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We are X, my 2 cents

Astralmind · 6048

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Offline Astralmind

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on: October 21, 2016, 02:17:06 PM
So I finally managed to sit down and watch “We are X” properly and to my surprise, felt compelled to watch it a second time a couple of days later.

I thought I’d share my thoughts and would very much like to hear what you guys thought of it.

Some quick background, I’m a 35 years old guy, live in Canada east coast (have always), have been listening and passionate about X for over 20 years now (enough to get that tattoo 10 years ago, whatever that means).

As many here, I’ve been growing excessively tired of the stagnation since the band reunion tour in 2008 and although I’ve attend the MSG show and loved it, I don’t hold much hope for X-Japan’s future as a band at this point.

So it’s with that cynical attitude that I sat down and clicked play.

Opening with Yoshiki’s soft spoken English you could already tell that this was indeed going to be a documentary about YOSHIKI’s X-Japan – not much of a surprise but I was still bummed out to witness the overwhelming emphasis on drama from his personal perspective. Through the movie Yoshiki often speaks in poetically broken English, the result of it not being is first language and most likely also an influence of his song writing – it feels like he’s more used to think in English in terms of lyrics than a conversational vehicle. For the most part, it gives a very personal tone to his observations and I doubt serious individuals watching the documentary would be bothered by it but there were definitely a few occasions where it almost felt  forced and telegraphed (the whole piece about the swan which sings only one time before it dies was just odd). Nitpicking but after 1h30, it gets a little heavy.

The good news however is that this pseudo philosophical monologue is much more present in the first 30 minutes and gradually seems to fade away leaving room for actual content, after all this is a documentary! Ironically, I was expecting to be much more interested by the “early years” portion of the documentary as I don’t care much for their more recent stuff but to my surprise I found the second half (starting at the breakup) much more interesting and involving. Even though there was a whole lot of drama it somewhat felt much more real, interesting and to some extent sincerely moving. There actually was some real drama happening with the band through these years that are certainly worth discussing and a great opportunity to get up close and personal with Yoshiki. They support and explain his dramatic behavior that came out as overwhelming in the first portion of the movie.

The pacing and editing is mostly great all through the documentary and I found they did a great job at balancing songs in background, short snippets of live acts from different era and facts in a reasonable play time. Someone who knew nothing of X-Japan would certainly walk out of the movie theater knowing a whole lot more and possibly intrigued. What I found surprising was that they did not clearly highlight their albums release, titles, biggest hits, tours etc… from informative perspective this was severely lacking – a proper timeline, even a very quick one, would been appreciated. Trade some of that Yoshiki monologue for actual information.

Although I understand the other band members don’t speak English very well, I would have appreciated a little bit more time spent on one on one interviews, subtitles are just fine and generally well accepted in small doses by the average population.

In the end, I couldn’t help but feel ‘We are X’ was more of a massive and well-orchestrated infomercial (see multiple reviews coming out of nowhere that feel more like paid advertisement than actual reviews) as opposed to a more technical and informative documentary. The radio interview clips when Yoshiki’s X-japan is presented as an internationally famous band somewhat irked me a bit and I couldn’t help but watch movie and see such a stark contrast between the whole ambitious world domination plan Yoshiki seems to constantly bring up and the actual total lack of any progress since the band got back together save a few shows and singles.

All in all, a quality documentary, light on information, heavy on drama that should still be viewed by any X-japan fan out there. 



Offline nb

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Reply #1 on: October 21, 2016, 04:28:11 PM
I suppose that this is a general thread, so I threw my 2 cents to yours and now we have 4 ^^

I finally saw the doc yesterday (found it not on a site that not called jpopsuki) and I must say it's ok. It's not that great I thought it would be.

