Original Saku

The new TAMTAM is such a pleasant listen. I think I played it right before I went to sleep pretty much everyday for a month right after it came out. I agree with CAT5 in regards to the lack of a standout moment, but there are definitely a couple of nice combos in there, namely コーヒーピープル+CANADA and greedcity -the theme of lisa-+星雲ヒッチハイク.  In a year where the quieter albums caught my attention the most, this was definitely one of my favorites.

I really enjoyed this TAMTAM album, and It's a welcome return to form. I don't think the sound they were going for previously was "bad", but I don't think it was for them. I think they realized that too.
 
Anyways, this album is a really easy listen. It's one that I can put on and groove to in its entirety. That said, there aren't really any moments on the album that wow me, or beckon me to hit repeat. So I didn't really feel justified in endorsing this as an AOTY.  I say this, yet I'm still unsure whether i'll put it on my personal list or not lol - it may very well be one of those albums I include just because it's still better in relation to other albums I've heard this year - but i'll see near the end of this month.
 
At any rate, cool choice! Super solid album and definitely worth a listen!

No, it fucking shouldn't. This thread is exactly as it was supossed to be, and will continue to be.

Windows 10 doesn't treat other shells nicely, so I reluctantly have to ditch bbLean/bbZero and use the default Windows shell instead.

I got a new Jojo's Bizarre Adventure figure. :D

 
Here's Narancia out of his box, posing in front of my BY-SEXUAL and Color VHS tapes.

wait who? lol

Hey, everyone. I thought this might make for a pretty cool match-up. The most obvious difference between both of these bands is that one is visual and the other is not, but I actually think these guys have a bit more in common than what meets the eye. For lack of a better term, both cinema staff and chanty play similar styles of "indie-rock" with faint midwestern emo influences (the riffage, guitar tones, and even random, yet scarce screams that both bands employ). Both bands are also really poppy, opting for big, catchy hooks, accessible melodies, and mostly straightforward arrangements - all while maintaining a subtle balance with their more raw, aggressive sides. Both vocalists are also fairly melodramatic, haha.
 
On a more trivial tip,  I think it's interesting to note that I've often seen chanty described as "a vk band that sounds like J-indie", while I've also seen J-indie fans describe cinema staff's vocalist as "sounding vk". Whatever the case, I think it's clear that both bands have a decent amount of crossover appeal. Which band do you prefer, and why?
 
Chanty

 
Samples:
 
 
 
VS
cinema staff

 
Samples:
 
 
 

BATTLE OF THE MATH ROCK KINGS.... WHO NOODLES W/ THE BEST???
 
LITE
Lite, stylized as LITE, is a Japanese rock band that has been termed "one of Japan's top instrumental rock acts." All of their albums have charted in Japan, with For All the Innocence charting the best, at number 85 on the Oricon chart. Lite's sound combines the precision and musicianship of prog rock with the emotionally charged cinematic compositions of art rock, in a heavier, more modern package that they describe as "math rock". The band has performed overseas more than once, in the UK and Ireland among other places.
 
 
toe
toe is a Japanese rock band from Tokyo. While mentioned in many post-rock circles, their song structure and dynamics are also similar to many popular math rock artists. The group was founded in 2000 and consists of four members. The vast majority of the band's music is instrumental in nature and is also known for its melodic, clean guitar settings. Additionally, the compositions have repetition from typical rock motifs, but use very subtle changes in beat and rhythm to form a unique sound. The band has changed their sound over their musical tenure by incorporating acoustic guitars, Rhodes piano, and vibraphones in their most recent releases. Like LITE, toe has also toured outside of Japan on multiple occasions, and their album "The Book About My Idle Plot on a Vague Anxiety" was pretty well-received by international critics.
 
So, who wins this duel in your opinion? I find it very, very hard to choose, personally, cuz I enjoy jamming to both of them.. I guess in the end I do listen to LITE more though.
 

