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Be warned all who enter here! If you came looking for an objective list based on some popularity rating or sales criteria, you came to the wrong place! This list is completely subjective and a little fangirly, but I still hope you find a couple of things that are worth your time, anyway. Also, sorry in advance if some of the previews are region blocked for your area. MUCC ・ 脈拍 ・ VISUAL KEI My entire 2017 really goes to MUCC, hands down. They took their 20th anniversary celebration and did it so big, I don’t think we’ll see any other band go to this lengths in quite some time. They re-released, re-recorded, and re-mastered most of their fan favorites between 新痛絶(Shin Tsuuzetsu), 新葬ラ謳(Shin Homura Uta), a second edition of their Best of and Coupling Best discs, a second PV collection, a tribute album, a self-cover album, and then there was this little gem of new material: 脈拍(Myakuhaku). No wonder as soon as it was over they unapologetically announced they’d be going on hiatus for 3 months. They deserve a break, to say the very least. But I digress! Myakuhaku may have been a bit lost in all the excitement for MUCC revisiting their roots, but it’s definitely something new and old fans alike can enjoy. The opening title track is clear and direct in its message, MUCC haven’t forgotten where they came from. They turned back time and stripped down to the quintessential visual kei heavy and melodic combination that gave the band the height of it’s popularity a little over 10 years ago. They then took that staple and folded into the mix of anime songs, ballads, and more recent metalcore-infused forays with this album. One of my favorite tracks is “EMP” since it's a total nu metal throwback. It has my 90s-lovin' name written all over it. There’s a lot of other fun musical nuggets packed in this album, “BILLY×2 ～Entwines ROCK STARS～” is a gritty little old fashioned rocker that gets you up and moving, and “孵化(Fuka)” is a surprise mid-tempo number that swells up into this crazy breakdown then veers hard left into a weird (but good) twangy guitar solo. You can tell MUCC pushed themselves to create something great for us and in my humble opinion they more than succeeded. I couldn't get enough of this album this year and, Mucker or not, I hope everyone checks it out. | Preview: Spotify MONSTA X ・ THE CLAN PART 2.5: THE FINAL CHAPTER 'BEAUTIFUL' ・ K-POP I think there were a few of my fellow MH members around in late 2016 who might remember when I fell down the MONSTA X rabbit hole and proceeded to become utterly obsessed. For most that probably don’t know, my love of K-Pop predates my registering for this forum, in fact one of my first avatars was of Chansung from the group 2PM with the u/n “digitalbounce” (also from a K-Pop song). But, it’s been a few years since I was this into a group. MONSTA X aren’t the most popular group around, though I think as far as third generation boy groups are concerned they usually make the top ten lists. Even then, I still consider them criminally underrated. The third installment of their The Clan trilogy is their strongest release to date, as far as I’m concerned. And even stronger if you count in the repackage version Shine Forever that includes two more songs (the last .5 in the final chapter). The majority of Beautiful leans heavily on R&B (“넘사벽 Incomparable”, “니가 필요해 Need U”, “Miss You”, “5:14 (Last Page)”) which creates just enough contrast with, but also compliments, the hip hop songs (“Oi”, “Calm Down”) that take advantage of the group having rappers that actually know how to rap. Last.fm doesn’t even have a true count of my plays (my phone's music app didn’t scrobble until recently when I made the switch to spotify), but it’ll still show you I played this album basically every day since it came out. Rest assured, I regret nothing. | Preview: Spotify -真天地開闢集団-ジグザグ ・ 『メンヘラ』はじめました ・ VISUAL KEI Zigzag makes me wish I was slightly more motivated to look up and translate lyrics, because I know I'm missing out on a lot when it comes to them. I can only imagine I’d like them even more, which is saying something because I have enjoyed everything I’ve heard from them over the last two years. I also have a huge soft spot for bands that don’t take themselves too seriously. Zigzag's tunes are pretty rockin’ to begin with, but when the band decides to get serious about showing off their musical prowess it's definitely no laughing matter. Their take on soft, melodic songs is simply beautiful, especially fitting with the traditional elements and instruments that are the backbone of their religious/idolatry concepts. Talent and humor? What’s not to love? I chose 『メンヘラ』はじめました(menhara hajimemashita) over their other release 糞麺氏ね(kusomen shine) this year only because it seemed slightly more musically cohesive, but I love them both and enjoyed them both immensely. | Preview: - 臨兵闘者 ～皆陣列在前～ ・ 『死にたい』御年頃 ・ 短絡的『絶望』 PVRIS ・ ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN, ALL WE NEED OF HELL ・ ALTERNATIVE I wasn’t a big fan at first, it took a while for Pvris to stick with me. They came to me heavily recommended over the last couple of years, I checked a couple of videos, caught a couple songs live at summer festivals, but I just never seemed to be in the mood for what they were offering. I honestly didn’t get the hype. They seemed like another try-hard edgelord band ✞øø ℂvℓ✞ ƒøЯ ✞ℍîƧ ᏔøЯℓ∂. But this year it was different, I’m not sure if they matured more, or maybe it was just my tastes changing as well. But our paths crossed, and it's become a record I find myself spinning more and more often, even as we reached the year's end. I'm sure it will be coming with me into 2018. Even though the title might suggest otherwise, this album is a lot less gimmick-y than expected. It's direct and raw in it's delivery, and densely atmospheric without getting overly cliché. It ends up being a strong rock record that's still dark, but full of heart too. | Preview: Spotify EARTHISTS. ・ DREAMSCAPE ・ PROGRESSIVE METALCORE Dreamscape was an early favorite this year and managed to stay afloat while most of my other usual metalcore bands didn’t quite do it for me. It’s probably more me than them though, with all the shit going on around here lately it’s best I don’t get too amped up. But Earthists have this nice cohesion of their melodic and djent-y elements that make them easy to listen to. They do little things like adding piano into the mix or samples of wind blowing in the background that keep their take on the genre fresh and inspired and round out their sound. “Flux” and “Winterfell” are two favorites that I keep coming back to just for that damn cool piano riffing -- and it's not a cheap-ass synth piano either, it's a deep traditional, classical-sounding one full of punch and reverb (it’s likely a digital one but it sounds expensive and that’s what counts!). I’m just a little bitter it doesn’t look like they play it live, though it understandably doesn’t look as cool and progressive to be rocking out over as say, a guitar or whatever. | Preview: Spotify HYUKOH ・ 23 ・ INDIE ROCK Oh, Hyukoh. Another band who had a fabulous year. Hyukoh is the formal project of leader and chief song-writer Oh Hyuk (doyouseewhathedidthere), who decided a few years ago he was tired of going at it solo and opted to get himself a band. You really can’t hold this guy down, he collaborated on a massive number of albums this year, and I can’t blame everyone for wanting to work with him when his husky voice is this magical. It suits so many genres, I don’t get tired of listening to him either. 