SO a lot has happened. I will try to recap from memory as factually and chronologically as I can.
So I turned 21 on the 21st of September.
On the Sunday before that, I met Ryo at Shinagawa-eki (eki=station). Then we rode the train out to Yokohama, where he got lunch at Freshness Burger before getting his car and making the 2-3 hour drive to Kamakura. (Yes, Ryo drove all the way from Shiga-ken [ken = prefecture] to Yokohama. He said it took around 7 hours.)
We parked the car and went to a shrine (I don't remember the name, it was kinda long) where we made wishes, got fortunes, ate a candy apple, watched the koi fish in the pond, all while Ryo was explaining certain things about shrines to me. We saw a traditional Shinto style wedding party there! Ryo bought me these snake fortunes that are supposed to help me bring good luck and wealth. We went to a couple of shops near the shrine, where they had traditional dishes and lacquerware and chopsticks and mirrors and whatnot. There were also cell phone charms, geta sandals, and jewelry.
After that, we drove out to Enoshima. Everyone there is tan because everyone surfs and spends their time on the beach. There's a lot of Hawaiian-influenced stuff. THE WATER WAS NATURALLY WARM HOLY SHIT. As an Alaskan, that was a new experience for me, going to a real beach.
We stayed the night out there, then came back to Tokyo. Ryo stayed at the apartment with me. Sarah was sick and Maura was in America at the time. On my actual birthday, we went to Ueno, ate okonomiyaki, went to karaoke, then went back home.
I also received a happy birthday message from Myuji on mixi. That was awesome.
BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.
I was very very sad when Ryo left for Shiga-ken.
I met a guy named Hiro, who is in this silly idol group called VKB428 (http://www.vkb428.com/index.html). He's on the "K-team." They're supposed to be visual kei, but really, they're just pop. The only actually VK member is Taku (who is so freaking adorable oh my god). Hiro is also a model, he's been in magazines before. He's also half Italian, but doesn't look it. (Side note: Most people who are half Japanese and look full don't admit they're half over here, for various reasons.) They're all really good at singing, though.
OCTOBER. Dates are fuzzy.
KING OF TATTOO: My first tattoo convention. It was AWESOME. It was in Daikanyama (which is near Shibuya). So many tattoo artists and people from so many different countries. There were piercers, suspensions, Horiyoshi III, contests (including the facial piercing contest, which I got Shanghai'd into), my tattoo artist was there, and I made friends! =D I bought a t-shirt and got free posters.
At some point, I went to a Tripolysm live and gave Myuji/Chaka/Daigoro their omiyage (gifts) I brought them from Alaska. I got another Myuji guitar pick. =D
I feel like I'm forgetting something. >.o; Bah.
I bought pink and blue colored contacts. Bwahahaha. I can't wear them for long though, because the pigment makes my eyes hurt after a while.
Sarah and I went to a host club with her (not Japanese) friend Atsuko. I kinda had to translate a lot. It was fun though. Hard to understand some of the hosts though, cuz a lot of them were Kansai-jin (people from the Kansai region, which is where Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe are. Tokyo is in the Kanto region).
On the 28th, I finally got to see Dir en grey for the first time in almost four years. The last time was in Arizona in February of 2007. I don't care how old/creepy/weird/short Kyo is, I still love his voice and I still love the band and HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT LIVE WAS AMAZING. I went by myself, but my friends Jacey and Kris were there too. ^_^ My body was so sore the next night because EVERYONE was moshing. I could see Toshiya and Kyo very well from where I was standing. I almost cried during the encore, when they played THE FINAL. Holy shit. It was amazing.
The night before Halloween, Maura and I got dressed up (her costume was Trent, her own character) and I was "lazy VK drag king." We met up in Shibuya and went to Alcatraz, the prison-hospital-themed izakaya (restaurant). It was great. Afterwards, we meandered about, drinking, talking with random drunk people, stopped at Donki, looked at other people's costumes and the like. It was fun. I saw Hiro and he sang happy birthday to me because he had missed it. Halloween night (last night), Maura & I watched horror movies, and watched the Garfield Halloween special with her parents on Skype.
So on the day before Halloween, after another VKB428 live (gotta support your friends!) and before I hung out with Erin and Maura, I went to the Tower Records in Shibuya to see what was going on. I saw LM.C's new single at the "LISTEN TO THESE" section, so I did, grabbed a copy, and went to the register. The clerk asked me why I only had one copy. I was confused.
