Okay, so this was two Taibans that you timed just perfectly to catch both sets?
Correct. I was lucky that they happened within 10 minutes of each other, and the timing was really perfect - 17:40 - 18:05 for Dokubari and 18:30 - 18:55 for Blaze
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I’m going to have to get creative with a couple of days myself this upcoming trip
Once again, a very packed day.
First thing in the morning, my wife and I went for matcha – this time in a slightly different form: matcha plum wine, matcha beer, and matcha mango.
Then I took my mother-in-law to the Harry Potter studio replica. While she was there, I went hunting for treasure at Flower Records (http://www.flower-record.com/) – a store that’s barely mentioned online when it comes to VK rarez.
And honestly, it’s insane.
I picked up a Shoxx magazine from 1998 (Dir en Grey), a Dir en Grey photobook from 2002, plus several rare CDs and DVDs like Puppet Mammy and Nega’s first CD release. You could easily spend an entire day there just digging through everything.
After that, I went to a non-visual kei live for a change:
21.03 — Devadatta vs Kokeshi @ Shibuya LUSH
I consider Kokeshi one of the best bands Japan has to offer – and they absolutely delivered.
It was perfection, vocally and instrumentally, with no backing tracks. Just pure live performance.
And it really felt like a performance – not just a band playing songs. I loved every second of it.
I could’ve stayed for Devadatta (they’re fun), but I was already tired, and since my family had arrived, it made more sense to meet them earlier and spend time together.
While waiting for me, they went to a Moi dix Mois one-man @ Shibuya Music Hall, stayed for about an hour, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
And after sushi and plenty of cocktails, the day came to an end.
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Today was the day of my wife’s competition.
So the first half of the day was fully dedicated to that – checking the venue in the morning, preparing, and then the actual competition itself.
Once she was done, I headed (once again) to Ikebukuro for:
22.03 — Ga to Chou / Chaqla / DIVERS † CROIX @ Ikebukuro EDGE
And this is where my September experience really came in handy.
As I mentioned in my previous trip summary, the VK itch is gone. Last time, I would’ve stayed for the entire festival no matter what, just to see everything.
This time was different. I was already exhausted, and realistically, I was only truly interested in Chaqla.
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Ga to Chou – already saw their one-man last year, so I was good.
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DIVERS † CROIX – not interested in their material.
But Chaqla – that’s a different story.
Last year, I only caught ~25 minutes of their set. This time I got a full 40 minutes, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Annie is one of the most capable vocalists in the VK scene right now.
And Takanosuke – incredible as both a bassist and a backing screaming vocalist.
So yeah – those 40 minutes were more than enough.
Also, just like I mentioned after the Akai Yurei live earlier this week, they would work perfectly with Chaqla in a two-man. The way both bands approach the experience is very similar. If that ever happens, I’ll be seriously jealous of anyone who gets to attend it.
Luckily, Chaqla were first, so I didn’t have to sit through the rest.
Left early, no regrets.
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Today was quite hectic.
We had to pack our bags since my wife and mother-in-law are heading to a Japanese village (I’ll share more details later once I finish the full trip review – what, where, and why).
So I sent them off on the bus, and then took my mother and sister to see capybaras. Once again, capybaras are amazing. I love them.
After that, we went hunting for some anime and manga treasure. I managed to score a Sailor Moon artbook, while my sister got her Nana artbook. So far, so good.
Then it was time to temporarily part ways.
They went to their one-man – I to Rito no Mushouzoku.
Why didn’t I join? When buying tickets, it was 1 application max, 2 tickets max, and I didn’t want to risk traveling ~1.5 hours just to find out it was sold out.
At the same time, I’m a Karma fan.
So today’s VK menu became:
23.03 – Puppet†Dim @ 西荻BETTYROOM
There were maybe ~40 people. Slightly surprising, but it is what it is.
As for the show, Karma is still our queen.
He delivers menhera nutrients straight into our veins. Never disappoints.
Watching him, you can clearly feel the influence of early Kuroyume – both in the music and in his stage presence.
The full performance (including encore) lasted about one hour. It felt packed, especially since there wasn’t much talking between songs.
Of course, I had to take a photo with him.
Me from 13 years ago would be very happy.
Current me is pretty pleased too.
Meanwhile, my family enjoyed their show as well.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t get photos with I, but they did with Rito – and, of course, spent a decent amount on merch.
Wrap-up (for now)
This seemingly concludes my visual kei indulgence for this trip.
It’s Monday, and we’re heading to China on Saturday for another competition. As you can imagine, there are still plenty of shows I could attend.
