use. They codenamed the Vocaloid “VY1 Mizki,” with VY1 standing for “Yamaha Vocaloid 1″. “Mizki” comes from the use of the color of the flowering dogwood (hanamizuki in Japanese). YAMAHA stressed the fact that VY1′s codename was Mizki and and not Mizuki: according to the developers, the “u” was removed because “you [the users] have to give VY1 a character.” Since its release, Mizki has subsequently become the de facto name of the Vocaloid, though VY1 is also commonly used. VY1, and its successor VY2, are sold by Tokyo-based application service provide, Bplats, Inc.
Despite being released without a mascot, several non-official character images have cropped up online since its release. Yamaha hoped that VY1’s lack of a mascot would inspire the creativity of the user community to develop their own ideas about what VY1 would look like. Generally, VY1 appears as a young girl with long, black hair in traditional Japanese garb. Furthermore, while VY1 is officially without a gender, it is considered to be a feminine Vocaloid, with VY2 being the masculine counterpart.
In December 2010, VY1 was released in a simplified version of Vocaloid for iPhone and iPad as “VY1t.” Despite having limited functionality compared to its PC counterpart, at 1,800 yen, VY1t is the cheapest edition of the Vocaloid series to date.
It will be possible to import both VY1 and VY2 to the VOCALOID3 engine.
Here’s a look at some of VY1’s most popular songs.
For more songs using VY1, you can search VY1 tag on Nico Nico Douga , or her Birthday tag

Let’s take a look at the variety of user-created characters for VY1 since its release.

More images of VY1 can be seen by searching this tag on pivix.

Here’s to a great year of VY1 and hopefully many more to come!