hariwenjiyu

Personally, I still listen to VK bands. However, every year the number of new and upcoming bands with originality seem to be less and less. Last year, I spent amonth or so searching for those "diamond in the rough" VK bands and found a few. My tastes may very from yours, but I share the same sentiments about finding more unique and creative bands. (I am going to steal Lestalt's formatting, hope that's okay) ● アルルカン - They are a self-proclaimed “新世代名古屋系” band that are trying to bring back an updated version of Nagoya-kei. ● DADAROMA - Heavy and inventive band from Yoshiatsu (ex- Crazy Shampoo). ● DIMDIVISION - If you like 9 GOATS and the like, you might want to check them out. ● DIV - An EDM-rock/pop-VK/metalcore band. Their newest album has them going in a new direction, which is fresh. ● SRASH NOTES GARDEN – A hybrid VK band with singer-songwriter elements. I found out about the band on Sakanagatoreta's blog site (A middle-aged Japanese VK fanboy). You might want to browse his site to check out minor VK bands that a lot of people might not be talking about yet. He literally reviews almost everything that comes out. http://ameblo.jp/sakanagatoreta/entry-11797369774.html A9's side project, DIAWOLF, is also really different.

I hope Scar. will put out another mini sometime soon. I can't believe it's been around 7 years since 02.

I get the feeling that the music industry in Japan is really strapped for cash. There is marketing, etc that is geared towards exploiting the obsessive tendency of VK fans more that ever. Focusing on the looks or name cred. 1) Old bands reuniting; starting activities again 2) Revival lives for almost any band you can think of are increasing, even if it is just for 1 day 3) Superbands forming that will have a guaranteed fan base (more, KEEL, Femme Fatale, etc.) 4) Bands selling out hard (why MEJIBRAY…) 5) PSCompany (I am glad A9 got out of there) There is too much saturation without enough quality. There is not that "indie" feel anymore. The economy and decline of working conditions have lead to some fairly oppressive management on the labels behalf. A lot of people who have followed VK since the 90s have seen the scene evolve. I think it is evolving again right now, but the state of the entertainment industry as a whole is stiffing creativity (the anime sector is another good example). Personally, I still listen to VK bands. However, every year the number of new and upcoming bands with originality seem to be less and less.

Really glad to hear they are continuing on. They are one of the best upcoming visual-kei bands. I'll miss "Rega-style" though...

I loved VANESSA and the first few singles by MEJIBRAY, but they have kind of sold-out. I do not equate "going major" or adapting one's sound to a new music genre as "selling out". It's just...MEJIBRAY seems to be making songs just to sell them while pandering to fans in a weird sort of way on various SNS. I know the visual scene is having a hard time right now, and the quality of music will take a hit, but MEJIBRAY seems to be more focused on their aesthetics and less on making interesting, engaging music. 八十八ヶ所巡礼 is also losing some steam (i.e becoming repetitive), but the concept of the band and everyone's characters makes them extremely unique. The lyrics are really clever and they are so original and "authentic". 人間椅子 meets Stevie Vai = good craziness.

