Yeah, Közi and Yu~Ki did appear at some M10M events and the three of them were even playing old Malice Mizer songs together. But I am quite sure that a full time reunion won't ever happen and about them disbanding... I think, for a change, in their case it was indeed the good old "personal and musical differences" that all those vk bands love to cite as a reason. I mean... musically they went to totally different directions: Klaha's some solo releases were very different in style, Yu~Ki probably just got bored by all this stage and music business stuff, Közi seems to be pretty happy with all those underground goth and experimental new wave projects he is doing and Mana is the only one that kept some of the MM sound, just brought it to a more gothic metal direction. And for the personal reasons: I did an interview with Közi shortly after Malice Mizer disbanded and when we talked about MM (partly outside the interview) I felt that there was some disagreement between him and Mana at that time.. that they probably resolved later as a few years after that he started to occasionally appear at M10M events.
This featured list is dedicated to some of the most head-turning transformations in Japanese music. Whether from budget VK drag goth to plastered pop boi or trading in a watermelon dye-job for lightly tousled locks spilling out from under an ill-advised fedora, we've got examples of, let's say, aesthetic 'evolution' in every which direction. And, surely, this list is just a taste, so be sure to let us know in the comments what are some other unbelievable transformations in Japanese music that we didn't get to cover.
@fitear1590's Picks
麗羽 (ErecSia, ALPHONSTEIN) → いっち (みるふぃね, キャンゼル, ★NOハウス) Reiha (ErecSia, Alphonstein) → Icchi (Milphinne, Canzel, hoshi NO house)
Right around the turn of the century, Reiha, as he was known back then, made his first foray into the world of VK. Talk about jumping into the deep end first! Who knows what he looked like as a teen, but Reiha's aesthetic in his first bands ErecSia and presumably ALPHONSTEIN (there are no available photos of this band to my knowledge) was very much 90s VK 'goth' trash -- I mean that in the nicest way possible. Pictured above with red hair and a frilly lolita aesthetic, it's indisputable he was influenced by 90s queen Kei, vocalist of Key Party Records' legendary Eliphas Levi who came just a few years earlier. Rounding out the aesthetic are cassette tape releases of seance chants, banshee screams, and low-budget atmospheric Lockheart Castle-kei. By late 2002, Icchi, his new moniker, pulled a night-to-day transformation and was releasing full-blown oshare kei in a group called Milphinne. Future bands Canzel (2007-2010) and hoshi NO house (2012-2016) continued to deliver upbeat pop-rock, twinkling synths, and sparkly looks. It's all a far cry from how he started off visually, but every once in a while, you can hear remnants of his ErecSia/ALPHONSTEIN vocal freak-outs, especially live. Interestingly, Eliphas Levi's vocalist made a similar change, moving on to oshare band Vinett in the early to mid 2000s.
PIECE → 超時空アンドロイド-PIECE- → グリモア PIECE → Choujiku Android - PIECE → GRIMOIRE
Around 2009, Kasumi Shinjou (ex-SMILE, Gekijou Tenor) opened Dear Dolce, home to the likes of リロード (Reload) and メメント・モリ (Memento Mori), the proto-bands of グリーヴァ (GRIEVA) and 黒百合と影 (Kuroyuri to kage). As a super indies label, fans were often required to turn a blind eye to budgetary constraints, but unfortunately, PIECE suffered more than their labelmates. How else do you explain this PV? Pro-tip, do not waste all your funds on the cheesy lens flare effect. Even after Dear Dolce's shutdown in 2012, the band continued as 超時空アンドロイド-PIECE- (Choujiku Android -PIECE-). Their revamped aesthetic was kinda cool, I must admit. In 2015, the band's musicians reemerged in GRIMOIRE, kicking their singer of 5 years to the curb, instead being joined by the former embarrassing lip-sync rawr vocalist of Dear Dolce's Diement. Thankfully, he keeps his mouth shut now, lol. With new stage names, a gloomy and imaginative zodiac theme, and a dark graveyard carnival sound with chugalicious riffs, GRIMOIRE represent an unlikely phoenix, risen from Dear Dolce's ashes. Now, this is a transformation I fully support!
