hiroki

Shrugs, I'm probably one of those blasphemous people who enjoyed BORN's "HONESTY" and "MOTHER" singles (didn't like "SATISFACTION?" though). Sure they aren't as "heavy" as their earlier stuff, but I liked them (I felt the same way towards giru, when half their fans were attacking them for "losing their way"). It's all a matter of opinion at this point.
 
Anyway I don't wanna digress from the topic. Like I said KIFUMI didn't leave because he disagreed with the direction BORN was going (at least he didn't -appear- to). I seriously hope BORN find another bassist and continue their activities.

I know right! The classroom setting reminds me a lot of Capella and ALiBi as well, lol. Maybe it's gonna be more "fun" sounding And Tohma looks really different here o.0

Gt.望弥(nozomi) & Gt.ひかる(hikaru) have exchanged their part since 2014/03/01
 
 
聖LUCHe.学園 live-distributed DVD will be released at their one-man live at Takadanobaba AREA at 2014/03/26

I know right! The classroom setting reminds me a lot of Capella and ALiBi as well, lol. Maybe it's gonna be more "fun" sounding And Tohma looks really different here o.0

To add to the discussion on language:
 
Sometimes I feel so differently towards expressions in 2 different languages that basically mean the same thing. I don't really know how to describe this, but I feel there's a lot more "depth" and "indirectness"/ambiguity in Japanese than in English.
 
Since DIV's "Seasons" happens to be playing now, I'll take 2 lines of lyrics from it as an example:
春霞たち　淡く名残り雪
梅雨寒し　肌を寄せ合いながら
 
Now there's almost no way of having an English equivalent of this without sounding somewhat pretentious or lame. EVEN if it's possible, I suspect there's no way of reconstructing the "seasonal" feel that emerges from just these 2 lines of lyrics.
 
Then again I dunno if all these have to do with the language itself, or it's just something to do with me (because I'm obviously more familiar with English than I am with Japanese). By the way it's also quite fascinating to me that a lot of vk artists (well not ONLY vk i suppose, but also in the larger Japanese music industry) seem to listen to a great deal of Western music. Numerous vk bands have cited famous Western musicians as their inspiration during interviews. Perhaps it's just a human thing that there's always a part of us drawn to more "unfamiliar" territory.

Here are my thoughts about Hiroki's point:
I personally think that is the effect of cultural differences, especially the lyrics part. The exact lines you've put there show one of two huge cultural differences between Japan and western countries (let's say England here because I'm far from super familiar with American culture). 
 
The first one being Japan's famous love and appreciation for nature. They have stuff like haiku poems about nature and numerous festivals celebrating nature (like sakura flowers day every spring) and through that connection with nature and natural world, they also developed a lot more sensitive "feel" for it and that reflects in the language too. Most of the words expressing some natural happening are translated to english as phrases. Here's an example:
In english, there is a word "snow", used for snow in any form. In japanese, there are:
雪-snow, 大雪- heavy snow, 新雪-new snow, 初雪-first snow, 粉雪-powdery snow, 天華-fancy word for snow, 雪氷-icy/frozen snow etc etc There's a comparison with something from the nature in ridiculous amounts of vk songs. Heck, I didn't even know half the names for birds in english (or serbian), before I started learning japanese.   The second cultural difference is japan's perceptions of feelings. Being a small island (so you can't easily run away) it was unacceptable in people's heads to insult or get in a quarrel with someone. Naturally, the japanese language developed according to that and that's why some words expressing feelings are, as Hiroki said, a little bit indirect of ambiguous. After all, japanese people are raised to have a "actions, not words" mindset and they express through their doings rather than saying something to somebody directly.    Both of these have had a great effect on the way people express themselves, and that's why I think translated lyrics sound so ridiculous at times - we simply don't feel them as much as somebody raised in japan would.

To add to the discussion on language:
 
Sometimes I feel so differently towards expressions in 2 different languages that basically mean the same thing. I don't really know how to describe this, but I feel there's a lot more "depth" and "indirectness"/ambiguity in Japanese than in English.
 
Since DIV's "Seasons" happens to be playing now, I'll take 2 lines of lyrics from it as an example:
春霞たち　淡く名残り雪
梅雨寒し　肌を寄せ合いながら
 
Now there's almost no way of having an English equivalent of this without sounding somewhat pretentious or lame. EVEN if it's possible, I suspect there's no way of reconstructing the "seasonal" feel that emerges from just these 2 lines of lyrics.
 
Then again I dunno if all these have to do with the language itself, or it's just something to do with me (because I'm obviously more familiar with English than I am with Japanese). By the way it's also quite fascinating to me that a lot of vk artists (well not ONLY vk i suppose, but also in the larger Japanese music industry) seem to listen to a great deal of Western music. Numerous vk bands have cited famous Western musicians as their inspiration during interviews. Perhaps it's just a human thing that there's always a part of us drawn to more "unfamiliar" territory.

