Story Exclusive August 2008 Calendar!

The second offering of Story's monthly calendar series is now available in our Downloads!



Our August 2008 calendar is available both as a computer desktop (1280 x 1024 and 1024 x 768 resolutions) and as a PDF optimized for print on letter sized (8.5" x 11") paper. Please check them out in our Downloads section!

We'll be back next time with some more Gackt news updates!

Happy Birthday, Gackt!!

Story Exclusive July 2008 Calendar!

Just in time for July, we are launching Story's new monthly calendar series in our Downloads!



Our July 2008 calendar is available both as a computer desktop (1280 x 1024 and 1024 x 768 resolutions) and as a PDF optimized for print on letter sized (8.5" x 11") paper. Please check them out in our Downloads section!


Gackt virtual vocalist software to be released July 2008!

The Gackt virtual vocalist software, がくっぽいど/GACKPOID, will be released at the end of July 2008! This software will allow users to specify melodies and lyrics to be sung in Gackt's voice, and will feature character artwork of "神威がくぽ"/"Gackpo Camui" by Kentarou Miura of Berserk fame.

Both the regular and fanclub exclusive versions of がくっぽいど/GACKPOID will be priced at 18,900 yen (tax included).

More information and song samples can be found at the official GACKPOID website (Japanese only).

Newest Gackt Release!

Ama Kakeru Ryu No Gotoku: Kenshin, Soshite Gackt e is a documentary DVD of Gackt's performance as Kenshin Uesagi in the NHK historical drama, Furinkazan! Here is the information on the release:

Ama Kakeru Ryu No Gotoku: Kenshin, Soshite Gackt e 2008.05.21 release ¥ 4410 (tax included) Catalogue No. CRBP-10049 Nippon Crown Co. Ltd.

For more information, please see the Documentary section of our Filmography on the Works page!


Gackt will be starring in the Hollywood movie Bunraku!

It was recently announced that Gackt would be starring alongside Josh Hartnett and Demi Moore in the upcoming movie, Bunraku!


Josh Hartnett (left) and Gackt (right).

Here are Gackt's comments from his official site:

Japanese:
昨年、大河ドラマ「風林火山」で演じた、新たな上杉謙信像の表現が世界に認められたことを光栄に思います。近未来のボーダレスな世界という設定の中、主演ジョシュ・ハートネットの相棒役として武士道精神を表現できる役柄に非常に興味を持ちました。
何よりも、監督自ら日本に足を運び、この映画と僕の出演に対する熱い思いを何度も語り続ける姿勢に心を打たれ、この映画における僕の必要性を強く感じ、出演を快諾しました。
ハリウッドを代表する大物俳優が並ぶ中で、自分の演技、表現が世界に通用することを証明したいと思います。期待して待っていてください。夢をまた一つ叶えに行ってきます。
神威楽斗

English:
I'm honored that my expression of the new Kenshin Uesugi image I played in a TV saga "FU-RIN-KA-ZAN" last year was addmited in the world. In the setting of the huge world in the near future, I was very interested in the role that could express Bushido spirit as a partner of Josh Hartnett, leading actor.
More than eles, a film director himself came over to Japan and showed his great zeal for my appearence in the film. His such sincere attitude impressed me a lot and I felt that they are much in need of me in the film. So, I gave my willing consent to his offer.
I want to prove my performance and expression will be accepted in the world among the big actors representing Hollywood. Please expect me and look forward to it. I'll go to accomplish a dream again.
Gackt Camui

The title is a reference to traditional Japanese puppet theater. While details on the movie are still scarce, early media reports describe it as a revenge story that will "[break] new visual territory" with a "puppetry-meets-Origami look" created from a combination of CGI and set filming (source). We will be reporting more information on the movie as it becomes available.


New sites for Gackt and Ener!

New official sites have been launched for Gackt and Ener (Eneru)!

Gackt now has a MySpace page. You can visit it here:
Gackt @ MySpace (Japanese)

Ener (Gackt's dog) now has his own official website! Visit it here:
Ener's Big Adventure (Japanese)

Both of these sites can also be found in the Gackt Official Sites section of our Links.


New Gackt Photos!

Another two photos from the international photo series in the out of print photobook Subarashiki Kana Jinsei have been added to the Photos section! Please check them out, and please remember to read and follow our image usage policy!

Here at Story, we receive e-mails from visitors all over the world. Thank you all for visiting the site! Today, we'll share with you some excerpts of questions and answers from the Story mailbag that may be of interest to all our visitors.

From Airyn in France:

I read that Gackt's eyesight is 3.5... Is it means that he has a bad eyesight ?

