I'm sort of disappointed in myself. I really thought I did well in trying to get rid of arrogance and snobbishness and yet now it seems like I failed miserably. Thankfully it all turned out very well and I suppose it was a good lesson for me.

@темы: myself

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New OTP!

So I've heard about it awhile ago, but I didn't pay much attention until now. This is so damn cute Idek!

www.jpopasia.com/news/alice-nines-hiroto-cheers...

So I turned into a stalker and checked all of the tweets they exchanged. Hiroto was the one who made the first move and they have been tweeting each other on all major occasions and not only. I really wonder whether Hiroto knows Korean since surely he didn't translate this stuff automatically? And I bet he likes being Aniki)) So anyway here comes the evidence of their undying love! XDD

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That last tweet caught my attention since 동방신 is just about the only word I can make out in Korean) Funny coincidence, ha?
Translation: Dong Bang Shin Ki hyungs gave us their support, asking us to show our best performance at Budokan tomorrow. Yes, we know that. We will definitely put up a good show.



Anyway, I was so full of joy when I discovered all this. The thing is - they really fit each other! Both are very immature youthful and pure and I think they would get along really well. And I wonder if they met in person since HongKi spent quite along time in Japan filming for his drama. HeeChul might get jealous. XDD I was joking about the whole pairing thing, of course. But I really hope their friendship continues.

Bonus:

Shou Tweeted:
I can’t read Hangul because I don’t study it properly… (But) my favorite Korean artists are F.T. Island and Super Junior

@темы: tweets, match, Alice Nine

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Ok, so now i've got 3 accomplices, but staying in touch is harder than I expected. It's really bugging me since there's so much I want to do.

@настроение: restless

@темы: fandom

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A9 -> Ouran

AliceNine_STAFF
【「Heart of Gold」ドワンゴCM情報】「桜蘭高校ホスト部」がAlice Nineだったら…。将さん→環、ヒロトさん→2役で常陸院兄弟、虎さん→モリ先輩、Naoさん→ハニー先輩。沙我さんは…鏡夜??いや、猫澤先輩なんてどうでしょうか?皆さんはどんな配役がお好みですか?

AliceNine_STAFF
If Alice Nine were Ouran High School Host Club... Shou-san -> Tamaki, Hiroto-san -> the 2 Hitachiin brothers, Tora-san -> Mori-senpai, Nao-san-> Honey-senpai, Saga-san is... Kyouya? No, how about Nekozawa-senpai? Everyone, what cast would you like?

They're all pretty far-fetched, but Hiroto should be Honey for sure, yo!

I other news: pretty Shou is pretty!

@темы: tweets, Shou, Translations, match, Alice Nine

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That boy is no innocent at all. No way. He keeps doing it!


AliceNine_SHOU Alice Nine 将
全裸ですRT @ayu_19910109: @AliceNine_SHOU 疑問に思っている事( ･ ω･ ) PATi-PATiさんのｱﾘｽ ｲﾝ ﾜﾝﾀﾞｰﾜｰｽﾞ将くん裸眼ですか?

AliceNine_SHOU Alice Nine 将
間違えて沙我ちゃんみたいな事言っちゃったYO\(^o^)/


Translation:

ayu_19910109: I keep thinking: Are Shou-kun's eyes naked (I think she meant without lenses) in PATi-PATi's ｱﾘｽ ｲﾝ ﾜﾝﾀﾞｰﾜｰｽﾞ(August issue)?
AliceNine_SHOU: I'm naked.

fantasy-alicenine.blogspot.com/2011/07/pati-pat... <= it's this one

AliceNine_SHOU: Mistakenly I said something Saga-chan would say YO \(^o^)/

Перевод:

ayu_19910109: Я все думаю: в выпуске PATi-PATi за август глаза Шо обнажены (думаю, она имела ввиду, что он там без линз)?

AliceNine_SHOU: Я обнажен.

fantasy-alicenine.blogspot.com/2011/07/pati-pat... <= это фото

AliceNine_SHOU: По ошибке я сказал нечто в стиле Саги-чана. YO \(^o^)/

@темы: tweets, Shou, Translations

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At least if I ever end up in Japan and they'll ask me what was the most disgusting thing I ever drank I will have to choose between 5 litres of warm salty water or cognac followed by castor oil.

