Camui Love

I’m sure that you’ve all had questions like these before:
“How old is GACKT?”
“He doesn’t eat rice?!?!”
“Why won’t GACKT come to (insert country here)?!?!”

Worry not my fellow Dears – the FAQ page contains common questions about GACKT (much like the ones above) and my personal answers to them. Because these are my own answers, they may come off as a little biased; however, I tried to stick to actual facts rather than my own opinions. Hopefully this page will help you understand the man just a little more. This page also has questions pertaining to this site, so if something isn’t working right or confuses you, just put a comment here and I’ll try to fix it A.S.A.P.
Also, if you have a question that you don’t see up here, feel free to leave a comment on this page and I promise to answer it to the best of my ability.

GACKT:

Note: Please refer to GACKT’s autobiography, Jihaku, or translated interviews for more detailed answers to some of these questions.

Q: What is GACKT’s real name?

A: As far as the public knows, GACKT’s full name is Gackt Camui, sometimes spelled as Kamui. His name has also been seen as Gackt M.S. Camui and there have been many rumors as to what the M.S. could mean. Some claim it is the initials of his actual name, while others jokingly state that it is probably “Mobile Suit” in reference to his love for Gundam =p. Satoru Okabe is the most popular rumored name of his, along with a couple of others which elude my brain for the moment. Others state that Gackt might actually be his real name because Gackt is a real Japanese name. Despite what his real name may be, I think it’s safe to say that we would still call him GACKT regardless. After all, you don’t see many people calling “50 Cent” Curtis Jackson or “Miyavi” Ishihara Takamasa, right?

Q: I’ve heard that GACKT’s name means something. What is it?

A: As you may or may not know, GACKT has a special and amusing way of writing his name in kanji. The following was translated and written by amaiakuyume (thanks girl!):

Gakuto is a real Japanese name usually written something like “学斗”, but Gackt has his own special way of writing his name:

神 (KAMU: god, divinity)
威 (I: dignity, majesty, power)
楽 (GAKU: pleasure, fun, music)
斗 (TO: an old character meaning either an obsolete measurement for liquid, or the Chinese name for the Big Dipper, but basically now a placeholder kanji used for its sound in names)

I guess the simplest translation would be “Divine power of/through music”, but “kamui” is also the Ainu (an indigenous group native to northen Japan) word for the Gods, or more precisely, an aspect of divine power incarnated as a spiritual/physical entity (the kamui of storms, for example). So it could be more loosely interpreted as “Gackt, the incarnation of the divine power of music“.

Q: Does GACKT truly believe he can see spirits?

A: Ever since GACKT almost drowned in the Okinawa Sea when he was seven years old, he claims that he has been able to see the spirits of the departed. He has mentioned his “gift” on various talk shows and in Jihaku, as well as in blogs on occasion. Obviously I cannot tell you whether this is true or not.

Q: Does GACKT actually think he’s a 400-something-year-old vampire born in 1540? What’s his real age?

A: Nope. It was just a running gag from his Malice Mizer days and at the time it added a lot of interest and mystery to his already ambiguous persona. He also tends to make references that relate to him being a vampire, such as sucking blood or his skin melting because of the sunlight, but he only does it as a form of entertainment. In the end it’s all just a little joke and a cover-up for his real age. Speaking of his real age, there has been much speculation as to when he was born. Many believed that he was born in 1973 after the Sixth Day and Seventh Night tour, when a tombstone with his name on it had this date written on it. And others believed he may have been a few years younger, but the general consensus was that he was in his mid-thirties. It was revealed during the NEMURI x GACKT Project press conference that GACKT will be turning 37 in 2010, meaning that he is currently 36 and that the speculations about his birth year were true. GACKT himself said that he didn’t mean to hide his age, but didn’t have the time to go and correct this (a proper translation can be found here, thanks to excused_early).
I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll still keep count on his “vampire” years for fun (469 btw) ;p

Q: What instruments can GACKT play?