Story Webmasters:

When Gackt stated in an interview that his eyesight was 3.5, he was presumably referring to the decimal scale for visual acuity. On the decimal visual acuity scale, 1.0 would be the equivalent of 20/20 vision (or 6/6 vision using the metric scale). 3.5 would then be equivalent to approximately 20/6 vision (or 6/1.7 vision on the metric scale), which would mean that Gackt can see detail at 20 feet (or 6 meters) that a normal person could see at 6 feet (or 1.7 meters). In other words, his vision would be extremely sharp.

Given that the maximum visual acuity of the naked human eye is close to 2.0 (20/10 or 6/3) and knowing Gackt, however, he was most likely stretching the truth. :)

From Rád in Hungary:

I read in your site, there is a plan outside Dears members. Do you know when it start?

Story Webmasters:

While Dears has been considering the option of accepting members from outside Japan for quite a few years now, there has unfortunately been no official announcement as to when they might actually be able to do so. You can, however, always send e-mail to Dears expressing your enthusiasm for the possibility of overseas memberships.

Thank you all for all the kind comments you have been sending us through e-mail! (Interested in sending us e-mail? Please see our contact information here.)

In other news, two more photos from the out of print photobook Subarashiki Kana Jinsei have been added to the Photos section! These photos feature Gackt as a cowboy and in Indian inspired costume.

Also, while we are always happy to provide photos of Gackt, please remember to read and follow our image usage policy! Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Coming up in our next update: more Gackt news and photos!

Gackt is contributing a new song, "Rara no Yasoukyoku -nocturne-", to the new mini-album by Toru Furuya to be released later this month!

Toru Furuya is a popular Japanese seiyuu (voice actor), who provides the voice of Mobile Suit Gundam's Amuro Ray. You may recall that he was featured on one of the limited edition versions of Gackt's most recent album, 0079-0088 feat. Amuro Ray. This new collaborative effort came about through the friendship that developed between Furuya and Gackt from their work together on Gundam.

Here is the information on Furuya's mini album:

HEROES~to my treasure~
2008.03.26 release
¥ 2625 (tax included)
Catalogue No. AVCA-26693
avex trax

Additional information can be found here (Japanese only).

In other Gackt and Gundam news, an anime music clip featuring "Ai Senshi" from 0079-0088 will be released for download from iTunes as of tomorrow, March 19!

More information is available at the Bandai Channel page (Japanese only).

We also have an update regarding Gackt's non-musical endeavors: new Darkside Inhabitants shops are now open in Ikebukuro Park and Kumamoto Park for a limited time.

March 1 - March 31
Address: Ikebukuro Parco P' Kan B1F, Higashiikebukuro, Toshimaku, Tokyo 171-0013
Phone #: 03-5391-8000
Hours: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

March 10 - April 4
Address: Kumamoto Parco 5F, 5-1 Tetorihonchou, Kumamoto-shi, Kumamoto-ken 860-8584
Phone #: 096-327-4008
Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday)

As for Story news, we have added two more photos of Gackt from Subarashiki Kana Jinsei to the Photos section! These new photos feature Gackt in Spanish matador and German military inspired costume. Please check them out!

Coming up in our next update: more photos, plus we answer fanmail about Gackt's eyesight!

We have an update regarding Save Our Dears, Gackt's charity!

A special gift of sparkling decorative stickers is currently being offered for those who sign up for the "Dears" and "Save Our Dears" credit cards! These stickers feature Gackt's dog, Eneru, of the popular blog Ashigaru Eneru no Tonosama Nikki. More details can be found here (information in Japanese).

While we focused on updating Story with Gackt's solo musical and published works in the last update, this time we've updated with information on some of Gackt's other projects, such as Save Our Dears.

Visit our Gackt section for information on Save Our Dears, Gackt's charity organization; DARTS [Darkside Inhabitants], Gackt's accessories brand; and S.K.I.N., the new Japanese rock superband Gackt has formed with Yoshiki (ex-X Japan), Sugizo (ex-Luna Sea), and Miyavi (solo artist)!

We have also added the snail mail address and phone number for Dears to our Dears section.

As promised, we have updated the Photos section with two new photos of Gackt! These photos feature Gackt in French-inspired costume from Subarashiki Kana Jinsei. (For more information on Subarashiki Kana Jinsei, please check out the Photography Collections section of our Works list.) We will be gradually adding more photos in upcoming updates, so please check back for more additions!

As we announced in our last update, Gackt's Platinum Box VIII - For my Dears will be released on March 3, 2008, and is currently available for preorder. Preorders are exclusively offered through Amazon.co.jp at a discounted price of ¥ 7251 (compared to the list price of ¥ 9800).