23 was a bit of a grower for me, hearing the singles alone didn’t spark much of my interest. It took listening to the full album for me to fully understand what they ‘do’. It’s not as in your face or flashy as some of the indie rock I’m used to, but Hyukoh’s style still keeps a common thread as it weaves through funky, retro vibes or the more experimental journeys like "Reserved Seat", not losing their emotional edge. “Tomboy” and “Paul” practically move me to tears with the melancholy that cuts through Oh Hyuk’s voice. I like Hyukoh so much, they’ve even gotten me to enjoy the folk-inspired side of their music I usually make an effort to avoid from other bands. | Preview: Spotify DAY6 ・ SUNRISE ・ POP ROCK As South Korea’s music industry grows, it has picked up a lot of tips and tricks from the ginormous music exporting machine next door, Japan. We’ve seen 12 month consecutive releases attempted a few times now in the vk scene, so when it was announced a K-pop band would be trying it, I was extremely curious how it was gonna pan out. Fortunately, it did rather well and DAY6 released singles containing two quality tracks month after month (on the 6th because “Every DAY6” was genius marketing) which ended up collected in two full albums; SUNRISE came out in June and MOONRISE in December. Both albums are fantastic, but we’ll just go with SUNRISE for now because I can’t afford them multiple slots. But if you enjoy this album, SERIOUSLY, go listen to MOONRISE. DAY6 are a rock group from one of the 'big 3' idol companies JYP Entertainment (whose stubborn asses refuse to allow their artists’ music on Spotify and piss me off to no end), so their music isn’t necessarily ground breaking, but they do write it all themselves, play their instruments live, and basically function like your typical rock band. Though their songs are generally non-offensive relationship material (meet the girl, confess love to the girl, get dumped by the girl, wait for next girl to walk by…) they do know how to pour all of their emotion into it, and their layered vocals and compositions often remind me of The Beatles and/or other multi-vocalist 60s pop rock. | Preview: I Wait (아 왜) ・ I Smile (반드시 웃는다) ・ You Were Beautiful (예뻤어) ザアザア ・ 不幸な迷路 ・ VISUAL KEI My love for XAA-XAA isn’t really a secret. They’ve become a flagship band for me, though I’m worried about their future since drummer Roji’s departure. Drums are such a key part of their sound due to him, it makes this album even more special in my collection. Considering I've been following the members since they were Belmosaic, seeing him leave is just a huge blow. He's gonna be missed. As far as XAA-XAA releases go, this isn't the album I tend to return to the most, but listening to it again for this list reminded me of the quality compared to other albums I was considering. It still ends up being one of my favorite vk releases this year. Aptly titled, 不幸な迷路 translates to “unfortunate maze” and likewise this album is dark and twisted, even downright psychotic at times. Though, one thing I love about this band is no matter how crazy or erratic they get, catchy and melodic choruses remain paramount. The mayhem is balanced out with gorgeous ballads and fun jazzy numbers. XAA-XAA's diversity and strong sense of melody is something you can count on with each release so far. I only hope it remains that way. | Preview: 不幸の始まり ・ ぐちゃぐちゃ ・ 恋人ごっこ SAWANOHIROYUKI[NZK] ・ 2V-ALK ・ J-POP If you were waiting for something truly epic to come out of 2017, look no further. Sawano has outdone himself and created something that should be able to please the rockers, the pop kids, the anison lovers, and anyone who just enjoys badass music with some badass vocals soaring over it. It doesn’t hurt that I’m a pretty big fan of the vocalists he utilizes throughout this project. My only complaint is there was less Mizuki (ex.イツエ(Itsue)) than the previous [nZk] album o1, but newcomer Tielle carries the torch well and sings her ass off. So I can’t say I’m too upset. Judging by the amount of anime themes on this record, you probably heard her sing half the OP/EDs you watched this year too. Sawano is sneaky and has 2V-ALK lull you into a bit of a false sense of security at first, “Amazing Trees” is a strong album starter but not a stretch from o1. It’s when “gravityWall” kicks in that you learn you're in for a rollercoaster ride. This album is more female-fronted than previous releases as well, but it works for me. Even as someone who is a lot pickier when it comes to higher range singers nothing got too nasally or tin-y for my tastes, even with all the over-the-top belting going on. Overall, 2V-ALK is big, beautiful, slickly produced, and something you can become totally immersed in listening to. I don’t have words to express how much I love this album. Just play it, and play it really loud! | Preview: Spotify EPIK HIGH ・ WE'VE DONE SOMETHING WONDERFUL ・ HIP HOP Anyone who’s spent maybe a few minutes looking into Korean hip hop should be familiar with Epik High. They’ve been killing the game there for the last 15 years and continue to be one of the most relevant hip hop units out of Korea. They deserve to be globally relevant at this point, but I’m just gonna have to stay bitter about that for now. Not only have Epik High put out album after album of quality material, they go out of their way to work with the next generation of urban music artists and help cultivate the scene. Epik High keep a pretty classic, old school style but they know how to get dark, gritty, and emotional when the song calls for it. “HERE COME THE REGRETS” featuring vocal powerhouse Lee Hi is one of my favorites-- a definite stand out for the album. But so is “노땡큐 / NO THANXXX” because everyone needs to hear Tablo yelling “I AM GROOT! MOTHERFUCKER!” to add some extra badassery to their day. And Hyukoh lovers can also catch ya boy Oh Hyuk lending his smokey vocals to "빈차 / HOME IS FAR AWAY". I told you he was everywhere. | Preview: Spotify It was a weird year. I had a few more J-Pop albums I really liked: REOL's エンドレスEP (so sad they're disbanding, they were a killer match up), Junho of 2PM's 2017 S/S, and Miyavi's Samurai Sessions Vol.2, but 10 was a good place to stop and I wanted to give albums I actually played the most a priority regardless of country of origin. What did you guys like last year? What releases are you looking forward to in 2018?

