DIR EN GREY’s “Oboro” music video chills us with tragic ending

26 April 2021

After a series of surreal visuals and mysterious teasers, DIR EN GREY finally unveiled the chilling full-length music video for

DIR EN GREY - 『朧』 (Promotion Edit Ver.) (CLIP)

Watch this video on YouTube

Oboro. The single drops on April 28, which is just enough time to try and digest the tragic music video.

One of the haunting key visuals for “Oboro”, featuring vocalist Kyo.

There is no easy way to unpack this video, which is full of symbolism, contrast, and possible themes.

One clear contrast is the clash of electronic and organic: pulsing synthesizers drone under somber instruments; red lasers glare over green human viscera. Throughout, we see the juxtaposition of love and sorrow, and life and death; because with DIR EN GREY, there are rarely happy endings.

In this grotesque landscape, vocalist Kyo is born and dies all in one take. Fellow bandmates, guitarists Kaoru and Die, bassist Toshiya, and drummer Shinya lurk in the shadows, as witnesses to an unnatural birth. The story is vague, playing on gruesome metaphors and cryptic lyrics, but somehow feels achingly familiar.

According to DIR EN GREY, Oboro is about the pain caused by human weakness. Official lyrics are still to come, but we can make out phrases such as “Forgive me, I’m sorry”, and “I couldn’t protect you; I was too weak”.

If you felt you’ve seen the “mother” character before, you probably have. Director Hiroyuki Kondo confirmed that the Butoh dancer is Yuko Kawamoto, who previously played the baby-munching geisha in DIR EN GREY’S 2003 music video, OBSCURE.

Yuko Kawamoto as “The Mother” in “Oboro”

One should note that this is not the completed song. While this video clocks in at just over three minutes in length, the “full” version on the single is almost four minutes long. What key piece is missing from the full picture?

We may not know the exact theme, but it certainly evokes emotions varying from person to person. Isn’t that what art is about?

Without further ado, enter DIR EN GREY’s world of Oboro, where there are no happy endings.

DIR EN GREY - 『朧』 (Promotion Edit Ver.) (CLIP)