Kamikata Ken's Release tour ヒトスクイ ~Report~

I'm absolutely in love with Kamikita Ken's voice and music! (I'll call him either KK or Ken-chan in my post to make it short)
I know it's not a big deal to some people but for me, I don't usually buy singles or albums, I only buy them when I want to support the artist. Now everything is available on the internet (thanks to all the generosity of internet users <3), you don't need to pay but still get what you want. So the decision to buy live ticket, goods and two albums is equal to my tiny little support I can give him. As a token of my appreciation! I came across KK in the same way with other utaites. Maybe because I personally like this kind of voice so I immediately get attracted after a few songs. Then because I always focus more on the lyrics and most of his songs are extremely meaningful to me, I became his fan. Similar to Sekai no Owari's songs, I can relate to the music KK wrote (not all, ofc!). I'm planning to translate as many as I can of his songs.
Should get back on track, the Release tour!
It was unexpectedly amazing. The live was held at a small live house which approx 350~400ppl can get in. I never thought there were more than 300ppl coming for the live and yet, it was way more than that! I stood right in the middle at the back area (that is usually a little higher than the front). Thanks god the girls in front weren't too high to block my view, and yes, I got a full view of him. I love his voice so much when listening to the records and he even sounded better performing live. The problem with many utaites (from my friends' p.o.v) is that they don't always sound as good in real life. But KK's voice the other day was too powerful. I have been to quite a few live performances since coming to Japan so I know how noisy things can be. From the audio systems to the crowd's voice/cheer/scream, which make it hard to hear the singer's voice sometime. However, I think anyone who went the other day would agree that KK's voice was super clear. Ken-chan, how could you manage to sing much much better live??? The moment he sung Kokorone心根 my heart melted. Never imaged he would sing that 2.33 song (my fav) live, then continued with Yuragi ゆらぎ, the song that makes me fall in love with his music. Both my heart and ears melted by then! I think my tears busted out a little. The two songs that hurt me the most, the two most beautiful songs, the two that give me a lot of support were sung together! You have such amazing sense of music Ken-chan!
When I told mom that Ken-chan sounded not the same but even better than his Cd, mom was like 'He might lip-sync'. 'Lol no way, he messed up quite a lot'. A simple live house with very few setups, an unprofessional singer who sometime forgot the lyrics or unable to start a song properly. But more than anything was a man who went after his dream. A man who wrote powerful songs that have been supporting me since I knew about him. I'm sure I wrote this somewhere but I love people performing with the brightest smile! Well, when you sing emotional songs you can't really smile, but you can still feel if they enjoyed what they were doing or not through a live performance, somehow.
Thank you for writing songs with healing power. They are not super cheerful, but they are too realistic they hurt sometimes. At the moment all I can do is attempt to translate your songs into English with my poor language skill. It's suck that I prob unable to come to the next live because I'll go back to Melbourne and uni exam will be very close by then. But I'll always support you, in all the possible ways.

P/s: Ken-chan, you should know the phrase "I don't always write fun songs" is wrong...totally wrong, because it's more like "I write fun songs on rare occasions"

心根 by KK~ translation

It's my bad habit to start something only to leave them there like that. Well, I'm not the type to force myself in doing something. So glad I'm finally feel like translating again!
Here is another song by Kamikita. This song is only 2.33 mins but it took me quite long to translate, not that I didn't understand it, but it was just too hard to put into words and into English as well.
I'm not sure if this made any sense, but anyway, please enjoy!

Kokorone

Written and composed by Kamikita Ken (KK)

English translation by Makoto (with BIG help from jisho ^^)

Was the young boy, who has been granted a direction that day, smiling?
Trying his best not to be hated by anyone.
Those true feelings that have been swallowed deep inside,
It's time to hold them tightly.

The days wishing to be recognized were indeed miserable.
But they are the real past,
The only proof of the life one had been through,
Those that will support one from now on.

The fear when moving on without knowing what is right or wrong,
The attempt to deny the emptiness that can never be fulfilled.
I will make them into a song.

A song in order to save him, to reach him.

From this point onward, the painful days,
Where you feel like you can't keep on going, will continue for sure.

There will be time you feel like the world is moving around only to betray you,
And you just want to end everything as soon as possible.

Even so, that is the path you have trusted and chosen.
Can't you see how it's shinning with pride.

I have decided to continue searching for the meaning of the path that led you here.

Even if the surroundings had changed,
The beginning will always exist in your heart.

Kokorone is a song from KK's first album 心音 (Kokorone)

You can listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IVVGl8oIzA
Original lyric: http://j-lyric.net/artist/a05075b/l032a3d.html
Please support the artist by purchasing original copy: Amazon Japan

By this time tomorrow, my heart and ears would have been filled with by KK's voice! Got to go to his one-man live last minute! 

