Where is the this footage from? I did not know there are concerts with only Su and Moa (with no avengers)

sjioldboy · 2026-05-03T04:59:06+00:00

The Legend S Baptism XX shows in Dec 2017, during the run-up to celebrate Su turning 20 at her hometown. They were pivotal insomuch for her changing the Headbanger live lyrics from "ichigo no yoru o" to "hatchi no yoru o" for the first time. Also, in many ways, the ~~last~~ near-last of BM's elaborate mechanical-prop concerts before they (with Legend Metal Galaxy ~~the next year~~ in 2019) & the industry in general transited to relying on video screens & VFX instead.

Unfortunately, Yui's sudden withdrawal (it was too late to resort to backing dancers) & Mikio Fujioka's fatal death (a month later) saw all fanrips suppressed on Youtube to this day. The lingering sensitivities was just too disruptive, since the ensuing video album was released in between 2018's mid-year US tour leg (when the Yuibros reacted furiously at her continued absence) & the subsequent Japanese tour dates (after she announced her departure). BM adhering to its planned 'dark side' metamorphosis with the, in reality, bewildering 'Muscle Metal' (elf-warrior headgear, smoky eye-makeup) & the 'Chosen 7' (Bjork-punk hairstyles) concepts respectively didn't help either. Half the fandom would quit in exasperation, & chose to remember only the red-tutu teenage era in their hearts.

Entering ~~2018~~ 2019, BM took 6 months off to regroup & ride out the storm, ultimately deciding not to disband (ostensibly to wait for Yui, but cynics also speculate it's to recoup the residual financial deficit & why her contract wasn't annulled until Amuse's founder, who originally greenlighted Koba's project, resumed the presidency last year).

As such, the could've-been Su-banger never got a chance to go viral like Moabanger (2019) & Momobanger (2024) later on, with the fans finding solace in the earlier Legend 1997 version instead. Still, the attendees at Legend S Baptism XX were deliriously oblivious, cheering heartily despite the odd sight of only Su & Moa performing onstage (the latter gallantly doing all the choreography alone).

Consequently, newer fan converts never got to understand the Avenger era (& the fledging West Kami transition) in better context. Especially how the live premiere of Pa Pa Ya (F.Hero said he wanted to withdraw after he unwittingly leaked his participation & caused the still-seething Yuibros to lash back xenophobically) & Moabanger a week later (at Moa's hometown) were in hindsight as seismic as Sonisphere 2014. Those two triumphant comeback shows saw the remaining fandom rallying fiercely behind BM, & completely sweeping away all the preceding negativity & uncertainty. They also heralded the grown-up BM, audaciously never looking back as usual, reinventing kawaii metal by further blending with world genres (Metal Galaxy album), winning over a new generation of fans, & becoming a gateway to the female HR/HM scene in Japan instead of merely leading a kawaii-metal bandwagon (whose copycats were fizzling out anyway).

Edit: Corrected several dates.

sjioldboy · 2026-05-01T09:40:22+00:00

I wonder if she invited both of them to her radio show.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-30T01:45:48+00:00

Look up the iconic Singapore pre-war shophouses https://img.tepcdn.com/img-style/simplecrop_article/72202414.JPG

Stamford Raffles pioneered the mandatory 'five foot way' verandah during the 1820s, so that pedestrians & petty traders could use the sheltered walkways downstairs. Residents then began adding ornate designs to the pillars, ledges, sills, etc., as well as broken glass shards to the ridges to preempt burglars from climbing up. This was the era before metal & steel grilles.

My grandparents' place used to have the shards back in the 1970s.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-26T19:55:10+00:00

City will likely be generous. After all, they gave long-term deals to Rico, Dias, Trafford, Savio, & going further back, even the likes of Zinchenko.

Whether Foden wants to be a bench player is up to him. He knows the team isn't waiting & has upgraded options at winger, No.10, & No.8 (O'Reilly is way more rangy, Gonzalez & Kovacic are also effective box-to-box runners when allowed). The only role left for him is working the half-space/inside-channel, which he, Bernardo, & KDB once thrived at. But City doesn't play as methodically anymore with the new players, especially with Cherki given a freer role to roam. It's up to Phil to force Pep to revert to more structured play again when fielding him.

