qotka

amazing

well.....this isn't vk but i thought i'd share it here as well.
when i went to see envy they performed "toki wa owaru" by the bloodthirsty butchers as a tribute to hideki yoshimura. i saw them early june so it was right around the time when hideki passed away. i didn't realize it was a tribute to him until i recognized the song, but that was really cool and heartwarming.

hahahha! 
 
sounds a lot like me when I randomly met Jun & Toya from Gotcharocka on the street in Shibuya. 
 
I don't have that many stuff happening to me since I am silent one mostly standing in the backgrounds at lives, but I was in the second row at Wing Works and this girl tried to push me away all the time since one of the support members couldn't stop staring at me/or was he flirting who freaking knows maybe she was trying to save me lmao. 
 
Tzk giving a air kiss towards me on a mejibray live at takadanobaba was pretty sweet too. 
 
And this is like no interaction thing but I can't seem to forget that time when Sono (Matenrou Opera) hushed the audience after we have song the Gloria phrase, he hushed us and sang himself in a cappella while Shibuya AX was completely silent. That was magical. 

since people are writing about concerts that weren't in Japan, I'll add some things I want to share too that happened to me in Germany/Austria
 
PLUNKLOCK:
not exactly during the concert but the signsession that took place before the concert.
Halo was signing with a green marker and when he looked at me he got so excited about that his marker had the same color like my hair that he had to interrupt Haruka who was signing another fans poster and made him look at me and his marker. pinky freaked out completey and was like "I'M PINKY YOU'RE GREENY" the whole time.
Never seen someone being so excited about colored hair.
 
DEATHGAZE:
We already caught AIs attention during the concert because we were singing along the whole time and me and a friend were ... uhm ... dancing in the middle of the crowd and he pointed at us several times to show it to the other members.
after the concert we were sitting next to our car not realizing that it were parked next to the tourbus (it was really small, probably thats why) and that friend I was 'dancing' with sat down on the hood of our car, but the friend who owned the car said that she should get off. She ignored her  so I got up and stood right in front of her, bowing down to grab  her arms ... when everyone around us started screaming and laughing ... I turned around and there was Kousuke, looking at us with his mouth open, unable to move for  a few seconds until he started smiling in a really creepy way ...
we went to another concert two days later and when Kousuke saw us he asked were my "girlfriend" is because she wasn't there. awkward ... but kind of funny.
 
 

I'm curious, what do/did everyone's parents here listen to? What do you think about their taste in music? Are there any particular songs that they enjoyed that you hated or enjoyed as well? Did your parents have any favorite songs? Did you think their taste influenced you at all? I always find these kinds of things interesting!
 
 
As for me, well, my father was strictly a soul, funk, and old-school R&B fan. He absolutely loved The Temptations, Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, The Staple Singers and many of the old motown greats. He pretty much shunned any music outside of that, although he did admit to enjoying a few songs from our generation (a bit of hip hop and modern r&b.)
 
One of his favs:
 

 
My mother, on the other hand, was much more open-minded. She enjoyed everything my father did, but she also listened to variety of pop and rock from her era as well - like the carpenters, the mamas and the papas, black sabbath, yes, and so on.
 
 
When I was growing up, I enjoyed a good amount of music that my parents did, but I always considered it "old people music". It wasn't until I actually got older (say around 19 or 20) that I actually began to appreciate the music they listened to. So yes, I think their taste has had a huge impact on me. Not only do I enjoy most of things they did, but I also seek out more recent bands/artists with similar sounds. I certainly have my mother to thank for her open-mindedness...although I listen to quite a few things now that she would confuse her, haha...
 
 
lastly, both of my parents were huge Curtis Mayfield fans, although I remember my dad pointing out his genius to me in particular. The entire "Superfly" album is bad-ass and I'll jam to this even today!
 

Giving thought to why you like or don't like certain bands or music and then putting that opinion on the table--that's all well and good, and an essential part of any healthy music community. Most of the time though, I feel it's not so much the fact that there is someone out there who dislikes music that you love (these people exist no matter how popular/well-regarded a band is - and I think that's something everyone will have to accept); but rather, it's the way in which their opinions are expressed.
 
