27.3.18

Ophelia

The kanji, lyrics, and translation of "Ophelia" are now up on This is NOT Greatest Site. We debated with ourselves about how many notes to write on this one, but decided to opt for completeness, because Ophelia's story is one that deserves to be told.

For those of you who don't know, Ophelia is a character from Shakespeare's play "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," a young noblewoman who has a romantic relationship with Hamlet, the eponymous prince. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet's father, the king, has just been murdered by his younger brother Claudius, and Claudius has assumed the throne. Naturally, Hamlet is all kinds of upset that his father has been murdered. He becomes obsessed with plotting revenge and starts acting suspiciously. 

Claudius fears (correctly) that Hamlet may be plotting against him, but his adviser, Polonius, who is Ophelia's father, says that Hamlet must have gone mad with love for Ophelia. Ophelia, though a noblewoman, is not technically highborn enough to be considered a suitable bride for Hamlet, but Polonius hopes that if he can convince the king that Hamlet's love is true, Hamlet will marry Ophelia. To confirm Hamlet's motivations, Claudius and Polonius order Ophelia to allow them to spy on her the next time she meets with Hamlet. 

Polonius has ordered Ophelia to break off her relationship with Hamlet, because he fears that Hamlet will "steal her virtue" and then ditch her. Dutifully, Ophelia tells Hamlet that she would like to return the love letters he sent her. Angrily, Hamlet rants that he never sent her any love letters, that he doesn't love her anymore, and finishes up by grandiloquently calling her a whore. (This is the famous "get thee to a nunnery" scene). 

Ophelia is, of course, distraught. Polonius and Claudius realize that lovesickness must not be Hamlet's problem after all, and continue to spy on him. Eventually, Hamlet finds out about the spying and murders Polonius in a crime of passion. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, swears revenge on Hamlet for the murder of their father. Ophelia, overcome with grief and horror that not only has her former lover murdered her father, but her brother now wants to murder her former lover, has a complete mental breakdown and begins to wander through the palace singing dirty songs about the treacheries of men and expounding on flower symbolism (Ophelia loves flowers, and knows a great deal about their symbolic meanings). Claudius has Ophelia placed under guard, but one day she manages to escape and runs off to pick flowers in a meadow near the palace. She climbs a willow tree which hangs over a river, but the branch breaks and she falls into the water. Unable to swim and hampered by waterlogged skirts, she floats down the river with her flowers until eventually, she drowns. Her beautiful, flower-strewn corpse is discovered by Gertrude, the queen, who breaks the news to Claudius and Laertes in a speech which has been labeled "the most beautiful death scene in literature." 

At Ophelia's funeral, Gertrude strews the grave with flowers, saying that she had hoped Hamlet would marry Ophelia, but the palace priest believes that Ophelia has committed suicide, and refuses to give her a full Christian burial. This enrages Laertes, who insults the priest, then jumps into Ophelia's grave, opens her coffin and begins to make a scene - whereupon Hamlet, who has been hiding in the graveyard watching the funeral in secret, jumps out and punches Laertes, declaring that he loved Ophelia more than Laertes ever did - pretty ironic, considering how cruelly he treated her while she was alive.

Symbolically, Ophelia is more or less the polar opposite to Salome. While Salome symbolizes dominant, overpowering female sexuality that cuts the heads off men (and let it not be lost on y'all that men have both a big head and a small head to cut off), Ophelia is the innocent woman who is destroyed as collateral damage in men's power games. In his "get thee to a nunnery" speech, Hamlet essentially accuses Ophelia of bewitching him with her feminine wiles, and curses her "Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny" - i.e., "No matter how chaste you are, may everyone still think you're a whore."

The heavy implication behind this scene is that, claiming to love Ophelia, Hamlet seduced her, and he's now telling her that she's a slut for having slept with him, that he doesn't love her, and she'd be better off living in a convent than marrying a sinner like him and giving birth to more sinners. It's all about him, acting out the drama of his own angst - he doesn't care about her feelings, and he doesn't take responsibility for the fact that he was the one who seduced her in the first place. Instead, he makes everything her fault, which it patently is not (though as we saw with Salome, the original Biblical Salome was just like Ophelia, used as a pawn in the games of men.) After Ophelia's death, Hamlet starts a fight to defend her honor and his love for her - but again, it's not really about her, it's about him, being The World's Angstiest Man, Now with Extra Misery Because His Lover Just Died (tm).