For example, I have tickets for a Dexcore two-man with Hazuki in Nagoya this Friday – but I’m skipping it. I don’t want to travel from Osaka to Nagoya and back just for Dexcore, especially since Hazuki’s solo material is way too bland for my taste.
I’ll share more reasoning later this week on why I’m stepping away from VK gigs for the remaining days.
As for my family, I got them tickets for a Senketsu / Karisome two-man.
They are in for a wild ride.
Bonus
If anyone wants to go to that Dexcore Nagoya show on 27.03, I have 3 tickets.
You can print them at 7/11.
Just DM me – we agree on a donation to your local animal shelter, you send proof, and I’ll send you the tickets.
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Thanks for the report !
I cannot find the info on his socials but how much is the 2shot with Karma ? Because I will probably attend his show with Pochi on may 21 and would love to take a picture with him.
Thank you !
5000 yen for a 2shot
Envious you get to see Pochi - I liked Scapegoat quite a lot
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Damn, I’ll be there too.
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Bonus Live
It just so happened that today I had one free hour, and there was a taiban nearby. I genuinely didn’t care about 3 out of 4 bands, but the one I was interested in was Ninth in Pluto.
And I got lucky – they were the first band on stage. Exactly within that one free hour.
If it had been any of the other bands first, I simply wouldn’t have gone.
So today’s menu:
26.03 – Ninth in Pluto mini one-man @ Shinsaibashi CLAPPER
There were 15 people in total. That’s a new personal record. Previously, it was 18 at Revaless. I don’t even know what to say…
NIP are a part of the B7klan competition. I was curious what they sound like live.
Honestly, they feel like a competent replacement for the DAMNED slot.
Right now, just having JILUKA on lineups doesn’t fully cover the loud-kei angle, and with Nokubura, Deviloof, and Dexcore not really seeming interested in going to Paris – Ninth in Pluto might be one of the few proper loud-kei bands left.
The performance itself was solid. The guys tried very hard despite performing for 15 people, so the energy was good on their side.
I got to hear most of the songs I like, so rushing to Clapper was definitely worth it.
Those 30 minutes flew by. Hence, that’s why it’s a mini one-man for me. And so I left after they were done.
Wrap-up
And with that, this truly concludes the VK part of my trip.
It’s very unlikely I’ll go see Dexcore tomorrow – no schedule is published yet, and I dislike Hazuki’s solo project enough to not risk sitting through an hour of it before Dexcore even start.
I’ll probably make one final post in a couple of days – a proper reflection on the trip, plus some thoughts on the non-VK side of things, which, in some ways, was also shaped by VK.
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Must have been one of those rotating shows where people come and go for their band, then leave.
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I am sure it was, but 15 people is still too rough in my books
Trip Summary
First of all, as you can imagine, going to taibans and concerts in general is time-consuming. Some shows start as early as 15:00, which means:
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~1 hour to get there
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eating beforehand so you don’t get hungry
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plus queueing/settling in
So if you’re traveling with a partner, you end up parting ways at least 1.5 hours before the gig, and often for most of the day.
It’s not disrespectful – especially if you have a supportive partner who understands your passion – but still, coming to Japan as a couple and then disappearing for half the day every day is… not ideal.
So I had to figure out when to stop being obsessive about concerts.
In the end, we spent the last four days fully together, and earlier in the trip, the fact that she had evening work and was preparing for a competition gave me a perfect “window” to disappear for 8–9 hours a day during about 60% of the trip.
Beyond Visual Kei
I’m not really a sightseeing person. But if there’s something I genuinely care about – I’m all in.
So here’s how it went:
I sent my wife and mother-in-law to Takayama on Monday, went to see Karma in the evening, and then took a night bus to Nagoya and onward to Takayama. Why? Two locations.
Shirakawa-go
I wanted to visit it because of Higurashi: When They Cry.
Both me and my wife love it, and the setting is heavily inspired by Shirakawa-go.
We spent several hours there.
Most visitors come for the cultural heritage, so there isn’t much anime-related content — but we tracked down all the relevant locations. Totally worth it.
Kanayama (Silent Hill f)
The next day we went to Kanayama with a local guide to explore all the Silent Hill f locations.
I loved the game, and my wife followed it while I played, so we’re both invested in that universe.
The guide was amazing as she showed us everything, explained the context, and made the whole experience come alive.
After that, onsen (they let me in despite being heavily covered in tattoos), then back to Takayama.
Final Days
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Thursday (Osaka): VK rare hunting + Ninth in Pluto mini one-man + Michelin dinner with my wife (belated birthday celebration)
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Friday: mostly shopping – scored rare CDs/DVDs (Yuuga solo, Lez, re:dis, etc.)
