We Are X
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''We Are X'' is a 2016
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
about the Japanese
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...
and its co-founder, drummer, pianist and leader Yoshiki. Directed by
Stephen Kijak Stephen Kijak (; born 3 October 1969) is an American film director. He is known for films about music and musicians, most notably the feature documentaries Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, ''Scott Walker – 30 Century Man'' (2006), ''Stones in ...
, it premiered at the
2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi E ...
on January 23. The film covers the history of the band, their influence on Japanese music and society, the band's break up in 1997 and reunion in 2007, and their attempts to achieve success overseas. It also covers Yoshiki's childhood with the X Japan's vocalist Toshi, the suicide of Yoshiki's father when Yoshiki was ten years old, the deaths of two members of the band (guitarist hide and former bassist Taiji), and Yoshiki's various health problems. The film contains interviews with all the current members of the band (Yoshiki, Toshi, guitarists Pata and
Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the Rock music, rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo ...
, and bassist
Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
), plus interviews and contributions from Western musicians such as
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...
(
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
),
Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
,
Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and backing vocalist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock band Black Light Burn ...
(
Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...
),
Richard Fortus Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is an American guitarist. He is a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2002. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs fron ...
(
Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
),
Marc Benioff Marc Russell Benioff (born September 25, 1964) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. Benioff is best known as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the software company Salesforce, as well as being the owner of ''Time (magazine ...
and
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
(producer for
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
); famous fans such as comic book author
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...
; and Japanese musicians influenced by X Japan including
Mucc is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1997. The classic line up of Tatsuro (singer), Tatsuro on vocals, Miya (musician), Miya on guitar, Yukke on bass, and Satochi on drums was solidified in 1999 foll ...
, Ladies Room,
Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of makeup and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successf ...
,
Dir En Grey Dir En Grey (stylized as DIR EN GREY and previously as Dir en grey) is a Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. With a consistent lineup of guitari ...
and
Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Hakodate in 1988. The core four members, vocalist Teru (singer), Teru, guitarists Takuro (musician), Takuro and Hisashi (musician), Hisashi, and bassist Jiro (musician), ...
. ''We Are X'' received praise from some critics for being uplifting and dealing with difficult topics such as the role of pain in making music, while others criticized the film for focusing too much attention on Yoshiki rather than the band as a whole. The film won the Sundance Film Festival Award for Best Editing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and
South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
's Audience Award for Excellence in Title Design. The film's soundtrack peaked at the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart and became the first X Japan album to enter the main
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
.


Plot summary

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...
's story is told through the life of Yoshiki, the band's frontman, drummer, pianist, and composer, leading up to the band's performance at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
on October 11, 2014. It follows his childhood friendship with vocalist Toshi, whom he first met at the age of four. As a child, Yoshiki was given musical instruments as presents, which resulted in his learning to play piano and developing an interest in classical music. When Yoshiki was 10, his father committed suicide. Following this, Yoshiki's mother gave him a drum kit that allowed him to channel his frustration musically, which in turn led him to pursue a path into rock music. As an adult, he and Toshi moved to Tokyo and formed the band X Japan, which also resulted in the development of
visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...
, a fashion and music movement featuring elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes. The film then details the band's problems, such as the sacking of original bassist Taiji from the group, and Yoshiki's health problems, including the requirement to wear a neck brace while drumming and
asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...
so severe that oxygen tanks were kept backstage for him. In 1997, Toshi was "brainwashed" by a cult called "Home of Heart", leading to the group's breakup that year; guitarist hide died five months later in a reported suicide, though the band believe he died accidentally, trying to do a neck-stretching exercise while drunk. The film then looks at Yoshiki following the band's split, where he returned to classical music and composed a piece in honour of the 10th anniversary of the reign of the Emperor
Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...
, then the band's reunion in 2007, Taiji's suicide in 2011 eleven months after performing with the group for the first time in 18 years after being arrested in an air rage incident, and their continuing attempts to achieve worldwide success. Throughout the documentary are interviews with the current band members, family members such as Yoshiki's mother, people who worked closely with the band, and other figures from the world of music and entertainment. These include
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...
, who co-created a comic book with Yoshiki entitled ''Blood Red Dragon''; western musicians such as
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...
,
Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and backing vocalist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock band Black Light Burn ...
,
Richard Fortus Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is an American guitarist. He is a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2002. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs fron ...
,
Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
and
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
; and Japanese bands influenced by X Japan including
Mucc is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1997. The classic line up of Tatsuro (singer), Tatsuro on vocals, Miya (musician), Miya on guitar, Yukke on bass, and Satochi on drums was solidified in 1999 foll ...
, Ladies Room,
Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of makeup and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successf ...
,
Dir En Grey Dir En Grey (stylized as DIR EN GREY and previously as Dir en grey) is a Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. With a consistent lineup of guitari ...
and
Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Hakodate in 1988. The core four members, vocalist Teru (singer), Teru, guitarists Takuro (musician), Takuro and Hisashi (musician), Hisashi, and bassist Jiro (musician), ...
.


