qotka

These guys are totally in my current top 10, too. I think that while they don't always sound at the top of their game, there are many ways in which they could grow and surprise us. I'm not sure why, but I have really high hopes for them.

Holy hell!! This was on my playlist for YEARS and I had no idea what it was because for some reason the file name and tags were all in gibberish.

Funny story: it was Plastic Tree, but I had no idea they were even considered v-kei and had no idea what the band looked like until a year ago. A friend recommended them to me and I've been listening to them on and off since 2004. I didn't have an internet connection at home back then and relied on copying friends' music folders whenever I had the chance. Shirochronicle got me through a shitty military service, I'll always have a place in my heart for this album. By the way, I found out what they looked like when I came to Japan and started looking into tour dates. It was a pleasant surprise! Love Ryutaro's emoboi hair and Moroccan grandma getup.

This could become the hottest thing in 2017. Or maybe not. Either way shitfest report is much appreciated! ----- Not VK, but I've recently had the privilege to witness crowdfunding done right by Japanese post rock/math rock band te' for their China/Taiwan tour DVD. They invited all funders and the general public (funders got to enter first) to a free gig at Shibuya's Kinoto in addition to the rewards people got by donating. It surprised me how well it worked (they got 102% of the sum!). So yeah, in Doguramagura's case it's a world of... difference, but I'm glad to see it can be done.

LOL I think I've watched the version someone uploaded on YouTube like a hundred times! Do you play twister... I mean use twitter? I also think the Yokubou no Uta video is the best tribute to v-kei anyone has ever done, and their performance at VJS knocked me off my feet. Have you seen it?

Hello and welcome! I had no idea Kyan sometimes actually plays the guitar for real, that's cool. I love Golden Bomber, they are hilarious and Dakishimete Schwarz is my favorite karaoke jam.

Yes! I also almost feel frowned upon when I try to communicate with people by adding comments when I reblog or adding my own thoughts on content I post. It's ridiculous how shallow the communication there can get. I can totally relate to this. VK for me was a nostalgia until I went to Visual Japan Summit a couple of months ago and everything just resurfaced. Damn was it glorious. ----- I'm really glad I've read this thread even though I don't have much of substance to add. My friends who were into VK back in the day think I'm going to some weird mid-life crisis (I'm not old enough for that!) and keep slagging me off and asking where I got machine to go back to 2005. I totally understand them though, for many it was a fad and something we did as edgy teenagers who loved the aesthetics and wanted to feel speshul. But it's a great scene and I'm glad to be back. Granted, about 95% is crud, but there are too many gems out there for me to give up. Also IDK if dead or not -- I think that really depends on where you're looking. I've seen enough indie bands (not just v-kei) that barely have an audience of 10 (and sometimes you realise most of the people sitting around you at the club are the other bands playing that night), but then again you still have bands like MUCC who have almost sold out their current zenkoku tour and are doing two Budokan days this June (I'll have to wait for the general sale to see if they manage to sell it out though, though I bet they will). They're the only 'major' band I'm closely following at the moment but I'm sure there are more examples to this. Sure, the underground is where you wanna look for the future of a scene/genre, but as long as bands keep forming and bangya keep... doing their thing, I'm not worried. PS. @desparejo86 LEAVE YOSHIKI ALONE he's just a human being and it's OK to express yourself through taking 100 selfies a day!!1111 Also the new X album is totally happening. (sadface)

@fitear1590 thank you for mentioning Ailiph Doepa! This is some hilarious (and good) stuff!

Hi and welcome! I'm new myself, joined a couple of weeks back and pretty much in the same situation - never really had online pals from the VK community and trying to reach out to people with the same interests. Hope you have a great time here!

Most of the albums Plastic Tree had released after Cell are kinda lost on me. I really dig everything they did before that, but somehow the magic disappeared at some point save for very few songs that still keep me interested in checking out everything they put out in hopes it might be good. Most of the stuff MUCC did on The End of the World is major, cringe-worthy meh. I mean Ender Ender is a great live song and the title track is fairly decent. But after those two the album goes to shit. And this is coming from someone who liked Karma in a non-ironic way. BUCK-TICK's Arui wa Anarchy was just plain boring. The only songs that save Shiina Ringo's Hi Izuru Tokoro are Kodoku no Akatsuki and Nippon.

Nokubura are fun! But I also like shitty emo/screamo, metalcore and nu-metal that totally kills my hipster-indie cred. But yeah, I think it's a mixture of not having listened to enough music in general and some sort of superiority/inferiority (depends on how you look at it) complex with your own culture. Coming from a non English-speaking country, I had the same approach towards western music as a kid, thinking everything in my native language sucked and American/British bands were superior even though they did exactly the same genres as the bands I was refusing to listen to.

Akasaka Blitz to see Kisida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets and two other acts I don't remember, but it was a cute live. It was in 2014. In the past couple of months I started going to v-kei livehouses because the vibe is fun (and MUCC were playing, and I'm hooked and didn't mind getting to know more bands).

Hey, thank you very much! I'm already listening to some of the stuff you've shared on twitter, always glad to find people with a cool taste in music. And NMFT is super cool, I'm kinda surprised they followed me back!

Oooh this looks like fun! Qotka's 2017 list:

Pre-ordered MUCC's Myakuhaku. Please don't suck! *fingers crossed*

+1 on the Old Pla vibes. You can hear he actually wrote some of the songs back in the day. Totally didn't expect this. Some of the videos seem forced (like, 'OK guys we need a PV for every single one of these kinda thing), but music-wise it's pure gold if you're a fan of their old stuff.

I think it's been a good 10 years since I last posted on a BBS, but I've been looking for a J-rock/V-kei community for a while now and I was glad to find this one (figured that if I can't shut up about the music I love listening to I should probably join!). I'm really into MUCC these days (can't wait for their new album! Just a couple more days!), and really love the big classic geezers (X Japan, Luna Sea, Buck-Tick, Kuroyume). I also love going to gigs and finding new bands to listen to. Thought the scene was dead until a year ago, but nope, still alive and kicking. DEZERT are currently my favorite fairly-new v-kei act. They're unpolished (sometimes in a good way) but give good vibes and have an interesting interaction with their audience. I'm here to learn (so many bands I've never heard of just from skimming through the site, yay!) and meet new people. So, um, hi!