Apparently, the bright fucking yellow stickers with the kanji I couldn't read said "If you buy two copies, you get a ticket for an LM.C event" (paraphrasing). Long story short, event on Halloween in the basement stage of Tower Records.
So the next day I go, and I'm waiting in line. Apparently, (my mistake) it wasn't a live, but a "shake-hands" event where you go on stage, say hi to Maya-tan and Aiji, and shake their hands.
I turn to the chick behind me and ask what I should say. She laughs and says "Happy Halloween?"
So I get onto the stage, and my heart starts beating like crazy. Also MAYA IS FUCKING TALL. Like Miyavi height (around 6 feet). And he's even more hot in person, holy shit.
I get to Maya and say "Happii harowiin!" and shake his hand. He does not let go of my hand as he says (in English) "What country are you from?" I said America, and he says "Oh! Where in America?" and I say "Arasuka-shuu. (Alaska)" Then I couldn't talk cuz I was so nervous, and a staff member tapped my shoulder to say I should move onto Aiji.
I shake Aiji's hand and say "Happii harowiin! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu (nice to meet you)" to which Aiji replied "Nihongo shaberu no? (you can speak Japanese?)" I told him "sukoshi dake (only a little)." He asked if I was studying, and I told him yes, and then he said in English "Do your best!" I almost died.
I made friends with the chick behind me. Her name is Miki and she also lives in Nakano-ku!
Shit like all the stuff I mentioned above is the reason I love being here.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Yesterday
So, aside from me getting home and my awesome purple bike being missing (I found it this morning), yesterday was awesome.
I woke up and lazed about with Maura & Sarah, then headed out to Shirokanetakanawa-eki to meet with Keigo. I haven't seen him since before I left. He got a haircut! Also, he wasn't wearing a hat. I was proud of him.
We just drove around and talked for literally two hours. Then we went to an izakaya we'd been to before in Yukigaya-Otsuka, his neighborhood and one of the neighborhoods next to Ontakesan (where my old dorm is). After that, we went to Nori's, where Nori was TANKED. It was hilarious. Kazuya, Taishi, Hiromi, and a few other people were there. Taishi has facial hair now! It's weird! He looks kinda like a Japanese Will Turner, except his voice isn't that deep.
Keigo drunkenly tried to teach me how to play hanafuda, which is a kinda of card game. It's sort of like Go Fish. Then Keigo made me play darts with him, and of course I lost. Nori and Keigo teased me the entire time.\
Nori apparently had to shave his head after Japan lost in the World Cup, haha. Poor kid.
The whole night, I kept saying "sashiburi!" and "natsukashii!" "Hisashiburi" is like "long time no see" or "it's been a while," and "natsukashii" is basically "nostalgic."
Oh, yes, my bicycle. I bought one. It's shiny and purple with a black basket and black handlebars.
Maura and I still need to buy a fridge. Our apartment is so small though, that we're not sure where we're gonna put it.
On Maura's bedroom door, I made a sign that says Miyavi Rm. 382 because her favorite Japanese musician is Miyavi and he has an album called Rm. 382, and on my door I put Kyo 304 Goushitsu (room) because Dir en grey is my favorite band (Kyo being my favorite member), and Diru has a song called 304 Goushitsu Hakushi no Sakura (Room 304, Cherry Blossoms of White Death), and there are other 304 Goushitsu poems in Kyo's poetry books that I desperately want but cannot afford.
Ryo is back in Japan! He's gonna visit Tokyo next week (birthday week yay!). It'll be nice to see him.
So, in October, Diru has three shows. I am going to at least one of them (concert tickets in Japan are WAAAYYYYY cheaper than stateside). If I have the money, I'd also like to see LM.C in November and VAMPS in December. This is not including any shows that Tripolysm and/or Secret Fathers may have between now and then, but those are indie and therefore even cheaper.
Also, apparently a friend of mine is a member of VKB428. o.o; They're basically the "visual kei" boy version of AKB48, an aidoru pop group. I'm going to their show on the 25th. I must brace myself for the creepy middleschool fangirls. *shudder*
Maura has taken to drawing things next to/around my tattoos. One day, she decided to draw Miyavi running away from the dolphin on my leg (there's a running joke that he has a fear of being raped by dolphins. Please do not ask me to explain the psychology of an adorable spaz like him) and then drew a top hat, ears, and a goatee on one of my smiley faces. It's amusing.
