Hey guys Justin here and welcome to the Otaku Mind. Today we’re celebrating another Vocaloid birthday. Today happens to be the birthday of Rin and Len Kagamine aka The Kagamines hands down my favorite Vocaloids. The Kagamines made their debut in 2007 the same year as Miku. From what I’ve heard it was originally supposed to just be Rin but the creators didn’t want her to be labeled a Miku rip-off so they created a male equivalent of her and named him Len marketing the two as duos. The same amount of marketing advertisement went into them as much as Miku and while they didn’t meet the sales figures as her they still got positive reviews and quickly became fan favorites. The question about these two has always been asked, are they twins, cousins, or boyfriend and girlfriend? The answer to this question is all of the above. Cryton goes on record saying that they left the relationship of the Kagamines ambiguous on purpose to give producers creative freedom on how they want to define the relationship of the Kagamines. So at times their siblings and at other times they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. As I said before the Kagamines are my favorite Vocaloids for their amazing duets and single performances and they’re just so cute to see. And just like Miku they’ve had a lot of songs but which songs stand out the most? Which songs are their best. Well once again I have compiled another top list of the best songs for these two and instead of doing 11 I’m doing 12. Why top 12? Because just like someone else on this site I too like to go one step beyond and another step beyond that. Now this list will be a little different from the other ones. For starters I’m also counting their duet songs in this list along with their single performances so some spots will have two songs while others have one. There’s a lot of songs to cover so let’s get started. These are the top 12 Kagamine songs.
#12. Gekokujou
This was the first duet song I heard from the two. At the time I knew who Rin and Len were but I hadn’t heard any of their duet songs. Well here comes Gekokujou to change that situation and boy was it a good song to start with. In the song Rin and Len have just seen the latest polls and are upset at the fact that Miku is still ahead of them. Rather than whine and complain about it they decide to start a revolution encouraging everyone to gather under their flag and create songs for them that put the generations before them to shame. It’s a fun and energetic song with the Kagamines playing off each other wonderfully and even cover-up their shortcomings in the lyrics while also talking about their enemies. Never once in the song do the Kagamines come off as cruel or mean. It’s just a bunch of kids wanting to be recognized for their talents. In the end yellow is the ally and green is the enemy. I suggest you join the revolution and get on the winning side.
#11. Daughter of Evil and Servant of Evil
(Daughter of Evil) https://youtu.be/q46Osg9C4pA
(Servant of Evil) https://youtu.be/Jo7z60aJqNA
(live) https://youtu.be/7HaEAuVGUPs
These next two songs come from the very popular and well-known Vocaloid project Story of Evil. If you like dark songs with a deep story check this series of songs out it’s very good. In the series a few of the Vocaloids have become possessed by the 7 Deadly Sins to spread evil in the world and at the heart of this series are the songs of Rin and Len. Let’s start with Rin’s song first, Daughter of Evil. In the song Rin has become possessed by the sin of pride and is the princess and ruler of her own kingdom where she doesn’t care about the well-being of her subjects and is a selfish brat. In the song she highlights all of her evil deeds such as not helping out her subjects when a famine strikes and killing a hero just because he tried to help people. In another part of the song Rin falls in love with Kaito and proposes marriage but he says he’s in love with Miku from the country of green. Furious by this Rin orders her men to destroy the country of green in the hopes of killing Miku and they succeed. Wanting revenge Kaito and Meiko the daughter of the hero Rin killed stage a rebellion, capture Rin, and execute her bringing tyranny to an end. Or do they?
Servant of Evil is Len’s song and serves as the true ending to Daughter of Evil. Unlike Rin, Len was one of the only characters in the series who didn’t get possessed by a Deadly Sin (I guess that makes him the purest of all the Vocaloids). In the song Len is Rin’s loyal servant and twin brother that he keeps as a secret from her. We see how he knows Rin is evil and what she’s doing is wrong but he doesn’t stop her because he’s loyal and loves his sister. We even find out he has a crush on Miku and tries to save her but fails in the end. When the rebellion begins we find out that Len helped Rin escape and took her place on guillotine. The loyalty of Len in this song is amazing. He loves his sister so much and wants her to be happy that he’s willing to risk becoming evil himself. Is that a good plan? In my opinion no it would have been nice if he tried to steer her in the right direction but that still doesn’t take away the loyalty of Len and his commitment to serving Rin to the bitter end. These two songs are the most well-known of the Story of Evil and if you like dark songs with deep meaning than check out the other songs it’s one of the best Vocaloid projects out there.
