KAGAMINATION!

Why do I love Kagamine Rin and Len?

When I was but a young weeb perusing the Vocaloid Wiki for the first time, I instantly gravitated towards Rin and Len. I was already struck by their bright yellows and adorable twin designs, but Rin in particular stood out to me because of her bow XD I was a huge fan of the Powerpuff Girls as a kid, and Rin's bow immediately reminded me of Blossom, who was always my fave in the trio. I've always been biased since XD (sorry Len!)

More seriously, though, I love Rin and Len for a multitude of reasons: 1) they're both extremely cute! I will wholeheartedly say I find them to be some of the cutest Vocaloid characters, even moreso than Miku! 2) They're both excellent vocalists, with very unique traits. Rin tends to get a lot of cute and poppy songs for her appropriately-cute voice, but she can actually sound mega-cool against rock and carries it extremely well, and she can sound mellow and soft against jazz. Did I mention she's also a rap queen? Meanwhile, Len's voice is able to similarly fit a variety of genres, but I think his biggest strength is how emotional he can sound when he's on his A-game. I also think his voice is one of the most characteristic of all Vocaloids, he just has such a unique sound with so much personality packed in. Bless Asami Shimoda for voicing him the way she did! 3) The sheer number of ways they can be portrayed together! Something a lot of new vocafans don't know (or some veterans outright ignore...unfortunately) is that Rin and Len aren't actually canon twin siblings - Crypton has stated that their relationship is purely up for interpretation. While I know some folks get baffled by that (and I mean...I too portray them as siblings personally) I think the freedom of Rin and Len's relationship has opened up a ton of avenues on the roles they can play, and therefore it's always been a treat listening to new songs and wondering what kind of characters they'll be with what relation. Like, what are Rin and Len up to today? Are they playing an evil queen and her servant who is secretly her long-lost brother? A shifty detective and his young prime suspect/witness? A pair of app developers or zombie hunters? A wacky scientist and a magical boy? The possibilities are endless!

A slightly more selfish reason for why I love Rin and Len is that they're also very fun to portray in my own work, and they always have been - for example, the Rin in my head has a big, bright personality like the sun, and though she's a bit arrogant and prone to burning others with her outspokenness, I can't help but see her as a bit of an ideal. I'm more of a lowkey, shy person who struggles to be as openly confident and upfront, so thinking of Rin in this way encourages me to be a bit like her (albeit, maybe not as aggressive lol). And with Len, Len feels more appropriately like a reflection of myself in a lot of ways - he always tends to be snarky, hardworking and very hard on himself, but he possesses a lot talents and good qualities that he refuses to see because of his low self-worth. "But Gatari," you say, "Aren't you just complimenting yourself, there? Rin and Len aren't even really like that, that's just your headcanon!" Yeah...but aw well. XD

Long story short, Kagamine Rin and Len make me happy. I always like to say that if Miku represents "hope" and "finding ways to move forward" to me, Rin and Len represent "joy" and "laughing even when you feel like you want to cry". I call them my heart-invading robots based on the Hinata Haruhana song, because to me, that's what they are - a pair of little robots, maybe insignificant for some, but they invaded my heart and now they mean so much to me. Yay for Rin and Len!!!