Would hope for it to be true but doesn't make sense at all. Yoshiki goes on a Twitter frenzy about clipping is toe nails so trust me, if there was such a dramatic revelation up coming, we would have known for years through a bunch of hyped social media hints...
I have my reservations about it being true as well but time-wise, it could explains some things. We'll see!
I won't pretend to be an expert song writer but the writing music for a band is not a sequential process like you've illustrated above, especially not for a virtuoso like Yoshiki; some of it flows in parallel.
Some of it does indeed flow in parallel but it's still the same amount of work as composing more than one instrument. If he were just doing drums and guitar for instance, that would still take less time than adding bass and vocal melody on top of that, even if he were composing, say, a synchronized harmony between them all instead of highly individualized parts. I say this because I
try to compose music regularly and it takes so, so much longer because I'm not giving anyone else free reign to put their parts to the song. Sure I'm not a virtuoso like Yoshiki but it's clear cut, more work=longer time.
It sure must take him hell of a lot of effort sure, but to think he's alone in that process would be wrong. While others don't get much credit they certainly participate and give their input. All bands usually have a member that is the main contributor. Often lyrics and music can be divided but it is not unusual to see both coming from the same individual. So Yoshiki isn't unique in any ways as opposed to the average professional front man in a rock band. As for the complexity and quality well let's face it, the post reunion stuff is far from the caliber of what we got prior to 2008.
Let's be real, I love the other guys but they're much more players/performers than creative forces of the band at this point. Sugizo seems more involved now than Heath or Pata had been even before the split. Sure they nod and tell Yoshiki what's fine and I'm sure they tell him if they want to play something differently but Yoshiki's still the one writing the parts, handing them the music to play. I'm not trying to put them down or say they aren't integral to the band, because they make X, but that's how X Japan operates and they're obviously fine with it. At the end of the day, 90% of the credits say: Music by: Yoshiki, Lyrics by: Yoshiki. It's pretty obvious who's doing the bulk of composing.
The health issue (if it is as bad as it is being made these days...) would explain drumming limitations and as such touring restrictions. Fair enough. Black Sabbath who are much older, managed to tour with Tony Iommi who has cancer...ho and they recorded a superb album 100% new material. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson is recovering from a cancer also and can't wait to tour again and will meanwhile use the off time to record in the studio. Meanwhile, Yoshiki has wrist issues, constantly makes a HUGE drama out of it and mostly sits still...
I don't think it's fair to compare an injury directly related to your livelihood with the big C, just saying... Cancer is absolutely devastating, yes, it takes so much out of a person. But to say that because someone with cancer could tour so Yoshiki should have been able to complete the album and go on another tour is like comparing oil and water. He's his own person, they're theirs. To compare other peoples', well, traumas, like that and say that someone should be able to do what someone else does just because? What? One's 'worse' than the other? I don't know. Everyone handles things differently. There might have also been some stuff going on in his own life that we don't know about that he refuses to talk about, not even health related. He might have just gotten exhausted for a while, the other members, too.
Toshi's true drama (just finished reading the book... unreal!) certainly was a major setback but got resolved 5 years ago.
Taiji's death is a real tragedy but should not have impacted X-Japan's activities whatsoever - he was not an active member.
Yoshiki said specifically that the band unanimously decided to take a break after the tour in 2011 to unwind and also because of Taiji. For the fandom yeah, it's easy to assume that Taiji's passing would have no impact on the band's activities because, indeed, he wasn't an active member. But for X Japan as PEOPLE, don't you think that might kick up some, how should I say, unsettling emotions? Even if you have conflict with a person in your life, if they were that instrumental to who you became their death will affect you tremendously. And the way in which Taiji passed, I hate to go there, but I wouldn't doubt that it brought up some things about Hide for all of the members. I'm sure they wouldn't have minded a break simply because of the world tour, but to have that happen as well, I'm sure they needed a mental break on top of the physical one. Taiji wasn't just an ex-member, he was a part of their lives.
Shitty money grubbing management issues are real but somewhat perplexing, seeing how Yoshiki himself is a successful businessman... How could he and the overall X-Japan legacy have gotten involved in such a poor management/marketing arrangement is mind numbing. Those are also behind them now.....
