Just days before the convention, it was announcedthat Yoshiki would be a special guest at ACEN via video-chat to premiere his latest film project. The promotional video, which archives Yoshiki’s history throughout his career both as a member of X-Japan and otherwise, was set to be presented during the masquerade intermission on May 15th.
The event began around 6:30pm, but after a few rounds of cosplayers showing their costumes, the two MCs asked everyone to put their cameras away as recording was not going to be allowed. Then it was announced that there was a big surprise for the crowd, a very special guest, none-other than Yoshiki of X-Japan. They introduced Yoshiki, explaining who he was and that he was the founder of X-Japan and Extasy Records. The video chat began and Yoshiki introduced the promotional video in which he has named, “Yoshiki History Though X-Japan”. The film showed a large variety of clips ranging from live footage, fan comments, merchandise, collaborations, to news reports, even touching on when the news of hide’s passing hit. The video definitely captured the whirlwind that has been Yoshiki’s career, summarizing many of the incredibly important events all within what seemed like only a half of an hour’s time.
When the film finished, Yoshiki returned to the video chat and began to talk again, however, there seemed to have been a serious technical issue. It seemed that Yoshiki could not hear the MCs and they quickly requested the aid of tech support. After some joking about kicking the equipment from the MCs, it seemed like Yoshiki had lost his patience after all. Seemingly annoyed, he left the room in which the video chat was being aired from and the camera then shuts off. However, Yoshiki quickly returned, but it wasn’t back to the video chat as it may have been expected. The biggest surprise was when Yoshiki himself stepped out onto the stage with a big smile, and as sudden as his appearance was, so were the screams that now echoed throughout the room from the delighted crowd.