In many stories, female characters like Ophelia remain voiceless and objectified, and never have a chance to express their feelings. However, in Shakespeare's story, Ophelia suffers a mental breakdown after Hamlet murders her father, and begins to act out by wandering the palace in a distracted state, singing songs about how the men in her life have wronged her. The other characters dismiss her words as nothing but the ramblings of insanity, but to the audience, it should be clear that there's method in her madness, just as there is in Hamlet's. Ophelia's breakdown is simultaneously a representation of the way women's mental/emotional health often falls victim to the ravages of patriarchal culture, and also an underhanded way for her to reclaim her agency. Consciously or unconsciously, Ophelia's breakdown is her way of saying "fuck this, I can't play this game anymore." Though whether her death is suicide or not is left ambiguous, assuming that it is suicide, her suicide, too, serves as a way for her to regain control.

It's easy to see why Sakurai responded to the story of Ophelia - he's been writing about the theme of madness through most of his career, probably because he's always struggled with depression himself. Though it's clear that he remains very much sane, it's also clear that he sees appealing freedom in the idea of letting go of sanity. He has also written many lyrics about a flirting with the idea of suicide - and while Hamlet is famous for his suicide contemplation in "To be or not to be," it's worth pointing out that Ophelia's the one who manages to actually die by her own hand, whereas (spoiler) Hamlet has to be murdered.

In fact, it's the assertion of agency in Ophelia's suicide which is the main subject of Sakurai's lyrics. The chorus of Sakurai's "Ophelia" is written from her perspective, as she narrates what her own death means to her. She seems joyous as she describes how she has let go of all her memories (painful ones, presumably), and how dying a beautiful death at a young age means that she will stay young and beautiful forever. She even describes her float down the river as a "waltz" - significant, given that, while Buck-Tick have previously never been given to writing waltzes, this album contains not one but two songs in waltz time: "Reishiki 13-gata 'Ai'," and "Guernica no Yoru," both of which also deal with themes of innocents living and dying in a cruel world. By contrast, the narrator voice who sings the rest of the "Ophelia" lyrics has no agency or character - this voice never does anything but bear witness to Ophelia's tale.

Therefore, this song could be seen as similar to "Moon -Sayonara wo Oshiete," in that in it, Sakurai is singing from a female/gender-ambiguous perspective. Whether both songs are about the same character or not is open to interpretation, but it seems to me that the music video for "Moon" contains a hefty helping of inspiration from "Ophelia" (drowning woman and all that). It's too bad they didn't go ahead and make a full music video for "Ophelia," too, because it would have been great to see them do the same kind of "live art" that they did with Rodchenko in "Keijijou Ryuusei," only with Millais' Ophelia.

It's significant that Ophelia and Salome appear in back-to-back tracks on the album. Taken at face value, together, they're a perfect symbol of the virgin-whore dichotomy: the way in which patriarchal society casts women either as "virgins," who are virtuous and revered, but only so long as they remain chaste, and "whores," who, by acting upon their own sexual desires, become reviled as creatures of evil and temptation. However, in Sakurai's hands, both characters become much more complicated than that. The man's voice in "Salome" doesn't sound relatable - he sounds crazed and over the top as he threatens her with violence. It's unclear whether she kills him or he kills her - the title "femme fatale" implies that she's the one who kills him, but the lyrics imply otherwise. Whatever happens, it's clear that the male character in "Salome" is far from some hapless lunch for a black widow, but rather an active participant, driven to distraction by lust to be the instigator or perpetrator of whatever crimes are committed.

