KISAKI conspiracy? Strange things I noticed related to Kisaki's old bands Levia and LAYBIAL

[inartistic 1150]

【EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE】

Here's the evidence that I could find of these bands being *real*:

-

https://twitter.com/KISAKI_OFFICIAL/status/297370748589338624

KISAKI played recorded versions of songs of Levia~LAYBIAL~SHËY≠DË at his 20th anniversary live. It's not really “proof” of anything, but this was a history live, so there should have been someone who was a fan of the bands that were ripped off (VICE∞RISK, 業, Levia^[non-KISAKI]), and who would have noticed if KISAKI was playing those songs...

-

As someone else mentioned, on 2007-11-19 in his HOLIDAY blog, he mentioned meeting ex-Levia member 美憂, who is married and has a child.

-

https://twitter.com/KISAKI_OFFICIAL/status/154273353094537216

On 2012-01-04, he posted in his Ameba (now deleted) that he met Levia members again. Most of them married with children now. He also posted a pciture of 美憂's child this time (also on Twitter ↑), as well as a picture of that guy's shop. (Google/Tineye didn't return any results when I searched the images).

-

http://music3.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/visual/1066131643/

Earliest web mention of these bands that I can find is on 2ch in 2003. So at least we know his *canon* band history included these bands way before BEYOND THE KINGDOM.

-

Again, not proof of anything, but the canon lineup of SHËY≠DË features 紫緒, who was in HISKAREA. I automatically doubt that KISAKI would make up a fake band with a known musician in the lineup, if it weren't real...

-

松本 博, the owner of Wakayama livehouse OLD TIME at which Levia supposedly performed a lot of oneman lives, actually commented in BEYOND THE KINGDOM about seeing KISAKI's junior-high band Levia as regulars who were popular. So that seems to confirm a lot for me, unless they faked that comment (I already checked―the 松本 博 is real.)

---

【REALLY WEIRD STUFF】

This one is sort of reaching, but bear with me. Check out the cover of the Levia “滅びの序章” demotape again (which was copied from the Levia^[non-KISAKI] “滅びの序章”, remember?).

Now check out this image by hyura again. The image on the left. I know it's near the LAYBIAL sign, but it's only 3 members (LAYBIAL had 4), and LAYBIAL didn't play a live on 1994-09-21... but Levia had 3 members and did play their first live on 1993-09-21. So could that picture be of KISAKI's Levia?

And if so... looking at that supposed Levia^[non-KISAKI] scan, couldn't you see KISAKI on the left and the other two guys on the right (compare the eye-makeup, the hair, the chokers, the suit jackets)...?

-

I can't claim anything from this, but you have to admit that it sort of looks like Levia and Levia^[non-KISAKI] are one in the same, at least from comparing those two pictures.

That would be the ultimate mind fuck if that were the case, because the Levia^[non-KISAKI] demotape has 5 tracks which, as far as I know, aren't stolen from anything...

---

【CONCLUSIONS】

Personally, I think Levia~LAYBIAL~SHËY≠DË were *real*, since they've been mentioned for so long (at least since 2003), way before there was a book about KISAKI or he had some “legacy” of being a 15-year-old genius who was playing oneman shows. Also, I can't imagine KISAKI and FOOL'S MATE would be so bold as to fake a comment from the owner of a livehouse who knew Levia. And finally, I don't think KISAKI was lying when he posted about meeting ex-Levia members... but if he was, then he's been purposefully sprinking those things throughout his blog for 7 years which just seems to be way beyond his level of thinking IMO.

So like I said, I think the bands are *real*, but I'm not sure if the demotapes ever were... I see a couple of possible scenarios:

1. The *canon* demotapes were *real* but were also fake/stolen (even at the time of their release).

2. It's been so long that KISAKI has no clue what his early bands released, so he just made it up for BEYOND THE KINGDOM. In that case, there are *real* demotapes, but probably completely different from the *canon* ones.

3. There are *canon* demotapes are also *real*, but KISAKI's been seeding the net and auctions with fake copies, while he maniacally holds on to the only real copies that are left. In that case, the titles are still stolen from other releases... (This would fit in nicely with the crazy theory that Levia is the same as Levia^[non-KISAKI]!)

-

So I guess my posts didn't really give any clear conlusion, but I hope you've gained some more evidence to make your own (or at least see that the situation is even weirder than some simple lying).

[Brandon 18]

So we were led to that conclusion, that pretty all Levia~LAYBIAL~SHËY≠DË "official" releases are fake.