Yes and no. There are songs that appeal to me lyrics-wise and songs that I enjoy more for their melody. I haven't ran across that feeling most of you have mentioned, that I've heard incredibly stupid lyrics and they ruined the song for me. Idk maybe I just have selective attention lol
As somebody who translates vk lyrics often, I think visual kei is full with beautiful lyrics I didn't run across in music in other languages, and that plays a huge role in my love for the scene. I like how much variety of topics and feelings are put in it (especially coming from a country where every goddamn song is either about being cheated on, cheating on somebody, or getting drunk to forget the failed relationship. I swear serbian music is all about that). For example, Memento Mori's historical lyrics, Liphlich's psychology turns and Dolly's appeals to modern society and structures. My reading comprehension is far better developed than hearing when it comes to japanese so when I realize that lyrics are horrible in a new song I liked, I just don't look them up lol
However I do enjoy listening to music in languages I don't understand, especially when I'm doing something else and I don't want to be distracted but still need some enjoyable BGM. For example, I frequently listen to french artist Tete when I'm reading or studying because his voice tone and music relax me, even though I know like 2 words of french language (and one of them is "school" which is not very helpful with lyrics). 

1: Don`t worry about others, is Visual Kei a genre, or a scene, or something else, to you?

Objectively, it's not a genre. But there ARE some elements that majority of bands (at least those I've heard at least one song by, since i got interested in vk by now, that's probs around 300 or something) do put into their music, so it's KINDA a genre, excluding those that have extremely specific sound. I'm really horrible at recognizing genres in general, I recognize a band, or a group of similar bands, but never know how to classify them to somebody who's never heard any of those bands for example. Also I started listening to VK artists when I was really young (13 I think) and my music taste and knowledge was just forming, so in a way, I do see visual kei as a genre even though somebody non-biased and more knowledgeable of music in general would say it isn't.

 

2: Most of the time can you tell the genre, or if you will like a band based on their look?

I kind of discover bands by accident, I never really LOOK for bands to follow. Youtube recommendations, last.fm artists, friends spreading the word and so on is my way of finding new music. I actually go through phases where my receptiveness of new music varies (sometimes I'm just good with what I know, and then there are times when I just crave hearing something completely new), and if I'm in the mood for new stuff, I'll just search youtube for any band name I remember seeing, whether I've seen the picture or I've only heard of the band's name. I try not to judge bands too much based on their looks only, because I've ran across a few examples where I've been completely wrong about a band, and thought they would be completely crappy and not worth it, where they end up being absolutely awesome. 

 

3: Do the looks matter to you? If the same band dressed in Jeans and T-shirts with short hair, would you be as interested?

I would probably not be so interested in hearing them in the first place, but if I've just randomly heard their song and liked it enough to look them up, I don't care at all how the band looks like. In my head, bands are kind of divided into three sections based on WHY I like them: 1) visuals 2) music and 3) both. If a band falls into the second, I don't care about their visual side of things at all. Bands from the third category though, I would still listen to them and love them even though I would feel it's a pity they don't do visual (/anymore/) (for example, I absolutely worship Moran's PVs and their music is just something that I feel grateful for having in my life. But knowing how they are now and how perfect their videos are to me, I would just value their existence in my life a little less if they didn't have those videos even though their music is more than satisfying itself.) 

 

4: Do you search for music by sub-genre, such as Nu-Metal, Alt. Rock, etc?

No, I suck at making a difference between genres, let alone sub-genres 

 

5: Do you get annoyed when others label your favorite music as genres which you don`t agree with?

Generally I try to avoid labeling anything in my life, and it applies to music too. Though genres are helpful in a way, I think they also to an extent limit both artists and the audience from experimenting and exploring. But I don't get annoyed simply because maybe somebody wants to justify liking a band a little out of their comfort zone to themselves? maybe they just think the band has some elements found in a specific genre (music sadly does have a little bit limited elements that go through all genres and ages after all)? I don't know what their arguments for labeling something are, so I have no rights to judge their opinion before I hear them out, I guess. 

 

Bonus: If a band starts as Visual Kei, even if they change, are they Visual Kei 4 Lyfe?

Depends. If all that's left the same are band members and band name, then no. If they didn't make any difference in their music and just stopped dressing up all fancy, they are still visual kei (going back to my reasons from the first question)

Too complicated in japanese. Also, every smallest writer can pull off the most beautiful poems in japanese, so it gets boring really quick. If I listen to japanese lyrics, that's enough beauty for me.

Last time I saw them live, Kokoro was already experiencing spatial issues. The band wasn't even letting him carry equipment to the car because he was stumbling and his breathing was constantly heavy... still didn't keep the dummy from smoking like a chimney. I remember they had to cancel a live because Kokoro couldn't breathe right. 

I miss them all, and I'll miss Kokoro very much... and I'm highly disappointed the band is disbanding, but I love them and I can only hope that Kokoro's health gets better. He has a degenerative disease and is still so young... It's not fair. But, I hope that he lives long and happy, even if it's away from music for a while.

that's... fast.

Maybe Satoshi will come back and they re-band as Para:noir! (in my wildest dreams, I know.)