However, in "Ophelia," rather than being deified by some man who admires her chaste purity (as is usual for "virgin" archetypes), Ophelia is the star of the show telling her own story, while the narrator can only look on with love and sadness. Both stories are fictions, not necessarily reflective of Sakurai's own personal thoughts or feelings - but at the same time, Sakurai's always been much more of a diarist than a fabulist, and it seems to me that he uses characters as vectors for expressing emotions which he has experienced personally, even if his experience wasn't literally the same as the events in his lyrics. If an aspect of Sakurai identifies with the man in Salome, another aspect of him appears to identify with Ophelia at least as strongly. There's a big theme on No. 0 of innocence being broken by experience. "Guernica no Yoru" is the dramatic death of innocents by violence, but "Ophelia" is the slow death by a thousand cuts. She longs so much for beauty, but as beauty is continuously destroyed, so she must destroy herself. Like a flower, she blooms and falls.

The most obscure lyric in the song is the line about the "trees along the roadway." While there were surely trees along roadways even in Shakespeare's time, something about the image feels modern to me, probably because in the play, Ophelia's suicide is described as taking place in a bucolic setting. To me, the mention of roadway trees and flowers at the same time conjure up an image of Tokyo in cherry blossom season - is Sakurai's Ophelia floating down the Meguro River? Somehow, bringing the city into it adds a new dimension, placing Ophelia into the real world, as opposed to leaving her entirely in a world of beautiful fantasy. Perhaps Sakurai added the phrase as a reminder that something in the real world was the source of her distress, or perhaps the narrator is remembering her while looking at the sunlight through the trees along the road - because at this point in the song, Ophelia has already "become a dream." In any case, this is the only line in the song that calls doubt on the idea that Sakurai wrote these lyrics specifically about Shakespeare's Ophelia, and suggests that Sakurai's Ophelia may be a more modern woman who met a similar fate.

Meguro River Cherry Blossom Festival (Photo by Cayce)

It's also not surprising that Sakurai chose to write about Ophelia, considering what a hot topic she's been in art history. Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse was so obsessed with Ophelia he made at least four paintings of her, while John Everett Millais' Ophelia made a big splash in Japan, once it was given a good review by novelist and national icon Natsume Soseki. Salvador Dali found Millais' Ophelia so inspiring her re-interpreted it not once but twice - in both painting and jewel form - and given that Sakurai is a big Dali fan, this alone might have been reason enough to write a song.

A Waterhouse Ophelia

Another Waterhouse Ophelia

John Everett Millais' Ophelia

Salvador Dali's Ophelia (inspired by Millais)

Salvador Dali's Ophelia (Jewelry Version)

Odilon Redon's "Ophelia Among the Flowers"

Margaret McDonald's Ophelia

Paul Albert Steck's "Ophelia Drowning" (note the similarity to the imagery in the music video for "Moon -Sayonara wo Oshiete")

 Alexandre Cabanel's Ophelia

 Joanna Smielowska's "White (Ophelia)"

All these paintings are beautiful, but personally, when I listen to Buck-Tick's "Ophelia," the artwork that springs most readily to mind isn't technically Ophelia at all - it's "Keeping Up the Pureness," by the Japanese painter Matsui Fuyuko. We've seen this one in person in the gallery, and the reproduction doesn't do it justice at all.


If you've never heard of Matsui Fuyuko, by all means look up her work. She may not be well known abroad, but she's very famous in Japan, and I'd be extremely surprised if Sakurai isn't familiar with her work. Plus, not only is she (in our opinion) one of the most talented artists alive in the world today, she's also one of Japan's most beautiful women. And lest we be criticized for reducing her to her appearance by saying that - we most certainly are not. Her work is stunning. But so is she. Just look at her.


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More translations coming soon.

23.3.18

Shopping Service: Gettin' Shirty

Yeah, we mentioned having a t-shirt sale and more than a year went by, and we didn't have it, the reason being that we had offered to sell t-shirts on behalf of an acquaintance of ours who decided not to part with her collection after all. However, since a lot of you expressed interest in Buck-Tick t-shirts, we began to scour the net to see if we could snag some to pass on to y'all. And after several months of searching and collecting, we're proud to present our first haul, along with a selection of other delectable items. As always, sales are on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you want to purchase any of these items, please email us at themadaristocrat at gmail right away. If you don't have the money yet but will soon, we'll be happy to put the item on hold for you for up to a month. All of these t-shirts are rare, limited edition items - once they're gone, they're gone. Don't expect more to turn up. Get them while the getting is good!

