Miku70

I mean, it's a dumb pun sure ("shi" is "4" in Japanese, so it's "Four As") but I don't see it any different from a Western band with a name like AAA (pronounced "triple A")

tbh it doesnt disturb me ! why? because vk we know iniyiated in japan so of course thry will soeak japanese over any other language more fluently. i persoanlly cant say its wrong to hear japanese VK artist sing other langauges actually ok for me becuz they want to get global view music not just based on there own lands. nothing wrong with learning and not bring well we all learn new lanaguges diffrent pace as we grow we find intrest and then tht leads to learning. so nothing wrong using other langauges in the VK works and langauge variations in each genre from eng to spanish

As of today, I have a total of 62 VK CDs in my possession. I chronicle what's in it on my collection share post entry and on my vk.gy account. The main bulk of my collection are Malice Mizer and Plastic Tree (trying to complete my collection, I'm getting close with MM but trying to complete Pura's discography will be the be the death of me I swear) but because I like a lot of artists, I have 1-2 CDs from a bunch of different bands that I really like. My collection basically tripled due to quarantine spending, which is kinda nice because it was even smaller before (something like 20 or less CDs if you don't include the western ones I had) and is now big enough where I feel comfortable with its size. I have stopped spending on it to save some cash for university. Good lord knows my textbooks will probably cost more than all of my collection combined.
 
If you include my (extremely tiny) western collection then it comes to 71 in total. I also have some VK photo/interview books as well but I don't really include them in my collection count (except for on vk.gy), they're their own thing. If it matters, I have 3 on me (all Malice Mizer related) and I plan to add some more.

I got the idea for this most likely quite short-lived topic for a few months now but a quite recent post in the your last music related buy topic made me finally put this idea into action.
 
So basically just tell how big is your collection? (physical only)
I was wondering because on here there seem to be many people who buy regularly stuff so i am quite curious who has the biggest collection?
Doesn't matter if it's just Vk/japanese or also none japanese bands...
 
Here are my stats: (japanese bands only)
 
1170 CDs
182 DVDs (incl. comment dvds)
442 different Bands (incl. Bands from V.A. releases)
164 Cheki
2 Fotobooks
 
No need to be as over the top with your stats like i am but since i write down everything in this regard...
 
So hopefully this is an interesting topic to get to know who MH biggest collector is.
 
Also don't worry, you can also post your stats if you only own 20 CDs or whatever. Cuz always keep in mind this is like literally mostly only about the "numbers".
For example if one owns 10.000 CDs but in your opinion out of those 10.000 CDs 9.999 CDs are total garbage then in your eyes logically it's still a shit collection.
So keep that in mind that this topic is mainly about the quantity and not what you or anyone else things about the quality cuz obviously (hopefully) every single person will love his own collection the most.
 
Finally there are many sup-questions i could add here but to keep it kinda simple i'll leave it as it is for now.

Wow can't believe I inspired a thread. DVD.
I keep stuff on the ground too. Helps me look for stuff easier. 
 
https://imgur.com/a/eEAwPdC
 
https://imgur.com/a/CG8VHHn
 
The one on the left obviously hold 1500CDs only, but that's only jewel cases. I have a lot of live sold or live distributions, so with those some don't come with a case so I buy slim cases cause they're cheaper.  The one in the middle of the picture I obvs haven't even finished putting stuff in cause I'm meticulous about furigana and alphabet. Also cause I'm lazy. 
 
So yes those are all nothing but VK cds that I collect and nothing else. I also own a shit ton of photosets(Panic Channel  complete photoset  DragonWAPPPPPPER and FULL EFFECT' as well, and like 80 cheki.
 
Also I own like 50ish DVDs.
 
Edit: Also look at this releases i have to buy cases for. 
https://imgur.com/a/MfoV7lR
 
 
Also @biopanda has the biggest collection has down. He makes all look like peasants. 

What comes to mind instantly when I think of fave PVs is the indie version of Melty Love by Shazna. Idk, its just really fun and bouncy and.... kind of hypnotic? Makes me nostalgic for a time and place I wasn't even around for.
 
