History WMG / XJapan

* NeverSuicide, murder (possibly with PoliceBrutality as the direct cause): This started out as a UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheory based on rumors, but as the sources of the rumors have checked out, it has become a more plausible theory (to some, than even the official story). It relies on the fact that Kitami Terumi and Shinso had been embezzling money from Taiji, at the same time convincing him he had no choice but to stay with them. He had also sent one last e-mail to his apprentice Shu bemoaning his desperation with the situation. Once he was arrested after the fight on the plane, all that happened under "extreme negligence" occurred (this is not disputed), and somehow he ended up dead in his cell. Sometime during this, Kitami, using his phone, also tried to extort money from his fiancee. When his fiancee and mother saw his body, they saw no damage to his neck at all - despite the cause of death allegedly being hanging. Instead, he had tape marks on his mouth and a red slash on his chest, not wounds at all concurrent with hanging. They pushed for an autopsy, but Shinsho demanded and got possession of Taiji's body, demanding it be cremated with no autopsy done. This theory posits that whatever happened to Taiji could not have possibly been suicide by hanging in any way - and that whatever actually ''did'' happen to him was murder and the fault of Kitami, Shinsho, the detaining authorities, or all of the above.

[[WMG: hide was {{transgender}}?]]

There are other theories, though: the most common suggests the band was actually named after the drug MDMA/ecstasy, which at the time had just been introduced into the ''bosozoku'' and young rebel scene in Japan, and which was, at the time, among other names, referred to as "X." Supporting evidence for this theory includes the band members' behavior at the beginning, the entire idea of intense emotional feeling and expression and openness (something the drug induced - and that flew in the face of Japanese mainstream culture), the lyrics of some songs seemingly referencing the effects of MDMA, and there would be a very good reason for ''why'' Yoshiki and Toshi would refuse to acknowledge this as the name source - current attitudes toward drugs and drug users in Japan are even ''more'' severe than they were in TheEighties when it was "just don't get caught doing it," and publicly admitting to it ''would'' be something that would destroy their careers in Japan, stain the band's memory even more than anything else they openly did, and likely lead to offense, boycotts, and worse.

%% This page is open to WildMassGuessing on fandom issues that have caused {{Flame War}}s, %%InternetCounterattack, InternetBackdraft, {{Troll}} attacks, and more. Please, please, %%''please,'' be polite to your fellow fans.

** One variant on this theory is that hide's reason was to hurt and punish Yoshiki by forcing him to suffer through the pain of his lover's death, out of jealousy or anger over his relationship with Toshi. That said, this variant is pretty much only existent among one YaoiFangirl and her friends and associates - and spreading it is arguably {{troll}}ing due to its [[InternetBackdraft inflammatory nature]].

** One theory (often proposed by {{Troll}}s or Yoshiki's {{hatedom}}) is that Yoshiki was involved in hide's death. Like the variant of DrivenToSuicide mentioned above, this one is so counter to the few objective facts that exist as well as, in light of how Yoshiki actually feels, a form of KickThemWhileTheyAreDown, that it is not so much of a serious theory as a way for a {{troll}} to light up InternetBackdraft. Yoshiki was in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles at the time and had proof he was, he had no connection to the people around hide at the end of hide's life, and his own emotional reaction to the loss - all of this proves his innocence.

* NeverSuicide, murder (possibly with PoliceBrutality as the direct cause): This started out as a ConspiracyTheory based on rumors, but as the sources of the rumors have checked out, it has become a more plausible theory (to some, than even the official story). It relies on the fact that Kitami Terumi and Shinso had been embezzling money from Taiji, at the same time convincing him he had no choice but to stay with them. He had also sent one last e-mail to his apprentice Shu bemoaning his desperation with the situation. Once he was arrested after the fight on the plane, all that happened under "extreme negligence" occurred (this is not disputed), and somehow he ended up dead in his cell. Sometime during this, Kitami, using his phone, also tried to extort money from his fiancee. When his fiancee and mother saw his body, they saw no damage to his neck at all - despite the cause of death allegedly being hanging. Instead, he had tape marks on his mouth and a red slash on his chest, not wounds at all concurrent with hanging. They pushed for an autopsy, but Shinsho demanded and got possession of Taiji's body, demanding it be cremated with no autopsy done. This theory posits that whatever happened to Taiji could not have possibly been suicide by hanging in any way - and that whatever actually ''did'' happen to him was murder and the fault of Kitami, Shinsho, the detaining authorities, or all of the above.

