Exhibitionism (and other stories)

Buck-Tick's new album No. 0 was released today, and Tower Records is really excited. Just look at this doorway, then think about the sexual symbolism of doorways, then think about just how much Tower Records wants Buck-Tick inside it! Holy wow.

Buck-Tick is so big inside Tower Records!

There are displays on multiple floors!

We lined up to purchase our (and y'alls) copies of the album on the third floor, which is the home of homegrown Japanese rock and pop. There, to our surprise, there were Buck-Tick posters all over the walls, and the screens overhead announced that No. 0 was the album currently playing. Over the din of the crowds of excited music fans (Buck-Tick fans identifiable from the rest by their frilly black dresses and bad cases of resting bitch face), we heard snatches of "Nostalgia -Vita Mechanicalis-" before it was our turn at the counter. The girl at the counter counted up the copies of the album we were purchasing, then informed us that the third floor was out of copies of No. 0 and she would have to go pilfer some from other floors. We waited, watching the line of people waiting to buy CDs steadily increasing until it snaked back on itself. The entirety of "Babel" played, and then Buck-Tick was replaced by some other newly released forgettable j-pop, which was in turn replaced by THIS (holy shit! Imai, are you watching!?)

Even if (as appears to be the case based on this video) Cibo Matto did in fact produce children with MGMT, we sure as hell never expected to see the offspring playing on a video screen in Tower Records sandwiched in between idol groups and a video of Breakerz dressed like real live anime characters! Then again, we also never expected to hear Buck-Tick played over Tower's sound system, but then, isn't that why they went back to Victor? Victor may not have much to offer Buck-Tick, but they sure have promotional money. Or maybe they're just kicking themselves for losing so much money on Atom Miraiha due to not promoting it, and vowed not to make the same mistake twice. In which case, good job, suits. Put that PCDA cycle to work, and horizontally facilitate some capacity building for the holistic management of more innovative parallelograms.

Anyhow, ten minutes later, we were still waiting for our cashier to return with our stack of CDs, when another Buck-Tick fan (complete with black frilly dress and bitchy expression) walked up to the register next to ours, and also asked for No. 0. The cashier at her register, not having realized that someone else was already on the case, spent a good five minutes checking and re-checking the shelf behind the counter to see if there were any stray Buck-Tick albums available (there were not) while her male co-worker ran off in search of MOAR Buck-Tick, then came back to report that someone was on the case and she should please kindly wait a few minutes. 

By the time our cashier returned with the bounty, we'd been waiting nearly twenty minutes, and there were at least 30 people in line behind us. Good job, Tower. Promote the shit out of an album and then don't keep any copies on hand and flail about wildly when someone wants to actually buy it. Business management capacity building at its finest!

At last, armed with our albums, we climbed up the stairs to the eighth floor to check out the Buck-Tick costume and paraphernalia exhibit. The posters declared that entry to the exhibit would cost 700 yen, but nobody demanded money when we entered, so we got in scot-free, and promptly proceeded to photograph the entire exhibit for y'all, despite the multitudes of "NO PHOTOS ALLOWED" signs. Sorry, Tower. But no one stopped us. And now y'all get to benefit from our piracy!

The highlight of the exhibit was the multiple sets of band member costumes which were on display without cases, making it easy to view the details, and even (shhhh!) touch the fabrics to test their quality. Verdict: high quality and we're pretty sure we saw some of those buttons at Okadaya the last time we went.

The Day in Question 2017 costumes for December 28th at the Nippon Budoukan.

Detail of Sakurai's and Imai's costumes. Sakurai's outer layer of sheer georgette spangled with tiny sparkles, while the inner layer is sheer black lace embroidered with a fine filigree of silver paisleys. It's beautiful fabric up close, which unfortunately did not succeed at the transition to being viewed from far away, and made dear Mr. Sakurai look like a Russian grandmother with a big butt. However, seen up close, it's easy to see why he didn't realize his mistake until it was too late. Imai's jacket is leopard print velvet. A classic!

Big Butt Babushka in action!

More Day in Question 2017 costumes. That's Sakurai's perpetual favorite silk top hat and expensive feather boa. If we were him, we'd feel exceedingly nervous about having our precious hat on display so close to the filthy fingers of fangirls, but maybe he doesn't know that they put it in the exhibition. (We'd like to note that we washed our hands first...)

It was pretty obvious even from the audience that Imai's jacket had some metallic threads in it, but satisfying to see it up close. The pants are, of course, a bit sheer, because Imai just had to get in on some of that sexy leg action.

Sexy leg action in action!

Toll is so whimsical he looks like he's just about ready to join Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

Look at this lovely silver ring keeping Hide's tie in place! It's hard to tell in the photo, but it was definitely real silver. If the costume thieves hit this exhibit they could make a killing.

Parade 30th Anniversary Festival costumes!

Please can someone steal us this goth coat for Christmas please please please please please the fabric felt so nice... or rather, we imagine that it felt nice, it's not like we actually felt it... oh yeah and for those of you who were still wondering, there is a flesh-toned under layer under the black lace.

Dig Imai's blue jacket! We're pretty sure that's the same blue fabric he used on the 25th anniversary Parade tour, but hey, if it's good, might as well re-use it. We were really hoping the shirt inside the jacket was printed with a rainbow colored Mandelbrot fractal, because that's what it looked like on the video, but it's not a Mandelbrot, just regular ol' paisleys. However, it IS velvet.