Anyone who has been on MH longer than 3 days would have realized that '"criticizing" a band here (for some people at least) means articulating your opinion in a way that's as offensive/tactless as the rules possibly allow for, even if the same point can be made as effectively without insulting anyone. And that's not counting posts that aren't even proper opinions (e.g. going into a thread of a band you simply don't care for and saying 'just disband now', or going into a disbandment thread and gloating over it). 
 
So I kinda understand where OP is coming from. For the most part MH has been a valuable resource and a great community, although at times I wish people would actually spend more time on the bands they enjoy and leave the others alone if they have nothing valuable to say rather than  just looking to provoke.
 
There's always the "let's just turn the other cheek" attitude, but while that's always appreciated (and necessary for staying sane on the internet), surely the responsibility for a mature/critical community doesn't lie squarely with these people if there are others bent on being intentionally inflammatory all the time.

yeah people who think MH ppl are bitchy really haven't gone far into the /mu/ related circlejerkes of the net, trve black metal online communities (literal nazis sweetie...not unite haters or whatever) or pop stan twitter...THAT shit is insanity and compared to any of the three MH is an absolute fucking joke. Its tougher on jrawk fans or whatever because they get attached to their crossdressing lil babus (who are in real life hosts) bc they might be one of the few western fans on the net for x band and so they want to protect them from trolling or w/e.  I get it too....except i dont because i don't stan trash...BUT when i do i got a sense of humour about it (don't come for aiolin please im sensitive)
lets put it this way, the only way you can in any capacity get upset is because you think someone else's opinion matters...and its the net...so don't do that. you could come here and shit talk dir en grey all you'd want and i'd laugh in your face because you need your ears checked...and you can do the same for when i think ABC sound like genital warts because my opinion is stupid and its literally just that. not that talking deliberate smack is such a light thing...but...the world is ending and i get my kicks off calling MiA voldemort's whore cousin because it gets a giggle out of somebody (usually just me). also, tanuki is literally full of this stuff...just not remotely as funny *cackle*. respects to u for voicing ur opinion though!
 
I think the days of hating x band because of y are over, everyone's too depressed about jrawk to be an annoying fan. I will say that the bands that got a following on tumblr, especially mejibray, have been a target for a while simply because of the annoying fan reception. as of bands that have come later than that...i could foresee pentacum turning into a roast magnet but visual kei is dead haha!

Also; 
A lot of 'alternative' music - and I don't just mean VK -  just isn't for everyone, to be frank.
I'm pretty sure I'm not entirely wrong when I say that a lot of western indie/post-punk/goth bands also have singers (or, hell, just an overall sound) ranging from 'a bit of an acquired taste' to 'just plain fucking horrible'. For example, I REALLY can't stand Wayne Coyne's  voice (guy from The Flaming Lips), even though I really do enjoy quite a lot of the actual music I've heard by his band, they're a band that's been around for ages, they know their stuff, and they've been pretty adored by critics at some point.
Still, at the same time I love vocalists like Amano Tonbimaru from Guruguru Eigakan or Sharaku from FLOPPY/Metronome, and both of them are from an objective standpoint pretty damn bad (or at least 'not very good'). Despite that, I still stan them and their sometimes pretty janky-sounding music... Because they do something relatively original that can't be found all that much anywhere else. I'm personally a lot more lenient towards younger bands w.r.t. QUALITY if they bring something that's at least mildly unique to the table instead of just going full derivative, but I know other people may think differently. Whichever side you're on, you just gotta roll w/ the punches and keep liking what you like despite what 'critics' or whoever say.
I feel like a lot of (professional) music ""criticism"", as w/ film ""criticism" and videogame """"""""""criticism"""""""""", is all pretty much largely based on a.) industry relations and people getting paid off to give good reviews or b.) old grumpy OVERLY elitist fucks like Christgau or whatever... Now, if I had to choose between those two, I'd probably still incline more towards the latter category, but I think both are misguided in their own way.
At the same time, though, I gotta say that the whole 'If you hate it so much, I'd like to see you try to release something better :^)'-argument is incredibly weak and on the same tier as food analogies in terms of their ability to utterly kill a conversation and render it meaningless, and it's usually the tell-tale mark of a stan. I don't really understand the mindset of people who treat an insult to a band they like as if someone broke into their house and took a shit on their very own bed tbh..
 
