[CLUB] Share your favorite Plastic Tree songs

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

It's been a little too quiet here! Since this year marks the 20th anniversary of Plastic Tree's major debut let's share and talk about all of our favorite songs! With what they've been doing to commemorate their anniversary, such as performing older songs and basically recreating old school pura I'm sure all of our memories are overflowing like crazy, especially for longer-termed fans. So let's reflect back and share a few favorites. What do the songs mean to you and were there any special memories attached to them? Or maybe it was the first pura song you fell in love with? Fangirl all you want. Since they have a huge discography maybe you can shed some light on a few songs as well.

 

I have a ton of favorites and will probably keep on posting here, but here's a few to start with:

 

絶望の丘 (Zetsubou no Oka) - This was probably the first song of theirs I fell in love with. I just really loved the bass lines and decided that I'd learn it someday so I listened to the hell out of it. (still haven't learned it but oh well...) And of course, I love Ryutaro's sweet child-like voice.

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ぬけがら (Nukegara) - Another one of my early favorites. The chorus really got me and reading the lyrics made my heart ache. In the chorus the lines say "If these aren’t your true feelings, then don’t do any of these things anymore". Just a bittersweet song about a sad breakup. There's a neat guitar solo from Akira too.

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look at how adorable ryutaro was tho

 

藍より青く (Ai Yori Aoku) - This one is a B-side from their single 真っ赤な糸 (Makka na Ito) and was one of my first songs. It gives me all those nostalgic summer feels and brings me back to those times when I first got into Plastic Tree (and vk in general). The guitars are relaxing and it's very nice to listen to.

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最終電車 (Saishuu Densha) - I loved this song so much back then I wanted to animate an mv for it lol. And I actually gave an attempt and made a tiny gif (with my noob animation skills) back in 2010. xD.....ahh those times when I had too much time on my hands lol. The song gives off a very bittersweet feeling and I imagined that the story would be illustrated in a cute chibi look with a somber night setting. Also, I drew Ryutaro from one of my favorite photoshoots of him. Wonder if anyone here would recognize it.....? I guess it's a little hard to tell though.

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Okay, that's enough fangirling from me. I'll leave room for you guys to share your favorites~ ^^

Edited August 26, 2017 by plastic_rainbow

[platy 3018]

I haven't listened to as much Plastic Tree as I'd like to, but my two favourite songs come from the same  release ' Dona Dona'.

 

ガガジ　(Gagaji)

The thing that always got to me with this song is the bass line. I also love how distant the vocals sound. It's like a feverish dream.

 

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1999 - From the first second of this song I already get so much nostalgia. For some reason I really miss the early 2000's. Probably 'coz I was a kid at that time, but also because things seemed a lot simpler then. This song really gets to me in that regard, with that playful and naive guitar at the start and Ryuutaro's soft singing. Also in the lyrics I get a sense of confusion and maybe hopelessness that a lot of people felt at the turn of the century, with technology and science evolving rapidly and rumours of the end of world that was to come with the year 2000 floating around. (this isn't the best translation, but it will do )

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Consent  - First of all, I love the PV. I think it was the first time I had seen Plastic Tree in action. It gives me vibes from the 90's when music videos had really bad cgi. It's a really fun song and it makes me want to dance. Okay, I've decided I like Plastic Tree best when they have more of an electro sound. 

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Planetarium -  This song breaks my heart. It was one of the first songs that I came across from the band. I've only seen the live version from the link below and I come back to it every time because it's such a beautiful and perfect performance. I can't describe it, it just gives me goosebumps and a heavy heart.

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[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Awww man, Dona Dona was such a good album and 1999 was one of my favorites from it too! I like how soft the song feels, but the lyrics are rather bitter and there's a slight tinge of pain from Ryutaro's singing.

 

For some reason Planetarium gets buried in the back and I seem to forget that it exists until it comes up on shuffle. Dx It's such a good song though. I need to give it more listens~! Really love the way Ryutaro sings here.

