YuyoDrift

Well, the time has come, so I'm just going to say it: Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon is a disgrace of an anime sequel, maybe even the worst one I have seen this year lol. Gonna rant but hide under spoilers cuz...yeah.

Unless this show suddenly makes a full 180 and decides to finally build on the recognized characters from the previous series (I wonder if trailers for this show pulled people in with that gimmick of older character appearances...) or improve on the new characters better, it's a lost cause at this point.

8 hours ago, reminiscing2004 said:

didn't watch the video, but I think it's cool there's a mainstream youtuber who likes VK and talks about it from time to time

I'm subscribed to him and have seen the vid. He's got one specifically for VK and I think it was posted here at some point.

Whang used to be mad into VK, as he is relatively our age group, but has since gone more of the metal route since then.

Edit: Here's that other vid Link

6 hours ago, platy said:

I haven't picked it up yet but it looks exactly like what it is, an empty nostalgia cashgrab just like every other 90s anime revival thing going on atm.

2 hours ago, monkeybanana4 said:

Sad to hear that the new Inuyasha anime is turning out to be more fanservice than actual story plot, though.

I'd still give it the 3-Episode rule, since I am being biased a bit (maybe justified, idk). 

You could end up liking it, but just know there is only one type of demographic that will enjoy this storyline.....

6 hours ago, platy said:

Speaking of, you gonna watch this? Since it's only a 'remake', I'm kinda hyped...

My bother and a couple friends have been gushing over this, so most likely yeah, I'll be watching it lol.

Not sure if my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses are gonna be judging the crap out of it, but we'll see.

The only show I'm trying to watch is Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi (Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon), otherwise known as the Inuyasha sequel that no one asked for. 

Hard to tell you if the show is good or not, the first couple episodes were kinda of filler/fan-service (not a good start) and the vibe I get is more on the lines of some sort of FanFic made into a studio anime and not a proper successor to the original show. I am very biased, so maybe it's that, but I feel they already "shat the bed" by giving the story no concrete plot 5 episodes in and the characters are a real bore (nothing special about them aside from being descendants of the previous cast).

On 8/23/2020 at 1:45 AM, platy said:

I'm extremely surprised that SHIMONETA, a *modern* ecchi series with extremely childish jokes is in YOUR favorites. 

 

But even I, senior hater of ecchis and harems, enjoyed that series. It was super entertaining, cleverly dumb and the characters were fun.  I'm also surprised Prison School is there too, but the first half of the manga is in my all time faves. This is why we get along @YuyoDrift

 

Japan has always had this admirable way of portraying modesty vs indecency through mediums such as animation, where the existence of Ecchi anime, imo, (the good ones at least) proved that there can be a plot (probably how the joke started) to go with the lewdness, great example being my favorite of the genre: Golden Boy. The Ecchi genre now is a former shell of itself (not gonna go off-topic with my complaints) that I've become numb to many antics that I would consider "yawn" worthy. It just doesn't flow seamlessly and so it feels forced in a show that sometimes has great potential but falls short.

I'm not gonna give you a MAL- length review on why Shimoneta is on my top list (I could though haha) but this show approaches both sides of the morality fence perfectly, sometimes even tossing them both out the window, leaving you with those moments of weakness that prove just how pointless it is to be worrying about "right and wrong", bringing back that Ecchi nostalgia where I felt that this should be normal at this point.

Prison School is a completely different beast and one I applaud mostly because it's a big "open your fucking eyes" to morally-wound people that think these characters don't exist irl.  The indecency of many types of people that exist (the perverts, the masochists, the possessive/abusive types, and all the sexual fetish-ers) are shown here in their normalcy because they do in fact exist and this is the purest, raw form of what these people are truly like, no harem-joke bullshit and no stupid half-hearted attempts to be edgy, it just comes naturally and feels that way watching it. This show is what real fans of the genre want as the next big thing and Japan delivered. I'm proud lol.

10 minutes ago, Wakarimashita said:

Was he waiting for a pandemic to release it? Truly a mindblowing year, this is

Shit, now I’m thinking he was waiting for VK to get to the lowest point it ever could (bands disbanding in droves, live houses in shambles, the rich and powerful getting more exposure to the Yoshiki business model) before releasing it since nothing else would come out for weeks and promotion would be easy.

Probably thinks he will save VK with it 😂. If he does, wow.....and now that I think of it, I expect donations to Japan’s most affected musical areas to be his targets, but for a musician to care about the places that made them big is rare.