えみる (愛狂います。) → 涼木 聡 (Yeti) Emiru (Aicle) → Satoshi Suzuki (Yeti)
Who would have thought one of the most visually flamboyant members of the mid-2000s VK scene would one day forego hair dye and settle for totally casual outfits? Let's start with Emiru, back when he was the love-him-or-hate-him lead singer of Aicle. Admittedly, he started off quite rough. He legitimately sounds like Cartman in "シドロモドロ (shidoro modoro)". Because of his helium tone and straining to hit notes in earlier releases, it would be easy to write Emiru off as a 'bad' singer, but that would mean ignoring how commendably he 'compensates' in all the other things he does with his voice. What really contributes to Emiru’s success as a vocalist is his variety. In any given song, you might hear any combo of the following: growling, oldschool Madeth Gray’ll-esque 'fast talking,' shrieking, maniacal cackling, whispering, and more. Some absolute highlights include Emiru chanting off the number sequence of pi in the punky "球形無限連鎖～ミズタマ～ (kyuukei mugen rensa ~mizutama~)", or the demonically adorable alter-ego he takes on in "まみむめモンスター君 (mamimume monster-kun)." After Aicle's sputtering out, Emiru resurfaced in Yeti, which started off quite strong, arguably leading the VK/indie rock movement with bands like Chanty and SRASH NOTES GARDEN. I was willing to accept them despite Aicle's disbandment, but the more six-song mini albums Yeti release, the less remarkable they become (though previews for their sixth mini, HOWL, are quite promising!). By now, they've apparently cut all ties to the VK scene, performing exclusively with other J-indie artists. The 'Emiru' persona must be in there somewhere and I hope he'll grace us again one day.
小山田圭吾 (フリッパーズ・ギター) → CORNELIUS Keigo Oyamada (Flipper's Guitar) → CORNELIUS
This one is still a puzzle to me. Flipper's Guitar started in the late 80s as a proto-Shibuya kei/Britpop-worship extravaganza. Citing Western twee legends like The Pastels and Aztec Camera as influences, their infectious guitar pop was unmatched in Japan. Guitarist and vocalist Keigo Oyamada even performed their first album three cheers for our side〜海へ行くつもりじゃなかった (umi e iku tsumori janakatta)〜 in what I still consider to this day to be the most endearing use of Engrish in Japanese music. They went on to release two more albums, in Japanese, while still sticking to their indie pop guns. Only occasionally did they introduce more diverse influences like jazz and house music, with the third album Doctor Head's World Tower particularly showing a move in the direction of sampling. Flipper's Guitar disbanded in the early 90s, but Oyamada returned a few years later as an experimental/electronic solo artist under the moniker CORNELIUS. Tunes like "MUSIC" show little relation whatsoever to the work of his former band. While I do enjoy me some CORNELIUS, a part of me wishes he would go back to composing sunshine-y guitar pop.
分島花音 Kanon Wakeshima
Back in the late 2000s, MALICE MIZER's (in)famous Mana took a protégé under his wing. Kanon Wakeshima's initial music took after what we've come to expect from Mana's projects, implementing twinkly music box arrangements and dark orchestration befitting of the OG gothic aristocrat. What really set Kanon apart, however, was her cello work. While so many arrangements in this strand of the VK scene are riddled with canned strings, Kanon proved she has the chops to actually play. After her first album, however, her production relationship with Mana came to an end. Ever since, she has distanced herself from her darker orchestral beginnings. Although she still plays cello from time to time, it's no longer the center of attention, with her music generally assuming a more pop-oriented nature. Plus, she deviated from her gothic lolita aesthetic. While I don't particularly care for Kanon's work in this second era, one undeniable hit has been "ツキナミ (tsukinami)." Despite the goofy nurse and deliverywoman outfits, the song is a masterful pop tune with surprisingly noisy flourishes, though you wouldn't even believe it's the same artist as something like her debut single, "still doll."
