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"I'm going to live doing what I love." Why this Visual Kei band is turning to Youtube.

Kujou Takemasa + 83 fans

youtube

Hello everyone! I'm the guitarist of a Visual Kei band called Kiryu, my name is Kujou Takemasa. Today, I'd like to talk about our transition to Youtube.

Hey, Youtube. I'm Kujou Takemasa of Kiryu. Today, I wanted to talk about something serious in this video. I'd be happy if you listened until the end.

First of all, I think there are a lot of people who don't know who I am. So, I'll give you a brief description.

In 2007, Kiryu was formed. From 2008, I decided to never take this mask off in public. Having made that decision... In 2009, we joined our current record label, B.P.Records, and then... [too fast for me to understand]

Well, the people who watch this video may think that life and everything have been smooth sailing, (I'm doing my best!!)

WHY IS THIS VIDEO ONLY ABOUT YOU BRAGGING SHADDUP\(^o^)/SHADDUP\(^o^)/ SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP There might be people who think that (↑) way, too.

WELL! What I wanted to talk about Is that we're still in the middle of our dream.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is, this is what I wanted to talk about. Kiryu, you know, has sort of been around for over ten years now... It's such a small world, but for Visual Kei, especially compared to the early days, people have become so kind. This is kind of an old story, but actually... in the beginning... The people around us were all cold. Well, no, I guess "cold" isn't the right word... It's more like just no one would talk to us. Well, in the beginning, since we formed, there was no reason to. It's kind of obvious that people weren't interested in talking to us. You know. Of course, in the beginning, we didn't have a lot of fans, and the people we looked up to said things like YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT. YOU'RE GONNA DISBAND SOON. Right to our faces (don't look at my face) TODAY PEOPLE FROM THE RECORD LABEL 〇×■ are going to come watch us! This is our chaaaaaaaaaance! We were so happy, but when they saw our shows... I guess we weren't good. They didn't even talk to us, I mean, like we were nothing. They just left. Well, recently, I haven't even really talked to the others, but. Kiryu is still doing its best!!!

We're in the middle of things... But... I... I've thought a lot About giving up before. I felt strongest about disbanding back in 2011, during our Mugen Houyou tour. My mother fell ill. And at that time My father said, "Just quit your stupid little band," As tears coursed down his face. That was the first time I'd ever seen him cry. And even a happy-go-lucky guy like myself Felt those words resounding in my heart. I was really troubled... Even so, when we had a show, As the hours ticked by, Our fans... I realized how many people were waiting for us. So I asked If I quit, What would the others do? And the staff Everyone thought about it. But... in the end... It was all a mess inside my head. Even now, I still think about it. But now, In regards to our fans, Well, in regards to anyone... It's just not a good topic for discussion. But at that time, I wasn't really good at keeping it in. So, with those feelings in my heart, I turned toward our Mugen Houyou tour. I always wondered what I should do. I asked myself over and over, Ugh, it's so Visual Kei... But really, back then. That's when it happened. On March 11, 2011, The Great Tohoku Earthquake happened. I think it's still left lasting impressions on everyone. And on that day, we were in Fukuoka On our one-man tour. We weren't directly affected by it But back then, we didn't know right away If Japan would be alright. We ended our one-man tour in Fukuoka We didn't have a meeting, but Together, we all got dinner. And we ate, and talked about what we knew, We ate, Returned to the hotel, And... was it before I fell asleep? I was honestly just shocked... I didn't know what would happen... Well... I mean, that's true of everyone, right? Right away, Kiryu held an emergency meeting. Would we be continuing Kiryu even after our tour? Would we quit? We were in our own worlds, Following a feeling of reclusion after the earthquake, And even the other musicians around us Were announcing that they were going to be pausing activities, tours, events. And so, the conclusion we reached Was that we'd continue. When we announced it, there was some resistance. Of course... It was devastating. I don't mean everyone But even amongst our fans, There were people who didn't understand our decision. Until the day before, the ones who told us that they loved us Were suddenly saying, "What?! You don't understand anything!! Shut up!! Die!!" There were so many voices. But we, as we were, with feelings of guilt as we continued activities, We wondered what we were living for. We decided we'd continue activities. Even just a little, A concept band like us, Wanted to give others a reason to live. So, with that thought in mind, We decided that guilt was the wrong thing to feel here, And we were very firm in our decision. But Many people Told us to die Every single day. If I'm being honest... It was hard... Every moment, fan mail was coming, causing my phone to go off ceaselessly. In a single day, the most messages I received was about 2,000. All of them telling me to die. Well, like I said, I was also worried about my family. And during all that... Every minute, every second... All these people...? From people I knew to people I didn't Kept telling me "Die, die, die, die." I felt like giving up... And eventually... "What the hell?" And then, I began to look forward to the first show we'd perform since we decided we'd continue activities. I'll never, ever forget... It was at Matsuyama Salon Kitty. The pre-sold tickets were already sold out. I guess, in terms of sales, that was good. I thought no one would come after all... Even so! Even if it was just five or ten who showed up after all For those who came to see us, we'd put on the best damn show we could. We were very resolute. And we took the stage, And our opening special effects rang out, We entered the stage. And... Everyone came. Everyone was there after all. I thought no one would come. I mean Right before we performed, I really thought I was gonna cry. I mean How do I explain? I don't even know. I felt just overwhelmed with that feeling of not knowing. You guys... To be honest, All the members, All five of us, Thought you guys hated us. But we realized at that moment That as a band, We were supporting people. That was what we wanted to do. But on the other hand, We also realized, We were being supported by you. I was so lost as to what to do about my family... And I wanted to quit sometimes... But when I saw things like that I realized That feeling just flew away. And so When my feelings of quitting flew away I wanted to share my thoughts with the help of the other members of Kiryu And from that Our song Kyousei was born.

