Pretsy

MAU MAU MAU MAU MAU MAU!

Dat Russian.

Never forget that random Ed Gein reference on "JESSICA" (except that Kyo's got the initial letter of his second name all wrong kek). Also, am I the only one who noticed that "Hydra" basically stood for "Hitler" in the first place (if we japanized those two: Hidora vs. Hitora...see?)? This might also explain that why Kyo always does that salute thing during the climax of its remake :/

An example of typical 8cm Dir single:

Boo (you know, that chubby BFF of Dir's) decided to put up his own Xmas show soon, and he informed about his new *special* session band - not gonna bother with separate thread because barely anyone would care: "TTT" (the band name, btw) (for "Boo Xmas Event 2015" 21/12/2015) members: Vo: Mr.TTT (Boo) Vo: KOJI (Tears Of The Rebel/ex.SCREAMING SOUL HILL) Gt: Kaoru（DIR EN GREY) Gt: Aiji (LM.C) Ba: T$UYO$HI (The BONEZ/Pay money To my Pain) Dr: DUTTCH (UZMK) source: http://www.boonight.jp/

Sukekiyo will release a new live-limited single "Mimi Zozo", which will (apparently, actual details yet unknown) include a new track they have played at lives lately. The said single will be sold only during their "宙吊り娘と掃き溜めの詩" tour - dates below: covers: source: their twitter Also, Takumi began to use twitter as well! His introductory tweet by courtesy of kyotaku:

Speaking of Toshiya, Japanese fans have informed that he became even more ripped than ever. Here are the bands that performed there btw (some live-only omnibus) Three last acts are there due to the fact that they are all related to Free-Will (manager/CEO for Doginthepwo/Buglug/Blubillion's labels, Yukari (from ex-Baiser fame) works with Dynamite Tommy too). Also: we might get ANOTHER sukekiyo release next year - here's what happened during Decays/Sukekiyo coupling gig back in August (or w/e it was, thx to azifxxx@tumblr):

Footage! (still not a big fan of Un Deux)

Sneak peek into Kyo's "septum look" (he apparently changed his casual style too): The guy on the left is some journo from Rolling Stones Japan, and the article he worked on handles Kyos willingness to explore the worlds of Jodorowsky and Švankmajer. Hmmm... Also, the sketch report from Niigata live revealed his next-level freakiness: also, real photos from their China tour (HK?) http://vrockhk.com/2015/10/19/dir-en-grey%E4%B9%85%E9%81%95%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%89%E5%B9%B4%E5%86%8D%E8%87%A8%E3%80%80%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E9%9F%B3%E6%A8%82%E7%AF%80%E9%96%8B%E5%94%B1/

New Perfume is... http://www.jpopsuki.tv/images/media/02a7271d90b683b0e8ee7fea8859c377_1445389556.mp4 Okay? Yasutaka's current, low songwriting skills tho

You will be very lucky if you get Zakuro there They are slaying it even after many years (the last time when I've seen it...2011, holy shit it was thrilling).

I've seen and experienced such situations in which people who do not usually digest vk or don't listen to it at all are not capable of stomaching "Feminism" either - especially when it comes to overall criticism in which "Romance of Scarlet" is considered to have much less "dated" sound than "Feminism" (which is kind of true though). Also: it's little to no wonder that this (Feminism years 1995-early 1996) was coined as their "sellout era" back then - not that many would even glance at their past but worth knowing anyway. I would have suggested it too but as I saId it above - it's not everyone's cup of tea. We could also say the same about post-Fake Star era which is unfortunately totes devoid of originality genre-wise (while being "fun"). Regarding Luna Sea - Nagisa (as the Gazette fan) should definitely give Luna Sea's STYLE and LUNACY eras a try (MOTHER would be too old school-ish of an experience to you tbh) - especially the single/b-side department:

Acquired taste, heh (at least from my POV current, shorter cuts give him a bit of "tough" look - quite fitting concept-wise). Also, regarding "Touru": I am not intending to do Kareki here but wasn't this handled like years ago already? Idk what fans are attempting to be when they stick to presumably "real names" (for the record, it doesn't take a genius to google out in Nipponese and find more sources referring to "Hironori" rather than "Tooru" but who gives a shit anyway). We have their officially acknowledged pseudonyms for that matter y'know. I might actually take my words back and say: thank god that no one remembers "AAAH TOORU WARUMONO-SAN" idiocy from pre-'10 years, phew. Regarding ARCHE (which is still a huge clusterfuck): "Midwife" gets too much hate.

^ fun at parties, I suppose.

