Sunday, February 19, 2006

I LOVE MY GACKT BABY!!! He's so CUTE and HILARIOUS!!!
font size="4">Profile:
Gackt M.S. Camui (ƒKƒNƒg, but most often written in English, even in Japan) (pronounced "ga-ku-to" or "gak-to" ) is a songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. He is very popular in Japan but has fans from all over the world, which he calls his "Dears". Gackt claims to have been imbued with certain psychic powers after nearly drowning in the Okinawa sea. He is a former singer for Cains:feel and Malice Mizer. It was during his time with Malice Mizer that he began to achieve national recognition, attracting a large number of fans to the group. Gackt enjoys egg salad and curry, and has been married once before.

He plays the trumpet, tuba, horn, trombone, piano, guitar, drums, bass, other standard orchestral instruments, and most traditional Japanese instruments.

Gackt can speak Japanese, English, Mandarin, Korean, and French, with varying degrees of fluency.

Life:

Early life Gackt has never released his real name or birth date. Since his Malice Mizer era, Gackt joked to have been a vampire born on July 4, 1540. Media speculation states that he was actually born on July 4, 1973.

Gackt was born in Okinawa, Japan and was raised by strict parents. At the age of seven, Gackt nearly drowned in the sea of Okinawa. According to his autobiography (Jihaku), Gackt developed paranormal abilities after being saved, seeing things and people that others could not. As a result, he was sent into isolation at a mental hospital. In the same autobiography, Gackt claimed that he did not want to have children so he wouldn't pass these problematic abilities to them.

Gackt is and has always been extremely competitive and has stated, "It's not that I want to win; it's just that I don't want to lose." His parents, both musicians, began his formal lessons in classical piano when he was three, even though it was physically impossible for him to play. After many years of having no real interest in these lessons, his competitive nature made him want to master the piano after seeing a friend play better than him. His musical preference later shifted to brass instruments after seeing his father play the trumpet. When Gackt turned seventeen, his taste in music changed from classical to rock. As a result of this, he began learning to play instruments that deviated from the classical standards of music, eventually focusing on contemporary rock.

Gackt started as a drummer for both a Japanese recording studio and an unknown band. Later on he formed the band, Cains:feel.

Solo career:
After leaving Malice Mizer, Gackt began a solo career with a band he created called "GacktJOB," which consisted of several members including:
You (violin/rhythm guitar), Yukihiro "Chachamaru" Fujimura (lead guitar/effects), Masa (rhythm guitar), Ren (bass), Toshi (drums), Yosh (choreographer/dancer), and Igao (keyboards). GacktJOB later added Ryuichi Ryu Nishida on drums and Ju-ken on bass. Gackt's live concerts often included homoerotic play (fan service) with some of these members.

Gackt's solo career has been a great success as he continues to maintain a level of popularity far greater than what he achieved with Malice Mizer. His fans (whom he calls "Dears") are from many different countries around the world.

In addition to music, Gackt has been involved as an actor in various TV commercials (usually playing himself), and in the Japanese drama Hero's Hero. He also co-wrote and co-starred in the hit vampire movie Moon Child with HYDE, vocalist of L'Arc~en~Ciel.

Gackt is also officially an author, having written Moonchild: Requiem, and several as-yet unpublished short stories. In 2003 he published his autobiography titled Jihaku, in which he displayed deep thoughts and described events that had a profound impact on his life. Gackt has worked as a runway model for his favorite designer, Yoshiyuki Konishi; designed his own stage-wear and clothing line; and opened his own private, members-only restaurant and bar, Tamaly Bar, complete with his own personal and family recipies.

Gackt was also involved in the PlayStation 2 game Bujingai, for which he performed some of the voices as well as doing motion capture for the game's protagonist. He has also appeared in Japanese commercials for the hit game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and his name appeared on a dog tag in the game. Other voice-over work of Gackt's included the character 'Seiji' from the anime New Fist of the North Star (Shin Hokuto no Ken). He also performed the ending theme �uŒŽ‚ÌŽ��v, ("Tsuki no Uta") for the anime Texhnolyze.

Rumors on the internet cite Gackt as the model for the Final Fantasy VIII lead character design of Squall Leonhart. Said rumors state that the designer of Squall Leonhart was a big fan, but Gackt has never been officially credited.

However, a character with his likeness will appear in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. The character will be created using video-capture and digitally inserted into the game instead of the more traditional animation. Although having little direct involvement in the game, his character is revealed through various G Reports hidden throughout the game. Gackt's identity in Dirge of Cerberus is thus known as G, the prototype to Shin-Ra's super-soldier, Sephiroth (or codename S).

In early 2005 he was asked to write and perform the theme songs for the Gundam movie Zeta Gundam: A New Translation, a movie eagerly anticipated by the anime-community. The songs were 'Metamorphoze' and a rearrangement of a previously released song,"Kimi ga Matteiru kara".

Gackt's next single, Redemption, is also the theme for Dirge of Cerberus, and will be released alongside the game (and its soundtrack) in January for Japan.

Comments (6)