I've seen a theory that Kyo's criticism is more towards the careless attitude towards abortion in Japan than the act itself. Too many people have unprotected sex, and if something happens, they just abort, no big deal. To me, that theory makes songs like Obscure easier to stomach. Plus, isn't there a song where he tells his parents they should have aborted him? Maybe he's dealing with some personal trauma in that regard.

I think that all of Kyo's work revolves around one theme: the internal struggle between disgust for life and awareness of its value. So there is no point in arguing about his attitude towards abortion - this is just an artistic image through which he expresses his pain of existance. Anyway, can anyone explain why they released the new version of Obscure after the original?

8:34 I bealive that the shot with the midget and the circus could be a reference to mentally challenge, handicapped, disordered children. Referencing that those who are challenged, disabled and considered a freak, where put into freak shows and circuses for the abnormalities society laughs at and doesn't except them as a normal people. Doctors tell parents of expecting a disabled child and should abort because of it. Some cases are known that parents stick with having there expected challenged child yet in the end they would have a healthy baby. That is my view and opinion on the scene. This is the second video I have found of yours its absolutely wonderful and well put together. Looking forward to more.

fun fact, the female model on DEG "Oboro" PV is also the same model from this Obscure video, you may think it's a continuation of the same story

You could read it literally (abortion) or you could read it allegorically (being a tool for society), also you could read it meta (reflecting the composer's psychological complexities and the evolution of the band around that time). That's where the profound meaning starts to flourish.

Kyo is way more based than some ppl think. Once you delve into the lyrics it really becomes clear. World of Mercy is a great recent example. The often misinterpreted masterpiece Vinushka being another. Dir en grey have been my favorite band for almost 20 years. One of the last great bands I can still respect off the stage too.

I was under the impression that the tree in the one scene was a peach tree and referring to an old folktale about a boy born from a peach tree named Momotaro. It's a deeply belived old folktale and to see him be devoured instead of growing to be the ogre slayer he does in the story may bring about the thoughts that you never know whose life you are ending. That baby could have grown up to be someone influential. Just my thoughts on the imagery but I could be wrong.

Ah yes, the song and video that started it all for me. It absolutely horrified my 13 year old self. Though I turned into a fan just a couple of years later. This video to me is like the rite of passage and to this day I still show this music video to anyone that gets close enough to me lol I'm glad to see someone like you who understands the band and their music to make a video like this. You have earned a subscriber here.

I think the magician and the clown are references of the manga "midori"

Just another Dir en Grey Stan checking in. 😅

Dir en Grey are my all time favorite Japanese band alongside Miyavi along with Kyo's side project Sukekiyo 🤟🏻 I consider underrated since I've seen many people not know who they are. I love Dir en Grey a bit more though due to their heavy, but beautiful and melodic songs .

Love how this mv makes my skin crawl to this day.

This was my first dir en grey song been a fan ever since

After watching this video when it first came out, I dove into Dir En Grey’s discography. Since then I have been listening to them non stop and they have become my favorite band. Thank you Madison Gray

keep up the top shelf content ✨ I think it's important for pro choice Americans who might be pissy about the bands views on abortion to keep in mind the incredibly sexist idea prevalent in Japanese and Chinese history (and still a relevant topic today) of woman *only* having value for sex and bearing male heirs leading to a long history of socially and politically mandated infanticide and forced abortions. A bit different viewpoint than simply wanting abortions for oopsies

Anyone else get the vibes the circus freak part is like the anime "midori" ?

I've been a fan for 18 years! Thank you for making this video ❤

Great analysis, subbed, also i am very pro choice but i can’t help but respect dir en grey for how they make amazing music and MV’s about this and other controversial topics

I JUST GOT AN AD FOR STROLERS UNDER THIS VIDEO- comedic timing at its best lmao

Kyo himself isn't pro-life. It's Japan's attitude he has issues with. And not just about abortion.

