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Hi guys! So I finally decided making an introduction topic here... I'm not good with this but, let's go: You guys can call me Aoi, I'm a eternal 24 years old veteran fan VK. As you can tell I like The Gazette, and Jiluka, Kiryu, NoGod and I'm into Nokubura these days too! I started a variety youtube channel specialized in VK with a friend this year. You can check it out here. The name is VK Onee san. (Our inicial idea is creating a bilingual channel, but until now the videos are only in english ^^') Also we have accounts on Twitter/Instagram: @vkoneesan, please follow us^^

What really pisses me off is when people drop someone for something that hasn't even been proven. "So-and-so might have committed this crime". Might. You are not a detective investigator; shut up and carry on with your life as normal until you know something or can at least piece something together with evidence. Similarly, it bugs me when someone doing something maybe a bit unusual/embarrassing is seen as bad because people want the "tea" that can unjustly defame someone. "So-and-so had sex with x amount of people". It's their business, not yours, so stay out of it and - you guessed it - carry on with your life as normal. I can understand why people might have a hard time separating the art from the artist if they've done something genuinely bad because it can make you feel guilty for supporting them, but if it's for some stupid shite like that, I just can't stand it and I don't really get why everyone cares so much.

Depends on your political interests. I'm very right leaning and I personally cannot stand the average social justice warrior writer or actor for their individual spoutings of nonsense on Twitter. There's some I adore for the books they write or the roles they play, but if I'm seeing J.K. Rowling's incessant pressure of 'wE nEeDz InTeRrAcIaL mArRiAgEs FoR EvErYoNe' and 'HeRmIoNe ShOuLd Be A bLaCk MuSlIm LeSbIaN' she can go sod right off. Lovecraft is a different story. The guy was born in an entirely separate time from ours and you cannot compare the late 19th century / early 20th century to ours whatsoever. And for his writings; it's fiction. Get over it if Cthulhu has a distaste for the Chinese or whatever the fuck you can uncover from his warped words. The majority of people during those times were racists. For another thing, Antifa are actively looking to stir up drama where there isn't. If I remember correctly there have been at least five black metal bands in the past few months who haven't been able to finish their tours or been refused playtime during festivals and the like because these liberals think it's either necessary to threaten the venue or bands personally and thus gigs have been cancelled out of safety, or they've gotten the venues and / or municipalities to believe the bands have racist / national-socialist intentions whereas most black metal bands don't give a damn about political leanings and want to be left alone on the subject. It's just disgusting.

since ending my relationship i've had so many newfound fears that i'm going to be alone forever (despite how young i am) when these thoughts have never been a concern to me before. i wonder if what i had was actually good, but i was too emotionally immature to handle it properly? i was never very happy, but what if that was all my fault? and if i'd just kept pushing, it would've ended up a good relationship? i can't help but think (know) i was the reason it went south, but i worry my reasons for doing so weren't genuine feelings of unhappiness caused by my partner, it was just me being overly sensitive and not understanding how relationships work. i don't know. there's a lot to reflect on. but the feeling that maybe i had something great and i willingly put an end to it really haunts me, because what if every relationship i have here on out is even worse?

Lostprophets, bands w/ Denis Stoff, Michael Jackson... there's a bunch tbh. I do think it's a legitimate argument. A voice is an instrument, people are canvases, and a song is what you make of it. However, music and performance is interpreted from individual-to-individual differently. If someone is uncomfortable with a band, artist's, or community's actions because that's what "makes" the experience for them, then that dislike is reasonable. One person's actions shouldn't generalize a whole band and said person's success (or the band's success) shouldn't be blamed as the reason for "x". Individuals (or multiple individuals) are culpable for their own actions. Bands have many, many individuals behind them when it comes to production, post-production, advertising/marketing, stage preparation, etc. that attribute to their success. I'm certainly not going to hold all those individuals accountable for one person's misdeeds.

Attacking people for the things they like is bad, disliking thing because they're popular just means you're not a conformist.

Also one more opinion from me: Shitting on popular things makes you an asshole and shitting on things someone enjoys isn’t funny, it’s immature

Hello! I've spent years knowing this forum existed and checking it out every once in a while... but I never made an account... I don't know what compelled me to do it today but here I am! I guess a quick introduction... I've been into jrock & vkei for as long as I can remember, I met Diru back in 2006(though I barely remember it ; _ ; ) and I was listening to stuff before then so there's kind of an idea of how long it's been... Diru is probably my all time fave band, though really, it's just Kyo so Sukekiyo is also a top... I don't really know what much else to say, I'm not too good at intros...