女王蜂
Ziyoou-Vachi / QUEEN BEE
Ziyoou-Vachi started making waves in 2011 with the release of their mini-album, 魔女狩り (majo kari). The band stuck out in so many ways: having the backing of a major label while churning out raucous punk, featuring two multiracial siblings as band members (vocalist Avu-chan and drummer Ruri-chan), and always coming prepared with vibrant, drag-alicious outfits. Furthermore, Avu-chan (who, I believe, identifies as trans) would often switch between a gruff ‘male’ voice and a squeakier ‘female’ register, keeping the vocal work dynamic. Even in PV tracks like “デスコ (disco)” or "フランス人形の呪い (France ningyou no noroi)", it was common for the band musicians to keep the distortion and zaniness set at 11, while Avu-chan did her thing. This flamboyant sound and aesthetic more or less continued for the next two mini-albums. It was the dry spell from 2012-2015 that seems to have had the biggest impact on the band’s sound. Since their return, it's not uncommon to see the band members with natural hair colors and sporting simple outfits, like suits. The sound also became uncharacteristically polished with songs like “スリラ (Thriller)“ or "金星 (kinsei)" ironing out the band’s signature fuzzy edge. Although Avu-chan now exhibits commendably more vocal control, the unpredictable melodies are all but gone. While I can see why the second wave of Ziyoou-Vachi has garnered more popularity (working alongside the likes of NEGOTO, Tokyo Jihen’s Ukigumo and the dresscodes’ Ryohei Shima; well-attended festival appearances; TV interviews and commercial work for Avu-chan; etc.), I think many of us here at MH miss the band’s former noisy glory.
@doombox's Pick
狼哦 (ハートレス) →TSUYOSHI (Unveil Raze) Rouga (Heartless) → TSUYOSHI (Unveil Raze)
Maybe since I'm still not finished emotionally digesting the ハートレス (Heartless) reunion I was able to attend last year (which also happened to be my very first visual kei concert experience in Japan, ayeeeeee) and witnessing the departure from what Heartless used to be to what the members are currently involved in really stayed with me. Especially guitarist Rouga's transformation to his current evolution in the band Unveil Raze where he performs under the name Tsuyoshi Ikeda. While his playing sounds like a natural progression from Heartless' more metal aspects, Tsuyoshi has fully dropped the flowery, melodic aspects that make visual kei what it is and has moved straight into hard rock and metal full-time. His physical changes are the most notable now that he's just about covered himself with tattoos, shaved off his hair (up until very recently started growing it back out again), put on some muscle mass, and dropped all of the heavy make up. It's always interesting to me to see how certain visual musicians would be when they aren't in full costume and if the reception of them would be more or less favorable. Tsuyoshi is a strong case in point that music will speak for itself in the end no matter how it's dressed up. Though, I remain a strong believer that a little eyeliner never hurt anyone.
@Zeus's Pick
XecsNoin → XECSNOIN
Let me recount to you a story of a band who was always behind the curve, and why only following trends will get you nowhere. XECSNOIN, originally stylized XecsNoin, formed in 1998 as yet another melodic rock visual kei band inspired by the Finnish and Scandinavian death metal scenes. A few things were working against this band from the very start, as their activities coincided with an overall shift in the sound and style of visual kei. The goth style was losing popularity and this left XecsNoin out in the cold. A rotating cast of members did them no favors as well; originally the group was LOKI (vocals), JIN (guitar), K (guitar), JUN (bass) and Yuzuki (drums) which is pictured left. Constant member changes plagued the band - they replaced five members in three years - and while the band was stable long enough to record their first album, vocalist LOKI quit and then drummer HiЯo was fired not long after. K, JUN, and ZAKURO persevered, changed their name to XECSNOIN and their sound to death metal - because that was all the rage in 2005 - and found K.K. and ZEN for drummer and vocalist respectively. At some point around 2010 after releasing a single and EP with a more melodeath sound, both K.K. and ZEN left and were replaced by vocalist U (ex. THE EIGHT) and guitarist HIROKI (ex. EXCEPTION). Unlike THE EIGHT, XECSNOIN managed to put U to work and released their second album Corridor to the Sky. Even though they've changed radically, you can still hear the visual kei influence in "DISILLUSION", linked below. Unfortunately, troubles were never far and the Reaper of 2016 took XECSNOIN in his grip of disbandment along with other fan favorites. Perhaps this one was more merciful than most, but I believe XECSNOIN wallowed in obscurity precisely because all they did was follow trends. "DISILLUSION" is their most recent sound. "Spiritual Road" is as early as YouTube allows, but there's even older than this! Also the picture is very misleading but whatever.
