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According to their mysterious new Twitter account the cult post-punk / proto-VK band EX-ANS will restart activities in 2015 autumn, with their classic lineup no less!
 
vocal: RAY (Koji Suzuki)
guitar: Yukino
bass: SEIJI
drums: HARA
 
https://twitter.com/ex_ans_official

It's all good, I know it was a whatever post and I really don't know you or your methods to take you seriously or not.
But being that this might be the only active source in English information about the band, I felt it was more informative for fans to have something constructive and relevant to read.
There's nothing worse than scrolling through a forum and seeing the majority of posts be filler comments. Unfortunately this rebuttal just added to the noise! Ah well.

Kanou/Munimuni is very referential toward visual kei. The names of their gigs and some advertising are completely taken from early-VK acts or Buck Tick / X / Luna Sea/ZiKill/kuroyume related works. Sometimes it's a mash-up of multiple names.  The flyers showing pre-1991 Toshi versus his post 1997 cult-years is hilariously put to good use and maybe not even sensible to most fans now-a-days since X is pretty much a nostalgic act now.
So while most bands keep a consistent visual throughout the release of an album or a period of time, Munimuni is off-the-walls and without a proper schedule or cycle, so they do these things for their own amusement. Overall I find the graphic design of the flyers to be amazing and it wouldn't surprise me if Kanou did some sort of design job on the side.

That said, I find the 'coincidence' between the Merry ad  and munimuni's recent flyer questionable at best. It's mainly just the pink coloring and, as far as I recall, munimuni doesn't really 'borrow' from contemporaries. Some of their recent work from last year is in black and white with a splash of color photoshopped into it. The band photo is an example of this: http://munimuni.ciao.jp/profile.htm
So while the Merry one looks like actual real light projecting the color into the scene, munimuni's is just photoshopped color-overlays.
 
And while munimuni is bringing homage to 90's VK, the Tamasuji Cool J tarou side project has him singing over shitty 90's pop / hiphop beats:

https://www.youtube.com/user/tamasuji2014

 

Kanou/Munimuni is very referential toward visual kei. The names of their gigs and some advertising are completely taken from early-VK acts or Buck Tick / X / Luna Sea/ZiKill/kuroyume related works. Sometimes it's a mash-up of multiple names.  The flyers showing pre-1991 Toshi versus his post 1997 cult-years is hilariously put to good use and maybe not even sensible to most fans now-a-days since X is pretty much a nostalgic act now.
So while most bands keep a consistent visual throughout the release of an album or a period of time, Munimuni is off-the-walls and without a proper schedule or cycle, so they do these things for their own amusement. Overall I find the graphic design of the flyers to be amazing and it wouldn't surprise me if Kanou did some sort of design job on the side.

That said, I find the 'coincidence' between the Merry ad  and munimuni's recent flyer questionable at best. It's mainly just the pink coloring and, as far as I recall, munimuni doesn't really 'borrow' from contemporaries. Some of their recent work from last year is in black and white with a splash of color photoshopped into it. The band photo is an example of this: http://munimuni.ciao.jp/profile.htm
So while the Merry one looks like actual real light projecting the color into the scene, munimuni's is just photoshopped color-overlays.
 
And while munimuni is bringing homage to 90's VK, the Tamasuji Cool J tarou side project has him singing over shitty 90's pop / hiphop beats:

https://www.youtube.com/user/tamasuji2014

 

It's all good, I know it was a whatever post and I really don't know you or your methods to take you seriously or not.
But being that this might be the only active source in English information about the band, I felt it was more informative for fans to have something constructive and relevant to read.
There's nothing worse than scrolling through a forum and seeing the majority of posts be filler comments. Unfortunately this rebuttal just added to the noise! Ah well.

Kanou/Munimuni is very referential toward visual kei. The names of their gigs and some advertising are completely taken from early-VK acts or Buck Tick / X / Luna Sea/ZiKill/kuroyume related works. Sometimes it's a mash-up of multiple names.  The flyers showing pre-1991 Toshi versus his post 1997 cult-years is hilariously put to good use and maybe not even sensible to most fans now-a-days since X is pretty much a nostalgic act now.
So while most bands keep a consistent visual throughout the release of an album or a period of time, Munimuni is off-the-walls and without a proper schedule or cycle, so they do these things for their own amusement. Overall I find the graphic design of the flyers to be amazing and it wouldn't surprise me if Kanou did some sort of design job on the side.

That said, I find the 'coincidence' between the Merry ad  and munimuni's recent flyer questionable at best. It's mainly just the pink coloring and, as far as I recall, munimuni doesn't really 'borrow' from contemporaries. Some of their recent work from last year is in black and white with a splash of color photoshopped into it. The band photo is an example of this: http://munimuni.ciao.jp/profile.htm
So while the Merry one looks like actual real light projecting the color into the scene, munimuni's is just photoshopped color-overlays.
 
