ALDIOUS' Vocalist LeavesI've already given my praise to these awesome set of ladies, but it was sad hearing that Rami had to depart from the band. Of course, fans understandably accepted this news and wished the departed member well on her health. Fortunately, the band wasn't knocked down and picked up KERA model Re:No to fill in the position. I'm sure her vocal talents will take some getting used to, but the essence of ALDIOUS are not lost.
BABYMETAL's DebutI know they formed two years ago, but they didn't debut their awesomeness until this year and it was definitely a "wtf" moment. Who would've thought that fusing cutesy girly jpop with metal was going to be so amazing. I know for a fact that this group confused some people and it's definitely a group that you'll either love or hate, but either way. Apparently, they have something in the works for 2013 and I am looking forward to it. Perhaps, there will be a battle between them and BiS. That might be pretty epic.
Pay money To my Pain's K's Mental HealthIt was sad to hear that PTP's vocalist K had to put his musical activities on hold due to his mental health. I tried to look up some information on the situation and you'd be surprised how difficult that can be to find a truly credible source. From what I gathered from Tumblr
VII-Sense DisbandsProbably less surprising for those familiar with Shaura's (Juka) track record, but still saddening to fans of the band. For me, the band seemed to be gaining momentum with each release and made me excited as time passed by. They had an interesting line up of having triple guitars and utilizing every aspect of that. Unlike Kisaki, Kamijo, and Hizaki, this is the end of Shaura/Juka's musical adventures. I wish him a lot of luck and I hope that Erina shows back up in a new band as well, because his skills are amazing.
DecoLa Hopping DisbandsAnother less surprising bit of news that's still saddening to me and their fans. I knew they had been having direction issues, but somehow they carried on to make a couple more singles before officially announcing their disbandment. They have one more release and then it's all over in April of this coming new year. If you've never checked these guys out, they are definitely not what you would think they would be judging by appearance. I remember thinking it was going to be the typical oshare kei, but then Suiya began to growl and I was instantly in love. Nonetheless, I wish them all the best and I hope they continue their musical endeavors, especially Suiya, in new projects.
Chemical Pictures DisbandsThe last of the disbandment news for me was hearing this bit of saddening news. In a way, it seemed expected as the band had been silent for a while and TenTen's bands don't last long from what I noticed. I'm hoping that TenTen shows up on the scene as he normally does and even the other members as well. They had a lot of potential and it's sad that they couldn't fully develop a little longer.
D'erlanger & Die's PerformanceSo, D'erlanger is probably my favorite legendary jrock band and I'm sure most of you know that I adore/love Die probably more than any person should. Hearing that the two shared a stage together and doing a BUCK-TICK cover made my heart explode. I know how much Die admires Cipher and, if you didn't know, they share the same tattoo. In short, it was the most amazing thing to see as a fan of both parties and reading Die fanboy over the experience warms my heart so much. I hope one day they do a collaboration in the near future. If you haven't seen it, watch it and brace yourself for epicness!
Seungri "Scandal"South Korea continues to amuse me with their conservative ways and lack of sex education knowledge. Seungri decided to be the break out star of Big Bang in Japan, which I believe he fits in quite well. He has the personality, charisma, and a good grasp of the culture and humor. Apparently, he also has a way with the ladies of Japan as well to the point that he ended up in a Japanese tabloid. He was rumored to be in a hotel room with someone and had some kinky sex, then didn't offer to clean up the mess afterwards. Japan was unfazed, but South Korea caused an uproar over the "scandal". If you want to believe the highly unreliable AllKpop, G-Dragon voiced his disappointment toward Big Bang's charming maknae and fans inappropriately used the flimsy information for poster inspiration during their world tour. *sighs* I have lost what little respect I had for V.I.Ps this year. Thanks, guys~
Lolita23q Indefinite HiatusHiatuses aren't too much to cry over, but when you slap the word "indefinite", it's acceptable to have some fears of no return. Having Soshi as their newest vocalist was a step up and their new musical direction was a positive move, so hearing that the band was taking an indefinite hiatus caused some panic. It's hard to accept improving bands taking such ambiguous breaks or even disbanding. I hope they will return in the near future to blow our socks off, but for now I shall be anticipating Ryosuke's solo project this coming year.
