“For his standards” he was in a fantastic mood in Berlin. I have been to 11 concerts of them in europe and there were times when he ignored the crowd completely. Cam out, sang, did the bare minimum of show and left. Not always but often enough to make this time feel like one of their best concerts 
Even if I compare it to the one time I saw them in Japan.
Yup, he seemed in a really good mood last weekend.
In general, I agree with the comment about the parasocial relationship. To me it always seems as if, in an effort to paint Kyo as some deep, mysterious and hurt human being, many fans turn him into a one-dimensional one instead, that can only ever have one fixed opinion on things and will never see anything in a nuanced view.
He once said he hates going overseas? Oh man, that surely means that he absolutely cannot find joy in anything that comes with going overseas, and should he ever so slightly appear as if he were having fun during an overseas live, it’s definitely fake or fans imagine it or misinterpret it or whatever.
And then they point at “fuck you paris” and Die showing the middle finger as proof for that xDDD
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The real question is: Was he in a good mood because of the concert or because he knew the torture will be over soon? 
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But for Kyo, isn’t it more that he constantly mentions how much he hates it and shows that through his actions? It’s not like people are so delulu to think they can read his mind, but he actively let’s people know.
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I’m not saying that he doesn’t hate going overseas. I’m saying that a lot of fans inflate it into “he absolutely cannot find joy in anything in regards to overseas touring, not even the live performances themselves”. They turn it into this black/white thing without any room for nuance.
And they constantly do this with everything he says, sometimes unearthing decades old interviews to make their point. It almost feels like they want him to be this bitter, middle-aged vocalist that only finds joy in some niche interests and hates everything else, even his own job.
Which in my opinion stems from the parasocial relationship they built with him through his lyrics - “oh he sings about all these topics that I feel the same about, we are so alike, he gets me and I get him” - so he absolutely cannot be more nuanced than that, because it would ruin the mirroring. They cannot see in him what they are unable to find in themselves, so it must be untrue for him too. Otherwise, the parasocial relationship would crumble.
Basically, if two people A and B bond over shared negative feelings, but A slowly becomes more positive while B doesn’t, B might try to invalidate the positivity or even outright sabotage it, because they don’t want to lose this bond with A.
Of course they can’t directly do that to Kyo, so they instead turn to the fans. With the most famous one being a certain dead tree.
Or at least that’s what I think, as a professional armchair psychologist.
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I personally agree with you the only time I disagree is regarding the treatment of the vip. In my opinion it’s really not people’s jobs to look up on social media how they treat people in VIP and if I paid money to meet somebody that I respect I would definitely not expect that they have a bag over their head or that they refuse to talk to me. I assume that even if you could speak good Japanese they would treat you the same so I’m not willing to blame all of it on a language barrier. If they don’t want to meet their fans then they shouldn’t do VIPs simple as that. As far as them liking overseas or not I totally agree that it shouldn’t matter after all they’re there for work.
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These things are common knowledge in the community. We’re always here willing to help those who have questions.
If being part of a community is a “job”, well, I don’t know what to tell you.
Dir is popular outside of vkei. Not everyone reads message boards. When you sell VIP meet and greets it comes with an expectation that you will get to say a few words to the members. Someone should not have to come to a message board to find out that they refuse to do the bare minimum is my point.
That’s like renting a car and having to go on Yelp to find out you have to bring your own jumper cables because the car won’t start on its own.
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I cannot, for the life of me, understand how people can be that irresponsible with their money. Imagine spending 150€ on VIP without even informing yourself on what you will and won’t be getting for that much money.
There’s really no excuse for that. The band members don’t owe you anything, it’s not their job to fullfil your expectations on how a meet and greet should be. Was it short and rushed? Yes it was. Was there anything promised beyond “signed postcard from each band member, handed to you personally from the band”, in regards to meeting the members? No, there wasn’t.
