YuyoDrift

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.....

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.

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.

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.

LOL fucking Imeem for myspace was so good and so shitty sometimes, but it worked lol I did enjoy being able to upload my own shit doe for my page but the names people were putting in did suck for those looking for the actual artist.

Well not so much news as its more just hearsay but apparently the mountain towns here in Colorado have quarintined themselves due to a crazy outbreak due to lodges, ski resorts, and events causing a major spread of the virus. The worst part is that even though other countries are being told to stay put, that didn't stop the rich fucks from all over europe, Canada, and EVEN FUCKING MEXICO to come vacation here in major ski towns like Vail and Aspen. The townsfolk are pretty pissed but what can they do when their major source of income is tourism..... @The Reverend I'm hoping this is not true but either way I hope you guys are managing well up there.

Wow, someone really wants to know this? lol I mean, I'm glad because it's information that needs to be archived, with plenty of us around still to provide this. My memory is vague as fuck for the late 90's (I was under 10 years old) but it was the cool kids on my block that had access to these magazines (I think from MixxZine aka TokyoPop! and VIZ Media, who were the biggest sources for this stuff) CDs, and VHS tapes that were being converted into early file types that took up the entire HDD lol. There was really no online presence that was being translated for english speakers that I recall because the scene was still nonexistent and the otakus/weebs were more interested in the anime aspect of the Japanese culture (there's a LONG history of the otaku boom of the 90's that you should read up on cuz it was GREAT!). A lot of them were learning Japanese and they talked with Japanese people online that could type in english, which I think is how the sped up birth of forums and subforums on popular websites happened for like Newgrounds, Ebaumsworld, and the one's everybody else has mentioned. I can text some old neighbors and see if they can provide more info if needed (assuming they still remember me lol). For the early 00's when I actually had my own PC (for "homework" lol), it was mostly blogspots, MySpace pages of fangirls/collectors, major websites like JpopAsia and talking online with just anyone interested in Japanese rock in general. VK was still small imo but bands like D'espairsRay, DEG, and even the GazettE were making the rounds as it was what normal fan girls were interested aside from ayabie, antic cafe, and other Oshare Kei. The music was not entire albums but songs that could be acquired from P2P applications like the ones @saishuu mentioned. Once you got a real understanding of the internet (to which at this point I think most of your PC was virus infested lol) then you we're able to find .rar files and torrent websites like the ones mentioned above. People I knew shared Mixtapes/burned CDs (sometimes with no metadata on them, ugh) to distribute and once files became the norm we just did that.

This was my first thought. Gonna be very hard to beat this song moving forward. I was ready to say that this was gonna be a 3/5 album but then ALLERGIE slaps you across the face haha so I have to reconsider. I'll come back to this post and add more stuff/vote but right now I'm torn. Edit: So this album was a pretty good binge. The sound quality/production still bothers me as it sounds like a majority of it mimics XIII (you can read my review here) but I do give them props on so many subtle nuances and changes to the arrangements that you'd have to be actively looking to hate the album to notice that the composition is somewhat the same. The middle playthrough of the album is definitely the strongest as ALLERGIE, IDOL, ZINNIA, and IN THIS ERA are hard to skip on the first listen. Still, we can't avoid the Macaroni metaphor being tossed around because it's true and so we hope ULTIMA is a hint at a change in musical direction going forward.

You got to be smart, girl. Head over to places like gas stations, hardware stores (not kidding), and well I hate to say this, but apparently from what I've heard is that Asian markets are still stocked with products.

While I do find this panic over items that under normal circumstances would never be bought hilarious, I do actually feel terrible for low-income families & people that just want to buy regular grocery items to stay alive. That said, it is at this point of the FOMO trend where it is pretty damn hard to not want to buy 2x your normal volume, seeing that shelves are empty and the layoffs/store closures may leave everyone with some tough decisions they were never taught to begin with. It's a scary thought that this could get any worse. Obviously metro areas and other highly populated towns are seeing the brunt of this, but what about small towns? Perhaps their lifestyle may have its perks during a time like this...

I’ve read the theories online and it doesn’t seem far fetched. I’ve realized though that all the keyboard warriors combined can’t defeat the last 50 years of economy (And those responsible) in this world for a reason, so it’s best to say what happens happens regarding the virus.

Right now I'm just trying to budget AS MUCH as I can before shit hits the fan here in my state, as they've already declared a state of emergency and people are literally getting shafted on price gouges and empty shelves. The memes are real people, so let 'em rip.

Figured that since this topic of discussion will soon boom here we'd make a thread for all posts/shitposts/news updates that we can share for those that want to know around the community here. Please keep yourselves civil as this is probably going to be the one exception of a topic that the staff will disregard the rules for, but that won't mean that direct insults and ridicule are going to fly. Have fun but really, stay clean/safe.

You forgot the claw machine with toilet paper in it lol.

Akina specifically I'd agree does not represent the "transition" that ultimately gave more recognition to JPOP going into the 90's (something I'm more familiar with). It is also why I made sure to NOT include any of her previous work as she as a singer does not fit into any one-category of music. Due to the limited amount of sources that I could find at the time of creating this thread, there was no accurate release that I could link to that would best represent that shift, it was simply that STOCK continued using elements of the genre while introducing composition styles that we're already being used by singers like DCT and ZARD in the 90's and the introduction of idols groups in the late 80's like Onyanko Club if we want to refer to stuff before 1990. But all this reference stuff was more than 1/2 a year ago and if there are now releases available online to listen to and use as a more accurate metric to end the era of city pop, by all means feel free and share them here. It's easier to accept this explanation than to try and give an alternative. We are 2 decades too late before the west had access to it thanks to the internet and a TON of 90's music from Japan has been categorized under the umbrella of the "JPOP" genre that most are familiar with, sound-wise (i.e. the mid-late 90's stuff).

That feeling when you might have to stay at your current job because shit's gonna hit the fan economically and you don't want to be broke AND jobless.... (No image, sorry, I'm in fucking disbelief right now)

Probably. When I saw that they mentioned Hizaki Grace Project in those tags I kinda had one of those theory/suspect moments that there was gonna be something happening soon. Not often I see all 3 together like that but I don’t really pay attention to their solo stuff aside from Instagram.

Ah, so that explains the images with Hizaki/Kaya/Mana recently...

Something tells me I'm gonna hate the sound production on this one as well.

His videos are always fantastically shot and this is no exception. The song is pretty good so I'm looking forward to what the rest of the album sounds like.