#10. Märchen Boyfriend and Märchen Girlfriend
Here’s another dark song from the Kagamines. The word märchen is German for fairy-tale which is ironic because this song is anything but a fairy-tale but then again German fairy-tales are pretty dark. In the song Rin and Len become a couple. At first everything seems great that is until they try to control each other and we see they’re both yandere. As the song progresses we find out that they cheated on each other but quickly forgive each other. However, one of them cheats again and the other no longer able to stand it kills the other as well as themselves. It’s a sad and tragic story about how two people’s love for each other quickly turned to hate for each other and it’s all done in the form of circus music which once again is ironic because when you think of circus you think of something fun and happy but in this song it’s the exact opposite. This holiday season take care of your love one and don’t let your relationship become like the couple in this song.
#9. Straight-Faced Science Girl
Let’s take a look at one of their funnier duet songs. This song just cracks me up everytime I listen to it. It is impossible not to watch this song and not laugh or at least smile while listening to it. In the song Len is a dumb school boy who’s in love with Ren the smart science girl who’s only interest is in science and nothing else. In the song Len becomes her assistant in the hopes of getting close to her all while singing about his love using scientific terms. At first glance the song seems innocent enough as it’s just a boy trying to get close to the girl he likes but if you read deeper into the lyrics you’ll see this is a really smart and perverted song. The puns that Len come up with are enough to make anybody blush out of embarrassment or just laugh at how clever he’s being. All I gotta say is after listening to song is Len, you’re a pervert and I don’t want you in the science lab anymore.
#8. I Like you, I Love you and Ugly-Guy Documentary
(I Like you, I Love you) https://youtu.be/ebAKoRcYFTA
(Ugly-Guy Documentary) https://youtu.be/t7CyfLpnmOI
I Like you, I Love you is one of Rin’s songs that everyone seems to like. In the song Rin wants to tell you a secret. She’s in love with you but no matter how hard she tries the words just won’t come out until the end where after much struggling she finally says what she’s been trying to say all this time. When I first heard this song I knew it was popular but I didn’t know why it was this popular. What really shocked me was that I’ve heard people have actually used this song to confess their feelings to others. What? Really? This song is used as a confession video? At first I was confused by this but after sitting down and really reading the lyrics while watching the video yeah I can see why people use this song as a confession. It reflects an actual person trying to confess. Confessing your true feelings to the person you like is one of the hardest things to do and yes at times the words just won’t come out no matter how hard we try. For some people it’s easy but for others it’s very difficult and I think this song conveys that message well. If you’re looking for a video to confess your feelings to the person you love check this song out.
The next song Ugly-guy Documentary is Len’s song where Len is in love with Rin the school’s most popular girl but doesn’t have the courage to talk to her because of his appearance. Rather than just give up on his romance he instead changes his image and becomes the cute little brother/boyfriend all the girls want. Many people felt this song was giving kids the wrong message what with Len changing his image in order to get Rin to acknowledge him but no I think it’s normal and healthy for a boy to go through a change in order to attract someone because some boys do change their images in order to catch the attention of the person they like just like girls can change their image in order to attract the attention of the guy they like and even at the end when he changes his image he knows that he shouldn’t blame his physical appearance on his inability to talk to Rin but rather his mentality and that’s what he does. He finally gathers up his courage and talks to Rin at the end of the video. In my opinion you’re fine the way you are but if you want to change your appearance to make yourself feel better or get the attention of the person you like that’s fine too, just make sure that person is worth it and that you’re doing it for the right reasons.