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
 
This is a brilliant match-up. Both bands are amazing, and both have released top-tier, classic material. I'm gonna have to give this to toe, though. LITE are amazing, and they definitely have a leg-up in terms of diversity. They are also have more fierce, raw, and face-melting math-rock jams than toe, but their discography is highly inconsistent. Don't get me wrong, I love that they continuously experiment with their sound, but they've also wound up with quite a few misses on their side because of it. In example, "Phantasia" and "filmlets" are both brilliant imo, but their subsequent releases haven't been as strong overall.
 
On the other hand, toe's sound has remained pretty consistent throughout, but it works because no one can truly emulate toe - while LITE have played with so many different styles that they don't necessarily have an instantly recognizable sound. The quality of toe's work has even remained steadfast as well. Even their weakest album "HEAR YOU" is still lightyears ahead of any band that attempts a similar style. toe also has a really keen melodic sense to their songwriting. This really seals the deal for me personally, because more often than not, LITE seems a bit more focused on instrumentality and musicianship than composing truly standout melodies.
 
This is definitely a tough comparison, though. Both bands are pretty much gods, ahaha.
 
 

Ok, so no one has brought this up?!?!?!?
 
This has got to be the best video game commercial I've seen in a long time.
DIS HYPE IS 2 MUCH.

Instead of quoting your entire post I'll just tag you directly @Uglymouth.

I've been thinking about what you wrote  in relation to whitewashing in Hollywood and I had a thought. It's more of a different perspective than outright dismissing the claims you bring up and I want your thoughts on it.
 
Race and ethnicity has been a thorn in the side of the marketing campaign for this movie, because many fans (rightfully) believe the role of the main character should have gone to someone Japanese, or at least Asian. The rebuttal is that we live in a cybernetic world where humanity has transcended race, but I don't accept that. I don't accept that for multiple reasons.
 
In the beginning of Season 1, when the Laughing Man hacked all the news stations, cyber brains, and global broadcasts simultaneously to hide his face all the civilians who were standing out in the open couldn't see his face either. The only people that could see his face were the homeless people in the alley he darted past during his escape. That means there's still a reality of "have versus have not" in this universe. This ties into my next point nicely.
  The official story is that when she was six, Motoko Kusanagi got into a plane crash that almost killed her. The government offered to give her a full prosthetic replacement, with the strings attached that she had to work for the government when she came of age. The only bits of human left in her are her brain stem and a bit of her spine.
  Her body is not truly hers until Arise, where she successfully negotiates freedom of her own body from the government shortly before she transfers to Section 9. So no, she did not "choose" her body; it was chosen for her. She maintains a dim view of sexism in all forms and methods; even going so far as to empathize with sex robots. I can't think of a world with sexism but no racism; that fear stems from the same place.
  It's mentioned often that her body is a custom, one of a kind job. This would mean that there are also generic models the less affluent people would have to be stuck with.
  Once again in 2nd GIG, during the episode "Fake Food", Batou and Togusa have a conversation about what it means to be cyberized. Despite the fact that exercise provides him little benefit, Batou enjoys jogging and weightlifting as a hobby. They don't have to eat food but there's an entire economy around making food for cybernetic individuals.. I believe this is because no matter what these people still desire to retain parts of their humanity.
  This era of Japan is still very xenophobic. Check episode 1 of 2nd GIG, shortly before the gang reforms to storm the building. They have a (fast) conversation which sets up the whole back drop for Kuze (which this movie is supposed to be based off of) and the struggle between Japanese citizens who feel the pressure of the economy & the Asian refugees in Dejima who want independence and put a strain on the economy to keep around. It is heavily implied no one wants to take care of the refugees because they are not Japanese and that's money and resources Japan doesn't have after the great war.
  As a more general point. Everyone served in the JSDF. Foreigners cannot join the JSDF.  
All of this taken together leads me to ask one question: if we truly live in a cyberized world, then why hasn't anyone moved beyond race within their own universe?  Why do they still celebrate their own culture instead of embracing cultural diffusion?  This is a point I don't see explored enough even among fans of the series. One of the biggest points stressed by the series is the line separating man from machine. It's a modern day Ship of Theseus allegory using humanity as the focus. The Major's body could be racially ambiguous but she has a completely Japanese name, follows Japanese customs, works for Japanese secret service, fought for Japan in the great war, etc. If she wanted to blend in in Japan, she wouldn't be white. She wouldn't even be half-white. She would be as Japanese as you can get because that's just how the country and culture is. There's no pretext to believe the entirety of the Japan would suffer under racial dysphoria, and there's every reason to believe she's Japanese. It's just the simpler, most logical & coherent explanation. Hell, the existence of the episode "Fake Food" lends much more strength to this theory; even when cyberized people can't forget what it felt like to eat, sleep, be human. It makes sense that they're suddenly not divorced from feelings of race & self-identifying as Japanese.