@togz's Picks
てんてん (餞ハナむケ。→KuRt→朱ィ。→ケミカルピクチャーズ→kiss my way→My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND→ラッコ) Tenten (Hanamuke→KuRt→Benii→Chemical Pictures→kiss my way→My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND→LACK-CO.)
Tenten (Taira Kazuhiro) debuted in the visual kei scene in the year 2000 with a little band called Hanamuke. That means our little (not so little anymore) buddy here has been at it for SIXTEEN YEARS! While his tendency to bounce from band to band may be an annoyance to some, it's a godsend to others. Generally the groups he partakes in only last a few years or are ideas that never fully surface, but his fans are left with the feeling he will always be back. Musically he's dipped his toes in a variety of styles. Hanamuke and KuRt have a similar sound and style while Chemical Pictures had a lighter look and less harsh vocals. He's always had a raspy feeling to his vocal technique and proved his skill to growl or scream, but over the past 16 years he has grown not only as a vocalist but as a person as well. His most recent project is LACK-CO. which includes other well-known faces in the scene such as IVY (ex. DIO, Remming), SAN (ex. NEGA/BFN), and Milk (fka Satoshi ex. para:noir) There is no telling for sure how long this act will last, but it's good to see him still active in the scene after all these years and bands.
@plastic_rainbow's Picks
怜 (Clarity → kannivalism → バロック → baroque → kannivalism → BAROQUE)
Ryo (Clarity → kannivalism → barokku → baroque → kannivalism → BAROQUE)
Where do I even begin with this guy? Ryo has gone through so many different transformations throughout his music career, both aesthetically and musically. If you've never bothered looking at his band history, you may not realize that he wasn't always that orange/brown haired punk with lip piercings or the simpler blonde-haired man that he now is. Believe it or not, Ryo used to dress-up in an old school visual kei style with his brighter orange/red hair in messy pigtails, wearing crazy colored contacts that is evident from his early days of Clarity (1998-2000), old kannivalism (2001), and very early baroque (2001-2004). Later, Ryo leaned on a more mature and manly appearance, growing a goatee in the late years of old baroque, and then gradually grew his hair out in second era kannivalism (2006-2011). All of that is now in the past though. Musically, his singing style follows the same trend as his appearance. Ryo began singing in quirks and cackles that are quintessential to older visual kei, which you can hear in "トリップショートケーキ (Trip Short Cake)". During some experimentation over the years, his vocals went from a deep to a rap-singing style, that is sometimes raspy, gentle, and whispery as he does in "Ila.", or just something completely fun and wacky like in "カスタリーンナ (Castarina)". Ryo is probably one of the most versatile Japanese vocalists that I know of and it's quite unfortunate that he now lazily employs autotune in the new BAROQUE (2012-present). It's true that he has used autotune before, but only to a lesser extent. The amplified autotune in a song like "DREAMSCAPE" for instance, camouflages all his singing talent in the years before. Who knows, maybe he'll make another abrupt change in the coming years. Whatever he does, I sure hope it'll be good.