Production

The film's name comes from the call and response performed by X Japan with the audience during live performances of their self-titled song " X". Numerous times during a pause in the song a band member, usually Toshi, will yell "We are..." and the audience responds with "X!" before the musicians start the last leg of the song. Yoshiki was convinced to do the film by his agent,
Marc Geiger Marc Geiger is an American music executive and entrepreneur. The CEO and co-founder of SAVELIVE, a platform created in 2020 to help live music venues recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Geiger co-founded Lollapalooza and ARTISTdire ...
of
William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly William Morris Endeavor and WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in April 2009 after the me ...
, and according to director Stephen Kijak, had given the film crew a completely free hand. Kijak said he had never heard of X Japan before getting a call from his producer to make the documentary. But upon learning the band's slogan of "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock" he wanted to be a part of it. Despite not having listened to heavy metal since age 13 or 14 in favor of new wave, Kijak was immediately drawn to the band's music, surprised he had never heard it before. He bonded with some of the band members; learning that
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
' ''
Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...
'' was the first album he, Yoshiki and Toshi had ever bought and talking with Sugizo about the British new wave band
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and its bassist
Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was a British musician who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. His distinctive fretles ...
, who was a friend of the guitarist.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on October 11, 2014 at X Japan's concert at Madison Square Garden. The documentary was announced on July 5, 2015. The director said that because Yoshiki had been documenting his life and X Japan for decades, the team had a lot of archival footage to dig through and use. One such example is footage of
David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
directing unreleased videos for the song " Longing", which Kijak included as Lynch is one of his biggest influences. Kijak revealed that upon thinking of Lynch's use of doppelgängers he was reminded of an interview where Yoshiki said he has two personalities, his public persona and a man wounded by the tragedies in his life. He made this the
subtext In any communication, in any medium or format, "subtext" is the underlying or implicit meaning that, while not explicitly stated, is understood by an audience. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "an underlying and often distinct theme ...
of the film to have something deeper than the average
rockumentary A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history One ...
. He said one of the hardest aspects was editorial, trying to balance all the characters, albums and drama with Yoshiki's life and work. Kijak, who is known for music documentaries such as '' Stones in Exile'' and '' Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of'', said in February 2015 that: "I might have to quit music films after this one. The story is so unreal, I don't know where else I could go after this."


Title design

The titles were awarded Excellence in Title Design at South by Southwest. They were made by Allison and Anthony Brownmoore of Blue Spill production studio. Kijak's requirement was to "blow people off their seats". According to Anthony Brownmoore, the project was a challenge, since he "was very taken by their he band'slook but that can also be quite daunting. To try to make something and be creative with something that's already so mad and so creative". They worked on the title design for months, syncing it to the song "
Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...
" the way that the images would pulsate to Yoshiki's drum beats. When creating the background sequences, they used the band's slogan, Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock as an inspiration. They used old photos of the band members, pairing them up with pulsating, moving, otherworldly backgrounds, for example they filmed floating fluorescent paint in a fish tank with a
GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video editing software, video-editing software ...
camera. The scene where Toshi appears to be standing on top of a waterfall, was filmed in the couple's own kitchen sink with running tap water, while the camera emerging from the water to show the waterfall was actually filmed in
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
.
Adobe After Effects Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc.; it is used for animation and in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Amo ...
and
Smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...
was used during the production.


Release


Theatrical run and box office

''We Are X'' premiered at the Prospector Square Theater on January 23, 2016 as part of the
2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi E ...
. Yoshiki and the film team attended the red carpet beforehand and held a Q&A panel after its screening. The film had several other screenings throughout
Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...
that week. It was also shown at the 2016
South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
festival. The film was licensed for distribution in the United States by
Drafthouse Films Drafthouse Films is an independent film distribution company based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2010 by Tim League, who had previously founded the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain. Drafthouse has released a variety of films since its incepti ...
. It had its US premiere on October 21, 2016 at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles. Yoshiki and Kijak appeared for the screening and a Q&A. At the box office, the film made $45,270 in the US and Canada, and $3,124,876 worldwide. The film was scheduled to have its world premiere at the
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...
in London on March 12, 2016. X Japan was to perform at the venue that same day with the event being called "X Day." However, due to Pata being diagnosed with life-threatening
diverticulitis Diverticulitis, also called colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—Diverticulum, diverticula—that can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lo ...
and a severe blood clot in his portal vein the concert was postponed for almost a year, taking place on March 4, 2017. The film instead made its UK premiere on February 28, 2017 at
Picturehouse Cinemas Picturehouse Cinemas is a network of cinemas in the United Kingdom, operated by Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd. and owned by Cineworld. The company runs its own film distribution arm, Picturehouse Entertainment, which has released acclaimed films s ...
in London, before being released nationwide on March 2. The film was later screened at the postponed Wembley Arena concert on March 4, 2017. Yoshiki toured Europe in October 2017, to promote theatrical releases in different countries. The events included screenings and a Q&A session.


