I'm getting on the train . . .
. . . to get to INABAKUMORI station.
" What is an INABAKUMORI? "
wait, you haven't heard?
well i can tell you on the way there!
INABAKUMORI is a VOCALOID producer who has been active since 2016 (2011 under a different alias). He is most known for using VOCALOID Kaai Yuki in the majority of his songs, often collaborating with illustrator Nukunuku Nigirimeshi who draws/animates for his MVs.
In recent years, he has cemented a spot as a well-known Vocalo-P amongst the community starting 2020 onwards. He generally falls under Jrock/Jpop genres, albeit occasionally incorporates traditional Japanese instrumentals into his music. He is regarded by his fans as having a very distinct sound, with his lyrics often carrying a philosophical/melancholy tone.
Michou-P (a.k.a "INABAPUKARI") was INABAKUMORI's first alias in which he began to release his music on the platform Nico Nico Douga. His very first (listed) upload was on 09/01/2011.
funnily enough, his first upload wasn't even a song it's just a talkloid using kagamine rin and it's like . what are we doing here.
????? like okay man .
Inaba's first songs as "Michou" were actually joke songs, with his first listed track being "It's too early for me" (rough translation) with Kagamine Rin and Len uploaded 12 days later. His first "serious" song is unclear as most of his earlier works have since been deleted, however for some time it was "○＆●" that was his earliest "actual" work.
... Until he deleted that as well 💀 so as of NOW MARCH 7TH 2025 it seems to be "What can I leave behind in this decaying world?", uploaded on 03/22/2012.
During the Michou era, he actually never used Yuki: his primarily used voicebanks back then were actually the Kagamines (with the occasional VY1). Additionally, the art shown in his MVs were of his own.
His last upload as Michou was on 10/15/2014, titled "2m".
you know upon further thinking this means that bro began his whole career at 16 even as a joke what the hell
ok i'm gonna be honest idk what this man was doing in between 2014 and 2016 but these tracks seemed to fit more within his much older style. also the crunch. take this with a grain of salt.
INABAKUMORI has a few SoundCloud accounts, the first one appearing to be one under his romanized AND stylized name, containing three tracks that he himself hasn't uploaded to his official YouTube channel.
see here's where i think it is likely the tracks themselves are simply reuploaded, considering the date of which they were uploaded (5 years ago) wherein inaba's style at the time (2020) was MUCH MORE different than what these songs offered i think it's safe to say that these were actually from a much earlier time and- hey are you still listening to me
WE'RE FINALLY HERE BABYYYYYYY
This is the Vocalo-P the community is now more familiar with, posting his music online under "INABAKUMORI" this time not just on NND but now on YouTube as well. His return to the Vocaloid scene was marked with "Secret Music" ft. Kaai Yuki on 02/22/2016. It is here where his overall aesthetic/niche as a producer was cemented, now using the Yuki voicebank as well the running theme of grey in his MVs.
On 02/27/2018, he uploaded "Lost Umbrella", the first video where he collaborated with Nukunuku Nigirimeshi - up until then was he still illustrating for his own MVs. A few years later, on 07/16/2020, he released "Lagtrain", which quickly blew up in popularity. Simultaneously, "Lost Umbrella" became a widely used sound on Tiktok around 2020-2021, which caused his video on YouTube to also blow up by proxy. As of now, both tracks have become representational of his work, both sitting at a whopping 72M views.
Due to his primary use with Yuki's voicebank, INABAKUMORI has released two songs using her celebrating her official release (12/04/2009), with Secret Elementary School Student" in 2018 and his current latest upload on his channel, "Ipace" in 2024.
i'm not gonna lie i'm 100% certain this guy was singlehandedly responsible for raising yuki's popularity in present time like she was NICHE niche back then, VERY few producers used her and even then she was definitely NOT used as much as she is nowadays. i say this because he made her shoot up to be one of my top favorite voicebanks
Despite being the Yuki guy, INABAKUMORI has actually used a variety of different voicebanks for his songs every now and then. Aside from celebrating Yuki's anniversary, he has also celebrated MEIKA Hime's release, a much more recent voicebank with "a flower waiting for the wind" on 07/04/2020. Additionally, he was responsible for the demo songs of Tsurumaki Maki's Synthesizer V voicebank ("Loneliness of Spring" in 2021) and the nagiβ + Kazehikiβ voicebanks ("A Desire for Leeway" in 2023).
Bigger projects he has partaken in as a producer was being commissioned to write songs for the Hatsune Miku x Pokémon collab Project VOLTAGE (2023) and VOCALOID rhythm game Project Sekai (2024), releasing "Electricity Forecast" and "I am Rain" respectively. Additionally, he remixed fellow producer iyowa's "Journey's Ends, Journey's Prequels" for Project VOLTAGE as well.
As of now, he has released two independent albums, the first being "Anticyclone" (2019) and then 3 years later "Weather Station" (2022).
okay guys i know i just talked about this guy's albums but the next section pertains to compilation albums he's been a part of and i'mmm only gonna link the stuff i actually like or else i'm gonna be yapping here forever alright? okay.
