Regarding MASS they did say that they decided on that together. I leave it at what they said and accept this as he was fine with this.
But I’ve seen people say about the time in the past that it has been for that reason (either solely or more, who knows). Must have been 2011/2012, people kept saying around the time when he had part of his hair dyed pink. Don’t ask me I’ve been badly annoyed by the fandom in 2008 and and didn’t care about anything except for being aware of new releases from 2008 until 2013. And even after I’ve never really been part of the fandom in terms of engaging with people but just know very few people and be a bit more aware of what’s going on.
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Close enough welcome back Slipknot
I remembered this blog post I came across years ago about Aoi wanting to quit before, so I wanted to share for anyone curious.
https://www.tumblr.com/trauma-radio/32422456200/that-most-important-part-in-aois-zy-interview
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Is this something for you?
I hope everyone finds success going their separate ways. As a long time fan it’s been so strange to see the discourse of fans speculating about Aoi’s mental state, digging up past tweets, etc. to justify this. To me, I don’t think any of that is necessary, the guy put 24 years of his life into the band and that’s more than enough.
A few years ago, I would have bet on GazettE going the way of Luna Sea, putting out a few more albums and then touring their discog comfortably as a legacy act while the members pursue solo projects. Things certainly turned out different but I just wish the best for everyone, they’re all so incredibly talented.
I’m grateful I got to see this band with all five members twice.
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I kinda decided I wouldnt see them live again or buy live releases without Reita there…. But now…. I dont even know….. That was a big enough blow but now Aoi is out too I’m not sure this can realistically be recovered from as the same band….
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Just saw a thread on the japanese boards jinxing them disbanding.
Would you guys get surprised if they announced it, like any day now? 
I know its not a fun topic but at least very realistic.
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They clearly stated that they want to go on.
So if this were to happen at all, it were surprising now. Sometime later, well yeah, it’s always an option, isn’t it?
Besides, I really don’t want that to happen, I guess so much is clear (at least to those who know me for a while). But if it were what they felt best with, I’d rather appreciate they do than force themselves through more years. All I want for them is to be happy and content with what they do.
But for now, I don’t think they didn’t know something like that announcement (in a less aggressive way maybe) was about to come, they probably just hadn’t planned it for that day. So I don’t think the situation of being just three instead of four people wasn’t as new to them as to us. Why would they have stressed they’d go on? If that wasn’t something they just said to calm down people, it’s not really to be expected.
In the end only the people involved know what really is and was going on. But when it comes to me, I take what got said and wait for what’s to come. Speculating over a disbandment is nothing I waste my time with. And besides this I always thought it’s hurtful for the people who fear this might happen as it might be for the band. There’re always people who don’t want this to happen for one reason or another (not just when it comes to Gazette, that’s my overall opinion) and to me that always felt rude (as well as “when will they finally disband?” or after such an announcement “finally!” and stuff like this). Fans as well as bands put their hearts into this in several ways and for some it’s never easy to see that break apart.
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“Any day now” is a bit mean tbh. But the likelihood down the line isn’t zero. And I think that’s something people are gonna have to deal with because of how severe this is.
As much as we love Aoi and Reita, they added on to what is majority Ruki’s compositions. So there is ALSO a chance the band can pull shit off with just the three. And I won’t sit here and act like Ruki’s pen ain’t solid. The TOXIC-Beautiful Deformity era was rough in real time, but it spawned a lot of bangers, primarilly written by Ruki. Now that Aoi is gone, I can likely see Ruki leaning more on Uruha whose pen is ALSO solid. And he (next to Kaoru) is why I play/write music so now I’m even more curious.
IF and ONLY IF they decide to call it quits, Id like to see them exhaust every creative measure with this reduced line up first.
MANNNNNNNNNNNN
I need some music. I’m kinda hype.
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Personally, I just want more GazettE. Even without 2 core members, I’m perfectly okay with them moving on in whatever form they want, under the same name. Just give me more quality music, gents.
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25 posts were merged into an existing topic: the GazettE
I think they should go on hiatus, heal, enjoy life, spend time with their kids and wives if they have them and then in maybe 5+ years come back renewed.
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If Reita and Aoi get replaced there will definitely be differences because it won’t be their hands playing the material. In terms of future music, I don’t see their absence affecting the band much at all unless Ruki makes a big stylistic shift.
While I haven’t been a huge fan since around the time Toxic came out, what I don’t want is for the band to enter some awkward phase and just sort of fizzle out. Like, I don’t know, have an unknown bass player off stage (like what Malice Mizer did after Kami died) while Uruha handles all the guitar parts (like La’Cryma Christi did after Koji quit). They really need to just chill and really figure this shit out.
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I think that picking up a support member or two is inevitable if they want to continue. The hardest part about that would be getting the fans to accept the replacement, not getting the replacement integrated into the band.
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I don’t think it’s bad, I like it a lot. Not as much as the three albums before but also not less than Toxic or Division.
It’s just instead of the usual change from album to album it’s rather a continuation of Ninth that lacks its variety (which I think is because there are songs by Uruha and Aoi on Ninth but exclusively all by Ruki on Mass). It’s a solid album with some songs I constantly listen to (Blinding Hope, Nox, The Pale, Daku, I also even love Moment a very lot, but it has some personal meaning to me). And I guess, with a bit more time and/or more variety it could have turned out as great as in my opinion Ninth is.
Maybe more time isn’t even the problem but the working conditions coupled with the mental toll of the time it was created as well. We won’t know anyway.
I might be wrong but with them saying right from the beginning back in 2024 that there won’t be a replacement for Reita I think it’s the band having the hardest part to let anyone in. If that counts for another guitarist with how things happened, I’m not sure. So I weren’t surprised, if they got another guitarist but no bassist. Or none at all.
I’m going with all of that, three people, four, five.
That’s why I said support members. They can use support musicians and stick by their word that they’re not replacing Reita as a full member of the band, but practicality weighs out over sentimentality. If they want to continue as a band, they could use the help. It’s not right to throw all guitar duties on Uruha and expect him to not burn out.
I know they’re not Japanese but one of my other favorite bands is Mastodon and they’re going through something similar. They were solid for 20+ years until something unexpected happened (they never elaborated on this) and they had to remove their guitarist Brent Hinds from the group. There was bad blood between them until Brent got hit while on a motorcycle and died. He was the secret sauce of the group and one could say his guitar playing is what differentiated Mastodon from their competitors, but that didn’t stop the band from integrating a new guitarist almost right away! They’re still touring and going strong even after the loss of one of their long time contributors. So it can happen. The band just has to be willing to let it happen, like you said, and then the fans have to be willing to accept it. That’s why I think having support members is the way to go.
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Please take album discussion to the main gazette thread:
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