Sakurai's Big Red Flower and Yutaka's Fancy Pants.

Some people apparently didn't like the red flower on stage, but boy does this costume ever look great on that mannequin! Meanwhile, Imai dares us to criticize his choice to pair red and grey with rainbow.

Closeup on the snazzy Imai pants. Kids, this is what liquid drugs look like if you smear them on the eyepiece of a kaleidoscope.

Toll's Sex Pistols Coverall No. 2!

Look at these buttons! Too bad you can't see the back, because the back is the best part of this outfit.

Buck-Tick is not Dead! (He had the same back patch both days).

Exciting as the costumes were, they weren't the only part of the exhibit. There was also a hefty helping of paraphernalia, including many items which were featured in the 30th anniversary Ultimate Fangirl Bedroom photoshoot. Note here the bath towels from the 25th anniversary festival goods, the flags which were used for the cover of Arui wa Anarchy, one of the cardboard Imai cutouts from Picture Product II, and Cayce's favorite poster: CDioss, a sexy sound's best friend. These same posters were on display in the Tower Records Buck-Tick cafe last fall.

Here's another one of the Picture Product Imai cardboard cutouts, plus some big prints of photos from the Aku no Hana pamphlet.

Look! It's the skull sculpture that was used for The Mortal! Also pictured: ugly chandeliers made from the chandeliers which hung in Yokohama Arena for Climax Together 3rd. Sheesh, they are ugly. They were even uglier in person. We're so glad we didn't buy any.

There's the mask that Sakurai used on the Mona Lisa Overdrive tour, and the candelabrum he used during the 13th Floor with Diana and The Mortal tours! Poor Mr. Sakurai, he had to do without his favorite candelabrum on his birthday... bet he can't wait to get it back! Tell us, kids: would YOU put a beloved item of personal home decor and sensual waxy pleasure on display in a museum? Is that exciting, like exposing yourself in public, or is it creepy, like having fangirls invade your bedroom?

Look, they made some small 45 records of various Buck-Tick songs, just to use in the 30th anniversary photoshoot! No word on whether these are real records or just jackets, but we're just about ready to kill for that Cuba Libre/Ai no Souretsu single. Note that the Constructivist artwork is actually the jacket for "Machine." Why don't Buck-Tick make some more REAL records already? We want our limited edition 180-gram transparent blue sparkly Sexy Streamliner NOW.

Concept art for the cover of Moon - Sayonara wo Oshiete.

Concept art for the 30th Anniversary Parade tour goods.

Making of shots from the Moon music video.

Nerds rejoice: here are some very technical stage design diagrams! Here's the venue for the 30th anniversary festival...

And the stage for the DIQ 2017 tour.

And at the end, just to make absolutely sure you feel ashamed of yourself if you didn't have an ecstatic sensual experience at this exhibition, there hung the following life-sized banner. It's heartwarming to see just how much B-T worship female pleasure.

Last but not least: the Buck-Tick purikura machines are back. If you're in town, don't miss your chance to take photos with the Buck-Tick members one-on-one. Also, there are some silly t-shirts for sale at the Tower exhibit with photos of Buck-Tick on the front and "Buck-Tick" written on the back in the Tower Records font. There's a black version and a white version. There are also some commemorative badges, a poster, and a Rozen Kreuzer tour towel which is apparently not being sold anywhere else. If any of y'all want to order any of this stuff through us, email us as soon as humanly possible.

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Tsutaya Buck-Tick Fair

Anyhow, that was it for Tower for today. So we moved on to Tsutaya, where down in the basement, we had heard tell that there were some Buck-Tick goods for sale... and it was very definitely an anti-climax together. As you can see, there are posters, which are not as cool as the posters from Tower, which feature a very glazed and Photoshopped looking set of band members. There are also clear file folders, and a Rozen Kreuzer t-shirt. If any of y'all want to order any of this stuff through us, email us asap.

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OTHER NEWSES: JUST ONE MORE SHOW!

In other news, Buck-Tick have announced that they are tacking one more show onto the No. 0 tour, because the tickets sold so well that no one was able to buy them. The additional tour final will take place on July 26th at Tokyo Kokusai Forum, an extremely well-regarded venue known for hosting such acclaimed international acts as New Order and Sigur Ros. We've never been there ourselves, but we hear that the sound there is better than the sound at NHK Hall by a large margin. Tickets go on sale to Fish Tankers starting in early April, with the details to be announced in the forthcoming issue of the Fish Tank newsletter. If you'd like to order tickets through us, even if you're not in the fan club, please contact us right away. 

More Other News: GIANT TOWELS!

In more other news, a selection of No. 0 tour goods are now available for purchase via the Buck-Tick Web Shop. To view them, click here. Yes, the final item is indeed a giant beach towel printed with a photo of Buck-Tick. Now you can have sex on the beach on Buck-Tick! And if that isn't Buck-Tickistani style, we don't know what is. If you'd like to order any of these items through us, send us an email right away.

Coffee News: Thanks to You, We Reached Somewhere Nowhere

Thanks to all of you who donated on Ko-Fi to help us reach our goal for a Six/Nine analysis article. We never expected to hit the goal so quickly. Your enthusiasm is encouraging and invigorating! However, we're going to prioritize writing translations and notes on No. 0 before we delve into Six/Nine, so please sit tight for a bit. Thanks for your patience and understanding!