Invite to Immorality reviews

[Midi]

o_O I thought K's guitar was the one that was barely audible, and Mana's was the louder of the two, after which I drew the conclusion that it was a recording error, rather than Mana being greedy.

 

[eyeball_princess]

mm well at the live I couldn't hear Mana's guitar at all >_< quite dissapointing. on the dvd you can hear it just a little bit more but... well, still not enough XD;

 

[Geisha]

Having watched my limited edition DVD a couple of times now I think I can say with conviction that it was well worth the money.

Picture and sound quality of the concert DVD are excellent, especially considering the constraints M:N had to work with: poor organisation on the ground, an unfamiliar venue that was so small and so crammed full with people that there was barely any room for the cameras to move around and a sound system that left a lot to be desired. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), I think the DVD captures the raw energy of the live and the charged-up mood within the audience very well. There is the occasional awkward camera angle or glare from the lighting system, due to which some of the best parts of the live – e.g. Mana, Juka, Kazuno and K standing together at the edge of the stage during Ange and Juka spinning to Pageant – don't come across as well as they could have but nevertheless I think it gives a good impression of what an incredible live act M10M are.

The extras are very enjoyable too. The Munich and Paris live documentaries were recorded with a handicam, which unfortunately makes for poor sound quality but at the same time it gives a lovely "fly on the wall" feel. Watching the band's backstage antics and their nervousness immediately before going onstage to play outside Japan for the very first time is priceless. My only regret is that there is no footage of the autograph event in Munich but, given the controversy surrounding it, perhaps that's something Mana would rather not remind us of.

I think the Shibuya AX digest is a little short. I would have preferred it to be more like the Munich and Paris documentaries with the live performance of Unmoved at the end but given the circumstances (Juka having announced his departure from M10M only days before) it is perhaps not surprising that we aren't seeing more.

The travel diaries (AKA: "Sightseeing and Posing with Mana") are great fun, as is the image shooting documentary, but my favourite apart from the Munich and Paris live documentaries is the Japan Expo documentary, especially Mana playing with the giant inflatable Orangina bottle and posing in EGL for the Magnifique photo book. It's amazing how his usually very masculine movements change to ultra feminine as soon as he puts on a dress!

The only thing I'm a little disappointed with is the photo "book", which is really a photo booklet. I had expected it to be a bit more substantial but the photos are very beautiful, so oh well...

Overall I think M:N have once again produced a solid release that will be a treasure in every fan's collection!

I also think the extras are very well divided between the regular edition and the limited edition: you can buy the regular edition without missing out on anything essential to do with M10M's first tour outside Japan (e.g. the live documentaries and the Shibuya AX digest), whereas hardcore Mana fans can get some additional extras that won't necessarily interest more casual fans (e.g. Mana's travel diaries and photo shoot documentaries) by buying the limited edition. I really hate it when someone produces 2 versions of the same product where, despite major overlaps, it is impossible to not buy both versions if you don't want to lose out in a major way, or having to buy a very expensive luxury edition that includes lots of non-essential stuff in order to get something absolutely essential. That's definitely not the case with this DVD, so well done M:N!

am I really the only one who noticed that Mana's guitar is barely audible?
I was expecting everyone to state that but seemingly no XD;

I think Mana's guitar is quite prominent. In fact, I think it is almost a little too prominent at times, e.g. during Nocturnal Romance it is sometimes the only thing I hear.

i spotted geisha a couple times. she was the one with jewels on her forehead correct?

Yes, that's me.

 

[+Ko-chan+]

Having watched my limited edition DVD a couple of times now I think I can say with conviction that it was well worth the money.

Picture and sound quality of the concert DVD are excellent, especially considering the constraints M:N had to work with: poor organisation on the ground, an unfamiliar venue that was so small and so crammed full with people that there was barely any room for the cameras to move around

Yeah, if I'm honest to myself there was a point as I watched the concert in Paris where I thought, "Hhm, the stage is too small...". And oh yes, the hall was very cramped with people, I was a little bit..."shocked" when I saw it. And when I compared the stage in Paris to the one in Japan (Shibuya AX digest) I thought that it would have been great if they could have played on such a big stage in Europe.

