Third guy has been revealed as Ibuki (ex-Dictator Circus)
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Man, I wish I could actually understand Japanese… what glimpses I can catch via the automatic translator is very interesting, they seem to reveal a lot of behind the scenes info on how the VK industry works.
I forgot to mention this other fictional VK band called Fantôme Iris
Active since 2019, they have released 14 original songs so far and they also cover other bands, like, GLAY, SID, MUCC, Laruku, LUNA SEA, Naitomea & Janne Da Arc. Most of their songs are composed by members of SID.
They are part of a multimedia francise called ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream, for which there’s also an anime of the same name, in which they barely appear, and some movies and games, but on special occasions they do perform live with their voice actors playing their respective characters with other support members
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Ah yeah, I actually randomly checked out these guys last year. To my surprise they’re quite decent in a more normie melodic way! Their album almost made it to my top 10 vk releases of last year, the competition wasn’t too strong, lol…
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They’re not bad, but the problem is that they sound nothing like they look like. Judging by the pictures, one would expect something more gothic, but they just sound like average VK at best, and their vocalist has zero charisma and stage presence. Pierrot is a really good song, though
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Has it been mentioned here that Gackt was one of the judges of Japan’s Got Talent? I didn’t know that until now. 1st season premiered on February 11 and has already ended.
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Endigo, former vocalist from swedish VK band BatAAr, is one of the contestants in Drag Race Sverige
Endigo is the first Drag Race contestant to be based in Japan and has the biggest YouTube following before coming into Drag Race with 663k
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VK/idol band S.S.NiRVERGE∀ (秘密結社ニルヴァージュ∀) will perform the OP song “Continue Distortion” for the anime “Isekai Shōkan wa Nidome Desu (異世界召喚は二度目です)” a.k.a. “Summoned to Another World for a Second Time”, which’s set to debut on 2023/04/08. The song hasn’t been released yet, but you can hear a preview during the anime’s trailer:
Apparently, this band has songs composed by members of AYA a BAND, which had members from bands such as SUG, SCREW & NEGA. The 3rd song of their album is a cover of theirs, and it’s actually a pretty good song, as much of their heavier tracks are
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Miku from An Cafe reacting to brazilian metal bands:
It’s all subbed in portuguese, but basically he says he likes all 3 bands (Angra, Sepultura & Raimundos) and that Sepultura is his favorite. He also mentions those sound a lot like japanese music (?) and that he’d like to return to Brazil soon.
AN CAFE has been here twice or thrice in the past and in the 1st time they even got coverage from the brazilian MTV channel, which I’ve already posted before in this thread.
In the same channel they have this video with MIYAVI, during his last trip to Brazil. He performs here a lot, btw.
This time they also show him Sepultura (which he already knows and is a fan of), plus some other pop/traditional stuff with some of the best guitarrists we have here. He speaks perfect english, tough, so I’m sure ya’ll can understand:
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Idk if it counts, but some Vtubers made a cover and it’s pretty good
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L’Arc〜en〜Ciel provided the opening theme song “Mirai” for the multiplayer online action role-playing game Blue Protocol:
This partnership actually happened back in 2021, but they’ve now began streaming the full song/OP to celebrate the fact that the game launches globally for free in the second half of 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
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Netflix’s final Ultraman CG Anime season has an opening song by MIYAVI previewed in its trailer:
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There are 2 Sega Saturn games with VK bands “in them”:
X JAPAN: Virtual Shock 001 (エックス ジャパン ヴァーチャルショック 001) is a 1995 adventure game developed by I2 Project for the Sega Saturn. Virtual Shock’s plot has the player, a fan of visual kei band X Japan, posing as a photographer in order to sneak into the Tokyo Dome for a concert. Once inside, the player is tasked with taking backstages photos of the band as they prepare for the show. Development information on the sequel “002” was published in some game magazines, but it was never released.
Disc Station Bessatsu: I Miss You (Ｄｉｓｃ Ｓｔａｔｉｏｎ別冊 ｉ ｍｉｓｓ ｙｏｕ。) is a 1997 special edition of Compile’s “Disc Station” magazine. It features simulated version of Compile composer Katsumi Tanaka’s recording studio, a few basic games, and a music video for his single “i miss you.” Even tough SHAZNA is in the magazine’s cover they are not in the game itself.
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Answering my own question: Yes. There is actually a VK musician older than BUCK-TICK’s drummer. Former La’cryma Christi drummer Levin turned 63 today!
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I still can’t believe this is fucking real
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There is a racing game for PS1 called “Gekitotsu Toma L’Arc: TomaRunner vs L’Arc-en-Ciel (激突トマラルク)” released in 2000. 5 songs by the band are featured in this game as well as a CG animated “live version” of “Niji”, which is unlocked if you meet some certain criteria in the game. “STAY AWAY” was released specifically to promote this game, back in the day. The OST for this game was digitally released earlier this year.
A similar game called “HYDE RUN” was released in 2021 and is still avaliable and free to play for iOS/Android, but this one is based on HYDE’s solo carreer and features 3 of his songs as well as his voice acting. A novelization of the game was distributed for free to those who attended HYDE’s orchestra tour “20th Orchestra Tour HYDE ROENTGEN 2021” as well as some merch.
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I highly recommend checking out attached video footage for everyone who thinks that twitter/IG Yoshiki is any different from Yoshiki pre-social media, it’s fabulous on every level imaginable.
there’s also some hide in 16p video quality for anyone fancying a seizure of nostalgia.
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A live video by L’Arc～en～Ciel randomly appears in the PS3/wii game 428: Shibuya Scramble (428 〜封鎖された渋谷で〜) released in 2008. The band is not related to the game at all. It just so happens that their video was playing on a billboard when the filming crew was shooting footage used in the game’s trailer:
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GLAY COMPLETE WORKS is a 2 CD set released in April 16, 1999 released for PS1 and PC that features the biography (of the group and the four main members), the discography (singles, albums, videos, etc.), trading cards & multi-angles (of the videos However & Soul Love) of the videos of the group. The CD 2 features a collection of magazines and pictures with interviews of the group from 1994-1999. A very similar game was released in the previous year featuring a non-visual band (but VK related) called Iceman - Digital Playstage.
CONTENTS:
CD #1
Album and singles cover view, as well as lyrics, videos, choruses and TV advertisements for some songs.
A complete timeline of the band’s history up until 1998.
Simple descriptions of each band member, including a special picture.
Multi angle live performance viewer and editor (you can put together your own video with different member angles and export it at the end).
Trading cards, unlocked one at a time by guessing songs correctly.
External song player and playlist maker. Includes limited orchestral versions of some songs.
External voice player.
External Quicktime 3.0 setup wizard.
CD #2
Several high-quality magazine scans containing interviews and pictures. Navigator with built-in bookmark system.
Special wallpapers and screensaver.
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The upcoming Idolland PriPara Smartphone game, set to launch in August, has some visuals that caught my attention cuz they look kinda VKish:
This fictional band is called DARK NIGHTMARE(ダークナイトメア) and they have a live-action version that sounds a lot like BREAKERZ IMO, or all those generic “idol kei” BS that’s been coming out lately:
Also, the villain of the series, Mario (マリオ), looks kinda VKish as well, but seems to be more inspired by “proto VK” bands, like, Seikima-II and Gargoyle, according to their wiki.
No live-action version for this guy, cuz you can’t match this silly af “live” video:
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