stylelover

yesssss election arc started. much hype.

yesssss election arc started. much hype.

Started watching Hunter x Hunter (2011) as per Zess' suggestion

Additional note by me: I know that many people around here have a lot against this artist - I do get it of course (sometimes it's either a) her vocals or her overboard, quirky and naive "musical status"). But seeing as fortunately some people manage to get over these pretexts - and see that she definitely deserves her own position in Nakata's "girl-vocal-group-trio" (Kyary-Perfume-Capsule these days), who for their part deserve respect for being able to convey Nakata's lively world of electro music. Those who are quite interested - AND acknowledge "the man behind Kyary", know certainly what I'm saying.
 
Tracklist with romanizations:
 
Now that we have a producer, who's definitely on fire release-wise - we have a chance to look at his...or in this case, Kyary's new full-length called "Pikapika Fantajin". Some people felt that Kyary's release tempo was getting too fast, and thus some singles ended up being quite "effortless" according to the general critic fanbase (especially in Japan, hm). But in the end the album itself managed to reveal some truly welcome surprises , and I am going to take them into account as well as I review this piece...
 
After we get past the majestic-like intro, the album kicks out with three single tracks - "Kirakira Killer" ,"Yume no Hajima Ring Ring"'s album mix and "Mottai Night Land". "Kirakira" is a full-on, upbeat and typical Kyary track, so there's not really much to say about it - other than that it's quite great, and works well as a possible "indicator of typical Kyary-istic sound". Yume no Hajima Ring Ring on the other hand caused some "small ruckus" in Japanese netizens' part due to various plagiarism/"zero effort"-crapstorms. Quite unfortunate that this child-like, but nicely nostalgic piece got too much hate - and in vain. Yes - the song itself was way too straight-forward as a Kyary's single song, but Nakata interestingly enough took some notes from general reaction towards his piece - and rearranged some parts (especially the final chorus which sounds much more...nostalgic and epic, hehe) for this album. My positive opinion didn't change at all even after some "obvious renovations" in this album mix - best single out of "Pikapika" over here! "Mottai" instead has nothing much to pinpoint - very straightforward effort as well, but I think ragtime-y piano saves it from becoming a dull filler.
 
Then we move on to the song, who deserves a lot more than just this lousy paragraph - "Serious Hitomi". Quite a shocker for those familiar with Kyary's earlier repertoire, seeing as the song heavily relies on "real band sound": you can hear and jam freely along to the guitar soloing, dynamic bassline and nice drums. I cannot come up with any proper comparison for "Serious", but let's make a bit faraway fetch anyway: imagine if Kyary covered Tokyo Jihen's "indiest" songs - a la "FOUL" or "Noriki" for instance. Might sound too biased to be true, but at least it gives you a general idea about awesomeness happening here. Possibly the best song of Kyary? J/k, j/k...very good one though.
 
Rest of this album still needs more "digesting" - but on the other note, it makes you think whether Nakata was getting too lazy while making this album: "do do pi do" and "Tokyo Highway" are definitely the stars of "latter half", mainly thanks to their nods towards Nakata's other projects (Capsule and Perfume, respectively), but in the meanwhile we have songs like "Ring a Bell" and "Koi Koi Koi", which are just wayward silly - and Explorer, despite being quite an okay track (retro-y strings  ) , is definitely nothing close to the proper closer material, and thus leaves a listener confused. Where did "Chan Chaka Chan Chan"-like closers go, Nakata? I'd personally put "Yume no Hajima" here, thanks to its obvious farewell-like message.
 
I have nothing much to say about remaining single mixes - they are okay, albeit very straightforward efforts.
 
The release in general starts out quite solidly, but ends up quite lazily (the same problem occured in "Nanda Collection" as well). Positive thoughts-wise though, there are many tracks worth pinpointing - and my personal picks are:
 
Standouts: Serious Hitomi,  do do pi do, Tokyo Highway, Yume no Hajima Ring Ring
Cool tracks: Kira Kira Killer
Okay tracks: Mottai Night Land, Family Party, Sungoi Aura, Explorer
Tracks worth the big fix:  Ring a Bell, Koi koi Koi
(I won't rate the title track - intro, duh)
 
- Not really perfect, but still very solid release by Kyary...and Nakata. Might come back here to edit more if I have more to say/fix.

