Miku70

People always assume I listen to K-pop the moment they see me. Fun fact: I've never listened to a K-pop song the entire way through besides Gangnam Style and Gentleman by PSY (and that's only because they were pretty much inescapable when they first came out). Not that I have owt against it, I just haven't really listened to it, that's all.
 
I remember showing a VK guy to this guy in my class last year at college and he didn't really think much of him until he put two and two together and realised he was a guy, not a girl. Oh, lordy, I'll never forget the way his face contorted in utter horror and confusion.

basically when i listen to jrock around my family; either that or my mom sings in her own ~pseudo-japanese~
 
also my sister and her friends thought i listened to K-pop because of the MERRY posters in my room..........................................:))))
 

I got into VK thanks to some friends in middle school who showed me bands like An Cafe (and also thanks to anime shows). But I've lost contact with most of them, and the last time I saw them, they didn't have an interest in VK anymore. In high school, it was something I mainly enjoyed alone other than one girl who was half-Japanese and knew about it, but I'm not sure if she was a huge fan of it either. I guess it was a 'phase' for most people I knew, but as has been mentioned already, it also has played a big role in my life and remains important to me, greatly molding me into the person I am.
 
There's only one other person I know irl who is interested in it, but she doesn't listen to it as much anymore. Thanks to places like Livejournal and MH, I've made some great friends. Some have come and went, but it's always awesome to meet new people who like VK ^^

"nobody wanna hear that ching-chong music"
"why u be listenin to dem Chinamen?"
"they make music in Japan???"
"they could be singing 'i hate niggers' and you wouldn't even know it!!!"
 

 
Just a few examples of the ignorant things ppl have said in the 20-something years I've been listening to Japanese music
 
Granted, I can understand why they'd be perplexed. I still don't understand why a poor little black boy in the late 90's took a liking to Japanese music. My only explanation for that would be: "I just like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"
 

hm seems you are right... i could've sworn by the way Kareha looks he's also not japanese cuz look:
 
but who knows since their OHP says Kareha was born in fukushima...
maybe one of his parents isn't japanese and therefore he looks not so japanese (at least to me) or Vk tricked me big time... ôÓ

In high school I enjoyed vk by myself because all my friends were as normie as it gets. I mean, they knew I was into weird music, but the sound of a guitar was too aggressive for their ears. Luckily those people are gone 🙌🏼 As I got older I made a couple of friends who are more into metal music who give vk a try  without judgement, say if there's a release I'm excited about I can share it with them. I also turned my bf into a vk weeb a few years ago. Otherwise, MH is the place to discuss it. 
 
Since some people mentioned kpop, I have relatives who are into that and they think vk is okay. We trade music occasionally. 

It is subjective. I hate the industry too, but visually/aesthetically the kpop industry is very creative in my opinion. I find the use of colors, imagery and styling satisfying. 

I couldn't tell you how long it was going after I left, and I left around 2009 I think?
And wow did talking about it led me down a not-exactly-pleasant memory lane 😕 

My friend circle was brought together by VK, but since then, most of them only incidentally listen to some VK. Half of them have switched over to Kpop.

In HS I had one friend who loved X Japan, one was a metal head and loved stuff like BFMV and kinda liked the GazettE and the other who was more grunge liked the pillows. Everyone else thought it was Chinese rather than Japanese. Now, nearly 30, those friends are long gone, and the only person I talk to on a regular basis doesn't care about that sort of thing as that's not what we bond over. I've always been a loner and it's very much true that as the older you get it's harder to form new friendships, but over time you get used to not having friends and those you do you tend to only initiate when you have something to tell them, otherwise you just let them contact you first which means that you could go anywhere from a week to a month or more without speaking.