The features are great indeed...no argument about that ^_^. There is - and never was - not a single moment where I regret having bought this DVD.

+++

One other question. I wasn't able to watch the concert (the whole DVDs) on TV yet, because my DVD player got damaged right before I received my DVD :\. Is it possible that the video quality is a lil' bit bad when I watch it on the computer?

 

[Camuflagem]

Is it possible that the video quality is a lil' bit bad when I watch it on the computer?

yes. i noticed this because i watched my dvd both in my tv and in my computer . in my computer screen it was a little bit worse in comparison to my tv resolution.

 

[Formless]

I just hope in the future that Mana does kinda Make Moi dix Mois a band instead of a project. I think we should live malice mizer were it is and move on.. Moi dix Mois shouldnt be an indie band anymore. And they've done alot compared to other bands, toured japan and europe in 4 years where dir en grey did it in 7-8?

Their tours aren't as extensive and wide spread though. Dir en grey is also playing Yokohama Arena which is a much larger live than where Moi dix Mois is playing.

 

[Elec]

My only regret is that there is no footage of the autograph event in Munich but, given the controversy surrounding it, perhaps that's something Mana would rather not remind us of.

Call me ignorant, but I don't know a thing about this... I hope I'm not opening any wounds, but I'd like to know about it; thanks.

And good review of what we're getting. I'm considering getting this one.

 

[navate]

My only regret is that there is no footage of the autograph event in Munich but, given the controversy surrounding it, perhaps that's something Mana would rather not remind us of.

Call me ignorant, but I don't know a thing about this... I hope I'm not opening any wounds, but I'd like to know about it; thanks.

And good review of what we're getting. I'm considering getting this one.

They had a lottery for the people who would meet&greet Mana in Munich a few days before the concert to have Magnifique signed. They required that you had to own the photobook to meet him...lots of people started complaining about the unfairness of having to buy Magnifique, and there were people who entered their names into the lottery and then refused to go, just so others wouldn't get their spots, and otherwise boycotting the event. I think that was the bulk of the problems.

I agree about the awesome reviews--thank you everyone! I'm so sad I couldn't buy the DVD when the Limited Edition was available but I think once I save up enough funds I'll get the regular edition anyway

 

[Sumire_hitsugi]

I agree about the awesome reviews--thank you everyone! I'm so sad I couldn't buy the DVD when the Limited Edition was available but I think once I save up enough funds I'll get the regular edition anyway

Ditto. Thanks for the reviews, everyone. They are very interesting to read! Au revoir, limited edition....

I have yet to get Scars of Sabbath, so...o.o

 

[Aida]

My review of the dvd..
I think is very amazing,o.o yeah the stage was very small
but the sound is really cool with the 2 guitar !!
I just was shocked when I saw Juka in Pageant XD jumping and moving a lot but I like it
I say that in general the dvd is amazing
the extras I was expecting a little more but I think the extras were very cool, also the book
o.o now that I remember didn't Mana said about secret tracks? O_o I haven't found them XD
anyway the limited edition is totally worth for me

Jaaaaaaaa

 

[Dix Princesse]

They had a lottery for the people who would meet&greet Mana in Munich a few days before the concert to have Magnifique signed. They required that you had to own the photobook to meet him...lots of people started complaining about the unfairness of having to buy Magnifique, and there were people who entered their names into the lottery and then refused to go, just so others wouldn't get their spots, and otherwise boycotting the event. I think that was the bulk of the problems.

Did they ever say who established that they had to have Magnifique?

