jaymee

I went ahead and did the romaji/translation. It's a pretty straightforward song, I feel.
 
Virge - Nimaijita (Double-Tongued)
 
Romaji
 
English
 
Notes:
1. I usually denote lyrics written in katakana in all caps, but since everything besides the kanji were written in katakana, I decided not to. But for non-Japanese speakers, I’d like to note that writing this way emphasizes the feeling or message of the song, just like writing in all caps does in English.
2. There are various parts where I went for a stylized translation over a literal one, most notably going with “spare me your sanctimony” instead of something more literal for “gizensha usero”.
3. @Peace Heavy mk II's translation of the title is just as valid, however I kept it as "double-tongued" because this is literally the way it's written in kanji.
 
As always, comments or suggestions welcome.

I went ahead and did the romaji/translation. It's a pretty straightforward song, I feel.
 
Virge - Nimaijita (Double-Tongued)
 
Romaji
 
English
 
Notes:
1. I usually denote lyrics written in katakana in all caps, but since everything besides the kanji were written in katakana, I decided not to. But for non-Japanese speakers, I’d like to note that writing this way emphasizes the feeling or message of the song, just like writing in all caps does in English.
2. There are various parts where I went for a stylized translation over a literal one, most notably going with “spare me your sanctimony” instead of something more literal for “gizensha usero”.
3. @Peace Heavy mk II's translation of the title is just as valid, however I kept it as "double-tongued" because this is literally the way it's written in kanji.
 
As always, comments or suggestions welcome.

The PV for Revelation of Mankind? I believe that was a continuation of the Saku/Kodou storyline, and the PV implied that the parents were abusive. I think the PV for Obscure was worse though. Also doesn't help that Obscure is almost always the one used in reaction videos because "WOW SO SHOCKING!"

Artists use their preferred medium to present thought provoking/evocative/controversial/whatever messages all the time. Kyo & Co. aren't the first and they certainly won't be the last. And considering this is the same band with the vocalist that promised to one day fuck our parents as well as rape our daughters on our graves, I REALLY don't think they're concerned with offending anyone. 
 
Also, if they were worried about killing off their fan base, they never would have recorded DSS. 

Highlights of the 8/11 Fukuoka live:
 
- They played a new song "Mousou Graffiti"
- First half they came out in PLC Gakuen costumes and the whole session had a school/classroom theme.
- Instead of the usual skit, they played a video while the members were changing into Doppelganger costumes. In the video Lida and Daishi are recruited into the student council, but need training to control their Doppelgangers. While AYA mostly uses this time to get romantically involved with Daishi, Lida is subject to strict training and "bullying" from Yura-sama and seek.
- At the end of the video and during the live, some bad guys appear and PLC have to chase them to the final showdown at their tour final in Toyosu Pit.
- Although they played more newer stuff than songs off of Doppelganger, they did play "Planet Last Children" (with furi- super rare), "Justice" (rare), "Area", "Murder", and "Last Emotion". Hopefully they'll play other songs off the album at the other dates.
- Fukuoka's special "lucky item" was the black/pink bracelet.
 

Highlights of the 8/11 Fukuoka live:
 
- They played a new song "Mousou Graffiti"
- First half they came out in PLC Gakuen costumes and the whole session had a school/classroom theme.
- Instead of the usual skit, they played a video while the members were changing into Doppelganger costumes. In the video Lida and Daishi are recruited into the student council, but need training to control their Doppelgangers. While AYA mostly uses this time to get romantically involved with Daishi, Lida is subject to strict training and "bullying" from Yura-sama and seek.
- At the end of the video and during the live, some bad guys appear and PLC have to chase them to the final showdown at their tour final in Toyosu Pit.
- Although they played more newer stuff than songs off of Doppelganger, they did play "Planet Last Children" (with furi- super rare), "Justice" (rare), "Area", "Murder", and "Last Emotion". Hopefully they'll play other songs off the album at the other dates.
- Fukuoka's special "lucky item" was the black/pink bracelet.
 

They are already dead as a band for a long time, so not a big loss for the scene

Pro-tip: Don't treat your life like levels in a video game. Not everyone has to unlock the "got married" or "had kids" achievement to have a meaningful life.
 
