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Posts tagged Gig in Japan

“Gig in Japan” page 5 takes a bow and exits the stage

“Gig in Japan” page 5 takes a bow and exits the stage published on

The final installment of my Japanese metal show diary comic is here:

That Patreon post includes a discussion of souvenir towels, so hit that link if you yearn to know more.

If you yearn to read the whole comic in one fell swoop, this is the link for you.

Also, don’t forget to check out my soundtrack playlist for this comic, which is on the YouTubes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYvv_X5qp4EyrOtVkosEwxlxh1e4cVnhZ

Now that this comic has wrapped, perhaps you’re wondering what comes next. Well, I’ll tell you.

I’m about halfway through coloring the next chapter of Valley of the Silk Sky, so that’s getting extremely close to done. I’ve been avoiding setting a specific date for when I’ll start running the chapter as my workflow has been painfully slow (sometimes due to literal pain, mostly due to Anxiety About the World We Live In).

BUT. Know that progress is happening, and new pages shall emerge very soon.

Cheers,

Dylan

“Gig in Japan” page 4 works the crowd

“Gig in Japan” page 4 works the crowd published on
Gig in Japan - Mejibray live show diary comic

The latest installment of my Japanese metal show diary comic is here:

Like a lot of gothic metal bands, Mejibray’s style leans heavily on BDSM themes, so it’s not too surprising the crowd would be exuberant about being spat upon.

Also, I would have expected a mosh pit if it had been an American show, and would have avoided front and center accordingly. But no such scrum developed here. I don’t know if moshing just isn’t a thing in Japan, or if it does happen but sticks to other genres. Clearly one of these days I will need to do further research on the matter.

Cheers,

Dylan

Gig in Japan page 3 rocks out

Gig in Japan page 3 rocks out published on

The show goes on! Read page 3 here:

If you check out the Patreon post, you can read some of my musings about concerts past and present, should such a thing be of interest to you.

I will add this one translation note here, though:

The actual rendering of “encore” in Japanese is アンコール (ankouru), where the final “ru” would only be partially voiced. But the crowd was definitely saying a fully-voiced “re” at the end of the word, giving each syllable equal weight as basically a three-beat chant. JUST in case you were wondering.

Tune in next week for page 4 excitement!

Cheers,

Dylan

Gig in Japan page 2 takes the stage

Gig in Japan page 2 takes the stage published on

The second installment of my diary comic about going to see a metal show in Japan is here! Specifically, it is here:

Since this is a short comic, I’ll wait until all the pages are up to post it over on Tumblr (for the five of you who still use Tumblr).

To answer my own question from the first panel, this is not a thing specific to Mejibray shows. I’ve since gone back and watched music videos by other Japanese rock bands, and have noticed the crowds acting in unison there as well. I suppose to the extent I noticed it before I’d just assumed it was a staged coordination for the sake of the video. And, well, it IS a staged coordination, but being filmed has little to do with it.

Tune in next week for more lessons in Japanese rock show etiquette!

Cheers,

Dylan

Gig in Japan is live!

Gig in Japan is live! published on
Gig in Japan - Mejibray live

Perhaps you read this comic when it ran on The Comics Journal last fall, but in the event you missed it, I’m gonna run it here now that the rights have reverted back to me!

You can now read page 1 here. A new page will go up each week!

To refresh your memory, this is my diary comic about going to see a visual kei heavy metal show in Japan a few years ago. Because I’m a nerd for making playlists, I put together a soundtrack for this comic. It’s on YouTube because a lot of the featured bands never had their music licensed for U.S. release, so many of them (Mejibray included) are not to be found on Spotify or iTunes here. (Several of the bands on my playlist make cameos in this comic as t-shirts – this page features Dog in the PWO, a.k.a. Dog in the Parallel World Orchestra.)

True fact: in order to buy Mejibray’s albums, I had to purchase them on CD (!!) which I was only able to find at a Tower Records (!!!) in Shibuya. It was like traveling backwards in time.

Cheers,

Dylan

New autobio comic: “Gig in Japan” at The Comics Journal

New autobio comic: “Gig in Japan” at The Comics Journal published on
Mejibray Visual Kei metal show autobio comic

I made a diary comic about going to a heavy metal show in Japan, and the first installment is up at The Comics Journal. There’ll be a new page each day this week! I’m not going to spam you with posts for each new installment, but once it wraps I’ll post another link so you can read the whole thing.

Also, because I am a giant nerd, I made a soundtrack for this comic. You can find the playlist here on the You Tubes.

Cheers,

Dylan

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