 

Very cute and entertaining song ! I think the "girl" who's making out with all the members is Menma, ex bassist of Tensai 🤔

*cracks knuckles* well... 👀  
 
Okay I am not going to put anyone in these forums through k-pop mvs (though I am well qualified to do so I'll refrain) but *will* share the one k-pop MV that got me into k-pop after years of being "eek" about it. (ironically my ~ult bias~ which would be the kpop equivalent of a honmei turned out to be the white haired guy lol.)
 
  
Now moving on to less k-poppy stuff... To be honest I am uninspired now (blaming it entirely on whoever made my mind go to k-pop MVs.) but ... some of my favorite MVs lately would be not-particularly-outstanding-just-emotional things like Colorful World by Kariya Seira and melt by TK/suis ; Guess sometimes I like "everything an artist puts out" because they are just so charismatic and/or creative like Alice Vicious or Sayuri or Shishido Kavka etc. Or because they are purely 100% amazing (thats amazarashi) 😞 ...
 
 
I wish I didn't sound that biased but honestly the only Japanese video aside from these that I remember vividly in the last ~2 years was that one where the SCANDAL girls came out. Maybe I'm that out of the loop in Japanese MVs lol In general hmm ... American/British PVs interest me more. I guess the production values are better which in turn makes the whole thing better. But k-pop beats it all  remember the MV that made Ayabambi worldwide famous? A k-pop group did that recently, dumbed down with bad music, by the way. 
 
When it comes to vk these days I was reminded of Dance My Generation which is great, which in turn reminds me that Pentagon and Golden Bomber had some amazing PVs. On The Other Hand my faves were never ... exactly known for great PVs (HAHAHAHAHHA ... the understatement), so no recommendations here lol. (for proof, here's the best of Shounenki and Nightmare honestly.) For what it's worth sometimes I really like Miyavi's PVs though that's ... not vk (does Ashita Genki ni Naare count in prime 2020?)

... Anyway, where were we? K-pop MVs! Thanks 
 

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

People have talked in great depth about the musical and listening aspect of turning from VK so I'll speak from more of a collector's perspective. For me the 2 main parts of collecting VK music that made me lose interest in the scene in recent years is boredom and exclusivity.
 
1. It just got boring collecting CDs over the years. Bands always had very predictable releases, your typical type-a or type-b for singles and regular/limited editions for albums with either bonus tracks or a PV DVD or something. The bigger bands put out more luxurious deluxe editions but those are usually just a giant box filled with stuff I never really cared for (like photo books) and I don't want to spend close to $90 for something I feel just lukewarm about. The last CD packaging I really got excited about was the GazettE's Dim limited edition but that was 10 years ago.
 
2. The live limited/fan club limited releases got old really fast. The first few times was exciting because who doesn't want to own a super limited and rare CD. But bands just kept pumping these out and that's when I folded. Regular/limited edition releases are already $40-$60 apiece and to have to shell out $60-$80 for a live single that I have to use a service for just didn't make sense. Sure, exclusivity isn't limited to just the VK scene but by this point I wasn't really invested in the music to want to go the extra lengths to collect exclusive items.
 
I understand there's a lot of decisions made related to catering to fans, using practices that are proven to work or financially makes sense, or trying to pack live performances that result in band's/label's decisions to release something a certain way, but it just isn't for me anymore.

I love these VK PVs/MVs for their bright, colorful and somewhat goofy aesthetics.
 
DIV - Taste of Life
 
SuG - Gr8 story
 
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pon Pon Pon - This one isn't VK, but it's also got colorful, bright, and silly aesthetics. Not to mention it was everywhere at the time, so it's permanently stuck in my head.
 
There's always something very aesthetically beautiful about Moran's PVs that I always admire. My favorite in particular is this one:
 
Moran - 春の夜の、ひと雫 - It uses computer graphics (I believe?), so the scenery isn't shot in real life, but I think the artistry of it perfectly fits the heartfelt ballad.
 
And my nostalgia enjoys the dark aesthetics and random black and white footage in the Reddish PV by Despairs Ray even though it's just them mainly playing in front of the camera.
 