tl;dr: just like what you like regardless of what 'critics' say, as long as you don't act like a stan about it there shouldn't be any problems lol

Hating a band because it's a "popular" thing to do is also a thing, and happen across almost every fan base. Like back when almost everyone hate Justin Bieber for being Bieber, or Nickelback regardless if they hear a song before or not.
 
Even if a hated band sounds nice they will still find something wrong with it. But like said above music is highly subjective and not everyone has the same taste and everyone is entitled to an opinion.
 
 

Yeah I'm not sure if this is the right spot to write this but I'm just going to write it anyway because I think it's a real issue that is worth talking about (since I haven't seen anyone ever talk about it). Perhaps it should be moved to one of the music sections since it is music related, but I wasn't sure how the rant would end. What do you think of indie visual kei bands? Or indie bands in general? I'm talking about really new young bands that may not have that much talent or skill, but still play their damn hearts out and pour their soul into the music. I'm talking about bands that belong to unpopular labels if at all, often comprised of a bunch of kids 18 or 19. I'm talking about people who really just got into the business. Think Jui from Vidoll during De-vine for example.
 
I've noticed for years now that there are music elitists /  snobs / parasites / whatever you want to call them in the VK community, and in musical communities in general. They're WAY too harsh when they criticize music, nearing delusion but are rarely called out on it.  The other day I listened to an indie band's final release, and it was full of passion and emotion, and the vocalist improved before that band disbanded (they were really bad at the beginning lol). The band I'm talking about is called ReivieЯ and the song is called Dears. Basically they had a final release that was really good in my opinion, and it was very emotional, then I went to read reviews of the album and everyone was talking absolute shite. People were saying that the release was bad and that the vocalist sucked or didn't improve (which is bullshit), and I was just thinking to myself something along the lines of "Wow. This release (Dears in particular) was full of so much emotion and I can really feel the music and enjoy this. I want to see you detractors put out something even half as good as this. Why do people just talk shit and ignore every good aspect of the release to say negative shit instead?".  The vocalist has since joined a band called Fixer and has improved  immeasurably since RevieЯ's first release but anyway I knew for a while now that music critics are often overly harsh to the point of just being plain delusional. They ignore every good aspect of a song just to shit on it because vocals might be a little off at one part, or for any other petty trivial reason.
 
I've noticed that these people tend to dislike nearly everything that isn't produced by extremely talented and highly trained artists. I thought that music was supposed to be an artform, a canvas to express emotion and feeling and share it with others. I didn't know that music was supposed to be monopolized by only extremely skilled musicians with very difficult to achieve levels of skill, innovation and talent. I was always surprised by this attitude. The irony is that here in America, a lot of the popular music that the majority of people listen to is music that requires little to no no talent aside for in some instances so-so vocal training. It is not hard to sing a really basic pop song, it just requires a little bit of basic vocal training. You don't really have to use many vocal techniques to sing basic pop songs. Singing in a good power metal band and actually sounding good requires far more technique, time, training, ambition, dedication and effort, yet people eat mainstream pop / hip hop up like it's the best music on the planet. With visual kei I have had the exact opposite experience. 
 
In the end I don't really know what this rant achieves, but this is coming from someone who has loved indies visual kei bands for a decade now. I think that the attitude that a lot of people have towards musicians, especially singers discourages them from releasing their covers to the public, because criticizing towards us is usually very harsh and unconstructive. 
 

I think this may be what is going on:
 
Tsuuzetsu
CD 1 Re-recording CD 2 Track-listing & mix from the 1st press of Tsuuzetsu (2001) Homura Uta
CD 1  Re-recording CD 2  Track-listing & mix from the 3rd press of Homura Uta (2004)
From the sounds of this description from Puresound, it sound like it's meant to be a release that compares the old Mucc and the current Mucc.