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A9: Fandom

I don't even ship this, but still relevant!XD

So a new fandom is always full of excitement. Everything is fresh and interesting, there are so many things to learn. Being so excited and anal as always I think I already managed to catch up with most of the fundamental stuff. I still don't have all of the music since I decided to go slow but in terms of video I downloaded almost everything there is to see. And I actually watched all of their concert DVDs and even the two PSC ones which I don't think I did with any other band. It feels rather nostalgic though - had to pretty much forget about HD as for some reason most of the material is pretty crappy quality. And it's not like it's the 90's any more. Even the new stuff is medium quality at best. Being a rock band they didn't have many lives either - 4 at Music Japan, one at Hey! Hey! Hey! and a few festivals.

Now I'm systematically going through the interviews. Most of them are pretty boring, actually - they talk about the sound and tempo of nearly each goddamn song. But I dig up the good stuff and make notes. Which is saved in corresponding drafts.

It still kind of sucks thinking about all the unfinished stuff I left behind in JYJ fandom (although I'm sort of unsure there even was one) - fics and videos, but I guess I just have to let it go for now. Being in one fandom for 4 years gets a little old and it's almost scary that I've seen every damn show they were on in 6 years and could tell the estimated date of any photo taken.

Now about the fandom. It didn't take much time to investigate. In short it is tiny. There's only a handful of people who keep the majority informed and also some enthusiasts who think they can help but only end up making things more complicated. As I browsed old comms I felt kind of regretful that I didn't come earlier since it seems like the best time in the fandom was around 2008. I felt it especially after going through the CAPSLOCK comm which is kind of degrading but also kind of hilarious too. There has been some true epic like Nao's foot massager and the mystery of Shou's XXX disappearance. But oh well, it's not like I can do anything about it. Not that I expected much, I was even surprised to find out someone actually subs A9 Channel. Thankfully there are these people.

Needless to say the situation with fics is pitiful. Then again this time I chose a pairing that is not exactly popular. It's impossible to tell exactly, but I'd say it's 4th or 5th at best. Which is outrageous methinks. So what if there's hardly any fanservice? They've got REAL chemistry! Luckily I managed to seek one very good writer and help bring her back. Now she works on a new fic. *really proud of myself*

I'm kind of surprised at myself. It sort of seems like with every new fandom I get bolder and it takes me less time to enter an active stage. Even though I just got here I've already made some contributions. But unlike my previous ones they were mostly of translations. It's frustrating how much good stuff it unsubbed and untranslated. But then it is pretty motivational. Currently I can understand quite a good portion of what's being said but don't have enough skill to do full translations. I'm also glad I was able to seek out a couple of right people. Now I've got big plans. First of all there are some fanvideos under way. I already did a poster for one wonderful fic. Maybe one day I'll even write something, we shall see. Plus I am plotting something big and hopefully I'l go through with it.

@темы: fandom, Alice Nine

---

Mireille Alen, welcome!

Забавная, все-таки, штука - я когда гуглила не раз натыкалась на твой дневник на ли.ру и вот теперь ты здесь. Похоже, этот фандом еще меньше, чем я думала... В общем, я очень тебе рада) Тем более вижу, что у нас много общего во взглядах) Кстати, я прочитала Tiger Heart и он мне очень нравится. Ты на меня как, по поиску вышла?

Кстати, с английским у тебя как?

@темы: welcome

---

The poster I made for Where no Endings End. It's really simple, but it took me forever to clean it and work out the details. Well, with the boys looking the way they do advanced graphics are redundant anyway.

@темы: projects, ToraxShou

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3ème Sexe

Des visages dans des cheveux d'or
Qui oublient leur vertu
Mais c'est pas vrai
Qu'ils ont l'air d'un conquistador
Asexues une fois devetus
Qui croire quand on les voit comme ça
Excitant toutes les petites filles
Pourquoi on n'y croit plus comme ça
Isole dans un corps presqu'il

Honestly, to me it almost seems like J-Rockers are not even Japanese, but some kind of different race altogether, closer to Elves or something) The way they look, the way they move and everything about them is so surreal. I especially felt this after seeing Sugizo live. Watching PVs is one thing, but seeing it with your eyes is something quite different. I've never really been his fan but I couldn't miss the legend of the Japanese rock scene. When I saw him in concert it was something amazing, he moved with such grace and finesse it was impossible not to be enchanted. It was like he had this glowing aura around him that had you mesmerized.

