♚ After Dark

Beautiful Stranger 

What I want the most is time. And being able to stay in shape without needing to sleep. 

- He of course isn’t a happy person, and he also could not feel a 100%-happy person’s happiness at 100%. 

- Kyo really dislikes traveling abroad and doesn’t see himself as successful. He sees more success in someone who could tour across Japan solo. For anything that he does, he feels that someone else could have done it much better. 

- He started a band and did feel some satisfaction at the beginning which caused him to continue, but the adjacent feeling of continuous dissatisfaction also started from the beginning. 

- He does not hate foreigners because he understands that they want to watch Dir en grey and he understands the process they have to go through to visit other countries like Japan. For him, since he does not speak English, it’s a lot of stress to have to apply for a visa and answer to questions on how many days he plans to spend in the other nation, what his profession is and what he plans to do there, etc. He would be happier if everyone could come to Japan to attend Dir en grey live shows instead. [Also keep in mind that the interview was conducted most likely before the North American This Way to Self-Destruction tour.]

- For him, love is also between men and men, and women + women. “I don’t care about gender in love.” He is not homosexual himself, but he doesn’t deny those who are, he finds it beautiful and pure. Kyo thinks that Japan is probably late in accepting this reality.

- The theme of love was not defined when he started sukekiyo, but it came to be as the band wrote more songs and lyrics.

- The idea of “statelessness” (lack of ethnic definition or nationality) was a theme at the beginning of sukekiyo.

- Kyo doesn’t want to work outside of bands, in solo.

- People apparently often say that he is in a hurry, but from his perspective, everyone is just late/slow. He doesn’t see himself as impatient or in a hurry.

- Kyo wants to finish everything as soon as possible and move on to the other thing. Even in a live show, regardless of any changes he does for example to his makeup for the encore, he is usually ready and waiting on the side of the stage early on in the break. He said: “If you think that you’re waiting a long time for the encore, know that I’m not the cause for this delay. (laughs)”

- Apparently Dir en grey’s manager Tommy said of Kyo that he was the type of person who wouldn’t live long (?). 

- “As a human being, my feelings change every day. Sometimes I feel good, sometimes bad. I want to express that directly.” 

- Kyo has been listening to and liking old Madonna lately.

- He is amazed by the other members (of sukekiyo). There was definitely some influence of the 80s sound in INFINITUM, and he usually mentions that he would like something and the other musicians find a way to do it. 

- Even though sukekiyo’s next tour begins on his birthday, he said that it doesn’t mean much, that it is mostly the entire dedicated fanbase who celebrates. When he is celebrated, he just thinks about how his life won’t last anyway. 

- He got tattoos on his legs out of feeling dissatisfied with his current state/being tired with himself, always seeking more even though he does not have an ideal in mind. 

Don’t Panic. You just might turn out to be one of the lucky ones. 

Do not join in the acts. The circus will think you are one of its own and keep you. 

The music is trying to charm you. Play hard to get. 

The Ringmaster will look like they have two heads. They do. Do not listen to either; they both lie.

Do not go into the back tent. Yes, I do hear the screams and yes, I hear what they are saying. But they do not belong to us, they belong to the circus. Come away now, we mustn’t be seen here. 

The clowns don’t look at all like you expect them too. I would advise against looking for their faces. 

Eat nothing that is offered to you. You can’t know from what plane of existence it came from, or to what new master it will bind you.

The Circus does have animals. They are not from this plane of existence, but they certainly are magnificent. One even looks like a duck. 

Do not wander the grounds around the Circus. You may think you know these fields like the back of your hand, you grew up here after all. But these are no longer those fields; something new has taken their place for the night. 

Never allow the Circus to set up its tents on your land, or else you too will be replaced by something new. But only for the night.

The Magician is fake. The Automaton is real.  

I must insist you do not enter the Hall of Mirrors. What comes out will not be you and where you come out will not be here. 

All your earthly problems will disappear if you join the circus, and they will be more than happy to take you. After all, a human is a novel attraction and can always be relied upon to draw a crowd. 

The washrooms are on the left beside the Big Top.

If you can manage it, just don’t go. Just don’t go to the Circus, it will save you quite a bit of trauma, and both of us quite a bit of trouble. But I suppose I cannot stop you.

You mustn’t scream when the acrobats come out. They will hear you, and insist you join them. They will tell you it will be fun, but your bones aren’t meant to bend that way. They will break you. 

Despite what you see at the Circus, you mustn’t make a sound. You must not weep, scream, or rage. At the Circus, every sound you make is laughter and if you aren’t careful, they may think that you are enjoying the show.