SakuraFox512

Plastic Tree are slated to do intro and outro themes for the new Playstation Vita game "Collar x Malice -Unlimited-, due out July 26, 2018.

Opening theme: Inside-Out (インサイドアウト)
Lyricist: Ryutaro Arimura
Composer: Tadashi Hasegawa
Arrangers: Plastic Tree

Ending theme: Tomoshibi (灯火)
Lyricist and Composer: Tadashi Hasegawa
Arrangers: Plastic Tree

(Source: http://www.jrock.jp/various/news/2018/04/20/3962/)

Further details to be added as they're announced

I have a couple of unpopular ones, but I'll just start with the one, lest I be burned at the stake (or at least never taken seriously again):

Dir en Grey and MUCC are horribly over-hyped

Paraphrase of a comment I've seen on several vids. of his: 'I don't understand shit, but this man sure knows his.'

Hello everybody,

Been lurking this place for a couple years before I finally decided to make an account, and I've already made a couple posts here, but realized I never made an introduction post, probably because I'm bad at them.

But moving past that...I'm 22 years old and been listening to jpop and rock since late grade school (visual kei since early middle school, I would guess). Most of my preferred bands hail from the 80s and 90s (Kuroyume, BUCK-TICK, D'ERLANGER, Plastic Tree, PIERROT, Janne Da Arc...), but I'm not averse to musicians after the turn of the millennia, either (The GazettE, MERRY, and, recently, AIOLIN, are a few I like).

I listen to music pretty much 24/7, and also like reading and (trying to) make games. I want to be a musician someday, so I'm interested in writing lyrics and composing (<-- also a 'trying to').

I have some anxiety troubles, so if I get slow on my responses while I'm here, please don't take it personally.  ._.

On 4/9/2018 at 2:01 AM, deedlitmurata said:

 

Ohh you are right, I totally forgot about Nocturne XD I think I overlooked it, but yes, that only makes the count up to 2.. which is not many at all compared to the ratio of composition he was doing in some previous albums.

 

Is Ryutaro still smoking?!  I thought he had stopped at some point.. after having polyps removed many time (how many has it been, like 4 i guess?) I thought he would have chose to stop doing it, maybe this way he could last a bit more.

 

It also makes me very sad that Ryutaro will have to retire at some point soon maybe.. his voice is not what it used to be, even if we still love it, I'm sure it must be very hard for him, I know some other vocalists that have been forced to retire for the same reason, it's either that, or lose your voice completely or just live in constant pain which is not fair for him either, and the quality of the voice wont be the same, so I am sure he wants to do his best. I wonder how the rest of the members feel about it?  I am sure Kenken could probably go on, since he's younger than the others, find some other band.. I guess.. I hate to think about it. I hope they can complete the next album.. the Japanese music scene will be very lonely for me without Plastic Tree T_T

Well...he started using e-cigarettes a few years back, probably to help his voice. (Whether that means he stopped using real cigarettes altogether or not is another matter). But regardless of what his current situation is regarding smoking, I just brought it up because I figured all the years that he definitely spent smoking normal cigarettes have probably played their part in present troubles.

But yikes! He's had polyps removed 4 times? I only knew of two. :x

That's pretty rough.

And yeah, I don't envy the situation. Problems like this have got to be among the worst to be gazing down the barrel of as a vocalist. I remember some of the worries and fears he mentioned going through back when he had gotten diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome and can't help but wonder how he's feeling about now. I hope that whenever the time comes that he has to bow out, he can at least be content with all that he's done over the course of Pura's existence.

As for the other band members...I wonder about that too. I guess Akira has COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS to fall back on? It's not really the same though...

Either way, the vk scene is gonna feel real weird for me without the ol'  'Tree that never withers'. =/

EDIT: This occurred to me a while ago and it's been driving me nuts since, but I wonder why Pura don't just take a hiatus, rather than disbanding, They've been going pretty constantly since they first formed...maybe taking a year or two off would benefit Ryutaro. Surely going full-steam ahead with tours and double performances (like what they did with the same-day Puppet Show/Nega to Posi concerts) and whatnot will just burn his voice out faster...?

On 4/9/2018 at 1:08 PM, GreatNorthernVK said:

Looks like I better get on that trip to Japan. I should really see Plastic Tree before they finally go.

You and me both. Hoping I can save up enough dough and get my health in check so that I can see them even once.

On 4/4/2018 at 11:58 PM, deedlitmurata said:

Hello, yeah I think this is a tendency of Victor Entertainment releases... lol

 

About the composition, actually what surprised me the most is that "Irotsuki" was the only composition done by Ryutaro this time?!  he got lazy suddenly? xD  this was basically a Tadashi album, being the majority of the songs, I'd like Ryutaro to make more songs like Replay for example, and that song Irotsuki was one of my favorites. I like the fact that Kenken keeps composing.