Back to Visual Kei
Like I said before – the itch is gone. Back in September, I was chasing every possible concert. There was this constant need – this obsession. This time, it was different. I came to enjoy visual kei, not to consume it endlessly.
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4 out of 14 days – no VK at all
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left taibans early when I wanted
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skipped gigs if logistics were annoying (like Dexcore). Old me would’ve gone no matter what. Current me? Not if it’s too much hassle.
Of course, if I had the chance, I could still spend months in Japan just going to lives. But now it’s a choice, not a compulsion.
Final Thought
Who knows when the next trip will be – a year, two, maybe more. But I’m just glad I was able to fully use this opportunity while I had it. Even though this trip hit our wallet really badly. But hey, with the way the world currently is, endlessly trying to save money might not be the best option.
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Part 3 is coming…
Somehow
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So, somehow I’m back in Japan after 4–5 months. Basically, the third time in a year. This time, all alone.
Unfortunately, it’s not a vacation since I need to work, so my whole schedule looks like this: work, visual kei gig, work, sleep, repeat. With a couple of exceptions, but overall, that was the plan from the very beginning.
Anyways, as usual, the first day was a huge rush - checking in, metro, and straight to the venue.
08.08 - Karisome / Kuroneko / Tzkwym / Blaze / Snow Smile @ Ikebukuro BlackHole
First were Karisome. I like them quite a bit since their compositions are not as straightforward as those of many newer bands. I can’t say much other than that they didn’t disappoint. Would I go, for example, to their one-man if I had a chance? Not really.
The second were Kuroneko. Last year I had high hopes for them and thought they could grow nicely. But it is what it is, and they are disbanding soon. And they were as good as I expected. I liked the fact that they played a couple of songs from the beginning of their career. I hope the guys form something new that is as decent as Kuroneko.
Then came Tzkwym.
Let me preface this by saying I love Mejibray.
The whole review could be summarized like this - shitting on a plate and serving it to customers in a restaurant makes more sense than what I saw today, because the plate thing is at least a performance. Weak and shitty, but still. This was an abomination. That was pathetic.
If you read above, you could see my hate for Kakumay, whom I considered the worst VK gig I attended. Tzkwym takes first place now.
He is a terrible musician. He is amazing as a vocalist and performer in the right context - both in Mejibray and Drugs. But on his own, or in a setting where he is the driving force - gosh, it’s bad.
What he is doing here is not art. I simply don’t understand such a low level of self-awareness. And the same goes for the ~20 fans who adored him during his set.
At least with Kakumay and bands like Revaless or CHAOSS, you understand what they are trying to do - it’s just bad from the composition side of things and live performance. This… I don’t know.
How the mighty have fallen.
Like, come on - how can you perform karaoke with MIDI drums and guitars? Do you not have 10 euros for proper guitar and drum plugins for Guitar Pro, or wherever you write music?
As for the fans of this - I understand idolizing musicians. But vibing to literal shit is doing a disservice to the artist, because he sees that there’s a response and continues doing the same thing.
Do I recommend seeing Tzkwym? Yes.
It is an experience. You have to see this.
Then Blaze. It’s my third time seeing them, and they are as pleasant as ever. Mio controls his voice better with each gig I see them. And he even tries to stay within his range more often than not - good for him and his vocal cords.
And lastly, Snow Smile. I didn’t have high hopes going in, and in the end I can say there’s potential. So we shall see.
So, that’s the first day.
Two more weeks to go.
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This one is gonna be short. Ran some errands, then off to another gig.
09.08 — Mamireta @ Tokyo Kinema Club
Basically, they are the reason my trip takes two weeks instead of the initially planned one week. I got to see them last year, but the set was only 25 minutes, which wasn’t enough for me.
This time it was a one-man, and, as expected, they delivered. Interestingly enough, around 10–15% of the audience were male, which was a nice change of scenery when it comes to the male-to-female ratio at VK gigs.
Overall, the gig went as expected - Batsu doing Batsu things, 90% of the crowd engaging in furitsuke. The only issue was that the guitar was too low in the mix, and the longer the show went on, the less you could hear it, especially during the encore.
Overall, I’m glad that I finally got a chance to attend their one-man, because during my last two trips I couldn’t make it happen.
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Being heavily tattooed has its issues - in particular, you have to cover everything when you’re at a gym. Thankfully, I found a small gym that you can rent entirely for yourself, so that’s good. Then, after a nap, it was time to head to Saitama.