Actually first time im going to try to watch everything.
 
watched a few things today.
 
Tokyo Ghoul - Already planned to watch it and it didnt disappoint. My favourite of the ones i tried so far.
 
Argevollen - Well, everything was so over the top and rushed imo. didnt really like it = dropping
 
Glasslip - always hard to judge slice of life animes after one episode, but i liked it enough to keep going fo rnow.
 
Bakumatsu Rock - Probably wasnt THAT bad in the beginning, but then they activated their superpowers = garbage. never going to watch anything related to that again.
 
Locodol - didnt watch any idol anime before and didnt really have any hopes for it, but it was surprsingly cute and a bit funny. still going to watch for now.

Not happening. Next arc is starting right after the chimera ant arc, thats already comfirmed. its the last arc before the current chapters though. so i really doubt the anime goes on for too long now. the remaining election arc is rather short so they are going to end that arc probably in september and then theres only like ~15 new chapters. only options then are endless fillers or to end the anime for a while.

Not happening. Next arc is starting right after the chimera ant arc, thats already comfirmed. its the last arc before the current chapters though. so i really doubt the anime goes on for too long now. the remaining election arc is rather short so they are going to end that arc probably in september and then theres only like ~15 new chapters. only options then are endless fillers or to end the anime for a while.

Kasamatsu preference , but you dont know why? count me in. whenever someone asks me about kuroba favourites kasamatsu comes to my mind, but i cant reason it.

I'm sorry you don't like the way I presented my points. 
 
Let me be more concise.

1. Illegal downloading is still illegal.
2. Making music, playing concerts, and promotion cost money that the band and their management pays.
3. This money and promotion comes from cds.
4. Bands won't go to the US/EU/South America if they can't see sales.
???
 Result: No sales? No band for you.
 
 
You don't have to like the bands, but this goes for any visual kei band. And we're talking about visual kei bands right now, which is why I didn't bring up other musical genres. So, you're not really making any valid points.

Very, very good post Rsasai.
 
You made many points in a well composed way, and provided a wealth of information.
 
I truly appreciate you taking the time to write that out, and look forward to seeing more of your posts in the future.
 
I have made my stance on the issue somewhat clear ( I write in stream-of-thought most of the time, but I hope everyone can bear that). But I think people keep undermining the value of actual cd sales, which I believe to be the actual measure of `stock` in a band. Even if all funds dont go to the artist, they go to the production of the works, the advertisement, the printing of the cd`s, and the future budget of the bands endeavours.
 
I am still personally thinking over the best way for bands to distribute. I like your idea of an online shop with lossless, and it would be amazing if labels banded together to get a service such as this, or even a streaming service or subscription service where you pay a monthly fee, and additional revenue is generated by ads, etc... Though I am still unsure of how much money could be made by the subscriptions and ads, and if it can equal or exceed what cd sales would generate. This is just some dreaming that I like to do.
 
As for iTunes, it is better than nothing, always, but I still dislike the quality, and I know the prices they charge do not equal cd sale revenue, or support the current system VK and other areas survive off of.
 
But at the same time, I wonder if there really is a solution, or if we will always have to deal with their being the have`s and have-not`s of society that either can buy, and enjoy, or can`t.
 
Also, I sometimes feel lonely in my stance of truly loving and being on the sides of the artists, as cynical thoughts, disrespect, and nit-picking towards the art and artists seems to permeate the structure of our modern societies.I go to various places for talking about my love of things such as music, wrestling, movies, etc... And it seems like everything is overwhelming negative, and I cant help but understand why the whole system is built around pleasing fan-girls, as well as all other obsessive fan-types, and marks.
 
However, please understand that I value everyones opinions and take note of all of them, and take all serious replies for the same worth, good or bad.

I'm sure I'm going to get shit for this.
 
Let's begin with a simple concept: Illegal downloading is illegal. This is not a moral statement, this is just a fact. More importantly, those who host copywritten materials are actually breaking more laws than those who download songs. This is not a debatable fact. Now, are the current modes of selling CDs and other music outdated? Yes, they are. Are there issues with a international-based way of purchasing music? Yes, that's undeniable. But is it illegal at this moment to take music that you did not create? Yes.
 
