TFOE fan

English, unofficial fan translations/summaries (mostly TFOE), all by me. Questions/feedback welcome 😺

[argumentl]

☆🎶📻A list of the TFOE radio version summaries can be found here 📻🎶

☆ List of TFOE Niconama fan translations 📽️📺☆

☆TFOE Youtube 2020~ English unofficial fan translations ↓↓↓↓

Ep 1 Haruna Fuuka online slander

Ep 2 Ghosn's escape from Japan

Ep 3 Michelin star suicide

Ep 4 Covid's effect on entertainment industry.

Ep 5 Qurantining in Olympic village.

Ep 6 Antrum, world's most cursed movie

Ep 7 Comme de garcon scandal

Ep 8 Sawajiri Erika (drugs)

Ep 9 Housewives insulting Kawasaki Nozomi

Ep 10 Don Nomura uploads photo of father's corpse

Ep 11 From Miyamoto to you, censorship in the arts

Ep 12 Chinese restaraunts

Ep 13 No Olympic re-selection

Ep 14 Election candidates with same name

Ep 15 Prosecutor's retirement controversy

Ep 16 Space operations squadron

Ep 17 Sharp selling masks.

Ep 18 Baseball/Mercedes Benz

Ep 19 Japanese Chess

Ep 20 Corona Cafe.

Ep 21 BLM/Gone with the wind.

Ep 22 On location at Hosojimaya

Ep 23 Worst album in the world

Ep 24 Botched art repair

Ep 25 Comfort women statue

Ep 26 German virus experiment

Ep 27 Covid dogs

Ep 28 German virus experiment

Ep 29 Fashion brand that doesn't sell clothes.

Ep 30 Adult diapers

Ep 31 Whole band caught covid.

Ep 32 Public bath etiquette, amusement parks.

Ep 33 Baseball, mystery safe, mystery locations

Ep 34 Straight face challenge

Ep 35 If a giraffe wore a bow-tie...

Ep 36 The banning of snacks and sweet drinks displays from next to cash registers.

Ep 37 Dir en grey's vocalist Kyo imposter scam.

Ep 38 Discovery of new geoglyph in the Nazca lines.

Ep 39 Finland's female PM wearing a suit with no bra. Indecent? Sexist?

Ep 40 Appeal for buzzword of the year.

Ep 41 'Antique' displayed in showcase. Its real identity is...

Ep 42 Filling up at old style sweet shop Kamikawaguchiya - Part 1 Part 2

Ep 43 Man who was living in attic above supermarket arrested

Ep 44 'Guitar Center' preparing to file for bankruptcy & Urgent announcement

Ep 45 Walking from Kishibojin, Haunted staircase.

Ep 46 The filming for the Dir en grey 3D Real Avatar music video.

Ep 47 Rapid increase in pigeons at apartment complex, overflowing toilets.

Ep 48 Nike CM inundated with criticism

Ep 49 Ioka Kazuto's New Years Eve tattoo problem

Ep 50 Propheciser with psychic powers, Baba Vanga's predictions

Ep 51 - Amazing technology - Human with modified skull.

Ep 52 - Kami's avatar plan & Momotaro Dentetsu?! The aim behind the huge spread in conspiracy theories and related Youtube videos.

Ep 53 - Trying the pot shaped Baumkuchen.

Ep 54 - Potato UFO!?

Ep 55 - Rage Room

Ep 56 - Dir en grey live with audience scheduled! and, Thinking about the aftermath of inappropriate remarks.

Ep 57 - Self-staged kidnapping

Ep 58 - The truth behind the Dir en gery misprint, and mysterious voice.

Ep 59 - Ten days paid leave for your favourite idol's graduation

Ep 60 - Complaints about TV eating challenge.

Ep 61 - Going to Hardcore Chocolate Part 1 Part 2

Ep 62 - About the mystery voice in episode 58

Ep 63 - Executing the food combo plan Part 1 Part 2

Ep 64 - Kami produced avatar video reveal

Ep 65 - Reptile Cafe

Ep 66 - Tasai's challenge: Ultimate lazy man food: Curry Rice Part 1 Part 2

Ep 67 - Putting ads up in the train without permission, and talking about past flyers.