So apparently Yoshiki is looking to expand his empire with pachinko. I will spare you my thoughts on Yoshiki. (He's the drummer/pianist of X JAPAN.)
Hide was in Tokyo to see an Arashi concert, but I didn't get to see him because he was busy. Kazuki was also supposed com up this weekend, but he got sick and had to cancel. Sad panda.
On my way home from school last week, and obaachan (elderly woman) handed me a flyer with a fuckload of information and a signature area on the back. I can't read most of it, but from what I can tell it's a petition for the abolition of nuclear arms.
My Japan Today class is taught by Jeff Kingston! He writes a lot of articles for the Japan Times, as well as other news sources. He's a funny guy. It makes it easy to pay attention in class.
My English professor looks like the movie version of Ozymandias from Watchmen. I keep excepting him to say "I'm not a comic book villain."
Takuya wants my help translating a manga (comic) into English for one of his friends. Yay? I think. I could certainly use the practice.
Well, I have class soon. Later.
I woke up and lazed about with Maura & Sarah, then headed out to Shirokanetakanawa-eki to meet with Keigo. I haven't seen him since before I left. He got a haircut! Also, he wasn't wearing a hat. I was proud of him.
We just drove around and talked for literally two hours. Then we went to an izakaya we'd been to before in Yukigaya-Otsuka, his neighborhood and one of the neighborhoods next to Ontakesan (where my old dorm is). After that, we went to Nori's, where Nori was TANKED. It was hilarious. Kazuya, Taishi, Hiromi, and a few other people were there. Taishi has facial hair now! It's weird! He looks kinda like a Japanese Will Turner, except his voice isn't that deep.
Keigo drunkenly tried to teach me how to play hanafuda, which is a kinda of card game. It's sort of like Go Fish. Then Keigo made me play darts with him, and of course I lost. Nori and Keigo teased me the entire time.\
Nori apparently had to shave his head after Japan lost in the World Cup, haha. Poor kid.
The whole night, I kept saying "sashiburi!" and "natsukashii!" "Hisashiburi" is like "long time no see" or "it's been a while," and "natsukashii" is basically "nostalgic."
Oh, yes, my bicycle. I bought one. It's shiny and purple with a black basket and black handlebars.
Maura and I still need to buy a fridge. Our apartment is so small though, that we're not sure where we're gonna put it.
On Maura's bedroom door, I made a sign that says Miyavi Rm. 382 because her favorite Japanese musician is Miyavi and he has an album called Rm. 382, and on my door I put Kyo 304 Goushitsu (room) because Dir en grey is my favorite band (Kyo being my favorite member), and Diru has a song called 304 Goushitsu Hakushi no Sakura (Room 304, Cherry Blossoms of White Death), and there are other 304 Goushitsu poems in Kyo's poetry books that I desperately want but cannot afford.
Ryo is back in Japan! He's gonna visit Tokyo next week (birthday week yay!). It'll be nice to see him.
So, in October, Diru has three shows. I am going to at least one of them (concert tickets in Japan are WAAAYYYYY cheaper than stateside). If I have the money, I'd also like to see LM.C in November and VAMPS in December. This is not including any shows that Tripolysm and/or Secret Fathers may have between now and then, but those are indie and therefore even cheaper.
Also, apparently a friend of mine is a member of VKB428. o.o; They're basically the "visual kei" boy version of AKB48, an aidoru pop group. I'm going to their show on the 25th. I must brace myself for the creepy middleschool fangirls. *shudder*
Maura has taken to drawing things next to/around my tattoos. One day, she decided to draw Miyavi running away from the dolphin on my leg (there's a running joke that he has a fear of being raped by dolphins. Please do not ask me to explain the psychology of an adorable spaz like him) and then drew a top hat, ears, and a goatee on one of my smiley faces. It's amusing.
So apparently Yoshiki is looking to expand his empire with pachinko. I will spare you my thoughts on Yoshiki. (He's the drummer/pianist of X JAPAN.)
Hide was in Tokyo to see an Arashi concert, but I didn't get to see him because he was busy. Kazuki was also supposed com up this weekend, but he got sick and had to cancel. Sad panda.
On my way home from school last week, and obaachan (elderly woman) handed me a flyer with a fuckload of information and a signature area on the back. I can't read most of it, but from what I can tell it's a petition for the abolition of nuclear arms.