Not long ago I saw this photoshoot and I was intrigued. I don't even know the guy but it wasn't like I wanted to see this photoshoot just to ogle an almost-naked man. I rather wanted to find out what a J-Rocker looks like underneath the fancy clothes. And it was just as I expected. Both face and body so androgynous...



Suddenly I thought I knew what Nicola meant in "3ème Sexe" when he sang "J'ai pas envie de la voir nue J'ai pas envie de le voir nu", it seems almost scary to see them naked becuase I almost expect to find they are smooth like Barbie XD

@музыка: Indochine - Les Yeux Noirs

@темы: musings, J-Rock

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I don't really like Jon, but it was really nice to hear.

@темы: tweets, Gackt

---

A9 7th Anniversary

I just found out about this through Shou's twitter - today my dearest Alice Nine celebrates its 7th Anniversary! There aren't that many bands who make it to that without even changing the line-up once. I really hope they will continue for a really long time. Happy Anniversary, My Darlings!

I'm almost done with the video, but I don't want to release it half-heartedly just to time it to the event.

Relevant! b

Q: Do you want to continue like now until you're 60 years old like the Rolling Stones - or do you have other plans which you want to realize?
Hiroto: I want to continue with this band all the way. But I don't want it to become something I have to do. As long as we, all the members, are doing exciting things together, I want to continue.
Tora: obviously, yes.
Saga: I want to do that.
Nao: I think I want to continue like this. I'm a drummer until death takes me.
Shou: No, I'm going back to Neverland. => Shou, I loves U!

@музыка: Kagrra, - Sakura ~saikai no hana~ (accoustic ver)

@темы: Birthday, Alice Nine

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Twitter

Twitter mania sure happened fast. I mean, last year when I watched Sunao Ni Narenakute I hardly heard of it and now everyone and their mum has it. The media follows it closely because a lot of things happen there - personal revelations, artists establishing relationships and artists communicating with their fans. Since Twitter stars became that much closer, close enough to reach.

Lately I found myself going there more and more often, browsing this account or that. At some point I began to consider getting one. I kind of didn't like the idea, I felt a sense of protest against social networks and Twitter specifically. Why Twitter? I reasoned: "the attention span of a modern man is already minuscule, it must be some kind of bureaucratic plot to make it even tinier." "There's no way I can fit my thoughts into a space of 140 characters", so I kept thinking to myself.

But in the end I just saw how I'm wasting so much time checking this account and that so I decided it's only reasonable to get it the hell over with. I don't think I'm going to actually use it much because I want to keep all my rambling here, but who knows how it will turn out. And I did sometimes have a strong desire to write reply to something a certain artist said so maybe I will now.

Anyway now it's done. Here are some of the accounts I considered.

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Gackt.
twitter.com/#!/GACKT
contains a mix of Mandarin, Korean, Japanese and English. There's a lot of interesting stuff here. Even the English tweets alone are very numerous. It's kind of amazing that you have a fair chance to ask a question and get a reply. But one thing that bothers me: What's with the "sweetie?" He sounds like a perverted old man.
Follows: Yoshiki, Sugizo, Miyavi, Shinya, Hamasaki, Demi Moore and ashton kutcher, Barack Obama (lol!)

twitter.com/#!/gackttweets => Gackt himself follows it. I bet he monitors whether they translated him correctly lol.

Shou
twitter.com/#!/AliceNine_SHOU
At first I though can't be botherd to try to read what he writes unless it's an inscription under a photo. But now I make an effort now and then. Shou never fails to amuse me by answering to the most ridiculous questions by random fans. And he seems to get annoyed easily which is pretty funny.
Follows: Gackt, Yoshuki, countless PSC bands.

Hiroto
I'm too lazy and illeterate to actually read what he writes, but he posts such magnificent pictures I was totally mesmerized. I mean everyone snaps tons of pictures nowadays and you hardly appreciate it just because it's so common, but the boy has some serious talent. His photographs of the sky... I think I fell for him a little.
twitter.com/#!/alice9_hiroto

mjjeje, 6002theMicky and 0101xiahtic
Do I even have to say anything?)

HeeChul
twitter.com/#!/HEEDICTATOR
It's all in Korean, but who cares. Heechul posts pics in almost every post which is mostly him and random artists and sometimes his cat. And doesn't forget to comment how pretty he looks. He does too.
Follows: HongKi, Miss A and other SM artists, of course.
I'm surprised he doesn't follow Gackt. Oh maybe he saw that one tweet where someone asked him whether he knows that Heechul from SuJu is his fan and he replied like: "Who?" XD

I don't follow him though. I don't even know what he's doing in this list but whatever.

