#shou alice nine

[theinarticulatemagicmarkerpen]

Shin (ex-Vivid):

We're about to go into the fanclub exclusive streaming from here with Shou! ✨ Even if you join now you can see it. I met Tora, too. ☺️ Let's sing at Karaoke!

Context: Shou somehow managed to drag Tora out of what is probably video production hell and made him appear for an FC-exclusive livestream collab Shou had with Shin. The two were planning to do two streams across their respective FCs; the first one in Shou's FC had Tora appearing! They also announced that Shou's FC trip in September, surprise surprise, will also have Tora!

Image source The booking window is until July 19, 1pm JST, so if you're one of the lucky ones that can make it, (and you probably need to be in the FC too?), here's the link for more deets.

[kuru121]

My a9 x Pierrot heart 😭🥹

[nyx-is-darkness]

🥳HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOU!🎂

[fantasy-alice9]

Happy 19th anniversary ALICE NINE. 🎂🔥

[verwelktesgedicht]

[beautiful-de4mity]

Joined the live stream last night and it was a heartwrenching, yet beautiful scenery to witness.

2002-2023

Wow, what an amazing 19 years! I'm sure their friendship will last for eternity. And here I am continue living with their undying flames, chosing to believe that someday our path will cross again. Someday, the five of you will stand on the same stage again, burning the spirit once for all 🔥❤️

The stage is where you belong. Thank you for being exist. Thank you for everything 🫶🏻

[tobikau-buzzword]

Alice Nine - ASYLUM: Translation

This world is by no means kind to people

This is my last request

Did you lose something? You don’t even know

Within this empty dissonance

Searching for your place and raison d’être

Sharpening that knife of yours

People are washed away, washed away by the rain

The streets and the lies, washed away by the rain

People are washed away, washed away by the rain

Everything washed away

I’m fed up with the anonymous commentary

Just to say something¹, noncommittal commentary

Don’t you see? Even those dull, unfeeling days

Are precious, each and every one of them

People are washed away, washed away by the rain

The streets and the lies, washed away by the rain

People are washed away, washed away by the rain

The streets and the lies, washed away by the rain

My condemned past is washed away

Money and love, washed away by the rain

My condemned past is washed away

Everything washed away

Watered-down soup, tasteless meat

That kind of dinner

Isn’t something any of us want, now is it?

Ignore other people, come on, raise your hands

Tell me what it is that you want

If you want to live

People are washed away, washed away by the rain

Then live

The streets and the lies, washed away by the rain

This deep, dark place is a boundary

I yearn for the things that I lost

At the forefront of my mind

My distance from Pluto is two thousand

The root of the words that I stifled

Pierces flesh and blood, down to the bone

It burns, cleanses, and the ash that is left

Is my true self

My very² soul

Honesty always breaks people

Hendrix³ resounding in the silence

I want to tear down this wall and break free

To touch the flames, be moved by my heartbeat

Living is just dying over and over

I struggle and resist, all alone

A shadow of my former self, bruised and battered

But I won’t give up

This is my life’s purpose

The entertainment of gouging out wounds

When you clap your hands, happiness

Will usually come to you

When you leave, your loved ones will weep

That’s the kind of person you should aspire to be

Asynchronous beats, boring songs

That kind of concert

Isn’t something any of us want, now is it?

Ignore other people, come on, raise your hands

Notice what it is that you’re trying to escape

And let’s go

Do you base your way of doing things on other people’s rules?

Only a fool would

Now resist

And sing in your own words

-------------------------------------------------------

1. "Kao dasha" here is vague and kind of open to interpretation, but I believe he's referring to when people say something just for the sake of saying something, even though they have nothing important to say. Since the previous sentence also mentions anonymity, he might be referring to social media/the internet.

2. Literally Saga uses the word "visible" here. "It's my visible soul". It's the juxtaposition with the concept of a soul, which is per definition invisible.

3. I presume he's referring to the typical sound of the Stratocaster guitars Jimi Hendrix was known for.

[graphicabyss]

Alice Nine are taking a break. A little bit sad thought very understandable. 19 years is a long time. I'm mostly surprised they look pretty much the same as when I met them.

[a9saga]

tbt - alice nine - subete e

I’m still in love with everything... Apparently, I just cant hate this world dyed in your colors

happy new year!!

[j-rock-freakshow]

[theinarticulatemagicmarkerpen]

HBD! Tora-chan! Thank you everyone for loving Alice Nine. #ToraMatsuri2023

From Shou's Twitter. Tora's birthday event was joined by his gaming buddies (I believe they go by "Team Rokken") and some bandmen friends from fellow VKei bands past and present! This includes - Issei (Vocalist of Buglug) - Hikaru (Vocalist of Kameleo) - Gou (ex.Guitarist of the now-disbanded Megamasso) - Yuichi (ex. guitarist of now-disbanded Aube; if you know Belle, the bassist Akiya was from Aube too!)

