The fictional world of "Dynamic the Ends"
HakamD's style of music mostly follows a pop rock style, with a heavy leaning towards pop.
Most of their music being very upbeat and featuring a very high vocal range from Una.
Miku accompanies Una for most of HakamD's songs, together the two voice sets forming a
fictional band "Dynamic the Ends".
I would liken "Dynamic the Ends" to something similar to the Gorrilaz
in it's presentation of a fictional band that we only see gimplses in to through the medium
of songs. The music videos for "Dynamic the Ends" almost all feature a chibi style of our
two voice sets, along with some commedic animation to keep your eyes entertained
throughout it's duration. The minimal animation shown seems very much to take
a literal approach to a "animated manga", using mostly a black and white look
for our characters. Even the movements given to the characters seems very inspired
by a manga style. It is then of no surprise that HakamD, aside from creating music,
regularly posts 4koma pages to their twitter page featuring "Dynamic the Ends".
The personality given to the members is also quite fun. Una being personified as the genki
underclassman, while Miku takes the more experienced or laid back personality. This gives
ample oppurtunity for some fun visual gags as the two interact on the virtual stage.
As I see more producers drop their vocaloid voice sets in favor of their own,
I find myself much more gravitated to those who build their own worlds using
the characters. I think it gives some sort of reassurnace the creator has a vested
interest in not just the sound but fictional persona of the voice sets.
It also makes for a much more interesting viewing experience, that keeps me coming
back for each new song. I think it really personifies the now old
ideas of the creators themselves being "producers" for the fictional characters,
rather then sort of "living through them" in a sense. It also provides a chance
for the creator to a bit more invested in the surrounding culture of vocaloid overall,
as they can take their own spin on personalities that have been given
bits of characterization through the comunity already.
Gyari is a great example of this with his characterization of voice sets like Yukari and Kiri-tan.
HakamD's style of music is not for everyone, those not already invested in
Jpop may easily find the overly upbeat tempo and high vocals to be a bit of
a turn off, but I think most can appreciate the commedic animation shown in their music
videos. For those that already have some interest in vocaloid or Jpop I think its worth
giving it a look.