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|evelyn|ravenxeve|
16 going on forever || 23/7/91
ravenxeve@gmail.com
~~DLSS~~||~~KSS~~||ajc
this is me forever

Tribute to Gackt: Your Dear Forever [ 22:03 ]

... A very late Valentines post, thanks to work... Yeah, I know, I quitted and all, but the auntie was on leave for her leg once again.

Since today's Valentines, of course I should dedicate this to the first idol that I really love. Yes, I know, he's like so much older than me, but damn, is he gorgeous. Yes, I'm talking about the Mad Aristocrat, Camui Gackt.

Even to people who know him, Gackt is still quite the enigma. In fact, sometimes, I believe that Gackt prefers it this way. Born on July 4, 1973, we only knew of his actual birth year about 4 years ago, during a concert. Previously, he used to claim that he was born in 1540, making him about 400 plus years old, fitting in with his vampire image.

Gackt is multi-talented, he plays a multitude of instruments, sings, writes both lyrics and scripts, acts ( although not really that good), dances (quite crazily sometimes) and composes. Also he is fluent in several languages, Japanese, English, French, Mandarin and Korean. Insane, right?

His first real band as a vocalist was with Cain's Feel. He was a drummer previously. Then he became the vocalist when You sort of challenged him to it and found that he made a pretty decent singer.

His next band was then Malice Mizer, having met with Mana and Kozi. He was drawn to them and found them to be interesting. Malice Mizer rose greatly with him as their vocalist, lyricist and pianist. However, they didn't work longer with each other for long. By 1999, Gackt had launched his solo career.

I think I was first introduced to Gackt back in my primary school days, just when I was treading into the visual kei scene after being weaned on a diet of X Japan, Luna Sea and Dir en Grey. He was my very own first step into jrock, as I discovered the formers on my brother's computer.

I like his vampire image a lot, especially his infatuation with death. He almost drowned when he was younger, swimming in Okinawa, and from then on, was able to see beyond the living. Because of his near death experience and the memories of it, he used to seek death through reckless activities, like driving carelessly just to feel the brush of death.

Gackt once thought: "What on earth am I?"
He is a profound person, ever changing and complicated.

From his musical style, we can see that he is not limited in any area. He changes, experiments and is never stagnant. From his first solo album, Mizerable, he still sticks to the visual kei style, probably to hook in his old fanbase from Malice Mizer. Mars and Rebirth are more pop/rock, while in Cresent we see him experimenting with different musical instruments, like incorporating strings and woodwind instruments into his rock music. And when we get to Love Letter, we hear him mellowing out slightly, moving to love ballads.

Just like his musical styles, his hair is also always changing. From black to blond to brown ever since he became a soloist, he has shed the wild hairstyles and colors of the visual kei scene.

Gackt is a very competitive person, be it with others or himself. Also quite the perfectionist, it is inevitable that he might work himself to death. Even as a teen, he didn't like to lose. He used to hate piano lessons when he was younger, quitting it when he was 11. However, when he was 14, he had a particular friend who was very good at piano. That fueled his determination to beat his friend and he went back and practised his heart out. Previously, his parents had to yell at him to practise. Yet then, they had to shout at him, "Stop already!"

He works extremely hard too, producing albums and singles nearly every year. There was a point when he worked himself to such exhaustion that he was hospitalized. That was about the time when he first left Malice Mizer to begin a solo career.

To him, he was only 'good' if his music had the approval of his fans, and really, he cares greatly for his fans, calling us his 'Dears'. Hence the title of this piece. And yes, no matter what, I will support him.

Gackt also cares dearly for his close friends. I believe he was devastated when former bandmate Kami died. Reportedly, the song Emu~ For my Dear was specially written for his dear friend. Black Stone was also written for another friend in remembrance, dedicated to Ishiguro and kefca. kefca is a renowed lyricist in Taiwan who was a friend of Gackt. They met in 2003, during Wang Lee Hom's concert and hit off immediately. Gackt, upon knowing kefca's poor health, gave him a black onyx bracelet that he was wearing, saying that it will protect him. Even when kefca died, he was still wearing it and eventually, they buried the bracelet with him too.

Before his death, Gackt dropped his work and made trips to visit his friend, however, it was too late on the last day for he died before Gackt could arrive. I think it's quite sad that he couldn't see him for the last time...

As for Ishiguro, he was the driver for Gackt and GacktJob (Gacchan's band). So why is the song called Black Stone? Because translated, Ishiguro literally means black stone, as well as the black onyx bracelet that kefca had.

Want more? Check out his videos in youtube, from his music videos to various commercials that he stars in as well as several variety shows like the Domoto Kyoudai and Hey!x3 and Utaban. He's seriously way funny in those, especially with his poker face and nonchalant expressions. And that velvet voice. Oh, and the stunning face. Haha.

Want to be converted to Mac? Read this then. It's pretty funny at some parts and it's really nice for the person to translate the whole chunk to english.

images from Love Potion no. 9

Really interested in Gackt? Then read his autobiography over here, nicely translated by someone else.

Labels: j-rock, long post