TIMM 3rd day~ OLDCODEX~

(taken from my personal tumblr)

*Oldcodex is a rock band with Suzuki Tatsuhisa as the vocalist (Free! and Utapri’s fan should know who is Tatsun!)  and Yorke. as the painter (yup, the painter in a rock band!)

The 3rd and also the final night at TIMM 2015 was OLDCODEX! I’m Tatsun’s fan, so ofc when they said I could go to Oldcodex’s live I seriously was like ‘OMG, BANZAI. Tatsun here I comeeeeeeeeeee’. Rock is definitely not my thing, altho I said if the lyrics are meaningful, i don't care what the genre is…but still, rock hurts my ears too much so (.><.). I know Tatsun as a seiyuu (voice actor), and I listen to some songs by Oldcodex (Free! op for 2 seasons). Anw, the live went wayyyy better than what I’ve expected. The seiyuu Tatsun, the singer Tatsun, the rocker Tatsun….all of those are def the Tatsun that I love <3

Favorite quotes from Tatsun during the performance
“There are buyers from oversea up on the 2nd floor today. I don’t ryl know what’s going on and how thing’s gonna work, but anw, we are here to do what we always do, MUSIC. THAT’S IT”
“There are songs that only we can perform, there are paintings that only us can create, and there is this view in front of me, with you guys there! Have no ideas how we all do it but it’s so FREAKIN FUN! That’s why you guys are our treasure!”
“I don’t care if it’s rock, pop or anime song, music is music, as long as we can do it, nothing else matters”

Anyone who went to a live performance would know that the bgm is super loud. Unless they sing a very slow-pace ballad song, the bgm is so damn loud, and its even worse when it comes to rock. I also went to Scandal/ androp’s live, tbh I hardly heard Scandal’s voice when they were singing. But Tatsun’s voice was so strong and powerful you (or at least I) could hear it clearly despite the bgm. Well, Tatsun is a seiyuu, so obviously his voice has to be strong, right?!!! I was so swayed by the way he sang, the way he poured all his heart into each songs and they way he shouted at the top of his lungs. With that tiny body (he looks too skinny irl, pls eat more Tatsun!), he was able to heat up the crowd with his music and passion! *if I continued here I’ll mostly go on with my voice fetish for Tatsun so yea, move on to the next point*

However, Oldcodex isnt only about Tatsun. A band can’t be completed with out drummer (Yamagata Ryo), bass (Nakamura Taizo), and guess what Oldcodex has a painter too! At the start I questioned what would Yorke. be doing on the stage….like, he will paint…yea so what? Why would you need a painter up there anw?? But after that live, I come to understand the reason. Yorke. simply does what he wants, to express himself through art with (Tatsun’s voice) and Oldcodex’s music. All the paints Yorke. painted had something ryl, idk how to describe since I’m not an artistic person, but they were amazing. Bold and wild, and the contrast between light and dark by his choice of colors. And Yorke. was super cute! Who would have imagined a person, wearing sunglasses, fairly long hair and fringe, in that hip-hop clothes would be so soft and cute <3. Together with Tatsun and the band members, he kinda completed the picture! There is no concrete definition for neither art nor passion!

The fans were…uhmmmmmmmm <3 <3 <3. Like Tatsun said, they are Oldcodex’s pride! You would immediately understand what have a group done seeing their fans. From my observation, all Oldcodex has been doing are simply throwing passion and courage into their fans (like real hard!!!! lol). I know I’m bias bc of Tatsun but you have to see how their fans act!!! As we sat on the guest floor, the fans simply took everyone up there as buyers (from oversea). Tatsun told the fans to turn back when the performance finished so that ppl on the guest floor could see what Oldcodex’s pride look like! And they did, turned back with the most beautiful and loudest cheers ever! After taking a photo w the fans I got too high and screamed ‘I love Tatsun!!!!!! You guys are the best’ like three or four times! That’s something I would never do in when I’m together with some acquaintances….and yet, Oldcodex was able to make me do it!

I’d never forget the ~90mins in side Zepp DriverCity livehouse where I got to see real music and passion! 本当にお疲れ様でした。

TIMM 2015 1st day～SEKAI NO OWARI～

(taken from my personal tumblr)

Went to Zepp DriverCity 3 nights in a row as I was given this wonderful chance to watch live performances of Sekai no Owari (sekaowa), Scandal/androp, and OLDCODEX. I’m sorry as I wont write any report on Scandal and androp bc tbh I wasnt really impressed, but more like I aint their fan so…sorry abt that.