Is anyone else following the political situation in Japan with the demonstrations? Not a lot seems to get out in the media outside of Japan these days (especially after 3.11). There is a slight connection to the Japanese music scene since demonstrators often employ a hip-hop chant and have been inviting musicians to join in. Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Kurui have also voiced their opinions (they are not attached to any groups demonstrating that I know of though). One of the most prominent groups demonstrating is a group called SEALDs. "SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy) is a platform of emergency actions by students to protect a free and democratic Japan. We are a group of youths from late teens to early 20s. We aim to rethink and enact democracy. We uphold the tradition of freedom and democracy in Japan that has been built for the past 70 years after the World War Ⅱ. Our principal aim is to protect the Constitution of Japan which is fundamental to this tradition. The philosophy of Japan’s Peace Constitution is a project that is yet to be accomplished. In order to protect our Constitution which is currently in danger, we state a clear vision with focus on Constitutionalism, Social Security, and National Security. The situation of Japanese politics continues to worsen. In 2014, the Secret Protection Law and the right to collective defense have been forcibly passed, severely undermining the fundamental ideas enshrined in the Constitution of Japan. In the meantime, a new social security system needed to deal with the rising rate of poverty and aging population does not seem to be emerging. Another challenge is posed by the increasing tension among East Asian countries..." http://sealdseng.strikingly.com/ Almost everyday there are demonstrations going on in (sometimes simultaneously) in hundreds of different areas of Japan. The largest one was a few days ago with over 120,000 people, which is a staggering number for Japan. The, here is a nice opinion piece from Bloomberg about Japan possibly turning into an autocracy (with suspect trolling in comments section): http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-20/japan-s-constitutional-change-is-move-toward-autocracy Great blog/article in Japanese: http://blogos.com/article/134246/?p=2 Update: Article published by The Guardian yesterday, looks like the demos are finally getting reported in-depth after months of constant demonstrating: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/16/japanese-anti-war-protesters-challenge-shinzo-abe I hate to admit it, but if you ever watch Japanese news, there is no actual reporting, so everyone uses twitter or something called togetther. If you look up articles in Japanese, there is a lot of trolling going on similar to what you find in Russia or some sort of fascist state (article from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/russia-troll-factory-kremlin-cyber-army-comparisons),which seems to be for the purpose of influencing public opinion (i.e. appealing to people who do not have a lot of political literacy). I am used to biased Fox News reporting, but the entire Japanese internet (and even some articles about Japan in English) are full of people who seem hired to troll called the netouyo. The change has been dramatic the last couple of years and the xenophobic attitude is frightening. The UN has been calling out the country a lot lately on hate speech and hate speech demonstrations. I really hope things get better really soon. EDIT: Edited post; fixed imgur link. 120,000 not 12,000.

This is a really late comment, but I just had to give you props for an awesome review. ネガ was one of those bands I listened to when I wanted to hear some dramatic (albeit cheesy) visual music. I agree that TBS is pretty proficient, but it seems too much like a continuation of ネガ. According to their official site, Jin really wants to continue making "real" visual-kei music (I get the feeling he hates all of the new bands coming out), but his songwriting formula (I am assuming he has a hand in writing because of the similarities to ネガ), while effective, are getting a little stale. I miss Ray's basslines too. 「苦悩に響く赤い…something」　(I can't remember long japaneez title song's title either lol) is actually my favorite TBS song for some reason because of the use of wooden bass instead of the dark piano you hear in most of their more atmospheric songs. It works well on repeat as background music for me.

Really interesting line-up. MUCC + Plastic Tree, ドレスコーズ + 女王蜂, makes sense separately, but the four together is pretty eclectic.

Any news about what the band members will be doing during the hiatus starting on 7/20? Just noticed my previous post on this thread. Yikes...I really need to stop working multiple shifts with no sleep.

I feel the same way about MIMIC. It has a lot of potential, and with Tenten and most of the members of SKULL in the band there is the ability to put out more engaging, interesting music; so, I am not sure why the compositions feel so re-hashed. I think MBHI fandom is centered a lot on Tenten. He has had a lot of emotional ups and downs with his bands and ultimately a love/hate relationship with music. He is really human-like (?), I guess. I think he and the fans see him as a Kurt Cobain or a John Lennon (two musicians which he seems to really admire). At the end of Chemical Pictures career there seemed to be a lot of concern about Tenten. After reading his blog at the time and an interview about album the album like this, I got the impression that he was really stressed. He was too OCD about the whole music-making process and wanted to have more freedom (according to the interview, track 10 on "goodbye to my old avarice", 「悪天候異常気象な時代」 is an expression of the state of the band) . A parody band like kiss my way was probably his first outlet to experience less stress and more freedom. MBHI's "average" quality could also be related to this need for freedom. I don't know. I might just be speculating a little too much. There was experimentation with MIMIC, a ballad and a track with a rap-rock tone (if I remember correctly). I think if the band hones the djent-style and turns it into something unique, more people can get into the music and not just the band. If they want to keep things simple, maybe making the compositions more DADAROMA-esque would help. Regardless, I am looking forward to see what they will do with a full-length album.