So, legally, Nocturnal Bloodlust does have a right to state that it is wrong for people to illegally download their music. So, they do have a right to say what they want, even if we disagree with it. Can they sue? Yeah, they can. Will they? Probably not, because I'm pretty sure they wanted to prove a point more than anything. Should they? Honestly, I don't think so, but it would definitely help bring changes to the way we see illegal downloading. Bands going after illegal downloading doesn't happen very much... and for a Japanese visual kei band to go against a foreign fanbase? Pretty much unheard of.
 
Now we get into the rest... like moral dilemmas.
 
But before we get there, it's important to cover what a CD sale (or MP3 sale) actually means. 
 
You're correct to assume that a CD sale does not go to the artist directly. Typically, the money goes to the label, and a portion of that income goes the the musician themselves. The label typically pays for the production of music (time at the studio, audio and visual equipment, artwork, mixing, raw production materials like CDs, jacket covers, etc.), the purchase of raw materials for the band itself (make up, costumes, equipment vans, sometimes actual equipment, etc.) the production of memorabilia and other goods, travel, food, airfare, payment of their staff (I'm not sure, but last time I saw Nocturnal Bloodlust they had three permanent staff. Their roadie, and two people from management) as well as payment for space at lives. 
 
In regards to the 'lives' payment, visual kei venues require you pay at the end of the night, after performing. It's not unheard of for small/medium venues to cost between ¥150000-¥500000 ($1500-5000) and you damn well better prepare to have that money on hand. At Taibans, yeah. It's split between the acts, but even then, that means you need to sell a lot of tickets. Why do you think a lot of band members sell at their own tables? Fans are far more willing to pay money to their favorite member than to a staff member... who'd have to be paid as well. 
 
I once saw an indies band back in 2012 at EDGE and then accidentally met their guitarist at Ikebukuro Station. He was actually debating on whether he should eat a bowl of ramen or walk the 4 kilometers home, because they were short that night and he had to give all the money he had in his wallet except for a ¥500 coin. I bought the guy a ramen cup because it was just so depressing. Bad nights happen, and if you don't have the money, don't be surprised if you have to actually dig it out of your own funds.
 
Then again, I lived across the street from 7-11 where a super indies bandman worked nights. Because most indies band members have to have two, sometimes three jobs. Hell, Natsu of Nocturnal Bloodlust worked in a 7-11 for a long time to pay for his band activities.
 
Being in a visual kei band is expensive. So, while sales don't go straight into the member's pockets, you can bet that they're just as important for the band to survive. A band can't make or sell music if they don't have the money to play or even record. 
 
I'll also put here that there is always complaining when a band disbands on here-- I've seen it time and time again people saying it isn't fair that an indies band disbanded, that they were such a huge fan of the music. But it never seems that we actually talk about why they disbanded. "They're not selling tickets or cds" is a good reason. In fact, one of the first comments on here was about how bands just conditionally disband if they're not doing well. We think that's stupid (or at least I do) but then when a band takes it into their own hands to say something about why people shouldn't illegally download their music, people throw a hissyfit. I don't understand the logic. If you want a band to survive, you buy the music. Because supporting the band you enjoy doesn't mean you make a few gifs and put them on tumblr, or draw fanart. We live in a time where, for musicians to thrive and actually continue with their activities, they need money.
 
Then you have to factor in the importance of selling CDs in a less understood way. Every time a sale of a cd is made, it shows the interest in the band. In Japan, charts are still important to knowing where a band stands. The better your sales doesn't just mean how many cds you sold, it directly effects how much advertising your next single or album receives. It can mean the difference between your video getting played on repeat on the tvs in Tower Records or getting shoved in with all the other releases. It directly reflects how many interviews the band receives offers from, how many spots they get on television, how many radio stations play the songs. We're not going to get into super big details in regards to marketing of visual kei, but it is extremely temperamental to the wants of the market.   
 
And here's where things get interesting: Visual kei isn't as popular as you would think. This is still a niche market not with an unlimited amount of funds, space, or attention. In an industry like that, you have to understand what it means for a band to lose out on a 'sale'. Even a handful of sales abroad DO matter to a band that's fighting for recognition.
 
Let's also talk about people requesting that a band travel abroad to play lives for foreign audiences. I don't think msot of you realize how expensive that is-- it's obscene. Let's talk about a 'normal' tour (like Dir en Grey, or D'espairsray for a second.) 
 