@музыка: Placebo - Hang On To Your IQ

@темы: tweets

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Just a few months ago I was so glad that I could finish my entries so quickly and drafts didn't accumulate. Well now it turned into the opposite - I've got 9 drafts waiting to be finished and I don't even know where to start. Lately words just pour out of me in torrents.

@темы: diary

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ANTI-KOREAN WAVE

JAPANESE HOLD ANTI-KOREAN WAVE PROTEST

The sacking of Japanese actor Sousuke Takaoka by his agency fueled an anti-Korean wave street demonstration in Tokyo with hundreds of Japanese airing their sentiments against the broadcast of Korean dramas and other forms of Korean entertainment on TV.

The Japanese held their protest in front of the headquarters of Fuji TV, Japan’s No. 1 TV station, located in Odaiba, Tokyo. They waved Japanese flags and held placards that contain statements like “Give us Japanese TV.” They also sang the Japanese national anthem.

The protest targeted Fuji TV, which has been accused of airing more Korean content than any other Japanese TV station including numerous Korean dramas such as “You’re Beautiful,” “King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo,” “Coffee Prince,” and “Goong.”

The protesters are planning to hold more demonstrations in the following weeks.

The Korean wave has become popular in Japan. Korean artists such as Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo have gained a cult following in Japan ever since their drama “Winter Sonata” swept Japan in 2003. K-pop groups including Girls Generation and KARA have also successfully penetrated the Japanese music market.

Last month, Sousuke tweeted his gripes about the proliferation of Korean dramas on Fuji TV, accusing the station of being a pro-Korean TV station. He said that the dominance of Korean content on Japanese TV is like “brainwashing.” Days after his tweets, he was fired by Stardust Promotion, his Japanese agency.

aspop.info/kpop/japanese-hold-anti-korean-wave-...

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ANTI-HALLYU NETIZENS PLAN TO BOYCOTT FUJITV

Following Japanese actor Sousuke Takaoka’s controversial anti-Hallyu comments last week, hostility towards the proliferation of Korean pop culture has been growing in Japan.

On July 23rd, Takaoka wrote on his Twitter account that, “I don’t really watch channel 8 (Fuji TV) anymore. It sometimes makes me wonder if it’s a Korean channel. Japanese people want traditional Japanese programs.” Later he added, “It feels like Korean programs brainwash you, and it really makes me feel bad. Broadcasters need to realize its negative effect,” which resulted in him losing his contract with his management agency on July 28th.

This prompted the largely underground anti-Hallyu netizens in Japan to voice their support for Takaoka, and organize a group boycott on Fuji TV. They are organizing an event on August 8th to suggest tuning out of Fuji TV during the whole day to bring massive drops to their TV ratings. Fuji TV, the leading Japanese channel with the most Korean TV shows on, is shown on channel eight, which is why they picked August 8th.

Netziens are screaming, “No more Hallyu!” “Let’s show the power of Twitterians,” “Our goal is to make 0% TV ratings,” and “Japan is going through a tough period, and there’s no need to watch a broadcaster that supports other countries.”

The anti-hallyu sentiment amongst a portion of the population seems to be increasing recently as more and more Kdramas are shown. Many Kpop groups have also debuted in Japan and even their rookie groups can go on prestigious music programs that usually invites more established acts in Japan. Some netizens resent how much the Korean agencies have increasingly pushed their talents by ‘buying’ slots in these programs. They question that the amount of broadcasting time do not reflect the actual interest in Hallyu since many of the Korean dramas and variety shows with Korean singers/actors receive comparably worse ratings. Comparing different broadcasting stations they found FujiTV to broadcast the highest number of hours of Korean dramas in a month period (40 hrs).

aspop.info/kpop/anti-hallyu-netizens-plan-to-bo...

I'm a bit shocked by all this. I mean of course this is stupid as hell. Channels broadcast whatever has the best ratings and if K-pop sells it just shows that it's outrageously popular in Japan. If something sells you can't do shit to stop it. But in a way I can also sympathize with the Japanese. It was one thing with THSK who worked very hard to get where there're at, but it's a very different story with some rookie bands who barely made their début in Korea but could just ride the wave and gain more coverage than Japanese artists who worked hard for it.

