Komorebi

Just now, chipathy said:

I cant find anything legitimate besides random fans saying stuff but is the gist of it that it came out on stream he has a baby and is probably married and I guess his fanbase lost it and harrassed him off twitter?

He was tweetcasting, a baby crying could be clearly heard and as soon as he realized that he cut the streaming off. He apparently denied everything, refused to answer any question on the topic and finally chose to close twitter.
He's the most popular member by far, so draw your own conclusions on what's gonna happen.

In my personal opinion, I would have just partially lied and say it's a nephew or something.

38 minutes ago, chipathy said:

The vocalist's Twitter is gone 

Yep. Major drama.

40 minutes ago, Gesu said:

if I ever dated someone and didn't have sex with him soon, he would leave me and she wouldn't sympathise with me.

I was told this by a few "friends" when I came out as asexual and it pretty much destroyed my already low ability to interact with people outside of the internet. I am quick to push potential friends away out of fear they'll push me away once they realize I won't have sex with them and the only lasting friendships I've been able to form lately have been strictly online/long distance.

The prevalent prioritization of sex over love or any sort of connection even hurts those who choose not to (or are unable to).

I felt really good reading @CAT5, made me feel a bit hopeful for the world again.

42 minutes ago, yomii said:

still dont understand how one can quit a band they love cuz of some girls being mean. just...fuck these girls, no?

Well, if you go to lives to have fun and you are no longer having fun and have a miserable experience every time whats the point in spending time and money going? Especially if you are short on both.

Idk, I wouldn't quit that easily, but I think we all have an understanding of both the importance of a sense of community for Japanese people and the effects bullying has there. I can't also affirm that is the reason ALL those girls quit, but a shitty attitude from fellow fans adds salt to any wound.

As an example, I didn't quit on Acid Black Cherry's music, but I stopped going to the local ST's meeting and participating in any activity involving them due to some issues. Same with Diaura's. I enjoy both bands quietly and privately, but don't engage with the fandom at all and avoid them at all costs.

Edit: even though I said I wouldn't quit, I'm lowkey scared of certain gyas and I'm partially thankful I live so far away I can't go that often, or I'd be putting up with really shitty attitudes too often.

5 hours ago, sixblacknine said:

has an incredibly unhealthy obsession with Kyo, no one knows him as well as she does!!!!! 

LOL I know one like that in my fandom.

Worst case of toxicity I've seen is people fighting over ticket numbers and actually causing fans to quit the band/preventing some new fans from wanting to attend more often to the point of having a shitty reputation as a whole, despite the band being really nice.

3 hours ago, Triangle said:

Other than that, I haven't gotten the hang out of online dating. I might try getting back because, even if I don't get me a man out of this, at least I can meet some people. We'll see how that goes. 

I tried Tinder for making friends and all I got was people asking if I wanted/had weed

21 hours ago, leighla said:

I'll be in Nagoya on the date of the Nagoya live, but I wasn't able to get a ticket. I'll be at the Royz one instead, but if there's any pre-sale merch at GR before the live, I might try to get the CD. If they don't let me, I'll just have to accept it. 

Normally they do pre-sale, but I'm not sure if you have to show the ticket to get in for that. I can´t remember :S

Anyone here going to this acoustic tour?

Nice, will be waiting for this.

I love this. I really love this.

I'll be seeing the band in Santiago, Chile, tonight, so I can maybe share some experiences and see how different or similar it was, but from your description the fanbase seems similar.

Fans here have been camping outside of the venue for as far back as Wednesday. They crazy.

I see no much difference in the Kpop and VK scenes besides the musical genre.
They both have a similar marketing, cater to a similar demographic, both scenes have some sort of sexual exploitation behind a pretty facade, similar arguably repetitive sounds (even choreo) and both have performers posing as musicians playing/singing and dancing to songs they didn't write, although VK does have a lot more performers actually writing their music.

My job is really stable right now, though busy, and I'm making decent money doing what I majored to do.
I don't have any pending debts and I'm planning a new trip to Japan.

On 5/16/2019 at 8:01 AM, saiko said:

Moreover, I smell this could have to do with the suddenly massive-closing of VK stores. Like VK fandom started to stretch out and managements are doing their best effort to keep their signed artists 'appealing' to the bangya that left in the scene?

The stores closing is more related to physical CD sales declining in Japan than the VK scene dwindling.

I love that cover art. I hope the album is good.

12 minutes ago, CELESTIAL CIEL said:

WOW! I was sure she's into girls...

Same...

Nice! Looking forward to it.

On 2/2/2019 at 12:38 PM, RaeDesu said:

Alice Nine. I have hated Shou forever, he can't sing and sounds like a dying seal. Also anything with Kisaki in it, he's such a jerk. 

I wouldn't say I can't stand Alice Nine, but yes, Shou can't sing.

Do they even have musical direction? Have they released stuff?