I love seeing content and speculation about my favorite band, and this video is of extremely high quality. You definitely did your research! I would love to see your thoughts on the story being told in Saku, Kodou, and Revelation of Mankind.

Loved the smaller deep dive prelude to getting into the music video specifically. The imagery alone is gnarly!

Pretty great vid I didn't really know the background at all i myself haven't listened to much dir en grey but now definitely ill check out more of their stuff

I love Dir en Gray as much as their history and concept. Somehow through their history I find the former bass player from La'Sadies Kisaki interesting, his relationship with the band members themselves later, and how he was at the very top at one point through his labels Matina and UNDERCODE and how he later became a controversial figure in the visual kei community together with Yuuga from Devil Kitty with whom he was connected through the Matina era. Phantasmagoria is also one of his bands that were pioneers throughout the history of Japanese music on KZfaq. Bands like The Gazette and Vidoll were on his label.

I love this break down so much, not to mention your Malice Mizer vid. Maybe Gazette, Pierrot or Nightmare in the future 🥺🤞🏽🙏🏽?

So glad you did this video analysis. Even though I've been a fan of DEG for over 12 years and Obscure PV was my introduction to them, I never actually delved deeper into the meaning.

The lady biting the babies head from the tree like Eve bit the forbidden fruit is the deepest cinematic statement I’ve ever seen

oooh i gotta admit i definitely didnt pick up on the abortion themes when i watched that video as a young teenager lol and its been forever since ive watched the actual video instead of just listening to the music occasionally so this was definitely interesting! also have to say i love your videos theyre so well edited and look really polished, im sure you'll get a much bigger audience if you keep up the good work!! so glad your channel was recommended to me

Damn, I remember seeing the music video years ago for the first time. To say the least the rest of my day was ruined. Still think the music banged tho.

Hey please Do la’cryma christ, Girugamesh, Mucc, Angelo, and if possible Pierrot next

Great analysis man!!! Dir En Grey is one of my favorite bands of all time. I'd love to see u analyze Tool videos as well. They're also another one of my all-time favorite bands.

Amazing video dude plus Dir En Grey has always been one of my favorite bands since 7th grade when I first heard them plus gotten myself into metal music with other bands I love. Fun note my favorite video from them is Glass Skin.

Props for talking about one of the most notorious and misinterpreted DIR song. There without doubts a music anomaly. Great review hope you're able to keep this video up mate Visual Shock for Life 👹🇯🇵🤙

Great Video man, would love it if you could cover some more dir en grey stuff. Keep up the amazing work:)

Kyo is a mad man.

Awesome video, can’t wait to see more DEG in the future!!

Havent gotten into the vid just yet, but the intro makes me like you already, i love D.E.G. and could talk about their tone and sound for hours and hours. anyway i'll spam another at the end.

Amazing!! Very cool deep dive into a classic

love your visual kei content

Dir en Grey is my brothers favorite band ever Thanks for making this! My favorite album from them is honestly Vulgar but one of my all time favorite Diru songs is Lotus Again awesome video dude

Loooove dir En grey, my favorite banda♥️ Kyo, Toshya, Die, Shinya and Kaoru are all badasses

As an author I'm dying to know the significance of the midget with the hat with a cigar posed on the turn table

so the conclusion that can be drawn here is: please use protection, so you won't have to carry the burden of having an abortion and needlessly bring new life into the world, just to cut it short

Honestly if it is anti-abortion it does explain why they perform a completely different version live which ended up on the Viseage of Scratches compilation album if none of the members feel that way... even though I feel like that newer version feels more like a live-action remake of a 2D animated movie that feels (ironically) lifeless compared to the original. Don't get me wrong I do feel like there are merits to the newer version but overall it feels like a different song that feels like it is referencing more than actually doing something and as such feels more like a collection of ideas rather than an actual song... which does make Obscure a song that I am overall conflicted on even though I like the music. Sorry for the rambling comment

How in the hell did I not know this channel existed???! From the Silent Hill themes and SFX, to Dir en Grey and Malice Mizer-this channel is goated. Insta subs!