@темы: news, K-pop

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A9: Justification

I need to commemorate my entering the fandom.
What I thought would be just a side fling ended up a full-scale romance. And all the while I've been thinking: Why them? What's so special about them that made me abandon the safe comfort of JYJ fandom? Well, there are these things.

Obviously Shou was a major reason that got me into them. I mean surely I really liked some of the songs but music is music and fandom is fandom. Obviously I was first fascinated by his looks but as I got to know him I grew to truly admire him as a person. So in turn I needed to find him a man and that didn't take long. Tora quickly won me over with his bad guy looks, wit and cool. He's one of the most stylish men I saw and on stage he really rocks. Funny how before I never noticed him before, couldn't even tell him and Saga apart. And now it seems so obvious he's damn hot.

I've also grown to like Hiroto. He's very different from the guys I'm usually into, but I just really like him as a person. He's bright and outgoing and cute in a non-annoying sort of way. His love for nature and travelling and his free spirit make me really envious. The other two I don't care much about although Saga's currently in the lead by the number of songs composed and just for that I'll admire him. It's an interesting thing really, is seems like my rating of physical appearance of the members fully matches my rating of their personalities. Anyway.

Another thing about them that has captured my heart is their closeness as people. There aren't many bands like that in J-Rock. I mean I really love L'Arc~en~Ciel but I'm still unsure whether they were joking when they said they don't ever have each other's numbers. With A9 it's different. They're a a band that never changed their line-up and I can't imagine them doing so in the future. Sometimes it makes you wonder how people like Hiroto and Nao can get along yet somehow they do. In concerts especially they're all cute and cuddly with each other and watching them makes me all warm inside. Obviously it crossed my mind how this may look like a replacement for TVXQ. But then again I always chose family type of bands.

Truthfully musically they are no different to any other band. I mean they have some great songs but there's nothing special about them. To me even Gazette is basically a duplicate of Dir en Grey and A9 is even less than that. Some of their heavier songs sound exactly like those of the former two, especially given that all the vocals are pretty similar. Then again most J-Rock bands have a very distinct sound and very few can boast any kind of uniqueness. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Visually though they stand out in a good way, mixing different styles from inherently visual look to oshare-kei. Some of the clothes look weird but mostly I really like their style. I think they look very good too, especially amongst all the young Visual bands most of which are pretty ugly. In both music and appearance they are mixing styles having both dark and heavy stuff and easy cheerful tunes. I really like the fact that they don't have any specific concept and are not bound by any style, they just develop naturally, go wherever music takes them.

Another reason I came up with is age. I just sort of realized that most J-Rock artists I listen to are currently over 35 or even 40. I never had an issue with it before but now it seems to matter. Maybe it's because of K-pop I got used to much younger artists and TVXQ made me relate to them strongly since they are just about my age. Anyway A9 are about 30 or under and they seem very familiar since I've known them since before K-pop happened plus I always considered them to be just in-between the old school and new school.

These are the basic reasons and as I delve deeper yet I find more, big things and small. But All in all Love is never quite logical.


I'm gonna have a lot of posts concerning A9 in the near future covering every aspect.

@темы: milestone, Alice Nine

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I've reached 300 subscribers on YouTube. It's been a steady progress but still. The funny thing is I pretty much stopped caring about these things. I still maintain it and I answer comments daily but I'm much calmer about it now. Which is a good thing I suppose. Soon I will begin new stage by adding the A9 moments.

@темы: snapshot

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Bye Bye, K-Pop [Press-Release]

I just realized that in all this time I forgot to put a milestone on this occasion. Or maybe I was still trying to convince myself that it's just a temporary digression aware of all the implications. Lately my 4 years spent in K-Pop seem like a twist in my sobriety. Now I'm not going to bitch about all the time wasted. Just... In a way it always seemed inevitable. Actually, I never considered myself a K-pop fan, I was a fan of TVXQ, yes, a bit of Big Bang and some random songs here and there but little beyond that. Now that TVXQ are gone in the original sense it was bound to happen. I barely listen to them any more. As for JYJ... well, I don't even consider them K-Pop, they aren't' even on the scene in full sense. They're outsiders of the industry and I guess in a way it appeals to me too. After the lawsuit I sort of looked at the current K-pop scene and realized there's very little that appeals to me any more. I have no interest in pre-fabricated girl and boy bands. I really am too old for that stuff. They all look and sound the same too. Obviously K-pop has its own appeal. Like it's the most danceable music I ever heard. But that's just not enough for me. I'm not saying it like I regret the time spent in K-Pop or ashamed of it. I learned a lot from it. But it's time to move on. Or back, if you look at it that way. I still follow FT Island and CN Blue and some other artists. Although it's a different kind of bands who can actually play some instruments. Coming back to J-Rock was something so natural it came as no surprise. I missed a lot and I want to catch up. Inevitably a new fandom brings a lot of excitement and some bitterness but that's a whole different story.

