Since there has been no translated book on the market, my only bet was with translations done by fans. I can only assume that they remain as faithful as possible to the original source. Despite a few spelling errors, it's easy to understand. This is the biography of Hayashi Yoshiki, the beloved leader and drummer of X Japan. We really love our Yo-chan because we believe that he puts maximum effort in his performances. His occasional bursts of cuteness overload also results in the fandom breaking into heaps of moe. Today I will give my impressions.
I'm pretty sure I missed a lot of information, mostly images, in the book because a good portion of the content was hidden on the forum. You would have to comment to unlock content, but I wasn't that motivated to do so. A lot of the content in the book was already things fans already knew such as the death of hide, the death of Yoshiki's father, and the evolution of X Japan. More importantly was the little details to give you a more descriptive image of the actual event. The book is written as if it were a story trying to make things sound elegant or dramatic. I personally was put off by that type of writing, but I think it kind of fits Yoshiki's image as an elegant musician. However I would much rather prefer the writing be more straightforward, but not losing description.
The mood in the book was apparent in the beginning. It was heart wrenching to read about hide's death from Yoshiki's point of view. I don't know hide and never will, but as a stranger far removed from this event, it was indeed very sorrowful. The grief depicted in the book was very real going from Yoshiki's uncertainty to denial to acceptance. It became quite clear to me that hide's death carved out Yoshiki's heart. The book takes a more jovial turn when talking about Yoshiki's childhood. These chapters were my favorite because I try to imagine the 11 year old Yoshiki. I found the toaster story extremely amusing and couldn't hesitate to share the story with my friend. Who brings a toaster to school?! As humorous as this anecdote can be, I think it highlights much of Yoshiki's positive qualities as a generous person and also spoiled in a way. The much older Yoshiki is depicted in the book like your typical rebel with a heart of gold. I don't know how much of it was dramatized (I take it with a grain of salt).
A very different childhood can create a very different person. Health has no doubt been a troubling issue in Yoshiki's life. I think this is where his confidence and persistence saves him from being an inward person. He is not the type of person to simply give up. Had he not persisted on becoming a rock star, we would not have X Japan. I always imagined Yoshiki as a wild child and indeed the book confirmed my thoughts. I guess with his kind of upbringing, it would only seem natural. Wild child Yoshiki rocks our universe. Maybe if the biography did get officially translated, I might consider purchasing it as a collection item, but I'll probably never read it again like I do with The Hobbit. It feels like like a gimmick to get fans to buy products. I'm sorry Yoshiki. Unless you come up with an epic book, I think I'll just read The Hobbit again.
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