jaymee

Thanks! It will be my 2nd time! The last time was at Fuji Rock 3 yrs ago. Somehow I hardly ever seem to make it out to Tokyo for non-Western, non-indies bands, but I should. ^^;;;; If only I had infinite amounts of cash and holidays. ToT

Fluent or not, sometimes Japanese is so vague it can be hard to decide the intended meaning. I feel like more time consuming than the translation would be regularly finding lyrics thought provoking enough to analyze? Like so many lyricists have pretty mediocre writing skills or purely compose lyrics for shock value when you get right down to it. But I do feel this is an interesting topic, and while translating myself, have often wondered how people would interpret the lyrics/translation.

It's hard to pick just 9, and these aren't necessarily my favorites now, but I think they've had the most impact on my musical tastes. Depeche Mode – Violator I love 80s music (and the 80s in general), and this album is everything I love most about it, especially at the turn of the century when it was released. Even making a top 9 list of just 80s music would be difficult, so I’m just leaving it at this. Tori Amos – From the Choir Girl Hotel This album got me interested in music as more than just something to listen to in the car/on the radio. Lyrically it’s amazing and covers a wide variety of topics that have stayed, resonated, and continue to resonate with me. The MV for “Jackie’s Strength” is stunningly beautiful, especially at the end. Ayumi Hamasaki – Duty This album got me into j-pop. Whether you love or hate her voice, Ayu’s real talent is as a lyricist. Her (older) catalogue has song for just about every mood imaginable. Sadly her recent stuff is somewhat of a stain on what is otherwise a solid career. :/ It was hard to decide whether to include this one or Hikaru Utada – Distance. Malice Mizer – Merveilles This album is what made me dive head first into visual kei. I had never heard anything like it and the visuals and melodic rock totally reeled me in. Although the album sounds rather dated now, the concert recording for this album never gets old. Kuroyume – Feminism Ugh I just love everything about Kuroyume during this period. This album really shaped my taste in visual kei. “Love Song” and “Kuchizuke” should be way more popular than they are. Lyrically and thematically this album is solid through and through. Plastic Tree – Träumerei (Toroimerai) This probably isn’t their most impressive work, but it’s an album I can’t help but keep coming back to, even now. This might be my favorite song off the album, but it changes every now and then: Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke Purity Ring – Another Eternity Mitski – Puberty 2 These albums pretty much sum up my current taste in music. I like that a lot of artists now are drawing inspiration from the 80s and meshing it with other genres. I would have included St. Vincent – St. Vincent on this list as well, but unfortunately I feel like it needs to be heard live to truly appreciate what a masterpiece it is.

Nice job! Do you ever post translations to their videos on YouTube? I translated a song of theirs once (in reply to a YT comment request) and the band came back and liked my translation, which was pretty cool. I'm excited to see them at Fuji Rock this year. <3

Haha, I agree about the PV. I think they're in a tough spot where they want to go more mainstream (like being more kid-friendly) to attract more non-visual fans (and play Budokan which is their "big dream"/probably the only reason they got back together since none of their side projects have a chance of going bigger), but the core of their fanbase have been following them since indies days and want a decent mix of hard stuff. I buy the newer stuff at release events to support them, but I only like listening to them play it live. Right now they are pretty much major in record label only, but are still running on an indies budget so they don't have the same large production budget for PVs like they used to when they were under Nippon Crown. The costumes are still very visual and thematic to whatever skit/tour they're doing, and PLC always plays a good mix of old stuffduring their lives. These new costumes look really good IRL and still way better quality than 95% of what most visual kei bands are wearing tbh lol.