And am I honest the only new thing I learned about X was that Hide picked some bones out of Yoshiki's fish in restaurant and that Hide talked to Yoshiki about the last live what they could do if the already brainwashed Toshi say something inappropriate.
Oh, and that thing where they were in L.A. and a junk come along and asked Hide and Yoshiki if they have any X (XTC) and Yoshiki replied "We are X!".  ;D

But I didn't want to say that it's not worth to watch it. It's really ok, but I think if you are new to X and don't read the biography of Toshi and Yoshiki and don't really know the history and the music of the band, than you will not get really into it (sorry, my english is not that good. I really can't say what I want to say). The documentation is to short for this.
And also it's all about Yoshiki. A bit from Toshi. But I really want to know how Pata joined X and where they met Hide...


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Offline Astralmind

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Reply #2 on: October 21, 2016, 04:44:55 PM
Totally, thanks for sharing your thoughts. There are a gazilion threads out there on the forum that were all started on the same day by some marketing team to promote the movie so I figured having our own would be a good place to chat about the docu in a more objective fashion.

Regarding the books, I had the chance to read the excellent translation from Toshi's book which I thought was very interesting and even if not "officially translated" conveyed a lot of emotions in the right way - a great read. Is there a translation (fan or otherwise) for Yoshiki's bio ? I mean by now we've heard his story so many times that I doubt there is much let to learn but I'm curious.

As for We are X, definitely lacking as a documentary, somewhat interesting as an introspective journey from Yoshiki's perspective (not what we really wanted or needed at this point..).

I suppose that this is a general thread, so I threw my 2 cents to yours and now we have 4 ^^

I finally saw the doc yesterday (found it not on a site that not called jpopsuki) and I must say it's ok. It's not that great I thought it would be.

And am I honest the only new thing I learned about X was that Hide picked some bones out of Yoshiki's fish in restaurant and that Hide talked to Yoshiki about the last live what they could do if the already brainwashed Toshi say something inappropriate.
Oh, and that thing where they were in L.A. and a junk come along and asked Hide and Yoshiki if they have any X (XTC) and Yoshiki replied "We are X!".  ;D

But I didn't want to say that it's not worth to watch it. It's really ok, but I think if you are new to X and don't read the biography of Toshi and Yoshiki and don't really know the history and the music of the band, than you will not get really into it (sorry, my english is not that good. I really can't say what I want to say). The documentation is to short for this.
And also it's all about Yoshiki. A bit from Toshi. But I really want to know how Pata joined X and where they met Hide...



Offline nb

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Reply #3 on: October 21, 2016, 11:01:02 PM
(...)) Is there a translation (fan or otherwise) for Yoshiki's bio ? I mean by now we've heard his story so many times that I doubt there is much let to learn but I'm curious.

Here you can find the first 3 Chapters

https://oblaatcoatingoblaat.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

And here are shareware (  ;) ) Chapter... (you have to be active member of the forum to view the full post (I'm not))

http://www.xwonderland.net/viewthread.php?tid=899&extra=&page=1



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Offline returner

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Reply #4 on: October 22, 2016, 02:53:55 PM
My two cents is that it's not actually that uplifting, haha. Like, for all the drama and emphasis on death and suicide and overall really only highlighting the tragedies of the band there was, by the end of the documentary, a good amount of 'settlement' to all the chaos (a kind of moving forward after all the grieving) but there wasn't an actual win for the band. I guess if they had focused more on X Japan's reunion tour, with how they toured the US and numerous countries outside of Japan, there would have been one. But having the documentary focus solely on MSG as their achievement fell a little flat to me even though overall I really did like the documentary. But if it showed their climb from the world tour to reaching MSG that would have been an understandable ascent. It would have given rise to climbing the mountain, per say. But the documentary kind of made it seem like this band was just absent forever and then decided to do one night at MSG, kind of like a one-night-only reunion type thing despite what Yoshiki was saying about concurring the world.

I couldn’t help but watch movie and see such a stark contrast between the whole ambitious world domination plan Yoshiki seems to constantly bring up and the actual total lack of any progress since the band got back together.