I agree with you 100%. However, in the current climate regarding abortion, I think it's fair to criticize Kyo's focus on women and how they are the ones responsible for the abortion. A geisha bites the baby's head, geishas are the focus during sex, etc. I personally like his approach to abortion in "mazohyst of decadence" more because the woman is clearly uncomfortable during the procedure, but in Obscure I think he (or the band, idk) decides to completely overlook men's enjoyment of casual unprotected sex. Maybe it would've been a good idea to portrait a geisha being pulled by strings into the tree of life? Just a thought, I still love the song.

I've been a dir en grey fan for almost 13 years. I've seen them live twice and I can't wait to see what you have to say.

"A bit too hot for youtube" ....KZfaq literally has the full uncensored video up with nudity on the thumbnail. Anyways, very good analysis. Regardless of one's views and cultural differences, the music video definitely sends out a clear message. Also, it's metal as fuck so it gets a thumbs up from me. I'll take it over some of the more out-there death metal where I literally can't understand any of the lyrics.

I'm a long time dir en grey fan but this video is too scary for me. Also the giant oni phalluses

This is my favorite music video of all time. I am a morbid person, sooooo…. 😅😅😅 Btw: If you ever get a chance to see Dir En Grey live, go see them! They were amazing!

Please do more dir en grey

I'm actually curious about the part about Japan's history with abortion, I feel like that's important context to take in and isn't as simple as "pro choice" or "pro life" as understood in an american sense.

can u do an explination about saku?? i feel as if that mv has a lot behind it but cant find any research about it!

Awesome video! Keep up the amazing work. It’s great to see that other people enjoy the same bands I got made fun of for loving in high school.

It's always annoying explaining to people how I'm a huge Dir En Grey fan but also very pro-choice.

about the abortion topic, people tend to think in black and white. considering the meaning of dir en *grey*, we should also consider different layers of thought. what i mean is that the song/video shouldnt be seen as just "abortion=bad", the concept of abortion should be questioned along with all the circumstances and reasonings that bring a woman to this choice. (im pro abortion btw and im not pointing my finger at you this is just general talk) i also think that some visuals like the circus clips, especially the one with the small man might be a reference to suehiro maruos work "shōjo tsubaki"

Omg, I remember when this song came out. I feel old tho I know I’m not that old but damn time flies 😓

I would love too see if you could find out of the "Toubabo Koomi" video by Acid Bath has some sort of meaning.

May your channel grow, I realised I watched your Malice Mizer video last week and yet again, well researched, respectful and to the point.

I’ve been waiting for a deep dive video on Obscure for a long while now, glad KZfaq’s suggestions finally gave me what I’ve been waiting on! Great stuff, man! Subbed and ready for more!

Hmm maybe people need to take a deeper dive into the history of Japan and abortion let alone babies and kids before the age of 1. Maybe those thoughts an traditions is why the culture treats abortion and children still in a cold way. For a long time babies and kids were thought to have one foot in the mortal world and one in the spirit world its why it wasn't seen as a issue to have a child die or be killed before the age of 1.

Anything Dir En Grey gets an immediate thumbs up from me

It's funny Obscure was one of the first music video I saw on KZfaq and Vulgar one of my favourite Dir En Grey album

Very well done video. The music video is amazing too. Never really put too much thought into the video itself. I remember watching it in high school. Me being an edgy fuck. I thought it was the sickest shit I’d ever seen. Still do today. It’s the song and video that got me into the band, and they’re my favorite band to this day. Im hoping to see more takes on the band from you. If I could request another music video from them. It would be “cleaver sleazoid”

Since i heard the final by dir en grey im a fan and obscured is the second song that i love fuh

Yess plss bossman pls cover more DIR EN GREY, I'm cummmiiiinnnhgggg

You need more subs. Fuckin' well done videos, my dude. I can't wait to see more J-rock content.