My Japan Today class is taught by Jeff Kingston! He writes a lot of articles for the Japan Times, as well as other news sources. He's a funny guy. It makes it easy to pay attention in class.
My English professor looks like the movie version of Ozymandias from Watchmen. I keep excepting him to say "I'm not a comic book villain."
Takuya wants my help translating a manga (comic) into English for one of his friends. Yay? I think. I could certainly use the practice.
Well, I have class soon. Later.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
More Diru stuff
Win tickets to see Dir en grey live in America!
Go to http://jrockrevolution.com/index.php/webzine/feature-articles/1579-dir-en-grey-the-unwavering-fact-of-tomorrow-2010.html for more info!
Go to http://jrockrevolution.com/index.php/webzine/feature-articles/1579-dir-en-grey-the-unwavering-fact-of-tomorrow-2010.html for more info!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Memories
So, to summarize my past few days for my family's sake: Yes I am still alive. It's fucking hot and humid here. Apartment hunting is stressful as fuck.
The point of this post is actually about last night. I went to the Miyavi show here in Roppongi with Maura (who I swear to God is Miyavi's biggest/non-creepiest fan).
In all honesty, out of respect for the kids who are actually in it for him, I will not claim I am a Miyavi fan. I like the music of his that I've heard, but I don't know his discography or even most of his songs.
We got to Morph (the venue) and waited. I didn't have a ticket because it was a semi-spontaneous decision on my part to attend. A girl Maura knew ended up selling me her ticket, which was pretty sweet. I saw Dankichi and Mikan again (not sure if they remembered me) as well as a crapload of kids I didn't know. There were a few foreign kids, some cosplaying kids, and one foreign cosplaying kid. Maura and I hung out with this Australian chick named Alex, who is a total Gackt fan, but she wants to branch out in her musical interests.
So we get into the venue (me a bit after Maura because tickets apparently have NUMBERS here). I find her and Alex a little closer to the front, while Dankichi, Sugumi (who was cosplaying as Miyavi from Sakihokoru Hana no You ni -Neo Vizualizm-), Mikan, and a bunch of the other CoMiyavi (his fanclub) kids towards the back. We waited while listening to random music over the speakers. I wasn't sure what to expect, despite Maura's many descriptions of the numerous shows she's attended.
The opening guitar to Survive started, and we were very confused because we could hear him singing, but couldn't see him. Then he came out and everyone cheered. (We yelled his name many times that night.) I cannot name all of the songs he played, but it was fucking great, he seemed to be having fun and us in the audience were as well.
My calves hate me right now from jumping up and down so much. Also, his tattoos are even more beautiful in real life.
After I don't know how many songs, he & his people went backstage and us audience members chilled until the encore.
He came out in one of his latest tour t-shirts, which was extremely tight on him. He looks around and in Japanese says "I don't have a towel!" He's a funny guy, especially after the ustream ended (Miyavi's been using ustream so all the kids who can't attend the shows can watch. You can find the shows on youtube).
He started to play Due le Quartz (his old band from before he was solo)'s Dear From XXX. He kinda fudged some of the lyrics, which we all found amusing. He got Spike to bring out a booklet with the music/lyrics, after Azume told him to continue to play it, to which he replied "Kimi no tame ni" (I will for you). While the music stand was being set up for Miyavi, he got distracted by one of the cosplaying kids who was dressed up as one of the Kabuki Danshi/Kavki Boiz. It was cute.
He finally started to play Dear From XXX properly (at this point Maura and I had moved to the back with the other CoMiyavi) and I look in front of my to see Sugumi sniffling and holding her hands over her mouth. I was never into Due le Quartz, but it was sorta a heavy song. I heard sniffling coming from random people in the crowd. Then he started to play Mata Yume De Aimashou, and both the other Sakihokoru Hana no You ni -Neo Vizualizm- cosplay girl next to me and Maura started crying. Mikan and Maura were holding each other crying, so I just tried to comfort the cosplaying girl and hold her up (she almost buckled). After that, we all rocked out to Sakihokoru Hana no You ni -Neo Vizualizm-, and then he says "Next song, Girls, be ambitious" and my breath caught in my throat.
Girls, be ambitious is literally the third visual kei song I ever heard and possibly the first VK PV (PV = music video) I ever watched.
I turned to Mikan and said "This is my favorite Miyavi song" and she nodded, saying "Mine too." He started playing, and I felt myself choking up. Mikan took my hand and we rocked out and cried together.
