frayed

Buck-Tick’s Gessekai was used as the opening theme for Nightwalker (which shamelessly borrowed some ideas from Interview with the Vampire lolol). I’ll always remember it fondly because I randomly grabbed the DVD off a shelf at Blockbuster and it was my first encounter with Buck-Tick. Also shout out to La’cryma Christi’s Mirai Kouro as the ending theme. Memories...

Can’t vouch for jewelry but as far as height I’d say it depends on the band you’re seeing - most of the acts I saw recently don’t do crowd surfing. It was only Gazette, come to think of it. I’m tall and I’ve been fine standing more or less anywhere.
 
Usually I’ll apologize to the gya behind me for being so tall in Japanese and make sure they can see alright. (This is in no way required, it’s your spot and you’re entitled to it, it’s just something I personally like doing.) Half the time this opens up the window for them to talk to me since they realize I can.

I'm sorry for people who have had bad experiences with bangya. However, like any people, there's as many good as there are bad. It really depends on the band and the fans that they attract. Personally speaking, while I've had some bad experiences, overall I made a lot of wonderful friends and memories when I was living in Japan. Didn't matter if we liked the same band guy or not, and if anything it just gave us something to talk about. I've gone to eat with them, they've made me gifts, I helped to buy those flowers you see outside the lives sometimes - everyone's mileage will vary, but not all bangya are awful. Give it a try, and if the interaction isn't worth pursuing, then drop it. Simple as that. (I've honestly had more trouble with foreign fans than Japanese fan in this respect tbh.)

mysterious new band "ジグソウ" (Jigsaw) has formed
 
More information will be revealed on March 15, where they will hold their first live at Shinjuku ALTA VISION. They will also perform in Tokyo on April 4.
 
OHP
Twitter
Youtube
 
 

 

SINGIN IN THE REIGN OH MY GOD I LOVE IT

SINGIN IN THE REIGN OH MY GOD I LOVE IT

Whoops I meant to post this report early but forgot…
Sorry in advance for any ignorance on my part, I’m not actual a fan of Mejibray’s and just went mostly for curiosities sake. (Like, I think I can name two Mejibray songs…)
That being said, I still felt really moved by the performance.
There were nine songs for the main set and one for the encore. Most of them were L’arc-en-Ciel/Hyde songs.
I thought the encore with コエガキエルマデ  was really poetic considering the lyrics.
I would say about half of the show was actual performance and the other was talking and MCs. And it went for about two and a half hours.
As far as singing abilities go…well he seemed like he was having a lot of fun, and that’s what’s most important, right?
Part of it was that he was reeeealllly nervous so I thought his singing improved a little as the show went on and he got a little more confidence.
After the first two songs he actually started talking, and the best way that I could describe his voice was a man in his thirties who smoked…a lot. It was kind of deeper than I expected but I could hear sooooo much tobacco…
 
Summary of the many MCs
He explained that while Mejibray is on hiatus and he did solo stuff, he’d be using the name Yuutaro and if Mejibrary ever performed again, he’d go back to Meto. He also said that the reason he wanted to speak finally was so that he could express his own feelings and also say thank you to the fans. There was a fair amount of tears from Yuutaro too. He really loves the fans and Mejibray.
Especially in the beginning, every other sentence he said was about him being really nervous or it being really scary singing on stage and how his hands were shaking a lot!
But he usually followed that up with how he was having a lot of fun.
There were also a lot of stories that the other session members shared and they were all very encouraging to Yuutaro talking. And there were also promises of a five-way marriage between everyone on stage.
In the end, he alluded to planning on doing more solo performances, so hopefully there will be more in the future.
 
Also during the encore, Yuutaro opened presents which went on for about half an hour because there were so many of them! I can’t really even remember everything thing but almost every time before he opened a present he would say “It’s a Nintendo Switch right?”
And unfortunately, he didn’t get a Switch and the presents were just a whole lot of random crap from Donki. But he looked pretty happy about the Doraemon stuff he got.

There are; it was mostly him and Tsuzuku writing the music I think. 

Koichi has started a new Twitter and Instagram and  seemingly cut off his hair:
 
https://www.instagram.com/koichi_niiyama
 

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. 

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!

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

Here is what I gather, and feel free to correct me or to expand on the details: Pitty was initially thought to be ill and checked into a hospital. However, he since checked out and did not communicate with the members after the fact in spite of their efforts to contact him. As a result, he is no longer part of the band.
 
 
What a PITTY.
 
No, seriously.  I had a bad feeling when they didn’t update us on his condition for so long, but I was hoping for the best.

Here is what I gather, and feel free to correct me or to expand on the details: Pitty was initially thought to be ill and checked into a hospital. However, he since checked out and did not communicate with the members after the fact in spite of their efforts to contact him. As a result, he is no longer part of the band.
 
 
What a PITTY.
 
No, seriously.  I had a bad feeling when they didn’t update us on his condition for so long, but I was hoping for the best.