A: GACKT learned how to play the piano starting at the age of three. His father was good at playing the trumpet, so GACKT also learned how to play brass instruments such as the trumpet, tuba, and trombone (I wouldn’t be surprised if he learned how to play all brass instruments..). During high school, GACKT shifted his attention to percussion instruments like the drums. It was probably during his time with CAINS:FEEL that he also learned how to play string instruments like the guitar and bass. GACKT can also play the violin and traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen and koto. Basically, if you asked GACKT what instruments he can play, he would reply: “Anything.”

Q: Does GACKT eat anything?! He’s as skinny as a twig!!

A: Calm down; yes, GACKT does eat regular meals like you and I do. He just happens to eat very healthy, drinks vegetable juice in the mornings, and rarely eats carbohydrates because he believes he would get fatter by eating them. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t eat carbs at all; he treats himself to ramen and the like on occasion. Although his apparent obession with getting fat is questionable, his goal is to have a beautiful, yet strong body – one that can withstand his harsh training schedule and that can protect his loved ones. And eating the way he does helps to achieve that goal.

It should be noted that no matter how hard he may work out, GACKT will always have a fairly small body size due to genetics. He used to have 6% body fat but it has gone up to around 10% in 2009. Still skinny, but “healthier” looking according to fans. Also I think this question depends on what picture or video of GACKT you are looking at. If it was sometime during the beginning of his solo career (1999-2004-ish), then yes, he was much skinnier back then. GACKT states that he was always very sick as a child and this continued as he got older. You can see the effects of this during the earlier tours and especially during the Mars/Rebirth era, when he contracted pnemonia and had to be hospitalized for some time. But looking at pictures from 2005-now, I think he’s looking healthier and more beautiful with each passing day ❤

As GACKT will be performing as Nemuri Kyoshiro this year and the next, he has recently started to lose weight for the role. Don’t be alarmed though – actors do this all the time when preparing for certain roles, so naturally GACKT would follow suit. Personally though… I hope he doesn’t lose too much weight ;____;

Q: Why does GACKT faint after every single live?! Is he unhealthy or something?!

A: As surprising as this may sound, GACKT does not faint after every single live. He may need help walking around after a performance because he’s so exhausted, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he fainted. The only reason we assume that he does is because the concert footage we see is the last performance of the tour, and of course he’s going to give it his all. When he does faint, it’s usually because he performs his ass off on stage and pushes himself to the limit. Think about it: the man sings, dances, jumps around, flips, screams, and plays piano/guitar/violin/etc., all the while wearing some heavy or hot outfit under 50 bazillion stage lights. Add the fact that he pushes himself to do his best every single performance and rehersal, even if he’s tired or sick, and he’s bound to flop down once in a while (I really wish he didn’t though ><; ). But don’t worry too much guys – the staff are always around to help him out and he has a doctor standing nearby, just in case he does push himself too hard.

Q: Okay, I gotta know: Is GACKT straight? Or is he… you know?

A: GACKT has stated on more than one occasion that he likes women. In fact, the man loves women and talks about them whether it’s during an interview or a blog post. He was actually once married to a Korean woman around the time when he joined Malice Mizer, but due to some crazy rabid fangirls, his wife had a nervous breakdown and they got divorced. GACKT has also had more than one girlfriend in his lifetime and mentions certain stories with a couple of them in Jihaku.

Despite these facts, there are things that GACKT has said or done that make people think otherwise.  For instance, he has stated before that if HYDE (of L’Arc~en~Ciel and VAMPS) was a woman, he would fall for her. He has also stated things about YOU (guitarist of GACKTJob) that he would love to find in a woman – basically, the two have qualities that he likes and wishes he could find in a girl. GACKT has also stated that although he could love a man emotionally, physically he needs a woman. And GACKT is known to have performed fan service with GACKTJob on more than one occasion (i.e. the Vanilla live performance during the MARS tour, kissing Chachamaru and feeling up YOU during Marmalade on the Kagen no Tsuki tour, etc…). It should be noted, however, that other bands perform similar fan service in Japan as well. This fan service is mostly used as a way of exciting or shocking the audience and adds another element into an artist’s/band’s performance. Think of it like girls kissing each other in America – it’s exactly like that in Japan, except between men.