The emotions hit me like a truck. The nostaligia of being some twelve year old kid on her parent's computer crawling the net for any tidbit of info on the VK scene, of being angry and blasting VK from my stereo, of feeling happy when I met other kids with the same musical interests, the happiness that I felt from my first Diru show, the fact that I was hearing Miyavi play my favorite song of his, and so much more, all at once. I was sad and happy and overwhelmed and godfuckingDAMN I would not trade that moment for anything, crying and rocking out with CoMiyavi who treated me like one of them even though it was my first show of his.
After that song was the "Otsukaresama!"s chorusing from and to everyone. (I'm not really sure how to translate it. It's pretty much "you must be tired!" or "you worked so hard!" You say it pretty much every day at least once or twice in Japan.)
Demachi (waiting for the artist to exit) was long and amusing. Sugumi apparently had never seen a cockroach in her life before, and was chasing it down the sidewalk. There were many more "Otsukaresama!" and "Kondo ne" (next time) and "ki wo tsukete ne" (take care) form everyone. A bunch of us signed a card for Miyavi (which apparently is a new tradition, started on this, his Screaming Out From Tokyo, tour). When I signed it, I wrote in Japanese: "This was my first Miyavi show. Thank you. -Tonacey."
He finally came out of Morph and was greeted by us like twenty feet away all yelling "OTSUKARESAMA!" He smiled and waved at us.
It was a great fucking night. I'm glad I got to go.
You can view part one of the ustream from that night here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssk5cd9ztVg
The point of this post is actually about last night. I went to the Miyavi show here in Roppongi with Maura (who I swear to God is Miyavi's biggest/non-creepiest fan).
In all honesty, out of respect for the kids who are actually in it for him, I will not claim I am a Miyavi fan. I like the music of his that I've heard, but I don't know his discography or even most of his songs.
We got to Morph (the venue) and waited. I didn't have a ticket because it was a semi-spontaneous decision on my part to attend. A girl Maura knew ended up selling me her ticket, which was pretty sweet. I saw Dankichi and Mikan again (not sure if they remembered me) as well as a crapload of kids I didn't know. There were a few foreign kids, some cosplaying kids, and one foreign cosplaying kid. Maura and I hung out with this Australian chick named Alex, who is a total Gackt fan, but she wants to branch out in her musical interests.
So we get into the venue (me a bit after Maura because tickets apparently have NUMBERS here). I find her and Alex a little closer to the front, while Dankichi, Sugumi (who was cosplaying as Miyavi from Sakihokoru Hana no You ni -Neo Vizualizm-), Mikan, and a bunch of the other CoMiyavi (his fanclub) kids towards the back. We waited while listening to random music over the speakers. I wasn't sure what to expect, despite Maura's many descriptions of the numerous shows she's attended.
The opening guitar to Survive started, and we were very confused because we could hear him singing, but couldn't see him. Then he came out and everyone cheered. (We yelled his name many times that night.) I cannot name all of the songs he played, but it was fucking great, he seemed to be having fun and us in the audience were as well.
My calves hate me right now from jumping up and down so much. Also, his tattoos are even more beautiful in real life.
After I don't know how many songs, he & his people went backstage and us audience members chilled until the encore.
He came out in one of his latest tour t-shirts, which was extremely tight on him. He looks around and in Japanese says "I don't have a towel!" He's a funny guy, especially after the ustream ended (Miyavi's been using ustream so all the kids who can't attend the shows can watch. You can find the shows on youtube).
He started to play Due le Quartz (his old band from before he was solo)'s Dear From XXX. He kinda fudged some of the lyrics, which we all found amusing. He got Spike to bring out a booklet with the music/lyrics, after Azume told him to continue to play it, to which he replied "Kimi no tame ni" (I will for you). While the music stand was being set up for Miyavi, he got distracted by one of the cosplaying kids who was dressed up as one of the Kabuki Danshi/Kavki Boiz. It was cute.
He finally started to play Dear From XXX properly (at this point Maura and I had moved to the back with the other CoMiyavi) and I look in front of my to see Sugumi sniffling and holding her hands over her mouth. I was never into Due le Quartz, but it was sorta a heavy song. I heard sniffling coming from random people in the crowd. Then he started to play Mata Yume De Aimashou, and both the other Sakihokoru Hana no You ni -Neo Vizualizm- cosplay girl next to me and Maura started crying. Mikan and Maura were holding each other crying, so I just tried to comfort the cosplaying girl and hold her up (she almost buckled). After that, we all rocked out to Sakihokoru Hana no You ni -Neo Vizualizm-, and then he says "Next song, Girls, be ambitious" and my breath caught in my throat.
