platy

I hate that anti-fans are only really a thing in japanese vk fan culture. more people should be actively rooting for the destruction of bands they don't like. like mejibray.

To sum it up in as few words as possible:
 
Most of the fans.

• Live limited sold and indie store only.
• "I don't like, than they are bad".
• "_______ is copying gazette and/or dir en grey".

My most hated words and things in VK are definitely indefinite hiatus/disbandet, live-limited & Mejibray fandom

My main issue with the visual kei scene isn't really represented in the options here, and it's something you generally get more in touch with once you get to Japan and get to experience the scene.
Firstly, the fact that a large majority of visual kei musicians more or less openly admits they don't have any artistic or personal integrity, they don't care what they produce and they don't care that their sound is exactly like every other band out there, because they know that as long as the members are pretty enough there WILL be fans, and they WILL pay you money for "company" and "favors" so that you can survive comfortably and keep rehashing the same song for a couple of years until you feel like calling it quits and do something more worthwhile with your life, or more likely, go into full time hosting business now that you have a decent circle of clients already.
 
This sort of leads me into my second issue and it's the bangya culture. It's generally really vile, and the way the girls not only talk about the musicians but also each other is quite disgusting. If the bangyas decide that a member has done something they do not approve of, that doesn't live up to their perfect ideals that they hold them all to (because god knows the fangirls don't live up to any of them) they can easily start enough shit to cause a band to break up or force a member out of the band. The issues doesn't end there though, because the few foreign bangya that exists generally adapt to this mentality and lifestyle too. They openly shun other foreigners who dare attend the lives of "their" band and ruin their "specialness", they participate in this completely daft saizen system where a designated person basically decides who gets what spot at a concert so everyone can enjoy playing ten year olds doing the "you're not allowed to play with us"-games... And the obviousness of what really drives people to be fans of these bands become so apparent when they get to this level, and it's certainly not the music.
 
To be honest, in a lot of ways I never realized how bad this was until I got there and could see it all for myself, and that's despite a 13 year stint in the scene by now.

I wouldn't say "crush" but more like... "this guy is so pretty i want his genetic to have a good looking baby" xD (cuz having ugly childrens is my worst nightmare)
Seriously, some guys are very very attractive but I wouldn't see myself with them or imagine a date with theese dudes. It's more like a girl who will have a crush on Johnny Depp for example. I don't really know how to explain... XD but it's more like "I love the aesthetic of this man, he's good looking"
 
Kaoru from dir en grey is my first "crush" and will forever be. I know he's probably not the prettyest male on the earth (like his nose, his scars on the cheek, his strabismus and so on...) but... Yeah I don't know I think he's really realy really good looking. And his bat tattoo on his neck is seriously the hottest thing ever, I died when I see it in real life when he mooved his hair a bit during the show. Still, I do respect him a lot as a musician because before anything else: he is the most badass guitarist ever imo. And because of the respect I have for him I'll probably never have the guts to shake his hand at a VIP meet or something like that.
 
Yoshiatsu from dadaroma is also a good looking young man, he's a bit androgynous wich is weird because I like masculine (and older) guys in real life.
 
And kamijo's hair is goals to be honest, it's my new religion, I worship this man hair.

I'd say ほな・いこか (Hona Ikoka), the drummer from ゲスの極み乙女。 (Gesu no Kiwami Otome)
 
Other than her, not many Jrockers come to mind besides the obvious mancrush on Kobayashi from THE NOVEMBERS

Meto, Izumi, and Kamijo the emo vampire cry in a corner, whimpering "notice me senpai..."

I was just listening through some VK top lists of 2015.
This may not be very representative, but... UGH. Sorry, just in case I'm going to offend anybody here.
I am not surprised that, despite their skills and dedication, half of that stuff sounds so fucking similar. Maybe because they're in the same key, using similar chord progressions. But I think to myself: Damn, VK has gotten stale as hell. The chorus is mostly just a nod to their other material. I don't even know how or why they produce B-sides on top of that. MEJIBRAY had two funny examples, just showing the chorus, and ugh. Same key, similar chord progression.
This just shows me why I've gotten sick of VK. There might be a few exceptions, but they're what they are: Exceptions. Listening to 30 samples of different songs basically tells me: Hey, here we are. Lyrically, we use the same tropes over and over, just worded differently. The prettier you are, the better. There's like two notes that are different in our main melody than in our previous single. Wow.
The rest of the song may sound different, but it all sounds so damn similar.
It's not that it sounds bad, it's just getting indistinguishable. I used to be able to tell these bands apart, but now I simply can't. It's just like a big pile of mashed potatoes without taste, nor salt. That's BORING.
Seriously, no wonder I've gotten away from it. Same formula everywhere. It's as if every single band is aiming to make their song usable for an anime intro or outro. IT ALL STARTS TO SOUND THE FUCKING SAME.
I know it's close to impossible to innovate in a certain genre, but these bands aren't even trying. They're just using the same means to an end over and over and over and over. And people are still wondering why VK has lost so much popularity overseas? Well, you know, cool/pretty looks/makeup aren't everything. The music has to be recognisable. And whatever I heard just now is just something utterly and completely replaceable.
They all need to step out of their comfort zone ASAP, or else they'll be deadweight over here in Europe. I keep hearing of new bands all the time, and out of 100, maybe 2 to 5 are interesting. That makes for a really awful statistic, peeps. It's horrible, and I'm starting to get ashamed about the fact that I used to like this.
I suspect the main reason is the horrid music industry in Japan. But somebody has to counter it. I'm sure that some bands try, but they just fail to get recognition due to their innovation. But this scene needs just that in order to survive. Otherwise, it's pretty much dead - and only clings to hardcore fans buying their Type A, B, C, D, E, special edition singles for ridiculous prices.
 