Sadly, LGBT rights in Japan, from my understanding, are pretty much non-existent and discussions of sexuality are not widely talked about like it is in the West. It’s still considered a taboo and general attitudes towards the whole subject are negative on the whole. Not to mention the Japanese culture favors homogenization, or the group mentality, so being different among the “group” is not highly looked upon, and one would most likely be socially ostracized or even bullied (These are not my views on the subject, just something that unfortunately exists ^^;) 
 
As for the topic, as mentioned before, BL fanservice has been and will always be a thing. I don’t think it ever disappeared or went away. I guess if it brings in money/attention from the fans, it’ll be something that bands will do.

Linking arms? This should be tagged under hardcore on xvideos

https://www3.gomovies.cool/film/gaycation-2016-season-01-23134/watching.html?ep=2689441v2

It is very much. The LGBT community in Japan is miniscule compared to pretty much anywhere else, they have a small pride parade, but generally gay is humor of Japan. Hell, Hard Gay has made a career on that sensibility of Japanese humor.

For me ,fan service don't disappear but he's not filming. For exemple A9 have many fans services on theirs lives but this is not filmed and other things are sometimes really ambiguous. And I know the homosexuality at Japan is really a taboo.
 
 

Don't forget Tomo and Takashi from Dadaroma, although they've calmed down they had a straight up romance going on in the early years of the band. 
 
I think it's unnecessary and annoying. It makes my eyes roll every time I see band members pretend kiss or whatever. It helps them generate some much needed income though, so what can I say. I'd rather see solo fanservice, like (again) Tomo from DDRM did that photoshoot semi naked with his bass. 

Hahahaha
 
Well, I guess it's like the general onnagata thing, someone of the band gets appointed to do these kind of things, if they want or not...
Also band guys often don't even get along so well (disbandment wave...)
 
But man, when there are rumors you are married and sleeping around with girls and then they pretend this BL stuff at events or on stage I feel it's super forced and it's embarassing to look at.
😑
 
I would be ok with them just cuddling now and then and saying the other guy is cute or so... 

Fanservice isn't going anywhere any time soon. It never really left tbh. 

Bassist SHINGO (ex-EREA-->SAKRUN, now in ConSenT+pluG) has committed suicide, according to tweets from his mother.
SHINGO had been suffering from health problems for around the past six years. He underwent an operation for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (a painful condition caused by degeneration of spinal discs in the neck) last December but it seemingly didn't make any change.
Special thanks to Laurence02 at vk.gy for translating

This is unrelated, but Riku announced today that he was getting cosmetic surgery on his eyes. I think he got eyelid surgery.
 
Lol, I thought it was a joke at first, since it's Jack Caper, but it seems like he was serious. Here's the before:
 

And here's the after:
 
 
He seems really happy with how it turned out. Was still a bit suspicious that it was a joke afterwards since they don't look red or swollen or anything, but I guess he might have gotten the non-incisional procedure?

Hoo boy, can't speak for the current trends but I don't think it will ever die out completely. As long as a big chunk of the fanbase consists of hormonal teenage girls (speaking as a hormonal teenage girl of years past that lively participated in this culture).
 
I do find it cringey and problematic now that I'm older and wiser, but I get why they're doing this (a disclaimer, by "it" I mean this kind of fanservice and RPF fanfiction not reading/writing gay fanfiction in general). Think of all the queerbaiting in western shows, they do it for a reason also. Not exactly the same, but it serves the same purpose, it keeps a certain type of fans engaged. In this essay I will.... 
 
Jkjk, I'm not certain you were looking for debate on queer representation, stereoptyping and exploitation in Japanese media? XD

People incessantly complaining about live limited releases and pinning it on the bands being "racist" and "anti-foreigner" when they're just trying to get more money by selling more tickets to their lives.
 
There are a lot of foreign bangya and a lot of overseas fans going on vacation to Japan these days. Chances are you can probably find someone to buy them for you unless you like a band with like 2 fans.

oLd Vk WaS sO mUcH beTtEr was old in 2004 on LJ and it still is in 2019 

Cancel culture is cancer created by the YouTube crowd.

I hate this whole canceling thing. Like I really hate Kisaki, doesn't mean I hate every VK band now