Dwango's "Boka Collection 2026 Summer" ranking exclusion scandal, management apologizes but criticizes vagueness of standards

During the Vocaloid song submission festival ``The VOCALOID Collection 2026 Summer'' held by Dwango from August 20th to 24th, some of the participating songs were removed from the rankings for ``violating the rules,'' but the standards were criticized as ``vague'' and ``excessive regulation,'' and the event was under fire.

Management apologized to X on the 24th, acknowledging that there was a lack of awareness. ``From next time onwards, we will accept re-submissions of modified videos and formulate easy-to-understand guidelines,'' he said, but did not mention any remedial measures for the works that were excluded this time.

VokaColle is a large-scale event where new songs using vocal generation software such as the VOCALOID series are posted all at once on Niconico Douga, and compete in rankings such as ``TOP 100'' and ``Rookie'' for newcomers. There are many creators who attract attention by winning top prizes or having their songs included in games, and it has become one of the gateways to success in Vocaloid P.

The latest controversy was triggered by Vocaloid P Kanade's song ``Zeitgeist'' being excluded from the ``TOP 100'' ranking. The music video for the song used some actual Nintendo 3DS and game footage.

When he was first excluded, he was confused and said, ``It seems like I was excluded from the rankings for some reason.'' On the 23rd, a summary of the response from the management was published, explaining that the reason for the exclusion was that ``the 3DS made by another company was intentionally and proactively used as the main production beyond the scope of reflection'', which violated the terms and conditions. Even if you replace the MV and repost it, you will not be allowed to participate.

There was a lot of backlash from creators against the management's decision, with many pointing out things like ``excessive regulation,'' ``the lines are vague,'' and ``If you don't know what's safe and what's out, you can't release it because you're too scared.''

“As the scale expands, we will tighten the standards for applying rights.”

On August 17th, three days before the event, BokaColle's official X re-announced the terms and conditions stating that those who "infringe the rights of third parties" may be subject to cancellation of participation, but they did not specifically state what kind of performances would be subject to exclusion.

In response to this incident, the management issued a statement on the 24th on X. They acknowledged that they had tightened the standards for rights-related application as the scale of the event expanded, that this measure was a decision made by the management, and that there was insufficient prior notice to strictly apply the terms and conditions, and suggested improvements for next time, but did not mention measures such as reinstatement of the works that were excluded this time in the rankings.

On the same night, Dwango's NicoNico CEO Shigetaka Kurita also posted on X, saying, ``I wasn't able to do it. I'm really sorry,'' and ``I'm a little broken.''