Thank you for the warming welcome, guys^^ I'm glad that I decided joining here^^

DIMLIM's music is written for 2 guitars so they definitely need to find a replacement for Ryuya or find a support guitarist for their lives. If DIMLIM was going to disband they most likely would've announced it with this announcement. As long as Sho and Retsu are good friends I doubt the band will break up.

Tbh I dont blame people who cant listen to or support a band if it has shitty people in it but for the most part I personally dont really care.

Easier said than done, but try to take it easy on yourself, sis! Relationships are often one of the most difficult aspects of human life...I mean, we been at this shit for thousands or millions of years (depending on your perspective), and we still can't get this shit right. Hell, most of the ppl in relationships today have absolutely no idea what they're doing either,and are just wingin' it at best. It's also natural that you'd feel these kinds of things after a breakup....,but give it time. Time will both heal and reveal all things. Besides, you'll be surprised what life will bring your way, so don't count yourself out just yet!

Can we bring back more variety on popular radio stations? I'm tired of hearing the same 5 songs every hour, and would like to hear a nice up and coming artist like it used to be. Maybe radio is a dying market and I'm just talking to the wind, or my tastes are getting too stale for the in-crowd. Oh btw, Denver's radio stations suck compared to Chicago. Fight me.

All kids are stupid, most adults are stupid.

You've got to be kidding ! lol You win lol

If I felt that way I'd hate violin since violin strings used to be made of cat guts and I love cats.

For the first time in YEARS I'm having irl friends to go out with for after office drinks or stuff. The downside is my social life online is suffering from it :S

Ah, 2019: The year where most people give a shit about things they weren't even around for. I'll go ahead and partake OP, as I've always wanted to share my thoughts on this as someone who has a self identity and wants to understand those who don't have one. 1. What artists do you separate their art from their actions? All of them. Not a single time did I ever think to myself "Man, that CD/Merch I bought because I thought sounded/looked great, must sound/look so good because the people are so wholesome and the holiest of holy that they couldn't EVER do anything wrong.....". No, I bought it because I wanted to. Mind you, I apply this to everything that can be considered a work of art. 2. Is it a legitimate argument? Depends, but overall not really. Sometimes I question people's rationality when it comes to things like being a fan or being interested in something for your own reasons. If I bought let's say a painting, and at the time I didn't know or care about the origin or meaning behind it, I'd say that was a decision I made simply because I thought it looked great and would look better in my home/office. Now, if for some reason I found out it belonged to idk ..... Hitler, I'm going to be honest with you, I'd probably see fucking dollar signs for days on end. This is because I can see past Hitler the mass murderer and see him as the artist he was. I have a rare fucking painting that will go for millions of dollars and would end up in a museum if otherwise, I don't give a shit about anything else. I was not around during that time, and in fact my family weren't even on American soil either. Am I greedy? Hmm....that's another topic. Am I cold-hearted bastard? No I see the reality. You might have not even read what I posted and just want to voice your useless opinion to make me feel like I'm going to be responsible (lol the fuck) for something that occurred so long ago and has nothing to do with me (my assumption since you didn't care about my insight, so I'm allowed to not care about yours and share how I feel about it too). If other people would go out and say I support Nazism or something, and demand I burn it or tear it apart, I'd say you're fucking stupid. I'd say something else like "Oh yeah? Well goddamn, lets go to the most well known museum of art and burn the whole fucking place down, because I know of at least 1/2 of the artists that have art on display that "shouldn't". Sounds pretty fucking irrational if you ask me. Collectors of art/music can see past this, and so can the people who work at museums, simply because they CAN see past the person who might have done terrible things, and focus on what is related to their profession, the artist. Bringing it back to music, it's even easier to separate. If someone like say Kisaki made all this music back in the 90's we enjoy, you have to remember that he made the music all back then. If you were alive and in Japan when it released, and knew some dirt on Kisaki that you can prove and date back to that same timeline, then you can hold an argument with me on this. But guess what? I'm pretty sure EVERYONE did what he might have done back then, and most likely got away with it. But let's pretend our world is perfect and say he was the odd man and single him out, kudos. Shady shit in Japan was a daily thing. I fucking love hearing about it as it gives Japan this flair for being badass and dangerous while proving that every society has its colors. Fast forward today and no one cares or knows who Kisaki is among new fans, yet you learn about his current life and how he might suck at it hard, and now suddenly what? You, the fan from back then who probably has 1'' of dust of old demo tapes from la'sadie or whatever fucking band he was in in a box somewhere, and you are gonna throw them out? HAHAHA don't make me fucking choke, you're about as a big as a hypocrite as the people you have around you. Being played by the society that can easily turn on you at the drop of a hat. The you from back then called, they want you to get your fucking backbone back and decide what YOU want to do, and not what you feel society would want as a "justice served" spew of bullshit I'm tired of seeing on the internet. 3. Do you think that one persons actions should generalize a whole band? (Ex. Kisaki and Phantasmagoria or any of his past bands)? I can't believe this is a question but OK, no, it shouldn't. If people really dropped a band like say, lynch. as of recently, for something like Akinori smoking some pot, then don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. No one gave a fuck.