Another not-serious joke theory - Yoshiki is almost 48 as of 2013 and looks barely mid-thirties. Pata, meanwhile, is also almost 48 and looks like he is in his late sixties. Of course we could all be serious here and attribute it to favorite alcohols (red wine over whiskey), money and interest in plastic surgery and non-surgical youth interventions, and that the former is still VisualKei while the latter has dropped the style. Or we could step out on the wildest branch of EpilepticTrees and say that Yoshiki really ''is'' a vampire, and Pata is his feeding source.

* Another rumored possibility was that Taiji's use of drugs became so obvious that Yoshiki chose to kick him from the band in order to save it. This would match his statements denying drug use by band members, in the face of blatant evidence of it.

In one perspective, the one mentioned in Taiji's own retelling of the story, he and Yoshiki were fighting over the band's direction - he wanted more HardRock and Music/HeavyMetal with less ballads, and these musical differences were why Yoshiki eventually kicked him out of the band.

[[WMG: What named the band?]]]

* Medical treatment: Another non-intentional reason offered (usually by fans who don't want to consider the reason above), and also the theory that Taiji and Yoshiki both publicly put agreement behind: that hide suffered from neck pain as a result of the way he played his guitar, and had been instructed to use traction as a way to relieve the pain - and that he passed out drunk while in such a dangerous position.

!!Departures/Disbandment(s)

Arguing against it is that if hide did indeed have Axis 1 Bipolar disorder comorbid to bulimia, this could have explained his mental and emotional conditions and unnatural weight loss just as easily as methamphetamine abuse could have, that despite his thinness, his appearance in general didn't seem to be one of an end-stage meth addict, that he could have simply been exploring the concepts of meth use in his songs/been intrigued by it but not a user himself, and/or used the drug without being an addict.

* NeverSuicide, murder (possibly with PoliceBrutality as the direct cause): This started out as a ConspiracyTheory based on rumors, but as the sources of the rumors have checked out, it has become a more plausible theory (to some, than even the official story). It relies on the fact that Kitami Terumi and Shinso had been embezzling money from Taiji, at the same time convincing him he had no choice but to stay with them. He had also sent one last e-mail to his apprentice Shu bemoaning his desperation with the situation. Once he was arrested after the fight on the plane, all that happened under "extreme negligence" occurred (this is not disputed), and somehow he ended up dead in his cell. Sometime during this, Kitami, using his phone, also tried to extort money from his fiancee. When his fiancee and mother saw his body, they saw no damage to his neck at all - despite the cause of death allegedly being hanging. Instead, he had tape marks on his mouth and a red slash on his chest, not wounds at all concurrent with hanging. They pushed for an autopsy, but Shinsho demanded and got possession of Taiji's body, demanding it be cremated with no autopsy done. This theory posits that whatever happened to Taiji could not have possibly been suicide by hanging in any way - and that whatever actually ''did'' happen to him was murder and the fault of Kitami, Shinsho, the detaining authorities, or all of the above.

** One variant on this theory is that hide's reason was to hurt and punish Yoshiki by forcing him to suffer through the pain of his lover's death, out of jealousy or anger over his relationship with Toshi. That said, this variant is pretty much only existent among one YaoiFangirl and her friends and associates - and spreading it is arguably {{trolling}} due to its [[InternetBackdraft inflammatory nature]].

[[WMG: hide was a male to female {{transsexual}}?]]

* DrivenToSuicide. The official story of hide's death was that he committed suicide. That said, this is highly disputed - most hide fans do not believe he intentionally committed suicide, [[YoshikiHayashi Yoshiki]] and [[TaijiSawada Taiji]] both insisted his death was not an intentional suicide, but the official verdict is that hide got drunk and decided to intentionally commit suicide for reasons unknown to anyone.