Continuing their tradition of rearranging and rerecording their old tracks, cali≠gari will release their new self-cover mini album "3" in spring. They will commemorate the release with a double gig at Shinjuku LOFT on 2018/03/14 (first concert starts at 18.00, second one at 20.30). Unfortunately I could not find the actual release date of the mini album itself, only something about a general sale starting at 02/24 (but I suspect that's for the live tickets). 3 tracklist 01. 破れた電報 (Yabureta denpou) 02. 新宿ヱレキテル (Shinjuku Elekiter) 03. コバルト (Cobalt) 04. 君と僕 (Kimi to boku) 05. 空も笑ってる (Sora mo waratteru) 06. 腐った魚 (Kusatta sakana) Here's the complete blurb from their site. The band will also release another self-cover mini album titled "4" with jazz-style rearrangements of some of their previous songs. Both "3" and "4" should be simultaneously available in stores from 2018/04/25. 4 tracklist (tentative and not in order) ・ 誘蛾灯 (Yuugatou) ・ さよなら、スターダスト (Sayonara, Stardust) ・ 君が咲く山 (Kimi ga saku yama) ・ 月光ドライブ (Gekkou Drive) ・ わずらい (Wazurai) More info on "4" here.

Jiluka announced three things at the oneman today and one of those is the release of their first full album in August! They will also host their first Shusai live, that is, they host it and get to decide on the guests, on April 22nd. Their next oneman, "B birthday festival 2018" (Boogie's oneman birthday live) will be on 4/8 (Sun) at Yotsuya LOTUS. Ticket sale starts on January 20th.

For those who haven't noticed, Mako will act as a special guest at Schwarz Stein's oneman live at Shibuya REX on February 25, 2018. Kaya also mentioned in his twitter that it's only a "prologue" (whatever it means) (upd: it meant only the new release for SS and their autumn tour). Anyway seems like this time there'll be a continuation of the story (upd: nah, there wasn't xD) The last time I started a separate topic about it someone moved it to SS 15th anniversary discussion as insignificant, so I think I'll just leave it here.

| Old scars never fade, old habits die hard Throw those DECADE-compilations out and replace them with this. Let me be clear about one thing: those compilations were trash. The covers were ugly as sin and the track selection, despite sharing many similarities to Vestige of Scratches, gave the impression that the band spent a week figuring out the details because they forgot about their anniversary. They literally scraped the bottom of the barrel to come up with enough content - the fact that "audrey", a butchered version of "Deity", "Repetition of Hatred", and "Jealous -Reverse-" are on it is telling enough - and most of them felt like copy-paste jobs trying to hide the lack of effort. Most of all, it didn't highlight DIR EN GREY at their best and did the band disservice as a 'best-of'. It seems like the band agrees with me, because Vestige of Scratches is everything those DECADE albums wish they could be. Before the hype train leaves the station, this compilation is far from perfect. Like much of DIR EN GREY's career, Vestige of Scratches is defined by its peculiar choices. Some are baffling, while others are smart. They come together in a frustrating combination that is uniquely DIR EN GREY. Let's start with the tracks that were chosen; we have at our disposal the single version of "脈" (Myaku); "罪と規制" (Tsumi to Kisei), the censored version of the remake of "蜜と唾" (Tsumi to Batsu); the version of "腐海" (Fukai) they've been playing live for some time (interesting); a new version of "THE IIID EMPIRE"; the reinterpretations of "羅刹国" (Rasetsukoku) [ew], "OBSCURE" [no], "かすみ" (Kasumi) [sure], "THE FINAL" [ok], "残" (Zan) [eh], and "霧と繭" (Kiri to Mayu) [ugh...]; the single version of "CLEVER SLEAZOID" [good!]; the choice to end the album on a reworked version of "Beautiful Dirt" out of all 200+ songs in their discography [wtf why]; the exclusion of "GARDEN" [what a tragedy]; and then minor adjustments to most other post-VULGAR tracks featured which work for the most part. We can already see this isn't the standard cash-grab version of a best album and that a proper sitting would be very rewarding, so I can only suggest you do that and start from "-I'll-". Controversial opinion coming in hot here, but the production job is fantastic across all three discs. Some may disagree, but I find that I need time to adjust to a new production job before I can assess if I like the changes. There have been many albums I panned for 'inferior production values' that I eventually came to prefer. Sloppy production has always been one of DIR EN GREY's weaknesses, especially for the visual-era stuff which hasn't held up over time, so some of the older tracks have a second lease on life. GAUZE has never sounded so clean, there's a 12-string in "脈" that I've never heard, and some of the tracks from DUM SPIRO SPERO are actually listenable now that the bass isn't obnoxious. I'd pay good money to have all their albums past and future worked like this. The way the album is structured is frustrating to describe. What at first seems like a chronological trek through their eras turns into anything but by the third disc. The first disc is an ode to their entire visual history, featuring songs from pre-GAUZE to 鬼葬 (Kisou), plus a bonus in "腐海 2018". New "腐海" sounds good, and I like it's inclusion as a way to preserve it. I'd spin it a few times, but it won't replace the original version for me. Every other song on this disc was just remastered. I'm surprised at the inclusion of "太陽の蒼" (Taiyou no Ao), since I thought Kyo hated that song, but like a few other inclusions it's here because its a single. The second disc dips back into 鬼葬 with "JESSICA", nods at six Ugly with "umbrella," and then focuses mostly on VULGAR through UROBOROS. Nothing from the disastrous UROBOROS [Remastered & Expanded] makes an appearance, which is a blessing. Personally speaking, I would have dropped "CHILD PREY" for "AMBER," "朔-saku-" for "Machiavellism," and thrown in the reinterpretation of "undecided". Disc 2 ends with a new version of "THE IIID EMPIRE" which is pretty lit and one of their more successful retakes. Disc 3 is where most of the meat lies and unfortunately most of it is displeasing to my ears. It's packed with most of their earlier reinterpretations, many hit or miss, most of which I'd have left on the table if it were solely my choice. This is where my lack of frustration with the exclusion of "undecided" comes from, as I would have rotated out "羅刹国" (Rasetsukoku), "OBSCURE", or "霧と繭" (Kiri to Mayu) for it, the PV version of "OBSCURE", and the version of "Bottom of the death valley" from THE UNRAVELING. I would have also killed for a reinterpretation of "秒｢｣深" (Byou ｢｣ Shin) from six Ugly, or a proper version of "Hydra -666-" with more gutturals and less screaming. After comes the salvageable parts of DUM SPIRO SPERO, including a version of "激しさと、この胸の中で絡み付いた灼熱の闇" (Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami) superior to the album version, but not quite what the original single sounded like, a condensed serving of ARCHE, "詩踏み" (Utafumi), and then ends on a very random note with "Beautiful Dirt". Not quite sure why they set it up this way. Maybe the unfinished feeling to Vestige of Scratches is intentional, but either way DIR EN GREY have collated a collection album worth the shelf space for any serious fan. It may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than I expected it to be. At the very least, I can argue that it's a better alternative than importing GAUZE if you don't already own it. If DIR EN GREY attack 2018 the way MUCC took 2017, we may have an interesting year ahead of us. Support the artist CDJapan

