jaymee

I think you pretty much answered it yourself! Supporting the artists by buying their merch directly off their site or (in the case of music) any music sites they link to for purchase would probably be the ones giving them the most royalties. Like you said, it may have to be through a third party if they don't ship overseas and/or you're not confident enough in your Japanese to order by yourself. If that isn't an option, may I recommend ordering from a VK/j-rock CD supplier? Even if it's a secondhand purchase of something out of print that the band may not benefit from themselves, the monetary profit these stores make help support and keep the scene alive within Japan, providing talk/event opportunities, promotional opportunities, and more. I don't think there's any kind one answer fits all regarding whether artists receive royalties for old releases, short-lived bands, etc. and how much... I would assume most of them do since that seems pretty standard, but how much would depend on their contracts with whatever label it was released under. However, it is pretty safe to say that if it was released on a band's own personal/independent label, they would still receive a good chunk of profit from any music sales or new music pressings. If there's something you're particularly looking for, you can always request it on the upload request thread. In that regard, the forum seems to take the "try before you buy" or "might as well upload it if it's out of print so more fans can enjoy it" approach to uploading VK/j-rock music, so I don't think you have to really worry about getting reported over piracy. I'm not sure of another website database of mp3 like that myself... Maybe another poster can help.

I think it must happen a lot, or in the very least there are multiple version of songs that never get a proper release. I know when PLC used to record new material or adapt it to a live show, often each member would bring in their own arrangement/version of a song and the band would choose which version was best to record or play. I'm sure, like many other bands, this also included songs written and recorded material that never made the cut or were held off for later release, but then the band disbanded/took a different direction/etc. and it never happened. This seems especially common with bands that do themed releases. Then you have multiple bands that when performing a song for the first time, would play a preliminary version of it live before reworking it for easier set-up/play or so it would sound even better live. There used to be a lot of gya (probably still are) who, if anything, would go to the first and last concerts of a tour to hear everything "go wrong" when a band plays new material and then see the adjustments made and how the show had "evolved" by the tour final. Anyway, cool finds! It would be nice if bands were more willing to release these kinds of things, if not only for more insight into their creative processes.

You mean just the Merveilles album songs themselves or Merveilles-era works? Mana and Kozi have performed N.p.s N.g.s, the b-side off of Illuminati a handful of times at reunion events, but otherwise no... I imagine because of copyright issues and/or the fact he did not seem to part on good terms with the band.

Awesome post! I think generally 2ch VK forums basically just migrated to Tanuki? Like after Tanuki took off there wasn't much of a need of for 2ch any more. I also remember that it wasn't uncommon for some non-VK fan trolls coming into the VK forums on 2ch to insult people/VK and the like, so the desire to get away from non-fans might have also been a partial motivating factor to move off of 2ch completely. The same happened with Mixi. Mixi used to have fan communities where (not only limited to VK) fans would trade goods, buy/sell tickets, etc. but Twitter now serves this purpose and offers more, so Mixi is pretty much dead for that now, at least as far as VK is concerned. Back in the day, I remember a lot of doujin and oekaki/fan art were distributed on personal sites/fan sites, and many had their own BBS to chat and trade. Beyond forums like Tanuki, they were connected by a series of web rings catering to certain interests. (I'm sure anyone over 30 on here who has ever made a webpage on Tripod or Geocities before remembers these types of things.) Also, I feel like most BBS in the Japan never evolved past their ugly layouts because some people still use the old Japanese flip phones (garakei) that don't have "regular" browser support and wouldn't be able to support a forum like MH. Japanese people have always used their phones to connect online over landlines, and long bus and train commutes have no doubt influenced this and the development of better portable gaming devices. When I first moved here in 2005 most people were not hooked up to the internet at home. Even now, schools don't assign a lot of projects requiring internet research and besides university, reports and essays are handwritten and not typed. Heck, even resumes are still painstakingly handwritten except for rare exceptions. Although at least now I'd say most people do have internet at home. I once translated and article about how idol fans communicated and stayed informed pre-official sites, Twitter, and SNS. Because artists could not communicate immediately with their fanbases, and very similar to it, VK fans had to search out and engage in communities to learn information about releases, gigs, etc. So something that has changed is that, while Tanuki is mostly used for gossip and shitposting now, the previous 2ch boards, BBS, and communities were also places to spread information to the larger fanbase. Likewise, I think this is why over time these sites and communities have mostly died out (even in the West), because largely there is no need for them and you can get all the info you need in one or two places. I would love to hear from some other people that remember the old 2ch and communities, tho! I wouldn't be surprised if my memory is fuzzy and I've forgotten some things...