 

I remember Ryutaro said once that he never took proper singing classes, and that he was not interested in it either because he thought only feeling was important for singing... <-- I think this is the consequences of that now, that he forces his voice too much in the concerts.. by the end of the concerts.. the songs sound a bit different.. but regardless of this.. it's painful , but I still love his voice no matter what.

 

I agree Makka na ito was probably the best on the second set, together with Replay and Andrometamorphose for me, very epic whenever they perform it. ^^

 

 

Hmm...Ryutaro also composed "Nocturne" as well, didn't he? (though that only brings the total up to two).
Akira and Ken-Ken took on two each also...so that means Tadashi ultimately did the other half.
Pretty sure it's the songs originally from the singles that tipped the scales for Tadashi, since he often composes their lead singles...if we were to count only the new songs, I guess Tadashi only did two as well! I suppose they couldn't have been more even-handed without leaving out the singles.

Oh yeah, that makes sense about his voice. Combined with his smoking, polyp removals, and add aging too, and I suppose it's not unexpected either.

On that last part, I have to say it was nice seeing Replay again after its long absence on setlists in recent times. ^^


And I agree wholeheartedly that I still love Ryutaro's voice too. I think he's starting to try to wind himself down though, (albeit slowly), and I'm finding the whole situation pretty sad. I know that in a recent interview [or was it a live?] that happened sometime in the past couple of years, he stated that he knows he won't be able to continue on forever as a musician. Not because of any lack of interest, but simply because of the state of his throat and he mentioned trying his best with it and still wanting to do as much as he can while still able.

And then just last month, there was him saying the band was moving into their final act following the release of this album.

So I'm very honestly starting to think that the band's next album will also be their last. And quite possibly for Ryutaro's work as a vocalist as a whole, too. With any luck, they'll get to usher in their 25th [major-label] anniversary, but I'm increasingly unconvinced they'll last beyond that threshold, much as I hate to say it.

Asking those who have ordered directly from Suruga-ya before...is it possible to determine or ask if a release comes with its obi before you actually receive the thing?

That aside, +1 for the recommendation of Zenmarket.jp. Best deputy service I've used thus far -- 300 yen per order, no consolidation fee for multiple orders, 45 day storage period, a ton of different shipping options, and relatively quick answers to messages. The only rough experience I've had was the first time I had a poster shipped out from them (it got cracked during shipping; they failed to put the poster in a plastic/cardboard tube for protection), but I've never had a repeat of that.

Also, haven't seen it mentioned yet, so I'd like to put forward JPN-Depot for anybody looking for a package forwarding service. They're pretty cost effective and don't amp up your shipping charges ridiculously with tons of fees. They also offer bidding on Yahoo Auctions and a 'Buy-for-me' service to get stuff from webshops and whatnot, though they're a little less cost effective when it comes to directly purchasing things than Zenmarket is, generally. Their customer service is useful in that you can also inquire about places you're considering buying from and have them say whether the place seems legit or not.

5 hours ago, deedlitmurata said:

I usually dislike the fact that Plastic Tree likes to release many versions of any of their releases, and the same here, they should just release a 2 DVD box set with the 2 concerts together and the album separately, this would be smarter and people will definitely buy both, but expecting the fans to buy the same album twice just for a different DVD and a different photobook doesn't sound too smart in my opinion  xD  anyway, regardless of that, the album is AWESOME, much better than the previous album, and I'm glad I ordered type A that includes the entire Puppet show setlist and couple more of classics, just with Circus in concert i'm satisfied xD

I'm with you on this, but it'll never happen as long as they're signed to Victor Entertainment. (Frankly, at this point, I'm just hoping the fandom doesn't get a replay of the BS with Ink's limited edition release and the Tent 3 DVD/Blu-ray). But then, they've jumped record labels a lot, so maybe they'll eventually hop to one that makes different business decisions.

While I didn't hate Hakusei, personally, I have to say I like this album more also. A bit of a surprise when I checked the songwriting credits on some of the songs too (would never have guessed Ryutaro composed "Irotsuki")! The DVDs are pretty solid. Puppet Show is one of, if not my favorite album of theirs, so the setlist for that one is killer. "monophobia" and "Sangatsu Itsu-ka." in particular were big highlights, so just with those, I could be content.

The other type that has the Nega to Posi setlist was unexpectedly the concert I liked more overall, though -- "Sabbath" was wicked, "egg" had a great thing going in energy with the crowd, "Kuroi Kasa"'s atmosphere was lovely, "Makka na Ito" had its best performance, and "Kioku Yuki" made for such a close.

I think my main complaint is that Ryutaro's voice kind of had a tendency to get drowned out/hard to hear in the lives. Mainly with the Nega to Posi set for whatever reason, unfortunately.