That's because the documentary made it seem like Yoshiki and the band itself spend all their time on the album. Like they've locked themselves away inside of work specific to making music. When in reality, if the world really followed Yoshiki, they'd see him filling more time with fashion shows and products that only very niche markets will ever use and will fade away within months after not talking about it, than actually working on X Japan. Honestly speaking, if the average viewer saw the reality I doubt they'd think Yoshiki or the band was interested, much less serious, about releasing an album at all. It seems more like a fluffy hobby to him at this point. I know that's harsh but if it were anyone else they'd get the same (probably worse, actually) criticism.

We are not trying to keep the legacy—we are trying to move forward, so our sound is going to change. I’m ready to be criticized, for example by fans saying "you should rather be this style." I’m ready for it, I’m okay with any concept of criticism-Yoshiki


Offline Feudal

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Reply #5 on: October 23, 2016, 06:50:29 PM
Curious if anyone who attended the Q&A in Los Angeles for the film asked Yoshiki about upcoming shows or a tour. I wish I were there to ask. I get so annoyed with all the "What's your favourite thing about being in a band?", "What's your favourite food?" all the bullshit....someone needs to ask Yoshiki the tough questions and put him on the spot.



Offline Kurenai_Akari

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Reply #6 on: October 23, 2016, 10:20:28 PM
Curious if anyone who attended the Q&A in Los Angeles for the film asked Yoshiki about upcoming shows or a tour. I wish I were there to ask. I get so annoyed with all the "What's your favourite thing about being in a band?", "What's your favourite food?" all the bullshit....someone needs to ask Yoshiki the tough questions and put him on the spot.

You would've hated going to the opening night's Q&A, man. Moderator/Media person's questions were lame as hell & could've been answered if she had paid any attention to the movie. Night two's Q&A was better, but still not what I'd consider "hard hitting". (Hell, the thing I was asked was if all the albums, new & old, would get vinyl releases & Yoshiki said that it hadn't crossed his mind before & that it was a good idea.)



Offline Feudal

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Reply #7 on: October 25, 2016, 10:55:48 AM
This is how sad the situation is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFNOuq1Fu9c (@ 4:55)

Stephen Kijak (the film's director) takes the lead on speaking about the new album, MORE THAN YOSHIKI DOES. Wtf!!! Yoshiki just sits there answering the same boring, bland, repetitive questions like a fucking robot. Thank god for Stephen. Not that it will likely expedite anything but still; Yoshiki needs to get out of this repetitious state of interviews; it's driving me nuts. Kijak even addresses the fact that it will be good for any new fans but ALSO for existing fans that are waiting. Take notes, Yoshiki. Fucking hell...
« Last Edit: October 25, 2016, 10:58:17 AM by Feudal »



Offline Hyunkel

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Reply #8 on: October 25, 2016, 12:01:51 PM
"New stuff happen all the time"
Well, we'd like to see/hear the new stuff happening all the time...

..Close your eyes and I'll kill you in the rain...

...Art of Life An Eternal Bleeding Heart...


Offline nb

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Reply #9 on: October 25, 2016, 01:03:47 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diBXjZejOp4

some kind of review  :)

only watched a couple of minutes, but I think, I agree with her (becides I am in fact reading mangas). If I understand the reviews in this forum right, so many of you do to... (corect me, if I'm getting you wrong)
« Last Edit: October 25, 2016, 02:06:29 PM by nb »


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Offline AsukaMiyu

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Reply #10 on: October 25, 2016, 06:22:10 PM
@nb LOL She has actually been a very active member here some years ago. I watched the first minutes of her review and it seems like the documentary is just what i suspected it would be like... >_< I still didn't watch it because I couldn't stand Yoshiki's drama talk for so long right now. And I actually want to be able to enjoy the movie...!!

(...I love how her face skips from super bored/annoyed to super excited back and forth LOL)

...When the morning begins
I'll be in the next chapter...