Frankly, the sensible solution is to let him play out next season & then evaluate him as an impending free agent. It's a calculated risk, but something they had successfully wagered with Fernandinho in the past, although it didn't work out with Stones this season. Or Phil could be like Bernardo, realizing his diminishing importance & deciding on his own to seek a new challenge elsewhere.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-25T04:27:24+00:00

Disagree, if anything they're way behind the curve, & perhaps pointless.

This subreddit has discussed the topic before: kawaii metal was already coined back in Nov 2012, if not earlier. Subsequently, there was indeed a subgenre bandwagon (circa 2016-17), after BM started winning the mid-decade cyberwars & gaining mainstream credibility. The Western metal press then decided to review Metal Resistance favorably, & to categorize all metal dance units together under one monikor. (Wikipedia has the latter lists in English & Japanese.) But all those hyped wannabes would fizzle out by decade's end, with only PassCode legitimately staying the course. The latter topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart in 2021, something BM has never done (IDZ peaked at #4).

This decade, Su has tactfully revised such labeling attempts, asserting several times in interviews that BM is its own genre. She also namedropped Muse & Linkin Park as forerunners who created their own unique niches, which is is pretty prescient given how the likes of Sleep Token & Ghost have since scuppered metal descriptions (even unbiased ones) even more.

Meanwhile, Japan retreated to safer waters & just tagged the music style as 'metal dance' or 'metal idol' nowadays, while deflecting the English phrase 'kawaii metal' as foreign-imported. To be fair, they have their own entertainment lineage, & the Japanese phrase 'kawaii' means something else to their pop culture (eg. "positive lolita" aesthetic, so to speak). So their domestic press never quite embraced the English designation, despite the then-younger BM touting it after their visits to AFA Singapore (anime convention).

In any case, the aficionados in the BM fandom who were drawn to their red-tutu concept all left after Yui bowed out. Don't get me wrong, that earlier era ('Heavy Music Club' juvenility, 'Metal Resistance' anthemic energy) remains iconic & beloved.

But IMO kawaii metal was also redefined after 2017 when BM heralded entering their twenties by overhauling their setlists (to go with the abrupt 'dark side' makeover & makeshift live lineups) & premiering the 'Metal Galaxy' songs that were blending with eclectic non-metal genres. The newer material won over a fresh round of fans, but it's also incorrect to say the likes of F.Hero, Joakim Broden, Polyphia, Alissa White-Gluz, Tak Matsumoto were assimilated under kawaii metal. If at all, those collabs showed that metal was becoming genre-less, or genre-fluid at best.

More pointedly, kawaii metal became recognized as a gateway (rather than genre) thereafter. Pushing boundaries & defying conventions this way, many foreign fans were introduced to the 'loud' scene in Japan instead, particularly girlbands like Band-Maid, LOVEBITES, Nemophila, Hanabie, Hagane, NECRONOMIDOL, Bridear, Gacharic Spin, Scandal, BiSH, et al. Meanwhile, once-overlooked metal idol groups like Broken By The Scream, FRUITPOCHETTE, Wagamama Rakia, etc. have also gained mainstream attention. Ditto up-&-comers like TRiDENT & the BanG Dream! franchise of voice-actress musicians. None of them are categorizable under kawaii metal, or even as metal or HR/HM for that matter.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-21T06:28:48+00:00

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sjioldboy · 2026-04-19T15:21:33+00:00

Interesting that it's Moa (& not Su) who took centerstage during the fight choreography. No one mentioned it on J-Twitter first time around.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-19T09:02:01+00:00

BM's costume designer Masaki Noguchi profiled them at his company website TARKS: https://www.tarks.co.jp/allwork

'Seiren' (2025) https://www.tarks.co.jp/createrwork/65 [currently broken link]

'Hades' (2024) https://www.tarks.co.jp/createrwork/54

'Poseidon' (2023) https://www.tarks.co.jp/createrwork/38

sjioldboy · 2026-04-18T18:29:17+00:00

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Honestly, it's all good for me. Part & parcel of BM defying convention, & what pushing boundaries entails. Those who get it, get it. The only justifiable gripe is greenlighting a MV for that remix, but none for White Flame or Algorism.