#7. The Lost One’s Weeping
(Rin version) https://youtu.be/O0TtDeDiHcE
(Len version) https://youtu.be/eFdlcJF1wwM
(live) https://youtu.be/9tUo3Paj044
Let’s face it, we all can relate to this song. In the song the Kagamines are singing about their frustrations with the educational system and viewing school as just a prison where instead of learning what they want to learn or what will help them in life, they’re instead forced to learn stuff that’s meaningless and led to believe that grades will determine everything in their life when really it doesn’t. Throughout the song you can’t help but sympathize with their anguish and frustration with the educational system as you yourselves have been affected by in some way that you just wanna scream your head off at how faulty and unreliable it is. It’s hard to say which version of the song is better which is why I decided to put both versions in this spot. Rin sings the song with a little more passion then Len but Len’s voice matches the song better. Either version is fine to listen to and whether you’re a male or female this song will resonate with you.
#6. Honeymoon Un•Deux•Trois and Remain
(Honeymoon Un•Deux•Trois) https://youtu.be/ydwz9vJ4gec
Remain: Unavailable
This song quickly became one of my favorite Rin songs. There’s really not much to say about this song other then it’s Rin talking about her love for the boy she loves (which is Len) and comparing their love for each other to a beautiful dance. I love Rin’s voice in this song and how she sets the image of her dance and love with Len throughout the song. The instrumental for this song is also amazing to listen to. It sets the mood and places you in the world that Rin is singing about. It’s a beautiful song from beginning to end.
Remain is another song that quickly became one of my favorite Len songs. It’s a beautiful song from beginning to end and it’s actually quite sad as well. In the song Len and Rin just got done with their last date because apparently Rin is leaving with her family to another country. Len tries to stay strong and end the date with a smile but he just can’t do it and cries his poor little heart out over the fact that he’s losing someone he really cares about and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. The piano in this song is beautiful to listen to and draws you in. It’s the real driving force of this song and Len’s soft and sad voice only serves to make the song better. It’s another beautiful song that deserves a good listening.
#5. Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku and Tokyo Teddy Bear
(Tokyo Teddy Bear) https://youtu.be/I91O_Veh7HU
(live performance of Tokyo Teddy Bear) https://youtu.be/UOqToU5r7b8
(Dream-Eating Monochrome) https://youtu.be/HumErY8MkV8
Once again we’re returning to the dark stuff starting with Tokyo Teddy Bear one of Rin’s most well-known songs and a fan favorite. This song has a lot of interpretations to it. Some view the song as a suicide note left by Rin who is singing the song from a male perspective (probably would have been best to use Len for the song but I’m sure there’s a Len version out there and Rin sounds good). Others view it as a sign of depression because the author is lonely but probably my favorite interpretation of the song is the author crying out for help. The song makes Rin out be a loner or an outsider to everyone around her and at first see seems okay with this thinking she doesn’t need things like love and friendship but as time goes on she realizes how suffocating it can be to be alone in the world and wants to be loved like a teddy bear she and everyone else used to have as a child. Whatever your interpretation of the song is one can’t deny that it’s still a great song to listen to with great lyrics and fantastic instrumental that represent the tortured soul of our singer.
Next up Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku. I love this song. The presentation, the lyrics, Len, everything in this song is a hit with me. In the song Len is this mythical creature known as the Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku who goes around eating the dreams of people. One night he comes across a girl (most likely Miku) having a bad dream and offers to eat up all the bad dreams so she’ll have a good night’s sleep. She accepts and Len keeps his promising eating up her bad dreams but then she asks him to give her all kinds of dreams and Len accepts her request giving her dreams that are adventurous, romantic, funny, and dirty. Things seem to be going great until Len finally snatches away those dreams and gives her a world full of monochrome colors and leaves. After watching the song one might think Len is the bad guy here but no he’s done nothing wrong. He answered the request of the girl and everything. If anyone’s at fault here it’s the girl who choose to live in her world of dreams instead of facing reality. The lesson of the song is that you can’t ignore the world around you and live in your own little dream world where everything is perfect for you. You have to face reality, live in it, and make those dreams come true. That’s what Len was trying to teach the girl. It’s a harsh lesson but it’s a lesson that had to be learned and she choose to learn it the hard way. As for the performance of the song I just how into it Len is. Just look at the music video for this song he is enjoying himself from beginning to end. He just sounds so despicably sinister throughout the song but at the same time charming and fun to listen to. Also, I love that outfit Len is wearing that’s gonna be my costume for next year’s Halloween. In the end it’s a fun dark song that’s a good watch with a Vocaloid totally into it.