Ep 68 - Japanese made Star Wars

Ep 69 - Long-awaited visit to Chinese restaurant

Ep 70 - The first live with an audience for Dir en grey in 1 year and 4 months

Ep 71 - The Freedom of Expression flier, made by Kaoru

Ep 72 - 2021 Hanshin Talk

Ep 73 - Ronaldo removes Coca Cola bottles from view

Ep 110 - New Expressions in the style of the erotic novel

Ep 121 - Paul Stanley's past trouble with Gene Simmons (Summary)

Ep 122 - Winning bid for Kurt Cobain's guitar (Summary)

Updates ongoing....

Japanese originals on the official channel can be found at the link below

The Freedom of Expression

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[argumentl]

I just realised this week was the 20th anniversary of my first DIR EN GREY live!

28th May, 2006 Cologne, Germany

Set list

G.D.S.

CLEVER SLEAZOID

-saku-

GARBAGE

Mr.NEWSMAN

Machiavellism

C

Jesus Christ R'n R

THE FINAL

Kodoku ni Shisu, Yueni Kodoku.

dead tree

Kodou

Merciless Cult

Spilled Milk

Beautiful Dirt

THE IIID EMPIRE

Encore:

Itoshisa wa Fuhai ni Tsuki

Higeki wa Mabuta o Oroshita Yasashiki Utsu

Encore 2:

audience KILLER LOOP

THE FATAL BELIEVER

umbrella

MARMALADE CHAINSAW

CHILD PREY

Not that I have the faintest memory of most of the live 🤣 but I remember lining up outside all day, and I remember the crush in the venue when the members came onstage. Wish I could go back and appreciate it better!

Also, 5 songs in the 2nd encore??!

[argumentl]

So cool💜🥹

X

[argumentl]

I did actually go to both days in Osaka!

Day 2 was a lot more energetic than day 1, but both days were beautiful. Kaoru had his spiky hair for both days. He wore his 'Mortal Downer' outfit for day 1 and his sparkly suit for day 2 (as we saw in that gorgeous reel).

On day two I managed to get right up to the front barrier of general, just behind VIP, so had a great view of shimote🥹.

Kaoru had a lot of swagger about him, especially on day 2, he was dancing about a lot, and really getting into it. Im rememberIng him air drumming during the Bloodline drum solo, he was so cool 💜

It goes without saying that the Mortal Downer songs sound so good live, I can't wait to hear more!!

I would normally write more details, but the summer has hit and I am draiiined! (Hence this report being two weeks late also). Will do better in winter!

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Kaoru with Chance Oshiro 🥹

I love this photo💜

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Osaka day 1!

I don't have much to write for now other than it was beautiful!

I will combine the two days into one report.

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Omg!!

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Ongaku to hito X

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Kaoru will appear in the next Ongaku to hito, doing an interview with TOSHI-LOW! 🥰

[argumentl]

Kyo interview-niconama(2026/04/24)

Joe first asks Kyo to do a greeting. 

K: To who?

J: To the viewers...

K: Im here...(Or something like that, he was not exactly trying to speak up, haha) 

Joe says the last time he saw Kyo was outside his house(??) for a photoshoot, around the time of TDIM, but Kyo says he doesn't really remember. 

He doesn't really remember when he started making the new album, but he remembers talking to Kaoru about his ideas, and then spent a long time not being sure about where the album was going. But when the last 3 or 4 songs came in, he finally started to see the album take shape. 

Kyo says the title was the only thing that was rushed about the album (the album itself took longer than expected). Kyo wanted the album to have the feel of this title from the start. 

Joe asks where 'Downer' comes from, is it Kyo's own feeling, or the feeling in the world? Kyo says it comes from him always feeling lethargic, tired, and feeling like being alive is tiring (which he says with a laugh, btw). 

Joe asks if Kyo thinks the album retained that lethargic feeling Kyo has, which is also implied by the title, despite having its release postponed?

K: I zoned out, sorry what?

J: Haha...Pay attention! 

Joe repeats the question, Kyo says, yes, if anything it became even more lethargic. It hasnt yet attained the pinnacle of lethargy, but its getting there. Just like life gets more tiring as it proceeds, the album is just at the start point, its gonna get darker from now on. Joe asks if the lethargy will accelerate/deepen in the next album. Kyo says he doesn't know, maybe the next album will be called 'Downer Downer'. 

A viewer writes in that they can't come to a conclusion about the album, and Kyo says there is no need to come to a conclusion about it. Answers aren't everything, just feel what you feel.

Another viewer writes in that they find the album very moving. Kyo has no comment except to say, the 'Downer' feelIng obviously didn't reach them. 

Another person asks why MOBS was chosen for the MV. Specifically, why did Kyo chose MOBS for the MV?

