saiko

Wow, interesting aesthetics!

I agree. Perhaps they tried to court everyone, but in the end failed to get them. Perhaps they withdrew behind Mana's artistic direction, and thus all MM less Gackt were dropped off Columbia; I can't imagine him, even Kozi or Yuuki playing pop, putting up 00s 64 bits softvi rockers aesthetics, surrounded by group of dancers, etc. They are artists, I think that's clear. Kozi, like Mana, even at the cost of losing their mainstream status (a thing that history has reserved to less than 10 bands in Japanese music history, even Dir or the Gazette never had the attention MM received from the media in the late 90s), decided to move on and run after a consistent artistic project within their own worldview. On the other hand, Gackt brought iconic moments to VK and J-rock (Mizerable, Vanilla, Redemption) but generally speaking he did the stuff that would attract masses.

Old manga, specially old shoujo manga, is my favorite field. Everything about it feels very serious, like compromised. I imagine mangaka being in a very position of treating their audience in a mature way, trying to deliver always fresh and clever stories and visuals. I guess the inmense anime industry, with all its idols, constant massive output and exitist ideology, was in diapers at that time, so I think everyone involved with creating comics and animation (from illustrators, scripters, producers, to musicians, etc.) had less commercial pressure and thus experimented more creative freedom. Also, like in VK, I crave for the overall melodramatic, tragic and sexual ambiguous aesthetics from the manga from that era, lol. What old shoujo anime would you recommend?

I've read New York New York from the same author. Very short and very well done series, very pleasant reading. One of the most human and touching manga readings I've had have so far. 70s, 80s and early 90s shoujo manga was a very interesting field of experimentation, which I feel it has been recently lost.

I was thinking about the same... Guess who will be the next newcomer to reach that numbers again... I remember being really enthusiastic about them at that time, "Ojamashimasu" was a fresh breathe blowing all over the scene... Then they started to rely on formula after formula like everybody does nowadays, so I dropped my care of them. I wish them the best.

I won't call this "stealing" at all. Once again, "stealing" is something like Grieva's style, and I don't find anything like that in the examples you give. For instance, what in "Neo ark" is stealed from "Illuminati"?

Are they in bad terms now?

She could just made herself a Patreon so I could pay for it!!!

@Jigsaw9 I think that everybody enough in love with VK itself holds a special place for worshipping Shazna's hit songs, and thus a good grade of toleration for Izam's voice... Combined with the natural credits for his influential stage persona. But that does not make us overlook the fact that he was a terrible singer! At least that's how I feel about it, lol.

IZAM's vocals always irritated me. I never understood why he or anybody else decided it was a good idea for him to sing such a challenging melody with almost no vocal capacity. Whereas Kaya does it smoothly and smartly. Now I can finally enjoy this classic!

In spanish we say, "qué tiene que ver el culo con pintar", which could be translated as "what [the fuck] has ass to do with painting".

We've been blessed. Oh my God, I'm speechless! Kaya is one of the very few VK singers that actually has an outstanding voice. She deserved to sing those classics in the anniversary concert... I wonder if Mana ever contacted or considered recruiting her for any of his projects...

Surprisingly interesting. Very off-today's boring standards, music-wise. Gonna chack them in the future!

It's kind of a sinister feeling one gets while watching the ridiculous scenario of a pack of "users" actively giving a stuff you know it's ridiculous, nonsensical, inconsistent, etc. a lot of attention all of a sudden... feels like one's gone crazy or something... But buying social media 'credits' (likes, views, subscriptions, downloads, etc.) these days is SO much common than what oneself could ever imagine. And I don't think it would stop any day, considering we are moving forward a virtual society more and more each day.

Painful.

Yeah, incredible even to today's standards. No wonder why they became and immediate success back in time.

I wonder if they also are gonna attack other precious accounts that share Dir stuff in HQ and very well organized, such as direngreyvideoz... But hey, we can still share it through direct upload to any server, I guess.

Definitely way more thrilling than their last PV.

Monochrome has always been a favorite of mine. Definitely very vk sounding, I just love it. Reincarnation morning is one of the most magical songs I've ever heard. It's just so mysterious yet so heart-touching; it's like achieving getting out of the deepest abyss, like a storm vanishing and giving life a new opportunity. I've never had the opportunity to read decently translated lyrics, but harmony and melody arrangements definitely talk about something like morning and reincarnating. Listening to it feels like a very cathartic moment, waved but peaceful at the very end. A masterpiece.

Graphic design is my passion!!!!1

Woah, was there ever a sadder ending for a band than this?

https://imgur.com/a/2iSgPrD Mods, please ban my whole audience, this is disrespectful!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Literally me listening to everything VK has put out in the recent years (yeah, even big names). Thanks for the cathartic moment @Disposable.

Which current bands would you definitely say that make their own stuff by themselves?