I would post more about this topic, but I believe reading Jihaku and interviews on his love life would answer this question more than I ever could. In the end, it all boils down to your personal opinion and whether or not you’ll take GACKT’s own words as the truth.
The one thing I ask for, however, is that you do not base his sexual preference just by the way he looks. I’ve heard and received too many comments on how he must be gay or at least bi just because he’s “pretty”/”looks like a girl”/”has feminine features” and the like. Comments like those are really immature and have no real purpose other than to provoke some kind of reaction from dedicated fans, so please refrain from making them =].

Q: I’m just getting into GACKT. What songs would you recommend I listen to?

A: First off, welcome to the fandom young Dear x3~! Going back to the question, it really depends on what type of music you listen to or what mood you are in. Lucky for you, GACKT’s songs range in style and sound so the possibilities are endless! If your looking for something in the rock category, I would recommend songs like Jesus, Redemption, Mind Forest, Speed Master, Uncontrol, Flower, Nine Spiral, and Ash. For more of his pop sounding songs, I would choose Kimi ga Oikaketa Yume, Kimi no Tame ni Dekiru Koto, U+K, Marmalade, Vanilla, Soleil, and Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped. If you feel like listening to a slow song or a romantic ballad, I would go with Saikai ~Story~, Last Song, Tsuki no Uta, Hoshi no Suna, Sayonara, Oblivious and his entire Love Letter album (the album title says it all xD). And for songs with a hint of techno-elements to them, listen to GHOST, Dispar, Noesis, Oasis, Koakuma Heaven, and Asrun Dream.

Of course, this is just one girl’s recommendation, but I hope it helps. Remember, there are a lot more GACKT songs out there than the ones I mentioned above, so you’ll have to do a little more researching if you want to hear every song the man has made *nudge*nudge*wink*wink*

Q: Okay, the Overseas Dears Questionnaire was back in April 2009- why hasn’t there been any word about an international fanclub?!

A: Be patient minna-san, it takes a long time to set up a fan club. And even if you think “Well they’ve had plenty of time to work out all the problems they need to” or something like that, I hope you do realize that GACKT and his staff are working on multiple projects at a time right? It’s hard to just sit down and focus on an international fan club while GACKT needs to meet deadlines with singles, DVDs, appearances, and his staff need to help him out as much as possible. And if you think that GACKT doesn’t care enough about his overseas fans, I implore you to think about that sentence again and think about who GACKT is – he loves all of his Dears equally, ALL OF THEM. The process of creating the fan club, along with the pros and cons of it, is better explained by amaiakuyume here, so please read on.

Q: Are the rumors true? Is GACKT going to retire in 2010?

A: This news fired up the fandom for months and still continues to do so ne? Back in 2007, GACKT stated in this interview that he may or may not retire in 2010 – it all depends on how he is feeling at the time. Please note that this is what he said at that point in time. Moving forward to 2008, GACKT stated in the July 2008 issue of the Monthly GG that he would continue to perform and make music with all his might, adding that he can already see three more years of music mapped out inside himself. Although I don’t have the link to the interview (or I can’t find it at the moment at least…), ryuik mentioned that in an interview with Pati Pati back in 2008, GACKT stated that he will at least continue for 5 more years. Lastly, in a post made by xrytalmad (who just so happened to attend the Osaka Arena Tour Live during the RRII tour), she said that during the MC portion of the live, GACKT stated that he will continue to produce music and perform on stage for the next 10, 20, 30, etc. years, until he is unable to do so or he has no more fans. So what can we conclude about this? I think it’s safe to say that GACKT is far from retiring from the music scene and will continue to do what he loves and does best for many years to come.

However, whenever the man does decide to retire I believe that we as fans should support him. Although it will be an incredibly sad day for all of us, GACKT is in fact only human. He can only do so much with the time given to him and look at all the accomplishments he has made already. I think we should support any decisions he makes concerning his career and just appreciate what he has done, what he has given up, for all of us Dears. We owe him that much, don’t you agree?

Q: I want to send a fan letter to GACKT. What is the fan mail address?

