People on twitter are speculating how Reita died and there thinking “oh, eventually they will tell us/it will come out” but I doubt that will happen when Hide sadly passed away (may he rest in peace) they said how he died which caused sadly many many others to pass away as well and when they had his funeral many more passed too. Gazette and there record company likely didn’t want to see a repeat of what happened with Hide so they didn’t annouce and likely will never have plans to do.
It’s heart breaking he passed away and there will always be the “how/why/did they suffer etc” type questions that always comes with a person death but trying to speculate instead of griving will only bring a person more pain because, that answer can’t always be answered it would be nicer if people would stop.
I honestly feel that J-Rock and VK need more Western coverage that isn’t just a cringy Teens React video, the offhand reaction GuitarTuber (no shade to Nik Nocturnal, the few VK bands he’s reacted to have gotten quite a little boost from it), JPopAsia or fucking AnimeNewsNetwork.
I get 99.99% of my news from here concerning J-Rock, but just like the bands we listen to, the community is pretty fragmented itself. Maybe part of that is due to how people use social media in general? I have some good vk discussions on J-Rock and even general rock/metal subreddits, but I (and maybe others as well) have certain feelings about Reddit and don’t think a crosspost feature would go over that well
I fully agree. When I think about YouTube channel who are really covering vk related news I can only think of savette. Most channels that cover vkei are just like you’ve said or are kinda dated with no / no clear “schedule”.
he’s double, if not triple, the age of an average VK fan logging onto discord to ask for his opinion and if this het moron with rage issues (which he sells as his edgey hot takes) does not want to bother with arranging his thoughts, it does not make it okay to hold younger fans accountable for his mental vomit.
he’s the one initiating this type of content, including keeping himself available for submission requests from strangers.
I rewrote this comment several times (home reading hashtags: mixed race couples; racist white hapa fathers; hapa fathers and their views on asian men), but I took another glance at that thing he’s shagging, and I’m seeing an azn dating pool reject Linh - who has since taken her own fabu vlogging pieces offline, but her legacy keeps living on its own:
I don’t really center my world around what weirdo straight people are airing over youtube, but I moreso don’t check for white-identified, male-identified tradwife tropes who temporarily take right-wing men out of their well-deserved inceldom,
but
I don’t think VK fans are the problem with his video, overall.
I think we the fanbase could use more discernment in regards to polling people’s opinions on this little isolated scene, though, because one shit opinion is not worth the hundred or so spotify spins from his regular subscribers.
I have to say his wife comes off as one pathetic heffa, but at least she figured out the gender power balance on the internet was not working out in her favor and collected her Ls when quitting.
For hide’s death there are a lot of details known. Unfortunatly his death was so unusual that even if it officially was declared an accident it is hard to not think I could also have been suicide.
Some people who passed because of hide’s death would have done so no matter the cause. Others because THEY thought it was suicide.
So if they make an annoucement later about reita where they just state “accident” or “illness”, this should not have the same effect as hides death.
In the end not announcing a cause will lead to rumors not matter how much they ask to not speculate. That’s just like people are, if we like it or not.
I don’t think this is fair to say because as we’ve established VK fans only care about Gazetto and Diru and Finn McKenty doesn’t seem to be aware of either band (although I’m sure they wouldn’t have been spared from his bad opinions). Most of the bands he talked about were actually Japanese metalcore bands and then Babymetal and a few others. But no VK bands.
He made one offhand comment about MM, I think. Saying “nobody would care about this band if they were regular guys from the middle of Alabama”. Which, yeah, doesn’t actually say anything about it.
Visual kei never had to care about update theyr strategies and that’s why this scene is dead by now. To think what this was worldwide in 20’s and whats today. Also, they were dumb as fuck with this culture of not sharing anything.
I’m so glad that the yokan remake suddenly came in to remind everyone that VK vocalists perform the best when doing VK vocals, not the trademark try-hard grunting that sounds like they’re about to shit themselves out of front and back holes several times per song
just a reminder it’s the same person who ALSO ruined satsuki’s screaming technique after ReS signed to freewill lol omg
I wonder when the community™ will realize that pushing for the big break in the west is always a career mistake for every vk act, literally no exceptions
Honestly, I think people just need to spend a little more effort to learn enough Japanese and creative translation skills to be able to interact with Japanese sources and communities instead of waiting for content in their own languages. The western vkei/jmusic community is SO disconnected from the actual Japanese community because everyone waits around for someone else to get info and there’s a general vibe of disinterest in getting news straight from the source.