Japanese
 
Google English
 
When they say [DISC-2:Tsuuzetsu 1st] I'm positive they're referring to the 1st press of Tsuuzetsu, and when they say [DISC-2:Homura Uta -ReMASTER-] I think they're referring to the 3rd pressing of Homura Uta which was indeed remastered (slightly clearer dynamic range and punchier than the first press.) and included Suiso (which was not included in any other pressing of Homura Uta).

While I'm talking about Homura Uta, funny little tidbit about the different pressings is that the only aesthetic differences between the two is that the 3rd press has a giant black & white sticker on the back of the shrink wrap with different catalog number information, the CD matrix has a different catalog number to reflect the pressing, and there's an extra little insert with lyrics for Suiso. Everywhere else you'll see that the packaging and artwork is pulled straight from the first press down to the catalog number on the case and even the bonus CD. 
 
 

 

Sooo confused trying to make sense of what the hell's going on here. Repress of the 1st edition of 痛絶 is pretty cool? and i guess im curious about a 痛絶 remaster, because I would say there is some potential to do a better post-processing job on it this time around.
 
However, I'm extremely suspicious that the remaster of 葬ラ謳 will show any improvement.... It's just a really great sounding album already. This is all intriguing news nonetheless, as a fan of pre-2005 ムック.

This haul was just pure old vk/J-rock related items.  My Loudness bias is strong today. XD
 

Kamaitachi micro-fiber towel from the current reunion tour
Jacks 'n' Joker autograph board
 

test-No. - test-No.006
test-No. - test-No.007
Puela - Shadow of Wizard
 

Passion Rose - Under the Rose VHS + maxi single
 

SHOXX volume 12 [cover artist: hide with Kyo (Die in Cries)]  plus the Sawada Taiji & Yamada Masaki poster that came with the issue  (I may have only bought this just for the poster.)
 

Fool's Mate volume 128 (cover artist: Loudness)
Rockin' F volume 202 (cover artist: Loudness)
 

Fool's Mate volume 198 (cover artist: Luna Sea)
Fool's Mate volume 202 (cover artist: Luna Sea)
 

Fool's Mate volume 138 (cover artist: Ladies Room)
P-5 January 1991 issue

@Zeus
In the PV there's also a scene when the main guy stares at his phone screen before meeting his partner, to which what looks like a chat board of some sort (since there are more than two names on display).

 
There's mention from one person (who goes by Mr. Nameless) about wanting to die and wanting someone to kill him; the biggest text here, pictured below, saying 'please kill me'. This person is offering himself for slaughter and someone else on the board (most likely the main character) must've read this and decided to grant his wish. It's still a little ambiguous who is who in the chat board, but this is another alignment with the article and seems almost like more than a coincidence to me. You could very well be right!

I moved this topic into the Lyrics section to give this part of the board some more love. With more high quality discussion topics like these, this subforum will sprout to life in no time!
 
I'm going to go in a slightly different direction with this conversation to give those who haven't taken Humanities classes something to chew on. Reading these lyrics reminded me of this news story from a few years ago. I will provide the text in case the article disappears in the future, as news articles are wont to do.
 
 
The parts in bold line up with segments of the lyrics too well - mixed with a bit of Chiaki's imagination and artistic freedom of course. I don't believe the main character has hang ups or regrets as much as he gets off on killing and eating men, and now he's found someone that he wants to eat him. I point to the lyric I'll have dinner with "me" and you and I am interpreting "me" as if he is offering himself for dinner.

The second thing I thought of was that this main character must have killed and eaten before and that his constant cannibalism led to development of gastric ulcers. The inclusion of "Gastric Ulcer" in the title was a way of hinting at cannibalism without directly stating it, and possibly was a way to get around Japanese censors. I agree on the interpretation of "Rousseau's Illusion" everyone has given so far. I also think the "you" in the lyrics are ambiguous. When I read the first passage, what comes to mind is a deranged man talking to his carved up lover in a freezer. When it switches into the next paragraph, the "you" is now us. Chiaki is Brandes, we are Meiwes.
 

