PR?

[yourfuturexwife.livejournal.com]

Hi hi hi! I know I've posted here before...maybe like a billion years ago. xD But I would like your opinion on this question...
How is Hyde viewed in Japan? Or in the Japanese/Asian media? My Japanese friend's sister /hates/ him (please do not send any death threats...I already strung her up by her toenails), and views him as an arrogant, gay whore. (And, no flamming on the gay part, please. We /know/ the truth...xD lol jk)
Like, Angelina Jolie is viewed as a dark, serious, insanely gorgeous, kid/husband plucker and...well, beautiful. (I actually really like her^^)
Does anyone know, or have an idea, how the people and media view him? I was just really curious and wanted to know your thoughts. :)
Thanks for your time! Arigatou gozaimass!

Comments

[saanrio.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't read Japanese, so what I have to go on is a bit more limited than what some others may be able to tell you. However, I am willing to bet that part of your friend's sister's view may have something to do with some calling L'Arc a visual kei band. From interviews with Miyavi and other visual kei artists, I know that many people never bother to give the music a try because of the negative connotation of viual kei for many Japanese people. While I seriously doubt this is the case throughout all of Japanese media (go look at clips on youtube for positive aspects of their fame) it certainly colors things, and Tetsu has said before that he hates being called visual kei.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Paa1nCAB5Yo
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNb3jUu4k44

I believe the part where they ask Tatsu about being called visual kei is in the second part, and the male reporter at the end of the clip has some interesting things to say that may shed some light on it. I linked both halves partly because Hyde is mostly int he first half, and to give the full context of the interview. In my opinion, the female reporter who actually did the interview seemed to have a neutral and rather objective stance, but her male co-anchor seemed to have a more negative opinion.

Hope this helped.

[killingsound.livejournal.com]

It's hard for me, personally, to speak to his image in Japan, but I'll address a little of what I found when I spent some time in China last year. While he wasn't super mainstream popular over there, I discovered that, at least in the neighborhood I was staying in, which was located near a university, there were a lot of young, hip, trendy, cutting-edge uni students who were all over him. It wasn't the nerdy students; it was a more fashion-forward crowd (though I have no idea if this only applied to the place where I was staying, so take my info with a bit of perspective). I also picked up a bunch of Chinese music magazines that focused on foreign music and he was always mentioned, whether it was for his fashion style, his looks, or his music. He seemed to be a sort of cult figure there, at least amongst the people I spoke to.

Then I met a Japanese girl there, who had never even heard of him or L'Arc~en~Ciel before but was instead all over Gackt and m-flo. I was so disappointed and, to be honest, SHOCKED that there was a single person in Japan who didn't at least recognize his face or music. XD

[karenkk.livejournal.com]

If you went there a few years ago you would see even more people really into him and Laruku. But in recent years the Korean Pop Culture has taken over, and many people went to that side. Still he is widely loved. Some of things people in Taiwan did to get to their concert, like camping outside the stadium for a whole month just to ensure they get a good seat. Unbelievable.

[ranaeressea.livejournal.com]

This is a really good question I've wondered myself. It's very hard to find translated information/views from the Japanese media, though, and generally the only information that gets translated is directly from the band/Hyde and not from the media companies reporting on the band or Hyde.

I kind of wonder what he's viewed like over there as well outside of his fans and in the mainstream circle. Like, what do everyday people in Japan think of Hyde?

[smilingcrescent.livejournal.com]

I'm with ranaeressea...and you, yourfuturexwife. This is a very good question...

Thanks to the two repliers so far, though. <3 It's interesting.

[karenkk.livejournal.com]

Based on various awards that he gets on various surveys & magazines, they probably see him a good father (ranked 8th recently); a dream/ ideal lover (used to be in the 1st or 2nd place in the past, but dropped to 3rd in the latest one, but I still consider it a considerable achievement, since the chart was mostly dominated by Johnny boys. He was the oldest in the list, only one that was already married, let's not mention have a kid. 80% people in the chart were like 20 years + younger than him ^^b). He was also voted as fashion icon for teens and people in their early 20s (2nd or 3rd place, can't remember). Oricon also did a survey among high schooler in terms of music preferences recently, and Laruku came in first place. I'm not saying HYDE is mega popular, but he does have influence. And his fans seems to very wide spread in terms of age, which is very impressive to me. When I went to their HK concert, I saw many people in their early teens, and many who are in their 30s or older. There was even a younger mother who took her 4-5 year old daughter there and I was told they seemed to have a fabulous time together XDDD

[saniza.livejournal.com]

Hi there minna! This is my first post here!

