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Henceforth, an index of the journal-kind variety.
Everything needed, that is here.

( Consequentials )
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( TAGS )
( Localization )

■ ■ Top Tags: !Dir en Grey, !Kyo, !Releases ■ ■

Personal⁴: kotsuzuishu
灼熱の曼荼羅

CLICK IT.

lolololololololololol

Proof.
My rail beats your rail any day of the week.
Wut wut.

The first setlist is out~ Hopefully, since AVT is a shorter tour, the setlists will be more manageable. *wishful thinking*

So far, the set lists seem to be pretty consistent, the tour favorites/guarantees/placeholders being Agitated Screams of Maggots, Bugaboo, Dozing Green, Gaika, Inconvenient Ideal, Obscure, Reiketsu Nariseba, Vinushka, Toguro, Shokubeni, Red Soil, Glass Skin, and the Final.

Total Shows Played: [07]
Total Songs Played: [122]
Average Number of Songs Per Show: [19]

Songs Played:<sup>In alphabetical order

[07] Agitated Screams of Maggots
[01] Amber
[01] Akuro no Oka
[01] Bottom of the Death Valley
[07] Bugaboo
[01] The Deeper Vileness
[01] Doukoku to Sarinu
[07] Dozing Green
[06] The Final
[07] Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro
[06] Glass Skin
[02] GRIEF
[04] HYDRA 666
[07] Inconvenient Ideal
[02] Kigan
[02] Kodou
[01] Lie Buried With a Vengeance
[03] Merciless Cult
[07] Obscure
[06] Red Soil
[07] Reiketsu Nariseba
[03] Repetition of Hatred
[06] Shokubeni
[01] Schwein no Isu
[06] Stuck Man
[06] Toguro
[01] Ugly
[07] Vinushka</sup>

---

Setlists^{Nov.2-Nov.13
Nov.2 in Houston, Texas: 1. Sa Bir; 2. Shokubeni; 3. Red Soil; 4. Agitated Screams of Maggots; Solo; 5. GRIEF; 6. Stuck Man; 7. Obscure; Solo; 8. Hydra 666; 9. Bugaboo; 10. Toguro; 11. Glass Skin; Solo; 12. Inconvenient Ideal; 13. Vinushka; 14. Dozing Green; 15. Reiketsu Nariseba; 16. Kigan; 17. The Final; 18. Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro
Nov.3 in Dallas, Texas: 1. Sa Bir; 2. Vinushka; 3. Red Soil; 4. Repetition of Hatred; 5. Merciless Cult; 6. Stuck Man; 7. Obscure; Solo; 8. Shokubeni; Solo; 9. Bugaboo; 10. Toguro; 11. Glass Skin; Solo; 12. Inconvenient Ideal; 13. Hydra 666; 14. Dozing Green; 15. Reiketsu Nariseba; 16. The Final; 17. Agitated Screams of Maggots; 18. Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro
Nov.6 in Santiago, Chile: 1. Sa Bir; 2. Shokubeni; 3. Red Soil; 4. Merciless Cult; 5. Agitated Screams of Maggots; 6. Stuck Man; 7. Obscure; 8. Hydra 666; 9. Bugaboo; 10. Toguro; 11. Glass Skin; 12. Inconvenient Ideal; 13. Vinushka; 14. Dozing Green; 15. Reiketsu Nariseba; 16. Kodou; 17. The Final; 18. Gaika, Chinmoku no Nemuru Koro
Nov.8 in São Paulo, Brazil; 1. Sa Bir; 2. Shokubeni; 3. Repetition of Hatred; 4. Agitated Screams of Maggots; 5. The Final; 6. Vinushka; 7. Obscure; 8. Reiketsu Nariseba; 9. Dozing Green; 10. Inconvenient Ideal; 11. Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro
Nov.11 in New York, New York: 1. Sa Bir; 2. Shokubeni; 3. Red Soil; 4. Agitated Screams of Maggots; Solo; 5. Hydra 666; 6. Grief; 7. Bugaboo; 8. Stuck Man; 9. Obscure; 10. Toguro; 11. Glass Skin; 12. Dozing Green; Solo; 13. Inconvenient Ideal; 14. Vinushka; 15. Reiketsu Nariseba; 16. Akuro no Oka; 17. THE FINAL 18. Schwein no Isu; 19. Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro
Nov.13 in New York, New York: 1. Sa Bir; 2. Inconvenient Ideal; 3. Vinushka; 4. Bugaboo; 5. Red Soil; 6. Lie Buried With a Vengeance; 7. Stuck Man; 8. Obscure; Solo; 9. Doukoku to Sarinu; 10. Toguro; 11. Glass Skin; Solo; 12. Shokubeni; 13. Dozing Green; 14. Reiketsu Nariseba; 15. Agitated Screams of Maggots; 16. Bottom of the Death Valley; 17. The Final; 18. Kigan; 19. Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro
Nov.14 in New York, New York: 1. Sa Bir; 2. Obscure; 3. Merciless Cult; 4. Red Soil; 5. Stuck Man; 6. Agitated Screams of Maggots; 7. Repetition of Hatred; 8. The Deeper Vileness; 9. Bugaboo; 10. Toguro; 11. Glass Skin; 12. Inconvenient Ideal; 13. Vinushka; 14. Dozing Green; 15. Reiketsu Nariseba; 16. Amber; 17. Kodou; 18. Ugly; 19. Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro}