Offline Kurenai_Akari

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Reply #11 on: October 26, 2016, 08:15:18 AM
Eh. Having watched the documentary twice in a row, I do see that (like with many other musical documentaries of it's kind) it has it's flaws. Some of which are pretty obvious (i.e. lack of other band members in the documentary speaking more than one bit or feeling incoherent at times), while some more on the nitpicky side for me (i.e. the loop of "Longing ~ Setsubou no Yoru" toward the end of the movie).

I was planning on making my own review of the movie, but I don't think that I can do it much justice to be honest. Personally, I feel that I might be too biased to really any decent judgement points on it despite having a few genuine criticisms of the documentary. I dunno. I think that I'll watch it again sometime again after the new year to see if it'll holds up after the honeymoon period. God knows that I put it up on a golden pedestal the first night I watched it.



Offline Riot

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Reply #12 on: October 26, 2016, 03:04:14 PM
I get what you guys are saying, but hear me out for a second. 

I can only compare these kind of things to my love of Star Wars that started when I was about 9 years old. I didn't have any friends back then, so I ended up watching the films all the time, and they made me feel like I wasn't alone. They saved me from being a lonely, depressed kid. Now, as an adult, when I watched the new films, I absolutely LOVED them, but they weren't the same thing. And you know why? Because it had already happened. Those old movies had already saved me.

That's how I see things with X Japan (and pretty much the rest of this fucking universe too...). The documentary is fantastic, but their music has already given me so much, that I can't expect a documentary or even a new album to give me more than that. I'm probably going to love the hell out of everything they'll ever do, but music has already saved me. It'll continue to do so, but the magic is not going to be in this one thing that they release. To me, it's in everything.

I'm just glad that they can reach more people that might feel the way I do about their music (or just music in general).  8)
« Last Edit: October 26, 2016, 03:06:20 PM by Riot »



Offline nb

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Reply #13 on: October 26, 2016, 07:31:55 PM
(...)
I was planning on making my own review of the movie, but I don't think that I can do it much justice to be honest. Personally, I feel that I might be too biased to really any decent judgement points on it despite having a few genuine criticisms of the documentary. I dunno. I think that I'll watch it again sometime again after the new year to see if it'll holds up after the honeymoon period. God knows that I put it up on a golden pedestal the first night I watched it.

I would like to see your review ^.^


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Offline magucathy

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Reply #14 on: October 26, 2016, 07:56:08 PM
I get what you guys are saying, but hear me out for a second. 

I can only compare these kind of things to my love of Star Wars that started when I was about 9 years old. I didn't have any friends back then, so I ended up watching the films all the time, and they made me feel like I wasn't alone. They saved me from being a lonely, depressed kid. Now, as an adult, when I watched the new films, I absolutely LOVED them, but they weren't the same thing. And you know why? Because it had already happened. Those old movies had already saved me.

That's how I see things with X Japan (and pretty much the rest of this fucking universe too...). The documentary is fantastic, but their music has already given me so much, that I can't expect a documentary or even a new album to give me more than that. I'm probably going to love the hell out of everything they'll ever do, but music has already saved me. It'll continue to do so, but the magic is not going to be in this one thing that they release. To me, it's in everything.

I'm just glad that they can reach more people that might feel the way I do about their music (or just music in general).  8)

I haven't watch the film yet, but I like what you said!



Offline Kurenai_Akari

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Reply #15 on: October 27, 2016, 10:16:33 AM
I would like to see your review ^.^

Hmm. I'll think about it. I'm not very good with speaking on camera, hahah.


The documentary is fantastic, but their music has already given me so much, that I can't expect a documentary or even a new album to give me more than that. I'm probably going to love the hell out of everything they'll ever do, but music has already saved me. It'll continue to do so, but the magic is not going to be in this one thing that they release. To me, it's in everything.

I'm just glad that they can reach more people that might feel the way I do about their music (or just music in general).  8)

This is really sweet of you to write. I can definitely understand where you're coming from with this.



Offline nb

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Reply #16 on: October 27, 2016, 10:46:00 AM
I would like to see your review ^.^

Hmm. I'll think about it. I'm not very good with speaking on camera, hahah.