And while munimuni is bringing homage to 90's VK, the Tamasuji Cool J tarou side project has him singing over shitty 90's pop / hiphop beats:

https://www.youtube.com/user/tamasuji2014

 

Bigger cover art~
 
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11076237_620406101393833_7964270329981200662_n.jpg?oh=b1eb97ce6208c9562e09b85daf9ce50c&oe=55B03060&__gda__=1434094545_1ebb51a1ed477fe783ce90618d4e70cb

CQ Ba.大場和香(ooba wako) will depart after their live at Shinjuku LOFT at 2014/12/27
 
 
their new LP "what a Wonderful World's End" will be released at their live tour "Eli." since Sapporo DUCE at 2015/04/03 and up to tour final at Shimokitazawa SHELTER at 2015/04/29 (3,800yen), which will include LP+CD
 
[track list]
Episode 1.Morse
Episode 2.Leos
Episode 3.Roxanne
Episode 4.Emil
Episode 5.Isabelle (new song)
Episode 6.Angie
Episode 7.Alex
Episode 8.Ian
Episode 9.what a Wonderful World (new song)
Episode 10.Eli. (new song)

their live album "GIGS -case of doguu 2011-" will be sold in advance at their presents live "DAYDREAM NATION-munimuni new album "GIGS -case of doguu 2011-" release party-" at Ikebukuro CHOP at 2015/03/26, for which songs are recorded, mixed and remastered by the k(101A)
 
[track list]
01.Power
02.曲がる世界(magaru sekai)
03.The ghost song
04.The doguu song
05.My Lucifer
06.Grotesque
07.Neo song
08.Boys
09.フッフー(fuffuu)
 
 
their DVD will be released in mid-2015, although details have not yet been announced

And 6 new songs will be on the doguu album. They should've just aimed for a proper full album with those extra few tracks!

oh no! i thought release today!! 

I haven't read Kanou Matenrou / Takumi's blog in a while but a few weeks ago he said the Doguu album wouldn't be out by the end of the year, but the live album would be out definitely and that the mix is done.
 
http://yaplog.jp/sakujojo/archive/946
 
And I'm not quite sure but I think he's jokingly referring to himself as 'Yoshiki' in the way that he's been teasing this Doguu album for years. lol

It seems that the Doguu album is almost out. Here's an announcement from today's munimuni mail magazine:
 
■2015/1/26(mon)　NEO TOKYO IKEBUKURO CHOP DOME
■[MUNIMUNI 「THE DOGUU ALBUM」発売祈願ワンマン公演　
-誰か、土偶を・・・。-]
 
It's a one man live to pray for release of the Doguu album.

The flyer, actually. Got it in August. Well, you'd better not trust Matenrou-sama too much xD He's been delaying this album since 2011, while singing all of these songs live.

Apparently THE DOGUU ALBUM will be released in 2014 autumn and will contain 7 tracks.
 
[track list]
01.THE DOGUU SONG
02.THE GHOST SONG
03.BOYS
04.MY LUCIFER
05.THE FUNERAL SONG
06.THE UNKNOWN
07.WOO PEE HAA PEE
 
New band pic btw: http://munimuni.ciao.jp/profile.htm
 
Dang it Munimuni why u gotta have one old song in there too?! XD Anyway, I'm immensely happy.

[track list]
Episode 1.Duncan
Episode 2.Silent Roar
Episode 3.Charlotte
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy9da5R-g8o

THE JUNEJULYAUGUST new album "Paradise" will be released at 2014/10/01 (3,000yen)
 
[track list]
01.流転(ruten)
02.The Fluid Song
03.Exodus
04.美しい細胞(utsukushii saibou)
05.突然です(totsuzen desu)
06.Secret-ion
07.Chime
08.さよならダヴィンチ(sayonara da vinci)
09.Paradise
10.Juno
11.Sequence

the god and death stars new mini album "賑やかな食卓(nigiyakana shokutaku)" will be released at 2014/10/29 (2,700yen)
 
[track list]
01.賑やかな食卓(nigiyakana shokutaku)
02.出来事と偶然の為の媒体(dekigoto to guuzen no tame no baitai)
03.エドワード・スミス(edward smith)
04.風邪のライオン(kaze no lion)
05.隣人林(rinjinrin)
06.告発(kokuhatsu)

Wait, they have 2 guitarists now!?
 
They've been sitting on a bunch of songs for years now and I really hope something gets released. Wasn't the doguu mini album mentioned on the homepage a year or two ago?
Maybe some are compositions by past members that they can't really record as munimuni's?
 
I'm starting to think that proper CD releases are just not financially feasible for a small band like them.
If only more Japanese artists used a service like bandcamp!

I thought the tribute album was just alright, despite having been blown away by the lineup, which if I read correctly from that Morrie x Kiyoharu natalie.mu intereview, took upwards of a year to assemble.
 