Damn I hope it is too, bb! Not sure if congrats is the right word, but congrats lol

No prob! I've heard some faux pas stories in the past where foreigners have brought bouquets they picked out to a hospital or baby shower only for the flowers to represent death/funerals/grieving, and the receiving party wasn't particularly grateful to be given the equivalent of a bad omen. (Tho I imagine if it was someone you disliked it would be a brilliant display of savagery lol.) Anywho hope all goes well and you enjoy your live(s)! When are you coming and who are you seeing?

Depending on the band, there may be boxes for each member or just a general box for the whole band. For much smaller bands you can often give it directly as they will work their merch booth after. If you put it in the box the band will get it. Sometimes bands will even chat about which member got more presents than the other last live during their MCs and stuff like that. I actually think sometimes band members are less likely to get things sent through the fan club address (and only bigger bands have this anyway), or in the very least take longer, as it has to be accepted and sorted by office/label management first before being passed on. Sometimes you can give it to a manager for a "bigger" band, but first you have to know who the manager is, and second if you're a "new" fan (i.e. new to going to this band's lives in Japan), they may not be so willing to unless present boxes are not out. Then again your foreignness may score you points depending on your personality. It's a mixed bag. Unless it's a smaller band, it may be easier if you have someone who the manager knows of/a regular fan introduce you. I don't give presents any more, but when I did it would either be stuff to eat or drink, and/or something funny that I thought the band would find amusing. I think unless you are giving something really nice, like well known fashion brand or something of that nature (usually at least one girl will bring it especially if a member wrote they liked/wanted it on SNS), or a letter with fan art etc., something cheap that is easily consumable would be best, perhaps from your home country. BUT as far as flowers go, flowers in Japan sometimes have different connotations than in the West due to how (especially in the past) flowers were used to express certain feelings/situations... Like some flowers are only used at funerals or other specific times, etc. so I would def let a Japanese florist make the bouquet, even if it will be pricier. Recently bouquets made out of soap flowers and the like are generally gaining popularity in Japan so you don't have to worry about them wilting and people can use them in the bath or display them. That said, I haven't particularly noted any gya bringing these kinds in.

Wow, that is pretty awesome!

In case anyone was interested in a translation of the blog post @Takadanobabaalienlinked, or at least the part relevant to MALICE MIZER. After that there isn't any other mention of MM, just more details about his early solo career.

I can do it if you don't get around to it, too. It seems like Gackt left out quite a bit of the story before and between, "After that meeting, the environment during those final days was very quarrelsome-like." and, "After that I immediately went to America with YOU and other old friends of mine and began recording an album." He also conveniently leaves out the reasons why a break-up was discussed in the first place. Generally just based on my experience working in Japan thus far, if people you work with/your boss or employer has decided to nullify your contract or end something you're involved in without you being privy to that convo, it generally means that you are considered to be "in the wrong" about something, ergo the group takes action and comes to a decision without you. It honestly sounds like Gackt did something wrong and whether he was aware of how upset the other members/management was over it or not, the group talked about breaking up without him and then suddenly presented this decision to him, with the intention (at the time) of actually breaking up or getting him to withdraw on his own. I'm guessing the latter though since the band did not actually end up breaking up.

What did you eat for dinner last night?

Ah, sorry, I thought you were talking about lives that haven't been shared on YouTube. But thank you for replying! I don't think I have the last live audio, but I'll check around here first. ^^ I'm especially looking for Gackt-era bootleg vids, but these are harder to find since up until the late 80s to mid-90s it was still ok to take videos at concerts and fans would trade them, but later music venues started cracking down on the practice.