HOLY CRAP thank you for the responses! You guys are awesome!!
I did not take any philosophy classes so thank you @chemicalpictures and @hiroki for your thorough explanations about Rousseau. Thanks for linking the interview too, hiroki, I shall read the whole thing later.
 
This turned out to be a lot more complex than I thought, but also very interesting! I like the idea of the raw state of human beings, the savage, the love of the self, and self-love. I think it ties well into the 'mirror', or the true state of things. Whatever shows up on the mirror, or whatever is inside the mirror world, is Boy B/self-love, the hidden and raw self. Which is why the lyrics say at the end that the 'near future' is basically the boy already disappearing 'into the mirror'. You can't escape the true/natural state of things despite masking yourself with another side. And yes, I think this is what Chiaki means when disputing Rousseau's philosophy of the good nature of humans, and thus calls it 'Rousseau's Illusion'.
 
@jaymee I can very much agree with the idea of capgras delusion and how his dark side is replaced with an imposter/his love interest. Maybe that's why the 'seemingly' potential love interest is a male and not a female (in conventional terms anyway). That takes away the homosexuality undertones then. The other males in the PV is basically his other self in the form of another man. And if we take it further, that one imposter (the second man) ends up killing the real one instead, rather than the real one killing the imposter, as he did with the previous one. This means that his evil side, the raw self, wins and leads back to the idea of disappearing 'into the mirror' where the true state of things lie.
 
I think we've all touched up on some similar concepts here and there. This is a good discussion so far~

I find myself with a lot of time to think about the state of Japanese music and how things have changed since I first became a fan. I'm sure you guys have these thoughts as well. For the 10th anniversary, I'm going to publish some random musings I've had about the scene. They'll just be bullet points from one sentence to a few sentences about anything related to visual kei or J-rock. If you guys want to join in just leave your bullet points below and I'll be posting them sometime soon.
 
Thoughts from @Zeus:
 

the GazettE
 
We always had a dream of getting together a J-Rock Wikipedia of sorts to catalog our history. That idea is all but dead in the water. Last.fm is the closest we have to that and it's very decentralized. The day those servers go down is the day an entire epoch of international visual kei ends. From the perspective of an international fan, live distributed releases suck ass. It sucks more when the song in question is not put on another purchasable release, rendering that song out of reach for people like me unless we fork over tons of money to a third party reseller, so it's not like we could benefit the band if we tried. It really sucks when it was given away at a band's last gig, because the fans of that band will only dwindle from that moment on and the release will become even rarer until it reaches a tipping point where no one cares anymore. Then, you might get it if someone feels kind and doesn't purge it from their hard drives. An entire era of Japanese history was lost when Mega Upload went down. Many places exclusively used that website for all their deeds. It's said that 4% of all the traffic in the internet flowed through their servers at their peak. I say this because there are lots of releases that you just can't find anymore because links are dead and the fans have left. I've learned a valuable lesson about the permanence of data. I used to hate collection albums and viewed them as a quick way to make a buck. But after some stellar recent releases and faves of mine that broke up and left a collection album behind before they broke up, they are very useful for both sharing a blast from the past and for making mix tapes. Most blogspots have always seemed like a futile attempt to mimic what we do here for some bored teenagers 15 seconds of fame. I used to expend my energy trying to stamp them out, but that's just as futile. There were a select few that actually served as an archival device and were lit. Places like Byouto and Evil en lucifer existed with a plan and a demographic in mind and actually bothered with mirroring their own links and getting their own CDs. Re-recordings are almost always better than remasters for me. At least with the former it feels like the band put some effort into it. Speaking of which, the re-recordings on Lycaon's second album aren't that bad. I still don't like EROS or Aventure though. I've never listened to an X JAPAN song and I don't understand all of the hate Yoshiki gets sometimes. I like poking fun at Japanese Democracy, but other than that I'm from a different era than original X fans (are there even any left) so I can't cash in on nostalgia. I'm so far divorced from their music I have no feelings one way or another and if it ever does get released, I plan on buying, listening, and reviewing the new album fairly as if we haven't been waiting forever to hear it.  