To make "don't delve into personal J-rocker lives pls, you dirty freak" voices quieter, I'd state the main wafflesy purpose of this thread: while the world of vk and JAYRAWK had tons of similar characteristics when compared to its much more grandiose Western counterpart a.k.a glam/makeup-lashing, angst quintets/quartets and god knows what, we've been given way too conservative, perhaps even stereotypical image about how these Japanese rockers have rolled. What the heck? There is just not enough dirt in the world of Japanese distorted earrape music! I can totes bet that your J-favs (and mine) are anything but fandom's little sweet bishonen/bishoujo angels - how come there were no stuff or suspections involving e.g. vk bandomen reaching some severely dazzled extremes while partying or even just gigging around? Not that anyone might be pleased or willing to contribute, but let's try reviving this section anyway: Have you ever heard about possible drug bust cases or just widely spread suspections involving vk or J-rock bandomen being way too "shady"? Feel free to push forward, get amazed or just throw crap at pseudo-tanukists like me, sniff. I will start by stating popular drug cases (note: not Johnnys): - Sakura (ex-L'Arc~en~Ciel) This chap has been the main catalyst AND the final nail in the coffin of L'arc's "definitely vk" career. Why's that? Him getting charged for heroin possession around late 1997 has ended up L'arc spending their necessary "no-public" hiatus in order to get their shit together and come back with more palatable sound. Come to think of it though: he gets very rare (or even none) mentions whenever L'arc has their chronology up on TVs or such, ouch. - Hisashi Imai (BUCK-TICK) About similar-ish case happened to this legendary vk-related (if we could call him that way) guitar virtuoso /quirky composer except that it was in 1989 and he was sentenced for LSD possession! Frankly speaking this didn't affect band that much sound-wise, phew. also, I am still on the fence whether I should consider 2ch inspections of Kiyoharu (yes, that Kiyoharu) being involved when it comes to drug ventures - just go asking around 2ch and you might actually get rhetoric questions in the vein of "why he ain't caught yet?", lol. ps. is TZK is a stoner???

BMTH has been quite open about LP and how heavy of an influence they had on the band ever since There is A Hell/Sempiternal era though (it doesn't take a genius to open up NME/Gigwise and google up Oli's own take on behind-the-scenes hulabaloos). Therefore, allusions to LP soundalikes are actually given and justified at this point - why so sour?

^Fiancailles being cut is kinda bumming seeing as it is one of LAREINE's most recognizable songs (at least if we inspected how people react to that song here and there) + IT IS Kamijo's composition (just like most songs off Fierte, see : http://www.discogs.com/Lareine-%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%81%AE%E6%B5%B7%E3%81%A8%E5%85%B1%E3%81%AB%E6%B6%88%E3%82%86The-Last-Of-Romance/release/2163180) Nice review!

^Acquired taste + nostalgia for 90s J-pop glory (Passepied tend to remind me of JUDY AND MARY for the most part) are the main ingredients for liking so yeah lol. Anyways Kindan no Tasuketsu decided to go all lezzie with new album promos...that bunny though (then again, all that same Swedindie pop-worshiping glory, sigh) Daoko's B-side sounds a bit better than that Komuro-y yet unsurprisingly dull A-side. Still not a fan of her major direction (took me months to realize her sellout-ish factor here). Let's revive things here for a moment by throwbacks: Which J-pop/-related release do you consider to be THE classic (your own personal take ofc) and why?

Takumi has been their programmer ever since DSS

Would've been very great mini (?) if it wasn't for the climax-killing ending (yup, it still doesn't sound like a legit closer to me - it's decent but certainly not the one to finish the album). Ps. just to clarify what I really dig: "Gift" is a 5/5 record to me .

That is why I suggested Triangle in the first place (I dig both albums semi-equally as a whole or so on): as far as my experiences go, people get instantly turned off when they tune into GAME nowadays (especially when you have songs like "Ceramic Girl" or "Chocolate Disco" around). It would be therefore much safer to start out with something "serious" .

Roentgen (Hyde, his magnum opus) Tierra (early 90s L'Arc) Ark (late 90s L'Arc) (ps. HEART is my personal favorite but I started with this anyway) KISS (00s L'Arc) Their self-titled of course (in case you could resist wacky vocalcraft) I can give a few songs for you to decide whether you are ready to go for anything Kiyoharu (or Kuroyume/SADS/solo in this case) - as a listener who used to stan him so hard: "Triangle" (⊿) -album.

Kyo wore a hijab/ninja hybrid-like thingie during their 29.09 show And in later shows he went back to his GHOUL monk makeup (with cat lenses + piercings ofc). Also, the sketch report. Ps. about "Kyo's father" rumor: firstly, yes - he's Araki (renowned photographer from Japan who has done shoots for e.g. Lady Gaga and Beat Takeshi for many times). Secondly, he shot Kyo for his latest book collection, which is comprised of "important" Japanese male figures, e.g. Beat Takeshi or once again - Kyo (obviously the most popular member in DEG).

You ought to check their previous album (Makunouchi-ISM) in case you didn't . A little bit simpler and safer, but seeing as you "caught the gist" behind their music, I can imagine you enjoying it too "Shaba-Lover" is one of those surprise J-AOTYs along with Yukawa Shione and Uwanosora'67 in my case

Half of that group (Wagakki) comes from vk-based acts while the other half are literally vocaloid/animu circle-related people who used to do vocaloid covers, perform @related events etc. - call them "akihabara/visual kei hybrid" if you will. But yeah, I myself don't let their shtick distract that much. I totally agree on Passepied part though Also, wtf CQ - this is so good! Why I haven't heard of this before? Back to the topic: Passepied is a bit of acquired taste if we discuss vocals (I love them, most folks don't tho) and regarding CQ...they are too obscure and "post-punky" (some samples reminded me of Echo and Bunnymen btw) for current J-fans to digest in all honesty. @emmny: I cannot wait for the moment when Tzk will get busted for being too open about his habits (see: he's a stoner).