Are there places where bootleg MM lives have been uploaded? Back in the day an old friend of mine had a few TV live appearances, but we could never seem to get a hold of anything bootlegged past random concert clips. Would love to see some of those. D:

I think this is hard because even during La'Mule's heyday, they were not exactly popular overseas. I had a lot of trouble getting their releases back in the day beyond sending Japanese yen cash in an envelope to Brand X... CD Japan did not carry many indie releases at the time. This was partially because the indie VK reservation system was more complicated and generally were less pressings and a lot of live-only distribution stuff. Some good indicators back then (and seconding some of these already mentioned): - Live venues used and live attendance - Magazine feature count including did the members have their own column in a VK mag? - TV / radio appearances - In store / taiban / misc. event invitation count including what bands did they often play with? Back then bands would mostly play with other bands on the same scale as them unless it was a label event - Flyers (Back then most bands did not use colored flyers, but more well off bands did) - Release packaging and/or extras (Ex: Was there a first press? Did pressings come in digi packaging or have other high quality features?) - Were "bootleg" candid shots sold of them in Harajuku? - Number of cosplayers (Because at the time, VK fandom was still very much tied to Harajuku, cosplaying on Yoyogi bridge, etc.) - And last but not least, how big of an influence they had on the scene/their contributions to the scene La'Mule checks off a lot of these. Also they were on the Soleil label, which had a lot of the best (read as most popular) VK indie acts at the time signed, including La:Sadie's. While Soleil didn't ultimately survive, their sub label Matina did. Of course Matina would then basically become Undercode Production. La'Mule had nowhere near the advertising, financial backing, number of fans, etc. of bigger bands like L'Arc, GLAY, etc., but mainstream music and its success has almost always been a reflection of labels and bands being able to ride a trend with bands just below being able to create the undertow influencing these trends. This is why La'Cryma Christi, Malice Mizer, Shazna, and Fanatic Crisis are considered the "4 god bands" of VK in the 90s, despite the fact they were not the most popular and their music hasn't endured as well as aforementioned GLAY, L'Arc, etc. Malice Mizer's and X Japan's influence was especially prolific as it's only in more recent years that most VK bands have made the move from 5 person bands (one singer, two guitars, one bass, one drummer) to different member counts (more often 4 now), and you no longer see someone designated as the "girl"/"onnagata" of the band. Anywho, when I was a teen this was my favorite La'Mule song: And over the years, this has become my favorite:

Honestly it would have been lamer as 爆竹 or just “bakuchiku”/“firecracker” in English lol plz tell me you’re joking with NEW SODMY It’s only great for the lulz

[ugly] 4 Still bitter they changed the Shibuya part of O-East, O-West etc. to Tsutaya. Mainabi Blitz Akasaka sounds even uglier. That would be kind of cute. Well, just 池袋 麺屋 in Japanese since we're talking bandomen and not ramen.

I think it's just the result of the Japanese language's tendency to combine two words to make shorter words or slang. PC (personal computer) = pasokon convenience store = combini smart phone = sumaho etc. Just going from stuff in my library.... Cool - BUCK-TICK (cool romanization of bakuchiku, or "firecracker") - Kuroyume ("black dream") - Luna Sea - Panic Channel - Velvet Eden - Jinkaku Radio - Anemone - Sleep My Dear - 雀羅 / Jakura - Matenrou Opera Lame - GLAY - MALICE MIZER (I think it would have been cooler had "MIZER" actually been pronounced like "miser" and not half of "miserable") - SADS - Merry - SEX-virgin killer- (Hilarious and likely intentional tho lol...) - NEW SODMY - La'Mule - Labaiser - Fairy Fore - Marry+An+Blood ... etc.

Queens of the Stone Age

Damn, PLC and/or Warner and/or Sweet Child have ponied up a huge wad of cash to put a huge promo banner for the tour in Shibuya Station. It'll be up until the 29th

Gackt I remember sometime in the 2000s Gackt had some really bad breakout prone skin that even thick layers of make-up couldn't hide as TV display/quality improved.