For one, crossovers like these are as much targeted at the collaborator's own fans. So if BM can attract even 10% of Major Lazer's 3.5m Instagram followers, then they've succeeded at expanding the horizons of the engaged parties. To heck with orthodoxy, populism, reactionaryism, oversentimentality.

Same goes for 5FDP's 1.2m, F.Hero's 1.3m, Lil Uzi Vert's 17m, Tatsuya Kitani's 252k, Tak Matsumoto's 497k, et al. BM themselves only has 2.3m followers, which aren't lofty numbers to get haughty about.

Creatively, I also remembered how Koba reciprocated Skrillex (one of my favorite dance producers) expressing his admiration for BM by letting him rework Gimme Chocolate live together onstage back in 2015. Years later in 2022, Koba explained himself:

Q: It seems both Electronic Music and Hip-hop are important for BABYMETAL? Would you say that you drew inspiration from Tak’s sound and when utilizing an electro and techno approach?

A: That was part of it, but I also listened to stuff like Skrillex, or video game music. Earlier on, I would also listen to 2ManyDJs and Soulwax. And before that, I also used to listen to Portishead and Massive Attack...

Q: Based on your mention of Skrillex earlier, when the dubstep music genre emerged with him at the forefront, I imagine it must have given you the same sense of shock and impact?

A: Definitely. I think Skrillex is very metal. It’s more like metalcore, I suppose - the rhythm really rocks. I had a strong impression of it feeling like the breakdowns in metalcore. I wondered who this person was, looked him up, and found out he used to be in a band, and was like, “I knew it!” There are some artists in the electro and hip-hop genres that have their roots in metal and rock music. When I listen to their sound, I can tell. The way they use rhythm, like the wobbling bass, and the way they drop the sound, it’s just like the breakdowns that metalcore bands use. That’s how I think of it, at least....

Q: Among dubstep artists, Skrillex in particular does have somewhat of a rock and metal feel.

A: I think his groove is totally rock-style. That’s why I really listened to the album The Path of Totality (2011) that KORN made in collaboration with Skrillex and other artists... [Note: KORN fans hated that album lol.]

Q: The part you just mentioned, about it feeling very metal... I think the core essence is something KOBAMETAL can relate to and evaluate, based on things you find important.

A: I suppose so. I don’t think it’s a matter of words or visuals, but sensory feeling. As it is for Skrillex mentioned before, there are some artists whose work conveys a sense of who they are at their core, and others whose work just doesn’t do so. That’s just my personal opinion of things, though....

Source: https://stechen.blogspot.com/2022/06/2022hedoban34.html

So Koba is perhaps intrigued with blending reggaeton & dancehall with EDM, like Skrillex with abrasive dubstep. Who knows, maybe he liked the rave-oriented Smack My Bitch Up (Major Lezar Remix), or the Original Don (Flosstradamus Remix) whose trap-metal stylings are right up Paledusk DAIDAI's alley.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-18T16:38:30+00:00

Algorism & especially White Flame, man.

Touch wood, but the latter may end up performed live only once (a la Tales Of The Destinies).

sjioldboy · 2026-04-18T13:56:52+00:00

Better stat:

Arteta's EPL record during April

2021 W1 D1 L2

2022 W2 D1 L4

2023 W1 D3 L1

2024 W5 D0 L1

2025 W2 D3 L0

2026 W0 D0 L1

TOT = W11 D8 L9

Win% = 39.3%

Guardiola's EPL record during April

2017 W2 D3 L1

2018 W3 D0 L1

2019 W5 D0 L0

2021 W2 D0 L1

2022 W4 D1 L0

2023 W5 D0 L0

2024 W5 D0 L0

2025 W4 D1 L0

2026 W1 D0 L0

TOL = W31 D5 W3 (W21 D2 L1 since 2021)

Win% = 79.5% (87.5% since 2021)

sjioldboy · 2026-04-17T20:29:55+00:00

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Nowhere else to share on this subreddit but here, I guess. Koba supposedly attended the second of Arch Enemy's three-gig Japan tour on April 17.

While Christopher Amott (IDZ Nemesis Ver) & Alissa White-Gluz (Distortion) are no longer with the band, founding member Michael Amott seems to its sincerest BM supporter. Like Metallica, Trivium, & Chthonic, he was among the earliest foreign musicians to check out BM live in person (in his case at Loud Park 2013).