---

THE BEST OF: D'ESPAIRSRAY
A band review and smattering of reccomendations.

Now that I've listened to (and fully digested) all of D'espairsRay's three primary albums (Coll:Set, MIRROR, and REDEEMER), I've ascended into what I like to call "Give-A-Fuck-Ville." This is a state of being within which one deems it necessary to have everything ever made by a band (singles, EPs, etc.) I haven't found anything particularly enthralling in the way of their PVs, but as choice song-writers/musicians... the B-sides and singles shall be downloaded (and probably the PVs, eventually). [5 Minutes Later: Oh shit... I'm downloading "Spiral Staircase." I hope they suck live... I can't support another DVD collection. I do want to see them live, tho :0] [5 Minutes later: holy shit they have a lot of singles.]

...And, now that I've entered "Give-A-Fuck-Ville," I feel enough of a fan to post a few of my favorite songs by D'espa. They're the only Japanese band that I've really gotten into, since discovering DEG, so I consider them something a bit special. They're really quite good. I swear... if Kyo and Hizumi's voices combined in some odd DBZ-esque formation, it would destroy the world with its sheer amazing. The world would errupt in simultaneous eargasming. It wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Fun observation: I swear... Hizumi MUST get something from Kyo's lyrics. Some... key phrases pop up pretty often. Aww, and they've started the instrumentalist back-up choir. Cute.

Band Stats, IMHO:
(On the scale of DEG [Whereas DEG is 10, and the Gazette is 0])

Originality: 6/10
Range: 7/10
Vocals: 8/10
Lyrics: 6/10
Instrumentals: 7/10
Overall Consistency & Likability: 9/10

---

Here is a sampling of my favorite tracks [...Even though I love every single D'espa song I've heard. Except Yozora.]

01) Forbidden [Coll:Set] [One of the first songs by D'espa that I absolutely fell in love with]
02) MASQUERADE [REDEEMER]
03) Paradox 5 [REDEEMER] [This song reminds me heavily of what would be Toguro's little brother. Too bad Hizumi doesn't have the vocal ability/versatility that Kyo does.]
04) KOGOERU YORU NI SAITA HANA [MIRROR]
05) SQUALL [MIRROR]
06) Tainted World [Coll:Set] [The first song by them I REALLY fell in love with]
07) KALEIDOSCOPE [MIRROR]
08) LOST SCENE [MIRROR]
09) SCREEN [MIRROR]
10) ANGELDUST [MIRROR]
11) CLOSER TO IDEAL [MIRROR]
12) TSUKI TO KIOKU -FALLEN- [Coll:Set]
13) Infection [Coll:Set]
14) DAMNED [MIRROR]
15) Dears [Coll:Set]
16) in vain [Coll:Set]
17) Kamikaze [REDEEMER]
18) Kohaku [REDEEMER]
19) HOLLOW [MIRROR]
20) HEAVEN'S COLOR [REDEEMER]

(There might be a slight bias away from Redeemer, 'cause I've only had the CD for a week. Masquerade and Paradox 5 are phenomenal songs, however.)