And yet, if you knew what to say, you were able to squeeze in a few words, like I did. Toshiya even replied to me. But even if you had more time with them, what the hell would you do then? They don’t know who you are, it’s a parasocial relationship on top of the language and cultural barrier. Plus, you’re not the only VIP, how much time do you think they have before the live starts?
Again, if you bought this VIP expecting photos or handshakes or anything like that, when nothing like that was even listed as being part of the VIP, then that’s on you.
As always: If you don’t like what you get for your money, don’t buy it. It’s that easy.
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And that is not unsual. Even at comic cons, if the person is very popular, you will be pushed with barely time for a hello. You can get lucky if the guests have not so many people waiting. But that is of course not the case in a concert vip setting.
There were cases were it was not explicitly stated that Kyo would not attend (on a different Tour) and I get that people felt cheated back than.
I typically get VIP tickets for priority access to merch and because I can’t be bothered to wait in line for 10+ hours.
Last time the band were in the States, I bought some merch, grabbed a drink, and was the first person in the venue while everyone else was in a separate room lined up for pictures.
It was pretty cringe, to be honest. I don’t blame anyone for taking part in it. I put more blame on the band/band’s management for the sheer lack of effort put into the VIP experience. But hey, they got their money, and I guess that’s all that matters.
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I feel like they should sell overseas “VIP” tickets that just come with early access and some sort of exclusive merch bundle. Oh wait, it’s almost like they already do that in Japan…
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They should bring the REAL merch next tour
the official dir en grey trash can
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Plot twist: It’s where Kyo is hiding.
Kyo’s next look: Oscar the Grouch
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I just love comparing this to other musical genres where musicians who are very well known in their scene are more than happy to hang at the bar and chat to fans all night with no ego or bullshit attached. Though honestly with how weird the DeG fans are I dont blame them wanting a bit of distance tbh.
The discussion about Kyo hating overseas sure spiraled… Im sure there are elements of it he maybe does enjoy, like his performance was still good, he didnt seem lazy or was lackluster or anything just didn’t really interact with the crowd, which is ok as a lot of bands dont but they do usually at least say thanks and seem happy to have had a successful gig at the end. Is good he was more like that at other shows, just didnt see that in London. Like others have said maybe he was just not having a good couple of days for whatever reason. If you wanna see what Kyo performing looking bored as fuck looks like just watch the 2014 Gauze release, its only when they start playing more recent stuff he looks into it. Swear the first handful of songs he just stands there singing, maybe tapping his foot once in a while. Haha. But again, if he doesnt particularly enjoy those songs anymore (or at least didnt? Who knows with all the attention theyre giving those songs now) I guess its not surprising.
You’re addressing me but I have no interest in dir and I was not at any of their shows. I’m commenting from a business standpoint.
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This is exactly my point. Last I checked it doesn’t cost anybody to be kind to the people who are putting food on your table and that’s your fans.
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No, it was a generic “you”.
I totally agree with you tbh. The only thing I hated about my previous vip experience was how fucking dumb a lot of the other fans were acting, but generally i would not and have not gone for vip for gigs because it is a waste of time and money. But sounds like they do even less for it these days which is very sad tbh, and sad people are paying more for less it seems, prices gone up since i did mine… I agree that it isnt the bands responsibility for the format of the meet and greet but in other genres and shows ive been to bands hang out among fans (sometimes) and chill at the bar having a beer for FREE, admittedly these bands arent as big as Dir, but still big in their respective scenes. Considering the entry is usually like 2 hours before the show starts it would be nice to make that more worth the while for people, but like Geist says, guess the people who organise this stuff wanna maximise money earnt for the least amount of effort possible so this is what you get… haha. If everyone just agreed it was a waste of time and didnt buy the vip tickets nobody would be getting ripped so guess you can only blame the fans for being mental enough to keep buying them. If like me, you had an experience and didnt overly enjoy it you dont have to do it again, trust me, youre not gaining any street cred by the amount of Dir VIPs youve done. Haha.
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