Pro-tip: Nobody is ever 100% sure about marriage. If they are then they are likely naive or lying. Nobody can ever predict how they or their partners will change over time. You will always have what-if thoughts in a relationship/marriage, like with any other big decision. I don't have kids, but my friends with kids say they still have what-if thoughts, too.
 
Pro-tip: Because people are constantly changing and re-evaluating what they want, I definitely recommend waiting a few years to tie the knot and living with the person during that time.
 
Pro-tip: Love, relationships, and marriage are hard work, and what you get is proportional to what you and your partner put in after the rush of euphoria in the beginning fades away. 
 
Pro-tip: Embrace being single and finding out who you are and what you want. The more secure you are with yourself, the more it's going to help whatever relationship you get into, if you decide to get into one. I feel like I was able to bring more into my relationship/marriage because I had spent so much time working on myself and what I wanted while I was single.
 
Pro-tip: Any major decision you make is like opening a door and stepping into a room with less doors. So as you get older, you have less choices. You can go back into the previous room, but it will be at some expense, to others or to yourself. That means that if you have all these things you want to do, having a relationship or children will only take away from the time you can dedicate to those things. This isn't to sound negative, but there is only so much time and so much of yourself you can give, and it's not fair to ask a partner or children to constantly put their lives on hold for yours.
 
Pro-tip: I feel like it shouldn't need to be said, but don't date married people or people who cheated on someone else to be with you! I have so many friends that have done this and it never turns out well and then people like me gotta listen to your crying ass when you're surprised he/she's cheating on you, too, and you're not the only side chick/side dude. Ya'll are better than that. Always know your own self worth.

Why would it be? When they can earn money selling two dvds why would they include the best selling points of one of them in another set?

Eh. I can think of worse ways you can spend the money on besides this. Besides, gotta make sure Diru gets that sweet, sweet Pierrot coin somehow. Lol. XD

this may very well be the most egregious case of inequality between price & content in jrock history

Lmao those prices, the only purpose of that collab was to milking fans afterall

^ you couldn't paste the tracklist in your post?
 
ACID ANDROID /「AFTER IMAGE」 ＜feat. kyo D’ERLANGER)＞
Angelo /「dummy blue」
INORAN×TERU×HISASHI×ピエール中野×ERY /「LULLABY」
清春 /「SADISTIC EMOTION」
Psycho le Cému /「DARLIN'」
Justy-Nasty /「an aphrodisiac」
THE SLUT BANKS /「1999-Shyboy story-」
DIR EN GREY /「EASY MAKE,EASY MARK」
DEZERT /「MOON AND THE MEMORIES」
HYDE /「LA VIE EN ROSE」 ＜feat. CIPHER、SEELA、Tetsu (D’ERLANGER＞
MUCC /「CRAZY4YOU」
MERRY /「So...」
YOW-ROW from GARI /「UNDER THE PRETENSE」
lynch. /「XXX for YOU」
Rayflower /「Dance naked, 
　Under the moonlight」
 
Track order is not yet finalized, this is just the tracks that will be on the CD.

I dunno, quite a few (foreign) audience members tried it at the Years & Years live, and eventually Olly had to make a passive remark to shush them so he could, y'know, actually sing and be heard. Maybe some artists like it, but I don't get that vibe from what I see on YouTube. It often looks like the artist is just tolerating it.
 
Also, like... singing along loudly with the band seems to be a pretty recent thing, like within the past 10 years. (At least in the U.S..) When I was going to concerts in high school people may have moshed, danced, crowd surfed, or mouthed along/sang in a low voice, but they didn't actually drown out the singer with their off key voices. It's just another one of those selfish "me, me, me" things people do now without any consideration to the other people around them.
 
In any case, recording is generally prohibited in Japan, but live houses will usually give it a pass if it's a non-Japanese artist playing. It's also in poor taste to sing along when not cued.  I've seen more live houses overseas looking like a funeral than in Japan tbh, but I have been to bigger concerts like Lady Gaga in Japan where most of the people just came just to come, and weren't actually that familiar with the artist or their songs so the crowd was pretty dead.
 
As far as VK goes, you do furi for songs that have it, headbang/gyakudai/whatev for the harder songs, and for ballads it's polite to just listen, really soak in the atmosphere, and then applaud after.