If you like what you hear, stop over to Jmusic Overdose and download their full albums. It's really, really worth it.

˙˙˙ʍouʞuǝʌǝʇ,uopıuoƃuıoƃsıɟʇʍ

Join now. Do it. I'm not even joking.

Oh, and ashjkerhkjgh. New DEG pics are *grin*
I love it when Kyo... I don't even know how to describe it -- cuts out portions of his hair/bangs. It's probably the single consistency in his hair styles, over the years, other than being a blondie... He's nearly rocking the 5UGLY do, again. It's pretty sweet, even though I prefer the manri Kyo (cause his image totally changes the way he performs on stage). Heneyway. All Visible Things, FTW. We are doing it.

Changing meh header again, soon. I get sick of them too quickly...

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
DEG TICKETS. ashjjkldgg

They go on sale in an hour, exactly.
I'm tripping... NYC's presale ended SO FUCKING FAST (No, I can't give you my sauce).
And I have to buy two VIPs...

Let's pray. Oh, non-existant god:

Please, please, please give me an easy CAPtcha.
And please make my intranets connection extra speedy.
And please let the other L.A. DEG fans trip over themselves on their way to the checkout.
And please let me get tickets A1 and A2.

Because I've been a good girl in my loving of the DEG.
I give them all of my money.
And never blaspheme against the mighty name of Kyo.
(or Kaoru, or Shinya... sometimes Die and Toshiya)
And I buy stupid shit all the time that I don't need.
Like that Dir en Grey tin pencil case.
And the 20 versions of UROBOROS.
I'm sure, over the course of my time as a fan, I've paid for several of Kyo's overpriced undies. And helped for his tracksuit collection of utter awesome.
And converted many nonbelievers to the ways of DEGism.

So please, oh benevolent and holy god.
Make my DEGvember wishes come true.

Can I get an amen? AMEN.

God, help us. They're coming.

HAGESHISA TO, KONO MUNE NO NAKA DE KARAMITSUITA SHAKUNETSU NO YAMI

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YES. Love for Kyo's epically long song titles. (C'mon, you know it was him.) Shit, I thought Macabre had a long title. ;) What a fucking mouth full... I love it. And, I have a feeling it might be a hard song. Just, you know, a thought. Release, 12/02/09. Wiiiiin. Now all we need is a FUCKING U.S. TOUR! ZUNE HD launched and a new DEG single... Greatest day evar.

Reading up on methamphetamine symptoms for Physio. Boring shit.



Are we having fun yet?

I recently ganked eventhevoice's old header photo of Kyo to make a few (5 -_-*) photograms. They're pretty entertaining. You never really know what you're gonna get.

Unfortunately, they don't scan very well. The ultra smooth blurs come out like shitty gradients ;/. This one's my fav, though it's a bit over-exposed. This first subject (a printed pic), I eventually got just right -- I don't like it though, it's too crisp. ;)


Playstation Update 3.0 FTW. We can take intranet screenshots! See below:



The text rendering looks better via a TV screen. They've yet to add any advanced type-faces, but whatevs. Edit: 3.0 Effing sucks.

Oh&BTW:

GODDAMN YOU DEG MANAGEMENT.

Behind enemy lines: you're doing it right.

P.S.: I lolled so hard.

P.P.S: Scariest 404 Page evar. (Keep refreshing, there's a few of 'em.

Can't. Stop. Watching.