I’ve mentioned several times about laruku to my sensei and yet, she is still clueless about them T_T But when I mention Gackt, X Japan, B’z, Mr.Children, Glay.. she knows or at least heard about them!! Sensei!! @_@ how could u! U_U

But there was my friend who had been studied in Japan for 2 years (recently came back) and I talked a bit about laruku. He replied “they’re soo cool eh!” I’m so proud when he said that (he’s a Gackt fan btw). I asked how famous they’re in Japan. He said many people know them although they don’t listen to their music. He said that jap music scene is dominated by jpop artists and err boy idols (it’s the Johny boys rite? ^^; I know nothing about this johny stuff), but still laruku has a huge fanbase. Huge enough to put them at the highest position in the charts.

Still I couldn’t figure out how my sensei doesn’t know about them U_U (I should show her hyde/laruku pics….last time, she said she gona research them on the net but I know she didn’t or forgot about it). Just by mentioning jrock already makes her startled and amazed of me ^^;;;

I nvr read jap music magazine before, so I don’t know how the jap media view of him in general. But I guess he has a clean, public image regardless of his appearances ^^

[ephemery.livejournal.com]

Appearances? What appearances? ;p

[saniza.livejournal.com]

--> how bizarre/eccentric he can be (just take his erotic persona as an example XD XD). For us (fans) we get use to it already but mybe for others, it looks unusual or weird, one of my friend called his hipshaking dance as disgusting when he saw AYR Pretty Girl *kill him*. But we know he’s still highly respected as a musician by many ^^

[ephemery.livejournal.com]

=OO

Killkillkill

[faded-poetry.livejournal.com]

i'll just say what i know.
lol~ in japanese class, we are asked to say which bands/artistes we like, japanese or not, but more often than not, people who learn japanese; at least in my class, have one or two japanese musicians that they love.
of course mine was Hyde/L'Arc~en~Ciel. ^^
my teacher isn't a fan, but he said they write good music and hyde sings well.

and in another, my friend's japanese patient could only say Hyde is pretty big in japan and that he's really SMALL.

haha~

[saniza.livejournal.com]

haha i love how that patient describes hyde *applaud*

[neko-chan08.livejournal.com]

let me share my experience with this, every year our school has japanese student visitors come from another school in japan and interact with us. We get to talk to them and be friends with them as part of the program and being a big fan of L'arc and hyde my first questions/s to them is always, "Do you know l'arc~en~ciel?" or "Do you know Hyde?"(they understand english by the way).Their reactions are always like "Oh! Haido-san?!" or sometimes "Laruku?!" and then they answer "Yes!". Not one of our visitors told me that they didn't know L'arc or hyde. Also based from the questions that I've asked them Hyde and L'arc~en~ciel has been a household name in Japan when it comes to music and fashion. So i can say that hyde is pretty influential in his own right, not only because he was part of L'arc but also he has set a trend in the music and fashion industry.

[yourfuturexwife.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much you guys for taking the time to answer my question and give your insight! :D I've been wondering about this for a while, and I'm so happy that it finally got answered- and with so many awesome answers, too.

I was in Tokyo last year in May for 10 days (could only stay a short time because my father was having major surgery and I wanted to be back for that), and even for it being my first time, I saw major influences in fashion, music, hair, etc that I could easily link back to L'arc/HYDE. Their stuff was in nearly ever shop in Harajuku (on Takeshita St.)But, I hope to return for possibly a month next summer/fall. I was really hoping to at least see them in Paris when they were there...but no such luck. x.x I'll be seeing Dir en grey this fall but...they're nothing compared to our boys. xDD (Sorry Kaoru, I still want your body)

Thanks again! You guys have been amazing! <333

[kotori-chan.livejournal.com]

Well, it´s almost the same for me as for neko_chan08. I´ve had the chance to meet many young Japanese here in Spain, and when they ask why do I like Japan I always mention Laruku and/or Hyde. None of them, to date, didn´t know him or the band. So I also think he´s a big influence.

