WhirlingBlack

I support this idea and I propose that we take it one step further by imposing strict eugenics on all bands, since there might be members of not 100% pure Japanese descent who mask themselves as members of the purported master race.
 
It's time we start a fund to send one of the fine gentlemen who are an expert in this field to Japan in order to meticulously measure the skulls and ensure the racial purity of our Japanese musicians. Perhaps we can make various sub-forums for degrees of Japanese-ness in order to let people decide on their own tolerance for racial deviation? Maybe they're fine with bands who have members who show slightly Caucasoid/Negroid facial traits but not so much as it shows in their skin tone for example?
 
...Or we just don't care. I'm the last person to think swede-kei and the various other weeaboo scenes are anything to listen to, but honestly, if a band is based in Japan, sings in Japanese, has it's social circles in the Japanese Visual scene, the only thing separating them is race. Kind of silly to make a deal out of, in my opinion.

Remember back when liking Oshare could get you banned from certain groups? Those were some good times.
 
No but, seriously, I think that most people who were vocal about their "hatred" of oshare more did it as a gimmick than anything else, oshare fans, who were often young girls, were easy bait for bored "edgy" teenagers who thought that trolling others favorite bands were a fun thing to do. 
 
I admit I prefer proto-oshare like Shazna to the more modern bands, but some bands like 愛狂います。 had great guitar-work early on and to be honest I never dabbled in the more obscure ones due to lack of time and too many other bands that more immediately appealed to my sensibilities.

Not that it matters, but it's absolutely beyond me where people with the content count of 1 get the balls to go "HEY WHERE DID THE DL SECTION GO!?". When they're too dumb to figure that out I wonder how they even manage to get out of bed without forgetting to breathe at the same time.

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.

Seconded. Someone get onto that. So much good drama that will be lost once us in the older generation quits.

Seconded. Someone get onto that. So much good drama that will be lost once us in the older generation quits.

Lol I completely missed that Pot of Greed joke the first time I watched this
 
 

Demon android actually got all his stuff from upstairs at his cousins place, so ya'll just cyberbullies 

Remembering drama i just thought this one person "stealing" rare uploads in the old vip sec and sharing it on a robin hood like livejournal page and feeling like t he greatest  What was the name, forgot it, something like onsen or onsu..ochinchin?
Wish someone would do a wiki like knowyourmeme with knowyourvkdrama

It's simple, to access the Downloads section you just need to [YOU NEED A MONOCHROME-HEAVEN PREMIUM ACCOUNT TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT]

What download forum? There never was a download forum

the current threat level for terrorism in MH is: KAWAII

You know what else is fun? I.P. Bans!

kawaii minpha is nearly 30yo and still spends time on the internet acting like theyre 12...
i'm worried
 
 
and you are the Top Kawaii Jrocker on this forum, Tokage

MH drama is so much more interesting than people thinking they're nobel laureates giving out their political insights with the confidence of David Brent and the self-awareness of Norma Desmond. 

cant believe it'll finally be batsu's time to rise from the ashes again

imagine being so salty about having your fantasy land ideas exposed as falsehoods that you try to take down an entire forum

TOUR16-17 FROM DEPRESSION TO ________ [mode of 鬼葬]
 
2016/11/07 【神奈川県】 CLUB CITTA' [MALE LIMITED] -｢a knot｣ & ONLINE only- (Additional Show)
 
01. *New Intro
02. 鬼眼 -Kigan-
03. ZOMBOID (totally new lyrics)
04. 詩踏み / Utafumi
05. Undecided (old ver.) (last time played in 2003)
06. *New Song
07. 24個シリンダー / 24 Ko Shirindaa (slightly new lyrics: all "boku" were replaced with "ore")
08. Embryo (old ver.)
09. 蟲 -Mushi-
10. 輪郭 / Rinkaku
11. 鴉 / Karasu
12. Chain Repulsion
13. FILTH
14. HADES
15. Un Deux
    Encore
16. G.D.S.
17. ピンクキラー / Pinku Kiraa (last time played in 2007)
18. The Domestic Fucker Family
19. Umbrella
20. Sustain The Untruth
21. JESSICA

So the truth behind kawaii minpha saying tanuki is a LIE is because they tried to 1-time mitsu someone and failed at it? It all makes sense now

As I mentioned before, maybe even in this thread, Yuuki basically peaked when he was in Core The Child singing abilities-wise, it was all a downhill slope from then on

My unpopular opinion is that I can't stand Mejibray at all :/ lol

unsraw TOTALLY flopped after spiral circle. maybe i'm biased because i love heavy and spiral circle was probably THE heaviest vk album (and one of my first albums).... but why'd they go so soft after it was released???? they were so solid, i can't stand anything made afterwards

Lycaon = overhyped band that has more bad songs than good ones. I'll give you that when they hit it is GOOD, but no soooo better than several other bands that doesn't get half of the acknowledgement;
 
Can't understand the appeal behind Kiryu. Really tried to like it, but it is not for me, I guess. If I want classic japanese infused-VK, I'd spin some Kagrra,;
 
I think visuals impair a lot of bands from shining on. Yeah, the V part on VK gets more in the way than help it. I can't shake the feeling that bands like xTRiPx, Develop One's Faculties, yazzmad, DIV could go/have gone a long way if they drop/had dropped the act;

X Japan is the most "well-known" I'd say, but if we are talking in terms of fans I'm pretty sure that Dir en grey has the advantage by far in the overseas fandom.
It's pretty similar in Japan, almost everyone knows X but few are die-hard fans, while for a band like Dir en grey most people you will find who knows of them are pretty invested in them as well. The whole household generic rock band vs. a niche artist deal that you're bound to find whenever discussing western artists too.
 
When it comes to quality I have no doubt in my mind that Dir en grey is the more consistent artists. X Japan had a short period of brilliance that they've been living off ever since while Dir en grey has released consistently good material for almost 20 years now.

Don't have time to look into it too much at the moment so I'll just quickly drop some examples.
 
Dir en grey has rearranged too many songs to count during concerts, going all the way back to their earliest days. Some of which could be deemed more a case of evolving work in progress though, but if we count things that have been released then it goes back to the macabre era where certain GAUZE songs would be rearranged completely.
 
Shinjuku Gewalt has re-arranged tracks for live shows several times, adding and removing elements between concerts.
 
Sugar performed full acoustic lives.
 
MUCC has performed acoustic versions of tracks at instore events.
 
Lament. has performed acoustic shows with piano, acoustic guitar and vocals only, I attended one and it was amazing.
 
emmuree/the god and death stars/DIMMDIVISION/DISH/dieS/those kind of guys frequently do acoustic sets either alone (vocals+guitar only) or with the full band.