Girls, be ambitious is literally the third visual kei song I ever heard and possibly the first VK PV (PV = music video) I ever watched.
I turned to Mikan and said "This is my favorite Miyavi song" and she nodded, saying "Mine too." He started playing, and I felt myself choking up. Mikan took my hand and we rocked out and cried together.
The emotions hit me like a truck. The nostaligia of being some twelve year old kid on her parent's computer crawling the net for any tidbit of info on the VK scene, of being angry and blasting VK from my stereo, of feeling happy when I met other kids with the same musical interests, the happiness that I felt from my first Diru show, the fact that I was hearing Miyavi play my favorite song of his, and so much more, all at once. I was sad and happy and overwhelmed and godfuckingDAMN I would not trade that moment for anything, crying and rocking out with CoMiyavi who treated me like one of them even though it was my first show of his.
After that song was the "Otsukaresama!"s chorusing from and to everyone. (I'm not really sure how to translate it. It's pretty much "you must be tired!" or "you worked so hard!" You say it pretty much every day at least once or twice in Japan.)
Demachi (waiting for the artist to exit) was long and amusing. Sugumi apparently had never seen a cockroach in her life before, and was chasing it down the sidewalk. There were many more "Otsukaresama!" and "Kondo ne" (next time) and "ki wo tsukete ne" (take care) form everyone. A bunch of us signed a card for Miyavi (which apparently is a new tradition, started on this, his Screaming Out From Tokyo, tour). When I signed it, I wrote in Japanese: "This was my first Miyavi show. Thank you. -Tonacey."
He finally came out of Morph and was greeted by us like twenty feet away all yelling "OTSUKARESAMA!" He smiled and waved at us.
It was a great fucking night. I'm glad I got to go.
You can view part one of the ustream from that night here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssk5cd9ztVg
Saturday, August 14, 2010
My reasons
So, I'm currently waiting in SeaTac. I hate layovers almost as much as actually flying.
This post'll be a bit long a prolly a tad rambly. I've got time.
I'm listening to Dir en grey's Uroboros album, which I like a lot better than The Marrow of a Bone. Uroboros has a few tracks that remind me of Withering to death. Honestly, though, I can't take the English lyric versions of Dozing Green and Glass Skin seriously. Kyo-san, A for effort, but maybe you should do what Miyavi did and take a hardcore English class.
One of the first things I did when I got to Japan was join "a knot," aka the official Dir en grey fan club. For reasons unknown to me they have no international fan club.
Dir en grey, in a way, is pretty much the reason I started learning Japanese.
I mean, yeah, sure, I watched a few anime as a kid, and I always loved my Grandpa's stories about being stationed in Japan after he fought in the Korean Conflict. But the real, huge reason is music.
What had happened was, at some point in the sixth grade, I was on AIM talking to a girl whose name I can't recall, but I remember her awesome screen name: MajinSquee. She asked me if I listened to Dir en grey. Of course, being twelve and knowing next to nothing about Japan in general, I didn't. She file transferred me a picture (similar to this one, not that exact one, but the costumes/makeup were the same http://amis_lee.tripod.com/jrock/dir.jpg). I said "Oh! Pretty girls!" which probably made her laugh. Then she transferred me the song. The first Japanese rock song I'd ever heard: Cage. At the time, I had no idea what the hell Kyo was singing about at the time, but the music-box intro and bass solo, in addition to Kyo's weird and wonderful voice, had me hooked. It was then that I decided that someday, I would be able to know WTF that crazy bastard was singing about without having to lookup a translation/translate it myself (I still have yet to be able to do this, in between his wordplay, screaming, and general use of words they don't teach you in class).
I sought out more Dir en grey songs. During this search I found other Japanese rock bands: X Japan, Malice Mizer, Due le Quartz, Pierrot, Plastic Tree, Luna Sea, L'arc~en~ciel, Kuroyume, Janne da Arc, etc. I was upset occasionally, finding awesome music from an indies VK band that were no longer active (I have some songs on my iPod that I think never even made it to a full album *coughcough*DAS:VASSER*coughcough*), or when I found out that Malice's Kami and hide while solo had both passed away at the end of the '90s, years before I'd heard Cage.