The creators just came out and said it was okay because they'll never get another shot at a Hollywood live adaptation so they'll take what they can get.

A more interesting question is what do we think Motoko's answer would be if we asked her her nationality? She is not certain her ghost, or her soul, retains any humanity. In fact, she speculates on the possibility that she's entirely synthetic, with artificially generated memories designed to fool her into thinking she was once human.

tl;dr -
 
There's no way anyone is convincing me that Japan is less xenophobic after a war which destabilized the American Empire and prevented Japan from becoming a global superpower in its own right.
There's also no way that I'm going to be convinced that Japan is a post-racial society while the entirety of Kuze's plan revolves around gaining refugees equal status in Dejima!
I just cannot be sold on racial diversity this time, regardless of whether ScarJo kills the performance. I will always hold it against her that she's not Japanese. It ruins the immersion for me; why fly all the way to Hong Kong and make sure you get the setting right when no one could be assed to get the main character right?
 
ty for reading

If I can be frank for a second, I'm disappointed how easily distracted people are.
 
It's only been two days and there are already countless arguments about the merits and harms of file sharing. That doesn't address the real point of why we are currently in the situation we are in right now. Our hand was played and the staff was not happy. One member who goes by the name of @Kawaii_Minpha decided it would be cute to troll the staff and the website by threatening to report us to the RIAJ unless we gave in to her demands, which among other things called for banning members she does not like. If you read the messages sent to us, it turns from funny to sad in an instant. What pisses me off personally is how someone would try to ruin what we have going here for kicks. Even threatening to do so is worthy of an instant ban and I should not have to explain why.
 
As an aside, I don't really care how you feel about file sharing - facts are that if you are here, you are guilty by association - but these last few days have proven that without Monochrome Heaven there's nowhere for anyone to go. Downloads can always find a new home but to find another place where you can have mature, constructive discussions about Japanese music in an open environment will be much harder. And that place could never exist without free music so people can talk about it, because the barrier for entry is too high. We have to recognize the role that piracy plays in all our lives. That's why saying "buy music to support your favorite artists" is not the be all, end all answer. It's a good answer, but it's more complicated than that. No one here woke up one day and decided to buy Dir en grey albums on a whim. Japanese bands became our favorite bands because we pirated music long enough to become devoted enough to pay for it. Some people are at different stages of their fandom. This website has found the perfect balance of both piracy and discussion while also managing to be inclusive of all styles of Japanese music and there's nowhere else on the internet that even comes close to this. That's awesome.
 
That's why this situation has the staff thinking about what we exist for. This website may not mean much to many members here beyond downloads but the staff has poured countless hours of time and energy into investing in the website and the community. Are we harming the scene? Yeah, no doubt. But we probably do a lot of good as well. With the countless messages I've gotten over the last few days about "where all the free music went" I'm not convinced we can do good without doing some harm as well. The tools are not in place to promote visual kei globally without piracy, and I doubt there ever will be. The scene wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for all of us here. We either take the good with the bad or abstain entirely.
 
There is more to this website than just downloads and the constant activity over the last few days proves that this community is strong. Stronger than even we may have realized ourselves. This is awesome, keep up the good work! Having said that, I've thought a lot about Kevin from Batsu and how he freaked out and deleted the download section when he thought the feds were coming for him. His approach was blunt, but I understand how he felt. He figured Batsu could weather the storm and would be better for it...and that unfortunately did not work out. If push came to shove we would make a similar decision, and that's why for the last two years we have been working hard to provide other reasons for people to come back here. While the download section is offline I implore you all to go check out the News, Rumors, Review, and General sections to start. There's enough tea there to keep you sipping until things are finalized.
 