As for renting in general, my advice is that living closer to Saitama, Chiba, or Kanagawa and commuting in (you should be able to do it under 60 minutes each way) will always be the most affordable. If you most be in Tokyo, though, here is a list of areas ranked as having the most affordable housing: http://suumo.jp/journal/2015/03/06/79479/ Since you will be here short term, Leopalace is a popular agency for accommodations especially geared towards foreigners and university students. Leopalaces are almost always furnished and they do short-term leasing as well. I'm not sure if they have roomshare options, but you can probably find two singles in the same complex for 700 euro or under a person. (So you can be close together and still have your privacy.) They have lots of them all over Tokyo/surrounding areas/Japan in general. Best of all you won't need a guarantor, but you will have to pay their system fee. It will probably be cheaper than paying agency fees, deposits, and "gift" money like most regular apartments require before you move in, though.. I think some/all utilities (internet, and maybe electric or gas) may also be included in the rent price.

I think you should wait until you're comfortable and not be too worried about what everyone else is doing. If that means losing it casually, cool. If it means waiting, cool. Or if you're asexual and are turned off by the idea, don't feel pressured to have it. When I lost mine I wasn't very comfortable with my body yet, so all I could think about was, "Am I attractive enough/worth it? Will he stay after?" That is totally the wrong mindset to go into it. So in turn, something that could/should have been a happy moment was clouded by all the negative things I was feeling. It isn't the fault of the person I lost it to; he had no idea about the inner struggle I was having at the time and was (and still is) a great guy.

For some reason this song sounds somewhat "recent"/gives me Vidoll vibes. IDK maybe it's just me.

Ugh Japan finally got ahold of "Closer" and places have been playing it non-stop. I can't stand anything by the Chainsmokers TBH. I almost prefer the Bieber kick Japan was on before that. D: As for unpopular opinions, I prefer old Lareine and think everything Kamijo has done after has been a mistake. Sorry not sorry Versailles fans. D:

C'mon nobody has posted this infamous one yet? XD Janne Da Arc - FREEDOM http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm15736727 Daybreak good morning! neguse de tobinoru Subway Working discord atama sage-ppanashi no hibi Doesn’t my life suck? Nothing is free. I want freedom. Mou nanimo umaku ikanai Showtime Sweet Honey Kyou wa itoshii kimi no birthday Happening “I’m sorry?” FURI nige JOUDAN ja nai ze! Give me a break! What should I do? Help me! Oh! My good! Ikanaide Be my baby DISUKAUNTO kurai shite Hey! Let’s go! Stand up! Wake up! & Look up! Speak up! Ai o shitte kizutuite Start up! Speed up! & Make up! Grade-up! Kyou mo sei ippai ikiteru kedo Shiawase-tte ittai nani na no? Shake out Fade out ITAZURA MEERU sae Silent Party Love game Karaburi no arisama Doesn’t my life suck? Nothing is free. I want freedom. Ajikinai Everyday INSUTANTO (instant) no ai demo OK Stand up! Wake up! & Look up! Speak up! Ato dorekurai I carry on cry Start up! Speed up! & Make up! Grade-up! Chotto mada ame yami sou ni nai Stand up! Wake up! & Look up! Speak up! Jinsei nante ame nochi hare Start up! Speed up! & Make up! Grade-up! Ippai shippai furikaesu do Doushite ganbatteru n darou? Only Venus. Heavenly Venus. On my Venus dakishimete Only Venus. Heavenly Venus. On my Venus. Please tell me Only Venus. Heavenly Venus. On my Venus. Kuchizukete Only Venus. Heavenly Venus. On my Venus. Far away. Only Venus. Heavenly Venus. On my Venus. Oshiete yo Mirai wa dare ni demo kaerareru mono na no? Give me a break! What should I do? Help me! Oh! My good! Ajikinai Everyday KIIPOINTO (key point) wa up to date Hay Let’s Go! Stand up! Wake up! & Look up! Speak up! Taiyou ni te o kazashite Start up! Speed up! & Make up! Grade-up! Kyou mo seippai ikite miyou Stand up! Wake up! & Look up! Speak up! Jinsei nante ame nochi hare Start up! Speed up! & Make up! Grade-up! Ippai shippai o kurikaeshite Itsu no hi ka niji watarou Wake up! Brand-new self!

Omgggg nostalgia! Their shows were always so fun.