/thread

Personally speaking, I think an artist's personal life should be completely separate from their professional career, at least until the point that their misconduct becomes public knowledge. If an artist is doing something terrible in their free time, that has no bearing on their ability to produce music. If it emerges that an artist has been involved in some kind of scandal, it does become much more difficult to support their future endeavours, but that shouldn't come at the expense of writing off their past achievements. It's possible to be both a great musician and a shitty human being; whether that affects your enjoyment of their past career comes down to how well you can divorce their actions from their profession. And condemning all the other members and staff of a band - assuming that they aren't complicit - based on a single person's actions is just childish and unreasonable. As for the whole 'using it as an argument' issue, as far as I'm concerned there is no argument to be had. Artists are just human like the rest of us and should be held to the same standards by society. That's why my apparently controversial post in Johnny's thread got so much attention - I think he was a terrible person, but I respect his achievements and influence on the whole industry as a professional. If you can't keep those things separate, you're just writing off a whole legacy based on one person's actions. TLDR Being a successful artist doesn't make you immune to the same laws and moral principles as the rest of society. It's no excuse. BUT Being a shitty person doesn't make you any less of a talented musician either.

Ya know. Despicable as it is, people lie all of the time. You have people that lie for absolutely no reason, you have people that think telling white lies somehow makes it less of a lie. You've got lies of omission. You've got ppl who deliberately lie for selfish and/or nefarious means. Even some of the most upright folks will lie if it benefits them. And hell, most of us lie to ourselves on a daily basis. People lie. But what amazes me is that some people have a hard time even just entertaining the possibility that many things that have been accepted as fact or that people put their trust in, whether we're speaking about history or modern times, could indeed be lies. Maybe it's because being so-called "woke" has become such a meme that people seem less inclined to consider ideas that might directly contradict the status quo or history as we know it? I don't know. But I don't even think it's a matter of being woke, honestly. I think it's a matter of common sense: Just because one has a title like historian, scientist, politician, banker etc....that does not exempt them from fallibility, corruptibility, or the human condition. Everything we put our trust in is the product of other human beings, most of which are just as fucked up as we are (if not more). That's a sobering thought. Knowing how humans are, it just makes me wonder how many personal/political/religious agendas and biases have shaded the lenses through which we view the world.

Kanji: (credit to https://rocklyric.jp/lyric.php?sid=1754945 ) Romaji: English:

2 genders of MH: -- seething at $50 live only dimlim demo CDs -- seething at dimlim business-side neglect

Retsu and Sho write all the music. Nothing's gonna change music-wise.

Vk's like a telenovela~ it's been on some local, obscure TV channel for 20 years, you're on the 1537th episode and by this point 75% od the cast has been replaced and you can't even remember the original actors. 90% of the characters had at one point slept/married/divorced each other. Some of it is subbed but some is not, and honestly either way it doesn't really make much difference. Someone is gesticulating wildly while crying and half of the set is on fire. Also it's almost 2am and I'm drunk on a Wednesday.

George Clooney is the perfect example of a celebrity using his fame for good, he's been caring about Darfur before and after anyone even heard of it among other places.