A: Thanks to amaiakuyume, the fan mail address can be found on his official site here (I’m putting the actual link up so you guys know that you’re not sending it to me or some creepy stalker). And since I’m sure a majority of us don’t know Japanese and probably couldn’t find it on that page even if we tried, here is the actual address below:

〒150-8681
東京都渋谷区渋谷郵便局留
GACKTオフィシャルファンクラブDears GACKT 宛
JAPAN

Or in English:

GACKT
GACKT Offical Fanclub Dears
Shibuya-yuubinkyoku Dome
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8681
JAPAN

Either one of the addresses are okay to use (the Japanese post offices can read English n.n; ).
You can also send GACKT an email to his personal email address:

GACKT.CAMUI@nifty.com

Just so you know it really is his email, he posted it in this blog entry here. It recently changed to all capital letters, but I doubt that will affect the email in anyway; everything turns to lowercase anyway ne? Just don’t expect him to reply to you right away – he gets about 2000 emails everyday!

Camui Love:

Q: Why isn’t a video working properly?

A: Sometimes the person who uploaded the video makes it so that embedding is impossible, i.e. doesn’t allow other people to post the video somewhere else. If this is the case, when you try to play the video it may say “Embedding disabled. Watch on YouTube” or something like that. It’s not that big of a deal – you’ll just be re-directed to YouTube where the video should play.
It could also be that your Internet connection is lagging or YouTube is being difficult, so you’d have to come back and watch it at a different time.

If the video is no longer available, the most likely reason is that either A) The person who uploaded it has taken the video down; B) The video has been deleted due to copyright violations; or C) The user’s account has been deleted due to all the great GACKT stuff they uploaded and has caused more than one copyright violation which makes YouTube shut down their account and all videos uploaded under their username go ka-put. B and C are the most likely scenarios for the videos being taken down. Gordie Entertainment, TV Asashi, NHK, and etc. are the companies that usually file for copyright violations. This is an on-going battle between overseas fans and GACKT’s management and affiliated parties, and sadly I don’t know if it will end anytime soon. I’ll try to re-upload videos as soon as they are taken down, but again these might also become unavailable to watch =\

Q: There’s a link on this one post that leads to a different site than the one listed/doesn’t work. Why is that?

A: This is most likely my own fault and I’ve probably switched the links around or put something else I copied. No one’s perfect (well, except GACKT at times…) so – gomen nasai! Just leave a quick little comment on that post and I’ll fix it for you.

Q: Why do so many of your sources and links lead to LiveJournal? Do I have to create a LiveJournal account to view all this stuff?

A: The reason all my sources come from LiveJournal is because all the translators, video uploaders, GACKT informers, and etc. choose that site to share their information on. I have no power over what they share or where they share it – I just spread the news to those who didn’t know that all this information was being shared on LJ.

Don’t worry – all of the LJ links that I post are available to the public to view and enjoy, so you don’t have to worry about creating an account to view all this information. The only time that you will need an LJ account to view an entry is when I specifically mention in a post that you need to have an LJ account to view it.  So far, the only entries that have me mentioning this are for Eneru’s Diary entries, some information shared in the Dears Community LJ, and interview translations done by ashura_oh. Other than that, GACKT’s world is open for all to enjoy~

One thing that I feel the need to mention though: Please do not steal, use, or re-post any of these translations without the direct consent of the translator. Most of these translators do this in their spare time or for the sheer joy of translating – there’s no benefit for them other than practicing their Japanese skills and sharing their hard work with the rest of the fandom. So please, give them the respect they deserve ❤

Q: There hasn’t been any new posts on this site for over a week. Why is that?

A: This may occur for two reasons.
1) GACKT is either working hard (as usual) or he just finished a tour. Usually whenever he’s done with one project, there’s a lull in news because he just released all merchandise relating to that project or he’s working on the next one. Sometimes during the major holiday seasons he’s busy visiting friends and etc., so there’s not much else going on.

2) Due to my hectic and busy college schedule, I am forced to take a step back from the net and focus on my assignments. Especially considering I attend an art college, all my assignments usually require more than 4 hours to get done – multiply that by 5 or 6, and I have no life lol. But whenever I do get a chance to get back on the net, I update as fast as I can so that all of you are up-to-speed on whatever GACKT’s cooking up. Just be patient with me o kudasai~~!! m(_ _)m