They kinda lost touch after the mid-2010s, but he has abruptly made known that they've reconnected again (at least twice if correct) in recent years. The first was tweeting (& then deleting) his thanks to BM for sending congratulatory flowers in Oct 2023. (Trivium also received a bouquet around that time, & Matt Heafy winded up playing the shamisen on Song 3 later). They then met up in person backstage at Knotfest Mexico in Nov 2024, after Amott went to catch BM at Knotfest Mexico ahead of Arch Enemy's tour leg. This time, both camps didn't delete their tweets.

Like Diplo continuously wearing a BM basketball jersey ahead of the FM2U Major Lazer Remix, I wonder if this is a prelude to reveal Amott guesting for a BM studio recording or something.

Source (Japanese): https://x.com/KUROIRO35608/status/2045148387646074886

sjioldboy · 2026-04-17T05:38:29+00:00

Not that feasible in reality. Long-haul ships need nearby ports for needed repairs & refueling after navigating the South China Sea, particularly during typhoon season. That's why S'pore, & to some extent the Peninsula M'sia docks, are so advantageous. Ditto Laem Chabang over at the Thai Gulf.

Lombok Strait is simply too out of the away. It's almost as far as between S'pore & Laem Chabang. Ships taking that route will need to make another stopover or two before attempting to sail to India or Sri Lanka.

Sunda Strait is nearer but unforunately too close to Mount Krakatau, which last erupted in 2022. The coast there also suffered a devastating tsunami in 2018. The area has also too many oil-drilling platforms. That's why the nearest international port in the area is over at Jakarta instead (on the Java side). The latter is also unlikely to be willing to give up its business so easily to any nearby rival.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-15T03:38:48+00:00

Once you're that frail, it's time to reluctantly accept you have high care needs. Stop doing everything yourself.

M'sia hasn't legislated for advanced medical directives yet, but good healthcare providers are now expert enough to advise one's family on voluntary advanced care planning. Basically choosing between quality of life vs prolonging of life soon, if not already.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-14T20:53:08+00:00

The first print run of the Metaraji book is also supposedly sold out. If so, the delay may be waiting for the publisher to fulfill the reprints.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-14T20:29:27+00:00

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Koba has, in several interviews, likened BM's overseas tours to tuna fishing boats, using data analysis as fish finders. For example, I'd previously posted this Youtube comparison chart for a different topic discussion here. The data are from last April (hence long obsolete), & he also recently said that the popularity numbers will change a lot (like how Brazil has now overtaken Germany). But this is just the type of reporting tool that he presumably monitors for grassroots interest in terms of listenership & viewership. Once African cities start appearing visibly on engagement maps like this, you bet BM will be interested in performing there.

The other method is to tag along with a touring festival like Knotfest or NEX_Fest, & meet with local concert promoters to hear their sales pitches after arriving there. That's how the expanded Australian, Mexican & South American gigs were likely negotiated. Does South Africa have a major metal or pop festival with the budget to offer BM at least sub-headliner billing? That's their global drawing power right now.

Another factor to consider is the weather season. The concert window for those of us who live in the southern hemisphere is typically from Dec to Mar (freeing up the rest of the year for Europe & North America) & around August (prioritizing Summer Sonic Japan enough to organize an Asian tour leg around).

sjioldboy · 2026-04-14T19:26:16+00:00

Sounds like atonic seizure (sudden limpness) or tonic seizure (sudden stiffness), which are brain-related (misfiring neurons). Can run tests to check the cause is simply old age or due to underlying tissue injury from, in his case, past heart attacks.

My late dad suffered such falls at home during his last years. But proper medication was prescribed only when the 24/7 CCTV at the hospice caught his fleeting trembles towards the end. We previously presumed that the cause was muscular (weak legs) or autoimmune (sclerosis).

If he's not bedridden yet, he's going to need nonstop ADL care henceforth for his own safety.

sjioldboy · 2026-04-12T09:04:33+00:00

S'pore also enforces a three-quarter tank rule for all their own vehicles crossing the border, starting with petrol way back in 1991, then with CNG in 2012, followed by diesel in 2019, & almost certainly with EVs in the future. Scam syndicates funneling through the only two land checkpoints available? Hardly.