"Gangnam Style" Blowing Up WorldwideWho would've thought that we would be plagued by a silly, yet catchy kpop song for the end half of the year? I already voiced my thoughts on the viral phenomenon and I had my first radio listen of the song driving back to university after Thanksgiving break. Yeah, I don't listen to the radio, obviously. Of course the success and kpop fan victory blew up in their faces when newbies who claimed to know about kpop through one song tried to jump in on the action with false claims and accusations that every kpop artists were ripping off PSY's global hit. Eventually, everyone got almost as annoyed as I was over the song and Americans started making PSY the butt of jokes before promptly turning their backs on him with his anti-American lyrics from his past. Have my thoughts changed on PSY opening doors for kpop to be accepted in America? Eh...not really. I don't think he's made that big of a deal for hallyu to swoop in like they have in Japan and even Japan is trying to kick them out.
Versailles HiatusI mentioned this the last time I had Versailles news that I am not a fan, still not, but this flooded my Tumblr feed. The ridiculousness, guys! With mistranslated blogs comes riots and people claiming the world is ending, but indeed this is purely a hiatus. At least, that's how I see it when glancing over the articles. Although this wasn't big news for me, I had to deal with the aftermath spamming on my feed of dramatic fans overblowing minor news. Bands need breaks to explore other musical outlets and improve future visions for their band. Even if they decided to break up, Kamijo and Hizaki are not the types to go silently in the visual kei industry.
SuG Abandon PS CompanyI think I've seen more fans jumping for joy upon hearing this news. SuG has become larger than life and want to take charge of their own fate without PSC's slimy hands controlling them. I am totally looking forward to their debut under a new label and I'm crossing my fingers that a couple or so other bands will follow suit. If I could, I would trade Under Code's closing for PSC to close. I wouldn't want the bands to suffer, I just want them to be free from the torturous conditions they've been put under. I suppose I can save my ranting for my new video project as well. In short, I'm cheering for SuG and their band growth. I'm expecting very good things from this move.
T-ara DramaKim Kwang-Soo has been extra busy this year causing trouble for fans, especially T-ara's. Apparently, he caused so much trouble that I had to dedicate a whole post to his plot to destroy something further that wasn't broken. It seems like his reign of "good" decision making hasn't ceased, unfortunately. Expect the same old b.s. nonsense from him in the coming year. I'm not feeling confident about his choices with his money making group, T-ara, and his attempts to redeem success without Davichi and a potential poor reincarnation of SeeYa.
Under Code Productions ClosingProbably one of my favorite j-indies labels have decided to close its doors in March 2013 and the fans are deeply saddened by it all. Although the news isn't completely surprising to us all, we still feel the deep sinking feeling of our hearts when the news was announced. Perhaps Kisaki didn't manage his money very well after his tax evasion scandal. Along with this news was hearing Dali announce disbandment beforehand and lastly NEGA following suit. Dali may not be as surprising as they had gaps of silence between releases, but they were one of the last of not so well known UCP bands I enjoyed. As for NEGA, I'm hoping
Gackt Scandal I didn't touch too much on this in my v-log, but only because I merely skimmed over the posts on Aramatheydidn't on LiveJournal and Shattered Tranquility. It wasn't that I didn't care, I just didn't feel like reading it all, but now I have so I can properly comment on this list. If you want a scandal, Seungri, this is how you do it. The tax bureau of Japan decided to look into Gackt's taxes and found some interesting things with his finances as well as his secret love life. Not that it's anyone's business, but since Gackt is a prominent figure in the visual kei and jpop scenes, some people flip their sh*t over a potential secret mistress in Canada that he has been supporting as well as an illegitimate child she bared before moving out of the country. Whether this will taint Gackt's reputation or not, it's quite uncertain, but not many people are saying much about it lately.