K: Can't you figure that out when you listen to it?

Kyo says that he talked to the director a lot about the type of atmosphere he wanted for the MV, and because Kyo's ideas align a lot with the director's ideas, they were able to make it work. 

To finish, Joe asks for a word about the MOBS vid from Kyo before they play it. 

K: About Downer Downer? 

J: No! Haha, use that as a possible title for the next album. Now we are talkIng about the first play of the new mv!

K: MOBS

*cut to mv*

[argumentl]

Die interview on Niconama (2026/04/24)

Die says this album feels a lot different from Phalaris because Phalaris was made during the Covid years, and the band didn't even know if they would ever be able to play it live while they were making it. So for that reason, Mortal Downer feels different.

He says the title Mortal Downer was flitting about even soon after the band started making the album, but Joe is confused about the Downer part. Surely, since the release of Phalaris Covid is over, so its a more positive world now? Die replies that the state of the world now is irrelevant to the band, they are just dark anyway. He had the word Downer in his awareness while writing, but it didn't really influence his songs.

Die says they ended up with over 30 candiate songs for the album, and he even thought making a three-disk-album would be easiler than trying to reduce the songs down to one disk. Deciding which songs to discard, and which to keep was difficult. He thinks all the 30+ songs were good songs.

He wasn't really conscious of anything different about his playing during the recording stage, but he was more focussed on how the overall sound of the songs was before mixing.

A comment is read out saying the album feels unlike any other Dir albums, but what does Die think? Die says it feels like an album they were able to make due to the fact they have continued for 29 years. If they had stopped or had paused throughout the years, he thinks they would not have been able to make this kind of album. When the band first formed, he would never have imagined they would be like this, he didnt even imagine they would still be together 29 years later.

A viewer asks what the most difficult song to make was, and Die says all of them were difficult.

Die says he hasn't actually sat down and listened to the album much since the release, but for now he just needs a breather, and after a while he intends to actually listen to it (when he is not playing it live, obv), and he thinks he might be able to view it differently, or discover more in it.

Another question asks if he avoided drinking alcohol while he was making the album. He answers, no he didn't avoid drinking alcohol, he drank as normal. On the contrary, he would suffer if he didn't. He doesn't drink much at home, but he does when he goes out.

Someone asked him his outfit theme, and he said everyone just wore black.

Does he like motsunabe? Yes he does.

Please take off your sunglasses! Only in my downtime. Etc etc.

As his final message, he says he hopes everyone will be listening to this album for a long time to come.

[yridenergyridenergy]

[argumentl]

Toshiya's philosophical debate, for anyone who is interested (Niconama 2026/04/24)

Toshiya says in the last 4 years he has begun to doubt/question a lot of things around him. For example, the colour black looks black but actually contains all colours. Its not how it seems on the surface, and its more interesting to approach everyday life with this awareness.

In terms of making the album, he has times when he doubts whether what he is doing is correct, and even questions whether everyone else is right, and only he is wrong. In the end what you believe is right or wrong always comes down to intuition only.

Joe then says he recently did a 3 hour show with a group of philosophers discussing Descartes, and the concept of 'Cogito, ergo sum' (I think therefore I am), and how you can only be sure of your own self. But Toshiya counters this by commenting that cogito, ergo sum assumes the existence of an ideological self without proof, and so it is contradictory. Joe agrees. His philosopher group were discussing that if you start with Descartes, you can gain satisfaction with what you have, but ultimately your range will be quite short. But if you start with firm assumption of wider ideas, like 'This is black!', you can then start to disect your ideas and explore them more/question them more. Toshiya adds that you can't fully grasp that which you don't demand to start with. Joe continues, as you take small steps forward you are likely to come across this kind of dilema at some point.

Toshiya said that he likes thinking in this way, and he has read some of the criticisms of the new album. He likes the fact that people are viewing the album in different ways, he finds it interesting. He is glad that some people dislike the album, and thinks it would be odd if absolutely everybody loved it.

[argumentl]

So cool!! Effortlessly!

[argumentl]

2026/04/24 Niconama Kaoru interview - summary

Joe starts by looking at Kaoru, laughing and saying he messed up (Re:wind→ At the start of Toshiya's interview, Joe mistakenly introduced Toshiya as the fInal member to appear....Followed by a collective '????!!!' from Kaoru torikos everywhere, haha). Kaoru asks Joe if something is wrong with him, and Joe replies its just because he is nervous havIng all 5 members to interview, and he asks Kaoru to help him calm down, haha.

