ahnchc

sometimes VK is like watching a bunch of innocent baby deer getting hit by a truck before they can even walk straight

VK bands are dropping like flies this year

here goes xoxo

 
 

A new look was published on their Twitter !
 

 

 

 

 
 

I half-agree with this on multiple fronts. First off, while Koichi’s aesthetic surely brings in a hefty number of fans, that’s really underplaying Tsuzuku’s appeal both overseas and in Japan. For almost every live I went to, the spaces in front of them were what filled out first, and there would be a huge gap left in front of MiA.
 
It’s funny, too, because it’s not like MiA isn’t good looking. But he’s not nearly as popular as Tsuzuku and Koichi, and I think a lot of that is due to his princely SNS presence and his own awkwardness with how he relates to the crowd at lives and instores. A lot of overseas fans I’ve talked to have the impression that he thinks a lot of himself (which may or may not be true, it’s not like I know him personally), and both overseas and Japanese fans poke fun at the plastic surgery angle. 
 
And as for Koichi neglecting his bass, you’re right. I’ve seen him straight up stop playing before. However, this is usually to engage the audience - and I can’t speak for anything before 2016 (anyone can feel free to correct me), but initially I found MiA to be a whole lot less engaged with the audience. He was pretty still on stage, maybe doing some cool guitar poses while he played, but generally just kind of doing his own thing. Then progressively throughout the year, he started grabbing people during Negator, he started seemingly throwing out more stuff, and just generally seemed to be trying a lot harder to captivate the audience. (Sort of too little too late? I didn’t really see him making any new fans at this point, but I digress.) Again, this is just from my own recollection, so anyone can feel free to shoot me down on that. Tsuzuku and Koichi never really had any problem with that as far as I could see, which yes, led to Koichi neglecting his bass more. He was also responsible for a lot of the merch designs, furthering playing into the aesthetic appeal box, and honestly a lot better at playing the popularity game than MiA.
 
And then there’s Meto. Lol. He was silent and surrounded by big personalities (‘big’ for better or worse). Personally speaking I fucking adore him, and what fans he had were super devoted, but he flew under the radar for a lot of people I think.

Adding on to my last post: I can possibly give a bit of insight as someone who casually and mildly enjoys their music even though I'm not a hardcore fan like a lot of the teenage western gya that salivate over scantily clad men that the band seems to attract.
 
Perhaps it's uncommon, but the thing about MEJIBRAY that actually gained my attention and sort of attracted me to them was MiA. Not for his looks, but for his guitar playing. Whether you love or hate MEJIBRAY or are somewhere in between those two, I think everyone can agree that MiA is a rather skilled guitarist. The fact that MiA composed almost the entire discography increased the liking I had taken towards them. The compositions were always so versatile and—as a result—I never knew what to expect for their next single or album, and that's what I liked. MEJIBRAY constantly kept me on my toes, and while I strongly dislike songs like 盈虧 (Eiki), I was able to respect the fact that the band was trying something new, not to mention that it was still somehow conjured up by the mind of the composer who also did songs that are very different in sound and ones that I'm fond of such as 砂に帰りしキミ走る (Suna ni Kaerishi Kimi Hashire) or DIVERGENCE.
 
The same goes for their drummer: meto. I consider meto to actually be skilled in drumming and I always thought that he certainly doesn't get enough praise from fans.
 
In addition, Tsuzuku's vocals are unmistakable as someone has mentioned. You can pick his nasal (and also sometimes extremely irritating) voice out of a crowd. In addition, he proves himself to be a decent composer, for he composed one of my favorite MEJIBRAY songs: baby crossing. Something that people constantly critique Tsuzuku for are his screams. While his screams are admittedly quite strange, I'm not sure many vocalists could imitate that strange sound in the outro of the aforementioned baby crossing. His voice is very unique and distinct although sometimes it made me want to grind my teeth when he hits obnoxiously high notes (i.e.: some live versions of 原罪の林檎/Genzai no Ringo). 
 
However, I have a suspicion that a majority of the attention to MEJIBRAY comes from their bassist: Koichi. In the comments of MVs and live videos alike, there are a myriad of comments about Koichi and how attractive they find him and/or his clothes to be. Refer to the latter portion of the first line in this post: "gya that salivate over scantily clad men". Hopefully I've made my point. I don't have anything against Koichi (although I do have my suspicions that he sometimes pretends to play bass during lives for a reason I can't figure out), but it's a shame that a band that—in my opinion—had potential gained most attention because of their wardrobe. It is visual kei, but I think too much attention went on their appearances rather than the (mostly) decent content they were producing and releasing.

I want to start out with two key points.
 
Firstly, I don't 'support' piracy, but without it there is no doubt that I wouldn't be this involved in the visual kei scene (and possibly probably not even where I am in my life right now, since listening to Japanese music back in JHS is what eventually led to me formally studying the language and now living and working in Japan, but that's a long story for another thread).
 
Secondly, I voted that piracy is instrumental in keeping the scene alive, but I only believe that to be the case in the international fandom. I would argue that it has little to no impact whatsoever on the actual living scene here in Japan, at least in my experience so far.
 