Critical reception

The
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported a 78% approval rating with an average score of 6.4/10, based on 23 reviews.
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
gave the film a rating of 64 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, describing the reviews as "generally favorable". Positive comments mentioned the movie's uplifting nature, with Paula Mejia of ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' writing that it "forces us to grapple with difficult questions of purpose, the inevitable role of pain in art, and how music acts as a force for salvation, as much for the fans as for the musicians who thrash these songs into existence". Andy Webster of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote that ''We Are X'' was, "fascinating and assured documentary", but also mentioned what he thought was an unfair R-rating saying: "''We Are X'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for — what? Shredding?" Criticism centered on the documentary's focus on Yoshiki rather than on the band as a whole. John DeFore of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' said that while the film does cover the deaths of two X Japan members and the "brainwashing" of Toshi, it spends more time following the drummer at press and preparations for Madison Square Garden. Josiah Hughes of ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' made similar comments and noted typos in the English subtitles. Hughes gave the film an 8 out of 10 and observed that these were small complaints against an otherwise "outstanding rock documentary." The movie was given ratings of 3 stars out of 5 by reviews in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', the ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' and ''
Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' with views range from the film being: "A watchable and interesting – if a tad worshipful", "an accessible ride, if not a particularly unique one", and that, "Kijak’s willingness to indulge the band’s rampant self-mythologising can get tiresome". ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' was more critical saying it was, "a maddeningly vague primer. ... All director Stephen Kijak's frustrated attempts at getting into Yoshiki's head leave little time for viewers to hear much of what X Japan's music actually sounds like."


Accolades and recognitions

''We Are X'' was entered in Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Competition, winning the Special Jury Award for Best Editing. It also won the Audience Award for Excellence in Title Design at South by Southwest. ''We Are X'' was nominated for the Golden Goblet award for Best Documentary at the 2016 Shanghai International Film Festival. It was also nominated for the inaugural Best Music Documentary award at the
22nd Critics' Choice Awards The 22nd Critics' Choice Awards were presented on December 11, 2016, at the Santa Monica Airport#Barker Hangar, Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2016. The cere ...
. On December 13, 2016, it was announced that the film's ending theme song " La Venus" was one of 91 songs in contention for nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...
at the
89th Academy Awards The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2016 in film, films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...
. The January 2018 issue of '' Neo'' named ''We Are X'' the "Best Asian Movie" in their annual awards. In March 2018, the film won the "Best Music Film" award at the Space Shower Music Awards in Japan.
Yahoo! Music Yahoo Music was a brand under which Yahoo provided music services including Internet radio, a digital music store, music streaming service, media player software, and original programming. Yahoo Music was sold to Rhapsody in early 2008. Pro ...
named it number 4 on their list of the 10 Best Music Documentaries of 2016. When the film was released in the UK, ''We Are X'' reached number 2 in the
Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
's Music Video chart, and the Blu-Ray SteelBook version of the film reached number 50 in the Blu-Ray chart in the first week of its release.


Home media

The film's home video rights were acquired by Magnolia Home Entertainment, who released it on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
,
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
and Digital HD in the US on April 25, 2017. In the UK, the rights to the film were picked up by
Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...
, who released the film on Blu-Ray SteelBook with cover art by
Becky Cloonan Becky Cloonan (born 23 June) is an American comic book creator, known for work published by Tokyopop and Vertigo. In 2012 she became the first female artist to draw the main ''Batman'' title for DC Comics.Beck, Laura (February 8, 2013)"Meet the Fi ...
, and DVD on May 22, 2017. The release's extras are an eight-page booklet; deleted scenes featuring an interview with Yuko Yamaguchi the creator of a Yoshiki-themed
Hello Kitty , also known by her real name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red ...
doll named "Yoshikitty", footage of Yoshiki attending Hello Kitty Con, Yoshiki appearing at the New Economy Summit, and Yoshiki revisiting his hometown of
Tateyama, Chiba is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 44,865 in 20,558 households and a population density of 410 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Tateyama is locat ...
; extended interviews with X Japan's current band members; a series of promotional video interviews with Yoshiki discussing the film; video performances of the songs " Kurenai" and " Forever Love" from '' The Last Live'' concert; and a fan video of the song " Born to Be Free". Francis Rizzo III from
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
commented on the quality of the release saying that visually it is of mixed quality, but he also added that: "Black levels are solid, and there are no issues with digital distractions (other than those inherent in the archival footage)", and praised the 5.1
DTS-HD Master Audio DTS-HD Master Audio (DTS-HD MA; known as DTS++ before 2004) is a multi-channel, lossless audio codec developed by DTS as an extension of the lossy DTS Coherent Acoustics codec (DTS CA; usually itself referred to as just DTS). Rather than be ...
track.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack to ''We Are X'' was released on March 3, 2017. In the first week of the release of the album it reached number 4 in Japan's
Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...
. It also reached number 1 in the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart, number 3 in the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart and number 27 in the main
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, making it X Japan's first appearance on the UK chart.


See also

* Yoshiki: Under the Sky


References


External links

* * {{X Japan X Japan 2016 documentary films 2016 films Documentary films about heavy metal music and musicians Films produced by John Battsek Sundance Film Festival award–winning films Films set in Japan Japan in non-Japanese culture