Ricko screamed the candles out! I can't stop laughing!!!

Thanks to the support of many fans, MangaHelpers were able to team up with a major Japanese publisher named amucomi. That has agreed to let MangaHelpers help localize and publish their titles. MangaHelpers been involved the entire process. From localization, to marketing to getting the manga on various platforms. All on the legal way, and all digital, each release will be published as an e-book on Amazon and other platforms. MangaHelpers also partnered up with GlobalComix who also helped MangaHelpers. Without their help, MangaHelpers wouldn't be where it is now. GlobalComix created an incredible new web service and MangaHelpers using this opportunity to help kick it off. MangaHelpers told amucomi that there's a need for professionally localized content. Content where those involved get paid - and it's no longer, just by fans. But fans with benefits . And right now amucomi take's a chance to trust MangaHelpers You can find more about this project in this news post You can find the new forum featuring the manga we've already localized. Read this thread to find out how you can help! Unlock more free manga by helping share / like the manga found here too. Published series so far: [BoysLove 12+] My Childhood Friend... with Benefits! [Shojo 12+] The Love Lesson's in Session [Shojo 12+] Tonight My Sister and I... [BoysLove 12+] Mr. Sakashita's Tough Love [Shojo 12+] Age 31 - First Boyfriend [Shojo 12+] It All Started with a Sexy Interview [Shojo 12+] 3LoveDK - Immoral Roommates [Shounen 12+] Death Game ～The Captive 24～ Kiss and Oby I love you Bye-Bye A Love To Change me You're a liar sir A childhood friend doesn't hold back I’ll Keep Your Secret (I won't tell anyone) My First Time With A Guy After School Kunoichi The Beast Prince and the Risky Prince Series can be bought at Amazon.com and be paid read at GlobalComix. (If you don't live in the USA/Germany/Japan) (countries who don't support Amazon global) You should change your country to the USA or something. Then you can purchase with no worries ebooks/manga on amazon If you have bought one of the series, please write a review on Amazon if you are able to do so. SERIE BANNERS ___________________________ However do people here read "legal" manga e-books? I never purchased one myself, I'm still more of, I want to hold the manga in my hands. ______________________________________ Buy on Amazon My Childhood Friend... with Benefits! (Complete) Vol.1 | Vol. 2 The Love Lesson's in Session (Complete) Vol.1 | Vol. 2 | Vol.3 | Vol. 4 Tonight My Sister and I... (Complete) | Vol.1 | Vol. 2 | Vol.3 | Vol. 4 | Vol.5 | Vol. 6 | Vol.7 | Vol. 8 | Vol.9 Mr. Sakashita's Tough Love (Complete) Vol.1 | Vol. 2 Age 31 - First Boyfriend (Completed) Vol.1 | Vol. 2 | Vol.3 | Vol. 4 | Vol.5 | Vol.6 | Vol.7 | Vol.8 It All Started with a Sexy Interview (completed) Vol.1 | Vol. 2 | Vol.3 | Vol. 4 | Vol.5 | Vol.6 | Vol. 7 | Vol.8 | Vol.9 | Vol.10 3LoveDK - Immoral Roommates (Completed?) Vol.1 | Vol. 2 | Vol.3 | Vol. 4 | Vol.5 | Vol. 6 | Vol.7 | Vol.8 | Vol.9 | Vol.10 | Vol.11 | Vol. 12 | Vol. 13 | Vol. 14 | Vol. 15 | Vol. 16 | Vol. 17 | Vol. 18 | Vol. 19 Death Game ～The Captive 24～ (Complete) Vol.1 | Vol.2 Kiss And Obey (ONE-SHOT) Vol. 1 Kiss And Obey 2 (ONESHOT) Vol. 1 | I love you Bye-Bye Vol. 1 | Vol.2 | Vol.3 | Vol.4 | Vol.5 | Vol.6 You are a liar sir (Completed) Vol. 1 | Vol.2 | Vol.3 | Vol.4 | Vol.5 A love to change me (Completed) Vol. 1 | Vol.2 | Vol.3 | A childhood friend doesn't hold back (Completed) Vol.1 | Vol 2 | Vol 3 | Vol. 4 | Vol. 5 | I’ll Keep Your Secret (I won't tell anyone) (Completed) vol1 | vol2 | vol3 | vol4 | Vol. 5 | Vol. 6 My First Time With A Guy (Boylove!) Vol.1 | Vol 2 After School Kunoichi Vol.1 | Vol 2 The Beast Prince and the Risky Prince Vol.1 | Vol 2

