(Artist)

Yokune Ruko is a vocal synth for the UTAU program, released on November 17th of 2008. Ruko is intersex (described as "90% male, 10% female") and bigender, but has no canon set of pronouns. I'll be alternating between he/him and she/her for him, as I feel this best reflects him!

Ruko's identity doesn't come without reasoning, of course - her being intersex and bigender is intended to reflect her gimmick, which is that she comes with two voicebanks! One male and one female. He sings in a mezzo-soprano range!

Ruko is a VIPPERloid, which is a term used to describe a group of UTAU voicebanks created by 2Chan, also referred to as VIP@2ch. Yokune Ruko was the second in the set of prank vocal synths created by the 2Chan board, where the goal was to fool people into thinking that they would be the next Vocaloid released by Crypton Future Media. Famously, the first in this series was Kasane Teto, who has since gained enough popularity to become a SynthV voicebank. Coincidentally, around the same time Ruko was being planned, Crypton released the demo song for their newest addition to their Vocaloid lineup; codename CV03 (who later turned out to be Megurine Luka). This was incorporated into Ruko's lore, as being the "rejected CV03". She originally had a body model name of 03 for this reason, but it was later changed to 6 (roku) and 5 (go), which has a similar pronunciation to her name. As for the meaning of his name: "Yokune" translates to "greedy sound" (a reference to his two voicebanks), and "Ruko" can be a feminine or masculine name.

Ruko's character is described as a "deredere"; energetic and sweet, and doesn't hide her romantic feelings for the one she loves. He likes being pet like he's a cat and gambling! Despite her being generally sweet, she doesn't hold back if you get on her bad side. Doing so will earn you a verbal lashing! He's 12 years old (though this has been stated to be able to be changed, if a creator wishes). Her unusually developed appearance seems to be a reference to how her name can be written as "yoku neru ko", which translates to, "The girl who sleeps a lot", and the Japanese proverb, "A child who sleeps a lot grows up greatly". I always forget his canon age, despite the reasoning for it, and I headcanon him as 20 years old for that reason (to parallel Megurine Luka's canon age)! Thank God for the creators saying that her age can be changed. She's also noted as using "konoyaro" a lot, which can essentially be translated to "bastard".

Ruko likes drinking coffee, romance and sleeping, and dislikes being woken up without a good reason, anything that excessively confines his chest, and discussions about his gender. (Of course, this was 2008, so the whole joke with that last fact was that she's mysterious about her gender because she's intersex, and sex equals gender. The whole thing about Ruko 'being both a boy and a girl' was intended to be purposefully confusing and vague, but 2Chan just ended up giving boygirls, girlboys, and intersex folks alike someone to worship as our god. Oopsy-daisy! You slipped and made a queer icon. Sorry 'bout it.)

I love, love, love Ruko!!! I love his design (which is just so very 2008 in the best way), I love both of his voicebanks, I love that he's just like me for real (intersex and bigender), and I love his character! Yokune Ruko is my favorite UTAUloid, and my favorite Japanese vocal synth in general, beating out all of the Vocaloid cast. I wish people would use her more!! Especially the female voicebank! (But the current Miku monopoly we're living in, in terms of what Japanese vocal synth people are using for original songs, is another topic.)

Instead of complaining about that, though, I wanted to link to my favorite instances of Ruko's usage! Here are my Ruko song recs!

Pidgeon — My favorite overall producer for Ruko! I feel very lucky that they're still producing, as they have been since 2015. I love the way they put so much emotion into Ruko's voice!!

God-ish (Yokune Ruko ♂) — I like this cover even more than the original!! I love the little deviations from the OG this has, it really makes it stand apart and give it an identity of its own! And, of course, I'm obsessed with Teto's inclusion here; especially her screaming out, "GOD IS DEAAAAD!!!" Gets me in my religious angst every time, in the best possible way.

Suki Suki Daisuki (Yokune Ruko ♂) — I love the way Ruko is tuned here!! And I especially love the way he sounds like he was cut off with the very last lyric, it's very effective! (Content warning: this video contains disturbing imagery and a glitching effect.)

Rolling Girl (Yokune Ruko ♂) — This cover really brings out something I love about Ruko, which is, again, how emotional people are able to make him sound! It really feels like he's belting out this Vocaloid classic, at the top of his lungs, trying to put everything he has into it. (Content warning: this song is about self-harm, and contains potentially triggering visuals, especially related to choking.)

Say So (Yokune Ruko ♀) — This cover makes me so mad. Because it reminds me how few people use Ruko's female voice, despite it being so gorgeous!! Listen to this and tell me that you aren't blown away by how lovely she sounds!!!

Potential Breakup Song (Yokune Ruko ♂) — Yes, THAT Potential Breakup Song! This cover was my first exposure to Ruko's voice, and it was a great one, as the tuning still blows me away! It was based off of the singing style of her male voicebank's voice-provider.

Mind Brand (Yokune Ruko ♂) — Apparently, this was unlisted in the time after I added it to my Ruko playlist? So, free link to a cover you wouldn't be able to find with the YouTube search bar! I'm obsessed with the 'aaah' at 1:11!!

Lost One's Weeping (Yokune Ruko ♂) — All rise for the 'disabled kids in public school' national anthem!! I love everything about this cover, except for the creator taking away Ruko's pigtails for his male model. Pussy.

Love Me, Love Me (Yokune Ruko ♂) — Ah, a Kikuo classic, tuned to perfection by Pidgeon! How could I not include it? (Content warning: this video contains disturbing imagery.)