SOLD
Atsushi Sakurai x Drone Collaboration T-Shirt

This t-shirt was sold as tour goods during the Yumemiru Uchuu tour as a collaboration between Mr. Sakurai at the brand Drone. The original retail price was 9000 yen, and this shirt has quality to match: made of ultra-thin, soft cotton, with an extra-long line and serge-finished edges, this one is clearly a fashion piece, not a cheap tour t-shirt. The one we have on offer has never been worn, and even still has the tags attached. 
5000 yen.


Front

Print detail

Tag detail

Back

Back detail

Measurements:
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24 cm
Shoulder Width: 40 cm
Shoulder to Bottom Hem: 72 cm

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SOLD
The Day in Question 2006 Tour T-shirt

This is definitely one of the coolest tour t-shirts Buck-Tick have ever released. The one we have on offer is slightly used, and has faded a bit to that well-loved band t-shirt off-black color, but as can be seen in the photograph, the print is still in perfect condition. This one is made of heavy duty cotton sure to last through many wild concerts. This t-shirt is extremely rare and hard to find. We do not expect another one to surface again. If you want it, get it now. 

3500 yen.


Front

Front detail

Back

Back detail

Measurements:
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 16 cm
Shoulder Width: 43 cm
Shoulder to Bottom Hem: 64 cm

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CLAIMED
The Mortal Cat Hamlet T-shirt

This is the "cat in a ruff" shirt which can be spotted on Jake Cloudchair in the encore section of The Mortal's live DVD! This t-shirt is made of thin, ultra-soft cotton, with a wide scoop-neck perfect for showing off your sexy collarbones. Never washed, never worn. 3500 yen.



Front

Neck detail

Front detail

Back

Back detail

Measurements:
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 18 cm
Shoulder Width: 45 cm
Shoulder to Bottom Hem: 65 cm

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Razzle Dazzle Long Sleeved I Heart B-T T-shirt

This t-shirt was "produced by Sakurai." Note the "we love audience" print on the back, which now looks like foreshadowing to The Mortal's cover of "Spirit" by Bauhaus. This shirt is perfect for those cold days when you want to wear a band shirt but don't feel like wearing a short-sleeved shirt over a long-sleeved shirt. Lightly used but in perfect condition. 
3500 yen.


Front

Tag detail

Front detail

Back

Back detail

Measurements:
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 58 cm
Shoulder Width: 40 cm
Shoulder to Bottom Hem: 60 cm

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CLAIMED Gradelic Parade 2007 T-Shirt

This shirt was a collaboration between Buck-Tick and the Gradelic Design studio. It was sold on the 2007 20th Anniversary Parade Tour, and purchased in person by yours truly, who wore it several times. It has been laundered so that none of our sweat remains in its folds, but if you're a creepy stalker who wants to wear something that we wore, then buy this shirt. Note that the sexy ladies all appear to have the face of Mr. Sakurai from 1992. 3500 yen.


Front

Front detail

Back detail

Measurements:
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 16 cm
Shoulder Width: 40 cm
Shoulder to Bottom Hem: 57 cm

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CLAIMED Fish Tanker's Only 2008 Tour T-shirt

The Fish Tanker's Only Tour 2008 may have gone down in Buck-Tickistani history books as the infamous occasion of the appearance of Mr. Sakurai's white wedding cake costume fail. However, the tour t-shirts sold to fans were quite beautiful. Note the 13kai style details. This shirt is made of heavy duty cotton and has never been washed or worn. 
3500 yen.