Jin Akanishi and Meisa Kuroki's Real Life FanFictionJin is no stranger to the tabloid scene and Meisa is a little less of a stranger, but Aramatheydidnt as well as other Japanese pop culture sites and tabloids had a field day with the fanfiction life of these pop talents. It started with a rumor of the two having a relationship and it was soon revealed that they had a secret marriage that slipped Jin's mind and angered
Let's start back in 2007 when Stacked Rubbish was being promoted and released. Sure, there was a small division between the releases of Disorder and NIL as I've witnessed through a friend who enjoyed them at their beginnings. Stacked Rubbish really stepped away from their roots and, in my opinion, visuals seemed more important. Most will agree that this was their worse or weakest album, if not that then their follow up album DIM. Of course, there is that hoard of Sixth Guns that would argue differently. Like most kpop fans, Sixth Guns can be a delusional bunch and can find no flaws in the band's work. As a casual fan, my purchase loyalty fell upon Stacked Rubbish's release. But to make things fair, I'm sure you know I love Dir en grey very much with nearly all my being. I can admit that out of their more recent albums, The Marrow of a Bone was the weakest.
As for the band's attitude, some fans say one thing and some say another. For example, the claim that Ruki is arrogant and a diva. This may or may not be true. This could be part of his persona or he really could be losing himself in the band's success. Either of these scenarios I can imagine fitting him. The only person I can really comment on is Aoi. I love Aoi, but sometimes he needs to realize that he needs to be careful of what he says on these social networking sites. His tweet concerning Division caused an uproar among Sixth Guns, but, of course, this isn't the first time he's caused controversy.
Recently, upon Division's release, Aoi expressed his disappointment and perhaps frustration through a slightly ambiguous tweet. The guitarist mentioned how he was proud of all the work they put into making the album and that it saddened him that fans didn't want to put in the money to pay for the music they created. He compared this act of stealing to murder, which I can understand where he's coming from. Every time a person downloads and doesn't choose to pay for the music is slowly killing the industry one track at a time. You can see the results of this with American artists' record sells. Of course, in some way, I don't think downloads are the whole reason that music sells are low either. How did Sixth Guns take this bit of information?
This is the reason I had to explain my feelings toward it in such a different way. I don't care what nationality or race he is, I still wouldn't enjoy it. His take on Big Bang's "Bad Boy" was painful to listen to and I couldn't finish it. But like my previous post concerning foreigners in jrock, I find it contradicting how kpop fans label him as bad or whatever because of his race/nationality, especially when they believe that kpop is so "international". Kpop boys dish out poor choreography, unnatural music video choices, and nonsensical English and rap lines all the time, but fans eat it up without harsh criticism.
Let's start with cosplay standards. From what I see, it's foreigners that are guilty of trying to enforce this standard. They say you have to be a certain skin tone, weight, or even Asian to be a great cosplayer. Of course, I don't believe in these standards as a non-Asian, colored crossplayer. I've seen some amazing cosplayers that are people of color and not a size zero. I've also seen bad Asian cosplayers. It's the quality, effort, and passion you have that makes a good cosplay. If we all followed these crazy standards then no one could cosplay. Not all anime characters have Asian features, non-POC couldn't cosplay either, and people who lack certain body types couldn't join the fun either.
Once again, the usual accusers are wannabes who eat, breathe, and live visual kei (and kpop) in an obsessive manner. They are usually foreigners themselves. Looking back at Sai and Seremedy (and even AKADO), I don't think they even claim to be visual kei, but just inspired by the genre or just visual or glam rock. It's the fans and the media who label them as visual kei. Every country has a different label for visual bands, so there's no reason to bash them, especially since they do create decent music. Even if they didn't, because I know there are some that fail with their skill set, it shouldn't be something to use to generalize everyone's talents that try to go in the same direction. I also find it interesting that this problem only occurs when it is a non-Asian participating in such things because I haven't seen any hate on Chinese visual kei band Silver Ash. Don't they fit in the same category as they are not Japanese and visual kei originated from Japan?