THE PIASS
 
Never thought I would see a scene without UNDERCODE. Then again, there was a time I thought there would never be a scene without Matina and these days few people remember that label. Does YOHIO hang around here? He must visit every now and again - this place is too addictive and centralizing not to. Is there even anywhere else to go? Where do all the n00bs come from? I haven't heard anyone refer to anything as "too American" in years. We successfully stamped that ignorance out of the scene! I remember when XodiacK was first formed, their partnership with HearJapan, and their subsequent financial failure with their first single. They were a joke back then. Now they are considered a cult classic. It's crazy how malleable opinions are. BORN and Lycaon are two bands I waited forever for their disbandment, and when it happened I wasn't happy. Visual kei is making a third shift in sound away from the millenial-kei tunes into the unknown. This is a great time to be a fan!  
Thoughts from @fitear1590:
 

the fin.
I need more VK bands with technical guitar work that aren't necessarily tied to some offshoot of metal (Aicle was a perfect example) The lines between VK and certain brands of indie are getting more porous; a very exciting combination of worlds! Honestly, what happened to Shiina Ringo? She was such a prominent figure in my music taste at one point, but she fizzled out... Please. End. The. Treble. Synth. Fad. Long live "art kei". May the patron saints (ex-members of bands like Moran, yazzmad, amber gris, etc.) keep the style going!  
Thoughts from @emmny:
 

DIV
amber gris saved visual kei after Buglug tried to destroy it and before issei literally almost destroyed himself falling off a balcony meto style Few things were more depressing than seeing Yuuki ruin UnsraW and then flop into infinity with DOAK "Lost november" by Diaura is the most iconic vk song released in...ever Revival kei was the only thing that saved vk past 2012 DIR EN GREY's career trajectory has been amazing and no I don't care what you have to say about DSS No, i'm not EVER getting over D'espairsray so can it. Can bands stop acting like visual kei is still popular, trying to play massive venues (which would have been considered average size 10 years ago) and then flopping intensely? Miztavlah YOU'RE NEXT...300/1200 O-West wait on it DADAROMA and Mejibray have the biggest followings in the western fandoms since vk died and its actually kinda adorable...won't save vk tho Ikenai Kiss by DIV was both the peak and death of EDM kei...RIP  
Thoughts from @doombox:
 

CROSSFAITH
 
I still don't know how baby VK bands manage to pay for their costumes and make up artists when they can't get 100 people in a venue. MIYAVI proved you can survive after VK, have a public marriage and family, be covered in tattoos, and still be wildly popular. These days it's getting plain to see VK has gone down like the Titanic and we're all waiting in tiny lifeboats, clinging to each other and hoping another big ship will eventually come to save us. I'm still not over K (Pay money To my Pain), Shunsuke (Eldorado, bis), or Jasmine You (Versailles).  ONE OK ROCK took over the world. I'm still in shock. Japanese electro-core burnt out way too fast but man it was fun while it lasted.   
Thoughts from @tetsu_sama69:



BAISER
 
When will people realize that most VK bands are just homage of older previous groups and THIS WILL ALWAYS BE A THING?!!? Most VK singers are just massive fanboys of Kiyoharu/Kyo/Hyde/Ruki even if it doesn't seem like they are there always SOMETHING that gives it away and trust me even your vk daddies had people they were fanboys of as well. "Musical differences" is just an excuse for you ran out of mommy/daddy's money for your costumes/recordings OR you just don't get along To survive in this fandom you either have to be extremely open-minded or stick to what you know you like but trust me... not everyone is going to like what you like and you have to accept that Accept it, we're all weeaboos.  
 
