Who has used Dir En Grey's music?

August 9, 2006 11:08 AM

I recently read a wired article about Dir En Grey which mentioned that their music became popular in America due to its presence in video games and (I assume) anime. Does anyone know what games/anime have Dir En Grey's music?
posted by clockworkjoe to media & arts (7 comments total)

anime? really? I never heard that before... well they did the closing theme for the live action version of Death Trance.

I don't know how reliable that article could be, most american reporters get huge amounts of info wrong when it comes to Japanese artists I think.

but a bigger fan of DEG might have more info than me about their video game music.
posted by Julnyes at 11:26 AM on August 9, 2006

I think it's more of a crossover thing. The kind of people who like anime and and video game music started looking for similar styles of japanese music, and they found bands like Dir En Grey. The aesthetic of the band is somewhat similar to anime as well. So, it was fans of anime and video games that made Dir En Grey popular, but I don't think there were any specific games. I could be wrong.
posted by JZig at 11:50 AM on August 9, 2006

Yes I think there is definitely a crossover link between anime and Visual Kei types of bands as far as fans amd popularity goes.

Go to any largish anime focused forum and Visual Kei band discussion will come up.
posted by gomichild at 11:56 AM on August 9, 2006

oh and Dir en Grey fans would probably blow a gasket if they saw that Jpop tag attached to the question. Dir en Grey is not pop music.
posted by Julnyes at 12:07 PM on August 9, 2006

They did the theme song for two animes.

Nippon ichi no otoko no tamashii
Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku

Haven't heard of either of the shows. Never heard of dir en grey either. Found through their japanese wiki.
posted by robofunk at 12:36 PM on August 9, 2006

They aren't an "anime band", or a "cosplay band". In the late 90s, early 2000s, they dressed up in elaborate outfits, and to this day some of their fans dress up in those old outfits, but it's not really what they're about anymore. I guess you could say that they're japanese style "shock rock". I've seen them three times. Their album MACABRE is brilliant - proggy and dark. Their stuff of late is more 'modern rock' - melodic hardcore etc etc.
posted by thedaniel at 1:08 PM on August 9, 2006

hmm, that "i've seen them three times" is sort of out of place and odd - inattentive post revision to blame.
posted by thedaniel at 1:12 PM on August 9, 2006