[corneille-moisie]

get the fuck away from me

[nyx-is-darkness]

[fantasy-alice9]

Yeah! We're back on YouTube, it's been three months since our misfortune, but we've got most of our videos back! Although this is very good news, we aren't sure that we will last long, they can attack us again. In the meantime, enjoy our videos, please like the videos and subscribe to our channel, also activate the bell. https://www.youtube.com/@FANTASYA9/ ----- ¡Sí! Hemos regresado en YouTube, ya han pasado tres meses desde nuestra desgracia, pero hemos recuperado la mayoría de nuestros videos! Si bien esto es una muy buena noticia, no tenemos la certeza de que duremos mucho, nos pueden volver a atacar. Por mientras, disfruten de nuestros videos, por favor apoyános mucho, da "me gusta" a los videos y suscríbete a nuestro canal, también activa la campana. https://www.youtube.com/@FANTASYA9/

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

So you want to listen to Alice Nine? (prt. 2)

Moving on with my suggestions for potential new Number Sixes, cause summarizing their work in one post was impossible, let's dive into the next era.

The "Golden" years, imo. The time that solidified them as the Princes of PSC (2008-2013 From "Mirror Ball" to "Shooting Stars")

I wouldn't like to talk about how things were in Japan, cause I wasn't there, but let me tell you foreign Number Sixes were going crazy about them in these eras. And the songs were super strong, like banger after banger, it made sense. (I almost had to separate this era into 2 more parts, cause I couldn't choose. There is so much to find here as a first listen imo)

To this day, this song gives me chills. The melody, THE PIANO WITH THE DRUMS UGH! xD Easy listen, fun song, back to full on anime song vibes but with elegance and...just listen. xD

It honestly saddens me that there are people nowadays disregarding how good this song is xD. I will admit though I don't like its live version. *nods* But the studio version is fun. And back when I became a fan it was EVERYWHERE! xD It was one of the 2-3 songs YT felt like suggesting me when it wanted to show me Alice Nine is an option close to my likes too. :P Also excuse me, but if you enjoy a good solo, you might as well choose this. Hiroto gets a solo, Tora, gets a solo and Saga as well. And Shou gets highs, hello? I get my fix on Nao solos from other songs, though. :P It's not bad here, on the contrary it keeps the rhythm fun and upbeat, it adds playfulness, it's just not given as much time to shine alone as I'd personally like.

Behold. The Anthem xD. Listen, I can tell you for a fact this song was super popular with Japanese fans as well, it'd become a joke. This was also the opening to the band's livestreams for the longest time and at some point they wanted to change it and hesitated but I don't remember if they eventually did. I still remember Tora questioning it xD. Is it time? Should we finally do it? xD I never expected such song would hold so many memories for me 13 years later but here we are.

Finally! My starter pokemon! xD This song made me their fan. It has everything I personally love, it had darker visuals than their usual, moodiness, mystery and soaring parts for grandeur. It's such a beautiful song, like a fairytale. Oh and Hiroto's solo. ;;

I was ready to make a funny visual here for you, but I chose mercy, cause I'm blabbering anyway xD. This is a very catchy song. I dunno if it has the power to make you a fan but it will definitely have you dancing around.

Another favorite in the foreign fandom from what I had seen back then. In part 1 of my Alice Nine recommendations, I had mentioned I'd talk vocal skill in a song in this part. This is the one. If anyone of you here sings, I'd like you to try sing this song while making sure you maintain as much of Japanese accent you can master, follow Shou's tone and get all the highs without running out of breath. If you've been singing for years you probably can do it. Personally, while I'm not a pro, not even close, I was surprised I ran this out of breath with this one, and my throat hurt. On the first bridge specifically. Cause I'm an Aguilera stan too so I know that when I run out of breath, the song is hard xD Like, you can't tell me he didn't have skill to sing this. Now live....this is the kind of song that strains your voice and well, with the years, it has lost lots of its oomph cause of Shou's struggles with his voice. But even back when he tried to hit every note and was way closer than nowadays, you could hear the pain. Very difficult song but very beautiful nonetheless.

This might or might not be a good first for you, it really depends on your taste but this to me is one of their most magical songs.

I personally wouldn't necessarily suggest this as a good first cause I took a bit of time to appreciate it more, myself, but look at the views. It was popular for sure, I remember that. And I admit it's catchy.

See for me this is better for a starter than Blue Flame, but it depends on taste. They both were popular when they came out but Blue Flame had more people's heart. It also had very strong imagery of the members, maybe that added to it. Anywho, I'm more of a "Heart of Gold" person. :P

And we close this era with Shooting Star. This one was a cute song for me, and I think it's easy to hear, that's why it's here. I wanted to add 2 more songs before that but tumblr limits me.

So I'm adding it here as honorable mentions: Do check "Daybreak" and "Himitsu" as well.

That’s all about this post, guys. Again, I’d have loved to do it all in one go, but tumblr... Next and final era in part 3.

I hope you find sth you like, if not, it’s ok, you might enjoy sth from other eras. But well, if you still don’t find sth, we all like different things, it’s alright, but yeah, this was an attempt to entice more people listen to one of my favorite bands, Alice Nine (their mid era, according to my understanding, at least, during which most of their songs seemed to be popular in both the Japanese and Western fandom).

[chisaiyume]

Alice Nine [2004 – present] -> Website – Twitter – Instagram - YouTube

Members:

Vocals: Shou -> Twitter -- Instagram

Guitar: Hiroto -> Twitter -- Instagram

Guitar: Tora -> Twitter

Bass: Saga -> Twitter

Drums: Nao -> Twitter