OMG BeautyBroken Thank You,
you made me laugh so hard with this:
X Japan have had plenty of sponsors, not all of them have been gullible record labels - or even legitimate businesses.
Anyone who knows anything about the Music Industry anywhere knows the local Syndicates have their hands deep in the pie. In the 50's/60's here in the West, many of the 'crooners' were Mafia 'backed' (a much nicer word than 'owned'.)
I am not Japanese. Ann, Yakuza are Japan's syndicated crime factions, age old as the Samurai. They are like Canada/US/Italy's Mafia but with a longer history. As for the accident, I haven't heard anything about an 'accident.'
Going back to earlier in this thread, where losses in Metallica, et al, were being compared to X Japan's loss of hide: Despite Hiroshi's seeming disregard for the honour of his big brother's gift to him of Headwax upon his death, Japan honours their dead very differently to the USA or Canada or the UK , etc. There are immense cultural differences. Yoshiki has shown great honour to his dear friend by headlining him in the band. Hirochan? Yeah, not so much.
As an avid lover of not just the music of X, but of the band and their history, I would be disappointed to attend a concert and have no indication of hide's involvement, no segment of his music or visuals, because he is and always will be a member of the band. I agree with those who say it is about the entire event, emotions, spirit, etc. I ONLY attend lives of bands who have heart. LOL, If I wanted just the music, I would toss a disc in the machine or crank my PSP and blow my ears out. Now that I know of this lawsuit, I will be prepared for hide's absence on October 3 when I attend the concert, but when Toshi says, "On guitar: hide!" I will yell his name just as loud, if not louder, as I would if his playback and/or images were included, sending my love for him to the ether. This way I honour his memory and Yoshiki's visceral relationship to hide and his memory.
FTR: I adore Sugizo, he is perfection at what he does. He has played beside hide's spirit with humble joy since the 1st day he took the stage where hide used to stand/sit. With or without hide visuals or playback, Sugizo will undoubtedly continue to do so in a way only Sugizo is able.
Love and Peace Out Everyone
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Woot! looking forward to reading your interview with VE! And am so glad you got to meet Yoshiki. You must be tweaked tighter than a mainspring over that. 
Wish we had something like it here. Hope the acoustics do the band justice.
