The Newest Magic: The Gathering Card is… Hatsune Miku?!

05.05.2024 - 16:27 / gamerant.com / Jack Jaegar

While many card games come and go, one that has remained relevant for over two decades is Magic: The Gathering (herein, Magic). Magic has survived the test of time as both a physical and digital tabletop game, with fans that play around the world. One of the reasons it has managed to outlast other card games is that it has managed to stay interesting by adding new cards, including special crossover packs that draw from other popular media. These expansion sets especially keep players interested in the game, releasing them regularly and adding exciting new cards to the game.

On the official Wizards of the Coast website last week, the latest crossover expansion pack to release was revealed, and it was an exciting collaboration rather than original characters. Magic will be doing a special collaboration with VOCALOID Hatsune Miku, a famous and iconic Japanese character. Miku will be available on special cards in four upcoming expansion packs for Magic, each one with unique powers, special artwork, and specific themes.

If you are here because you are a Magic: The Gathering player but don't know exactly who Hatsune Miku is, look no further. Miku is a recognizable and famous character in Japan, but interestingly, is not from anime, manga, movies, or originally even from games. Miku is a VOCALOID, a music development software first created by Crypton Future Media, INC. Using this software, users are able to enable a viritual avatar — a VOCALOID — to sing music that they create and produce.

Hatsune Miku was the original character and voice used by the VOCALOID programs, though now there are several other characters with different voices also available. In the past seventeen years since initially releasing, people around the globe have used Miku to create thousands of original songs, including some that have become extremely popular. She has become the main subject of a music video game series called Project Diva, and even inspired anime like Black Rock Shooter and Kagerou Project. Hatsune Miku has even performed live concerts around the world — well, as live as a computer program can be, as the projects are done through digital projection and holograms.

The collaboration between Magic and Hatsune Miku is a series of four expansion packs that are going to be released in 2024, starting with this first set that will release on May 13th. Each expansion pack will be themed after a different season, with the first being the spring pack. Using spring as an inspiration, the six cards in the first Hatsune Miku expansion pack will all have a sakura, or cherry blossom, theme, called Secret Lair x Hatsune Miku: Sakura Superstar.

The Wizards of the Coast official website reports,

For seventeen years, Hatsune Miku has been