#4. Imagination (dream mix) and Spice
(Imagination dream mix) https://youtu.be/IdQZFcxjVWQ
(Imagination original) https://youtu.be/t5Li6WYrwdU
(Spice) https://youtu.be/PMWvoSWcj0Y
Imagination is Rin’s song. Done by Dateken who always does great work with the Kagamines and this song is no exception. The whole song is just Rin getting lost in her imagination thinking about how she wants to do this, that, go here, there, etc. and I can get behind that. Sometimes it’s cool to take a break from the daily stress of life and just get lost in your imagination and with this song along with Rin’s sweet voice it’s impossible not to get lost in your imagination. The whole song just gives off that 90s R&B that I grew listening to and became a fan of from an early age. Now while I like the original song just fine, I actually prefer the dream mix as it just sounds better to me. The beat has a lot more going on and the faster pace seems to fit the song better. Both songs are worth checking out in the end so check out and get lost in your imagination.
Spice is Len’s song and if you thought Len wasn’t a pervert and just a mislead innocent boy well this song crushes that theory and shows you the truth about Len. The whole song is just Len bragging about how he’s slept with other girls behind his girlfriend’s back and how she won’t do anything about it because in the end she just can’t resist him and how other girls can’t resist him either because the spice that he has is just too good to pass up. This whole song is like School Days minus the ending. Everyone knows that Makoto is cheating with everyone but they’re not gonna say anything or stop him because they can’t say no to his spice. Once again Len sounds so despicably sinister here but at the same time he’s just so charming and fun to listen to that you can’t help but enjoy this song. That’s what makes Len so fun to listen to. He has this ability to sound down right sinister but at the same time have an air of charm and innocence to them that you just can’t bring yourself to hate him. Even while listening to this song and knowing the subject and theme of it girls still like this song because just seeing the innocent Len be naughty and brag about it turns them on. This song proves that even though Len has a cute and innocent face he’s got the mind of a sneaky and devious pervert.
#3. Crystal Mic and Kokoro
(Kokoro) https://youtu.be/FGD0syOFKgk
(Kokoro live) https://youtu.be/dAAEtSUvy9U
(Crystal Mic) https://youtu.be/1kUcUtx3S7k
Let’s look at some of their sadder songs now. Kokoro is Rin’s song where in this song a lonely scientist creates her to keep him company however Rin was missing something very important. Years past and the scientist dies but Rin sets out to find what it was the doctor was working on near the end of his life. She finds it in the form of a program called Kokoro (which means Heart) which was designed for her to make Rin become human. Unfortunately, the program was too much for her to handle and she shuts down however she had a smile on her face thanking the scientist for everything. When I first heard this song I actually shed a tear at the end just for how sad and beautiful it was. I wanted her to live at the end. I also like how at the beginning of the song she sounds all robotic but when she finally gets Kokoro she begins to sound like an actual person showing us that she’s taken that leap from being a simple computer program to becoming an actual person.
Crystal Mic is another sad song courtesy of Len. It’s really hard to grasp the meaning of this song but from my understanding of the lyrics it sounds like Len has lost someone he loved and now contemplating about committing suicide in order to be with that person again. In a way this song is like a follow up to another song called Soundless Voice where Len sings about losing Rin and feeling sad about it. Here it sounds like he wants to be with her again so he contemplates committing suicide in order to be with her again. I personally don’t approve of this but the way Len sings this song and the lyrics just sound so sad and beautiful that you kind of understand where he’s coming from. Losing a loved one is hard and if you could you would do anything to see them again. Just to have one more talk or dinner with them. If you’re looking for a good song to cry to check these two songs out.