Front

Back

Back detail (1)

Back detail (2)

Measurements:
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 20 cm
Shoulder Width: 40 cm
Shoulder to Bottom Hem: 60 cm

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Tenshi no Revolver Tote Bag

This tote bag is made of highly durable nylon and has a flat bottom to accommodate a large amount of heavy cargo. You could easily use it to carry around textbooks, groceries, wine bottles, etc. It has never been used and is in mint condition, and is now completely unavailable, as it was only sold at the goods booth on the Tenshi no Revolver Tour and sold out from the Buck-Tick web shop years ago. The dimensions are 30 by 35 centimeters. 2000 yen. Leopard print rug not included.



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WORDS by Buck-Tick

This very thick, hardcover book published by the music magazine Ongaku to Hito contains a digest of all the interviews and photoshoots Buck-Tick did for the magazine between 1987 and 2002.  In addition to 64 pages of full color photos, it contains and extensive interview section with additional photographs and some very interesting interviews chronicling the band's history and recording process tour by tour. Interviews include not only the five Buck-Tick members, but also chats with Schaft (Imai and Maki Fujii), Schwein (Imai, Sakurai, Raymond Watts), and crosstalk between Imai and Hide of X Japan, and Sakurai and Issay of Der Zibet. Recommended for any fan, but especially if you are learning Japanese, this book is a great way to practice. The textured pages made it hard to photograph but the photos look very crisp in person. Perfect condition. Out of print. 
6000 yen.

Thumbnail of front cover


Buck-Tick in the Turkish Desert (Shapeless era)


Darker Than Darkness


Aku no Hana


Backstage during the Mona Lisa Overdrive tour (hang in there, Acchan-chan!)


Oh oh I'm in rest room!


Imai in the meat locker


Imai Hisashi and Sakurai Atsushi as Daniel Ash and Young Lord Voldemort


Homo-eros with the guest vocalist and a MIDI guitar on the Somewhere Nowhere Tour!


Omg you can see all his moles!


Just two men, making takoyaki on the beach at night...



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Ai no Wakusei Explosion Live DVD

This is the live DVD of Sakurai Atsushi's solo concert at NHK Hall in 2004.  Reportedly, this concert was what inspired Imai to create the concept for the 13kai wa Gekkou album, though as the stage sets are minimal, I feel sure that Imai must have been inspired by Sakurai's performance itself. Sakurai is joined onstage by an all-star backup band, including Fujii Maki (formerly of Soft Ballet) on synth, Jake Cloudchair (formerly of Guniw Tools, currently of The Mortal fame) on guitar, Miyo Ken (also of The Mortal fame) on guitar, and guest appearances by Satou Taiji (Theater Brook) and Cube Juice. In addition to his own solo works, Sakurai performs covers of David Bowie's "Space Oddity," Sawada Kenji's "Love -Dakishimetai," and Yuming's "Amaoto wa Chopin no Shirabe."  The DVD contains the full concert, plus a live music video for "Wakusei -Rebirth," and a bonus image gallery. It comes in a smoke grey hard plastic case.  This is the original pressing of this video and the only available version of this concert on DVD, as the Ai no Wakusei Collector's Box that was released in September contains Blu-Ray only...and it's only going to get rarer as the time passes, so if you want it, the time is now. Very rare and out of print. Region 2. A must have for any collector and true treasure for any fan of Mr. Sakurai, including non-fangirl fans - it's a great show and a beautiful video.
6000 yen.

Front Cover


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Track List

X-Lover
Wonderful World
Yellow Pig
I Hate You All
Hallelujah!
Yokan
Fantasy
Smell
Mächen
Shingatsu
Taiji
Neko
Explosion
Wakusei
Amaon Wa Chopin No Shirabe -I Like Chopin- (Yuming cover)
Love (Dakishimetai) (Sawada Kenji cover)
Sacrifice
Space Oddity (David Bowie cover)

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Screen Shots









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SOLD
Chaos Tour Pamphlet

A large, glossy, beautiful photobook/tour pamphlet that was released for the 1996 Chaos tour, which Buck-Tick undertook to support the release of Cosmos. Since the Cosmos tours were never released on film either, this, too, is one of the only records that remains. Excellent condition, rare and out of print.
6000 yen












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Rock and Read #42

Volume 42 of Rock and Read magazine, with a 32-page cover feature on Sakurai Atsushi, including a long interview and 13 pages of full-color photos. Also includes a bonus postcard. Other artists featured include Inoran of Luna Sea, Gara of Merry, Asagi of D, Akihide of Breakerz, Bansaku of Baroque, and others. This was one of the best selling issues of Rock and Read magazine and is very difficult to find for sale compared to the other issues. Perfect condition, out of print. 
1700 yen.