Eins:Vier self-cover best album "Self Cover Best 2018 Searching Red Light" will be released at 2018/03/14 (2 types) Live-limited edition (12000yen) will include CD (10 tracks), DVD including "Eins:Vier One Man Live 2017 “Searching For Me”@ Meguro Rock May Kan LIVE DIGEST, 32-page booklet, goods (Original Squoche - Reprinted Version Logo Sticker - Original A6 Clear File Tour2018 "Searching For You" Lamination Pass / Member signed Cheki included), and will be in a special sleeve case Regular edition (3240yen) will include CD (10 tracks, with different track 10) and 8-page booklet only 1.Dear Song 2.In your dream 3.メロディー 4.Notice 5.Not saved yet 6.Words for Mary 7.花の声 8.Nursery tale 9.碧い涙 10.I feel that she will come [regular edition only] 10..In a void space [live-limited edition only]

After departure of Ba.楓華 (Fuka) at 2017/12/13, DatuRΛ Gu.ギル (Gill) will switch to Ba. at their live at Takadanobaba AREA at 2018/1/19. Because of this, support Ba.紗葵 (Saki) (ex-ERG†IRE-->SALIVAN) will cease to act as support.

Todays setlist for Ricko and Zyean’s birthday oneman: Also I’m very excited for their new release, I’ve been waiting for a full album

I suck at writing about music, but maybe I'll try it

Thanks for the list, I wanna listen to different things in 2018 do this will be a good place to start! For me 2017 was a great year since all my favorite bands released albums or at least really good singles. I didn't check a lot of non v-kei releases though and in terms of kpop I tried exo's last album and didn't like it as much as their previous EXODUS. I was also going to try Red Velvet and Black Pink but haven't got to it yet.

Everybody loves Mucc isn't?! I never got into them, and I guess I also never will. Back in the days I didn't like the "voice" of the vocalist, but I've no clue if I still think so. With bands who are already so long on the picture it holds me somehow back to listen to them. Even if it only need to be "one" release. I've seen more people writing about zigzag, always their news topics are full of people who are happy with a new release. And now also you says they released something good. Which makes me also wonder, shall I try it. for XAA-XAA To be honest I also do like this band, however somehow I don't even "care" to check out their releases. I never thought that they are "super" good. But they are surely a nice band. But since I didn't listen to the album (I did DL, but I did deleted from my PC, I guess? wtf) I wonder if I shall push myself to check it out again. since they do have some nice songs. As I said in my own review, I don't really know how good 2018 would have been for me. I only did listen to a few bands and didn't really care to check out other band music. But I still believe that 2018 wouldn't be a too bad year if I would have checked out every release I could check. K-pop / other music of the west. I don't care to check it out, somehow I'm only from the "Japanese" releases only. Sometimes I do listen to Eminem or Itchy Poopzkid(German punk/rock/alternative band) but that's it. While my brother is very much K-pop lately. He is such big fan of TWICE. (=_=)/// An today I did read that TWICE is damn popular in Japan. (no wonder why it was easy to buy a bunch of CD's of them while I was in Tokyo)

I also can't read all Kanji/katakana, however I've figured out the tracklist CD NAME: べリアル Tracklist: 01. EXORCISM 02. SINGIN in THE REIGN 03. エミリアの土曜日 (Emilia no doyoubi) 04. VENOM 05. Pupa 06. 桜流し (Sakura Nagashi) 07. Ghost Labyrinth 08. defective scene (Only in regular version) 08. Shallow 「P'」 (Only in Limited edition) 09. RISE 10. TONIGHT DVD 「Pupa Music Clip」 + 「Music Clip offshot」

Some pre-DEG stuff: http://warasibe.co.jp/detail.php?ec=10007646 A live video by La:Sadie's that's not one of the "big three"? Also, a PV? http://warasibe.co.jp/detail.php?ec=10007644 La:Sadie's versions of ZAN and Setsuna? Also mentioned here, along with 鏡死 and 刺ノ刻, whatever those songs are. http://warasibe.co.jp/detail.php?ec=10007645 The famous Kuroyume cover. Don't know from which date, though. Could be the February pre-DEG concert or a later... This guy says that one of Kyo's earlier bands covered the song as well, and that he has a tereko of the performance, but won't share it... love the scene, really http://warasibe.co.jp/detail.php?ec=10007643 Not sure what this is. In general, the whole Gesshoku discography is a little confusing^^ http://warasibe.co.jp/detail.php?ec=10007642 Allegedly, they're live tracks, but... well, no idea if they exist. Also mentioned here. Leaked La:Sadie's lives: 14.08.1996 - Kumagaya Vogue (one song leaked) 16.08.1996 - Niigata Odo-Hall 20.08.1996 - 市川CLUB GIO ( two songs leaked) 29.08.1996 - Osaka AMhall (completely leaked, often mislabeled as LS' last live) Also, from DEG's Mousou~ VHS tapes and their VOS documentary, we know that most, if not all of their indies concerts were actually recorded on camera. I also have to correct an earlier statement regarding Kiri to Mayu and Sangeki no Yoru: The actual story is that one day before DEG began recording MISSA, Kyo was told to change the lyrics for Sangeki no Yoru. The band considered removing the song from the EP for that reason, but decided against it since Kiri to Mayu, as it was now called, was the first song the fans were to hear so it was important. And something y'all probably didn't know: Karma was actually supposed to be on MISSA as well, but was not included due to the same reasons. Both songs were later included on the Kaede VHS. Which brings me to another fact: If your Kaede Crystal Video Box has blood on its back, it's Shinya's. He cut himself while packing the boxes (which the band had to do themselves). Although it's unclear how many boxes they packed, after all, there are 10k copies^^

Dr.Mar is ex-Crecien de Rona-->ティアラ (Tiara)-->Faust-->gossip-->7Addict-->D'efend Chroma(雅美/Masami)

Another note on "2007~2017": the shakuhachi on "Etsu to utsu" makes me CUM.