@темы: musings, milestone, K-pop

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The boy's really cute and I like his confidence. The judge was being a bitch but I bet he's used to it.

@темы: Visual Shoxx

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3 Days in Moscow

There was so much I wanted to write, but when I got home I didn't feel like writing anything at all. Which is not uncommon. But there are things I want to remember and so I write this post.

Overall it was a really tough trip. In many ways. I planned it about half a year prior and my attitude has ranged from excited anticipation to almost dreadful submission. I don't want to dwell on all the things that went wrong in these 4 days. Basically my physical and mental state was to blame. And the fact that I had to change my companion from a close friend to my sister which inevitably resulted in minor and major arguments. Few days before the trip I had gone through all stages of panic knowing it won't be just a fun little outing. But having said that I certainly don't regret it.

I TOTALLY WASN'T KIDDING WHEN I SAID THIS POST SHALL BE HUGE!

Day 1

The train ride was mostly sleepless because of the border control. During this trip I developed an even stronger hatred towards trains as I found out I can hardly sleep in trains any more. We arived early in the morning. Thankfully our host was still at home so we could catch some sleep. I really wanted to stay at home until it was time to go to the venue to save all my energy for the gig, but I had other opinion to consider so after a lot of lagging I gave in and we went to stroll around the city. Now I regret it a lot since Moscow is huge and my failure to navigate time and space resulted in a lot of hard feelings. We were very late for a meeting with the person who so graciously took care of our tickets. I'm very hard on myself when it comes to breaking someone's trust and the whole thing left me feeling helpless and bitter. Now my tale comes to the most important part of the story and the reason I went to Moscow in the first place: THE CONCERT

First of all I have to say as the tour began I pondered and decided I don't want surprises so I read some reports from other cities and studied the playlist both of which left me slightly disappointed to the point of almost regretting rushing with the tickets. But it was all set so I just prepared myself to enjoy it the best I can. So I did. I have to say it was kind of strange seeing so many people at the venue. Surprisingly there were a lot of guys too.

We only went to search for a good place shortly before the concert started so I was worried we'd have to stick at the back, but although it was kind of packed right at the front of the stage you could still get a pretty good view at the side so we found a decent spot at the right side of stage and I could see quite well most of the time. I think wearing my platform boots was the best idea ever! Also I guess my eye training paid off because I could see everything very clearly. The concert began late, but by mere 20 minutes which was better that what I expected. Even as I waited in the crowd I couldn't quite believe I'm going to see Him, the person who played such an important role in my life. Honestly I never really thought I'd see him. I waited for 6 years. And then it happened...

Basically the prevailing thought in my mind throughout the concert was: HOLY FUCK! It's GACKT! And here's right THERE! And it wasn't just Gackt, but You and ChaCha as well. It was really cool to see them. Chacha was the closest to me during the concert and I could experience first-hand how amazing the man is, he's just beaming with energy. I was a bit worried that I might not see You who was at the other side, but thankfully he came over towards the end of the concert and I could get a good look at him too. And I have to say it as well: when they all took off their shirts at the encore I kind of expected them all to be wimpy, but they looked pretty fit, You especially has a great body.

Now regarding Jon. Basically I agree with everything that has been said before. Both the good and the bad stuff. They really do make a good team and his voice blended with Gackt's very nicely. I think once again Gackt proved he knows what he's doing. Considering how most people went 'WTF?' at the first mention of a second vocalist (me included) I consider it a great success. What drove Gackt to do it is something I'll dwell on later. But having said all of that, I still wished he wasn't there. I don't think it even needs explanation. The two of them basically divided their attention in two and unfortunately for me Gackt mostly stuck at the left side of the stage. As much as Jon tried to pump up the crowd I didn't react to him at all. I was, like, "nothing personal, man, but I came to see Gackt". Then again I just didn't like the guy.