Growing up, I'd heard oldschool rock, like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, '80s glam and metal, some country rock ish type stuff (Johnny Cash and whatnot) and of course whatever poprock the local radio station played.
I had never heard music like Japanese visual kei. I loved it. I longed to be pretty like them, to have the ridiculous hair and makeup and costumes. I had seen glam like Bowie, but these guys took it and ran with it. Amazing androgyny. The first time I ever watched Miyavi's Girls, be ambitious PV, I couldn't breathe. I wanted to be him because he was just so goddamn beautiful in that video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQH9vfDFjGk). Yes, I have gender identity issues, in case that wasn't obvious.
Of course, my horizons weren't only expanded with Japanese VK. This of course led me to other American and British rocks bands, because of comparisons (e.g. oh, this band was influenced by The Sex Pistols), and Korean music, because hey, Korea's right next to Japan (I like Jaurim =D Kim Yuna is awesome.)
For a long time, I was the only person I knew in Anchorage who liked Japanese visual kei (I'm sure the general Japanese populace here preferred their enka and pop music). Eventually though, as I entered high school, more and more anime otaku tards were making their presence known, and they knew of the more famous acts (like Gackt). At the time (actually I still do), I found most of this type of people extremely fucking annoying, and if this makes me sound like an asshole, oh well. You cannot truly learn about Japanese language/culture/etc by watching anime, cosplaying, and never bathing (yes, I am working off the stereotype, but I'm thinking of very specific names and faces as I type this). You can't learn it by listening to Japanese boys scream into microphones, either.
I started taking Japanese at my high school. Then it was actually okay for me to talk about my favorite music in class.
It was actually in high school, the first time I saw Dir en grey live. For either my birthday or Christmas (I can't remember), my dad had gotten me tickets to the concert in Tempe, Arizona at The Marquee in '07 (I'm actually wearing the shirt I bought from that show XD). My grandparents live in Tempe, so I stayed with them.
This concert showed me the reason I will never attend their concerts in the states ever again: American audiences at rock concerts are douchebags. (Also, fuck thrashers. Seriously. Die in a fire.)
Ignoring the audience, the band was amazing. Kyo fishhooked himself and at some point ripped off his shirt. Withering to death. had been released before this concert, but they started the opening to OBSCURE (off of Vulgar) and this screen dropped down behind the band, and the PV started playing! It was amazing.
They have a couple shows in and around Tokyo in October, I wanna go to at least one of them. Hopefully the Japanese audience is better (they tend to be, from the few other band shows I've been to).
Pretty much, if I'd never talked to MajinSquee, I might not be going to school in Tokyo. I might not even be here on this earth. Listening to music saved me from doing some really stupid shit, like drugs, drinking, and straight up suicide. Looking back, my life really wasn't that terrible at the time, but while I was living through all that bullshit, it seemed like my world was ending.
Anyways.
To sum up my long ramblyness: Dir en grey is my favorite band. Ever. Even though I hate Marrow of a Bone and wish they were still VK, and I do like other bands/musicians as well (Miyavi, VAMPS, Tripolysm, and LM.C all have shows after I get back to Tokyo!). Even though now they almost sound like a normal American metal band, I still <3 them lots.
This post'll be a bit long a prolly a tad rambly. I've got time.
I'm listening to Dir en grey's Uroboros album, which I like a lot better than The Marrow of a Bone. Uroboros has a few tracks that remind me of Withering to death. Honestly, though, I can't take the English lyric versions of Dozing Green and Glass Skin seriously. Kyo-san, A for effort, but maybe you should do what Miyavi did and take a hardcore English class.
One of the first things I did when I got to Japan was join "a knot," aka the official Dir en grey fan club. For reasons unknown to me they have no international fan club.
Dir en grey, in a way, is pretty much the reason I started learning Japanese.
I mean, yeah, sure, I watched a few anime as a kid, and I always loved my Grandpa's stories about being stationed in Japan after he fought in the Korean Conflict. But the real, huge reason is music.