...and I'm not good in speaking english. As you can see, I do it anyway  :P  ;)


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Teemeah

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Reply #17 on: May 24, 2017, 04:01:27 PM
Now in retrospect, after listening to a LOT of interviews with Kijak, including the X Japan Podcast one, I can tell that the reason for not including the other members a lot were mainly because the director found Yoshiki's story most compelling. They didn't want a usual documentary with timelines and stuff, because that's for the fans only. Boring facts of releases and sales and tours is not going to make people totally unaware of this bands sit through this movie. You can read their Wikipdedi article if you want dry facts. They had to keep a very fine balance between documenting this band for fans and introducing them to oblivious people. And clearly, the goal was more about making people aware of this band through their dramatic history. And Yoshiki and Toshi and hide's story is the most dramatic of all. Something people can relate to, because pain and sadness are universal feelings. You don't need to be versed in visual kei or Japanese culture to understand the pain of losing a father, losing one friend to a cult and losing another to death.

Kijak also mentions in an interview that Pata and Heath were very reclusive and not very talkative, and the crew were also not very keen on doing interviews in Japanese, because of the distance it creates between interviewer and interviewee, add to that the formalities of a Japanese translator. It's awkward to talk about your personal feelings when your translator keeps calling you Pata-san and use formal polite language and what not. I can totally relate to that, as a translator.

The DVD does contain interviews with the members apparently. Obviously, it was Kijak's choice to formulate the documentary the way he did. And if we can believe him, he said Yoshiki didn't supervise them at all and gave them a free hand, and his only request was to make the ending "positive". He was not there in the cutting room, either. Honestly, if I were in Kijak's shoes, I would hav egone for Yoshiki's life story, too, because this is the kind of topic you can make a MOVIE out of. The kind of emotional rollercoaster that will keep viewers in their seats. A usual rock story of a rock band from Asia (they grouped in 1982, they released X number of albums, they went on this tour and that tour ....) is not compelling enough for the average viewer to sit around or be interested in the trailer, at all. Given all the prejudice against Asian music in general, I can totally understand why Yoshiki's personal drama is in the centre of this movie.



Offline nb

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Reply #18 on: May 27, 2017, 12:51:09 AM
What is the point oft your post?


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Teemeah

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Reply #19 on: May 27, 2017, 09:31:42 AM
What is the point oft your post?

I reflected on the first post...? Why? Is it forbidden to tell my own opinion? If you are not interested, you are welcome to scroll by and not read it.



Offline matsumoto

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Reply #20 on: July 27, 2017, 01:26:12 PM
I saw it twice , I liked it. It's exceptionally well filmed. Visually, I can totally tell why it got a Best Editing award at Sundance. Kijak is no joke. He has worked with the Stones, David Bowie, the Backstreet Boys, you name it. In terms of content, I was slightly disappointed; It's not a film about X, it's a film about Yoshiki.

It makes sense that a film about X would focus quite a bit on him, but it's a pitty we learned nothing about the other bandmembers. Like, zero. We have no idea what their lives are like, what they think of the whole world domination project, how they deal with fame, how they feel about music... If I'm not wrong, Toshi speaks about twice in the film, Pata had about 10 seconds of screen time and Heath and Sugizo are only seen once in the background, doing their thing.

Surprisingly, and this is not a bad thing in itself: they didn't go overboard with the whining about Hide being dead. He's mentioned in the film, but Yoshiki managed to keep the exaggerated displays of grief to a minimum. It would have been fine to develop a little on the kind of guy he was when he was alive, though. Like, where does he come from, how did he change X, how people reacted to his odd style when he was still unknown in Japan...