The staff is still ironing out the details so expect more information soon. I can confidently say that the news will come as a shock to everyone but some people will not notice and others will.
 
Consider this an early morning rant.

Have a new3DS too, currently waiting till December 2nd, thats when 7th Dragoon III Code VFD comes out here in EU.

Our monthly recommended tracks segment is also a really great place to look for new music every month!
 
 
 

So I recently took the plunge into the world of gunpla...  which was something I've been wanting to do for years, and now that I have the income to support the hobby I'm finally getting into building.
 
I figured I'll make a gunpla thread and see who else has taken to the hobby and maybe drum up some interest among people who may not know about gunpla.
 
I just finished my first build myself and I'm really pleased with it.  I chose a HG Shining Gundam 1/144 model as my first kit, one of my favorite gundam frames.
 

 
here's some finished pictures that i snapped with my phone
 
I'm extremely happy with how it turned out, there for a while I didn't know if it was gonna pan out. I probably put around 25 hours into the kit. Approximately 7-9 hours putting it together which includes sanding and other prep. I panel lined as much as I could which is what took the longest at around 12 hours trying to get it just right. And then 3-4 hours prepping the model and spraying for a matte top coat finish. Next time I can see it not taking nearly as long since I'm now more used to these techniques.
 
anyone else on the forum build gunpla or has an interest in gunpla in general? Let me/us know. I plan on looking into how to build a lightbox for pictures soon, I will of course need a better camera than my phone first though xD
 
I already have my next kit planned out... It will be HG 1/144 Gundam Wing Fenice from GBF, I plan on getting started on it sometime next month after a I take a break for a few weeks.
 
 

I never intended for the thread I split off to be turned into an example against anyone, but as long as it is I may as well make it a good one. I want @Kawaii_Minpha to walk away from this understanding that lying on the internet is bad and everything is saved somewhere. Nothing is ever truly deleted from the internet and you cannot start over when you make a mistake. I try not to let my opinions be known, but this topic is an eyesore. The initial impressions given off about Japan and the visual kei culture sound like fanciful dreams of anime land, are misleading, and fills impressionable people with these ideas that will never happen in reality (and will only lead to disappointment later). Zero percent of it was based in reality and I know we can all see that. The entire exchange devolved into a mess very quickly and thankfully she rage quit before it got any worse. I thank the people that came here to initially try to correct her because I did not have the energy to, but turning this into a witch hunt and trying to embarrass her after the fact is bullying and I won't have it. Party is over.
 
 

New AMV. This one uses Gundam IBO and a lynch song!
 
 

LOL. nothing better than Aris on tekken commentary at Final Round. Fun fact, I was actually at this event. I'm probably about 10-15 feet back behind this match watching marvel finals on the other side of the room  XD

great list! I even found a few movies I've not seen, gonna pick a few to watch for the next few days. thanks!

Awesome review as usual @fitear1590 - I always enjoy your writing!
 
I enjoy this album, but there just aren't any moments that make me go "UMPHHH!!!" like Koba's shouting before the chorus in "Blood Music.1985" or in "鉄の夢". There are no songs that make me want to just fly off into the clouds with Koba's voice like in the chorus to "Rhapsody in beauty".  Nothing on this album feels as emotionally cathartic as when Koba hits those high notes near the end of "dumb." There are no songs here where I can simply get lost in the beautiful, melancholic guitar interplay and the smooth buttery basslines like in "We" and "はじまりの教会".
 
But, as I said, it's still a good album - hell, it's extremely solid in fact. It just doesn't reach any of the peaks that the other albums reach for me, and the narrative/flow just isn't as compelling for me. I'd rate this as my 4th favorite album of theirs - with Zeitgeist up first, Rhapsody 2nd, and To melt 3rd - with a fucking razor thin difference between those three.
 
My favorite tracks from Hallelujah atm are "Black Rainbow", "1000 years", "Just Going Far" and "What Little Love".