This news is too fucking sudden and unfair… Rest in peace, Reita.
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God, this hurts like hell. His last tweet hits me even harder now. He’s the same age as my brother so it’s terrifying to me to see someone so young pass away so suddenly like this.
The GazettE was the band that got me into Japanese music and Japan as a whole. I’m so, so glad I got to see them and participate in a meet and greet with them. I’ll never forget how sweet Reita was, and how talented of a bassist he was.
I just hope the rest of the band is doing okay, especially Uruha. Reita was his childhood friend. Ugh, I feel so bad for him and the others. I wish I could give them a hug right about now.
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Rest in peace Reita
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This is so shocking to read, I feel so sad and his last tweet on X makes me so thoughtful… Back then, Gazette was one of the first bands I listened to, their song Cassis got me into them, I still remember this so well like it was yesterday.
May Reita rest in peace now.
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At first I also thought it’s an late joke for April fools but it isn’t. May Reita rest in peace.
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What the fuck??? I’m legitimately sad… he was way too young to be taken so soon. Rest in Peace…
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Finally wrapped my head to write some of my thoughts. This is partially adapted from a thread I wrote on twitter.
My header/banner everywhere is this image.
I’ve used it for ages, and I adore it. It’s taken from an the gazette’s MV.
It’s from FADELESS to be exact. Fadeless may be one of my favorite the gazettE songs. Actually, let me correct myself, it’s one of my favorite songs at all. Period.
In the past years, I was not the biggest the gazettE fan. I mocked them a bit to be fair. I disliked both NINTH and MASS, despite loving their lead singles. But they are still very much important to me.
They were one of my main introductions to Visual Kei. I remember watching for the first time the MV for Filthy in the Beauty like it was yesterday. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
I’ve been listening to the gazettE for more than half of my life. Even if I was a bit disconnect with them after the release of Dogma, they mean a lot. Undoubtedly deeply influential in my life.
Love or hate them, you can’t talk visual kei (fuck, you can’t talk jrock) without talking about the gazettE. They are the last band that really made it. They are bastions, icons.
Reita’s passing is an immense blow to everyone that follows this scene for so long. Especially those of us that the first contact with visual kei was around 2007-2010, when The gazettE was inevitable.
It’s wierd losing him so soon. That vacuum. It sucks, it really fucking sucks.
If I may post cringe for a bit: GAZEROCK IS NOT DEAD
But now let me rephrase it: GAZEROCK WILL NEVER DIE
(Sorry for the spelling errors, I’m not very FINE right now lol)
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You know, “This soul can never die” therefore Gazerock will never die.
It’s been like 14 hours now and I’m still in that state of not being able to comprehend. I know from a logical perspective that it’s true, that things changed remarkably but the rest of me is still behind all this.
To me this band means the world.
I got into them in 2006, anything but in my youth anymore but when I do love, I do it with my all and that’s how I feel about that band (knowing how tricky that is with the first disbandment I’ve ever been confronted with and equally deeply involved, however that’s nothing I have control over, my feeling happen and I’m pretty much of an all or nothing type when it comes to feelings).
I’ve just been taking a pic this morning and saw a notification on the LINE app. I thought it were something about the release since it actually were common them starting to post (them not doing yesterday should have be some kinda warning that something was going on), so I checked it and there was what lots of us mostly dislike or even are afraid of the hint of an important announcement.
I just made it to the Japanese version and there was a constant row of no’s in my mind the second I spotted his name and even though I didn’t know how to pronounce the kanjis in the announcement I knew in which words both get used and then everything in me just didn’t wanna learn anything more. I just wanted everything to not be true.
There’s still so much chaos inside me, emotional (which’s a hell of a rollercoaster ride today) and also thoughts. The latter don’t matter in some ways, the rest I don’t know, I can’t handle that well and usually just don’t feel which’s not working today.
With me feeling like this I can’t even fathom in the slightest how the other members feel, his family and other close ones. I hope they find ways to release some of the feelings and what else may be on their mind or whatever, rather in healthy ways but in the end anything that works and doesn’t destroy them is fine, I guess.
There are tons of questions I have, for few there most likely will be answers for others it’s anything but likely there ever will be. That’s okay, it’s the band’s and family’s decisions what to answer, what to share and what not as well as when.
I don’t know when I will really understand what happened, in like every part of me does. Until then it remains surreal.
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Absolutely insane news to wake up to this morning. May his soul rest in peace. I pray that his family, friends, loved ones and the rest of the band are comforted through this, that they are able to properly mourn his passing, and that they find the strength to endure into the future.
I also pray for all of the fans effected by this.
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a rollercoaster indeed. a sudden pang, absolutely. wont stop celebrating his lifes work. goodnight icon<3
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The past few days have been up and down for me mentally. I fell asleep earlier than usual and woke up way before my alarm. Something told me to just check IG for shits and giggles and the first thing i saw was his picture with Kanji and dates. I thought this was a joke or something…and I also started saying “no.”
I then went on twitter and it was confirmed. Reading his final tweet on top of this shattered me. I’m never shy to say that the Gazette (especially Reita and Uruha) are why I picked up the bass and Guitar. I know our heroes don’t live forever but 42 is just too young dawg. We know he and the rest of the band still had more to give. This isn’t fair. I’m mad. And I’m sad. And my heart hurts for the rest of the members, staff, and most importantly Reita’s family. My condolences go out to them and the rest of you.
Reita is a legend in these streets. He’s solidified as one of the GOATS of J-Rock/Visual Kei. I’m Happy i at LEAST got to see him at the NYC show back in 2017. It still one of my favorite shows of all time. He was just as dope in person as he was on the countless videos i watched.
Karasu is a Top 5 GazettE song and its hittin a lot harder for me today.
Gone but definitely not forgotten. Rest Easy GOAT. This was the icing on the cake with everything else i got going on. But i’ll be fine.
Everyone…please take care of yourselves today.
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I’m so shocked and saddened by this sudden news. The Gazette was one of the very first visual kei bands I listened to when I was in middle school, I literally grew up with them. Moreover, in this scene where there are not a lot of bands that stay together for a long time, I’ve grown to be very fond of them, having followed their releases for more than half of my life.
May he rest in peace.
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What makes news like this particularly hard is that VK bands come and go like the wind. By the time there’s enough material to establish an artist and you start becoming a fan, it’s not out of the ordinary for them to disband.
But when you’ve got a cornerstone of the genre whose foundation is rocked by the death of a member, it hits differently. Over two decades of this massive nigh-unstoppable force suddenly shaken to its core. It’s such a shock.
Regardless of how you felt about the Gazette’s music, you can’t deny their importance to the scene and their influence on so many bands that followed them. This is a huge loss that I still haven’t fully comprehended.
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Scrolling through Twitter and seeing how many band members just posted about it/reacted to it this is very obvious (and not just something we as fans/consumers assume).
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damn, I came on here this morn and thought I was still dreaming but shit this is real 
I’m just so stunned. Its so sudden, and he was so young, I never would’ve expected this. I can’t imagine what the rest of the members must feel like. My heart goes out to them and Reita’s family too. We lost a good man, may he rest in peace 
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Are they really never gonna Say what happened to him ? It’s so difficult to not understand anything
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We will find out with time, for now we just need to support the members and his family wishes and respect their privacy on the matter!
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I was playing my bass last night when I saw the news. The GazettE is one of my favorite bands, and in some way Reita is definitely an influence for me as a bassist. I never really thought about that until now. I’ll miss him, but I’ll cherish what he did for Vkei, Jrock, music, everything.
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In the grand scheme of things it’s really not important how he passed. They have every right to keep it private if they choose to.
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