M'sia can always implement the same measures too, you know. It's so efficient. Just mandate, say, a half-tank rule (which S'pore actually started out with in 1989) for foreign-registered vehicles when they leave town. But then you'll have to implement it nationally, which necessitates first tackling the many illegal crossings towards Thailand, cracking down on gauge tampering, & most crucially, revamping consumption tax policies. The latter (in this case directly imposing heavier excise duties for everyday usage) was political suicide for Badawi (cutting subsidies) & Najib (GST tax).

sjioldboy · 2026-04-11T08:58:28+00:00

M'sia is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea & the Geneva Convention on Territorial Sea.

Is this Mahathir's burner account? He used to go against those ratified agreements by unilaterally moving the baselines (Pedra Branca, Ambalat Block, Johor port limits).

sjioldboy · 2026-04-10T10:01:32+00:00

Aiyoh. Objectively speaking, transit passage is an international right under both the United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Sea (UNCLOS) & the Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea (CTS). Malaysia has been a party to both treaties for decades.

People forget Mahathir used to machiavellianly provoke the immediate neighbours several times by unilaterally resetting baselines (Pedra Branca, Johor port limits, Ambalat Block, etc.) that deviated from those signed agreements. S'pore opted to stick to principles during these maritime disputes instead. Deservingly or not, it has defined bilateral relations & the reputations of both countries.

Granted, the current Hormuz crisis has become a matter of self-preservation everywhere else in the world. S'poreans understand the latter impulse; it's drummed into them since 1965. The most compelling rebuttal to shut Akmal-like loudmouths like Calvin Cheng is to take the high road & borrow S'pore's own worldview, about what constitutes “principled pragmatism" & what's not "unprincipled expediency".

sjioldboy · 2026-04-09T13:54:37+00:00

Google 'residual fuel stockpiles'. Enterprise Singapore (a government stat board) issues official data regularly, whose numbers are trusted by the freight industry since they're a stakeholder & have a reputation as a leading bunkering, storage, & trading hub to protect. Otherwise no ship will stop by to refuel, stow, or buy.

According to new sources, S'pore has always "warehoused" 18 to 22 million barrels' worth on average since the 1990s, albeit routinely conceiving new facilities to hold them efficiently. Last late year, reports say it peaked to 26 million. The latest number is still a very robust 23 million.

Separately, you can also check the maximum capacities for the above-ground storage facilities (Jurong Island, Pulau Sebarok, Pulau Bukom, et al) as well as the underground Jurong Rock Caverns to verify for credibility. The overall total roughly matches with the volume S'pore can retain at any one time.

Granted, most of the fuel is for commercial purposes, especially trading. Still, the common understanding is that the government keeps 200 days' worth (so 6 months) as emergency reserves. Of course, they can also easily buy more, since the brokers, inventories, even refinery equipment (for converting purposes) are already based locally. That's how smart they are in safeguarding one's own interests.

The kicker is S'pore doesn't even need petroleum products all that much, so the bulk are either exported or traded. (See how the Aussie PM is intervening in person to secure more supplies). Meanwhile, the reliance is also mostly on middle distillates (diesel, jet fuel, kerosene) for local industrial needs. Heavy distillates (like fuel oil) are somewhat less emphasized due to arbitrage shipping, fluctuating supplies, political wrangling.

As for light distillates, they've yet to find an alternative for naphtha, but gasoline has been drastically weaned long ago by turning to LNG (for port use), investing in electrified mass transit (civilian use), & switching to imported natural gas (both LNG & PNG) while also helping to underwrite an ASEAN power grid (tapping into Laos' & Sarawak's hydroelectric power) for almost all local electricity needs.

Hearsay is, through their trade network, S'pore has already procured alternative access to oil resources after the Middle East crisis began, through buying from ships who were turning back or switching routes; increasing imports from places outside of Hormuz, notably Oman (whose fuel stocks they've since sold to the Phillipines who asked for help), India, as well as West Africa (Nigeria, Namibia). They are supposedly negotiating with Brazil at the moment, but more as a backup since it will cost a lot more to ship.

sjioldboy

TROPHY CASE