With that said, I'd like to go into a little more detail. Obviously piracy has been existent since the early days of home media - my uncle used to buy pirated VHS tapes of new movies when I was a kid, for example. With the arrival of the internet, and subsequent developments that have drastically improved our capacity to both upload and download data, it has increased the ability and reach of piracy to a global scale. And despite the cherry-picking of various studies to pin the blame for unsuccessful media on the illegal file-sharing community, the evidence shows that for the most part there is little to no impact whatsoever on sales as a result of piracy.
 
The reason that I think piracy is essential for the international visual kei community is simply a matter of exposure. With communities like MH which share the latest news the moment it leaves the artist's mouth at a concert, or the second it's posted on social media or their official website, even the newest and smallest indie visual bands instantly get tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands more people's attention than they expected. But even with that awareness of band activity, there's no promise that the international community will put their money where their ears are and pick up their releases. With inflation increasing the sales price of CDs over the last few years in Japan, and the fact that many small VK bands release music only in independent record stores or even exclusively at concerts, simply buying the music you're interested in from half way around the world becomes a tall order. This is only compounded by the fact that on top of the costs of buying and shipping the item to you, it's likely that you have no prior way of determining whether you will really enjoy a release or get your money's worth. Hence, piracy becomes a method for fans who are willing to shell out for their favourite artists to sample and sift through the latest music to choose exactly what they put their hard-earned money towards.
 
However, this is speaking from a purely international standpoint. The truth of the matter is, domestic artists in Japan are not expecting to rely on international sales to any extent, regardless of the genre. This is particularly true for indies visual kei, which is far more concerned with gathering a dedicated fan base on their home turf who will repeatedly spend money on tickets and goods, where they make a lot more money than the pitiful cut they get on CD sales. Even bands that are aware of their popularity overseas will very rarely have the opportunity or financial security to consider promoting or performing there, especially on an indie label. For anyone short of a major record deal, purchases from abroad are probably like an unexpected bonus, and nothing more.
 
But the main reason I think piracy has little to no effect on the visual kei scene within Japan is simply that I don't think it's as common. In theory Japan has quite strict laws on illegal file-sharing, and the truth of the matter is that VK is not very big even in its home country. The scene was at its peak years ago when the philosophy of the frontrunners was more relevant, and media exposure was higher. Even if someone were to upload a new release, I just don't think there would be that many people to download it. The hardcore gya will jump on the latest release from their favourite artist, and anyone else is probably just not interested.
 
That's not to say that the scene is necessarily dying out though; if anything, the spread of the pre-owned market to online sales and auction sites (looking at you in particular, Mercari and Yahoo, with simple transactions and free accounts) provides a mecca for domestic and international fans alike. In particular rare items like live-distributed singles and signed goods can sell for tens of thousands of yen if the right buyer is on the lookout. It's easier than ever to get hold of VK music, and while the artists themselves don't see any financial benefit from second-hand sales, they do see an increase in exposure. In addition, devoted fans shell out time and again for not only multiple versions of releases, but also goods from clothing and towels to cheki, which are virtually like trading cards to the hardcore bangya. I would argue that the live scene and sale of goods is what really keeps the VK scene afloat, especially at the indie level. If no-one attends a new band's lives, it's far more damaging for them both financially and in terms of reputation than not selling out a 500-copy press of their first single (ignoring recording and production costs, of course).
 
I realise that this post has gone on for far too long now, but in summary: piracy is a necessary evil for the international community, but largely irrelevant to the success of the artists themselves and the scene in Japan.

Hey one question: what the fuck

DIAURA's school shooter youtube video album cover is the worst in vk history 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

For real tho who's kid drew this? 

Drastic Will - Counterfeit

 
The fact that the title was clearly made in WordArt is hilarious.

damn that burn

still less deserted than their shows i guess

Did they just misspelled REALies a dozen times?

my crystal ball is kind of fuzzy, but Riku's now free and Kisaki is making a comeback, so I wonder what could possibly hap-

Hey one question: what the fuck

Hey one question: what the fuck

GAIN01/Milky Emily

 
A'LETZA:

Also there's this:
So, starting on 6/17 they're selling cheaper C Type tickets for their anniversary one man.
There are two options: 
One is 5,500 yen for 2 tickets and you get 2 rubber wristbands with it.
The other is...103,100 yen for 20 tickets and you get to go on a date with one of the members to USJ.
But only one lucky person gets the pleasure of spending over 100,000 yen to date a nobody from a no-name band...
 
 

As long as he's composing and not singing I'll be on board.
 
Side note: I hate super vague teasers. Don't tell me about something unless you know all the details will pan out, since they often never amount to anything at all. This 20xx.xx.xx ~CoMiNg SoOn~ nonsense is the worst

did anyone ask for this

The tracklist for the new single (as seen on THE GALLO's official site):
 
1. PLUTO
2. 大帝都秘密倶楽部-極楽- (Daiteito Himitsu Kurabu-Gokuraku-)
3. 極東恋時雨・櫻 (Kyokutou Koishigure・Sakura)
 
There will also be an original karaoke version of PLUTO.
 
I'm glad to see there will be another song in the "Kyokutou Koishigure" series!