IF these bands would've  released something own music, at least one tape would've turned up, at least!
Absolutely impossible that all the copies are disappear from the Earth. Especially if the name is KISAKI.
But there is no one!

Here are my questions.

Why KISAKI would spread fake tapes by himself, to prove his history?

If these bands really existed, there is ZERO reason to do it.
Not even money, the amount of price and the amount of copies are (of course) extremely low.
So what's the point here?

[Gaz 1097]

and now there's even more stuff for speculating about. shit's get more and more complicated and has less and less sense. 

[Lestat 2167]

I personally don't think anything Kisaki does has ever made sense even to himself, and I quite frankly do not bother much until people start digging into his history and try to unravel what presumably is correct and incorrect. Even if anything he did before 1994 was fake history, I doubt it would've mattered if anyone had found out or not regarding the unpopularity of these releases and bands and their insignificance to Visual Kei legacy. 

 

From what I've gathered he's a troubled man with some sort of complex for a need of recognition and attention who missed out on adulthood. Things about him are off and shady but who knows what's the original cause for his constant lies and beating around the bush, and even his mysterious causes of illnesses. More CEO's of Visual Kei labels are involved in weird crap and I bet if anyone started digging in into Yoshiki or Dynamite Tommy you'd find similar strange discoveries. Regardless, he's my favourite Japanese artist and I respect him and what he's done for the scene and how he still manages to keep himself standing whilst getting his own shit shoved down back his throat all the time, I wouldn't be able to keep my own legs from giving out. 

[inartistic 1150]

↑

I agree with you that it's somewhat pointless to discover the truth here. And like you, I love the legend of KISAKI and the scene that blossomed around him―whether or not he's a really good person is somewhat irrelevant, as I'll never spend time with him.

But, that being said, I think it's still important to dig into this. When it comes to VK, we're the historians; no one else cares about this shit! So if we find something interesting, I think it's part of our duty to investigate and record it, just for history's sake.

It sucks that digging into KISAKI is often from a witch-hunt point of view, and as a fan, I don't like that... but I think it's important nonetheless .

---

I'm really convinced that the bands are real. Hopefully somebody can figure out the remaining ~tape mysteries~... and maybe when pigs fly, KISAKI will step in and give the *real* truth 8D

[Lestat 2167]

It sucks that digging into KISAKI is often from a witch-hunt point of view, and as a fan, I don't like that...

 

That's how I think about it too. Especially Westerners seem to be particularly fond of hunting him down and exposing every little thing about him. Being a fan of him pretty much heaves whatever load he gets dumped upon his shoulders, upon mine too, as I often take it seriously and really aren't frequently amused by whatever issues people seem to have with him. But I guess that's just something that needs to be swallowed by the few of us

[Brandon 18]

 

 

That's how I think about it too. Especially Westerners seem to be particularly fond of hunting him down and exposing every little thing about him. Being a fan of him pretty much heaves whatever load he gets dumped upon his shoulders, upon mine too, as I often take it seriously and really aren't frequently amused by whatever issues people seem to have with him. But I guess that's just something that needs to be swallowed by the few of us 

 

[Lestat 2167]

Aaaand that's what I mean.

[Zeus 7997]

Aaaand that's what I mean.

Getting caught for tax evasion, selling faked "rare" demo tapes of your first bands to sell online for money, and fabricating stories about your hospitalization complete with pictures ripped off of Google are not what I would call "small things". Those are what I would call big things, and I could remember those three things off the top of my head. Kisaki has a knack for drawing lots of attention to himself, mostly negative. I'm pretty sure he's an attention succubus and thrives on it to keep himself going.

[Lestat 2167]

Personally I think that obsessively digging this deep into his life is just as sad, if not sadder.

[Sakura Seven 593]

Personally I think that obsessively digging this deep into his life is just as sad, if not sadder.

 

It's actually hilarious.

[Lestat 2167]

It's actually hilarious.

 

That's fine, you're entitled to your opinion too. But if this had been anyone else no one would've given two shits about it.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

I think people care because it happens again and again, and this is probably not the last "scandal" regarding Kisaki.

[hitsuji-hime 211]

This is actually a great way to learn more about Kisaki and his band history, and yet, I can't believe people are getting butthurt about it. Looking into bandomen's lives, or other high-profile people such as celebrities, actors, and musicians, happens all the time, so get used to it. :/

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

What if he's done this all purposely and the first person to confront him about it wins a UCP special bag + official bootleg DVDs and (another) copy of Phantasmagoria's Dejavu??