The playlist was not too bad I guess. It was a privilege sort of to hear the new songs and some of them were pretty good, but yet I wished to hear some of the old ones. I enjoyed Speed Master and Jesus the most. And then there was Vanilla!live. I can die a happy fangirl!XD As for the English version of Mind Forest, I really can't appreciate the effort. I mean it still sounded good, but what's the point if I could only make out a few words? Some of the new songs were in English as well. This whole idea of being closer to the audience by singing in English that Asian artists are harbouring is just wrong. But I won't bitch about it now. Maybe later XD Then there's 'I want You' that became a point of discussion for many. Now trust me after I saw a fancam of it all I could do was facepalm. "They're actually going to do it?" I couldn't quite believe it. I almost dreaded the time when the song will be performed. But I suppose it was only after I actually saw it I took it for what it was. A joke. Seriously when I watched it I didn't think it looked sexy or gross, rather than that it actually looked really funny. I was sorry some people couldn't see it. This whole tour was half a joke. Anyone who saw the 'press-conference' should have known what to expect.

A few words about fanservice . Now I'm a slash kind of girl, but a very picky at that. Maybe I'm too old to squeal at the first sight of flesh or guys brushing against each other. Lately I get annoyed at it more than anything. I like seeing genuine affection between the members, but the actual making out on stage and stuff looks too cheap to me. There wasn't anything hardcore at the concert, even less than I expected actually. But the part with the whip was a bit lame, really. Jon totally posed as one of Gackt's boy-toys and he didn't seem to mind. But of course it was all planned. Then again I just didn't like the guy. It's probably stupid but I kinda felt bad for You who seemed so neglected, I'd much rather see him in action. The bra part was really amusing though.

Now perhaps the most important part of it all - the performance itself. This one is going to be short. Everything was perfect. If there was something wrong with his voice as is suspected I couldn't hear it. And especially hearing his Dark Angel voice live was amazing. Overall I think it really was a high-quality performance. It's still a mystery to me why he had three guitarists though.

Now I have to talk about the things that really made me annoyed. When I saw the setlist what baffled me was the small number of songs - about 12 of them. I couldn't figure it out since even with the Japanese that is enough to play for only about an hour. But after reading reviews it became apparent that the rest of time is used to pump up the audience. I found it hard to believe until I actually saw it. I'm not a big fan of all that mass screaming and it always annoyed me when watching DVD, but I can understand it has to be done. I know Gackt always liked these things, but I couldn't imagine the scale. I mean I'm ok with 3 minutes, even 5 is alright, but making the audience scream for 10 minutes straight is a little beyond me. If anything, it killed my enthusiasm rather than increasing it. And it didn't happen once, but about 3 times not including the ending. I really got rather annoyed each time, like: "Are they even gonna play tonight or what?" and even: "I didn't pay to scream and squeal for 2 hours". With all my love and respect... At the end too they didn't leave the stage for a really long time. Gackt just stood there basking in his awesomeness.

If I say it in a mean way, SHOW UR SOUL is a wrong name for the tour, really. Should have been The GACKT Wank Fest. XDD

But that doesn't mean I was disappointed or anything. Somewhat annoyed, yes, but I totally can't hate him for that. I know some people bitched about it. If I wasn't a fan and didn't know in advance I'd probably bitch too. But Gackt is Gackt and I respect and admire him no matter what. Plus compared to Placebo's professional but emotionless live at least I knew he really enjoyed it. And the whole sappy patronizing speech at the end... It was ridiculous and touching.

Gackt said it was fate that we met at this place at this time and I guess in a way it was. There were many things that I wish were different, but I'm glad I managed to prepare myself to take things as they were. For me it was a unique experience, a milestone even. He promised to come back too and I trust him.

The only picture I took with my cellphone strictly for the archive and one taken by my sis.



Afterthoughts: Among other things I felt some sort of anxiety. To the people who don't know him it might seem like he was being lazy, but I know he's anything but. Making such a short playlist and using Jon... I can't help thinking he was using all means to get through despite his condition. I heard his throat was pretty bad even before the tour started. It seemed like he was trying hard to get the most of this tour. No matter how vain he is, standing there on stage after the concert for some 10 minutes, basking in the admiration of the fans it seemed like he tried to savour these moments as if he was afraid he might not be able to do it in the future. I really hope it's just me being paranoid.