I know Dir En Grey videos don't perform the best, but literally no one else on KZfaq covers them as well as you do. Please don't stop 🙏🏿

Makes my self a bowl of noodles. Goes and check youtube and sees Dir en grey. Reads title of video... You tube wants to fuck with me today

Obscure got me into Dir En Grey. I love the aesthetics of their music videos however I find it very hard to watch Obscures because it's just too much for me. Diru is also the reason for me now loving weird and gory imagery 😅

The fact that Obscure is simultaneously the most Christian and Anti-Christian music video ever, it's even more intriguing honestly lol

thank you for this

Very nice, I agree with you. it's very accurate theory

Can you do MEJIBRAY or Buck-Tick next

whats the background song playing throughout the video?

It's a tad obvious but I feel like one of the overwhelming successes of the song, regardless of if you understand or agree with its political message, is how clearly the atmosphere and sound choices the band employs reference this overarching theme - the guitar sound is so dissonant and machinelike and powerful, the kind of throbbing/churning that is part of the main verse. tremendously disturbing. the drums have this kind of wet thickness to them, it's almost sloppy, almost pseudo-sexual like a kind of fumbling, which then all kicks into high gear for the 'machine' parts. they are creating a continuity between disparate emotional elements, where it can be almost humorous in the lighter parts, mischievous, and then disturbing, and then tragic. it's a difficult thing to accomplish just as a piece of song craft, and is very impressive even before recognizing how those parts reinforce a message. It's almost more effective without understanding what he's saying. The music is also speaking for him.

is this what leads Oboro?

I know about the other Dir En Grey music video that was an obvious nod to being against abortion. However, with this music video I always just assumed it was to showcase how abysmal being promiscuous and having unsafe s*x was. But with this deep dive it definitely adds another layer to Dir En Grey's stance on abortion.

Please more dir en grey content 🖤✨☺

Great video

more v-kei please

Could you to the vkei band The gazette

Love the video

I love the silent hill music and sound effects. Love Dir en Grey as well! Japan has the best music

Can you do a video on the Gazette

Subbed.

I find this Fascinating. Knowing that, like most popular big rock groups, they had a set of groupies that followed them around the US And were let backstage… they’re probably responsible for a few abortions themselves. Makes me look at the video and see how all the blame and demonization is going towards the woman. The men are behind masks or mostly off screen. Even the geisha, being a tradition that while not outright prostitution to multiple men, Did have their “patrons” that they sometimes even ended up marrying, is a profession that Would have engaged in abortion. You get pregnant, you’re not gunna be working for awhile. Than the allusion to loss of virginity. Again all on the women. It’s SO very interesting *coughhypocriticalcough* that this is what their artistic choices were. I mean, if they Really wanted to make a statement, they should have been playing the male parts. Giving light to the hypocrisy And the other half of the equation when it comes to abortion.

Who else owns the "average" dvd this video is on? 🤣👍 after it gets censored or wiped from the Internet at least I have a copy.

Japan might have even more negative views toward abortion because of their aging population. Of course, people either can't have kids, mostly for economic reasons, or choose not to. So maybe we should make an economic system that allows people to raise children, own homes, food, basic amenities etc for everyone. Instead of just an ever fewwer amount of people

as far as i know, the clown was supposed to represent how japanese society and media seen abortion as a clownery or smth

mejibray next pls

awesome analysis ^^ I just thought I should mention, in case anyone is wondering, that abortion is not a political issue here in Japan. To the point that when I mentioned to someone about the situation going on in the US right now, they were just surprised. Like guns, they get it, but abortion? So yeah, probably as mentioned in other comments, the lyrics are more in line with the act itself and in no way endorsing either pro choice or pro life.

i dont think its a literally ode to anti abortion. there's an occult layer behind that,referencing human sacrifice.

And the m words. I hate m words but I like the bugs in their other videos

A B O R T O S U P P O R T O

Snatch

Spanish!!!!!!! Please!!!!

Vulgar is absolutely their best album. I love them so much despite their shitty political opinions lol. I consider them my Morrissey.

Kek