 

This is my moment

[nekkichi 6042]

Personally I think that obsessively digging this deep into his life is just as sad, if not sadder.

into his life? all this stuff revolves around his (supposed) public band member activities, which he attributes to his own past as an entertainer.

 

there's no private life intrusion, or anything, which could be exposing ha. (his private life must be boring af tbh)

[inartistic 1150]

What if he's done this all purposely and the first person to confront him about it wins a UCP special bag + official bootleg DVDs and (another) copy of Phantasmagoria's Dejavu??

 

This is my moment

8th copy incoming

[The Bread Wolf 231]

That Ren there is judging hard. I can feel the burn.

 

No but seriously, as a sorta UCP and KISAKI fan I don't see anything wrong with this. If a guy is cocky enough to make up fake demotapes and fake concern with fake paper cranes, then sure he can tolerate some digging around. He must've known what was coming for him. 

 

And no, if it was anyone else, everyone WOULD'VE cared. Think about like, Kaoru of Dir en grey caught red handed trying to make up fake releases for Dir en grey or sell someone else's songs as their own. Like hell fans would notice and make a big deal about it! So no, Kisaki is not being tormented or exposed here. He's just stupid or cocky enough to repeat his mistakes and think he can get away with it. 

[sai 868]

I agree with nekkichi when I say that we're not digging into his private life, but his professional life. If this WERE digging into his private life without his consent, then I too would not appreciate it out of a lack of respect, but it's honestly not. Kisaki basically created tapes made up of other bands' music to expand his personal discography and thought he could get away with it. Kisaki also did many other things in his professional life that he really shouldn't be proud of (Google pictures-scandal, Phantasmagoriagate, tax fraud, and I won't be surprised if we'll be adding stuff to this list in the future). I also agree with Yuugi; if this had been any other semi-popular VK guy I doubt he would've gone under the radar.

 

In all honesty, Kisaki just desperately wants attention and apparently his music/actual band isn't succesful enough to do that for him. And sorry if this sounds too harsh, but nobody is forcing you to visit or read this thread. Saying how everyone participating in it is just out to get Kisaki is not going to make the thread less active, in fact, it'll most probably have the opposite effect. Like I said before, if it involved digging into his private life I would heavily disapprove as well, but it's not.

[Lestat 2167]

I feel, as a Kisaki fan, that I'm not being given a positive, personal opinion of my own about the him, or quite frankly anything related to him. I've realized that being fond of him is somewhat of a burden too as other Visual fans usually judge me for it and constantly make me aware of his faults where it isn't necessary (not in this case per sé, as I myself looked into this topic) as I am very much aware of his faults. Every human being is full of faults. No one is flawless and there are some where it shows more evidently because frankly, Kisaki isn't that good at hiding things, and I am very much aware of it, but I don't throw a relentless fit everytime he says or does something stupid, because that's human nature. There have been times where I've been directly accused for things he did (like, what the hell...) or that I've been bullied because I am fond of him. Like inartistic said, Kisaki is hunted, preferably up towards the very cross at which a lot of people desire to see him burn and no one gives him any rest until he ends up breaking down again, for which of course, the 'fans' blame him, and regardless of what anyone thinks, he's very self-aware. As a fan this is very hard to constantly be confronted with wherever I look into topics about him. Whether that is on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Livejournal, or forums such as these. No one ever has a good word to spare about him, and quite honestly I'm in deep on an emotional level where I feel conflicted too, whether that makes someone think of me as a rabid, obsessive, mentally challenged fangirl or not.

 

There are a lot of musicians who have been involved in some shady business, but no one bothered with them longer than about two months, after an occurence. Kisaki's problems are following him because people are constantly shoving things back in his face from years ago (like the Kyo/Kisaki incident, or his tax evasion - of which he isn't the only one having done so, but do you hear anyone about Dynamite Tommy? Nope). There are only few who ever view him from his good side; there are tons of musicians he assisted, he's given the entire Kansai scene a foundation, man — his dedication is insane because no matter how terrible he feels, he'll stand on that stage whereas a lot of musicians already stay at home and cancel their lives when they suffer from a cold. He's always done events, brought bands and fans together, releases music on the go, made sure you could listen to your favourite obscure Matina bands and newer UCP bands, and a whole hell of a lot more. But I never read something positive about him other than the words that leave my own mouth or keyboard, and from the close-knitted group of his fans which luckily still exists on Twitter and WeLoveUCP.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

People tend to remember bad things over good things though, and since he have done a lot of bad stuff it's not that difficult to understand. I actually think that most people in this topic are Kisaki fans who simply wants to know the truth. Most people are just not biased enough not to realise that he actually is kind of a douche, lol.