悠希 (Crystallium(gt) → SUBDUAL → De stijllia → 人格ラヂオ → Solo)
Yuuki (Crystallium(gt) → SUBDUAL → De stijllia → Jinkaku Radio → Solo)
Although Yuuki performed in several bands before, he is most well-known as the vocalist, guitarist, and main composer of Jinkaku Radio (2001-2012). Jinkaku Radio was an indie duo which, at a glance, seemed to follow the string of dark and heavy suit-kei bands. However, what made them stand out musically from the rest was the softer, yet nasally vocals of Yuuki's. Their musical style was also less aggressive as Yuuki rarely screamed or growled, and mostly sang in anguish or grief along with heart-rending guitars and sad melodies, which in turn labeled them heavily as gloomy and depressing. Despite showing their brighter side during lives -- Yuuki manically flinging a cloth doll at the audience and fooling around with balloons -- the forlorn image from their music left such a strong impression that it became quite a shock to most fans when the duo started putting out happy-go-lucky music out of nowhere. It was as if they were injected with some happy oshare kei fluids and had magically recovered from all their misery. Although it's true that they released something cheerful before, which was basically a tongue-in-cheek song about bangyarus, it wasn't until the release of their second album Ichibyou in 2010 that they started writing upbeat music as part of their actual serious music. Currently, Yuuki continues writing music as a solo artist, and as he basically wrote all of Jinkaku Radio's songs he can still pull off some of the same sounds in his solo works. However, it's highly unlikely that we'll hear any more of those heart-wrenching and depressing songs like "姥捨て山(Ubasuteyama)" or "午後の落下(Gogo no rakka)" again, which essentially encompassed the melancholy and wistfulness of Jinkaku Radio.
悠璃 (9ミリ。) → ゆーり (イロクイ。) → おかゆさん (秘密結社パンピー)
Yuuri (9MIRI.) → Yuuri (Irokui.) → Okayusan (Himitsu Kessha Hanpii)
In the visual kei scene it's nothing unusual to see a male dress-up all feminine and girly. Yet, even though so many visual kei musicians wear dresses, frills, thick eyelashes, and lipstick as part of their getup, very few go as far as undergoing a sex change. Okayusan (or Okayu), formerly known as Yuuri from the oshare kei band Irokui. (2005-2011), was one of the few who did. It happened not too long after Irokui.'s disbandment in 2011 that Yuuri underwent surgery and even went into prostitution under the name of Yuu Takizawa for a while. Seeing that she gradually became less of a colorful punk and more of a gorgeous looking woman during the late years of Irokui., especially in their last look for Aimai Stripe before the disbandment, the sudden sex change did not come off as a huge shock to me. Still, the rumors of her being involved in prostitution shook fans in many ways. Even though Okayusan now lives her daily life as a woman and as a youtuber, it does not change the fact that she still holds the same passion for singing as she made a short return to the music scene in 2012 along with ex.Irokui. guitarist Hazuki to form Himitsu Kessha Panpii. Two years later, she also sang for one song in contribution with a producer named TACOS NAOMI, but as far as singing again full time goes, the idea seems to be nothing but a thing of the past.
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We hope you enjoyed the list! Maybe we'll do another installment in the future!
Which of these transformations is most surprising to you?
It is White side group. Misa (ex. babylon/da'vid:shito:aL etc) is owner of that label. They also handle Mejibray. I didn't believe it until I researched a bit as well but on 2ch they also confirm Misa is their new label owner so? I have no idea why Misa decided to pick them up though...
@sheepprincessgara "Public recording of their new PV will be held on August 29 and fans are allowed to participate if the first 100 people each pay 1000 yen(?!) (source)"
The source actually says that the 100 first to participate will recieve 1000 JPY for doing so (about 10$). They also say "Well, you usually hear about fans buying tickets to participate to be in PV's, but we figured it'd be more Devil Kitty-like to actually give money instead. We wanted to do something different".