I thought SM Entertainment was the evil of evil, but this guy is a slave driver and apparently this isn't his first offense with a group either. So, what brought about this post against him is the situation with Hwayoung's departure that has gone completely out of control. Recently, Hwayoung decided not to attend a performance for Music Bank which a couple of the members had to learn her parts and rework choreography to make up for her absence. There were Twitter posts from some of the girls questioning her determination pertaining the group and she responded with her own reply. This brought up the subject of potential bullying within the group. There hasn't been much hard evidence whether the bullying situation occurred or not and we will probably never know, but fans and anti-fans have drawn their own conclusions on the matter causing a T-ara disbanding petition, fan cafes shutting down, netizens demanding them to be removed from guest appearances on TV, and several endorsements to be pulled from the members. It seems the majority are putting the blame on the girls for this shit storm of drama, but the real root of the problem is Kim Kwang-soo's lack of professionalism.
Pertaining the tweets, KKS was too late to do the damage control that fans and antis have formulated and his cover ups were a complete failure. It was obvious everything he said was complete bs since he would change his story to a point. First, the girls' Twitter accounts were hacked, then he discussed the bullying situation that never occurred and threw the whole determination nonsense that Hwayoung seemed to be lacking. He later adds that Hwayoung contract termination was due to her "diva" attitude and that there were complaints from stylists and other staff members. They honestly shouldn't have any power over such decisions, but it's KKS. He also says that the testimonies from dancers and other staff members that support Hwayoung's case were false. While he was doing a poor job of cleaning up the mess fans and himself had made, he wanted to continue with their concert and promotions, but finally decided to postpone it for next year...if the girls actually survive this nonsense. I guess he got the hint after fans demanded refunds for their concert tickets. To make matters worse and a bit confusing was when Eunjung gave a thank you and apology message to the fans. It seemed a bit out of place and possibly unnecessary. Even more suspicious was Hwayoung's apology to the fans as well that seemed forced. Those who have been paying close attention to KKS's puppetry work may suspect some foul yakuza play going on between him, Hwayoung, and possibly her family. There was a subtle threat in one of his messages to her about her keeping her mouth shut, but on the other hand, he also offers to support her entertainment career if she accepts her wrongdoings. I honestly hope she doesn't go back to him either.
WHAT'S MY NAME? introduced a very basic instrumentation and electronic elements with his improved slap guitar talent. In 2011, I was finally satisfied with his live performance in Dallas. Miyavi was a little more settled with himself as a musician, businessman, and family man. Unfortunately, this new Miyavi lacks lasting power as the spastic one I grew attached to. No, I'm not saying one of those "the old Miyavi was better, he never should've changed" type rants. Even if I enjoyed this era differently, I do notice the good points to them. Since Day 1 was released this year, I noticed how repetitive and almost uninspired Miyavi has become.
First of all, I'm a casual Batman fan. I've never read the comics, but I've seen bits and pieces of the 1960's TV show starring Adam West and the cheesiest version of the "Justice League". I've seen all the live action movies that have hit the theater, even the incredibly awful Batman & Robin. I've watched a few reviews from 
The story was intriguing and those near three hours of film felt like a standard hour and a half of pure art. Yes, it is dialogue heavy, but Christopher Nolan is a fantastic storyteller. Every character mattered and were fleshed out enough to know them and understand them. The acting was convincing and I can understand the choices they made without question. As for my worries about Hathaway and Bane, they went away as the movie progressed. Hathaway's portrayal of Catwoman exceed my expectations and broke that awkward but loveable girl I remember her as in The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada. She was smart, sassy, and sexy. Then there's Bane. I believed he lived up to the Joker's intimidation and power, but in a different way. I can't admire him as much because honestly his appearance scares me inside. Joker's intimidation was his mind, something I'm used to as a fan of psychological horror.
I bet you're wondering if I have any complaints. The cons are rather small to me. Without any spoilers, Batman is mentally and emotionally tested at some point and there's a story attached to it. It can be a little confusing and may take a second viewing to fully understand. There's also a scene where Batman and Bane fight and there seems to be a small continuity error. I could be wrong, but it cuts away quite quickly afterwards. There were a couple cheesy moments too, but it doesn't ruin the movie. Lastly, there were a few moments where I couldn't understand Bane and had to pick up clues in the scene to understand what was going on. Maybe a second viewing might clear things up as well.