Ugh, I love Deadman and wish they'd never disbanded. I also regret never being able to see them live. I had really hoped more of VK would have gone in the direction they were taking it.  Perhaps not their best song, but my favorite:
 
 

SPRING
 
Plastic Tree - "Harusaki Sentimental"
 
I love this song mostly for the lyrics, as the melody can get a bit repetitive and the video isn't much. The way Ryutaro sings the line "Under this tree, I'll bury everything I held dear." gets me right in the feels every time.
 
 
Janne Da Arc - "Sakura"
 
This one also hits me right in the feels. Also "Furimukeba..." is another spring song of theirs.
 

Raphael - "Sakura"
 
 
BUCK-TICK - "Sakura"
 
Noticing a theme here?
 
 
cali≠gari - "Haru no Hi"
 
They also have other songs for summer and winter.
 
 
L'Arc~en~Ciel - "Flower"
 
Pretty mainstream spring song, not only exclusive to the VK genre.
 
 
SINCREA - "Sakura ga Maichiru Kisetsu ni Kimi ga Yume Mita Koto"
 
 
Others include GLAY's "Haru no Aisuru Hito", DaizyStripper's "Harumeku Bokura", Kagrra's "Shigatsu Tsuitachi", irokui's "Sakura Seven", etc.
 
SUMMER
 
BUCK-TICK - "Gessekai"
 
June is the month of hydrangeas in bloom, so this BUCK-TICK song that starts off "Red, yellow sunflowers; orange, ultramarine hydrangeas" is one I like to listen to on summer late-night drives.
 
 
 BUCK-TICK "Kagerou"
 
Lots of summer imagery in the lyrics and PV, especially the first line that begins, "smeared lipstick, a midsummer's night dream, may flies take flight, yearning for love". Like cherry blossoms, mayflies' short lives represent the transience of the summer seasons and a passionate love affair.
 

Janne Da Arc's "DOLLS"

Lots of beach imagery/summer break-up imagery. Seems like their label took the original PV down, so I'm posting this live version. (I was at this concert, too, so this live version of brings back old memories. :D)  "Seed" and "Ueta Taiyou" are other summer songs of theirs that are really good.
 
 
SEX-ANDROID - "Natsuiro Sadistic"
 
This one is popular with quite a few Japanese VK fans.
 
 
SID - "Natsukoi"
 
The title "Summer Love" pretty much says it all.
 
 
La Cryma Christi - "Tsuki no Mabuta"
 
Summer drive, summer love, the beach, etc.
 
 
Dir en grey - "Taiyou no Ao"
 
Pretty much a Japanese summer VK staple.
 
 
An Cafe - "SUMMER DIVE"
 
Either this one or "Natsukoi☆Natsu".
 
 
This is getting long again so others... MUCC's "Hanabi" or PIERROT's "Shinkei ni Wareru Atsui Yoru". Personally I like to listen to L'Arc~en~Ciel's "Driver's High" and Malice Mizer's "Ma Cherie" (shooting star imagery and melody reminds me of summer/Tanabata).

SPRING
 
Plastic Tree - "Harusaki Sentimental"
 
I love this song mostly for the lyrics, as the melody can get a bit repetitive and the video isn't much. The way Ryutaro sings the line "Under this tree, I'll bury everything I held dear." gets me right in the feels every time.
 
 
Janne Da Arc - "Sakura"
 
This one also hits me right in the feels. Also "Furimukeba..." is another spring song of theirs.
 

Raphael - "Sakura"
 
 
BUCK-TICK - "Sakura"
 
Noticing a theme here?
 
 
cali≠gari - "Haru no Hi"
 
They also have other songs for summer and winter.
 
 
L'Arc~en~Ciel - "Flower"
 
Pretty mainstream spring song, not only exclusive to the VK genre.
 
 
SINCREA - "Sakura ga Maichiru Kisetsu ni Kimi ga Yume Mita Koto"
 
 
Others include GLAY's "Haru no Aisuru Hito", DaizyStripper's "Harumeku Bokura", Kagrra's "Shigatsu Tsuitachi", irokui's "Sakura Seven", etc.
 