There's something fishy going on with The Average Blasphemy... Listing the long version of Vinushka as "Restricted," and not showing any footage of it in the flash opening of direngrey.co.jp? Hmmmm. Is there something we're missing? I can't see that music video turning Restricted! at any point... unless Kyo strips during Shinya's short solo, and, like... dances? I dunno. Edit: If it's zombies, I totally called it first.

Fucking DEG Twitter updater. I R WANT NEW TOUR/SINGLE NAO. I can imagine: "Okay, Kyo -- I've got the band-leading duties, Toshiya and Shinya have the DEG Tour blog, Die has new song-writing status, and you get the DEG Twitter page. Enjoy."

Ehrm. Hi. In commemoration of a small addition of... personality to this journal, I bring goodies (kind of), in the form of 10 ATM things. I don't believe in the LJ cutting of anything besides huge, vacuous volumes of text, so if you view entries via your friends page... You don't care. You love the Kyo (don't try to deny it). [But if it really bugs you, I'll cut ;/]

This may come off as a bit erratic or sleazy. But it's the best I can do without shoving my moleskine down your throat.



1) So I was thinking. And this isn't an elementary exercise -- if you had to describe Kyo in one (1, ONE) word -- what would it be? And be careful kids, because it shows.

Personally, my choice; Kyo in one word: GHETTO. [Note to self: Adjust CSS of "h1-h6" tags]
And I'm completely serious about it, too. The word has negative and positive connotations, depending on where you go (or what people you hang around with). Think about it. Ruminate. You agree, y/y? Have something better?

2) I'm probably the only loser who notices these things (I can't help that I'm observant >_>), BUT. Kyo's usual 2 (or sometimes 1) necklaces and perpetually present right-wrist bracelet(s) have been oddly absent lately. Think his scars have healed? Disappeared? Dissipated with some biologically affecting cream? *grin* Cutter cutter cutter.

3) You have to wonder how fun it is performing with 5 cameras in your face liek, all the time. Kyo is camera shy (;}) as it is (lately) -- I'd sing with my eyes closed, too.

4) Is it just me, or is Bugaboo totally the bastard child of Hydra 666? I broke the songs down, a bit. [This isn't technically correct terminology, I swear]

( The Breakdown [Small Cut] )


From Loudfarmer's Photostream
5) Kyo in black and white is probably... my favorite thing ever. I once spent an entire afternoon with my PS3's HD cables half ganked so that my HDTV only displayed black and white. I spent the entirety of the time browsing through my catalogue of DEG (and especially Kyo) pictures. I'm afflicted.

6) Believe it or not, I spend a lot of time and effort on the kyokao community. Co-modding and shit (making labels/contests/layouts/recruiting)-- makes me realize just how barren & deserted the community is. [/sad] I seriously hope that a large group participates in the contest... I want the person that I give my $30 prize to be liek, deserving. I actually kind of wanted to enter, myself. I need to work on Epigonen. T_T

7) The more I listen to D'espairsray's album, MIRROR, the more I like. Figures that when I finally like a new band enough to go see them live, they're in Europe. WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE IN EUROPE RIGHT NOW? On another note. I've recently looked into D'espa, beyond their music. Hizumi is weirdly attractive to me. What is my fixation with vocalists?!

8) My gf is traveling to Jordan for the rest of the summer. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

9) My internet connection ATM is literally making me pull out my fucking hair.

10) CLAP TRAP! I think it odd that when DEG writes a song with an extremely long title, I find it endearing/cool. When any other bands do it, it makes me scowl.

I got about 50 VAMPS fliers at AX (it's near the Wiltern) -- are they any good?

I swear. This won't happen again. [/VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Ever wondered what an unbiased, uncontrived view of Dir en Grey's recent popularity (on the net), in graph form, would look like?

Well, here you go.

It's interesting to see where their popularity spiked: The release of Withering to Death., the release of the Marrow (and the subsequent plummet of DEG love), and for the North American Tour / UROBOROS. Also, at the bottom, the start of their news/media recognition in 2007. It's a pity that you can only look back until 2004.

