Fans are furious after the recent North American Miku Expo events featured the virtual diva Hatsune Miku on a flat-screen TV instead of projected on glass to create a hologram effect which has been done in the past.

The entire North American Miku Expo which is “powered by Crunchyroll” has been blasted on Twitter. Instead of a full concert experience, concert-goers were treated to understocked merch vendors, expensive tickets, and most importantly a flat-screen TV where Miku would host her concert.

The entire stage at one event was dedicated to a TV that looks absolutely tiny in comparison, and the live band providing the accompaniment for the vocals was relegated to a literal cage in the corner.

“Free Miku” this and “Free Miku” that. What about her poor live band???? They’re doing SO MUCH HEAVY LIFTING after the rest of the mayhem around this show and they’re CAGED! 😢 #MIKUEXPO2024 pic.twitter.com/NQlknCjp3k

— Mary Woodard (@WritingWoodard) April 7, 2024

Tickets for the upcoming Phoenix, Arizona concerts range from $55 to $215, though if it’s another TV then the general admission in the standing area are ironically going to have the best seats to actually see the concert.

Previously, Miku Expo featured the titular character appearing on stage as a hologram. Despite the technology being used as far back as 8 years ago, it seems Crunchyroll considers the technology as prohibitively expensive, or maybe they just don’t think Miku’s fans are worth it. Based on the fact that the Vancouver concert reportedly only had 95 glowsticks stocked, we guess Crunchyroll was pessimistic about the turn out, or ill-prepared (or frankly, both).

For a comparison, you can check out Miku as a hologram in the 2018 Los Angeles concert below.

For the time being, fans are considering their legal options as they feel they were lied to by event organizers. Concert goers report being told that they needed to get the specific event lightstick or else it will reflect off the hologram (despite there being no hologram). They were also blocked from reselling their tickets on Ticketmaster. To top it all off, the fact that a TV was being used instead of a hologram was allegedly kept a secret from event goers until they arrived.

Some attendees created a Change.org petition in order to share their frustrations and collect evidence and firsthand accounts of the events.