LOOP of HEAVEN 2005 put on by Loop Ash at Shibuya O-West (now Tsutaya O-West). It was a taiban with ISABELLE, Heart, Kamikaze Shonen Dan, Himitsu Kessha Codomo A, Clavier, Kenllre (Kinarura), and Billy. I mainly went for ISABELLE (Aya and seek's first side project after PLC went on hiatus) and Himitsu Kessha Codomo A.

Thanks! The short answer: Quality of life Long answer: I think it's a great place to visit, but not to live. There are too many people, you generally have to commute 1-2 hours to work and back if you don't want to pay 10-15 man to live in a shoebox, everything is horribly commercialized and expensive, and in general Tokyo people aren't that friendly and/or act really fake compared to people in other parts of Japan. Not to mention job competition is much higher, so often you get paid less than you would living outside urban areas. There's a running joke that most expats who move closer to Tokyo for the nightlife generally end up being too poor to ever fully enjoy it. In comparison, I'd much rather live surrounded by nature instead of having a skyscraper or advertisement in my face everywhere, have a better job/salary, live in a bigger place,and have friendly neighbors/overall great sense of community than live around strangers. I also much prefer driving to work instead of spending 30+ minutes rubbed up against some smelly old salaryman on the train everyday. And I think contrary to popular belief, there is very little besides lives/special events and clubbing that can't be done anywhere else in Japan. Even if that wasn't the case, it would still be much cheaper (and more convenient) to commute into Tokyo every weekend than live there.

Alas, besides a couple of meet and greets, I only got introduced to him for a sec after I got married, only because his close friend that came to see him play wanted to bang my hot friend. orz I regret we we will never be crazy old cat ladies together, but it's probably for the best. Plus not even Kozi would make me want to live in Tokyo again D:

Thanks! Were you originally a fan of older VK in high school but your tastes have changed toward newer VK? ^^

I mostly listen to indie artists nowadays, and find new music via blogs or just going down the YouTube rabbit hole. For VK I mostly listen to the stuff that makes me nostalgic, but over the years my appreciation for certain bands have changed. I dunno if it's just age, because I have broader musical tastes than I did as a teen, because I can speak Japanese fluently enough to pay more attention to the lyrics, or all of the above. Every now and then I try to find new VK music that I might like, but I feel like the scene has changed too much, and not in a way that interests me. (Although I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing... Any genre, if you can call VK that, has to evolve.)

My personal faves by them are "Ekijou" and "Sakura no Mankai no Ki no Shita de"... Whether or not their influence on the VK artists they performed with was intentional or accidental, it was definitely profound.

At this point in Dir's career I doubt it, unless maybe they were to do a Missa, Gauze, Macabre, etc. only set. They always seem to sell those special fan club dates out. To play that at a bigger arena you'd need a damn lot of nostalgic bangya lol. Even at their top game Dir was never able to bridge the visual/non visual fanbases like X Japan, Luna Sea, L'Arc, GLAY, and to a certain extent Janne and PIERROT did. Part of this is because they were a little late to the v-kei party, too. They took the last surge of the movement by storm before it died out. While other established bands had both kinds of fans at this point, Dir en grey was just getting comfortable in the v-kei genre.

Thankfully your memory is much better than mine! I had only reserved/bought the FC version so I wasn't sure. Glad people seem to be coming out for this

I don't know how it was in the 90s, and PIERROT was never my "main" band during my bangya days, but I know that over time Dir has lost a lot of its original fan base according to some of my best (Japanese) friends that used to be Dir bangya. I think it's a combination of the musical/visual change and their original fans getting older and moving on. Like over time many of the original fans have stopped going, and there hasn't been enough new fans (v-kei bangya or otherwise) coming in to take their place. Generally I think much like Janne Da Arc, PIERROT was better at bridging the visual and non-visual fandom during their heyday/before mainstream visual kei completely "died". I originally got into PIERROT via v-kei, but my husband originally started listening to them because of an old middle school classmate and hasn't ever been a fan of any other v-kei bands. PIERROT seems to have a lot of fans like that. At the PIERROT reunion live they even had a "daycare" to babysit kids while their parents attended the show(s). Dir en grey is definitely more well-known internationally, though. I don't know about in Japan with people outside the scene, however. I agree there was probably some novelty in their reunion so they could still fill such a large venue, but I think even if PIERROT were to do a proper activity restart now, they would still play bigger venues than Dir does currently, like Luna Sea and GLAY do. (Maybe not as big as that.) Just my two yen, though. I'm not personally involved in either scene. (Like I don't go see any of the PIERROT members side projects and my Dir bangya friends have moved on/I was never into them after Vulgar.)