If a band wants to play in the US, they actually have to compete for visas. They have to prove the worth of their music and show that they are not going to affect the American music industry negatively. To get an entertainment or artist visa in the US, it's piles and piles and piles of paperwork, because the US goes out of its way to protect their music industry. The fees for getting a band to tour art astronomical on their own, but to tour the US? It's horrifying. That's actually why a lot of bands skip over the US and play in Europe. The visa requirements are far less stringent and it's cheaper.
 
This is why a lot of bands end up playing at conventions. It's typically cheaper for the band, because the convention has people who know the laws and are willing to pay the fees required. However, it isn't unheard of for bands to play on the promise of being paid when they arrive... and never getting paid. Or, not making the money they expected and being unable to recoup that money. And, during that time they're abroad, they aren't playing for their core audience, meaning... they're missing out on that much money. 
 
It's amazing how many times I've gone onto official youtube channels and seen the requests for a band to go abroad... and then see those same names pop up in filesharing places. Because guess what? The band sees that, too. They're tech savvy. They know where they're selling cds. They know where they're not selling cds. So, by looking at that, they can tell that they aren't selling enough in Europe, in the states, or wherever they are getting requests for lives from. And you know what that does? That influences the band against going abroad. They see that their cds aren't selling in that area, so they don't believe they would be able to recoup the money they spent on going abroad. They don't believe enough fans exist to pay for their visits. 
 
Illegal downloading is directly affecting who you get to see go on tour abroad. 
 
So while we can debate over how big of an asshole Masa is for saying that illegal downloading is wrong, you have to understand where they're coming from. It isn't unheard of for labels to drop bands for not making sales, no matter how great the music is or how talented the band is. 
 
I'm also stunned by the sheer amount of self-righteousness and entitlement going on in this thread. No one is entitled to free music.
 
There are 'needs' and 'wants'. Needs are things like water, food, shelter. Wants are internet, computers, music made by men who are wearing ten pounds of makeup and are waving around guitars. 
 
You want the music. You will survive without it. I'm not sure of the ages of anyone on this board, but I will say this: I had that same opinion until I actually had to pay for my own bills.
 
Before I became an adult. 
 
Now, let's talk about Nocturnal Bloodlust themselves for a second. 
 
This is the closest thing foreign fans have gotten to an internationally-minded band in a very long time. They make sure their music is available for fans abroad, two of the members are fluent in English and regularly converse with fans, and they have been going out of their way to bring foreign fans into the fold. They even made it so foreign fans could become members of their fanclub. They want to go abroad. And let's remember how a band can find it viable to go abro--oh. Right CD sales in foreign countries, not the number of requests a band receives.
 
In addition... they run their label pretty much on their own. All of the costs? They pay for them. Iris and Crisis is Nocturnal Bloodlust's label. They have connections to Raiz Entertainment (their old label) which has connections through the industry... but for the most part, they're the people who have to pay for everything. We can debate on if they should have gotten into visual kei until the cows come home, but the fact of the matter is: Shit is expensive. 
 
'Fans' are also pissed off because they got called out on it. The band knows people are illegally downloading, and brought it up. They want to talk about the problem. It isn't even the first time the band's done this--they did it last year, and the year before that when they released Ivy. Now, rather than having a discussion about illegal downloading and what the foreign fans want... people railed against him. They said he was overbearing and an asshole, and that he didn't have a right to speak out about illegal downloading. That's not the conversation they need.
 
If you want to have a conversation with the band about how to better market themselves to foreign fans, do it! I think it would be a good idea if they opened an international webstore where fans could buy goods and CDs. A way of buying songs off their website that are bundled with lossless versions and photos. Add special goodies for people who buy mp3 versions. It's cheaper to buy the versions of all their releases off itunes in USD than it is for Japan (example, their newest single costs ¥250 a song but in USD is only $1.29.) This is also a band that makes sure the cds are available within a week of their release in Japan, because they understand that once the cd is out there... they're not going to sell as many copies. But even a few matter. 
 
 I think it would be great if they tried to use more English and worked to try and make themselves more internationally minded. Rather than getting angry that the band is mad at foreign fans for illegally downloading, make it so the band knows what you want. And you'll buy.
 