[Zeus 7997]

I feel, as a Kisaki fan, that I'm not being given a positive, personal opinion of my own about the him, or quite frankly anything related to him. I've realized that being fond of him is somewhat of a burden too as other Visual fans usually judge me for it and constantly make me aware of his faults where it isn't necessary (not in this case per sé, as I myself looked into this topic) as I am very much aware of his faults. Every human being is full of faults. No one is flawless and there are some where it shows more evidently because frankly, Kisaki isn't that good at hiding things, and I am very much aware of it, but I don't throw a relentless fit everytime he says or does something stupid, because that's human nature. There have been times where I've been directly accused for things he did (like, what the hell...) or that I've been bullied because I am fond of him. Like inartistic said, Kisaki is hunted, preferably up towards the very cross at which a lot of people desire to see him burn and no one gives him any rest until he ends up breaking down again, for which of course, the 'fans' blame him, and regardless of what anyone thinks, he's very self-aware. As a fan this is very hard to constantly be confronted with wherever I look into topics about him. Whether that is on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Livejournal, or forums such as these. No one ever has a good word to spare about him, and quite honestly I'm in deep on an emotional level where I feel conflicted too, whether that makes someone think of me as a rabid, obsessive, mentally challenged fangirl or not.

 

There are a lot of musicians who have been involved in some shady business, but no one bothered with them longer than about two months, after an occurence. Kisaki's problems are following him because people are constantly shoving things back in his face from years ago (like the Kyo/Kisaki incident, or his tax evasion - of which he isn't the only one having done so, but do you hear anyone about Dynamite Tommy? Nope). There are only few who ever view him from his good side; there are tons of musicians he assisted, he's given the entire Kansai scene a foundation, man — his dedication is insane because no matter how terrible he feels, he'll stand on that stage whereas a lot of musicians already stay at home and cancel their lives when they suffer from a cold. He's always done events, brought bands and fans together, releases music on the go, made sure you could listen to your favourite obscure Matina bands and newer UCP bands, and a whole hell of a lot more. But I never read something positive about him other than the words that leave my own mouth or keyboard, and from the close-knitted group of his fans which luckily still exists on Twitter and WeLoveUCP.

 

 

This continues to happen because Kisaki is thirsty for attention. He will do anything to evoke a reaction from fans. Honestly, he would have a great reputation amongst visual kei fans if he didn't resort to doing shady things to maximize his profits. No one can deny that Undercode was a powerful force in the visual world for quite some time. He's been around the block, mentored a lot of musicians, gave some bands the opportunity to succeed that they would have not had without him. That goes without saying.

Kisaki comes up time and time again because he keeps getting caught. He's not low. Tax evasion was a bad idea. Cranegate was even worse. This was a better - but still pretty bad - idea. I'm sure he's got other scandals I don't know about. If you've been bullied because of your opinions on Kisaki, that's unfortunate. No one here is going to bully you about that. However, don't let your desire to see the good in him hide all the scandals that he put himself in that are entirely his fault.

 

When you sit down and think about why Kisaki would go through so much trouble to seem "interesting", it all comes back to wanting attention. He couldn't have made much money off the demo tapes. You couldn't even say that it would go back into Undercode. It was so much effort for so little gain that only a narcissist, a con artist, or a trickster would think that they could do it and get away with it. He technically already did since there's little connecting him to the demo tapes he sold except for the word of some people here. I doubt anything bad will happen to him. I doubt those bands he ripped music off of care much (or are even aware). This is just a case where visual kei fans want to unravel the mystery behind old demo tapes and it happens to involve Kisaki and it happens to not make much sense.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Could this be why some later UCP bands made some fake ex-bands as fun sessions? Misty†Chrise, Mis†ake etc?

[Champ213 1858]

For the lulz: our mystery Yahoo auction seller has managed to find yet another copy of a rare Kisaki tape in his collection:

 

http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m124497408

 

This time in red.

 

 

Fun fact: the decsription says it contains one track, the one sold by Rarezhut with the same cover had 5 tracks.

 

http://www.rarezhut.net/product/levia-%E6%BB%85%E3%81%B3%E3%81%AE%E5%BA%8F%E7%AB%A0

[inartistic 1150]

↑ Sad thing is that someone has bid on it