For more information on Platinum Box VIII - For my Dears, such as the DVD content and original gift, please see the Platinum Boxes section of the Works list.


Lastly, if you had difficulty with the desktop links in the Downloads last week, please try them again as all links are back up.

Happy Valentine's Day, and welcome to the new version of Story: the Gackt Fan Web Site!

To commemorate the occasion, we've created an all new Valentine's Day Gackt desktop, available on the Downloads page. :) Please check it out!



There's a lot to cover with this being our first update of Story's relaunch, so let's cut straight to a rundown of the latest Gackt news.

Gackt's 8th Platinum Box is currently available for pre-order! Platinum Box VIII - For my Dears will be released on March 3, 2008 and will include a gift of a USB memory key. This year's video will follow in the footsteps of last time's popular "Let's Do it together! ~Shall we 'Cowboy'??~" and once again feature Gackt challenging the members of his band to accomplish unusual tasks. What will he come up with this time? For more details, please check out the Platinum Boxes section of the Filmography on our Works page.

Gackt's historical Japan themed Official 2008 Goods (including post card sets, stickers, and keychains) are now up - if you enjoyed Gackt in last year's historical drama, Furinkazan, these are definitely worth checking out. The most recent addition is the Commemorative Frame Postage Stamp Sheet. These can be found at Entameposto.

Last month, it was also announced that a new Darkside Inhabitants shop would be opened from January 25 - February 17 at Utsunomiya Parco 1F.

Address: 3-1-1, Babadori, Utsunomiya, Tochigi 3208566
Phone #: +81286112111
Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

For more information on Darkside Inhabitants and their silver accessories line, please visit the "H" Darkside Inhabitants site.

Gackt's Official Desktop Calendar 2008, which retailed for 4725 (tax in) [approximately US $44], closed orders at the end of January. This innovative calendar comes with one calendar frame and 20 photo cards to display in the calendar frame along with a calendar card of the current month.

Now for some Story news!

Because Story is newly updated with a new version of the site, I encourage you to visit each section of the site. :)

• News - Story updates and the latest news on Gackt! You can also peruse older Gackt news updates.
  
• Gackt - The 411 on Gackt and information on Gackt's official fanclub, Dears.
  
• Photos - Our gallery of Gackt photos.
  
• Works - A complete list of Gackt's works from the launch of his solo career in 1999.
  
• Translations - Translations of lyrics from Gackt's music by our own Ryuujin.
  
• Downloads - Gackt downloads made for you by the Story staff!
  
• Extra - Just for fun. :)
  
• Shop - Our Story shop, the funds from which go toward maintaining this site.
  
• Story - About Story and Story's staff, copyright information, FAQ, and contact information.
  
• Links - Link Story or visit Gackt's official sites!

Regular visitors may see the biggest change in the Works section, which has been brought completely up to date with Gackt's discography (albums, singles and singles collections), filmography (music and tour videos, platinum boxes), and bibliography (photo books, tour documents, and other books)! It has everything from Gackt's newest releases (like the 0079-0088 album and the Ryu no Keshin photo book) to his very first solo works. I've even stuck in a bit of trivia here and there in the descriptions, so please take a look. :)

After we announced that we would be resuming work on Story back in last October, a number of you sent us kind and supportive e-mails, so I wanted to say thank you from all of us for your continuing support and enthusiasm for Story! Several visitors also inquired how they might be able to help Story, and as we have always said in the past, it is enough that you're simply visiting our site. :) If you would like to do more to support us, you could spread word about Story by linking our site. Another option is to shop through our affiliates (on the right side of the site and in the sponsors sections of the Links), the links in the Works section, or our Story Shop. Any and all funds we earn from this site are used to help keep the server up and this website running.

Thanks again for supporting us since 2000, and we'll be back in the next update with more Gackt photos!

Dear Story visitors,

We've been hard at work on the new, fully updated version of Story, and we have now set a date for relaunch!

Story will relaunch this Valentine's Day, February 14!

We are looking forward to once again bringing you all the latest in Gackt news and releases, as well as new photos, downloads, and all that other good stuff. Thank you for all your support, and we'll be back on Valentine's!

As many of you may have noticed, it has been over three years since our last official update to Story. With our increasingly busy schedules, it has become increasingly difficult to manage the site, and we have considered closing Story altogether.

In the end, however, we've decided to pick up this project once again, and we'll be working on serving up a new, streamlined Story for the upcoming year, complete with current news updates and plenty of other goodies to go with them.

Thank you for supporting us since 2000, and we'll see you again in 2008!