Zundamon
Fictional character
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zundamon is a mascot character from the Tohoku region, created by SSS LLC and based on zunda-mochi, a Japanese confectionery that popular in Tohoku region. It was developed as a related character to Tohoku Zunko, with its setting refined through content creation[1]. Character design is by Niniko Edomura. In August 2021, alongside the release of the speech synthesis software Voicevox, Zundamon's voice data based on Yuina Ito's voice was made available. This led to a surge in popularity and recognition, with numerous user-generated content (UGC) videos created on video-sharing sites. Around 2023, the “Tohoku Zunko Project” itself was renamed the “Tohoku Zunko & Zundamon Project” (abbreviated as the ZunZun Project).
| Zundamon | |
|---|---|
| Tohoku Zunko Project→Tohoku Zunko & Zundamon Project character | |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Fairy of Zunda |
| Gender | Girl (official setting), Regardless of gender (secondary creation) |
| Specialty | Transformation into a Zunda arrow |
Set up
Zunda Fairy, who possesses the bow “Zunda Arrow[a]” and (in settings after June 2021) can transform into human form. Eating zunda mochi is said to increase her intelligence[2]. She often finds herself in unfortunate situations[3]. Her first-person pronoun is “Boku”. While official settings designate her as a girl, UGC often assigns her various genders due to her androgynous appearance. Her hobbies include wandering around aimlessly and making herself appear larger than life. Her birthday is December 5th. She speaks with the suffix “~ (na) no da” at the end of her sentences[4]. The “mon” in its name is short for “monster.” When it first appeared in early novels, it was set as a legendary existence even among the Mochi Mon. Note that other detailed settings in official works vary across different titles, intentionally allowing greater freedom for secondary creations[5].
History
2010s
Zundamon was conceived by Yasuo Oda, Shoji Murahama, and Masamune Sakaki as a “yuru-kyara” aimed at users and municipalities resistant to moe characters, to differentiate it from the moe character Tohoku Zunko[4][6][7][8]. The character design by Niniko Edomura and official novels by Toshio Sato helped establish the character settings and content for the Tohoku Zunko Project, including Zundamon[1]. Since around 2015, similar to Tohoku Zunko, Tohoku Itako, and Tohoku Kiritan, the project has permitted companies registered with headquarters in the Tohoku region to use the characters commercially free of charge and without application[9][10]. In 2017, the anime work “Zunda Horizon” from the Tohoku Zunko Project, along with the simultaneously released UTAU voice library for singing synthesis software, featured Yuna Ito's voice for the character. From this time onward, Ito expressed her desire to develop voice synthesis software for reading aloud using her own voice[11].
2020s
By the 2020s, a strategy emerged to utilize Zunda-mon's voice when verifying cutting-edge technologies such as speech synthesis[13]. First, on June 17, 2021, the ITA Corpus Multi-modal Database was released based on funds raised through prior crowdfunding[12][13]. In addition, at the same time as the database was released, the human figure was released[14].
Notes
- Arrow means arrow, not bow