Successful people get screwed over by people all the time, they're not infallible. In fact they're easier targets. Wasn't it the management that put together the X reunion by making Toshi believe Yoshiki wanted to do it and visa versa? Maybe their intentions weren't pure. And are you sure it's the same management? If it is, maybe it's all different people working under the same company? That, I will agree, is perplexing if it's true.
It's all about making choices. Yoshiki has been a businessman before being an artist for very long and that's just fine. Him making more money ? Sure why not, good for him, hey, he needs to add his weekly supply of Lamborgini in is LA garage. I am not too worried about his empire unless he's been extremely stupid about his financial decisions - I doubt he has. As the image of X-Japan... well.... it's been the image of Yoshiki mostly since 2008. He's always been the leading figure but it's now almost Yoshiki's band featuring some other dudes... it's sad. It's not as if he was very popular in the rest of the world as opposed to X-Japan and he was using this factor to benefit the band... it's the other way around. He chose to reband X-Japan because as a businessman, he saw a viable financial opportunity in doing so yet, he's chosen to get involved in tons of loosely related ventures that appear to be demanding while leaving his forever loyal fans hang in the balance.
I really don't think Yoshiki chose to reband X Japan as a businessman. Like, at all. Not whatsoever. I think he was uncertain about doing it and thought he might finally be able to put a proper end to the band. Then when things went well he saw an opportunity to make the new X Japan conquer all the obstacles they had to back out of the first time around, due to the disbandment. You're right that he's been a businessman for a very long time but to say that he's making music for financial gain is absolutely ludicrous. If that were the case we would have had whatever crap single he could come up with over and over along with mini albums and all that shit. We don't have a set album because he's TRYING to make something he's truly proud of, that he truly believes in as a musician. It's the exact opposite of what you claim, in my opinion.
Do you sincerely believe that anyone in the US right now knows about or gives a crap about his Red Dragon comic or the fact that he's the guy who wrote the GRammy Theme song ? That this will in return benefit X-Japan ? Let me be skeptical on that one. Building business connections though, yes that I can see as valuable. If anything, X-Japan was and probably is still today more known in the US vs Yoshiki.
Do I think people care about the comic book specifically? No, not really. Do I think some OTT Stan Lee fanboys intent on collecting his work will buy a comic and become a fan of Yoshiki's music? Yes. And you're right, no one knows who any of the theme songs for Hollywood events are written by... on the outside. On the inside I know they do, and that's a great thing for Yoshiki and thus the band. It takes one person of a band to be put in a magazine or an article anywhere to do good for a band. Also I'm sure his decision to accept the GG theme had a lot to do with personal accomplishment, too. You can sneer at any of the Hollywood award ceremonies (I do) but if one wants you to write something for it... come on, that's going to give you a lot of pride.
Wait and see... not much else to do. Don't get me wrong, I might come off as a total jerk, not my intention... I'm just fed up with the whole thing and find that X-Japan's (or really, YOshiki at this point) fans are blindly tolerating an exaggerated behavior. I can't imagine any other band surviving this level of cheap drama and retain its eternally faithful bunch of fans. And yet... seeing them live at the MSG will go down as one of the most magical moment of my freakin life and I still proudly display my big X tattoo thinkin 'yeah, these guys who came up with 4 albums over 30 years are the best' 
I know a lot of people are fed up but I think it's important to not let the OTT fans have any impact whatsoever, on your regards towards Yoshiki or the band, I mean. Cause we're all doing the same thing. We're all waiting for X Japan. They're really content with anything he does in the mean time because they're HIS fans. Every band has that.
About the drama, I don't think any other band could survive with this amount of loyal fans either, haha. It's because it's X Japan, frankly. They make up for the drama with their music and live shows, which are unparalleled. Crazy, hyped, fucking fun, talented, and full of passion. I'm so excited for this world tour, I don't even care when it is. You're so lucky you got to go to MSG. I've watched it on YT multiple times. Shitty camera phone videos, but it's still a blast watching them perform.
