Komorebi

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

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.

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.

Same...

Nice! Looking forward to it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm pretty sure they KNOW but don't wanna talk about it/don't want it to feel so real.

This is quite catchy, better than what I expected from them tbh.

This sounds pretty decent, actually.