I don't mind non-Japanese bands attempting to look/"sound" visual kei, but the problem is that more often than not it's usually more inferior than even the most inferior of offerings Japanese visual kei has to offer. I don't really listen to YOHIO nor follow the online drama that surrounds any topic about him, but he seems to at least be doing VK right from a visual and musical perspective. (Irregardless if his music is your cup of tea or not.) But honestly most older VK musicians don't even care for the slew of bands who are currently "popular" now, let alone some random foreigner person. Yoshiki, despite his other misgivings, is at least still actively open to supporting and the idea of new talent so his answer doesn't surprise me.

吸血鬼美夕 / Kyuketsuki Miyu / Vampire Princess Miyu I feel like this was an occult classic for many anime fans in the 90s, but not as much in Japan (or at least the manga might have been more popular). I personally prefer the TV anime series over the OVA (90s), but the OVA's anime style (80s) is quite beautiful. It also has an amazing soundtrack. It's a bit hard to summarize and some aspects of the story are different from the OVA and TV anime, but Miyu is the a half-human/half-princess who guards the earth by banishing stray god-like demons called Shinma. When a Western shinma called Larva tries to kill her, she drinks his blood, and essentially turns him into her servant/slave, bound by a mask. Miya herself is an antihero. While she might protect the earth from shinma, she feels no sadness for humans and human life caught up in the process, and often chooses to let people suffer. She also offers eternal "happiness" in a unconscious, bliss-like state to people who seek it. It can be interpreted that she falls in love with Larva and Larva eventually comes to care for or at least feel sympathy for her, but the master/servant relationship between them and the fact that Miyu will forever remain (appearance-wise) a pre-teen girl are hinted at as obstacles. IMHO although Miyu has feelings for Larva, she is also dependent on him and in her loneliness is unable to set him free. The TV anime one of my favorite series ever, and one of the few anime series I've encountered with moral questions and a lot of food for thought after. ベルサイユのばら / Berusaiyu no Bara / The Rose of Versailles Unhappy with the birth of a girl, Oscar François de Jarjayes' father is determined to raise her as a boy so that she may one day replace him as commander in the Royal Guards. Perhaps one of the most historically accurate re-tellings of Marie Antoinette. Perhaps not the same vein as recommendations by the OP, and not particularly violent or adult in nature, but the honorific language used in the historical information/topics presented would probably be dull for many kids. The ending of this series is ranks up there in the "right in the feels" fvck you up for days category. Although quite retro, this series has long endured in Japan, and is still used in advertising even today. It's also considered an important work for the Japanese feminist movement. Kamijo pretty much modeled his trademark look after Oscar and Lareine once covered the opening. Also, the band name Versailles. ノワール / Noir I'm seconding this rec. Two female assassins (Kirika and Mireille) join forces to find clues to their past, and in the process find out they're more deeply connected to each other than they first thought. The soundtrack on this is also amazing, and a must if you're a fan of Yuki Kajiura, FictionJunction Yuuka, or Kalafina. I personally think Ali Project owes a lot of her career to performing the OP track to this series. It's a good series for binge watching, and Sailor Moon fans will quickly notice Mireille is voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi. Other recs: - Project A-ko (cult classic!) - Another - Michiko to Hacchin - Wolf's Rain - Ergo Proxy - Kanashimi no Belladonna (kinda retro but...) - Oniisama e... (by the same creator as Rose of Versailles, but darker as per a lot of the shoujo anime of the 70s and 80s) - Orosuban Ebi-chu (I don't think this quite qualifies as hentai, but its humor sure isn't for kids...)

I think conceptually this release sounds pretty solid so far. I especially like the word play.

Sailor Moon Drops app game lol If you had the money/means/freedom/etc. to dress/look/or get body mods any way you wanted, what would you look like?

Kamijo has never had the clearest enunciation. ^^;; It sounds like "mitasareru" (to be satisfied or filled with something) to the ear, but that doesn't make as much sense so I'm going "midasareru" like inertia said. I think imagery-wise when you combine the two it would be the scent of roses is so overpowering it drives him mad (makes him dirty/aroused...) since the whole song is about "dancing" in the darkness...