Hi, all! I’m certainly much later than I should have been posting a formal update here, but I figured better late than never.
First off, the health stuff: as of this September, I am officially cancer-free! I had a successful thyroidectomy back in May, my throat recovered over the next few months, and in September I had radioactive iodine to kill off any remaining thyroid cells and to detect if anything had spread via my lymph nodes (since one was found to be partially compromised during surgery). Most recently, my full body scan came back 100% clear!
As for my voice, I have finally and thankfully made a full recovery there as well. I’m not certain how much of my recording issues prior to surgery were from stress alone, or if the nodule (which was found to be 3cm during removal 😱) was pressing against my larynx or something, but either way my high range is more solid than it’s been in a very long time! I do seem to have lost a little off my low end, though it isn’t anything too drastic. Aiko recording has resumed and will be going strong through the rest of the winter. At my current pace, I am now aiming for an end of January release for my three current projects (Atmosphere JP & EN, DeepVocal and TalQu).
Sadly, though several attempts were made at recovering the data lost from my catastrophic laptop HDD replacement, I was unable to salvage any prior files. This mean I have completely lost any WIP voicebanks and USTs/VSQs/etc. that I was working on, including Chiyoko CVVC, Akiko CVVC, and several others. However, my voice providers have all said they are ready and willing to rerecord when possible!
Kikyuune Aiko Plushie Campaign & New Stickers!
Onto the new stuff! I am currently holding a 100-piece limited preorder campaign for an official Kikyuune Aiko plushie! She’s roughly 10″/25cm tall (about the size of a crane game prize plush) and features removable jacket, skirt and wrist cuffs so that she may swap out to different, similarly-sized plush and doll outfits! Preorders are open through the end of the month on my Ko-Fi shop (US only) and my Etsy (international only, excluding EU). The campaign includes an optional set of merchandise, including keychains, buttons and stickers, which may be purchased as a bundle with the plush or separately/individually. These items will ONLY be available during this period.
I have also added a set of peeker-style vinyl stickers to my shop featuring both Aiko’s UTAU and her Mikoto Studio designs! This is the first step of the eventual itasha-ification of my new car, a blue Kia Soul I ended up having to purchase after a tree fell on my old one last month. (It. Sure has been a year.)
As always, your continued support is much appreciated! I’ll be posting regular #Aikoplush campaign updates on here and on my Bluesky as the campaign progresses and production continues!