(Also I learned that "Nukegara" is a song utterly beyond his chords' capabilities anymore. While that song was always sort of dicey, he sounds so strangled on the choruses for it now. Roughest performance among both the concerts, hands-down.)

Anybody here heard Hikarito (of AIOLIN)'s cover of "Spica" yet?
 

1 hour ago, Saishu said:

Those are all Japanese sites. Only reason I pointed it out is because this is the only Plastic Tree release on US iTunes. 

Ah, pardon me, then.

News to me that this album was the only thing up. Could've sworn Nenriki and some other release were floating on there, but I guess I must be mixing things up with someplace else.

6 hours ago, Saishu said:

Oh. 

 

It’s on iTunes. 

It's also apparently available on several other sites for a high res. release:

Quote

2018.03.07

【Plastic Tree】本日リリースNew Album「doorAdore」、ハイレゾでの配信もスタート！

下記サイトにてハイレゾ配信中！

 

■レコチョク

http://recochoku.jp/album/A1009582691/

 

■mora

http://mora.jp/package/43000005/VICL-64964_F/

 

■groovers

http://www.groovers.co.jp/mqs/album/detail/LOT6PVi

 

■e-onkyo

http://www.e-onkyo.com/music/album/veahd11845/

11 hours ago, Seimeisen said:

Ecstastentialism? Ecsistentialism?

D'oh. That should've been easy enough to think through. That's what I get for being awake 40+ hours I guess.

On a more general note for anybody who's gotten to listen to the album yet, does it seem like they pulled a Träumerei and changed the single songs a bit without bothering to list them as album versions, or is that just my ears playing tricks?

And, while this isn't particularly important, does anybody know if there's a video of Pura mentioning "遠国", or maybe a broadcast where the title was mentioned anywhere? Written sources from the English-speaking side of things don't seem to settle on whether the reading is "Ongoku" or "Engoku"

One of my copies should be arriving today -- can't wait to give it a listen

On 1/30/2018 at 4:49 AM, Pretsy said:

Correct transliteration would be "Existentialisme", which is Existentialism in French. Yes, Existentialism is エグジステンシャリズム but knowing Plastic Tree, they opted the classical variant of that word.

^ For that matter, are we sure that Pura, being Pura, weren't going for a portmanteau of the words "Ecstasy" and "Existentialism"? Just my first thought when seeing the title. A glance at the lyrics might help. God only knows how you'd have to romanize that, though.

So is there any way to actually order the DVD? His website gives a link to the order form, but it just flings up a "Forbidden: You do not have permission to access this document" message.

Orders are only accepted until the 26th
 

Quote

LIVE DVD 発売決定

KIRITO Acoustic live 18'「DEEP PERCEPTION」
本日より、受注生産限定DVDの受付を開始致します。
※CDショップ等でのお取り扱いはございませんのでご注意下さい。

■受注生産限定DVD
KIXB-00001～00002／￥8,000+税

受注期間：2018.1.28(日)21:00～2018.2.26(月)23：59
お申込はこちら→https://www.ffb.tokyo/kirito/
※お届けは3.10(土)を予定しております。

(I haven't seen another thread about the album, so I assume this one is still fine)

Update about Kiyoharu's upcoming album "夜、カルメンの詩集" -- the release date has been postponed. It's now due out on February 28, instead of on Valentine's Day.

Also, cover art has now been released for it:

Limited edition (2CD + DVD)

Standard edition


The cover is by collage artist Kosuke Kawamura


The traclist has also been released:

DISC 01 (Same contents in both the limited and standard releases)
01.) Hika (悲歌)
02.) Aka no Towa (赤の永遠)*   [yes, the kanji are for "Eien", but the Colombia site specified the reading was "Towa"]
03.) Yoru wo, Omou (Album ver.)   (夜を、想う)
04.) Amore (アモーレ)
05.) Charade (Album ver.)   (シャレード)
06.) Nemureru Tenshi (眠れる天使)
07.) TWILIGHT
08.) Mikazuki (三日月)
09.) Bigaku (美学)
10.) Anata ni Natte (貴方になって)

DISC 02 (Limited only) -- Poetry readings of 01.) through 10.) above, plus an additional track
11.) Tsumihorobashi Nobara (罪滅ぼし野ばら)

DISC 03 (Limited only) -- Music videos for a few songs
01.) Aka no Towa (PV)
02.) Nemureru Tenshi (PV)
03.) Yoru wo, Omou (PV)

Finally, in regards to the album, there's a new artist pic:




I'm including this here, since I don't really think it's the type of thing to warrant its own topic, but Kiyoharu also has a live-exclusive single to first be available on Feb. 9; the double A-side single "Aka no Towa / Tsumihorobashi Nobara"