Mako will perform as a special guest at their one-man on 25th February again! Also Kaya mentioned in his twitter that it's only a "prologue".

Vocal : Hiro (https://twitter.com/verxina_hiro) [Ex-Varyl] Guitar : Coco (https://twitter.com/verxina_Coco) Guitar : Kaie (https://twitter.com/verxina_KAIE) Bass : Zikuru (https://twitter.com/verxina_zikiru) Drums : Mar (https://twitter.com/verxina_Mar) TWITTER : https://twitter.com/VerxinaOfficial OFFICIAL SITE : verxina-official.com They will hold 3 events : 「Chaotic Dogma vol.1」at Ikebukuro Edge on 3/9/2018 「Chaotic Dogma vol.2」at Ikebukuro Edge on 3/16/2018 「Chaotic Dogma vol.3」at Ikebukuro Edge on 3/23/2018 Ikebukuro Edge is a place that can contain a maximum of 250 people.

2017 has been an...interesting year, with so much unexpected drama and surprises that's to go down in history for years. So much has happened that I was able to put together two lists of band members caught in embarrassing , illegal, and reprehensible crimes and scandals. Before we put this year to rest for good, let's take another look at visual-kei and some of the less glamorous acts musicians have been up to this year. Also before I begin, I have to shout out a few members who gave serious help in making this list possible. Thanks to @suji, @tetsu_sama69, @cvltic. and @doombox for all their help, as well as for those who broke the news in the first place and those that corrected my facts after publication! Keina (ex-DIVEIN) The first entrant on the naughty list is bassist Keina, who was fired earlier on July 7th from indie visual kei band DIVEIN (ディヴェイン) for "violating the rules of the visual kei industry". Earlier in 2017, KEINA was hospitalized for tonsillitis and took a break from musical activities. While on break, he participated in a session band without the rest of DIVEIN's permission, and this angered the other three members of the band. He also spread confidential information about upcoming lives and photo shoots on the side, so that was enough to get him the boot. 蕚 (Utena) (ex-DEGENE) DEGENE announced on September 26th that they fired their vocalist 蕚 (Utena) for "bad behavior". Digging a little deeper, we find out that Utena committed violent acts against certain members of the band, trashed band equipment, and sent one or more people into mental break downs. The band stated that they could not find any way to improve his behavior, and each member felt a sense of crisis about his behavior. The other four members came to the same conclusion: “I can't work with him anymore”. In contrast, Utena's announcement about his departure did not mention his bad behavior. DEGENE went on a temporary hiatus until they could replace him. Chaos (Glamscure, ex-INSANITY INJECTION) One of the dual vocalists of Insanity Injection, Chaos, got the boot on May 31st for being involved in "deplorable acts on many occasions". What it was has not been clarified, but it was something bad enough to sow feelings of betrayal among the members. One can only speculate what he did, but he hasn't made another appearance since his departure, so perhaps he was blacklisted from the scene? The band has continued without him as three, which as we will see shortly is not usually the norm. Good on INSANITY INJECTION! Update: Turns out that Chaos is still active in the VK band GLAMSCURE! 塁 (rui) (ex-REVLOW) The last bassist of REVLOW, 塁 (rui), was fired from the band on August 5th. Management and band members discovered on July 29th that Rui was involved in many "anti-social acts" that corresponded with recent criminal acts in various Tokyo restaurants. Of note is that the official announcement used the kanji "反社会的", which is often used to refer to the yakuza. REVLOW cancelled the rest of their live dates, including their first one man show scheduled for August 29th, and rescinded the release of their CD, "'REVLISM-EP", scheduled for Aug 23rd. The band has not yet returned from hiatus, and none of the other band members have appeared in official projects. It's sad when an up and coming band gets ruined by the poor choices of one member. Three lumps of coal, one for each member you screwed over. 冬音 (Fuyune) (ex-サムクロ (Samurai Crows)) It's ironic that I found this picture of the purple-haired maverick while in a topic discussing crimes and other scandals. He was fired from his band サムクロ (Samurai Crows) on 2017/05/11 due to misconduct during their live at Ikebukuro BlackHole at 2017/5/5. He got a little too amped up and destroyed equipment, refused to apologize for it, and was caught verbally abusing people via private messaging service SNS. This is not only a rule not to be broken in visual kei, but also a rule not to be broken in society! Fuyune's misconduct caused the band to be dropped from their label, Me teaR music, and the band has been on hiatus after their live at Shinsaibashi paradigm on 2017/7/8. The other three members have moved on to a project called Bokutachi no neverland; Fuyune is still missing in action. I wonder if he has been soft blacklisted from the scene... 俐乃-rino- (ex - Synk;yet) Remember how we established rules of the visual kei scene all members have to abide by? I can safely say one of them is to inform your band members and your label whenever you participate in a session band or a side project. Synk;yet's ex-guitarist Rino broke these rules and was terminated from his band and artist contract with Starwave Records on 2017/01/30, shortly after the return of bassist Shiori. The official reasons were "betrayal and breach of contract". Rino secretly planned musical activities with other management companies for two years behind other members' backs. He also had "private exchanges" with fans for money requests, but nothing confirmed as sexual. Synk;yet went on indefinite hiatus on 2017/05/21 despite their best attempts to keep it together, and Rino has wiped all traces of his online presence so no one knows what he is up to. 『L.』(ex-VAJRA) Let's take it back to 2009 for a bit when grotesque face masks were all the rage and it was cool to rip off Dir en grey. There was an visual kei band named VAJRA, essentially a Dir en grey rip-off parading around as a silent tribute band, and mimicked all of their antics to carve out a meager existence in the indie circuit. VAJRA started by word of mouth and shot up in popularity quickly by sticking with the flavor of the month and putting on electrifying performances. Some of these lives would include fish hooking, vomiting, and public masturbation on the crowd, but the violent, unpredictable, ink-spitting guitarist『L.』took it too far one day. He was known for punching female fans in the face, giving them black eyes, and dragging them around by the hair on the stage, but he took up a notch for a live at Sendai on 2010/05/10, and caused fans serious injury. At first, he was put on house arrest and banned from lives temporarily, but soon after he "left" the band due to musical differences. There's room for interpretation on this. It is not known if he left because he wanted to and this was the breaking point, if he was forced out, or if he truly left on his own accord. VAJRA couldn't keep up the pace without him and virtually disappeared into disbandment. 『L.』found Jesus and work as an oshare-kei vocalist for the band Awake, now known as Eru. Aki (ex-2bullet, ex-JackRose, ex-Concerto Moon) Remember Takahiro from FAZ? He was covered in our first edition of the list and was caught trying to defraud people to fund band activities. It turns out that he had an accomplice! Aki, along with Takahiro, tried to defraud an elderly woman of 3 million yen. He was arrested once in November of 2016 and again in January of 2017, both for links to Takahiro and suspicion of fraud. Norifumi Shima of Concerto Moon immediately dismissed him from the band, while vocalist Re:i announced that JackRose would enter hiatus, since Aki was the composer and keyboardist. Ouch. Ryuusei (ex-暁月 (Kyogetsu)) Another unwritten rule of the scene - one that is good practice to follow in most situations - is to keep internal band drama private. I love juicy drama stories as much as the next person, but band members spilling the beans about strife in their own project will only undermine their musical efforts. What happened to 暁月 (Kyogetsu) demonstrates this perfectly. Our story begins on early September 2017, with a few incendiary tweets from guitarist Ryuusei on Twitter. In the first tweet he claims that all bangya not attracted to him are into Himura of Bananaman, or ugly men in general. The second tweet was a little more pointed: This hit a raw nerve with a lot of fans because it came on the heels of several unexpected disbandments. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. On his blog, Ryuusei went into detail about several aspects of the scene which up to now were just rumors and which come together to make life difficult for him and his band. A few of the things he mentioned (while also explicitly noting that he didn't know everything) were: Ticket quotas as fees for live performances. Ryuusei does the math on how many tickets they need to sell to cover for the fees, which is dependent on how many fans show up to see them and that's before the band members split the money five ways. Poor return on investment for popular vk standbys such as cheki. Name drops the GazettE in a section about how well popular bands with a "pretty bassist" do financially. This got Reita's attention with a fiery response of his own. Low wages paid from the indie labels. How difficult it is for bands to recover once they are "in the red" and how close 暁月 (Kyogetsu) is to reaching that point after three years. Asks fans to spend more money at shows, less at host clubs, and to tell him more information about salaries of other band men. You can see how this won't go over well. It's one thing to blow the whistle, but when you do you better know all of the facts. Constantly dropping figures about how much your competition makes relative to you while claiming you don't know for sure is a fast way to draw a ton of well-deserved criticism both from outside and within, and that's exactly what happened. On top of that, the claims made do not mesh well with the stories I've heard about what lengths some fans will go to support their favorite artist or band. I know that some tsunagari will go as far as to feed, clothe, shelter, and fuck a band man or two just to support them! But treating your fans like ATMs and literally telling them to "If you have money, use it. High schoolers, study so you can make money in the future." is trash. To me, it seemed like Ryuusei is looking for a scapegoat for his band's poor performance. Fans struck back by revealing his name, his bare face, his DMs, and even coordinating to send 100 pizzas to his house! Ryuusei threatened to get the police involved if the situation escalated further. His behavior afterwards is what sealed the deal. His band mates wanted nothing to do with the controversy this generated, as the vocalist even went so far as to hold an "apology twicast", and posted many apologetic tweets, even individually replying to people to apologize long before Ryuusei commented on the issue. However, Ryuusei did eventually apologize before backtracking the very next day. In his second blog post, he starts by claiming he only apologized because he was forced to. He then deflects the contents of the first post to "netogya" (a derisive term referring to online fans that don't go to shows, meaning most of us here), apologizes for name dropping bands and labels, claims he's always trying to be controversial and that this is no different, and claims that he thought this was common knowledge so there would be no problem. This only provided fuel for the fire. The sad thing is that, as you could have guessed by now, these guys were virtually unknown before this. Shame is a very powerful deterrent in Japanese culture, and I've seen lesser drama capsize bigger bands than this. By constantly undoing the damage control his band members tried to provide, and by backpedaling and baiting Tanuki, Ryuusei put Kyogetsu in a spot where they had to kick him out to continue or disband. They did both. Bassist Shogo jumped ship first, but the formal disbandment of Kyogetsu was announced for October of 2017. Setsuna (ex-THE EGOIST) Whenever I write one of these lists, one person ends up doing something that eclipses everything else I discuss. Setsuna, guitarist of THE EGOIST, takes the "honors" for this position this time, although it's not something to be proud of. 2017 was not a kind year to THE EGOIST, as they paused activities earlier in the year when they lost contact with their vocalist, but things came to a breaking point by the end of the year in what will remain a black mark on visual kei for a long time to come. The timeline gets hazy at points but what we do know for certain is that Setsuna, also known as Keisuke Kawasaki (thanks NHK!), began an intimate relationship with a woman named Uran Hirayama while engaged. Uran didn't know he was engaged when she met him with the wedding planned to the degree where the venue had already been picked. The marriage was held sometime during his relationship with Uran as well. It is not confirmed if she was a mitsu of his, but what we do know is that they had a very tumultuous relationship, all documented on Hirayama's twitter. Uran used the account as a regular personal account initially, but at some point the account became flooded with pictures and screenshots of the newly minted couple. Many LINE screenshots show both happy times as well as arguments, including one where Uran demanded to know if Setsuna had slept with a tsunagari/mitsu of his named Ayumi. He initially denies it, but admits to eventually sleeping with her once and apologizes, swearing Uran is the only one he really cares for. He ends up saying something similar on his public Twitter: "I've had relationships with various women, but aside from Uran I was just messing around. I'm very sorry. I'm considering marrying [her] in the future". No mention of his wife. Other pictures included Disney date pictures, many pictures of them in the snow as a couple, and of course the now-infamous video of him eating out Uran's ass (note to future readers: he chows down). Considering this is all in public view, it didn't take long for his "wife" to come across some of it; she apparently went ballistic when she found purikura of her and Setsuna kissing in his wallet. Things get demented as the year winds down to a close. The messages on Uran's Twitter become more alarming; her profile stated 'I wish to be reborn and marry Keisuke in my next life', she posted screenshots of one of Setsuna's tweets that basically said he "will be one" with Uran (which he quickly deleted from his page), tweets about gifts she bought with the money she got from sex, and more. At some point, Setsuna informs Uran that he was married and in retaliation, she dumps all of this information on her Twitter. She also had at least one suicide attempt around December 3rd, likely in response to all of these happenings. Despite his marriage, he still publicly pines for Uran after all of this. The following is my guess of what happens next: Uran tells Setsuna about her suicide attempt(s) and he tries to talk her out of it, but ends up agreeing to commit double suicide with her a week later on December 9th. We know this because Uran sent the explicit details of the plan to one of her close friends around 3pm that day, which was later posted to her Twitter page. The person who posted the notice in no uncertain words claims it was intended to be a double suicide and firmly believes that was their original intention. This same friend also contacted the police with all of the information she had at her disposal, but by the time the police showed up to Uran's apartment at 9pm the deed was done. She was found on her futon, her room was locked, there were no signs anyone had been through her belongings, and there was a handwritten suicide note next to unused charcoal briquettes. I can only guess the plan was to lock themselves in a room and suffocate to death, but Setsuna had a last-minute change of heart, ended up choking her to death, locked the door, and left. It took the detective work of another of Uran's friends to connect Setsuna to this mess and to send the police to his door. He admitted to the killing and was promptly arrested. When asked his occupation, he claimed he was a "part-timer" and did not mention THE EGOIST, his band mates, or his label. Thus, the band was able to avoid most of the wrath of the Eye of Sauron, but they still chose to disband anyway to distance themselves from the stigma as much as possible. I don't blame them. The story stops here for now, but there are a lot more questions to be asked than can be answered. As for the most important one, as one of Uran's friends put it, "The only way to know the circumstances that led to Uran being the only one who died is to ask [Setsuna] himself". Maybe this information will come out in a court trial soon. UPDATE: THE EGOIST disbanded earlier in 2017 due to the departure of their vocalist. UPDATE 2: His trial started one year after the incident. Setsuna stated that Uran asked him to kill her, so he "helped her". Since the tribunal couldn't verify if that is true or not they accepted that Setsuna killed her on request and therefore reduced his sentence from 13 years to 3.5 years in prison. Thanks for reading! Hopefully, band members will behave and another one of these lists won't come for a good while

