JIN, or whom I assume is JIN, can also be seen at approximately 1:38 into the PV.

Now prepare for a very long-winded speech by VAMPkito regarding Japanese fans and their relations with HYDE... innuendos aside, please bear with it. WARNING THIS SPEECH MIGHT OFFEND LOTS OF PEOPLE. :C

Like I've said before, this isn't the first time this has happened in the history of music. Countries are often proud of their musicians and don't like sharing them with others. That doesn't make it excusable at all, but you probably get what I mean. That aside, it sickens me when I see fans acting in such repulsive behavior. Whenever we see HYDE and K.A.Z recording a comment on the VAMPROSE YouTube Channel and we see HYDE (I'm sure K.A.Z is probably just as tired, but since he's wearing sunglasses 90% of the time, it's a bit harder to tell) with bags under his eyes from pure fatigue (and a little bit of age, but that is certainly different), we receive a clear testament to how downright demanding and selfish the fanbase is. There is no fan on Earth that is not at least somewhat demanding. I was really wanting a hard, rocky song and DEVIL SIDE provided that for me, but I was still demanding a song of similar nature. Some of us like to take a step further and be a lot more demanding and possessive.

What people don't get is that music, like anything else in life, is a three-way street. A factory that produces condiments can not be successful without people to produce food and people who produce food can not be successful without people who EAT food. Likewise, musicians can not be successful without people make instruments and people who make instruments can not be successful without people without people who want to hear music. VAMPS' job may be to entertain us*, but it is OUR job to support them so that they can continue to do their job and enjoy it.

And that is why hearing what many of the Japanese fans did pissed me off. I mean, I'm sure there's two sides to this, so I'm not going to judge them immediately, and besides, there were some very nice Japanese people there too, from what I'd heard. BUT that doesn't mean I'm going to just pass it off as though it didn't happen.

What those Japanese fans fail to realize, or probably do realize and have let it go to their heads, is that they have more access to HYDE, VAMPS, L'Arc~en~Ciel, OBLIVION DUST, -EVERYTHING- more than we'll probably have for a long time if ever. I think I once talked about on here that it has always been my dream to buy music I love from a music store, instead of on an over-priced Japanese import e-commerce website. Music stores are one of my favorite places in the world, but it sort of crushes me to think that all because of his different ethnicity and different native language, I can't just go to my favorite local music store and buy the new VAMPS single as soon as it comes out. No, I have to buy it over the internet and then wait however long it takes for it to be delivered** - But the Japanese people don't have to do that. They can walk into any store they want and find VAMPS almost immediately.

Which brings me to another point: Merchandise. They not only have MORE of it--and not just slightly more, A LOT MORE--but they don't have to pay $50-$100 worth of shipping for something that in actuality only costs $5.

So yes, it is unfair that we get autograph signings and meet-and-greets and they don't, but hell, they get a DVD with A FULL SET LIST, a shit load of merchandise, AND access to VAMPS' jewelry line, GEREZZA. I mean, even in Japanese Yen the jewelry is overpriced, but the opportunity would still be appreciated. So it may be unfair that we get autograph signings, but it's technically not exactly fair that we don't get all the good VAMPS merchandise or access to the services that they do.

With that said, they have very little right to complain about them going overseas, and even if they DIDN'T get all those luxuries, VAMPS going overseas should be a testament to their glory, not an excuse to whine and bitch. When my favorite American musicians announce a tour in Japan, I congratulate them, wish them a good tour, and hope they have fun. I don't go out of my way to make sure that everyone who attends said Japanese tour is miserable. So why should it be like that the other way around?

This is especially wrong considering HYDE even wrote a song about UNITING the world with music. What's the name of it? MISSION, right? How did it go again?
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Music's breaking down all the barriers
We don't have to feel earthbound
kankei kou sou togi sumashite
As we surf the waves of sound~

We can come together
It's not so hard to open up our hearts to love

I woke up one morning. I'd had a dream so real.
We noticed our part in the same of history
Now we're walking, we're running
Our mission is the same
We reach our destination and realize the dream

No walls, Embrace a world as one
No walls, Embrace a world as one

Where music will guide us, guitars instead of guns
We'll play in harmony, It should be so easy
Come and dance with me
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Something like that, right? I know the song is primarily in English but you'd think that the fans who are native in the language of the original singer would pick up on those lyrics, and from what I understand, the inspiration from the song was when L'Arc~en~Ciel went to Baltimore in 2004 and HYDE saw that people from all over the world came together for the common cause: the love of music. So to think that some fans would be possessive and corrupt enough to attend a concert primarily for the purpose of SEPARATING the fans is sickening.

HYDE once said in an interview*** that every year he wished for world peace, and every year his wish doesn't come true, and thus he wrote FAITH, which ultimately questions WHY this wish never comes true to begin with. Because there's no God to make it happen? We can debate that all day, but I think that stupid acts like those is the reason that HYDE's wish doesn't come true.

Many musicians would not be affected by the fans' bad behavior. I mean, they're rich. Who cares about them, right? As long as they continue buying my records, I'm good. Not VAMPS. They are true musicians who care for their fans and have been known to do their best to make up for their mistakes. They want fans to be happy and I guess it's true what they say: You really can't satisfy everyone. That's no excuse to treat VAMPS like shit for trying to be DECENT people, though. I may not have a fancy VAMPS wallet that I spent all my money on to receive or a super-cool VAMPS music box that plays SWEET DREAMS for me every night before I go to bed, but I still love and support them for the same reason that united over 12,000 people in Baltimore in 2004: Because I love their music, and as long as I have that, then I don't need an exclusive autograph signing or meet-and-greet or any other cool luxury (not to say that WOULDN'T be nice to have though ^^;)

Okay, before I get any more worked up on that, that's just my outlook on the way the Japanese fans acted. Again, I am only referring to the Japanese fans that actually did act so bigoted. I'm sure there were also plenty of nice Japanese fans too. Wooh, that was a nice awesome speech. We now return to your regularly scheduled topic.

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*Of course, that's not the ONLY thing they live for, but that's their job as a musician.
**To be fair, usually the service to those e-commerce sites make up for their price.
***Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2006-07-11
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(04-20-2010, 05:04 PM)Usagi Hoshino Wrote: Yeah I agree to everything Vampkito said, sometimes you think like a girl :D! (is a compliment btw xD).

Yes I just saw Jin as well.. wtf xD

XDDD Why, thank you, I am honored you acknowledge my gender-confused mindset. =P

And Jin is going to haunt my memories for the rest of my life! X_X