Kaoru said he arrived at the studio during Kyo's interview, so he didnt hear what Die or Shinya were saying.

Joe reminds Kaoru about his appearance on his own channel before the album release, and asks him to explain a bit more about Isolation, with the increase from 13 tracks to 14 tracks.

Kaoru says he made Isolation without checking with the other members in advance, it was never entered into a vote like all the other songs. He started making it when all the other songs had gone into mixing. When he saw it taking shape, he let the other members listen, and asked if they could include it on the album. Everyone agreed.

Joe mentions that Kyo talked about seeing the full album talking shape after the last 3 or 4 songs came in towards the end. Kaoru expands on this by saying the last few songs were brought into the picture suddenly, so they really helped the album take shape in an instant.

Joe says it must have been a struggle up until then, worrying about which direction the album was heading. Kaoru replies, it wasnt a struggle as such, but its true, he never really knew how the album was gonna turn out. In fact, he still doesn't really know if it really reached completion, but he actually kinda prefers it that way. If he finishes an album with a sense of completion, it feels like he isnt really challenging himself. He prefers the feeling of wondering whether he could do more, or do it differently etc.

Kaoru says there may be some people who find the sound of this album unsettling, and some people might wish for the kind of dramatic song developments that Dir have done in the past, but that would make the songs sound the same as always. Kaoru didnt want that for this album, he wanted it to feel different, unsettling, and difficult to describe in words. However, because he had spent so much time in close proximity with these songs over the last several months, its hard for him to really see if they meet his expectations. He is too close to them, so he still doubts himself.

Joe asks Kaoru if he heard Kyo talking about 'Downer Downer' (According to Kyo, the next Dir album will be 'Downer Downer'). Kaoru did hear it, and says that this album is still the entrance to 'Downer', its not that dark yet. He thinks its a soft, easy to listen to album. Joe laughs, and questions whether thats actually the case, haha. But Kaoru insists, this is only the start. There is more to come yet!

Q&A corner!

The first question/comment is from a 2nd yr junior high school student, who says Dir's music gives them the drive to study and try hard. Kaoru is happy and thankful to hear it, and says that the student will probably be able to attend lives by the time 'Downer Downer' is out. Any earlier, they would have to attend with their parents.

The next comment is from a fan who says they became a Dir fan last year, so this is their first time experiencing an album release. They have been listening to the new album non-stop.

Next, someone asks Kaoru what the most difficult song to make was? Kaoru answers that the most difficult ones are ones that didn't end up on the album, but as for the actual album tracklist, MOBS was probably the most difficult. It was difficult avoiding his usual habbits in the song progression. How to really draw out the current Dir en grey, instead of just doing what he personally likes was challenging.

But the fact that this album was released means the possibility of an interesting future for Dir en grey.

Joe asks Kaoru for a final message to viewers before switching the paid section. Kaoru says 'Should I point to the link and ask everyone to sign up?'....but there was no link 😅

Highlights from the other interviews

Kyo had me laughing, zoning out and not hearing Joe's question. Joe had to tell him to pay attention.

Toshiya and Joe just discussed philosophy for 10 mins.

During the paid section messages from Miya, Reo, and Kamijo were played to the members.

Kyo and Die appeared together first, Kyo apparently wanting to leave early. After that Toshiya, Shinya, and Kaoru appeared together. They were discussing pre-live routine amongst other things.

[argumentl]

Absolutely WILD is the only way I can describe that MV! Wow! 🤣😅

[argumentl]

ゲスト：命-mikoto-(-真天地開闢集団-ジグザグ)音楽情報ライヴ『いじくりROCKS！』#74

ゲスト：命-mikoto-(-真天地開闢集団-ジグザグ)音楽情報ライヴ『いじくりROCKS！』#74

逹瑯がメインMCの定期生配信番組、音楽情報ライヴ『いじくりROCKS！』第74回目！毎回、洋邦問わず音楽業界の様々なニュース・トピックスを独自の切り口で拾い上げていく「いじり型・音楽情報番組」。MCが気になるアーティストや、クリエーター、文化人など幅広い分野を網羅。ゲストコーナー

Kaoru mention at 49:12! They are talking about when Kaoru appeared on Tatsuro's radio show in 2013 (Translation of the 2013 appearance HERE) and Tatsuro asked Kaoru what he names his main characters when he plays RPGs like Dragon Quest etc. Kaoru answered that he always names them 'Kaoru'. Dancho comments that Kaoru seems like just the type to use his own name 🤭