I think tribute albums can fall into two categories, ones that try to faithfully reproduce the songs they are being covered and ones that try to actually put their own spin on a song. This album was mostly the former with the exception of the tracks written primarily by one person or band (Kiyoharu, Cali Gari and Boris). It was largely a cut-and-paste affair by the producer where the artists involved got to add their own flair but for the most part had to stay within the lines of what the original song was. You could almost feel like the musicians, while amazingly talented and varied in their own right across the Jrock / Vkei spectrum, weren't even in the same room together when recording these songs and just individually came in and recorded their parts. Maybe I'm wrong about this but considering the lineup, I'm a bit doubtful these sessions had everyone in the room at the same time.
 
So yea, it's enjoyable in an all-star cast sort of way but I think no artist really got to take control of the song they were covering with the exception of the ones mentioned.
 
That said, I did appreciate the vocals of Hyde, Tetsu and Baki, who I'm most familiar with, and the other musicians spotted throughout. Hyde is a dead-on replica of Morrie especially with the reverb cranked to 11 like most the covers off Dead End's first album. I'm a huge Tetsu fan and although I've heard him sing like that on some songs he rarely does so for a whole song. It either shows that he's trying too hard or just having fun with it. Who knows? I didn't care for the Serafine cover. It had no power to it and seemed like it was being different for the sake of it. "How would this sound with female vocals?!" Why not have Morrie sing a Utada Hikaru cover next!
 
And in defense of artists reliving their past glories or just leaving it behind, I don't think it's a fair to suggest they should leave it behind just because we personally don't think it sounds any better than the original. If anything, as fans, if we don't like newer renditions or newer work we should simply just leave the artist behind. Move on, that's it, no need to tell new fans they're stupid for listening to the artist now. There's plenty of bands that I only like a certain style of. It would be foolish, and ultimately frustrating, to think that one could possibly like every path of artistic growth of a musician or any artist for that matter.
 
Anyway, most of these artists are creating new work on their own and so what if they go back and relive or try to recreate their older work? Whether it's a cash-grab move or a legitimate artistic one, so be it. Sure, they don't have the power they used to and I totally agree that Morrie's voice is weaker now, Ryuichi doesn't sing like he used to, or Hyde doesn't wear white frock gowns, etc. but does that mean they can never touch the past again just because it doesn't please fans now?

I thought the tribute album was just alright, despite having been blown away by the lineup, which if I read correctly from that Morrie x Kiyoharu natalie.mu intereview, took upwards of a year to assemble.
 
I think tribute albums can fall into two categories, ones that try to faithfully reproduce the songs they are being covered and ones that try to actually put their own spin on a song. This album was mostly the former with the exception of the tracks written primarily by one person or band (Kiyoharu, Cali Gari and Boris). It was largely a cut-and-paste affair by the producer where the artists involved got to add their own flair but for the most part had to stay within the lines of what the original song was. You could almost feel like the musicians, while amazingly talented and varied in their own right across the Jrock / Vkei spectrum, weren't even in the same room together when recording these songs and just individually came in and recorded their parts. Maybe I'm wrong about this but considering the lineup, I'm a bit doubtful these sessions had everyone in the room at the same time.
 
So yea, it's enjoyable in an all-star cast sort of way but I think no artist really got to take control of the song they were covering with the exception of the ones mentioned.
 
That said, I did appreciate the vocals of Hyde, Tetsu and Baki, who I'm most familiar with, and the other musicians spotted throughout. Hyde is a dead-on replica of Morrie especially with the reverb cranked to 11 like most the covers off Dead End's first album. I'm a huge Tetsu fan and although I've heard him sing like that on some songs he rarely does so for a whole song. It either shows that he's trying too hard or just having fun with it. Who knows? I didn't care for the Serafine cover. It had no power to it and seemed like it was being different for the sake of it. "How would this sound with female vocals?!" Why not have Morrie sing a Utada Hikaru cover next!
 
And in defense of artists reliving their past glories or just leaving it behind, I don't think it's a fair to suggest they should leave it behind just because we personally don't think it sounds any better than the original. If anything, as fans, if we don't like newer renditions or newer work we should simply just leave the artist behind. Move on, that's it, no need to tell new fans they're stupid for listening to the artist now. There's plenty of bands that I only like a certain style of. It would be foolish, and ultimately frustrating, to think that one could possibly like every path of artistic growth of a musician or any artist for that matter.
 
Anyway, most of these artists are creating new work on their own and so what if they go back and relive or try to recreate their older work? Whether it's a cash-grab move or a legitimate artistic one, so be it. Sure, they don't have the power they used to and I totally agree that Morrie's voice is weaker now, Ryuichi doesn't sing like he used to, or Hyde doesn't wear white frock gowns, etc. but does that mean they can never touch the past again just because it doesn't please fans now?