With so many good translation programs and tools out there, it takes the TINIEST extra bit of effort to navigate Japanese sources if you care enough, so if you really want to share and spread info, you gotta do it. Dive into twitter and tanuki and twitcasts like the jfans do and be involved online.
I like this forum for having discussions, but it’s clunky for news, and I think a lot of modern vk fans are just kind of lazy because there used to be LOADS of passionate fans from previous generations doing all the work that nobody is picking the torch up from. Non vk/jpop music fans still strugglin tho RIP lol
There’s definitely something to this. Being autistic, I have my “safe media,” things I return to over and over again. Things where, I know how it makes me feel, I know the twists and curves, and find a sense of comfort in there. And while some of that is stuff I got into as an adult in the last few years (Spiritbox and Defeater come to mind), a LOT of it is stuff I discovered as a teenager (including Dir en Grey)
There’s other aspects to it as well though, I think. Like, it’s not that I don’t seek out new music now that I’m 30, it’s just… more difficult. Between time constraints of working full-time, taking care of my cats, devoting time to my partner, writing my own music, etc… I have a lot of STUFF going on. So while music is still always playing around me, I don’t have the time to do active listening as much. And if I can’t actively listen, what’s the point in putting on something new? I want to be able to truly digest the new material, so if I can’t do that I’ll just put on something I already know
Late to reply. Totally agree with you. It also lacks of quality discussions because it’s mostly used for short-term chatting. Everything will be forgotten in a day or two as the topic changes.
Moreover, even if you’re a rockstar in a Discord community, the world outside doesn’t even know your name.
DeG is considered to be one of the biggest japanese rock bands ever, they have been pushing on for years now releasing many singles and albums. One would think they would have gathered loads of western fans since they are presenting their music in English as well. And yesterday they dropped their new pv yesterday and it has around 66000 views with 500 comments in English and japanese. I guess a big portion of the views are japanese.
Well this can be considering much but very little at the same time, any random kpop act will get that amount in 1 min or so.
Now we shouldn’t compare it to kpop but it feels really …small. There is like one reaction video with like 20 views to the pv… It’s like no one cares.
And this site is considered the biggest western fan site for vkjrock, and like 15 people here have commented on the song. On red… there are like 5 people who commented on it.
Then it just hit me, is there even a community for this anymore? I feel we might be like 100 people at most who care about the scene… Spreader out here and there again, it feels like no one cares anymore, sadly.
I’m not trying to be a party pooper but again I ask, is there really a community for vkjrock anymore? Damn it was fire in the mid to late 2000s… But today?
Please correct me if I’m wrong
youtube viewcount for the first 24 hours isn’t accurate, they share a downplayed estimate + do some sort of bot verification thing, after which you’ll see real numbers about 48 hours after video premiere.
it doesn’t mean the scene isn’t shrinking or anything, but I would go in about a week from now just to compare how exactly this video performs next to 2 or 3 recent PVs.
There are several other communities of course, but they’re VK-focused which IMO is not how a J-rock community nowadays should be considering how big and lively the general J-rock scene has become. Both can definitely co-exist in a Japanese rock community.
JROCK ONE is the only public-facing J-rock community self-hosted wise that has daily new content, quality discussions, and a lot of engagements. We have a huge number of lurkers reading the site on a daily basis.
To be fair, it’s extremely difficult to launch a J-rock community like JROCK ONE these days, not mentioning being in our position. We have the most modern platform that immensely improves quality of life for J-rock fans, the best and experienced staff team I have ever worked with, and a number of contributors who contribute tons of content and discussions daily. Most communities aren’t in our league and some even monetize from your contributions in return.
It’s good to have alternatives, but it’s nearly impossible to find a place like JROCK ONE. And we are here to exist for the long term.
again, it feels like no one cares anymore, sadly.
