GACKT ARMY

Wonderful, concise and complete professional review of GACKT's last Visualive.

http://www.askewmagazine.com/archives/736

Oh So Hot Gackt-Sama!




Seeing that this version of the vid (like METAMORPHOZE for GUNDAM) also promotes the TERMINATOR-Sarah Connor Chronicles tv show when it airs in Japan as the main theme, (this will bring Gackt a new audience!) I understand the added clips from the show, and they don't bug me, with the exception that it keeps me from SEEING MORE GACKT.

Himself looks very hot, costumes nicely tailored, makeup and lighting with striking blue and red, special effects handily done with the lightning bolts and I think the dancing - in keeping with the cyborg theme on the dance floor no yet - is very cool, all those octopus arms around Gacchan, I can relate. And the ending is cute.

The song rocks out! I enjoy the long intro, with the thudding bass line, (thank you Ju-Ken) the chorus makes the song! But the middle instrumental with guitar solo is one of my favorite parts (thank you ChachaSama) and the buzz burst near the end is cool, I like when Gackt adds these layers of sounds, like sirens in SPEED MASTER and machine guns in the recent JESUS.

The lyrics 'drown with your eyes open' and 'plugs in my body' are creepily eerie, as a whole, I think the sound is fresh and what fans have been waiting for.

I am looking forward to is this performance from Gackt-Sama in the RRtour DVD, with him in skin tight patent leather. ;D

**all remarks are the opinion of those posting. Please be considerate and thoughtful in your responses, we look forward to your personal thoughts on what Gackt's new work means to you.


I was pondering where Gackt was going with the JESUS concept, and knowing that he is revisiting the themes from his REBIRTH album of 2001, down to the Neo-Nazi costumes, I wondered how truly 'new' the sound would be.

As the song opens, we hear the static sound that opens Secret Garden, as well as the accelerating notes from Redemption so the shouts that come after are almost a relief. The melody line, I feel, does not copy any existing Gackt song, and gets you right up to speed. Not being a musician, I can't be specific, but everything sounds tight to me.

I think Gackt sounds great in this song, a comfortable range for him, and the English was a not unpleasant surprise. I usually prefer songs in all one language, but I just think, how odd to just shout out in English in a Japanese song, though I hear this constantly in Jpop-Jrock. I can comprehend the English fairly well.

The song has a great drive, I enjoyed the little layers (machine gun behind the drum beats) and the shouting chorus works for me. (This will be great to drive to VERY LOUD in rush hour traffic)I think you can fit it in the category of Gackt Sound, but it's new enough to me to be enjoyable. I think it's a newer sound than last year's RETURNER.

Now, as for the theme of the lyrics, I've heard some say, this is a song about suicide, but I think that's too simple. I think 'wake me up' and 'take me out' and references to pleading to a prophet (any prophet be they religious or even political, or Gackt himself) are about Rebirth, the desire to move on, move forward, in this life. And Gackt's goading you to 'just do it' don't look to a deity* but find the power within you. That's the personal interpretation I'm sticking with, just going on lyrics and not the visuals.

*I've read a translation of the article in PatiPati where Gackt states the cry 'Jesus' in the song challenges (any) god if they are out there to 'come and help' - so I'm glad I got that right.

THE VIDEO -

Clammy, claustrophobic and dark, if Gackt had to get back to Requiem et Reminiscence, it looks more realized this time. I only wish we could see a little more, as the screen stays quite dark, and I don't get clear shots of GacktJOB. The focus is however, on Gackt and the figure of the man in the Luftwaffe Uniform.

The NAZI reference here is interesting, I don't know if it's intentional that the uniform of the protagonist is grey and not black. The uniforms of the regular Soliders were grey, the uniforms of the Secret Police within the Nazi Army were black - which is what Gackt and GacktJOB are wearing.

The idea of ritual suicide among the military is not exclusive to the Japanese, it was also Roman, and many of the Nazi Army's insignia (standards) harkened to ancient Rome. The scenes in Gackt's JESUS brought to mind the story of the German General named Edwin Rommel (Known as the Desert Fox) the one adversary who was laudable to the winning Allied powers after the Second World War because of his honor toward captured enemy soldiers, a refusal to persecute 'undesirables' by sending them to concentration camps, and becoming involved in a attempted coup on the Dictator Hitler. As he was a popular Hero in Germany, instead of being killed in an execution, his family's lives were to be spared if he agreed to commit suicide, which he did.

This makes Gackt's role as instigator in the video, goading the man to put a gun to his head, an interesting figure. I enjoyed the flashes of the skull through his face, and after so many repeated scenes of the gun to the head, the only way it could have ended satisfactorily *spoiler*
( Read more... )but by the reaction of my friends list, quite powerful.

A Review:

This DVD allows you to see the taiga drama Fuurin Kazan in production, through the eyes of one of it's stars, Gackt, an introduction reveals why the producers wanted Gackt, a young musician for the role of one of Japan's most revered historic figures, Uesugi Kenshin, known as The Dragon of Echigo.

One of my favorite parts has to be the interview with Ogata Ken, Gackt's co-star, who reveals his off-screen connection and friendship with Gackt, and how this affected their on screen performances.

Of particular interest to me are Gackt's thoughts on why historic dramas are relevant, and how events of the past influence modern Japan. Portraying Uesugi - known for his sense of justice - has changed Gackt's view of himself (or perhaps it is better said, reaffirmed) what he wants to accomplish in his life.