I used to be a member here at some point but I can't remember how long ago that was tbh. Maybe some people I used to go to lives with back in the day still use this forum and we can get back in touch. I'm an ex-bangya/obangya in my early 30s. I "quit" the scene after most of my fave bands broke up, but since Psycho le Cemu got back together I've been going to a lot of their shows. My favorite v-kei bands besides Psycho le Cemu are Kuroyume, BUCK-TICK, PIERROT, and (older) Plastic Tree/Dir en grey. I got into visual kei through Gackt/Malice Mizer when I was in early high school. Everything was so ~dramatic~ back then, I swore I'd marry Kozi someday, and I remember my BFF and I ugly cried when Malice Mizer announced their hiatus, wondering what the hell we were gonna do with the rest of our lives. In those 15+ years that have passed since, I relocated to Tokyo, became a bangya, got married (obviously not to Kozi, sorry to disappoint my teenage self lolz), and then settled down in the countryside. As for upcoming lives, I'm going to see PLC at Studio Coast this Sunday and PIERROT/Dir en grey's Androgynos two-day live at Yokohama Arena in July.

Cool! Are you just visiting or do you live here in Japan? If you'll be in the general Tokyo area long enough, SADS is supposedly doing a show on 7/21 at Liquidroom. On 7/1 D'ERLANGER is doing a show at O-EAST and then GARGOYLE will do a show at the same venue on 7/15. Kaya, Inugami Circus Dan, and few other bands are doing a show for Kaya's birthday on 7/17 at O-WEST. Kiryu is doing a show at Utsunomiya Heaven's Rock on 7/9. BREAKERZ (not really visual, but Daigo used to perform as Daigo Stardust) is doing two shows on 7/15 and 7/16 at Toyosu Pit. Miyavi is doing a show at Studio Coast on 6/29. Visunavi has a good calendar of events going by day: http://www.visunavi.com/live/2017/07/ I'm sure the smaller live houses like AREA, Cyber, etc. will update in a couple of months. Unfortunately I'm an obangya so I don't know much about current bands/scene. D: If you're into Western music, BANKS is playing 7/6 at Liquidroom. I plan on going to that and kinda making a staycation weekend. Since I'm going to Fuji Rock later that month I wasn't willing to fork out more than what Arena Standing cost, lol. Lemme know if you or anyone else would be interested in doing some kind of meet-up.

Also, if there is a DVD is might be fan club only. I think that's how PIERROT's reunion live was, but I can't remember if there was a non-fan club version or not... BTW, is anyone else on here going to either/both shows?

OP has it totally backwards. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the PIERROT ojis are only getting back together for the coin since none of their solo projects have ever been huge, but it is definitely Dir's ojis that will be making coin off of PIERROT's appearance. Last time PIERROT did a reunion live they filled most of Saitama Super Arena (15,000-20,000 people). By comparison, Dir tops out every year at Studio Coast (abt 2,500 people). I personally wouldn't be going if it wasn't a PIERROT collab. (And I normally would go with my husband, but he was like fvck that cuz he doesn't want to sit thru Dir.) I wish it was just PIERROT but hey I'm happy at any chance to see them perform again. At the reunion live Kirito made it pretty clear during his MCs that they weren't sure if they'd ever do another performance together in the future. Whelp, at least after this I'll be able to say I've seen Dir en grey live. Hope they do some old stuff tho since I can't stand much of their discography beyond Vulgar. A little while ago they had the music advert trucks going around Tokyo but I wasn't in the area so no clue what the collab sounds like yet.