peffy

@peffy tell me about it, the tags for SCAPEGOAT are a real mess... -__-

Borderlands is definitely one of the best co-op FPS games you found a good one for sure.
 
I remember sitting down and playing borderlands 1 couch co-op with a buddy of mine back in the day, and it was so much fun we literally sat on that couch all night until the next morning playing, was probably like a 13-15 hour session or some shit... it overall is one of my fondest memories in co-op gaming right next to all the Super Smash Bros and 007: Golden Eye overnight sessions me and my childhood friends had.
 
I'm currently tearing into Uncharted 4 and my god this game is a technical marvel I swear. Naughty Dog must have some god damn coding/programming wizards over there or something because this fucking thing just runs and looks too good... you could show this game to some random gamer who knows nothing about uncharted and I'm most certain they would mistake it for a PC game graphics wise and performance wise as well. Other than that the story has been on point, and I have to say they have done a damn good job making the game feel like your playing a movie without feeling like your not in control or that you're sitting through a lot of cut scenes, the game cinematic wise is just terrific. Game play has overall improved ten fold over the last game, platforming is much more smooth  and complex when it comes to how you can move, also the grappling hook mechanic adds a whole new dimension to platforming and even combat as well. Speaking of combat that shit feels amazing, what I mean is the guns are just so nice feeling... in past games the guns always felt a bit unrealistic and maybe a bit arcade-y but here they have definitely gone with the realistic approach and every gun feels unique and  also sounds real for that matter as well.. which brings us to the sound design, absolutely spectacular, not only are the sound effects just on point but the soundtrack/score has been positively delightful, and then the voice work is just on a whole another level. The dynamic between Nolan North and Troy Baker is something to marvel at, not only are they both what most people consider the two leading protag voice actors in the industry, but they both are veterans in the trade as well, and when they come together in this game as Nathan Drake (Nolan North) and Samuel Drake (Troy Baker) as reunited brothers I can attest this is what I would call magic.
 
 

Interesting. I love R-shitei and SCAPEGOAT, but never noticed what label they were on. Hopefully this is a good sign for REIGN.

Interesting. I love R-shitei and SCAPEGOAT, but never noticed what label they were on. Hopefully this is a good sign for REIGN.

Now it's ~offishal~: they belong to Speed-disk. Consequently, their label, Akuma-teki migi straight records, was extincted. Check out the artist list here.

Not vk-related  specifically, but still a heads up for people who buy stuff from Japan regularly.
 
EMS prices will be increased by 300-500 yen across the board as of 1 June. Additionally, the minimum weight per shipment will be raised from the present 300g (900 yen for Zone 1 to 1,700 yen for Zone 3) to 500g (1,400 yen for Zone 1 to 2,400 yen for Zone 3). (Edit: so if you're shipping just 1 cheki, you still pay the cost for 500g).
 
Shipping costs for SAL International Parcel to Asia will also increase.
 
Press release: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/notification/pressrelease/2016/00_honsha/0129_03_01.pdf
Appendix: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/notification/pressrelease/2016/00_honsha/0129_03_02.pdf
* Tables for revised EMS costs are in the appendix on pages 5 (Asia); 6 (North/Central America, Middle East, Oceania); 7 (Europe); 8 (South America and Africa); 9 (New SAL Costs for Asia).
 

Holy crap..
Details have been revealed about the Witcher expansion Blood & Wine
 
the full list is here, it's very long http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=203112526&postcount=1
 
This stood out for me:
 
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude if there's one thing I ABSOLUTELY love to do in a game, it's renovating and upgrading a home base. 
oh my god.
So happy I hoarded all my money in the main game, gonna splurge on this place!
Now I feel bad that I haven't played Hearts of Stone because I was waiting for a sale. 
 
Also, this:
 
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!!!!!!!!!!

While I don't think she is nearly as bad as some other stuff in this thread... I WILL ACCEPT ANY EXCUSE to post D[di:] music. I love her.
 
