SakuraFox512

I have a couple of unpopular ones, but I'll just start with the one, lest I be burned at the stake (or at least never taken seriously again): Dir en Grey and MUCC are horribly over-hyped

Paraphrase of a comment I've seen on several vids. of his: 'I don't understand shit, but this man sure knows his.'

Hello everybody, Been lurking this place for a couple years before I finally decided to make an account, and I've already made a couple posts here, but realized I never made an introduction post, probably because I'm bad at them. But moving past that...I'm 22 years old and been listening to jpop and rock since late grade school (visual kei since early middle school, I would guess). Most of my preferred bands hail from the 80s and 90s (Kuroyume, BUCK-TICK, D'ERLANGER, Plastic Tree, PIERROT, Janne Da Arc...), but I'm not averse to musicians after the turn of the millennia, either (The GazettE, MERRY, and, recently, AIOLIN, are a few I like). I listen to music pretty much 24/7, and also like reading and (trying to) make games. I want to be a musician someday, so I'm interested in writing lyrics and composing (<-- also a 'trying to'). I have some anxiety troubles, so if I get slow on my responses while I'm here, please don't take it personally. ._.

Well...he started using e-cigarettes a few years back, probably to help his voice. (Whether that means he stopped using real cigarettes altogether or not is another matter). But regardless of what his current situation is regarding smoking, I just brought it up because I figured all the years that he definitely spent smoking normal cigarettes have probably played their part in present troubles. But yikes! He's had polyps removed 4 times? I only knew of two. :x That's pretty rough. And yeah, I don't envy the situation. Problems like this have got to be among the worst to be gazing down the barrel of as a vocalist. I remember some of the worries and fears he mentioned going through back when he had gotten diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome and can't help but wonder how he's feeling about now. I hope that whenever the time comes that he has to bow out, he can at least be content with all that he's done over the course of Pura's existence. As for the other band members...I wonder about that too. I guess Akira has COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS to fall back on? It's not really the same though... Either way, the vk scene is gonna feel real weird for me without the ol' 'Tree that never withers'. =/ EDIT: This occurred to me a while ago and it's been driving me nuts since, but I wonder why Pura don't just take a hiatus, rather than disbanding, They've been going pretty constantly since they first formed...maybe taking a year or two off would benefit Ryutaro. Surely going full-steam ahead with tours and double performances (like what they did with the same-day Puppet Show/Nega to Posi concerts) and whatnot will just burn his voice out faster...? You and me both. Hoping I can save up enough dough and get my health in check so that I can see them even once.

Hmm...Ryutaro also composed "Nocturne" as well, didn't he? (though that only brings the total up to two). Akira and Ken-Ken took on two each also...so that means Tadashi ultimately did the other half. Pretty sure it's the songs originally from the singles that tipped the scales for Tadashi, since he often composes their lead singles...if we were to count only the new songs, I guess Tadashi only did two as well! I suppose they couldn't have been more even-handed without leaving out the singles. Oh yeah, that makes sense about his voice. Combined with his smoking, polyp removals, and add aging too, and I suppose it's not unexpected either. On that last part, I have to say it was nice seeing Replay again after its long absence on setlists in recent times. ^^ And I agree wholeheartedly that I still love Ryutaro's voice too. I think he's starting to try to wind himself down though, (albeit slowly), and I'm finding the whole situation pretty sad. I know that in a recent interview [or was it a live?] that happened sometime in the past couple of years, he stated that he knows he won't be able to continue on forever as a musician. Not because of any lack of interest, but simply because of the state of his throat and he mentioned trying his best with it and still wanting to do as much as he can while still able. And then just last month, there was him saying the band was moving into their final act following the release of this album. So I'm very honestly starting to think that the band's next album will also be their last. And quite possibly for Ryutaro's work as a vocalist as a whole, too. With any luck, they'll get to usher in their 25th [major-label] anniversary, but I'm increasingly unconvinced they'll last beyond that threshold, much as I hate to say it.

Thanks. Also, it occurred to me that I should probably ask this before adding certain musicians, so what sort of scope are you looking at for the site? I know that on vkdb, for example, certain artists such as Kiyoharu and Gackt have entries despite not exactly being vk as soloists. Would they and other musicians in similar positions be acceptable additions or no?