What had happened was, at some point in the sixth grade, I was on AIM talking to a girl whose name I can't recall, but I remember her awesome screen name: MajinSquee. She asked me if I listened to Dir en grey. Of course, being twelve and knowing next to nothing about Japan in general, I didn't. She file transferred me a picture (similar to this one, not that exact one, but the costumes/makeup were the same http://amis_lee.tripod.com/jrock/dir.jpg). I said "Oh! Pretty girls!" which probably made her laugh. Then she transferred me the song. The first Japanese rock song I'd ever heard: Cage. At the time, I had no idea what the hell Kyo was singing about at the time, but the music-box intro and bass solo, in addition to Kyo's weird and wonderful voice, had me hooked. It was then that I decided that someday, I would be able to know WTF that crazy bastard was singing about without having to lookup a translation/translate it myself (I still have yet to be able to do this, in between his wordplay, screaming, and general use of words they don't teach you in class).
I sought out more Dir en grey songs. During this search I found other Japanese rock bands: X Japan, Malice Mizer, Due le Quartz, Pierrot, Plastic Tree, Luna Sea, L'arc~en~ciel, Kuroyume, Janne da Arc, etc. I was upset occasionally, finding awesome music from an indies VK band that were no longer active (I have some songs on my iPod that I think never even made it to a full album *coughcough*DAS:VASSER*coughcough*), or when I found out that Malice's Kami and hide while solo had both passed away at the end of the '90s, years before I'd heard Cage.
Growing up, I'd heard oldschool rock, like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, '80s glam and metal, some country rock ish type stuff (Johnny Cash and whatnot) and of course whatever poprock the local radio station played.
I had never heard music like Japanese visual kei. I loved it. I longed to be pretty like them, to have the ridiculous hair and makeup and costumes. I had seen glam like Bowie, but these guys took it and ran with it. Amazing androgyny. The first time I ever watched Miyavi's Girls, be ambitious PV, I couldn't breathe. I wanted to be him because he was just so goddamn beautiful in that video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQH9vfDFjGk). Yes, I have gender identity issues, in case that wasn't obvious.
Of course, my horizons weren't only expanded with Japanese VK. This of course led me to other American and British rocks bands, because of comparisons (e.g. oh, this band was influenced by The Sex Pistols), and Korean music, because hey, Korea's right next to Japan (I like Jaurim =D Kim Yuna is awesome.)
For a long time, I was the only person I knew in Anchorage who liked Japanese visual kei (I'm sure the general Japanese populace here preferred their enka and pop music). Eventually though, as I entered high school, more and more anime otaku tards were making their presence known, and they knew of the more famous acts (like Gackt). At the time (actually I still do), I found most of this type of people extremely fucking annoying, and if this makes me sound like an asshole, oh well. You cannot truly learn about Japanese language/culture/etc by watching anime, cosplaying, and never bathing (yes, I am working off the stereotype, but I'm thinking of very specific names and faces as I type this). You can't learn it by listening to Japanese boys scream into microphones, either.
I started taking Japanese at my high school. Then it was actually okay for me to talk about my favorite music in class.
It was actually in high school, the first time I saw Dir en grey live. For either my birthday or Christmas (I can't remember), my dad had gotten me tickets to the concert in Tempe, Arizona at The Marquee in '07 (I'm actually wearing the shirt I bought from that show XD). My grandparents live in Tempe, so I stayed with them.
This concert showed me the reason I will never attend their concerts in the states ever again: American audiences at rock concerts are douchebags. (Also, fuck thrashers. Seriously. Die in a fire.)
Ignoring the audience, the band was amazing. Kyo fishhooked himself and at some point ripped off his shirt. Withering to death. had been released before this concert, but they started the opening to OBSCURE (off of Vulgar) and this screen dropped down behind the band, and the PV started playing! It was amazing.
They have a couple shows in and around Tokyo in October, I wanna go to at least one of them. Hopefully the Japanese audience is better (they tend to be, from the few other band shows I've been to).
Pretty much, if I'd never talked to MajinSquee, I might not be going to school in Tokyo. I might not even be here on this earth. Listening to music saved me from doing some really stupid shit, like drugs, drinking, and straight up suicide. Looking back, my life really wasn't that terrible at the time, but while I was living through all that bullshit, it seemed like my world was ending.
Anyways.
To sum up my long ramblyness: Dir en grey is my favorite band. Ever. Even though I hate Marrow of a Bone and wish they were still VK, and I do like other bands/musicians as well (Miyavi, VAMPS, Tripolysm, and LM.C all have shows after I get back to Tokyo!). Even though now they almost sound like a normal American metal band, I still <3 them lots.
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