Since every now and again people had been asking about how Zill/Saburou died, for people who can't read Japanese blogs, I've decided to write down all the details I have so far accumulated from Zill & his friends' blogs & interviews. I apologize about the informal form and the lengthiness of the write-up, as I spontaneously decided to do it in response so some posts I just read. But just so you know, I am not making these stuff up. If I have personal comments below, I'd indicate them as such. I get some of these stuff from other people's translations, and a lot of them I've translated myself from blogs. I don't know where else to put this except in "news" section (Mods, if you find another place more suitable, please feel free to move it). And if you know some more details that I don't, feel free to post (as long as you have the evidence and not just being a troll).
If you're curious "how" and "why" Zill died, I don't know the exact illness either. But I'm trying to put together some info about his personal life all together and factors & events that lead up to his death to make sense out of it.
So what happened was, Moran was going to start activities again this year, because they had recruited Sizna (ex. Sugar) to replace Velo, who left in the end of 2009, on guitar. Zill & Sizna already started writing new songs, and suddenly Zill died. (At the time, Moran was actually already scheduled to play under the name “Freeze?? in Jasmine You’s 1 year memorial on August 9, 2010, where, according to Sizna, Zill was planned to play guitar “for Jasmine.?? But because of Zill’s sudden passing away, Sizna ended up filling in for guitar, and Shingo for bass). One of Zill’s new songs, “Bleach,?? was played in Zill’s memorial on October 14. Moran went to the trouble of recovering Zill’s computer files to get the unfinished songs that Zill had been working on.
Apparently he was sick last year, to the point that he could not tour (the doctor told him not to). In Soan's recent post about Shingo (ex. Sugar, substituted for Zill that time), Zill had been sick from influenza. (Personal comment: yes, influenza, so his physical condition must had been THAT bad). In Moran's Cure #67 interview, Zill said that his shoulder was stiff because he has bad eyesight; that is, he would work with a bad posture in front of the PC while writing songs for a long time. He also said "There are times when it's so bad that I can't sleep and I let out noises..." (direct quote from translation in Cure #67). His bandmates had also commented that he's too skinny (e.g. in Cure 58). Zill said that he tries to gain weight. That seems to be true. Zill has blogged about gaining weight to 50kg (before, he had been as skinny as 45kg). A few days after that, he blogged again about being 53.4kg (posting the photo of the scale. The scale must have been the special kind for people who are trying to lose/gain weight, because it also gives "calories" and "age". But the scale estimated that his weight is ideal for a 17-year-old, haha ^^. I hope this throws off the theory that he was anorexic . And you see, even though his physical condition had been declining, he really was trying to get better.
It seems that Zill had not been in Tokyo until a few days before his death. He went to his hometown for the 49th day memorial of his grandmother who passed away. On the July 15th, he wrote a blog entry about Daisuke Ochida's death. In the end of the entry he wrote something roughly like, "we don't know what's going to suddenly happen in this world, so treasure every day and spend it with no regrets".
He came back to Tokyo (around the 19th) and went to Tenten's (Chemical Pictures) birthday live the next day. (You can see a photo of him hugging Tenten in his blog). His last blog entry, the night before he died, is about returning from a Chemical Pictures (and amber gris) live on the 22nd, and getting CDs from both bands. (He had been a fan of Chemical Pictures since CPS started; he had been asking Tenten to let him listen to their new stuff). Anyways, what I find worrying is that he wrote he had been drinking that night and fell asleep a bit in the train. (Personal note: I don’t think he drank excessively. He had said that he’s weak with alcohol, but either way, drinking can’t be good if you’re already weak/sick).
However, Sizna also wrote that all members of Moran had been on webcam chat (for the first time) the day before he died. (I don’t know if they did it at night or even before the CPS live during the day).
(About the day he died, let me just translate from Soan’s blog entry). Before noon they tried to contact Zill about work, but he did not pick up. Because he was worried, Soan kept trying to contact Zill, his family, and the band. In the evening, Zill’s family contacted him with a bad news (he wrote it was “unspeakable?? and “did not want it to be true??). Soan contacted Hitomi & the company president, and headed to the hospital. On the way there, he’s contacted again from the hospital, with news, “cardiac and respiratory arrest,?? “passed away??.
In the wake on the 24th, Velo also came. They all met Zill’s parents and siblings and received Zill’s last messages. (According to Sizna’s blog), Zill left messages for Hitomi, Soan, Velo, and Sizna. The message for Sizna was for him to sort of “take care?? of Moran, and “each one of [Zill’s] words are warm.??
The next day, the 25th they held Zill’s funeral. (Personal comment: I don’t know how soon funerals are usually held after someone passes away, but I keep thinking that it happened so quickly and I wonder why… ;__. The funeral was for family and friends only, (I’m not sure but I think it was in Tokyo, since a lot of his friends blogged about attending it).
Before going further let me clarify several things about his info. I’m about sure now that Zill’s real name is Saburou (also his name in KuRt. His brother keeps calling him Sabu, that’s why I think so. I’m sorry I had been calling him “Zill?? in this post, I will use the two names interchangeably now). His hometown is Hiroshima. Sabu has an older brother, who was/is living abroad, because Sabu had blogged about his brother visiting home. He even took a picture of his cute little nephew ^^ . He also has a younger brother, named Aki (at least it seems to be, from Tenten’s blog), who plays guitar in a band called Jiminy Cricket. His stage name is Shia. Shia, only revealed that he’s Sabu’s brother after Sabu passed away; he kept it as a secret from fans before because he didn’t want to be a “burden?? to his older brother. Shia formed the band with with Zill’s roadie, Yu-Chi on bass, and Chemical Picture’s roadie, Tatsu on vocals, (and Lamia on drums, but I don’t know if he’s got any roadie-connection thing). Yu-Chi had written that Sabu came to Jiminy Cricket’s rehearsals.
(Anyways, from what I’ve gathered from Shia’s blog), Sabu’s grave is in Hiroshima. Shia, Soan, Sizna, and Hitomi all went to Hiroshima for Sabu’s 49th day memorial. Soan, Sizna, and Hitomi spent time with Sabu’s parents and went to the beach where Sabu loved to go to.
Shia is now taking care of Becky (Sabu’s sexy, cute daughter/rabbit). Shia also has Sabu’s Fender Precision bass now. Sabu’s room in his parents’ home is filled with letters and fanarts that his fans had given him over the years.
x-posted in moran_downers LJ community