Ok, so first day was sekaowa…….one word AMAZING. Cant remember how many times did I scream inside my head くそ、何これ?? すごい過ぎ、ヤベー
I know abt sekaowa a while ago while watching music station. My honest opinion was ‘weirdo’ but their music isnt bad tho its not my style. That was around 2012～2013, when my Japanese was pretty bad (it still is now). Later on when I listened to their songs once again earlier this year….and yup I understood bits and pieces of the lyrics so obviously I fell for their music. I will write more abt their music in the next post so that this one wont end up too long to read.

Back to the story, their live at TIMM 2015. Sekaowa is famous for their unique visual. They turned the live house at Zepp into a haunted house, in which Love kept referred as ‘their mansion’. They also had 2 stage concepts, the western vs Japanese Halloween decoration. The visual alone was enough to showed you how much effort they put into making their fans happy. Fukase’s voice was….idk how to describe it but it isn’t much diff from how he sounds like in their recordings. But more than that, what ryl filled my heart were their warm and bright smile. Saori-chan, Nakaji, Fukase…well not too sure abt Love bc of that freakin MASK (lol), but maa, I believe his smile was as bright as other members. Only people who love what they are doing can smile like that. I have noticed myself saying ‘When people enjoy themselves, they have the power to empower others. And those people have the brightest smile!’ The way they enjoyed themselves up on that stage shouted out ‘hey you guys, we are doing what we like so damn much, and we want to give you at least just a little courage to keep on trying until you can find what you truly enjoy!’ Idk how others interpret it but seriously I was abt to cry. If i went to the live alone, I would have cried so bad for sure. 

And the fans…wtf was that encore chant huh???? Guys dont make me burst into tears pls. 

I just found out that they were doing a live in Taiwan that afternoon before TIMM…お疲れ様でした。 

Also, happy belated birthday Nakaji! 

I wish for you guys' success and pls pls step out of Japan…and Asia too since…yea im in Australia (;o;)

ゆらぎ by KK ~translation~

   Just found out abt KK (けけ in Japanese) 1~2wks ago and...his music is so touching. Different from most ppl, I prefer lyrics of a song more than the rhythm itself so as long as the lyrics are meaningful, no matter if it's hip-hop or rock, electro (or even enka somtime) bring it on!

   Although both the rhythm and lyrics of this song are perfect. 

                                 Yuragi 

Written and composed by Kamikita Ken (KK)

English translation by Makoto (with BIG help from jisho and google trans ^^)

How can you smile like that when your voice is trembling?

"I wonder if anyone received happiness today?" 

You said, smiling while your tears are falling.

People greedily steal what they crave for

And eventually lost sight of the truth.

But have they thought about who decided the values of those things

Or they are simply meaningless?

In this world, there are neither friends of foes.

That is why you are crying, all alone, right?

You always say "help me" is such an useless phrase.

Please notice my feelings. 

The 'everyday' that you hate, your wish to be acknowledged

I know them all, I understand them all.

I want to affirm them

Don't forget there is someone nearby who receive happiness from you.

Although your voice is still trembling

There hasn't been a single drop of tears on your face.

Was happiness thrown away somewhere again today?

Eyes close, as if trying to keep the light away.

People are too caught up in chasing after the 'happiness' someone else has decided, they no longer look around them.

If so, even the so call 'live for somebody' no longer means anything.

No wonder you are fed up with this empty life. 

I wonder if my voice is still trembling.

I already know it won't reach you

Therefore, I'll leave this song here for you when you reach my time (age).

The 'everyday' that you hate, your wish to be acknowledged

I know them all, I understand them all.

And I have affirmed them.

I just want to tell you there is someone nearby who receive happiness form you.

I want you to know and understand that

The 'everyday' that is fighting against you, is what keeping me alive, even now.

That is an unchangeable truth.

Don't forget that somewhere in this world, I'm wishing for your happiness.

Please never forget that. 

5th song from KK's latest album, SCOOP

Cross-fade: https://youtu.be/qi_OZmkGUKI 

Please support the artist by purchasing original copy Amazon Japan

Visit KK's official site for more information http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/kenkamikita/ 

p/s: idk should I also post the romajij and orignal lyrics?

Finally~~~~

For some reason, I got the power to finally start a proper blog. I don't know how long I can keep doing this blog for or how many people will read this, but uhmm, I'm not doing this for anyone else rather than myself~
I'm on all of the popular social media but those are pretty personal in a sense. I have no idea how I want this blog to be so I'll be super random.
Both Japanese and English are not my 1st language -> there will be ∞ mistakes but I feel like using those two, beside this is the era for globalization, right? Better use a language most people can understand, although I will use lots of Japanese here and there~
First real post coming later (hopefully)!
Just call me Makoto~
よろしくお願いします。