no, that's kana in the picture their website still has his profile pic and everything updated http://codomo-dragon.net/profile/

Maybe a re-write of sicks? Although honestly I hope not. I think their sound has far surpassed that by now.

Me too I can't wait!!!

I assume they'll include a few older tracks (hopefully remastered and re-recorded like they did with Ajna) and I'm hoping for 7 or 8 new songs. I'm so excited. I've been screaming all morning.

What about Kana? Are they oshare now?

whoa thanks! followed you back!

Album of the year baby.

@platyI hope you will also drop a list

I'm glad to see Epik High included! I haven't had time to listen to the entire new album yet but the songs I have heard were solid. Bleed was my favorite. I got to listen to the album ASAP. And big props for the layout / design of your list. Easy on the eyes and stylish.

Interesting list, doom! I still thank you for recommending 2V-ALK, I fully agree with your review, it's probably a top-3 album I've listened this year from a japanese artist. those hooks, damn! I won't even start on the production, god damn its good! If I end up doing a 2017 list, it will probably mix up artists like you did, Japan wasn't too kind for me last year... i'll give a spin to PVRIS, Zigzag and EARTHISTS ASAP!

she truly has the sweetest stans

setlist: GAMEOVER with マルコ (marco)

The hinge clip on my Beats broke and it's ~$65 to $99 to fix. Ugh.

oniisama e's OP is so good

I think they’ll continue. It sounds like there’s some raw feelings there (especially from Setsuna), but they sound pretty determined to press forward. Also, here’s some translations for you: https://www.jrocknews.com/2018/01/guitarist-pitty-makes-sudden-departure-morrigan.html I kind of really hope they don’t drop the bears. They’re mid-tour now so who knows when they’ll get a replacement, but best of luck to them in any case.

To this day these are the only lyrics I hear when Iisten to this song.

This has been speculated to be the Beckhams since years but I don't buy it

probably bought too many damn teddy bears!!! 💸💸💸

Actually we know, Setsuna wrote on his twitter about what has happened and said that Pitty lacked motivation and was he drowning in debts

... the "new" rip of the DIMLIM single is just the same crappy barely 128kbps transcoded ... Why people? WHY?!

Still waiting for Kyo’s promise to fuck my parents.

Yeah I was like “who the hell did you get to proof read this?!” Haha. Come what may in June, we know at least Tsuzuku will be there. They’ve made that abundantly clear. We just have to see who else is involved. I wonder if it is a band is they’ll have revolving members like Mejibray was supposed to back in the beginning? Guess only time will tell!

Holy crap, I didn't spot one grammar mistake in his back

kitty is not pleased to be honest, just enjoying no-makeup life.

p sure these dudes have released like 500 dvds at this point, at least there arent any bonus rarez exclusive songs attached to it!

imagine following a band where'd you be in constant fear of getting wanked on

Indeed, their best song for sure, that's why I'm truly, truly surprised.

Yeah, this sounds better! I wanted the corpse to go at the end, because he was definitely talking about himself. The way he usually ends his tweets with "Mako", this one he ended with "shikabane". But i just couldn't change the sentence in a proper way xD Thanks!

I'm afraid my English is not that good to translate his tweet without changing the order of lines which i find important, but the meaning is something like: "Screams Vortex of cry Singing a song That can't be expressed in words The corpse Is still Longing for people" If someone can correct it please do.