Rest assured you didn't offend anyone alleon86.
So you're rooting for HZM?
I support you. :)

By the way, Shiina Ringo is a woman. ;)

figures..:P sorry, it was a typo. Or i always thought SR is a man? she does looks like one at times.

:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o

O ....................M........................G

My reply was the first one to go into detail about why both bands have been better off ever since HZM decided to concentrate on PE'Z. You've either ignored my comments or you've taken them out of context.

I've heard more and seen more of HZM than probably anyone else in this community except maybe lupin (who joined more to talk about PE'Z than anything else), and I'm telling you, I'm okay with HZM leaving Tokyo Jihen. But on the otherhand, I'm not exactly a Phase 2 lover, because I think the band 'lost' more with Ukigumo than they 'gained' with Izawa.

Performance-wise, *I* could replace Izawa. Heck, you could probably replace him too. I won't deny that for even a minute. But I really do like his songs better than HZM's, even if they weren't made for Tokyo Jihen.

Giving credit where it's due, none of HZM's contributions were hand-me-downs. That's what Phase 2 has become at the end of Adult and onward, you know. If Tokyo Jihen could've performed PE'Z songs (or vice versa), that would've made Izawa versus HZM comparisons more fair, but HZM kept his two roles very separated.

What I said about dynamics, I still stand by. I didn't say he was the same in most/all songs, but rather, that within any individual song, he doesn't have a lot of dynamics, even if every song is different from each other. HZM is a machine that operates in 'modes'. He can change mode in the middle of a song, just like LCD manufacturers can turn the Brightness up or down and rate the "Contrast" of their product by the two extreme you can only experience one-at-a-time, instead of a realtime co-existence of extremes. "Dynamic Range" on audio equipment is defined as the co-existence of quiet and loud noises simultaneously. Maybe that's the term I should've used. HZM can hit the keys more or less hard at different moments of a song, but never simultaneously.

For the music HZM delivers on stage, he's a genius of an engineer (the note structure), but a toddler fingerpainter of an artist (the sensitivity conveyed). Arguably that's what we 'gained' with Ukigumo, but he's nowhere near as exciting to watch, and Izawa is barely exciting, so basically Phase 2 is a borefest on stage who has to cover up their used-to-be oozing personality, with PV-like intrusions in the footage.

Keith Jarrett is the best of both worlds for things that both factions of the fanbase would want in a piano player (well, except maybe for the stage presence - he concentrates too hard on the music and sometimes makes weird noises), but someone like that is too valuable to actually stay with a band.

I still very much enjoy watching HZM's performances - he was the main reason I bought all the PE'Z DVDs and even went to a concert (and the main reason I think Funny Day & Hard Night is an awesome album), because although the rest of the band deserves some credit too, they're not quite as crazy with the instruments they play, as HZM is with the piano.

Let me just put it this way.
If Tokyo Jihen still had HZM...
then Adult would've had two brainiac engineers with no souls, Just Can't Help It wouldn't be anymore exciting than with Izawa because Shiina Ringo holds a short leash (compare Dynamite Out! to REALIVE 2005 if you don't believe me), and "Variety" (and its associated singles) would've been overwhelmed with hand-me-downs from Petrolz, with hardly any alternative source, because it's not HZM's style to write songs where the keyboard/piano doesn't have an especially crucial role, and Shiina Ringo would never allow that. He gets much more freedom to go wild with PE'Z than the freedom he ever got with Shiina Ringo. So he would've wrote maybe 2-3 songs again, and maybe if we were lucky, Kameda would pitch two songs instead of one, and then the rest would've been Ukigumo.

You know, four pages related to HZM and I'm surprised no one made a "PE'Z Dispenser" joke yet. So to compensate, a referential post:

I feel yer blues, man, but at least it gave Tokyo Jihen an excuse for starting over somewhat for Adult and its jazz a go go nature. HZM was fun to watch, but as for his departure, he just can't help it if he'd rather focus on PE'Z. He was (at times) a dynamite player, lighting up the stage like he was some sort of Mr. Wonderful, but like others have said, he does shine more as a supestar in PE'Z than in Tokyo Jihen, and I think the natural balance of Tokyo Jihen's musical alignment has almost been restored.

It was a gamble to replace him with Izawa, and perhaps he didn't really dynamite in like HZM, but it turned out all right in the end. So what if the man doesn't have as much identity? It's not like Tokyo Jihen has experienced a blackout or slowed to a crawl; Izawa provides sufficient service to their sound, a more complementing and subtle nature. So c'mon let's go kick back, exercise some stoicism, and enjoy a papaya mango or something.

You won't offend anyone supporting HZM, but just be careful if you like Ukigumo; many wish he would dynamite out.

(That was a little hard, just using English titles.)

heheh, thats ok, you get an A for effort +tron ;)

I agree with what you're saying. I, too like phase 2 music a little more than phase 1 music. I think it more unqiue and mature than their phase 1 music. I think the type of music is not the arguement here. both Hzm and Izawa didnt do much song writing for education and adult respectively. It not until variety, Izawa takes on a bigger song writing role. That said, they both writing very average songs. It not like if we lose Izawa, we wont have good songs. SR is still the best and Kameda is second. I think SR will start writing again if they really needed a good song.

I understand Izawa people are coming from. They prefer his style more than Hzm hardcore-key bashing style. Right now, they are both just playing songs written by other poeple. You guys are saying Hzm cant play Izawa style. I highly doubt it though considering Hzm piano skills and the fact that he is classically trained. Izawa dont have really a big role anyways, Uki do most of the leads.

For me personally, live performance is VERY important to me, espcially for rock bands. I dont truely see how great a song is until ive seen them perform live. This is when each member skills comes into play. That why i think HZM is pretty important. That is just me though.

I never said HZM can't play Izawa's style or vice-versa. I'm just saying that the music dominates how they play and they don't dominate how the music is written (unless they did, in fact, write it). Basically, Izawa did not write much on ADULT but it was the ADULT music in general that I like, not just Izawa or any other member. The same goes for Kyouiku. So, if whoever wrote the music has a piano or a guitar being played a certain way, then we won't know how good or bad a person is at another style if the music is not written in that style. I would never say that a person cannot play a certain style because we will never have proof of it since they only write music to play off to a person's strength and not what they are bad at. Now, one could say that they have not done so many songs in any specific style to hide any member's weakness but then if we don't know for sure, then why make the assumption?

this is what ive been reading. I wont argue if they are right or not. This is what im getting.

izawa
-more mellow
-more artistic
- more groovy
-better song writer
-like his style more

hzm
-better pianist
-better stage presence


question for you all:
if Hzm said he wants to come back. You are ringo, . You choose Hzm or Izawa as your keyboardist?

If I were Shiina Ringo, I'd suppose it would depend upon how lazy (or drained of creative energy) I was. If I were still in my musical prime, I'd choose HZM.