My Favorite Racing Miku Designs

Photo: Good Smile Racing

If you follow Japanese Super GT racing, chances are you are familiar with the Good Smile Racing team. The Good Smile company is primarily involved in the production and sale of figures and toys, usually based on anime, manga, and video games that are popular in Japan. In 2008, Good Smile Company became the primary sponsor of Studie GLAD racing, a BMW team that took part in the GT300 division of the Super GT series. Good Smile used the opportunity to promote their Hatsune Miku merchandise through a licensing partnership with Crypton Future Media, the creator of the Vocaloid software that Hatsune Miku is a mascot for.

In 2010, after Studie took a leave of absence from the series, Good Smile Company formed their own racing team and continued to use Hatsune Miku as a mascot on a Porsche 911 with Team COX as a partner. The team, known as Good Smile Racing, switched back to BMW the following year after Team COX withdrew from the series, and re-entered a partnership with the returning Studie. The partnership between Good Smile Racing and Studie lasted until the end of the 2013 season and both teams went their separate ways. Good Smile Racing fielded a BMW Z4 for 2014 before changing over to its current partner, Mercedes-AMG.

Good Smile Racing won its first GT300 championship in 2011 by winning three out of eight races. They would later win another two championships in 2014 and 2017, becoming one of the most successful Super GT teams in series history. The team is very active on social media, sharing the race atmosphere to fans online, live streaming before and after races, and inviting fans to team parties. Good Smile Racing also employs a distinctive Personal Sponsor System. This system enables fans from all over the world to directly support the team.

Hatsune Miku's design has been adapted into a Racing Queen version for each season since 2010. The following list is my personal ranking of each design from worst to best. All following photos are from the official Good Smile Racing website.

#11 - 2015

This was an interesting year to say the least. It was Good Smile's first year with Mercedes yet it was Mercedes' last year with the SLS. It's most unfortunate that the beginning of this promising partnership kicked off with what I believe is the worst Racing Miku design. It doesn't look like her at all. The hair is far too spiky and something about the face is just off.

#10 - 2010

Like 2015, this version suffers mainly by not really looking like how Hatsune Miku is depicted in other media. I think the orange suit is also throwing me off.

#9 - 2011

Not a bad design. All the right colors are there, her face just has no personality. It must also be noted that this design was on the car that won Good Smile Racing's first championship.

#8 - 2020

I'm not a fan of the chibi style going on here. I always pictured Hatsune Miku as being around 16 or 17. Here she looks like she's either 13 or 14. The outfit is kind of odd, too.

#7 - 2016

2016 put the Good Smile Racing drivers into a Mercedes AMG GT3 for the first time. It also saw the return of the orange Racing Miku outfit. This design is also a little too chibi for my taste, but not as bad as 2020's. I think this design makes a better use of orange than 2010.

#6 - 2014

Remember what I said earlier about Hatsune Miku's age? Well, here she looks like she's about 23. It's a very different aesthetic that this time I think goes too far in the other direction.

#5 - 2012

All the right colors are there. Not a bad looking outfit either. We're definitely heading in the right direction now.

#4 - 2013

When someone mentions Hatsune Miku to you, this is most likely what you see in your mind. Great design all around.

#3 - 2017

First of all, I really like this one. It's easily my favorite of the softer edged designs. The outfit is adorable and her face is full of life. My only problem is I'm not sure people would recognize her without the Good Smile and Crypton logos. Her hair here is just a little too green that I don't think it will click with the majority of people that it's supposed to be her.

#2 - 2018

This design fixes the previous one by adding a bit more blue to her hair. She also has one of the more unique outfits of the bunch.

#1 - 2019

And here is my favorite Racing Miku design. Everything is spot on. Great hair. Great face. Awesome outfit. No doubt in anyone's mind who this is.

That's it for my list. Which Racing Miku design is your favorite? I'd love to know!