Wiki Wednesday #58 - UTAO!のペティ / project UTAO!'s Pet

Ya know, I don't get these names sometimes. ペティ is pronounced "Petty". Pet would be ペット. UTAO! is upfront that this UTAU's name is Pet, so at least I didn't write half an article before seeing a side note that "woa" is pronounced "or".

Wiki Wednesday #58 - UTAO!のペティ / project UTAO!'s Pet

So, I'm back to one bank UTAUs for the rest of tonight. I'm hoping I can push the articles out to May tonight. I've learned that lack of sleep helps depression. Like, I knew it for years, but I put it into practice today. Sleeping in with depression is so rough. You wake up more tired than you went to bed! Or at least, I do. So, it's 4:30 PM and I should probably be up until 8 PM. So... Short articles like this? I should be able to do this. I really hope I can do this.

Who is Pet?

Official Icon Packaged with Bank

If I had to assume, Pet is AMAB NB. I think there's a church? The project UTAO AU includes an entire religion or something? More or less, I don't think they actually meant "教会" as church and instead as congregation. Different people have to write the bios, because using site search revealed that only Pet has that word in his bio.

Now, when viewing this bio through a Western lens, it's really easy to say "He gay, but he closeted". But I do believe that might be taking it too far. Boys can act in ways that society sees as feminine and still be super duper straight. (Or bi. Some of the Queens on RuPaul's Drag Race get down with the lady fans.)

The description actually states that only people in his congregation know that he's effeminate. To the rest of the world, he's just a regular guy. You can make arguments towards him being trans, but stamping everyone who isn't gender conforming as trans is problematic in of itself. 

And all of that comes crashing down when you just point out that Japan has different standards that tend to be incongruent with Western standards. 

His age is 15, and they used a really fancy way of writing "years old". "年齢". It's a level 38 word on WaniKani, and I kind of got stuck in the late teens. WHOO HOO lifetime memberships! (Seriously. Wait until Christmas and get a discounted lifetime membership to WaniKani if you really feel like learning Japanese is your passion. It is so much better for my purposes than iknow.jp. (Though if you have deep pockets, get both. One is for conversation, and one is for reading. I'm not leaving the continental US until my Stardew Valley dreams have come true and I'm running a successful farm, so all I really can do is read.))

How is Pet's bank?

Pet only has one bank. It is a three pitch CV. I mean, I kind of feel like I don't have to say it is hiragana encoded, but it is hiragana encoded.

Pet is a tiny baby who needs to be protected at all costs. Here's what's so insane - this voice, design, and backstory all fit together like a puzzle. There are so many times I'll say "Oh, this voice is nice, and the design is nice, but why?" Or "I love this design, but what the heck is up with the backstory?"

Everything fits together. I can even imagine poor little Pet getting bullied because he can't lower his voice in any meaningful way. He puts on some cool skater gear to hang out at the skate park, but he gets punked by the multi-ethnic group of bullies... Wait, that's just a 2000s movie where he ends up being super rad and getting the girl in the end, isn't it? That's way too American to happen in Japan.

Where can I download Pet?

Pet can be downloaded from Pet's page. This voice fits into a really specific niche. If you like that niche, you'll love this UTAU.