This song is 13 years old ;_;  But she looks so pretty in the video. <3 
 
 
 
And here's another lady who deserves a mention.. 香奈 (Kana)
Except, I can't stand her. Maybe she could sing if somebody wrote a proper melody for her. Maybe.
 
 

While I don't think she is nearly as bad as some other stuff in this thread... I WILL ACCEPT ANY EXCUSE to post D[di:] music. I love her.
 
This song is 13 years old ;_;  But she looks so pretty in the video. <3 
 
 
 
And here's another lady who deserves a mention.. 香奈 (Kana)
Except, I can't stand her. Maybe she could sing if somebody wrote a proper melody for her. Maybe.
 
 

I previously only mentioned the VK-related bands I miss... so here's a bunch of non-VK disbanded/inactive favourites.. Sorry if my description of their genres sucks. I'm not very good at distinguishing genres.
 
 
(The Old) Hamasaki Ayumi - The last album of hers that I really liked was NEXT LEVEL (2009). Since then her voice has kind of changed and it's not really to my liking anymore. It's kind of sad because she's basically THE reason I got into Japanese music back in 2003. I really obsessively loved her albums LOVEppears, Duty, I am..., RAINBOW, Memorial Address, and MY STORY. Such classics.
 
ATTACK HAUS - I'd be surprised if anyone here has heard of them. This band made some kind of awesome mix of rock/rap/electronic music. I am still obsessed with their albums ATTACK HAUS (2004), W8 (2005), and Life (2006).
 
fra-foa - If you ever wanted to hear a raw-voiced female singing/yelling as though she was in deep emotional pain, this was the band for you. Vocalist Mikami Chisako, at times, gave no fucks if she was on key or on time. Their album Chuu no Fuchi (2001) remains near the top of my all-time favourites list.
 
(The Old) BUGY CRAXONE - Long one of my favourites, this band has gone through many different phases, but the current one is not really appealing to me. They began as a heavily-produced alternative rock band back in 1999, themed around emo feelings. Then they progressed to a more stripped-down garage-punk band aesthetic in 2002, themed around sounding pissed off. Then they became a fairly mellow folksy band in 2012, themed around being super happy. I don't generally like folksy happy music, but I still buy their albums out of habit.
 
Aya (亜矢) - A very hard-hitting female rocker with a great voice. She was apparently heavily inspired by Kurt Cobain? Her last album was released in 2004. As I understand it, she did not like working with record companies and just ended up wandering around Japan playing random gigs.
 
D[di:] - This girl was terrible at singing, but that added to her charm. I think she was actually a "mixed media artist". She released two hard rock/punk albums (2003 & 2004) with a bunch of really cool artwork that she drew.
 
REDЯUM - They initially started out as "trip-hop". They had a pretty mellow, hypnotic style, and had a female vocalist that fit that style perfectly. Later became more of a conventional rock-ish band and therefore less good. Sadly disbanded in 2008.
 
school food punishment - Well, actually I never got super into this band. They had a few songs that I really liked. Great female vocalist, and a pretty cool keyboard-heavy style.
 
 
Plus, a long list of female pop/R&B singers that I really liked, but they only released like one or two albums before disappearing (as far as I know):
 
Hinouchi Emi
akane
SHY
mini
Kuriyama Chiaki (well, she's still acting, I think)
Shono Juli
Nobuchika Eri
SNoW

Since you mentioned FFXV, I now remember how boring that game's UI looks.. especially in comparison to P5's UI. One makes me want to stab my eyes out, the other makes me want to sleep.
 