I was there last year a few times and while the girl was really nice to me, Yada was annoying/rude as hell. I'm sure he won't be missed.

1 hour ago, Peace Heavy mk II said:

Ghostwriting isn't "stealing from the bands you idolize," so I'm not on board with the Vexent example for how it was framed. For example, it has also been rumored that Grieva had ghost writers, even though 80% of their early works were Diru covers. However, the suspicion didn't rise from what was being written, so much as how much was. They churned out basically an album-a-year's worth of material, and 2 out of 3 full lengths featured no singles or rerecordings. The same more or less went for Gossip, except theirs did feature old songs; however, they also released 3 albums, 4 singles, and a mini-album in 2 years (plus went on a 107-stop tour(!) ). Riddle me how the fuck someone has time to compose 30~45 songs while also being in a different city every night.

I'll re-read this when my brain is fully functional again, but I kinda see where you are coming from. Thanks a lot for correcting/teaching us (me lol)!

Not so sure about the others, but pretty sure 9GBO and Deluhi are still  two of the most missed bands around here.

27 minutes ago, diryangrey said:

not always this obv but check out these two songs by definitely different bands which are definitely written by different people

youtube.com/watch?v=ltiqDDlqDYA
youtube.com/watch?v=x9PJZlUJtyQ

Or these two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv6Yi144KAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3K3AcC5VM

1) Not like there's proof in VK, but the speed at which some bands pump out releases and the repetition/overuse of riffs and other elements can be a sign of ghostwriting. Also, when you see kids in the scene who aren't that good playing on stage yet are credited for what they play makes me wonder if they really did write it.
 

2) I think the whole scene is idol kei now. The way bands are put together, managed and marketed is very idol-ish. I'd say VK bands that are less "idol" would be those who put out releases less often, don't focus their sales on cheki and spend more time touring than doing fan-meet events.
 

3) When was the first instore? Not sure when VK evolved into what it is today, but I'm sure it was a while ago.
 

4) What is good music? I think there is good music and bad music in VK, just like in any other genre. And personal enjoyment does not atone for quality. I may not enjoy Morrie, Sukekiyo or Kiyoharu's works, but it is undeniably good music. Whereas I may like a lot of indie artists I consider to be musically mediocre. All in all, if I didn't enjoy VK I wouldn't be here.
 

5) VK does not rely that heavily on the music genre to survive. As long as there's scantly dressed pretty men wooing teen fans into spending their yen, the "well-being" of the scene is preserved. As overseas fans, we focus mainly on the music, because it is really all we can focus on, out of all VK has to offer as a scene. In Japan it is slightly different. You could enjoy the social experience, the fan events, the fashionable aspect, idk.

6) Because I have shitty music taste? LOL. I can't remember how I even got so hooked on this scene. It gives me versatility in a way many western rock artists don't. Bands don't always stick to a genre and blend a lot of styles to find their own. I don't know much about music theory but I know Japan uses a distinct... scale? for writing their music and I find it pleasant to my ears. I also tend to focus  a lot on bass and vocals. For the first, I've found more interesting bass-lines in Japan than overseas, where it tends to be a filler instrument. And for the latter... Have you seen those "sounds just like Ruki" comments on various YouTube videos? Well, they do, because Japanese men tend to have a similar vocal range that just happens to tickle my fancy. There's also the thing that with Japanese I can easily ignore corny lyrics because I simply do not fully understand them. I don't look them up either, I can live without knowing if I'm being insulted.
I come from the pop/rock scene, never really went through a western punk/metal phase in my teens year. I grew on 80's rock and 90's pop and I got used to catchy sounds accompanied by guitars, and it's what I look for in VK; poppy choruses with clean vocals and harsh instrumentals + lyrics I don't have to feel embarrassed about. Something that western metal and pop often fail to give me. The visuals aren't really that important to me, since I never watch PVs, but the androgynous beauty pleases me a lot when I do want to watch it tbh. As a big plus, I greatly enjoy the whole VK culture in Japan. I gotta say I love going to a small gig without being pushed around by huge dudes or drowning in the stench of weed and going to instore events and such.

18 hours ago, yomii said:

well all over the world girls fall in love with cool rockers and bangyas do have a real chance to get a relationship with a bandman. honestly, i think if i was living in japan and found out my honmei got married i think i would be really upset! idk how i'd react in such situation... but my honmei is a divorced father luckily  but being too offensive is a no-no, we all should be respectful .w.

This.

No matter how we look at it from a rational, western point of view, it's easy to understand why a teenager who is constantly fed a fantasy and actually has a relationship of sorts with the artist (sometimes even sex and phone conversations in exchange of money) would get upset.

Also, there's lots of artists who get openly jealous if their gyas have actual realtionships outside of the scene, I've heard from a few people that their honmei has asked them not to date or a fellow bandmember has told them not to tell that member about their relationship. So we can't only blame fans for that sort of culture.