#2. Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder and Moonlight Stage
(Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder) https://youtu.be/hyV4qGAPKac
(Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder live) https://youtu.be/w7W6mpmV92w
(Moonlight Stage) https://youtu.be/ejty_WfdQiY
Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder was originally Rin’s song but the producer also created a version using Len which I and many people consider to be the better version of the song. While the song sounds happy and upbeat if you look up the lyrics you’ll find that the song is quite tragic. In the song Len talks about going out and hooking up with somebody but at the end of it all instead of feeling happy and complete he just feels empty and can’t figure out why. Man that’s pretty deep. So does to make Len crazy for hooking up with someone but feeling empty afterwards? No I think it just means that Len was just hooking up with this girl just to hookup with her. He didn’t have any feelings for her or nothing she was just there and he was just there which sadly is how some relationships get started and end quickly. Two people who don’t have any feelings for each other but pretend to have feelings decide that this is as good as it’s gonna get so I might as well stick with this and nothing else. No, that’s not how love works and if you think along these lines then you need to stop immediately. As I said before the song is upbeat and fast which you would think works against the meaning of the lyrics and song but no it honestly makes the song better and works out in the end. The intensity in Len’s voice is great and his dancing is on point.
Moonlight Stage is Rin’s song where she talks about going through the motions of everyday life not putting effort into anything whatsoever until she finally comes across someone who inspires her not to go through the motions of everyday life and create her own path in the world. The jazz music in this song is great. As you all know I love jazz and it’s very rare to see Rin do a jazz song which she wasn’t program to do but after listening to this song I say we give her more jazz songs as she’s really good at them. If it wasn’t for the abrupt ending this song would honestly be my number one pick but still it’s a great song and the song that should alert us to give Rin more jazz songs. There’s also a jam session to this song where Len joins in and it’s a pretty funny video that I recommend checking out: https://youtu.be/c0ZV8end7mw.
And the number one songs for the Kagamines are. . .
#1. Fireflower and Meltdown
(Fireflower) https://youtu.be/uLBC2kWYFo8
(Fireflower live) https://youtu.be/l6tnAxzGVZ4
(Meltdown) https://youtu.be/jrldXNpoaac
(Meltdown live) https://youtu.be/vKe-oVXfKU8
Yep two of their most well-known songs are my favorite songs out there. Starting with Fireflower, Len talks about the struggles of becoming an idol and leaving to make himself famous all while leaving behind the girl he likes and telling himself the lie that he’s glad they didn’t hookup but in truth he wanted to hookup with her and throughout the song the girl is sending him text messages encouraging him on and at the end he finally sings the truth and says that he’s glad he met her and when the day comes he wants to be with her but until that day he’ll keep singing and shining as bright as a fireflower where their love will shine so bright that everyone in the world can see. This is deepest I’ve ever heard Len sound and he sounds amazing here and it’s a good pop-rock song with great lyrics and instrumental. This is a song that shows us Len is growing up and despite his perverted actions from the past he’s becoming a fine young man.
Meltdown is Rin’s song and surprisingly it’s a song about suicide. In the song Rin has done something bad so bad that she believes the only way to be forgiven is to toss herself into a nuclear reactor and burn away in a blaze of glory. What did she do we’re never really told but to her it was so bad that she has to kill herself in order to be forgiven. I like the piano in this song it’s very powerful but not too powerful where it overshadows the singing of Rin. The lyrics are also a treat to listen to as the way Rin describes it is just so poetic and deep. The song also has many layers to it. It starts off fast and upbeat, has a part where it slows down and gives you a chance to take everything that Rin has said in and then it returns to the fast upbeat ending the song on a high note while leaving you satisfied. These two songs may be some of their most well-known songs but in my opinion they’re still the best songs that show off just how good the two can be.
Well that’s my list. Hoped you enjoyed, happy birthday Rin and Len and I’ll see you guys next time on Project Nitsuj.
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