Hey, all - this topic came up within another thread in r/visualkei and I thought I would toss it out here....

I think it is common knowledge by now that hide's infamous "screaming skull" necklace and earring(s) and silver bones ring came from the Necromance shop in Los Angeles. The storefront closed I believe 4-5 years ago; however, what may NOT be common knowledge is that the business still operates online via Etsy, and they have a line specifically titled HIDE-STYLE:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NecromanceHollywood?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1228528980&from_page=listing&section_id=26764962

There is a lot of similar jewelry out there, but if you want the real deal, Necromance continues to honor and celebrate hide with their designs that he made so iconic. ❤️

This is the regularly scheduled Q&A thread for r/xjapan. Here, you can ask questions for which you don't want to make a separate thread - anything you can think of, as long as it relates to the band. Please check back occasionally for new questions while this thread is active. It will remain pinned until the next Q&A thread is posted.

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After almost 40 years, she still plays well.

Disclaimer: If the content of the following looks familiar to anyone, it is because I was leaving pleas on a TON of YouTube videos for over a year in relation to this topic! 😹😬 And a lot of it is still out there (some videos/channels have unfortunately been taken down).

I have been in a quandary about hide’s green hair ever since I became a fan (in March 2021).  My understanding and what I had always heard was that during the Psyence/Dahlia/Zilch era, hide was considering coloring his hair green but he was not ready to commit, so he had a wig made for the Genkei Haretsu video as a “try before you buy/test drive” situation.  He decided not to go with the color permanently or otherwise for his real hair, but to get more bang for his buck with the wig, he wore it on stage for one of the Dahlia tour shows which was either February 23 or February 24 1996 in Osaka (I believe the latter is correct, though). 

Below are the only photos I have ever seen from the occasion – I believe it was also the only on-stage wearing of the zebra print jacket, which according to Emi Takahashi (in the Closet Collection book) was an off-the-rack department store purchase by hide himself and not one of her custom pieces.  Once I discovered these photos, I immediately was on a mad mission for any video evidence – that is when I started bombing the comments on as many X/hide-related videos on YouTube as I could!  Surely someone out there would know something….or not.  The consensus was that no video exists from that performance….boo-hiss 👿...I have finally reluctantly accepted this after 1 or 2 years.  However, I am pretty sure if anyone in this sub knows anything otherwise, it is going to be u/mugongeki and/or u/animebowie! ❤️😸 

https://preview.redd.it/cu6e9rfidp7e1.png?width=1783&format=png&auto=webp&s=33b319a7b84b4fe68a93cb5db3f6aaa1c20a54c1

Does anyone have any other information about the whole dynamic surrounding the green hair?  I honestly don’t even know if hide ever spoke of it in interviews (it’s sad that I have a ton of books and magazines that may have answers right under my nose if I would only have all the shit translated!).  And/or has anyone ever seen any other photos from the show in Osaka besides the ones here?  I saw somewhere that he supposedly only wore the wig during his no heya but that obviously cannot be true (different outfits between the zebra jacket and the Doohickie shirt, plus Toshi was never on stage with him during a no heya – only Pata and sometimes Heath). 

And lastly, what are your feelings about this look in general? For me, in terms of these live shots, it's a million times better than what I refer to as the "Muppet hair" that I was *NOT* a fan of during this era. I adored the look in the Genkei Haretsu MV...the more detailed styling with the hair and his very on-point make-up was divine.

i plan on maybe buying some 60th anniversary merch from the official hide shop but i want to know who profits most off of it beforehand, and even if it's his brother aside from maybe other family members or spread beaver (which i'd have no issue w), if it indirectly funds events such as the memorial day events i'd be fine w it too

thanks in advance!

If I were to spend a day visiting the grave in Miura Reien, what are some other good spots to see in the area?

This is the regularly scheduled Q&A thread for r/xjapan. Here, you can ask questions for which you don't want to make a separate thread - anything you can think of, as long as it relates to the band. Please check back occasionally for new questions while this thread is active. It will remain pinned until the next Q&A thread is posted.

Note: If your question doesn't get a response, feel free to repost it in the next Q&A thread. We encourage everyone to engage and help answer questions.

Just made this pleasant discovery earlier :) I hadn't seen it before, been wanting to

hide history....his accident-prone era. 😵‍💫 This was the look he was rocking around this time 26-27 years ago....sexiest injured foot of all time. 😸 He was told he wouldn't make it through the Dome shows that year without a cast or some kind of stabilization shoe, and if I remember correctly, he was even advised to not play the shows at all BUT by his own account, he made it through on sheer will power, a steady diet of fish, and a ton of calcium supplements!

