Tuesday 30 April 2013

[3] The return of D

Hello everyone!

After receiving the package with the albums, I didn't buy anything related to D, until I read the announcement that D would return for their second European tour. We bought tickets not long after that, to ensure we could go to the concert.

This time, however, instead of going in my everyday clothes, I wore something completely different. The Elf Fantasy Fair was coming up, so I had to come up with an outfit to wear. If you have never heard of the Elf Fantasy Fair, here is the slightly edited Wikipedia description:

The Elf Fantasy Fair is an outdoor fantasy event in the Netherlands which is traditionally held in April since 2001 in Haarzuilens at Castle de Haar. Since 2009, a second event is being held in September, in Arcen at Castle Arcen. The Haarzuilens fair is the largest fantasy event in Europe and attracts about 22,500 visitors every year.

I couldn't come up with an outfit, until my girlfriend came up with the idea to cosplay Asagi. The outfit I chose was the one from Der König der Dunkelheit. It took my girlfriend a few months (and frustration) to make the outfit, but it was done in time for the Elf Fantasy Fair on the 21st of April 2012. It turned out to be an amazing cosplay and I wanted to wear it at the concert too!

Here is the cosplay:
Elf Fantasy Fair 2012 - Asagi Der König der Dunkelheit coplay
Less than two weeks later, on the 2nd of May 2012, again in concert hall the Melkweg in Amsterdam, we went to D's second concert. While waiting outside, I received a lot of nice comments about the cosplay and even a few photo's were taken. There were even a few fans who came all the way from Japan to follow D on their European tour, going to most of the concerts. Once inside the building, we bought the D flags, since we knew they would play Night-ship "D". This song has dance moves which require the flags. When we entered the concert hall, there were two other cosplayers, who were from Japan. They were cosplaying Tsunehito and Hide-Zou. Their outfits were from Dying message.

There are a few more cosplay pictures on my DeviantArt page, including pictures with the Japanese cosplayers.

The concert was amazing, and they even played one of my favorite songs, Sleeper! We didn't stand as close to the stage as during the first concert, but still within hand grasping distance :) It was awesome to see their reactions to my cosplay while they were performing.

After the concert, I bought a lot of merchandise:
A poster, shirt, bag and USB stick from Dying message. I also bought the Memorial Book and DVD from their previous VAMPIRE SAGA tour and the international edition from Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~ (皇帝~闇に生まれた報い~).

Because one concert wasn't enough, me and a friend decided to go to another one from the same tour. More about that in the next post!

Merchandise European Tour 2012 - Dying message poster
Merchandise European Tour 2012 - Dying message

Sunday 28 April 2013

[2] Beginning of a collection

Konichiwa!

Continuing from my last post, a week after the concert, I started collecting the albums from D. I wasn't planning on buying the singles back then, as most of the main songs from the singles are released on the albums as well. Since then, however, I changed my mind, and I'm trying to collect as many releases from D as I can! 

The package I received, on the 20th of June 2011, contained a VAMPIRE SAGA Promotional poster and 6 albums. 

The albums I received are, from the top, from left to right:
The Name of the ROSE (Limited Edition A) 
This edition comes with the PV from Sleeper. This song is one of my favorites!
Tafel Anatomie (Limited Edition Reservation) 
- Neo culture ~Beyond the world~ (Limited Edition A) 
- Genetic world (Limited Edition A) 
7th Rose (Limited Edition A) 
I received an Asagi trading card with this one.
VAMPIRE SAGA (Limited Edition B) 
This one came with a card with the entire band.

I also received the regular edition from Yami no kuni no Alice (闇の国のアリス) and a card set from Ouka saki some ni keri (桜花咲きそめにけり) for free as a bonus from the seller. 

More next time!

VAMPIRE SAGA Promotional poster
The 6 albums, with trading cards
Bonus items!

Saturday 27 April 2013

[1] Creation of a fanboy

Hello D fans!

My name is Marco and this is my first blog post ever! This blog will most likely consist of posts about D, but I could decide to blog about other stuff too.

The first concert I saw from D was on the 8th of May 2011 in concert hall the Melkweg in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, together with my girlfriend and a good friend of mine. I wasn't a fan in particular back then, I just enjoy going to J-rock/J-pop concerts in general. This was my second J-rock concert, right after MIYAVI in March of the same year.

Before the concert, I did listen to all their albums, in particular to their VAMPIRE SAGA one. I loved their music right away and I was excited to go see them live! 

Their concert was great, it was amazing to see them playing live for the first time! We were standing pretty close to the stage, which was a great bonus! I was able to touch quite a few hands, including Asagi's, during their performance ;)

After the concert I bought a shirt and a poster. I brought the poster to the signing session which they held afterwards. It was a nice experience to stand in front of them that close! My girlfriend also got a poster signed, while my friend got the VAMPIRE SAGA CD signed. That same CD is in my possession now, as he gave it to me as a birthday present a little more than a month later! 

After this concert, I became a big fan, big enough to being called a "fanboy". I started collecting their releases, starting with their albums. In my next post, I'll start with showing those.

Merchandise European Tour 2011 - VAMPIRE SAGA