SUMMER
 
BUCK-TICK - "Gessekai"
 
June is the month of hydrangeas in bloom, so this BUCK-TICK song that starts off "Red, yellow sunflowers; orange, ultramarine hydrangeas" is one I like to listen to on summer late-night drives.
 
 
 BUCK-TICK "Kagerou"
 
Lots of summer imagery in the lyrics and PV, especially the first line that begins, "smeared lipstick, a midsummer's night dream, may flies take flight, yearning for love". Like cherry blossoms, mayflies' short lives represent the transience of the summer seasons and a passionate love affair.
 

Janne Da Arc's "DOLLS"

Lots of beach imagery/summer break-up imagery. Seems like their label took the original PV down, so I'm posting this live version. (I was at this concert, too, so this live version of brings back old memories. :D)  "Seed" and "Ueta Taiyou" are other summer songs of theirs that are really good.
 
 
SEX-ANDROID - "Natsuiro Sadistic"
 
This one is popular with quite a few Japanese VK fans.
 
 
SID - "Natsukoi"
 
The title "Summer Love" pretty much says it all.
 
 
La Cryma Christi - "Tsuki no Mabuta"
 
Summer drive, summer love, the beach, etc.
 
 
Dir en grey - "Taiyou no Ao"
 
Pretty much a Japanese summer VK staple.
 
 
An Cafe - "SUMMER DIVE"
 
Either this one or "Natsukoi☆Natsu".
 
 
This is getting long again so others... MUCC's "Hanabi" or PIERROT's "Shinkei ni Wareru Atsui Yoru". Personally I like to listen to L'Arc~en~Ciel's "Driver's High" and Malice Mizer's "Ma Cherie" (shooting star imagery and melody reminds me of summer/Tanabata).

In no particular order...
 
1. Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen
2. THE NOVEMBERS
3.  フレデリック (Frederick)
4. The Checkers
5. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
6. SIM
7. Supercar
8. The Brilliant Green
9. Shishido Kavka
10. Bugy Craxone
 
Honestly this list was hard to make since I like most of these and a lot of other bands about the same, so I decided to go for listing up a lot of artists from different genres instead.
 
Recently been listening to more Lightbringer, which would probably appeal to VK fans, esp older fans that appreciate some of the neo-classic melodies of 90s VK.
 

In no particular order:
 
1. Sigh
2. Zazen Boys
3. Yellow Magic Orchestra
4. Fujifabric
5. Sparta Locals
6. Dead End
7. Sadistic Mika Band
8. Suiken
9. M-Flo
10. YMCK
 
Honorable mentions edit in no order:
1. 88 kasyo junrei
2. ANTHEM
3. Loudness
4. Kuni Kawachi
5. Veiled in Scarlet
6. Sukimasangyo
7. The Pillows
8. Ogre You Asshole
9. High and Mighty Colour
10. Sabbrabells

He doesn't sound that bad during MRD to me but yeah he sounds better in the Peace & Smile Carnival Tour one. Maybe he was just sick or something? Especially that during this time they were touring and recording all the time. I guess he practiced a lot too 

As an "old" VK fan that normally doesn't like oshare-kei (and survived that horrible phase of VK), Jack Caper sounds pretty good from that vid. I actually disagree that the vocalist is annoying compared to most oshare kei vocalists. I would sit through their show at a taiban.
 
I think Zig Zag's concept is pretty cool and they sound fine, but musically are not my cup of tea.
 
The rest... uhhhh no comment. 
 
But I appreciate you compiling this to keep us in the loop of what's going on in indies VK.

As an "old" VK fan that normally doesn't like oshare-kei (and survived that horrible phase of VK), Jack Caper sounds pretty good from that vid. I actually disagree that the vocalist is annoying compared to most oshare kei vocalists. I would sit through their show at a taiban.
 
I think Zig Zag's concept is pretty cool and they sound fine, but musically are not my cup of tea.
 
The rest... uhhhh no comment. 
 
But I appreciate you compiling this to keep us in the loop of what's going on in indies VK.

Been listening to this old favorite a lot lately.
 
 

They play the entire album at every date so you should leave satisfied if those are the songs you really want to hear!

Someone that I have been following on YouTube. solely on a whim, uploaded an informational video on one of Japan's most influential genres during one of it's most important eras:
 
シティポップ (City Pop)
 
Enjoy!