[Snippet of Kyousei]

What saved hypocrisy Was the filth that hid away the weak points But hypocrisy tried to run away From the weakness that couldn't face the filth

There's no such thing as a "right" answer Therefore there is also no "incorrect" answer I looked out at the end of the cycle of death and rebirth And saw the path I should follow

Do you hear me crying out? The words have yet to take shape in my voice... I may scream myself hoarse, and my life may wither away, but There's something I need to say...

I've gotten a little off-topic, but We saw the the results of trying our very hardest. In every live house in every region, From high-up people in other companies, And from other members of other bands, And from those who looked up to us. And now, there are many fans who support us. I want veeeeerrrry much To send you happiness every single day. Thank you. However... Looking at it from another angle, I can feel a bit of unease. As a band, Kiryu has been able to continue together for over ten years. That's no small thing. We're a band that's played at Budoukan, And, I've heard us called... Influential!? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe once or twice. But... Naturally... Even if I throw in a joke or two I think you get what I'm saying. I mean, it's not really, you know, like I hate it or anything. But I really feel uneasy. Even so, we're still selling I'm not really self-conscious of that. And being called a leading figure in Visual Kei Is still hard to imagine. We have so many role models who are flourishing And those above us all laugh, "Who are these youngsters here?"... I mean, I think. When I look at the world, Well, no, if I just look at Japan, Yeah. People who know of Kiryu Are definitely outnumbered by people who don't know us. When I look up, The limits are endless... However, From where we're standing right now, Kind of feels like we're still only standing on a monkey’s hill in a zoo. We're not just going to lie back and relax. We're still young! So we're going to do our best! PLEASE LET US DO OUR BEST! Well, even if I think that... I'm going to tell you what I really want. Someday, I want to go on an arena tour. Someday, I want to go on a dome tour. I still don't feel like stopping quite yet. I don't want to stop now. So I still want this and that...! Someday...! Even if I say that, I don't really like it. Ahhh, I don't really know what to do. Well, after today, What do I want to say to so many different people? When I think about that What we all thought Is that we should turn to YouTube. Whether it's something funny, or just anything Anything that we get the notion to do. It'll be fine if we just do it all the time. Right now, in this world, I think YouTube is my best chance To convey to you my feelings. So, when I thought, Ahh, what do I want to film?! Videos where I try playing the guitar... I mean, I've done that before... Then, maybe I should try singing~ I thought [clip of Takemasa singing, "Dooo yuuu heah me grying out?"] Ugh, if I do just that, you'll never hear my cry! IfiguredthatfirstofallIshouldjustlayallthisoutforyou When I thought of it like that, I mean, Visual Kei needs a certain amount of charisma... Visual Kei can't exist without being beautiful!! I mean, people will certainly think that. YouTube isn't so nice! I mean, if you don't post a new video every day, it's no good, right? It might be like that. Of course, we aren't actual YouTubers. Our real job is being musicians, And we'll live making music. This is how we're thinking of continuing. If we thought of throwing music away entirely That would be like throwing the cart in front of the horse, you know. So of course, While I do band stuff, Uploading YouTube videos By myself, Just me, Every day... Nooo... I can't do it... I think they'd all come out kind of half-baked, And I don't really want to do something only half-assed. So when I thought that, What I realized was I HAVE FWIENDS!! I HAVE EVEWYWAN!!!! \(^o^)/\(^o^)/ \(^o^)/\(^o^)/ \(^o^)/\(^o^)/ \(^o^)/\(^o^)/ \(^o^)/\(^o^)/ That's what I realized. Our record label, B.P.Records, Even more than just Kiryu, has so many friends. Kiryu, Royz, Codomo Dragon, Hertz We all possess the same will, all 18 of us. So, because of that... Sorry if it sounds like I'm just bragging about my friends, If we put our strength together, I think we can do it. I think we can really make a funny, interesting channel. If we can get our videos seen, And it might be difficult... But if we can do it... If everyone in our own bands can continue their activities without breaking their paces, If we do our best, We can show you all kinds of funny things. And so, talking about Kiryu, We're going to do all the same things as before, We've hit kind of an unrefined place, I mean, I am a masochist, after all, But, I want to try hard! Even harder than before! I've done a lot of crazy things I've been on tour in 47 different prefectures on one-man tours... Four times! So from now on We're going to keep on walking! And so, I'm going to keep on Holding the words of others in high regard Holding the lives of others in high regard. As we put all our energy into continuing our musical activities, We're going to do our best to upload things to YouTube. We want to show you what we're like in real life. And so While we keep music as our full-time job I think the way you look at Our lyrics and words And when we talk during our lives shows Will change drastically. And so I think it will help deepen your bond with our music. Put simply, I think it's awesome! Really, truly, All I want is for our music to resound with you. So, with that in mind, We are going to make YouTube videos. This might have become sort of a fumbling video But even so, I think I was able to get a lot across. There may be people who look down on this But even so, I'm going to do my best to upload And I did my best to decide what to do. And to those of you Who are hoping to see your favorite member appear, Please wait patiently. And finally, from this damned mask to you, Thank you so much for watching to the very end. We're going to change Visual Kei!

#己龍 #B.P.Records #Kiryu #Kujou Takemasa #Translation #video #Takemasa vlog #english kiryu #kyousei

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