Thoughts from @Ito:

Sel'm
 
Not only has aie somehow managed tostill be sticking around, he is almost seemingly trying to  single handedly save VK...and somehow suceeding?  It took nearly the full span of 10 years, but every one of my favorite VK bands from 2007 has disbanded I am not sure if VK has gotten worse or if I've just gotten older and grumpier Yoshiki has transitioned from a legend to a laughingstock in the community It surprises me when I meet someone IRL and they tell me they are a big VK fan...and then I find out they haven't heard of MH. Like where the hell else are you going? I wish I was more inclined to go back and check out older work. I know I have missed out on plenty of wonderful Jrock, but I am just so keen on keeping with what it current. I really need to fix that. Are we ever going to get any VK bands to come to the States again, outside of the biggest of names? While I listen to far less VK now than I used to (read that as my musical tastes have broadened), it still holds an incredibly special place in my heart.  
Thoughts from @CAT5:
 

八十八ヶ所巡礼
 
International Visual Kei fans are some of the craziest, most irritating, and deranged people that I've come across. They're also some of the most passionate, interesting, fun-loving, and generous music fans that I've had the pleasure of knowing. There's always been a stigma surrounding the community, but in my experience, there's more good to be said than bad. Monochrome-Heaven is one of the most slept-on forums of all time. We've been around for a decade and the community is still thriving despite the fact that forums are continually slipping into obsolescence. The world of J-rock is vast and infinite, and there's always something new and different to try if you look for it or ask the right people. Trying to convince VK fans that music outside of VK is somehow "better" or more worthwhile is an exercise in futility. Condescending or scoffing at VK fans is also equally idiotic. I've done both. Don't do it. You'll just come off as an absolute dick who's insecure in his own tastes and interests. VK marketing ploys are still pretty fucking hilarious and ridiculous.  Speaking of which, most of us have, at one point, gone broke for Visual Kei and Japanese music in general. It's expensive and wallet-crippling, yet glorious all the same. I still can't wrap my head around cheki or conditional disbandments. DIR EN GREY have never NOT been relevant.  

Phantasmagoria
 
MH and VK fans at large love themselves a good drama/scandal. From what i've seen, it's usually best to just have a sense of humor about these things. J-rock changes over time. Your favorite era may have been five, ten, or even fifteen years ago. Hell, it might even be NOW. Whatever the case, accept that the musical landscape is constantly changing. I think it's more effective to cherish your favs. and continuously sing their praises than it is to bitch and moan about bygone styles and eras, and how all new music sucks. Sharing keeps the J-rock community alive. It's what's kept us going this long. And not just the sharing of the music itself, but the sharing of news, lyrics/translations, scans, review, live reports, images...even something as simple as sharing your own, unique thoughts about a band or a release. It all counts. Every little piece contributes to keeping the scene alive at large. MH has truly been blessed in this regard, as so many of our members have come here to share openly and freely all out of love for VK, J-rock, and Japanese music as a whole. It's a beautiful thing and I thank everyone for every penny spent, every CD ripped, every mb uploaded, every post typed, and every general ounce of energy poured into our common love for Japanese music.

Thanks for reading!

I was in the first row for MUCC's culture center live in Mito last week, and when they switched parts for their first encore Tatsuro played the bass and I could see there was a guy holding a big cardboard sign in the gap between the seats and the stage, running after him as he moved on stage. Then I saw the sign had bass tabs written on it. He was still messing it up and it was very cute. It got even funnier when they used the smoke machine during Ranchuu and he was squinting to look at the tabs through the smoke. I'm a sucker for silly gags like this so it made me really happy.

I was in the first row for MUCC's culture center live in Mito last week, and when they switched parts for their first encore Tatsuro played the bass and I could see there was a guy holding a big cardboard sign in the gap between the seats and the stage, running after him as he moved on stage. Then I saw the sign had bass tabs written on it. He was still messing it up and it was very cute. It got even funnier when they used the smoke machine during Ranchuu and he was squinting to look at the tabs through the smoke. I'm a sucker for silly gags like this so it made me really happy.

Most of my VK experiences come from anime conventions. lol. I know lame.
 