[din-84.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm only seeing this topic now must have missed it all the time :S Oops

Well atm I live in Japan so I hope I can at least give a little insight into what people here think about Hyde.

He's surely widely known, no doubt about that and everyone is full of respect for him, boys and girls alike.

Girls mostly find him cool, they adore his voice and his fashion style, they worship Laruku and almost everyone here loves Hyde because of Laruku while in the western fandom many people became a fan of Hyde first through Moonchild.

For the guys it's acutally the same, the find him incredibly cool (it's actually quite hilarious), my friend had a conversation with a guy who told her that he always sings Laruku songs at karaoke and thinks that Hyde is almost too cool and that it pisses him off.
He said to her "but he's really tiny you know" and she said "well that only adds to his charm" and he was like "I know, damn, he's really too cool, how can us normal guys get a chance with the girls if they all adore Haido?". I LAWLED

Of course they are people who've never heard of Laruku or Hyde at all, but there are not that many. When we go into the older league there are women around their fourtys and fiftys who follow the band around since forever (I personally met one of them, she was camping in front of the Zepp Tokyo for all of the VAMPS showz CRAZY OBAASAN).
Hyde is called their kawaikochan (sweet child), at Laruku concerts you can mostly see them wearing their traditional Yukatas, they are coming along in pairs or with their daughters and sometimes even with their grandchildren.
(Younger women often come with their husbands)

Within the music business itself I never met anyone who didn't speak very fondly of Hyde.
He's known for being a true workaholic and very down to earth, it's apparently lots of fun to work with him.
Sometimes he doesn't even realize his own VIP status and just goes out without telling anyone, saying "me? no no I'm not known at all".
He does many things he wouldn't have to do just to make his fans happy, which makes him happy too.

I sounds all very mushy but that are the things I hear everytime, even when I speak to different people who worked with him.

He has many fans within the business itself, for example the comedian who came out during the breaks of the Halloween shows to entertain the fans, he talked about Laruku and how he met them and then made the crowd spontaniously sing Kasou.

As most of you know Yasu from Janne Darc (Acid Black Cherry) and Daigo are also fans and now friends of him. Daigo became a fan through Vivid Colour (he told us on the second night of the Halloween lives and tried to play it on his acoustic guitar but failed XD).

Other's would include the Glay guys, Gackt of course, KAT-TUN who are are crazy for him, Hiroki Narimiya, Tamori from MS and his female counterpart (forgot her name), apparently Hyde was even invided to her wedding. And many more.

Back to the general public:

Laruku is viewed as a band Japan can be proud of, especially Japan's pop-rock scene, they are well aware that many overseas critics would headdesks at hearing their usual idols sing.

They are also getting lots of positive feedback from interviewers of music magazines or critics on the radio and the same goes for Hyde.

He's viewed as beautiful and talented and an ideal for many vocalists out there since even within the japanese music scene is voice is regarded as very unique.

Something that finds not as much recognition in the Western fanbase as it does in the Japanese are the lyrics.

He is known for his poem style lyrics which brought him a nomination as best lyricist once. Especially the older fans love this part of Laruku's music (because well Hyde's solo lyrics are a tad different... they are more loved by the rockin' youth who find English kakkoi)
Many people I met said that hearing a Laruku song feels like listening to part of a story or a dream and that it makes them happy that Japanese musicians still use their language in that way.

LONG POST IS LONG.

SORRY

I hope I could help you out a bit.

[pimpinhyde.livejournal.com]

Laruku is viewed as a band Japan can be proud of, especially Japan's pop-rock scene, they are well aware that many overseas critics would headdesks at hearing their usual idols sing.

I'm sorry, but what did you mean by that? Can you clarify please? When you said "their" did you mean the critics, Laruku, or Japans'?

And thank you for sharing.

And you said something about most western fans came into the fandom via moonchild-- implying they were Gackt fans first??

[din-84.livejournal.com]

I meant the Japanese ;)

And about the MoonChild stuff.

I think Laruku only got kinda a hype overseas after their solo period ended in 2003 and Hyde decided.

Imho Gackt was kinda more well known overseas until then, kinda like VK bands have a great following overseas but are not at all famous in their homeland.
So I think when Hyde participated in MoonChild more people in the overseas fandom actually took notice of him and thus of Laruku.