It just doesn't give me anything anymore. Does anybody feel the same? Can somebody name me artists that are exceptions to this rule? Please elaborate.
Thank you kindly.
 
TL;DR: Excusing myself upfront. Stating that VK is stale as fuck nowadays. Or maybe I didn't notice before, and now I do. Captain Obvious. Moved on. Asking for your thoughts.

FUCK OFF YOSHIKI

Hi guys,
 
Hmmm…I haven’t wrote a forum intro in more than a decade now, well, let’s see how this goes.
 
I was a 90's kid who got into J-Rock in the beginning of the ‘00s when I upgraded to electric guitar, at the time, it was Glay, L’arc en Ciel and Dir en Grey that dominated the scene. Slowly, I got pulled towards the lesser known stuff like Malice Mizer(at the time that is), Raphael, hide, Due le Quartz and a few others that I forget now. I spent a great deal of fun with VK during those years, a couple of friends and I formed a band and we used to rehearse with J-Rock(and J-Pop) music. My favorite bands at the time were Malice Mizer, Glay and Dir en Grey (but over the years Malice Mizer became the victor).
 
I haven’t been catching up for the past 7-8 years due to the change in musical style and that the old stuff were kind of getting lost in the sea of new VK hype, also for the fact that I was moving towards University and my hobbies subsequently changed. During those years I have discovered new gems every once in a while – Acidman, Versailles, Maximum the Hormone and Tsubakiya Quartette, so I guess I wasn’t completely cut off.
 
While watching Malice Mizer’s Merveilles l’espace a few days ago, the nostalgia crept back up, and I found myself wanting to catch up with everything that I’ve missed out so far, the love for J-Rock and VK somehow revived itself after all these years.
 
So in the meantime, I thought I’d drop by and say hi to the community; it appears it’s become way bigger than how I remembered it, and I’m glad it is so. So if there’s anything I’m missing out on, I’m counting on you guys to fill me in
 
Yoroshiku,
 
Shiro

i'm really digging ザアザア (xaa-xaa) these days, their songs are really easy to listen to

After an astronomical gamut of rumors, speculations and reports, Utada finally stepped in to announce that her hiatus will end on April 4th - and to quote Ronald@Arama briefly:
 
In addition:
 
She will also reveal the current situation of her album songwriting process on the same day.
 
This is not news really but at least she herself confirmed it this time.

I took some time yesterday to watch some parts of their latest live DVD.
And, dang, they are massive!
Seriously, you may hate MEJ whatever you want but cannot deny they are very very veryyy great on stage. Tsu can sing and scream the same way on the records, MiA can play (how can they sound so massive with even one guitar tho??), Koichi and Meto are very energic.
I'm totally impressed tbh, and I'm only a casual MEJ fan.
They are successful, and I easily understand why (even if they aren't my cup of tea on all releases, they are good on what they do). The VENOMS.app songs are so great on stage, I'm in love <3 I'm also very fond of 人間 (but it was already the case when the single was out - dunno, I  love Tsudyingcat on this song). The ambiance and heavyness of this song is still the same, even on stage, I'm very happy about that.
 
Just wanted to share my thoughts somewhere, I'm out, goodbye. x)

Someone gotta tell him he's not in Versailles

prazer

。。。。

Re-watched FLCL after a few years.
 
I must say, that damn series is unforgettable. I honestly hope I.G. Productions does not do anything with the series.

That's definitely an issue. There's a difference between, like, being inexplicably turned on by large noses vs telling non-white people to not bother contacting you. Maybe you've only been attracted to white guys up until this point, but how can you exclude entire races from your pool of potential partners? Are you so sure that there's not a single dark-skinned person you'd find attractive?
On the flip side, I think it's also important to be aware of fetishistic preferences. Like, do you just get turned on by typically-Asian features, or are you hoping for an Asian gf because you assume she'll be inherently subservient to you?
Not that good people have to get all ten punches on their “Races I've Fucked” card... but I think it's in everyone's best interest to examine their “preferences” and ask whether they come from a subconscious racist place.

preferences= (for the most part) thinly-veiled racism
 
rant:
/rant over

Just remembered something.
 
I have been completely dismissed on dates (going as far as the 3rd date on one occasion), where the topic of "what nationality are you?" comes up, and then having the opposite sex be completely turned off by my response.
 
I'm not gonna share my story, but just a heads up that there are people who have these convoluted ways of thinking in their head, that they will immediately throw all the excitement of meeting someone new, because of where you/your family are from.
 
Why in the hell would you go on a date with someone, if you are gonna be that shallow? Did you accept the date because of a heat of the moment thing?

Hello everybody
I have been following the visual kei/ Jrock scene for several years now and thought it was time to interact more with the community. My favorite bands include Aicle. (even though they are no longer with us :c ), Sukekiyo, Mix Speaker's, Inc. , SuG, D=out, 9GOATS BLACK OUT, Plastic Tree, DADAROMA and mejibray. 
 
My hobbies include cooking and playing games. I also like to keep an eye on the fashion trends in the visual kei genre.
 
I study Games Art at university and currently watching mejibray live helps me unwind from the stress 
 
Nice to meet everyone ~