Because of my sister we left even before all of the guys left the stage. I envied the people who came in bunches and could stick around and share their impressions while they were fresh. I could do none of it. We just went straight home. It was really lonely. So when we got there I did my best to get wasted but it didn't give the effect I was hoping for.

Day 2

The second day was spent mostly hanging around the Red Square. I had a really tough fight with my sister and was exhausted and pissed off and whatever enthusiasm I had left was efficiently killed in that argument. But whatever. As we got there I noticed a big sign inviting to visit a Samurai exhibition which was right there behind the TSUM. So we went there and after some convincing (it was expensive as everything in Moscow) we went in. Now I've never been that interested in Japanese history and stuff, but it felt really right to go there after the concert. With Gackt's fascination with bushido and stuff. I guess the girl in YFC T-shirt felt it too) I felt the need to understand. The exposition was really impressive, it was mostly weapons and armour but also some scriptures and accessories and there was a guide too so it was basically a lecture. It was really interesting. I nearly fainted towards the end, but hell I'm kind of used to it. Nowadays there's a lot of info on the internet or books, but seeing things with your own eyes leaves a much stronger impression. It was magnificent and enthralling. There was a lot of creepy stuff, but it's not like I didn't see it coming. I don't think I will ever be able to comprehend this set of mind, but that day sure brought me one step closer to it. Made me think once again that fascination with Japan is a life-long path and there's so much to it that one life is not long enough. After the expo we just hang around Kremlin for awhile, then went to Arbat. I expected more, but oh well. The night was once again spent drinking and talking but it was pretty boring.

Day 3

We (or rather my sister) decided to spend the last day by visiting the museums of Kremlin. I'm not really interested in Orthodox cathedrals and stuff, but I felt it was really something fundamental. Truthfully I never quite knew 'what's inside' and it was quite a discovery. We only visited the main cathedrals, but it was already a lot, 8 objects in total. There were a lot of tourists and what amazed me was that most of them were either Italian or Thai. There was also a big group of Chinese. I mean really? See who really cares about Russian heritage. Basically I don't dig this stuff, but the cathedrals were kind of magnificent. Although for me all Orthodox churches seem to leave a somewhat gloomy impression, the murals are often very freaky and the light inside is very scarce. I get the best time to come is after lunch since all tourists leave and you can get a proper look without any hindrance. It was past closing time when we got to Dormition Cathedral and there were only a few people around but nobody made to kick us out. It was rather surreal as I was walking around slowly, taking it all in while hearing the speech of several Japanese tourists. Overall considering the little time we had we managed to have a really good cultural program.

This time thankfully we calculated our time well and we were right on time to a pre-planned meeting with Shte. There wasn't much time left and unfortunately we could only hang out for about an hour and a half or so but it was nice none the less. I was also having a disappointment of my life as the curry rice I was striving to taste turned out pretty lame. People were flowing in prior to the K-pop party that was to take place later that evening. It's funny how just a few years ago I would have wanted to visit both the party and the J-Rock convention, but now I can care less. Anyway, we had a little chat while drinking Asahi but for me time flew by so quickly it seemed like it was mere minutes. All too soon we had to leave, we did have a train to catch after all. It was great meeting you, woman!)

Afterthoughts.

In Moscow you really feel in a World's capital. It's in the multinational population, huge number of tourists and in the scale. Compared to it Kiev seems a small town. I hate to say it does feel a little oppressive, feeling like a bug in a forest. The underground is just scary. Last time I've been here Moscow left a somewhat gloomy impression. This time it was different. I felt completely at ease and the people seemed rather friendly too. It's funny how my nationalism seemed to have faded completely. I didn't even feel like I was abroad. Some places look like they've been copy pasted here in Kiev. I was born in Russia and this time I didn't feel like an alien, it was the same as visiting a different city. Or maybe it's just that I never had a strong sense of belonging to anywhere in particular. So for some reason I felt an earnest desire to come back there and explore it. I feel entitled to do so for some reason. All I need is good enough reason, some money because the prices are seriously crazy and hopefully a good company.

Finally some pictures. We didn't take much so these are very random. St. Basil's Cathedral looks so yummy!^^



Phew, this was the most FUCKING HUGE REPORT I'VE EVER WRITTEN!

@музыка: アリス九號。- 無限の花

@темы: milestone, Gackt, report