[jiji94 78]

Plastic Tree is the only Japanese band I remember the exact day I became a fan of them (October 31st 2009, I have no sweet clue how I found them on Halloween but it's fitting). Ryuu's been my style icon since then and I don't even know how much to express my undying love for this band even when I go through very long periods of not listening to them. They're also the only Japanese band I own multiple albums and live DVDs. I'd really love to see them perform live someday, it's too bad they're one of the bands none of my Japanese friends into rock music know of. I subsequently got into The Cure and Radiohead after listening to Pura a lot (before I got into J-rock I was mostly solely listening to classical music because.. idk). Pura's one of the few bands I don't love their entire discography and can't stand some of their eras but that I love to pieces anyway.

 

Anyway, my fave songs:

 

Sangatsu Itsuka 「3月5日」- My friend "accidentally" played this song on her poppy radio show once because I jokingly recommended she play it. Oops.. Always super loved this song, even when I stopped listening to them for years I'd come back to it.

 

Sanatorium サナトリウム - Now. This.... is a really, really special song and PV to me. 16-year-old me actually wrote a huge 450 page manuscript... based around this song's lyrics. It's one of the craziest, most asinine things I've ever done but that story has stuck with me and made me genuinely want to pursue writing and an English degree (which I have). I love this song so much I don't even know why?? To the point I wrote a novel.. which I named after a song by The Cure. 

 

Kuuchuu Buranko 空中ブランコ - I DID A PRESENTATION ON THIS SONG? WHY?? For one of my final music class projects in high school, I presented on J-rock and Plastic Tree. I chose their performance of this song from their Budokan concert in 2009. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to choose Bucchi's or Kenken's performances (I really like both as drummers) but chose this one because this entire concert was so mesmerizing.

 

雨中遊泳 - I haven't liked any of their newer songs until this one came out. Although l o l you suck, Victor (seriously this label drives me.. I'm glad Sakanaction seems to be under another label now and that I've never had to deal with them shortening their music videos because Victor makes me want to throw hands at what they do to Pura and other bands). Not one of my faves really but I do love it and Pura with any sort of water/rain theme makes my heart happy.

 

Ame ni Utaeba 雨ニ唄エバ - This is one of my faves, especially for walks and riding my bike along the seaside for some reason. 

 

Also really love Consent and anything related to Dona Dona! I'm surprised I don't have that album, or do I.. I'd post links but I don't know how to do hidden content.

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Ahaha, Ryutaro is one of my biggest influences!  I had my hair cut like him back in high school lol. That was the first time I cut my hair short and almost everybody thought I was a guy. xD I stuck with the hairstyle for pretty long because it felt comfortable and seemed to fit my personality well. My hair looks a bit different now, it's still short tho, but whenever I see a photo of Ryutaro I'm always like okay time to have my hair like him again. xD He is honestly like my idol, I have such high respect for him....

 

Wow, you picked a lot of my favorites! I wasn't lying when I said I had a ton of favorites, haha.

I don't listen to 「3月5日」 as much as I'd like to, but damn it's good and one of the heavier songs of theirs, and knowing them they have very few heavy songs.

 

Sanatorium was one of the songs I kinda forgot about when I grew out of vk and stopped listening to pura for a while. But when I listened to it again 1-2 years ago it hit so close to home. It seemed to express what I was going through at the time and hearing Ryutaro's breathing at the end just kinda killed me. It's such a depressing song, but at the same time helped me in so many ways.

 

I love Kuuchuu Buranko~ I really liked the pv and miss all their circus aesthetics.

 

Ahh, I love Ame ni Utaeba and listened to it quite a bit back then. It's one of those songs that just kinda feels sad and cold. I love anything rainy-themed Pura too and I tend to associate them with rain a lot. They have so many songs about them. Anyway, love the guitars in this too.

 

Oh, you don't have to worry about posting links/videos in hidden content. That's just a courtesy for preventing long loading pages or long scrolling, although I guess it's still recommended that you do. You can do so by clicking on the little "eye" icon on the text editor bar and the rest should be self explanatory. Here's a screenshot if you need:

Edited August 28, 2017 by plastic_rainbow