Personally, I disagree. They're citizens too, and telling them to shut up just because they're famous sounds kind of ignorant to me. If people want to listen to them and do what they say (or not), they're welcome to, but their opinions are their own and everyone has a right to free speech. I'm really not big on censorship and tbh, I don't care how much I disagree with someone; I would never, ever want them to not have a voice. Yeah, okay, some of the stuff they say is a bit dumb, but if you don't like it, don't pay attention to it. Besides, fame is kind of subjective. They might be famous in one country/culture/whatever but not another, so where do they reach the point where they're famous enough to have to keep their opinions to themselves? That, and you're never gonna shut someone up provided their opinions are strong enough, so it seems kind of pointless and controlling to me. I mean, if there was a law in place saying celebrities couldn't state their opinions on a particular subject, there'd be an uproar, and rightfully so. Provided it's not infringing upon anyone else's human rights, I believe everyone should have the right to say what they feel. Maybe it'd be easier for some if they didn't, but that's an ideal we can't pretend will ever exist.

Well, ya learn somethin' new every day... that's gross, though (says me listening to a song with loads of violin on repeat).

For as much as I love visual kei, there are plenty of practices I detest. I could go on forever. It wouldn't be fair to celebrate all of the good in the scene without admitting the bad as well. There are so many things that make me sad, make me irate, or make me want to rip my hair out that it was hard to settle on just five. Here's five commonplace practices in visual kei that's a total ball ache for any international fan invested into the scene. Like I said above, I have way more than five things that annoy me about the scene. Does anyone else want to fill in the gaps with practices that they hate that they've come to accept within the scene? Come share your frustrations and horror stories with me. We have plenty of tea and live-distributed crackers for you.

I mean, unlike those "x band/genre isn't even real music blabla" idiots, not wanting to listen to a convicted pedophile/child rapist is definitely a valid decision. I actually know two people who stopped listening to Lostprophets because of it. I never listened to them and I certainly have no interest to start doing so now. I guess in the end, it depends on each individual's moral compass.

The FBI never found any indication that Michael Jackson was a kiddy diddler. Like, nothing at all. The entire thing is something fabricated by money-hungry people and their lawyers, in unison with the media's thirst for drama. And Denis is just a dick, or did he do anything comparable to what Watkins did? Yeah, fuck them and their sexual orientation they have literally no control over. Because as we all know, only pedophiles do bad things because of their sexual orientation. A gay person has never raped another person ever! /s Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation, it's a sexual attraction. There's a difference I should've known about. I didn't mean to compare gays to pedophiles in any way. That wasn't my intention, I'm sorry.

Welcome!

Uhuhu, hello! ^^ I'm starting to wonder if there are any new fans of the genre or it's just us, dinosaurs coming out of the woods to wave at the flaming meteor coming right at us~

Hey hello! ^^ I checked out your youtube channel, great stuff Not much vk scene commentary on youtube, hope you guys keep it up.

I still listen to rentrer en soi ca. 2005 and I know I shouldn't so idk

1. tbh? i don’t think there are any. once i hear that a musician i like has done something really awful, when i listen to their music i just feel angry. a good example of that is brand new. their vocalist is a disgusting child predator, and he sings about being sad all the time bc he used to have a bright future but now he’s depressed. tbh that feels like a slap in the face. 2. not really. sexual predators and dudes that beat up their girlfriends, wives, whatever else are trash. i can’t imagine listening to their music and not thinking “you piece of shit, you did this thing.” 3. no. but if the band members, or even one of the band members were aware of it and didn’t say anything or just kinda let it be? then yeah, equally trash.

Currently reading Frankenstein for the first time lol

Latino fans on FB be like: omg what a great loss, the band will never be the same without Ryuya, is this the end o Dimlim?!

Oh wow, that came out of nowhere. I'm quite shocked.. The official statement offers that Taishi leaves due to illness issues and Ryuya seems to be literally done with DIMLIM. As I'm pretty sure that DIMLIM will continue after their Oneman I'm quite worried if they can sustain their actual sound. They created such an individual and perfect sound until now that I'm not sure if a replacement will work out.

Sounds really good! It’s on iTunes already if anyone is interested

But it's so good! Maybe try some of his shorter works first and build up? ^^

They have become the very thing they swore to destroy

Wait, was this not the 2019 predictions thread?

Haunting imagery, though. If you aren't a writer already, I say you should become one.