 
Ahh, those soothing white/grey/blue tones..... zzzzzz
 
The art style in P5 (i.e. character design) looks pretty good, it's a shame I don't like the series. I do wish FF games would stop trying to look hyper realistic and go for something more stylized like P5. ... having said that, I also wish people wouldn't compare the two series.. yeah they are both JRPGs but the "gameplay loop" is totally different. Too bad they are coming out so close to each other.

from my experiences, it seems like kind of a racial bias thing tbh. i've shown friends who normally listen to western metal etc. Japanese metal/deathcore/VK, and they didn't mind it (possibly even liked it) before i told them it was Japanese or the band was from Japan, but they did give me some weird looks and call me a weeb after i told them lmfao. either way, in those genres, you can't understand the lyrics because of the screaming no matter the language the band is singing in, so that's why from my experiences there has been judgement based on the races.
 
even when i show them Japanese bands that sing in English. :/
 
it's really sad honestly. but maybe i just need new friends LMAO

LOL crap my comment never submitted. Thanks Comcast. It was all long and explained a lot. Shame.
 
I use an iPhone, and all I can say is you have to be aware of what is going on with the software/apps you are running.
Make sure the Download managers you use have an easy locale to your files, in case you need to set up another backup solution. Check off any options that use backup sync, or makes copies of the data on another location on your PC. There was a program that was introduced a while back (I completely forgot the name, it sucked doe) that had the option to backup your files into their selected format, and REPLACE your file with the newer version. The problem was that is was the DEFAULT OPTION. Holy shit did that company go under quick lol.
 
Basically, you guys need to understand that it is not just APPLE (Amazon and Spotify were just like this too). Anything with direct access to your files (whether synchronized or not), may have a small chance of modifying, corrupting, or even losing them. I've known this since the introduction of these ridiculous things back in 2013.  Not just on your PCs, but your phones too.
 
DRM is a son of a bitch and needs to be put down soon, but that's a story for another day....
 
Wait until Cloud-Based Services/Storage Solutions become cheap enough, where the average consumer will fall prey to their "terms and conditions", knowing full well that many of us do not even take a 5 second glance at those rules.
 
 

brb burning my iphone
 
Seriously, though, this kind of shit is inexcusable. Years ago I experienced something similar, but much less damaging, when I allowed Microsoft Windows Media Player to scan my mp3s. For some reason, it took all the album art named "folder.jpg" (which, at the time, was basically every piece of album art I had) and converted them into tiny hidden thumbnail pictures. 
 
I also lost my entire music collection one time, due to some weird error (or maybe virus?) that caused Windows Disk Cleanup to delete every single file in my hard drive. ... so now I have an external backup drive.
 
Anyway, if you still have to use iTunes, you should go check the options again and make sure everything related to Apple Music, iTunes Match, or iCloud is disabled. Also, it's worth doing this check everytime iTunes gets updated. You never know what kind of shit Apple is up to.

brb burning my iphone
 
Seriously, though, this kind of shit is inexcusable. Years ago I experienced something similar, but much less damaging, when I allowed Microsoft Windows Media Player to scan my mp3s. For some reason, it took all the album art named "folder.jpg" (which, at the time, was basically every piece of album art I had) and converted them into tiny hidden thumbnail pictures. 
 
I also lost my entire music collection one time, due to some weird error (or maybe virus?) that caused Windows Disk Cleanup to delete every single file in my hard drive. ... so now I have an external backup drive.
 
Anyway, if you still have to use iTunes, you should go check the options again and make sure everything related to Apple Music, iTunes Match, or iCloud is disabled. Also, it's worth doing this check everytime iTunes gets updated. You never know what kind of shit Apple is up to.

Original blog post here:
https://blog.vellumatlanta.com/2016/05/04/apple-stole-my-music-no-seriously/
 
 
TL;DR: Apple Music might upload your local music files to their servers, encode them to AAC 256 kbps and remove the local copies.

You got dem skills @peffy

nice job @peffy!!
i think your highlighted spots are correct too.

Hmm, since I got all up in VK in 2010 I've been ignoring non-VK stuff I didn't know before, so there won't be anything "new" in here.
Also, since the thread says "bands" I guess I will exclude solo artists.
 