They opened up a seperate official channel, go subscribe yall
They had another video as well, which now seem to have been made private. In the end of the first video it says they will put up a live pv (presumeably the one they shot earlier) and other videos as time goes by.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxroxx5HK64
Unless it's illness or something, it really shows B7Klan's ineptitude that they can't gauge the interest and take precautions time after time if it was the ticket sales like it was with Merry. Among other big factors it's this sort of mismanagement and waste of contacts that killed it here in the west. I'm sure there were some people who had already booked their travel and shit too since we're so close to the dates of the shows. Fuck off b7
This actually sounds more exciting than a normal X concert these days. No more overexhausted post drum solo falling down and concert delays!
Toshi already knows how to hold down an acoustic live on his own with session guys during his solo lives so having Pata/Sugizo/Heath will be top notch.
And maybe this will mean they'll dust off those tracks that Yoshiki doesn't want to play anymore:
Right after their ONEMAN today they showed a little movie with various announcements.
DIMLIM 1st single "THE SILENT SONG" will be released somewhere in 2017/12
for the rest of the news have a look at their new flyer they handed out after the concert - although i am sure they'll officially announce this later today around midnight via twitter. ;D
*i can already confirm they are an amazing and super fun live band and their songs RULE!*
夜(yoru) (和登-wato- (ex-amber gris (手鞠 / Temari)) solo project) new EP "夜/不死の王様" (Yoru / Fushi no Ou-sama) will be released at his lives since 2017/07/05 and through zoisite official webshop at 2017/08 (6 songs, 2500Y)
i doubt their unreleased tracks were anything near publishing or worth releasing, likely skeletons that they couldn't afford to flesh out bc expensive studio time, lineup drama, lallala
i doubted this dude's commitment to sparkle motion anyway bc his solo project was active up until dexcore started and it the most tepid poppy shit on earth on top of that. i suspect he wants to go back to that kind of thing
i've been kind of avoiding reading too much of people speculating (only skimmed over the 6 pages here really).
people online seem to be in one of two groups and it's just ugh stop.
(those groups:
- "hope they don't come back they've been shit since (insert year)"/"hope they come back with better songs because everything new is shit"
- NOOOOOO THEY'RE LEAVINGGGGG FOREVERRRRRRRRR MY HUSBAND COME BACK I'LL DIE)
i went to some recent lives and the niigata live was definitely depressing with all the people crying (although dropping to your knees and screaming and refusing to move is a bit fucking ridiculous, some people) but understandable since it was the first one with no encore and everyone was kind of shocked. the band definitely didn't seem happy there. fukuoka live after 5 days rest since sendai they looked in better spirits for sure.
i think they'll keep up the no encore until the tour final but maybe for the final play an encore.
hoping/expecting some big announcement at the tour final or at least at the fc tour final in july. until then i'm avoiding speculating too much on what i think they're doing.
As a matter of fact, words around tanuki are that Kuro and K kinda bullied Mutsuki out of the band and that they are doing the same to mei. (Kuro and K are rumoured to be twins as well, which could explain why they are so close). The Japanese fans are very worried about mei. They also have little to no money which is why their costumes don't change a lot, no pv and little music output. If they have been dropped by Yukika and Uchu then things are worse than I originally thought.
I hope they don't disband but who knows... They also didn't seem to find a drummer?
hazuki and ai are still butt buddies they just both wanted a monopoly on songwriting so hazuki struck out on his own. (there was even a fairly substantial rumor that ai's part time job was working for hazuki's mom's business lmao)
@deadman posted the link but there were problems with the member's private relationships not staying private, Au putting up fan gifts on auction, and something about a fan sign made for the 10th anniversary being given to the band and then being found in the garbage outside the venue... a lot of their "old guard" fans were the sources of this information and it completely poisoned the well
zaa_zaa reacted to Shaolan974 in Chanty Gu.shia. has been arrested
zaa_zaa got a reaction from JamesR in D.I.D. 茜 (akane) new original session band
zaa_zaa got a reaction from suji in D.I.D. 茜 (akane) new original session band
zaa_zaa got a reaction from Altairxx in D.I.D. 茜 (akane) new original session band