L'arc en Ciel/VAMP - Otakon 04' and Otakon 13'? - In 04', L' arc en Ciel ripped it up and that's when I started falling in love with Japanese music. Hyde tried to ask us if we ate "crabs", but it came out sounding like "crap" XD . I was also in the DVD that they shot (during "Driver's High" the camera rolls pass my friends and I)!! . When Hyde came back for Vamp, he once again tried to ask us about "crabs", but failed again. lol It was funny, but really awesome show.
 
MUCC - Otakon 06' - Tatsurou had an obsession with flipping us off which caused a lot of the crowd to flip him off too. lol All in good humor. Mosh pits and headbanging ensued.   

AvelCain:
During gyakudive i was almost lying on vocalist's box (idk how to call it) and accidentally touched Karma's foot. He looked at me like a psycho and slapped my face with his palm. It was like more pushing palm into my face. Duuuuude. 
Saw how Kisaki and Karma hugged each other because Sui told them to do it (?). It was the coldest hug i've ever seen. lol
Before that live i was lost and asked for a random people for help. They showed me way and stopped while saying "This is this place".  I raised my head and saw AvelCain in front of me. So i thanked these people and was pretending i don't know who is AvelCain.
 
SAVAGE:
During gyakudive i almost didn't broke my nose because guitarist catched my hand and pulled me on someone. I felt pain in my nose for few days. At live i thought i was bleeding.
Injured my back because Ryuka used my back as a table or a chair and the next day i was not able to sit or move.
 
Chariots:
Jin thrown smal sausage into me. 
 
D.I.D.:
I came to venue before live because i want to check where the venue is because i'm  a stupid gaijin and i'm always lost.  And at that moment i saw D.I.D. arriving in their van in front of me. I got scared and started run away. Sel'm guys saw this stupid gaijin running like a crazy. lol.  
 
Lolita23q:
After live one awesome guy gave to me his atari ticket and i've met Sou face to face twice. 
 
Lycaon:
Fans wanted to go to toilet but toiled doors was occupied by Satoshi and surrounded by BORN members. 
 
Trans Note:
Riding metro to Suzuya's live together with him. I wouldn't realize that if he wouldn't be staring at me TOO much. Like having literally no shame, turning to me and staring like a weirdo entire time till we left metro. 
 
etc. etc. so many....

Saw MERRY in Liquidroom for their 2009 Underworld [BURST]Tour final and during the set, I was sub-consciously digging my nose (I know, I know....) and my eyes and Gara's met (I'm a Asian dude). Gara then smiled and proceeded to violently dig HIS nose with all his fingers, one at a time and then licked all his fingers while glancing in my direction with a crazed look. Good times! 

I was in the first row for MUCC's culture center live in Mito last week, and when they switched parts for their first encore Tatsuro played the bass and I could see there was a guy holding a big cardboard sign in the gap between the seats and the stage, running after him as he moved on stage. Then I saw the sign had bass tabs written on it. He was still messing it up and it was very cute. It got even funnier when they used the smoke machine during Ranchuu and he was squinting to look at the tabs through the smoke. I'm a sucker for silly gags like this so it made me really happy.

I was in the first row for MUCC's culture center live in Mito last week, and when they switched parts for their first encore Tatsuro played the bass and I could see there was a guy holding a big cardboard sign in the gap between the seats and the stage, running after him as he moved on stage. Then I saw the sign had bass tabs written on it. He was still messing it up and it was very cute. It got even funnier when they used the smoke machine during Ranchuu and he was squinting to look at the tabs through the smoke. I'm a sucker for silly gags like this so it made me really happy.

I was in the first row for MUCC's culture center live in Mito last week, and when they switched parts for their first encore Tatsuro played the bass and I could see there was a guy holding a big cardboard sign in the gap between the seats and the stage, running after him as he moved on stage. Then I saw the sign had bass tabs written on it. He was still messing it up and it was very cute. It got even funnier when they used the smoke machine during Ranchuu and he was squinting to look at the tabs through the smoke. I'm a sucker for silly gags like this so it made me really happy.