That chorus really didn't fit the rest of the preview. NIGHTMARE has basically caught the GazettE's disease of "we don't know how to make memorable choruses anymore", though they've been doing that for a while too I guess. Idk, I agree with ShanethVarosa; it sounded pretty rad until the guy started singing, lol.

Absolutely agree.
I was officially converted to a DIV-fan after their album and this single is just confirming that.  Really enjoyed both songs.  I like "you" a little more, but "Butterfly Dreamer" is also pretty solid (minus the cringe-worthy "acapella" growl at the end, but I've always said Chisa needs to work on his harsh vox).  Plus, the PV is visually stunning.
Keep it up, DIV!

I had the cheesiest grin going on throughout this video. This is probably my favorite "look" of the band so far (Coming from a guy, Chisa looks absolutely stunning...)

I really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions! Keep them coming
 
I'm quite surprised that quite a few people have said that it's actually a good thing that you don't understand lyrics, and that helps you connect with the music more ^^ I've never really given much thought to this, but I think it's an interesting point. Like Mi'ihen, I don't listen to English songs much, and the reason is I find English too "functional" a language, and the lyrics become really dry and cheesy. Maybe it's indeed the case that having some "distance" between the listener and language is a good thing!

I agree, early baroque influence on the VK scene is tottaly underrated, at least to western fans. 'Sug Life' is like a textbook for many bands that came after, they were not always this tuned-down version of kannivalism, lol

1: Do you buy multiple versions of releases, or buy at all? (Judgement-Free-Zone)

 

Depends on which band. For some bands I buy selected releases; for my favorite bands I'll try to "collect" the different editions of the same release. Sometimes I'm foolish enough to get multiple copies of every edition of the release. So yeah, someone please stop me XD

 

2: Do you collect cheki or other non-music related items from bands?

 

I generally don't care for cheki. But photosets are always nice - they allow me to see how the aesthetics of a band evolve over time. Band t-shirts are fun to have too - although to be honest, the design for those is usually terrible

 

3: Follow them on Ameblo, Twitter?

 

I don't have Ameblo. I have Twitter and have followed some people on it, but I hardly keep track of what they're saying (if I do that I'd have no time for anything else).

 

4: Would you follow them on the street?

 

If you mean stalk them, then no. But I'll try to get an autograph or have a photo taken with them

 

5: Dig through their trash? (Judgment-Free-Zone)

 

No.

 

6: Does Visual Kei or other forms of your musical taste influence your style or personal life?

 

Yes, my interest in street fashion was partially inspired by visual kei. Although it could have been other way round. 

 

7: Desire to move or visit Japan influenced by music?

 

Music was what got me interested in Japan when I was much younger: it made me really want to learn the language. Although, having lived in Japan for some time previously, I've come to disabused myself of an overly "romanticized" view of the country. 

 

8: Do you read dirt-sheets of bands, like rumours, gossip, etc...?

 

I've stumbled on some of those before, and in all honesty (at least for a period of time) they did make me "enjoy" visual kei less. At the end of the day, most of these rumors are false anyway, and since there's virtually no way to distinguish between what's true and false, why waste my time/energy on them where I can better use the time for something more productive and enjoyable?

 

9: Ever fantasize about being friends with band members? (JFZ)

 

Actually, yes, lol. It's only natural I guess. Some of these people seem like really fun/kewl people to hang out with. But I won't say I'm obsessive about it.

 

10: Do you want to be in a Visual Kei band (or any other kind of band)?

 

Yes... but given that I can't sing and the instruments I play (piano, classical guitar, flute) aren't "band instruments," there's no chance of this happening ;_;

bis is my favorite band of all time, I agree that their style is kiiinda similar (I have a little surprise for you fellow bis fans, as soon as I receive my order from rarezhut =P). I would also add to the list Sug Life-era baroque.
 
The way xTRiPx infuses the electronic sound, and the "rawness" of their sound is not matched today at all. In my opinion,Tokyo Shitei was a try-harder, LM.C is way too silly/kawaii, I really don't see any similarities between them. But I totally agree that good generic is not a problem. (the only one I think stands out from DIV is Shogo, everybody else is normal good, which makes them a normal good band).
 
I guess in the end is just a matter of taste, as you said. I think that they are all extremely talented (in a way few VK artists are, Ena in particular), and their sound is tight as shit. I really can't find anything to complain about them.

I love how the timer in red in the back was a countdown to the end of the song.
 
I can't believe someone called this song basic. The music video is pretty superb and the song is awesome!! The chorus is pretty strong, yet mellow. The instrumentation is pretty awesome and melodic, I love the transition from the riff after the first chorus to 2:13 where the song reverts to the intro melody which was pretty nicely done.

What I like about Japanese is that almost everything ends in open vowels, so you can hold any word, any note. Like in english so many words ends in consonants, and it is not the same if you try to the sounds of the words over a duration. Even in Japanese when the word ends in `n`or is shortened to mas or des instead of masu / desu, it still sounds so much better to me when put into vocals than English.
 
I also like the sentence structure, and the modest thoughtfulness of the Japanese language, and how it is still formal and not invaded with too much slang. Sometimes it is like the English words are the slang though.