Himeaimichu

Those outfits look like traditional Manchu tunics, but ugly

It probably was. What record label was this band associated with? I wonder if probably the same staff filmed it. EDIT: Just realised it's Vidoll. Knowing Vidoll was on Matina, they probably had the same video staff and all, since Eternal Records was a sublabel of Matina.

The melody in the whole thing kinda gives off Traditional Japanese vibes. God I hope this band will use Japanese Instruments like Memento Mori did

IIII-Ligro was a pretty good shred-kei band lead by vocalist Hinata. They tried reviving recently, but disbanded again.

What the hell is that production? That guitar tone is lacking. No mids, all the gain, only good for chugging metallica riffs in your bedroom on a practice amp type tone.

Guruguru Eigakan takes a lot of influence from Enka and Ryukoka, and it shows in their music. For one, 90% of the bands songs make use of the Hirajoshi scale. The Hirajoshi scale is a scale used in Japanese music that mainly started for the Shamisen, after it was brought from Okinawa. Safe to say, this scale pretty much defines Japanese music. By the middle of the Edo Period, it was everywhere. In the key of G, the notes are G, A, Bb, D, Eb. Guruguru Eigakan specifically fashions their music off of Enka and Ryukoka. Ryukoka is essentially traditional Japanese music played on western instruments like guitar and accordion,, popular in the 1900's. Enka is essentially a more stylised offshoot of Ryukoka. At it's core, it's mostly just Hirajoshi scale music. Amano, vocal wise, seems to really fashion himself off of Haruo Oka. Haruo Oka was one of the first popular singers from Japan, mainly being popular in the 30's and 40's. Oka's vocal style is pretty typical of Japanese singers at the time, as the modern Enka vocal style hadn't really been fully developed yet. Amano also plays guitar, and guitar-wise, he really seems to take influence from Yoshio Tabata, another famous Ryukoka musician from the 1930's. Both he and Haruo Oka are considered some of the most influential Enka and Ryukoka artists of their time. And for reference, here's a Guruguru Eigakan PV

That last song sounds cool as shit. Man I am totally feeling this. Edit: I just realised they're two different parts of the same song.

I'm guessing the label itself is owned by Diaura, but probably is produced and marketed by Forum. The whole name, NDG, is a huge reference to their fanclub and all.

Mei uploaded a full pic of his band to Instagram

Can Mei's new band be a full fledged band now? Thanks

Apparently, Mitsuki is a singer now. He did a cover of Meikyo Shisui. While no one can really truly replace Mahiro, I think if he does have to retire, Mitsuki should take the role of vocals.

After hearing the new Kiryu song recycle a certain Mi'ze:lia song, I wanted to kind of talk about one of the bands that Kiryu seemed to have really taken a few bits of influence from. Cuartet. I've been listening to these guys and their contemporaries a lot, and I've noticed a few interesting things. First off is their song "Koibumi". This at first seems like your run-of-the-mill attempt at an Akuro no Oka, and it is, but it also seems to have been combined with Aoi Haru by Gill'e Cadith. The beach they filmed the PV on was also used some music videos by other band. Most notably, the GazettE, whom at the time were kind of brother-bands with Cuartet. The song later inspired Tsukubai by Kiryu. Mahiro even tried to emulate Saki's wailing and screaming at the end. Only, Kiryu's version is much more metal. Why did Kiryu decide to tribute Cuartet? I have no idea why, other than the fact that Mahiro probably is friends with the members. There are setlists with LutenA and Koroshi (Mahiro's first band, and Cuartet's first era, respectively) preforming together that I've found here and there. Mahiro is also a former Luciffer's Record artist, and while Cuartet wasn't on Luciffer's Record, the owner of the record label, Yuuga from Devil Kitty, was closely associated with Cuartet's label, Climax Enteprise. As a result, Curse and Mareli (2 of Mahiro's bands) appeared on 2 omnibuses with Cuartet (edit: for sine reason I originally put Gill'e Cadith here? I really should proofread more). One of Mitsuki and Takemasa's earliest bands, Mi'ze:lia, was on Sequence Records, whose owner, Tomozo, was close friends with guitarist AIKA of Cuartet, having played in Black:List and Triggah, and AIKA still being a close associate of Tomozo's current label, Dual Core Sound Enterprise. So it's safe to say, Kiryu and Cuartet's members probably were friends, or at least aquainted with eachother, and bounced ideas off eachother. Another thing Cuartet liked to do is use a lot of traditional Japanese aesthetics in some of their looks. Most notably, Sphere and Deep Bonds of Ogre. The Sanskrit overlays and all were later used a lot by Kiryu. Though they were probably initially inspired by La'Mule. (Sphere scan taken from ZOMBIEXJUICE) Next is a personal favourite of mine, PROGRAM. This one is pretty much their attempt at combining Zan by Dir en Grey with Devil Kitty and Gill'e Cadith. It's pretty good if you like a lot of screaming and that rhythmic talking thing that isn't exactly rapping that Saki (though it was really Karuna's thing) does. Finally, I want to talk about a certain PV location that I've seen used in 3 different bands. I have no idea what this place is called, but maybe someone could help. The first band I know that used this is the GazettE, with their song "Wife". During one part, it shows the outside of the building. Ogre by Cuartet was later filmed in the same building, and even shows the exterior. The final PV that I know of that takes place there was Pink Woman by Etcetera. The filming crew for these PVs are probably all the same people who film stuff for Eternal, Climax Enterprise, Luciffer's Record and Mission Music Factory.

I found the Mi'ze:lia song they recycled. For once, my useless somewhat-knowledge on obscure proto-bands comes in handy.

The riff is basically Ookami Shounen by Mi'ze:lia (the old band of Mitsuki and Takemasa). I like the song but it could be better

The only song with a mildly interesting title is 血液がない！, even though the title is like the most generic-ass horror kei title. At least generic horror kei doesn't sound like TODAY....

Karasuna Mei of Kuroyuri to Kage performing Tsubasa wo Kudasai by Michio Yamagami. I will be real here, I never heard Tsubasa wo Kudasai and while I do enjoy a lot of Kayokyoku, I cannot name any artists or songs (except for like Haruo Oka). Guruguru Eigakan - Bokutachi no Shippai (Originally from Morita Doji). I actually knew somewhat of Morita Doji from back when I was just getting into Japanese music, but never really listened to anything of her's until I found Guruguru Eigakan.

Anyways, back to the original topic, if we can include Dead End, do those proto-VK goth bands like Madame Edwarda and G Schmitt count? I know Auto-Mod made some music videos, but I believe they're all from after they reformed on Penicillin's label. Anyways, someone in the 1978-1985 Japanese proto-VK Post Punk scene had to have made a music video, at least once.