09.08 — Asagi @ HEAVEN’S ROCK Saitama Shintoshin VJ-3
In terms of gigs, this was a very strange day for me. There was plenty of stuff happening in Tokyo, but either I wasn’t excited about it (Heidi or Redo one-man shows, for example), or I had already seen the band a couple of times (like Mama.).
So I had to ask my 16-year-old self for help. And he chose Asagi.
I like quite a few songs by D. I like Asagi’s voice. It would be a shame to never hear him live even though I’m indifferent to his solo material.
So the gig went exactly as I expected. I enjoyed listening to Asagi sing, and I focused on Hiroki’s drum parts. And that’s it.
We did get to hear one song by D, though, if I’m not mistaken!
But I was surprised that he didn’t play Level Infinity (come on, it’s a recent A-side) or Corvinus, especially since the re-recorded version dropped a couple of weeks ago. No clue, but whatever.
My 16-year-old self is pleased.
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It’s Monday, and as I said, I’m not on vacation. So it’s work from the moment I wake up. Fun fact — I tried matcha ramen for lunch, and I wasn’t impressed at all. But I had to experience it.
Anyways, once I was done with work, I headed to Ikebukuro.
10.08 — Denny’s / 「Anniversary」 / August FP / The Monali. / Renji Session / SHADOW Weiser / 「Haa?」 @ Ikebukuro BlackHole
Monday is a very weird day. There’s very little to choose from when it comes to VK gigs. So I headed to a bunch of session bands.
The first one was Renji session, and they covered five AvelCain songs. And the quality was really good; even the vocalist’s tone of voice resembled Karma’s.
One thing that slightly shocked me was the sound quality. I could hear both guitars, the vocalist, the bass, and the drums. For example, the sound quality at Asagi’s live was quite horrible — muddy guitars that overshadowed Asagi’s voice, bass way too loud. So it was a nice surprise that a session band sounded much better than a band consisting of guys with up to 35 years of experience on stage.
Of course, that’s more of a question for the mixer guy. But still, not acceptable.
Shadow Weseir was interesting to me because they covered Van9ish (this is so random, I never thought I would hear anything by them in my lifetime) and Awoi (well, this is the closest thing I’m ever going to get to seeing them).
Third band — the highlight for me was hearing Mejibray - Sabbat. And I gotta say, despite the vocalist being relatively competent, he cannot imitate Tsuzuku.
Then The Monali. came on. It was weird that they performed their own material when everybody else was playing covers. Anyways, they are a poor man’s Shishi or Starku. Not bad, not good.
Yet another session band came on, and this time it was focused on Dezert, Dadaroma, and AvelCain. Perfect for my taste.
And then there was Denny’s.
Issei is still one of the best drummers to ever bless the VK scene. The way he works with his drums, man. Even with the songs they played today, he made the drum parts more complicated than they originally were, but did it so tastefully.
Plenty of drummers today simplified the drum parts because they couldn’t handle the originals, which is totally fine. But Issei took a different approach — either because of his ego or simply because he felt like it.
Plus, I got to hear Born and the only song I ever liked by Pentagon, so all good.
As for the last band, the only thing I’m glad I got to hear was Mejibray - Messiah.
So yeah, I’m definitely glad I chose to go to this particular gig because even though these songs were replicas, so to speak, they are the closest thing I’ll ever get to experiencing the originals in my lifetime for certain bands.
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Seems like Aki of Sadie was the support bassist that day too!
Cool that you went, sorry that the sound wasn’t the best, though.
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It’s been a long day for a variety of reasons, but here we are, yet again heading to Ikebukuro.
11.08 — Geikotsu Seibutsugun / emmurée / L’eprica @ Ikebukuro CHOP
Frankly, the main reason I went there was to see Geikotsu Seibutsu Gunshuu. Worshipping Temari is inevitable. As a casual Amber Gris enjoyer, seeing the first proper Temari band in 11 years was a must. And so I did.
I immensely enjoyed their set. Interestingly enough, the average age of the audience was nearing 40 — not surprising, but still an interesting observation.
The second one was emmurée. And boy, what a delight. I can’t say I listened to them much before, but overall, the performance they gave was simply impeccable. A wave of melancholy covered us for 40 minutes, and I loved it. Halka is my grandpa crush now.
They are an absolute must-see live even if you don’t enjoy their material, like I never really did. And if you don’t like them live, just know that you have no heart…
And the last one was L’eprica. Music-wise, they are close to emmurée’s sound, but slightly more positive, I guess?
Anyways, since I needed to run some errands, I left after the first half of their set. Too much melancholy for one day — my body can only handle so much.
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