Front Cover


Back cover


Bonus postcard.




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SOLD
Aku no Hana Tour Pamphlet

Hardcover, LP sized tour pamphlet from the Aku no Hana era contains 35 pages of big glossy photos of the band members. Includes both full-color live photography and black and white art shots. Perfect condition, rare and out of print. If you love Mr. Sakurai with long hair, this one is for you. Sample photos below. 
2500 yen.






Ikonokrusm Photobook Set

Released in 2002 to commemorate Buck-Tick's 15th anniversary, this deluxe photobook set contains two volumes of arty photographs of the band.  The green volume contains mostly posed shots of the band members backstage and wandering around in front of a big brooding clanking oil refinery of the type Imai thinks is so sexy (fun fact: Cayce actually knows the guy who built this oil refinery!)  The red volume contains live photography and backstage candids from the Warp Days Tour.  The two photobooks are housed in a big shiny black slipcase.  Aside from missing the obi strip, the set is in perfect condition.  Rare and out of print.
6000 yen.

Photobooks and Slipcase



Big oily machines!



Standing "at attention."






Smoking at the bus stop, as one does.



Zipping back up after a sexy beast moment #sexybeasthide


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Romance Single First Press

First-press copy of the Romance single includes the single mixes of songs "Romance" and "Diabolo," which differ from the album mixes. It also comes with a special cover illustration and a bonus DVD with a live video of "Love Me" from the Day in Question 2004. Includes obi. Perfect condition. Rare and out of print. 
1800 yen.


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Parade 2007 Live DVD First Press

This is the DVD of Buck-Tick's 20th Anniversary Parade Festival, which was held in Minato Mirai in Yokohama in September of 2007. The main DVD includes footage of one song by each band who appeared at the festival, and in many cases, the bands are performing covers of Buck-Tick songs. It also includes footage of the guest appearances by the Buck-Tick members, including Sakurai's famous pink t-shirt drunken makeout with Kiyoharu, and Imai's beer-yellow drunken fanboy fest with Endo Michirou. In between songs, there are interviews with the Buck-Tick members and the various other bands, in which all parties are wasted drunk and giggling uproariously. The second half of the main DVD includes Buck-Tick's entire performance, featuring Mr. Sakurai in the Anime Armor Leopard Babushka Costume of Doom. The first press edition (which this is) also includes a bonus DVD containing "Rest Rooms," a behind-the-scenes documentary of the Parade Tour, including the Great Ripped Pants incident, and many other funny happenings. This item is long out of print, very difficult to come by and not to be missed! Great condition.
10,000 yen

Screencaps:

Imai with Asaki of Guniw Tools/Age of Punk

Tsuchiya Masami, guitar wizard! (Fun fact: Tsuchiya Masami later gave the coat he's wearing here to Issay. Issay still wears it on stage sometimes.)

Imai's sure having a great time!

Sakurai eats cake.


Hide's birthday cake looks just like him!


Imai shows off his legs with his punk idol, Endo Michiro.

Imai chugs some beer.

Toll autographs a banana.

Sakurai autographs the Hurry Up Mode vinyl for Hirosuke of Balzac.


Buck-Tick members with Luna Sea's J.



Ripped pants, oh my!

Aaaand... a successful costume change into jeans.







Hisashi of GLAY pays tribute to Hisashi of Buck-Tick!

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Kurutta Taiyou Album, First Press
Used, great condition. Comes in a special package with translucent picture cards you can layer over each other. 2500 yen







One Life One Death Album, First Press
Used, perfect condition. Comes with cardboard slipcase and bonus photobook. 2500 yen.







Koroshi no Shirabe -This is NOT Greatest Hits-
Used, great condition. 1500 yen.