Last but not least, I didn't learn anything that I didn't already know while watching it. I've been a fan for over 15 years. They didn't mention one thing that was new and that's why the main reason I was disapointed. I know it's hard to balance the sharing and the oversharing when you're a huge celebrity like Yoshiki is, but mentioning a kazillion times that he has spine problems is a little too much. I don't know. Talk about what inspired you to compose songs like Kurenai or I'll Kill You. Talk about how you felt the first time someone asked you for an autograph. Talk about how you feel about the future of rock. There's a million things I'd expected him to talk about, yet the greatest piece of news that came from the film was "When I sleep, I dream about cheesecake because I can't eat carbs".
« Last Edit: July 27, 2017, 01:28:06 PM by matsumoto »

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Teemeah

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Reply #21 on: July 27, 2017, 03:17:14 PM
Did you watch the extras? The interviews with Heath and Pata are useless. They give general uninteresting answers to every question. Like, they ask Heath to talk about his childhood and the only thing he says is he grew up in a town near the sea and mountains. Woooooo, really compelling answer. Let's face it, they are not talkative. And when you cannot pull out meaningful answers from your interviewee, what's the point of making the movie? WHO from an uninitiated audience will be interested in Pata giving yes and no answers, thinking for two minutes before he utters "umm... welll. yes". I love these guys, but they are not documentary material - they don't want to TALK. Obviously, what do you do? you go for the ones who are willing. Toshi's brainwashing story is covered pretty extensively. Sugizo is a new addition to the band, and since he is kind of a replacement, his story is very different. If you go for Sugizo, you would need to explain Luna Sea and all the previosu background, which in turn would make another documentary. You can't squeeze everything into 90 minutes. Yes, they could have used less "Yoshiki's back/neck/arm/finger hurts". :) But obviously, his battered state and personal drama is what they went for as a concept.

And again: this is a film more for people who don't know X rather than a usual documentary aimed at fans. And what inspired the songs? Oh come on, as if you don' know what Yoshiki's answer would be.... ("after my father died....") ;D



Offline matsumoto

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Reply #22 on: July 28, 2017, 11:34:50 AM
Yeah, I totally get it. I really like Pata, though. He's the funniest guy in that band, I guess. His little 10 seconds where he tells the world he doesn't give a shit about Yoshiki "collapsing" made my day. Made me want to hear some more from his POV. But I get the deal. They don't look like talkative dudes. Even Yoshiki, I saw him IRL twice at interviews and the interviewer had to litteraly lead him on after every two words or else he'd just mumble yeah/kind of/sort of/mmmm/haha.

Maybe they feel intimidated being interviwed by a Westerner, I don't know. There's a scene where they're all talking in Japanese about a magazine article about X. Yoshiki says plenty of interesting stuff about it in Japanese (subtitled) to the other band members. That's the kind of moment where you see that the guy is actually a pretty intelligent dude who reflects on the music scene and has an extensive knowledge about the East/West synergies. When interviewed in English, he just grins and talks about cheesecake. If I didn't know him, I'd think he was dumb (sorry guy, I know you aren't).



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Teemeah

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Reply #23 on: July 28, 2017, 07:21:52 PM
I think it is also a language barrier for Yoshiki. Yes, he speaks English pretty well, but it is different to talk about your feelings and thoughts when you are not native. I struggle with this all the time, even though my English is probably a lot better than Yoshiki's, I graduated from university majoring in English. If you listen to Japanese programs or just ones on Yoshiki Channel, Yoshiki is no fool. He is a pretty established and knowledgable businessman, and he may act feminine and clueless at times, but that - I think - is seriously just part of his Princess image. He wouldn't have been able to build up what he has now, including a recording company and several business lines, if he were a complete fool. And he is a control freak, you can bet he supervises every business aspect, just like he supervises every aspect of X Japan's tours, concerts, music, appearances and even mechandise. And fellow J rockers fear him and respect him for a reason. He is hectic and disorganized as a person, yes. Which gives us all headaches. :) But that's what he has always been like.