 

[navate]

I'm not sure... I think they might have, but I don't remember and I don't feel like digging through the old threads to find out. In any case, it's gone and past now; as far as I'm concerned, it wasn't over the top to have a Mana-purchase to be signed, though makig it only the photobook might have been a little restrictive. I'm far more ashamed of the people who got so worked up over it than I am angry at whoever decided to make the policy. Commericalism is what it is, but pointing fingers at Mana and blaming it all on him is so not cool and gets old really fast.

Anyway...the answer to your question might be buried in the depths of the forum somewhere (try a search?) but right now I don't see why we need to worry about it. :] It's a past thing that hopefully won't be repeated by either side.

I am such a tard...I went to edit and I quoted myself instead. DX

 

[faith]

Considering I'm sure some people (myself included) got it just cause this was the last they might see of Juka...there was a heck of a lot of Mana on there. I watched bits of it and probably won't watch the entire thing ever.

EDT: But, like it is Mana's DVD. But still.

 

[Geisha]

Did they ever say who established that they had to have Magnifique?

The event was set up by Neo Tokyo at the insistence of fans who wanted autographs but there was some debate about exactly whose idea it was that you had to have Magnifique. Neo Tokyo said that M:N insisted on it but people who wrote to Mon+amour International to complain were told that it was all Neo Tokyo's idea. Anyway, since Mana has this unfortunate reputation of being arrogant and greedy it was all blamed on him, which created a lot of bad blood ahead of the concert. As Navate said, some people entered the draw just so they could stand him up, which I thought was unbelievably childish and mean.

I watched bits of it and probably won't watch the entire thing ever.

How can you give a fair verdict if you haven't watched it?

 

[necromancy]

ok I know this sounds stupid but...

Did anyone notice know the headbanging changed? Like Juka does this werid side to side head nodding thing. and how Mana seems to headbang a little harder then when he did on SoS... I think K headbangs the best though. When they headbang it seems really odd because it's like they only headbang from the neck up... ?_? I don't know... it just looks like that to me, but I think it is different so I like it and think it is interesting.

 

[MasterKHS]

ok I know this sounds stupid but...

Did anyone notice know the headbanging changed? Like Juka does this werid side to side head nodding thing. and how Mana seems to headbang a little harder then when he did on SoS... I think K headbangs the best though. When they headbang it seems really odd because it's like they only headbang from the neck up... ?_? I don't know... it just looks like that to me, but I think it is different so I like it and think it is interesting.

I have yet to see SoS but i too noticed espically during unmoved the neck up headbanging... probobly becuase Mana and K have guitrars around their necks and it would look awkward for Juka to go all out when its nearly phycially imposible for everyone else to do it...

 

[faith]

How can you give a fair verdict if you haven't watched it?

I think I can do so by my lack of desire to watch it after the first 20 minutes

 

[Daewen]

oh i wish i could have afforded the dvd!

 

[katamari damacy]

Hmmm...everyone seems to not like the fact that Kazuno and Tohru got barely any camera time. I guess that's the reason I like Blitz5Days so much, everyone got just as much camera time as Kyo or Toshiya (the seemingly more popular members).

 

[Formless]

Uh oh! Go from Jrocknyc reviewed Invite to Immorality (and he also made the common mistake people have been making and typing "immortality". Hey, I know I used to when I first saw it.). Anyway, all I have to say is "ouch!". x__X

I can understand Go though. He's a musician and well versed in musical styles and techniques. While the review may not be what i think of Invite to Immorality, I respect his opinions because he's not biased. Not even to bands he likes. Hell, he gives bands he likes bad reviews when they put out something he doesn't like, without even the slightest hint of favorism. But yes, hardcore M10M and Mana fans.. take caution before reading.

http://jrocknyc.blogspot.com/

EDIT: I'm still pondering whether I find the review harsh or not. I mean, as we've all countlessly said, opinion is opinion. And while I like how most of the songs sound on the DVD I'm trying not to be biased toward his obvious dislike for it. Hm..

2nd EDIT: navate informed me that Go has a strong Mana dislike that I wasn't aware of. So maybe there IS some bias here. >__> Thanks navate.