Thanks for the info on how to approach scans. My username is SakuraFox512, same as here. And I reckon 'music industry' works. Can't really think of anything better, myself. Maybe somebody else here has an idea to toss out there.

I assume only certain users can add artists? There were several releases I was hoping to add, but the artists don't seem to be present. That much sounds like a good idea, but what would be the proper selection under "Venue" in the case of promotional tapes? None of the current options for that seem particularly applicable. Also, can I ask what sort of scans are being looked for? Album covers, obviously, but what about from magazines, or album/single booklets, or tour pamphlets/photobooks, etc.?

Asking those who have ordered directly from Suruga-ya before...is it possible to determine or ask if a release comes with its obi before you actually receive the thing? That aside, +1 for the recommendation of Zenmarket.jp. Best deputy service I've used thus far -- 300 yen per order, no consolidation fee for multiple orders, 45 day storage period, a ton of different shipping options, and relatively quick answers to messages. The only rough experience I've had was the first time I had a poster shipped out from them (it got cracked during shipping; they failed to put the poster in a plastic/cardboard tube for protection), but I've never had a repeat of that. Also, haven't seen it mentioned yet, so I'd like to put forward JPN-Depot for anybody looking for a package forwarding service. They're pretty cost effective and don't amp up your shipping charges ridiculously with tons of fees. They also offer bidding on Yahoo Auctions and a 'Buy-for-me' service to get stuff from webshops and whatnot, though they're a little less cost effective when it comes to directly purchasing things than Zenmarket is, generally. Their customer service is useful in that you can also inquire about places you're considering buying from and have them say whether the place seems legit or not.

I'm with you on this, but it'll never happen as long as they're signed to Victor Entertainment. (Frankly, at this point, I'm just hoping the fandom doesn't get a replay of the BS with Ink's limited edition release and the Tent 3 DVD/Blu-ray). But then, they've jumped record labels a lot, so maybe they'll eventually hop to one that makes different business decisions. While I didn't hate Hakusei, personally, I have to say I like this album more also. A bit of a surprise when I checked the songwriting credits on some of the songs too (would never have guessed Ryutaro composed "Irotsuki")! The DVDs are pretty solid. Puppet Show is one of, if not my favorite album of theirs, so the setlist for that one is killer. "monophobia" and "Sangatsu Itsu-ka." in particular were big highlights, so just with those, I could be content. The other type that has the Nega to Posi setlist was unexpectedly the concert I liked more overall, though -- "Sabbath" was wicked, "egg" had a great thing going in energy with the crowd, "Kuroi Kasa"'s atmosphere was lovely, "Makka na Ito" had its best performance, and "Kioku Yuki" made for such a close. I think my main complaint is that Ryutaro's voice kind of had a tendency to get drowned out/hard to hear in the lives. Mainly with the Nega to Posi set for whatever reason, unfortunately. (Also I learned that "Nukegara" is a song utterly beyond his chords' capabilities anymore. While that song was always sort of dicey, he sounds so strangled on the choruses for it now. Roughest performance among both the concerts, hands-down.)

Anybody here heard Hikarito (of AIOLIN)'s cover of "Spica" yet?

Ah, pardon me, then. News to me that this album was the only thing up. Could've sworn Nenriki and some other release were floating on there, but I guess I must be mixing things up with someplace else.

It's also apparently available on several other sites for a high res. release:

D'oh. That should've been easy enough to think through. That's what I get for being awake 40+ hours I guess. On a more general note for anybody who's gotten to listen to the album yet, does it seem like they pulled a Träumerei and changed the single songs a bit without bothering to list them as album versions, or is that just my ears playing tricks? And, while this isn't particularly important, does anybody know if there's a video of Pura mentioning "遠国", or maybe a broadcast where the title was mentioned anywhere? Written sources from the English-speaking side of things don't seem to settle on whether the reading is "Ongoku" or "Engoku"

One of my copies should be arriving today -- can't wait to give it a listen ^ For that matter, are we sure that Pura, being Pura, weren't going for a portmanteau of the words "Ecstasy" and "Existentialism"? Just my first thought when seeing the title. A glance at the lyrics might help. God only knows how you'd have to romanize that, though.