Pata is very funny, but he is not very talkative. I would really like to know more about him and Heath, too. Do they have families? We know nothing about them, but it is their choice, so what can we do? Pata seems like he would maybe tell awesome anecdotes of X after a few glasses of beer. :D But not when he is sober. Heath is an enigma. I hope they will make another documentary and use more of Yoshiki's invaluable old footages of X. And tell more anecdotes of small stories, that would highlight the relationship within the band. A unique documentary just for fans. :) And you know what? I would just be happy with a collection of translated old interviews, too. Because those old footages on youtube sound like they did talk (well Yoshiki and Toshi mostly, and sometimes hide and Taiji) about interesting stuff on TV. They appeared in talkshows and entertainment programs, where they shared those little anecdotes, like how hide teased Yoshiki about dining at McDonald's and stuff like that. :)




Offline matsumoto

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Reply #24 on: July 31, 2017, 11:48:11 AM
I totally agree with you. It's funny how language barrier can mess with you.

When I see Yoshiki's interviews in Japanese (the very few that are subtitled), I truly get why this guy is who he is. He sounds like a very intelligent dude. He know what he's talking about, he has some sociological insight, he knows the business and he comes off as a good listener, somebody who truly absorbs his surroundings before processing them into a conversation. His English interviews are always 'meh', though. This has nothing to do with being feminine. He could be a three-headed kangoroo for all I care. He just seems kind of unable to form a full sentence or express a coherent idea besided the cutesy stuff he blurts out here and there. That's a shame. My friends who don't know X and who saw the film didn't seem to take him seriously AT ALL. Then I showed them his drum and piano skills and you could see the surprise on their faces.

And oh yes, some of those old interviews are pure gold! I once considered paying a Japanese translator friend to subtitle them for me. They're all we have of X back in the good old days. With all the money they have, they could really invest in translating old material into English for the worldwide fans. Actually, it makes me a little sad that Yoshiki says he wants to reach fans overseas and everything but never really thinks about stuff like that; subtitling old interviews, releasing official translated lyrics of the songs in Japanese, creating a website in English where fans can buy their merchandising (good luck getting a Yoshikitty if you're not in Japan)...

Woah, I can haz admin colour.


Teemeah

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Reply #25 on: July 31, 2017, 08:34:36 PM
Yeah.... You can get a Yoshikitty on ebay but I totally agree with you. It's the same for any other Japanese artist, too (or Asian, for that matter); you can only buy stuff through aggregator websites or websites specialised on Asian merchandise, which of course is a lot more expensive. I come from K-pop, I know this struggle very well. Until very recently, agencies were really not very open to serve international fans, even though we make up a considerable number of the fandom with purchasing power. Recently, some Korean providers started subtitling music videos as soon as they are released, but it's still a novelty and still most entertainment agencies don't do it. BUT they will almost always have Youtube delete the fansub versions. :( I think these people simply do not think about these aspects of international fandom. They only think about foreign fans when it comes to concerts. :( and even if they have english versions of a webshop, they either don't ship overseas or ship at horrific prices. I HATE that Heath's webshop is Japanese only. You need a Japanese address and phone number to order. It's ridiculous. :( We should really bombard them with messages, I'd say, but they don't even have a fuckin email address to write to (I seriously believe that online contact form ends up nowhere). :(



Offline matsumoto

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Reply #26 on: August 01, 2017, 04:29:48 PM
Totes! I wonder why don't think about this stuff. I can live without the merchandising, but I would sell an arm and a leg (not literally lol) to have the old stuff subtitled as well as X-approved translations of their songs in Japanese.

As for Heath having no English website. Not surprising. All X members, except Yoshiki of course, only have social media in Japanese. Toshi is very active on Instagram but his posts are all in Japanse. They don't seem to do much outside of Japan either. It's only Yoshiki who ever attends fan events in Europe or America. Toshi came with him to Japan Expo once, years ago, as that's the only glipmse of him Europe has ever had outside of a concert. As much as I like Yoshiki, I really wish I could once see the other guys upclose. New life goal: shake Pata's hand  ;D

Woah, I can haz admin colour.