Holy shit, that's a bummer!
 
This one made my day though

2018 is the year of bandomen ghosting their bands

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!

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

Koichi has started a new Twitter and Instagram and  seemingly cut off his hair:
 
https://www.instagram.com/koichi_niiyama
 

Koichi has started a new Twitter and Instagram and  seemingly cut off his hair:
 
https://www.instagram.com/koichi_niiyama
 

Koichi has started a new Twitter and Instagram and  seemingly cut off his hair:
 
https://www.instagram.com/koichi_niiyama
 

Koichi has started a new Twitter and Instagram and  seemingly cut off his hair:
 
https://www.instagram.com/koichi_niiyama
 

I’m going to try and cliff note this and if anyone else wants to chime in feel free.
 
I think it was in April (???) that Mejibray’s Youtube channel’s name was changed to Forum Official. Another band was added that no one gave a shit about it. People assumed or hoped that was the reason why.
 
Then in May, after the first show on the Hangman tour which was completely normal, they posted that announcement on the homepage and all about the hiatus. After that, there were no more encores. Moreover, there were no more MCs. Tsuzuku didn’t talk to audiences at all (bar shouting the name of the city and maybe “Mejibray”).  A lot of fans are of the mind that he was essentially gagged by the label and prohibited from speaking. No way to know this for sure, but it felt like it. Also worth noting is the instores switched from talks to 2shots before any of this. Also no way to know for sure this is related. 
 
Most of their one-mans ended with BI”name”JIKA. Sometimes Decadance.
 
Mobile member content was really sporadic from there. Even the staff blog hasn’t had images added since the beginning of the last tour.
 
Fast forward to the tour final at Shinkiba Studio Coast. Tsuzuku and Koichi emerged painted black. They’d each done this once previously this year. The live was 14 songs instead of 15. This may or may not have been deliberate as Tsuzuku had collapsed and stayed down at the last song, seemingly overwhelmed. Koichi went to him and checked on him before stepping in front of him and seemingly flipping off the staff at the back and then holding up three fingers to the audience. The curtain finally closed.
 
Koichi’s birthday was a lot more fun. During the breaks between songs at one point, rather than facing the drums, Tsuzuku faced outwards, staring at the audience. He still didn’t speak; it was Koichi that spoke at the end, remarking on the challenges of the year and said we’d meet again next year. Everyone was crying, but the general air was optimistic after the live.
 
Then when the end of December hit, an announcement was posted on Mejibray’s OHP declaring that Tsuzuku’s and Koichi’s contracts had expired and to wish them the best in the future. Koichi’s Twitter and Instagram have been wiped clean. Meto’s birthday live where he will be providing vocals under a different name was announced. Mia is busy as fuck all spring with various projects and sessions.
 
So it’s basically been a massive clusterfuck. _(:3」z)_

I’m going to try and cliff note this and if anyone else wants to chime in feel free.
 
I think it was in April (???) that Mejibray’s Youtube channel’s name was changed to Forum Official. Another band was added that no one gave a shit about it. People assumed or hoped that was the reason why.
 
Then in May, after the first show on the Hangman tour which was completely normal, they posted that announcement on the homepage and all about the hiatus. After that, there were no more encores. Moreover, there were no more MCs. Tsuzuku didn’t talk to audiences at all (bar shouting the name of the city and maybe “Mejibray”).  A lot of fans are of the mind that he was essentially gagged by the label and prohibited from speaking. No way to know this for sure, but it felt like it. Also worth noting is the instores switched from talks to 2shots before any of this. Also no way to know for sure this is related. 
 
Most of their one-mans ended with BI”name”JIKA. Sometimes Decadance.
 
Mobile member content was really sporadic from there. Even the staff blog hasn’t had images added since the beginning of the last tour.
 
Fast forward to the tour final at Shinkiba Studio Coast. Tsuzuku and Koichi emerged painted black. They’d each done this once previously this year. The live was 14 songs instead of 15. This may or may not have been deliberate as Tsuzuku had collapsed and stayed down at the last song, seemingly overwhelmed. Koichi went to him and checked on him before stepping in front of him and seemingly flipping off the staff at the back and then holding up three fingers to the audience. The curtain finally closed.
 
Koichi’s birthday was a lot more fun. During the breaks between songs at one point, rather than facing the drums, Tsuzuku faced outwards, staring at the audience. He still didn’t speak; it was Koichi that spoke at the end, remarking on the challenges of the year and said we’d meet again next year. Everyone was crying, but the general air was optimistic after the live.
 
Then when the end of December hit, an announcement was posted on Mejibray’s OHP declaring that Tsuzuku’s and Koichi’s contracts had expired and to wish them the best in the future. Koichi’s Twitter and Instagram have been wiped clean. Meto’s birthday live where he will be providing vocals under a different name was announced. Mia is busy as fuck all spring with various projects and sessions.
 
So it’s basically been a massive clusterfuck. _(:3」z)_