...the reverse side of beauty..//..Mantified

It really has been absolutely crazy busy with all that packing to be done in order to cart back home after my studies (and adventures) overseas on the the island of Singapore. Ah...

But, right now, the one thing I'm extremely proud to announce: I went to the LUNA SEA live in Hong Kong on December 11th! It was an absolute blast as I twittered everything I saw and heard (which I felt of great significance) onto my swanky iTouch 4. Am really glad to have attained some followers who followed the gig all the way until the end.

Additionally, another something worth mentioning is my live report. I offered to write one for JRR as part of my contribution due to my love for the group. So, imagine my state of ecstatic-ness when it's up on the site!

Live report found here.

I'll be headed for Tokyo this Friday to catch the GazettE's live on Sunday. I will be doing a live report for the Tokyo Dome show, as well as do some twittering (maybe some on JRR's official twitter when over there, but I'll definitely be tweeting out of my personal username). So, if you're interested, follow me @taintedmantis and @jrockrevolution for updates!

Luna Sea hype is about to dawn upon us. Now how about reading some opinions from one of them, SUGIZO?

I'm so glad I can watch them in Hong Kong later this year! The political dispute between Japan and China is making certain things unnerving. *sigh*

Other than that? I've been punching eyelets. They're kind of like these annoying spiders that won't go away, but you have to deal with them else you might get bitten by one. And your outfit could be ruined if you're not careful enough. Bah.

I'm writing this just after watching their press conference that was broadcast live on UStream TV. Luna Sea has announced that they will be going a world tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The main aims are to bring good music back on stage to thank their fans for their continuous support, in addition to reaching out to newer and younger generation fans.

The following are confirmed:

Germany (Bochum)
November 27, 2010

USA (Los Angeles)
December 4th, 2010

Hong Kong
December 11,2010

Taiwan (Taipei)
December 18 2010

Japan (Tokyo Dome)
December 23/24 2010

More dates and locations will be announced at a later time (when things are more organized). Ticket sales for the Hong Kong show will begin as from September 3.

There will be an official subtitled version of the press conference posted up later.

So...anybody wants to go to the HK show with me??

Seriously, when will these guys actually stop teasing us with different versions of this video?!

But anyhow, they have announced that they will be holding a press conference in Hong Kong, at 15:00 local time! WOW! And it will be broadcasted live on UStream! I'm really excited!

For your convenience, check some of the following time zones to see when you can watch the conference (may edit this at a later date).

Hong Kong 15:00
Japan 16:00
London 08:00
New York 03:00
Toronto 03:00
LA 00:00
France 09:00
Germany 09:00

If you haven't listened to them ever since Shiver came out, I suggest you do now. I feel that their B-sides are actually better than their actual release, maybe it's because it's more of their true essence?

First up, HESITATING MEANS DEATH. It's available on both [Optical Impression] and [Auditory Impression] releases. As I've said on the JRockRevolution Forums, the song kind of reminds me of a mesh of Toguro, Circle of Swindler, Leech and Discharge with slips of Ganges Ni Akai Bara and Before I Decay in Ruki's singing style. I can just imagine the way this song is played on stage as well as its imagery, starting out with flashes of light to give you a state of drunken dizziness, before belting "This bullet is all openings" and start doing random head bangs. It's probably one of those wild ecstasy song moments. I love his "whooooaaaaa!" it shows Ruki's gentler side. *fan girl talk* Hard and gentle in one song? I never thought it was possible without destroying the piece like 12012 did. (They did cute and hardcore, and it sounded a complete rip off of Leech, not to mention the song sounded like it had 2 styles that just did not go together, let alone a rather crappy video direction.) Then again, I've been waiting for a majorly Engrish song for a while - really exciting!



On the other hand, given the 2 B-sides, I would probably prefer listening to Naraku more. Easy listening purposes you know? Available only on the [Auditory Impression] release, it's definitely a worth listen to. I love that play-pause effect sort of like what Leech had in the electronica, but with a slower feel. I could certainly relate some of the bass style to 13STAIRS[-1]. I would definitely love to see how this song will be played out on stage. All in all, I love the arrangement for this song. It's almost a ballad in itself. Maybe a hard ballad?



Some Luna Sea news, yup, they've teased us again! So, what's happening on August 25? Announcement of a tour? New single? New DVD? Teasers!

Finally! The title of the GazettE's new single's announced! It's called Shiver and will be the anime KuroshitujiII's opening song. I've never heard of the anime before, maybe because it's new? But we'll see if it'll actually interest me. I've already placed my orders...so I'm SO going to get my first press when the entire package from CDJapan's going to be delivered to my door after Film Bug II is released (saves me on separate shipping costs and my mail signer's time for having stuff delivered in one go).

Can't wait! *along with a couple of magazines I bought on the site*

Some more news. Luna Sea announced REBOOT in their MySpace page along with the following video. We're not sure what it means, but hopefully we'll be seeing something substantial soon!



I've also been following Luna Sea's SUGIZO a lot lately too. He makes really beautiful music and is possibly one of the most talented musicians and composers I've encountered. You know how most musicians have a tendency to stick to one genre of music and hardly ever do any crossing over? Being classically trained with the violin, his ability to play various guitars and the bass, the way he dabbles in different styles is simply amazing. I'd love to speak more about him, but for now, I leave you with Synchronicity from his 2001 film Soundtrack (he also did all the music for the film).

Only the last 10 seconds kind of grossed me out though. Hahaha.



I should get a new layout some time. I hate it when the YouTube embeds spill over to the other side.

Not only am I loving Miyavi's new single that's going to come out on March 24 (I've placed my order already!), I've also been falling in love with the classics.

That's right...the roots of many of today's JRock's influences: X Japan and Luna Sea (AHAHAHA...LUNACY). I haven't dug much into X Japan yet, but I do like Luna Sea's stuff. And by looking into LS, I've discovered much much more...I now understand why Uruha looks like the way he looks. It's all because of Sugizo of Luna Sea! (With many thanks - if Uru manages to look something like Sugizo by the time he hits 40, it's definitely a plus.)

So, I bring you...Luna Sea's Rosier. So let's play a game...(only good if you're unfamiliar with the band): Which one is Sugizo?? I think it's easy to guess once you've actually seen a close up of him. XD