Wow I messed up the song selection option haha.

On 5/17/2020 at 9:34 PM, saishuu said:

this might be my second favorite album of theirs after cakera

It was honestly tough to choose one of the two to feature, but I continuously see music from Emadara being referenced as favorites by Laputa fans. It's also my favorite of the two so 😜.

These guys are a master of their craft and EMADARA proves it. It's like a story being told, a rollercoaster ride, as well as an acted out play, all in one with these songs. My favorites are just like many others: "MOVE OF DARKNESS", "MONOCHROME", and "FREESIA". The chords in these tracks are just a marvel to listen to, down to the resonance, which I feel is missed by many musicians of today.
 

8 hours ago, platy said:

The 8pm Thursday claps are getting shorter and shorter over here, thankfully. 

You're getting claps?!?!?

I would rather have that than 50+ idiots howling like maniacs EVERY EVENING in an attempt to do the same thing, like ok?? How the fuck did this become a thing.

On the topic of stupidity, I don't find it comforting that I'm earning WAY more from unemployment checks than I had with a fulltime job........and so considering that I don't have to work for another month or so, it makes sitting on my couch drinking beer and playing video games surreal enough that it's hard not to see how broken the income system here in the USA is.

Just in time for the new iPhone SE release lol

Oh, this is a nice change of pace.

The experience that is Mother gets much of my praise musically for its incredible arrangements that paint a vivid depiction of Luna Sea's initial career and the era it was birthed in.

What's also worth noting is that many songs you think will end up a flop, gradually and surprisingly, get amazingly better as the track progresses. Once you hear that shift in direction after the buildup, you'll understand what I mean, it's something I've rarely experienced. Personally I think the break-periods with calmer songs in-between made the listening experience that much more enjoyable, and even those songs give you that same overall album feeling to keep things vivid. "Genesis of Mind", without a doubt, pulled a fucking David Bowie on my ass, continuing to prove that it is the "long-song"-ers that end up being worth the entire listen, and it's my favorite song on this album, hands-down. "Mother" is one of the best "last songs" I've heard thus far, you wouldn't even think it was last song in that album. 

By just Mother alone, I'd be convinced that these were some majorly  dedicated musicians with so much potential and creativity that was blossoming for its time. If other fans are saying that this is Luna Sea at their best, then that is a pretty fucking convincing argument. This is a pretty high point to be at, I'll admit, it's unreal. I wish I was there in person to witness this album being created in the studio, I like this album that much.

Really, I know this saying gets overused but, this is a release that you deserve to listen to if you consider yourself a VK fan.

There are a lot of great tracks that make the listen worth it, but the overall achievement I feel having listened to it is my takeaway.

1 minute ago, nekkichi said:

they actually have improved following the departure (-s?).

their prev album was neat compared to like a five year long creative slump they've been searing through before that.

That's honestly one way of looking at it, I agree. New blood must have helped, for sure (unless they never got a replacement then ahhh).

I also low-key like the cover album art for this.

I have to take some time to come back to their past work, as the last I recall was some members had left.

Good to see that they at least have material coming out, hopefully those previews sound good.

A stoner thought:

When I listen to music from the 90's I always play a game where I try to pinpoint the year it came out, based on the way it sounds and the way they interpret music styles from that time. Some artists that I've met would consider you to look/listen to music in a way that begs the question: "Did this work capture the essence and life of the "time" they were trying to immortalize?" Something that you can pick up by the strums of guitars, the tempo and collaborative efforts of the drummer and bass guitar, as well as the level of focus that the singer is working with in order to exude the mood of their song.

Some albums do this quite well (and as a result are "dated") and others don't but end up being recognized more and popping back up from time to time because people were fed it til it became muscle memory. You know what songs I'm talking about...

It's a degree of appreciation that I'm currently feeling by discovering the music I am listening to, on my own. The mystery of "what was it like (to having lived that lifestyle)? and I do I agree with the you from back that this song is "timeless" in its own way, even though by mainstream standards, it's not.

It's also my enjoyment to find out, I suppose.

12 minutes ago, YuyoDrift said:

 

I recommend her to anyone into Crystal Castles all the way up to most Melodic Synthpop fans

So the other day my gf and I moved my desk from facing the door out of my apartment unit to now being parallel with the adjacent wall of said door.

Idk why but I have this level of paranoia that makes me feel like there's something behind me when I sit at my desk and it really bothers me. 