There will be people who continue to illegally download. That won't change. People who think they somehow deserve music and the work of other people. People who think they're entitled to music (the reason I can't even begin to imagine.) And there's nothing any of us can do about that. But buying a cd or MP3 will at least show the band where fans are, and will make your voice heard.
 
And this isn't just for this one band. This is for any band with a huge foreign following. Most bands are ignorant of how popular they are in foreign countries, because they just don't sell many cds in those areas, so they don't know. What you have to do, as fans of a band, is be loud about your love for a band. Otherwise... this will just happen time and time again.

only thing i want: the last guardian. thanks. (and yes i know that wont happen)

only thing i want: the last guardian. thanks. (and yes i know that wont happen)

so not going to say anything about the new hxh episode yet, but this seems like a accurate rating for the episode. kinda weird seeing almost no 1-2 ratings lol.

gogo cat, watch more hxh xD
finally caught up wit some recent animes like haikyuu , baby steps. brynhildr, mahouka and selector . yay

Ikuma for tetsu_sama! full resolution version here

 
 
And unfortunately I'm off for the night! I might be able to get on later tonight but if not I'll be back tomorrow with maiku's pic 

thats obviously a good thing for the band and although i understand when people have doubts about it, it still doesnt matter what people think. just because you probably wont like them from now on, doesnt make this a bad thing. its still going to be a good deal for the band.

so you are saying that no matter how much you dislike/hate person you should pretend being nice with them and it will solve the problem? have to completely disagree on this. first of all, pretending itself is an awful human's quality. you are not honest with yourself and with the person you are pretend being nice. i'd rather tell people what i think about them than just say nice things they want to hear. the same thing i expect from them too, of course. "oh, you hate me? i hate myself, too! we have so much in common, let's be friends! :3" etc etc. believe me, it's a really disgusting feeling when you like person and think that s/he likes you too but it turns out s/he hates you and say shit about yourself behind your back, ugh. 
so pretending is bad, k?

I FUCKING DON'T WINE!
 
I SIMPLY DID MISUNDERSTOOD THAT BAD RIPS ALSO WILL BE LABELED AS TRANSCODES.
 
And the answer is simply: YES, everything with LQ = Transcode, including the WMP rips etc.
 
 
But I'm so fucking done with MH.
 
goodbye. I will never speak a word nor contribute something to this forum.

thats obviously a good thing for the band and although i understand when people have doubts about it, it still doesnt matter what people think. just because you probably wont like them from now on, doesnt make this a bad thing. its still going to be a good deal for the band.

thats obviously a good thing for the band and although i understand when people have doubts about it, it still doesnt matter what people think. just because you probably wont like them from now on, doesnt make this a bad thing. its still going to be a good deal for the band.

thats obviously a good thing for the band and although i understand when people have doubts about it, it still doesnt matter what people think. just because you probably wont like them from now on, doesnt make this a bad thing. its still going to be a good deal for the band.

thats obviously a good thing for the band and although i understand when people have doubts about it, it still doesnt matter what people think. just because you probably wont like them from now on, doesnt make this a bad thing. its still going to be a good deal for the band.

if anything, psc will promote them towards a pony canyon major contract in a few years, I can't see this "awesome" band getting any worse tbh

I'm sorry but fuck this "you're just looking to be offended" mentality. Just because I noticed a bunch of sexism in the show doesn't mean that I wasn't paying attention to the story. Honestly it would be a lot harder to go through those two episodes and try to ignore all of the sexist bullshit. And "a little fanservice" are we even talking about the same show? A huge amount of the fight scene (with the boxing guy) is the camera slowly panning up over her body, and the camera zooms in on her breasts and crotch when the suit gets tighter. I can only assume that the male gaze only gets stronger as the show progresses.
 
Oh you mean she was just supposed to embrace the living sailor uniform that literally stripped her naked and forced itself on her without her consent. Fuck that. It was incredibly uncomfortable to watch, unfunny, and reads like a rape scene. A woman's sexuality and femininity should not defined by her having to embrace a sexual assailant that forced her to wear a stupidly revealing outfit.
 
 
Thanks but no thanks, that crap about having to "accept" the godrobe sickened me. I'm done with the show. And lol over-the-top sexism is minor now? Keep letting that conformation bias blind you.