BUGY CRAXONE
Tsubakiya Shijuusou (椿屋四重奏)
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT
Tokyo Jihen (東京事変)
Yousei Teikoku (妖精帝國)
ATTACK HAUS
REDЯUM
fra-foa
GO!GO!7188
Janne Da Arc ... not sure if they count as VK or not, but I'm struggling to get this list to 10..
 
lol, 7 out of 10 have female vocalists
maybe 8, cuz ATTACK HAUS had a backup female vocalist.

天井と管
 
天井にむかってつぶやく
「僕の命をつなぐこの管
ぬきとってみたい」
でも　きっと届かないんだ
叶わないこと　報われないこと
君との境界線
身体をなくしても君を抱きしめたい
「俺はお前のかわりに生きていたい
そして　あの娘のキスで呼吸がしたい」
うんざりさ　甘い毒のような水
いったい誰が笑えるというの
許せないこと　壊したいこと　多すぎて
理性をなくしても　ただ生きていたい
君のそばで
君とレンガの家をたててみたい
そして狼から身を守りたい
うんざりさ　黒い熱のような空
いったい誰が笑えるというの
 
I highlighted the stuff I'm not sure about..
His singing is about as clear as his writing.
T_T 
Very sad song...

天井と管
 
天井にむかってつぶやく
「僕の命をつなぐこの管
ぬきとってみたい」
でも　きっと届かないんだ
叶わないこと　報われないこと
君との境界線
身体をなくしても君を抱きしめたい
「俺はお前のかわりに生きていたい
そして　あの娘のキスで呼吸がしたい」
うんざりさ　甘い毒のような水
いったい誰が笑えるというの
許せないこと　壊したいこと　多すぎて
理性をなくしても　ただ生きていたい
君のそばで
君とレンガの家をたててみたい
そして狼から身を守りたい
うんざりさ　黒い熱のような空
いったい誰が笑えるというの
 
I highlighted the stuff I'm not sure about..
His singing is about as clear as his writing.
T_T 
Very sad song...

This talk of Gackt reminds me that I miss old Gackt. (unlike other people, I could not stand Malice Mizer but I was a big fan of Gackt solo)
 
My favourite Gackt album was MOON, released back in 2002. The last music of his that I actually liked was from RE:BORN (2009). Nothing he's released since then has stuck with me..... except I really loved his version of Episode.0, but he didn't write that one.

That's me, sort of. I haven't liked listening to Western/English stuff for the past 12 years. I'm not going to go crazy and say "all Western music sucks, JROCK 4EVER!!!!!", it's just not what I prefer to listen to. I imagine it is the same for all my friends - they just prefer to listen to Western stuff. They can acknowledge that an Asian musician is talented, but they aren't going to go out of their way to download/buy/listen to the music.
 
I am guessing that trends have a lot to do with it as well. When all of their friends (except me) listen to Adele, Beyonce, Drake, or whatever the hell is popular these days, it's just easier to go along and like the same things. This also explains why they can be into BABYMETAL, PSY, whatever Kpop, etc despite the language barrier. Aside from Korean speakers, nobody knew what the lyrics to Gangnam Style meant, but it was still a huge worldwide hit.
 
 
This is the reason I started up my lyrics site - to help people who can't read/understand Japanese sing along to Japanese songs. Actually one of the biggest reasons I started getting into Japanese music, before I knew any Japanese, was that I found the language attractive-sounding and fun to pronounce/sing along to.
 
edit: As for racial bias, I haven't really noticed it, but that could be due to nearly all of my friends/family being Chinese..

wow, yeah upon closer inspection it looks really rough. you did a good job with that song, can't see any mistakes .. 
I'm at work so I can't listen to it right now, but here's my guesses for your question marks 
 
1st 二人で植えたあの花が
2nd looks right
3rd / 4th 明日目が覚めても (you wrote 日 instead of 目 in front of the 3rd mark) 
 
i will attempt track 4 later!