At the same time I tended to look over my desk to the rest of my apartment, which did waste as much of my attention span as the paranoia is now, so it evens out.

I have another month to get used to this I guess.

Random as fuck but this is what that thread is for lol

12 hours ago, Tokage said:

a member that smokes w**d and now a furry? horrible 

what's next? having one of their members start up their own record label and getting involved in some child abuse scandal further down the line?

You run out of things to do after 25+ years.

Anyways, this is some shit I would expect out of children lol but no one ever says they grow out of things like that.

Some people are like that with their animals (I'm the messenger, relax) where they goof off with eachother like fratboys (hence the child-like comparison), it's a weird level of comfort with your animal that I can't understand cuz I don't find that stuff funny in most context.

That said, this is probably not something you share publicly cuz yeah, just because you find it funny, doesn't mean others are going to or worse.

Forgot to mention this but my boi Van Paugam had a hell of a tweet to share last week.

I had no idea it happened (I miss my city )but still cool to hear about.

On 4/5/2020 at 7:34 PM, secret_no_03 said:

Totally just realized that was not enough choices, so there's 4 now.

Maybe add in “I like one more than the other” cuz that may be some people.

I'm honestly going to go mad if I don't make a decision on the next 2-3 months of my life here soon.

If I don't apply for this mass unemployment going around then it will only be longer before I receive any aid to help keep me from being in debt again.

If I do then I'll need to sever contracts and employment prospects that I have right now, even if the economy resumes within the next month or so, but I'll be on my own looking for a job once unemployment runs out (just like the other 3mil people will be too).

I never thought 2020 was going to fuck us this bad, I'm just debating whether to cut my losses and head back home to family for the time being.....

41 minutes ago, Komorebi said:

WHY does “old school” = “better”.

 

I expected more from you, Yuyo.

You misunderstand.

What I mean is that lynch. (a band that has been around for a long time, when those bands were around, specifically) wanted to do exactly what we are hearing with ULTIMA, but did not do as well with XIII. I guess you can say that it's the equivalent of when the GazettE tried to do this with Beautiful Deformity and that was not that well received, and then making up for it with Ninth.

It's difficult to put into words but lynch. pulled it off.

Edit: These "styles" aren't good because they are old (or rather used before), but that they are good arrangements in general, and need to be used more often by bands of today, which does not happen. 

So I've been trying to figure out why this album works out so well to revive reinvigorate that macaroni formula they were trying to do with XIII.

I've noticed that they've taken arrangement styles from music of the late 00's, bands like Sadie, Sel'm, 9GBO, even the GazettE which I'm surprised by, combining it with their own composition style to release a "take-two" of their last album and honestly ULTIMA does a lot more to bring those nostalgia vibes (something they were trying to do with XIII) than XIII did.

7 minutes ago, AnchuAnchor said:

Could you please elaborate further? You mean that vk is harder to produce, right?

harder=costlier

Back then? I wouldn't confide in my answer as I was not in Japan but I'd say that bands like L'arc, Buck-Tick, and Luna sea as opposed to pop artists making their debuts were looked at equally by promoters and those looking to market music labels across the country (of Japan), so that's why you saw bands in anime OPs along with OPs made by Ayumi, BoA, and other artists/composers like Izumi Sakai (ZARD), Yoko Kanno, etc. 

We know now that VK is harder to produce now, but I'm not as in-the-know to tell you why other than resources drying up (era that died out in the late 90's) and scandals giving the scene a bad image even today. I'm just saying that the 90's marketing boom for all forms of media bled together when it came to how to promote it and what was promoted.

1 minute ago, AnchuAnchor said:

It had an ADV Films license and when I opened it I was met with a catalogue filled to the brim with seasonal anime recommendations and vk related things, great stuff.

This is still done today by some distributors, but this was how media (music, games, videos) were promoted. 

Regarding the VK music being there, most of what was considered "rock" in Japan didn't have a label (well, maybe you could call it "visual rock") and so X Japan, GLAY, Luna Sea, etc were all treated the same in terms of marketing back then. I thought it was beautiful to see b/c there was no stigma on what you could have for anime OPs when it came to artists we now consider VK like the OP for GTO:Great Teacher Onizuka. I like that it carried over to even later anime of the 00s (like the OP/ED of Death Note) or even stuff from the last decade (this sounds weird lol) like the 2nd OP for Black Butler, it gives me hope that this stigma never existed in the first place and that VK could be promoted in this fashion still.