^ Why Kyo doesn't do meet and greets.

This is XodiaK. They are an original Visual Kei band.
Doesn't their originality look familiar?

Image is huge, what can I say. I don't know if the file size is deserving of their originality.

[Press the "HD" Button (Seriously)] まあ, based on recent experiences in the U.S., as well as from lurking around youtube watching UK live vids... Obscure should be mandated as DEG's officially perpetual first song. Honestly. World's best ice-breaker.

I can't believe Kyo's adidas are gone~

At any rate. Recently, I've been noticing random mistakes/blunders that Kyo makes during lives. Maybe it's just that they're edited out of the Japanese produced DVD's, however~ For instance, during a Repetition of Hatred live in the U.S., Kyo phases out half of the song and starts his per usual end-of-song dance about two minutes too early. He dropped his mic onto his nigga box, and started dancing, then scrambled to pick the mic back up again when he realized that he was supposed to be singing. Also, during a Obscure live from the UK, he was in his growl-crouch position and his left foot totally slipped off the edge, and he jacked his shin against the side of it. Odd things you notice when the audience films. Hmm.

EDIT: Fail Addition of amazing: Watch 00:20 for the new and improved Kyoroll.... ゴロゴロゴロゴロ

Tour08: The Rose Trims Again
Tour08: The Rose Trims Again comes in a week or so. I'm still kinda pissed I didn't get first press... *Sigh*
Preview: First impressions: The "Kyo Projector" is even more epic than I imagined it would be. Kyo has reached new heights in terms of presence. Kudos for him. Yay for cinematography during audience Killer Loop... Lie Buried looks kind of... interesting. Then again, I guess it always has been an interesting live... I seriously hope this was worth the 90 bucks.

I don't know where I was, or how I missed it...but... Kyo's voice giving out midway through a performance? I was... a little freaked, to say the least. The man contracts illness/injury at a surprising rate for someone of his occupation/constitution. Shinya's shoulder, and now Kyo has fucked up his throat again... Some people reacted as if the man is superhuman. "C'mon, it's Kyo." But he... he isn't superhuman. He's quite fallible. Rather, at least to me, it's quite worrisome. Illness is incredibly cohesive. This isn't some random, unfocused affliction. It's his fucking larynx. The likelihood of this happening again (despite his recovery) is somewhat daunting. I wonder how much more Kyo's body can take of his supposed "120%".

As for his comment, the supposed "Will you all love me even with this voice? Please love me even with this voice," seems like a believable statement to me (though, it's impossible to tell whether Kyo used a word so stressed as "love" due to some people's...interesting translations). If he did indeed say that... wow, I can only attempt to imagine the scene/atmosphere. A bit of surprise and distress, I can imagine, to witness a Kyo afflicted or unable to sing. At that time, no one quite sure of the damage... I'd be pulling out my hair. It seems, the thing to humble Kyo to the greatest extent must be his voice. He's in rather deep.

On a lighter note... New OHP pictures こちら. They're even better than I thought they would be, and much better than the last batch. Best pictures since GS, I'd say. I'd imagine, the icon-making ensues. (Sweet beaner Toshiya~)

[artimEden@Batsu]

[Dir en Grey's] evolution is pretty interesting. 2003 they focus on 'other Asia'. In between on 2005-2006, their main focus is Europe, which soon gets shoved aside, so that they can properly deepthroat USA.

Their USA (with a spoonful of Europe in the side) obsession gets out of hand, and Japanese fans freak out. AND then, Dir en grey give all their oral love and attention back to their home country, seemingly for the entire 2008, and into 2009!!

UK gets favored next (USA, I won't even bother mentioning). AND NOW... who will get the special treatment next? Who will be ignored? What do the masterminds of torture have in store for the fans?

Will it be a 4-year long Tunisia tour?

Perhaps spending 6-months in North Pole to gather enough darkness?!

...or... The decade long Africa Safari?!

Doom doom doom, tune in again soon, to learn more details, of the amazing adventures of "Diru flood the Earth!"