I can't help but wonder....had the incident occurred during his hyper glam time (say, 1992-94), would he have had his toenails painted??? 🤔😸

https://preview.redd.it/5ocasr0vhf5e1.png?width=1869&format=png&auto=webp&s=93b0bd01972c8b31acb02c4ecdace61bc6e64dbf

ever wonder what's that voice before the 1995 Sadistic Desire live version is all about?

https://youtu.be/V9Um4Xb-Q00?si=UKD9xWN6FYwgHnbd

apparently it's from a 1953 movie titled "The Big Heat"

check out the scene where the intro comes from https://youtu.be/MZb5BBV52DM?si=koKeWpNYZEnwsQzD

A "just for the heck of it" post since I found this interesting and amusing. If anyone knows a backstory or has any additional details about this, please share!

I came across this candid of hide signing autographs (no details were given as to when/where)...apparently, OBVIOUSLY, either the original photo-taker OR another fan who had a copy of the photo later presented it to hide to be signed. 😸 It's kind of like a Normal Rockwell picture within a picture within a picture thing: "Autograph on a photo of hide signing autographs"....I got a nice chuckle out of it. BUT....is the signature legit???? Any experts in that field here?

If it IS legit, then I can only imagine the conversation and/or the look on hide's face when he was presented with this...maybe that is why this signature is not as defined as others; or perhaps he was simply in a hurry (or drunk 😵‍💫) depending on the circumstances in which this occurred. If it is NOT, then I think this qualifies as one of the whackiest things I've ever seen 😸 and the forger could have paid more attention to detail of hide's autographs, which were seemingly always a work of art.

https://preview.redd.it/qe479wx6em4e1.jpg?width=550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1868079011536be58a167adea75559bd4734a833

Glad i get this to remember him by as well as the guitar he gifted me a year ago

I get daily emails from Pinterest with image suggestions/recommendations, all based on browsing of course...  This morning’s blast came with the subject line above, and look who turns up side by side in the image gallery - Ace Frehley and his spirit protege, hide! ❤️ (If these photos were in the reverse order I would have written "hide and guitar hero, Ace Frehley!")  This was just TOO GOOD...how serendipitous that the photo of Ace is from KISS' first trip to Japan in 1976; and then the cohesive RED color play between Ace's kimono and hide's suit....delicious! 💋 

https://preview.redd.it/hl8r1u7gpf3e1.jpg?width=891&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1551348659da9cfba282aa70fd0551b31b6430cf

NOW....if I subsequently end up getting random image suggestions as the self-made side-by-side below which features Asahi beer some 15 years apart, I will BUST. 😸 (The shot of Ace is also from KISS' 1976 trip to Japan.)

https://preview.redd.it/ip22883vpf3e1.png?width=758&format=png&auto=webp&s=ae76cc763e0e3cbe42945c53fe9035a45dfae1ea

https://preview.redd.it/45dls40am93e1.png?width=598&format=png&auto=webp&s=eab2c1a2356af3d1bed9420b317cdda986ce8213

It seems someone leaked a song composed by him during the time he was in globe (a group with Tetsuya Komuro).

For the translation (in my language, sorrry) he's asking for lawyers about this matter.

#YoshikiThings

UPDATE! WE HAVE A WINNER! 🤘❤️ (Wow, that was FAST!!) Thank you to all who expressed interest! ❤️

So...my husband bought a hide t-shirt that turns out fits a little too tight on both of us.  Since it is unofficial merch and it took so long to arrive, neither of us feels it is worth trying to exchange or to get a refund – not that it broke the bank to begin with.

I am offering this up *GRATIS*, including shipping to ANYWHERE, to a fellow hide fan.

It is size Small, length is 24 inches, chest width is 18 inches. Please forgive fuzzies in these photos since I had it smoothed out on our living room floor for staging purposes and we have 2 cats. 😸

DM me if interested – first one in wins! Good luck! ❤️🤘

https://preview.redd.it/qa9sryja1n2e1.png?width=1795&format=png&auto=webp&s=20af286dd81f6989510f8de69c89b831926029fd

Planning a playlist. Don't get biased based on commercial success. Looking for the most X Japan sounding song.

Go!

Just saw the film as it released on some major platforms yesterday. Aside from the performances with various artists that we've already seen in some shape/form, two things stood out to me that irked me as an X fan.

During Endless Rain, they cut to playback of hide's guitar solo from The Last Live (I got excited for a moment because that was a killer tone). The year "1998" popped up which I thought, how could they make this mistake? That show was Dec 31, 1997. Are they trying to suggest that at that moment when hide was playing it was technically 1998? It's equally trivial as it is strange to me because I've always seen that show referenced as 1997.

Second, hide's "playback" sounds so different that I question is it even his. Unless Yoshiki was able to play hide's guitar isolated from the rest of the last live mix, I'm not sure what is going on here. It left me totally blue-balled. If this is how hide sounded during TLL then I'm baffled. And to use anyone elses track over hide's video would completely defeat the purpose of honouring him. It's left me so confused lol.

https://youtu.be/hoPyd6w9AUM?si=mKdFHRfXWNM2V7MA Case in point, X japan's start (or maybe even earlier).