Vidoll - I my aimai - Couldn't find a better quality sadly, but the crazy and chaotic way it is shot is just my cup of tea for early to mid 2000s VK. Props to it being filmed in broad daylight in some random outside areas.
 
Kagrra, - Kotodama - The effects (i.e. water ripples) and aesthetics help add to the overall dark themes contained within the lyrics.
 

TV version 
 
 
MV version 
 
 

Being honest, if a vaccine came out anytime soon I would wait a while before getting it. Of course I'd wanna get it, but I'm scared about the side effects as much as I'm scared of covid. 

Man this whole corona stuff is wild. I'm still taken aback by how much it's changed our culture, and how abrupt it all happened. 
 
Yesterday I went shopping at a Japanese marketplace and suddenly found myself encumbered by a very long line of people waiting to enter the store. We had to spend almost an hour on line to enter the store as they were admitting a small handful of people at once.  Of course, no one was actually social distancing. I had to travel to a different store real quick to use a restroom to which I could only be admitted if it was an emergency. I answered yes and  he allowed me in, gave me hand sanitizer, and told not to touch anything or something. I appreciate these safety protocols, but as a person generally fascinated by society and culture I was pretty intrigued by how suddenly this societal shift has happened. Feels like I'm in the midst of a some apocalyptic dystopian scifi movie scenario and it's absolutely fascinating, yet weird as hell and terrifying. 
 
And I remember before this all happened, one particular friend of mine had followed the story in china since its inception and during that period it didn't even enter my mind that the virus would escalate into the pandemic that it is today which would significantly alter everyone's lives. My friend knew since the very beginning that it would, and he was right. Sometimes you can be so used to seeing other people drastically exaggerate things — which is in part why I think so many people took this for granted. But this isn't just some ephemeral mishap that'll be easy to forget in a decade from now. This is a very sudden global catastrophe with far reaching consequences that hardly any of us anticipated.
 
It's also a good example of how being paranoid rather than being overtly optimistic is sometimes the better option.
 
Also some food for thought. A very significant chunk of people taking surveys have said they either wouldn't plan to get a corona vaccine, or declined to state. In some polls, this number reaches about half. I think that's terrifying. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/just-50-americans-plan-get-covid-19-vaccine-here-s-how-win-over-rest

Jun (Golden Bomber) has revealed that he has been diagnosed with coronavirus as of 8/6.
 
 

CODOMO DRAGON
 
 

I'm honestly real shook, they were literally not even at their halfway point just 5 days ago. Must've had some ~help~ at the last minute if you know what i mean....

I'm happy they made it since I like Mikansei Alice, but I'm pretty suspicious about them clearing like 65% of the goal at the last minute as well. Definitely seems like there was some cheating involved.

Their crowfunding finished and they get their goal.
The final result is 115°/° so 3,456,149JPY.
 
Source :Camp Fire

I'm not gonna lie, that skeleton top bedhead song is banging.

It's up
 
 

Takeru leaves the band, but due to some interestingly difficult situations:
He is a medical student in Tokyo and was severely punished by the university for being in the band. He was conflicted and had to make a decision to leave the university to pursue the band full-time, but ultimately decided to quit and concentrate on his medical studies at university. His mother died at the early age of 50 and a few days before his mother passed, he pledged he would graduate from medical school and pass the national medical exam. He feels he can't betray his promise to his mother and had been struggling with managing his school load and band activities over the last few months. He apologizes for his selfish actions while contemplating his decision and temporarily cutting ties with the band and thus has decided to leave the band.
 

Takanori Nishikawa, also known as T.M. Revolution, and Golden Bomber's Kiryuin Sho will perform a new arrangement of the anime's opening theme song "1.2.3" under the unit name 西川くんとキリショー (Nishikawa-kun to Kirisho). The new arrangement will debut with the show's 32nd episode on August 9.
 
Another band called After the Rain performed the first version of the song. The last episode featuring their version of the song will be the 31st episode on August 2.

Kiryu
 
 
Adabito wo Kogaranu