What do you guys think about visual kei?I simply love it!
My favorite vk bands are:
Malice Mizer
Lareine
Danger☆Gang
D
SID
Silver Ash
Antique Cafe
Which are yours?
FUCK VISUAL KEI D=<
I like Danger*Gang too!
Silver Ash isn't Japanese rock at all.
>>3
Visual bands, not Japanese bands.
Also, Dir. But my tastes are stuck in 2002 because I stopped downloading music off the Internet.
please explain what a visual band is?
ow never mind i googled it!
fucking fags!
Visual kei mostly gets shit on by dudes who are afraid of other dudes wearing makeup.
I hate danger*gang, I can't stand female vocals. Lareine & Malice Mizer are much too over-the-top for me & I hate cutesy shit like ancafe. SID went pop-boring recently... D is pretty much the only decent band on your list!
visual kei is bullshit
i don't give a fuck about your stupid hair or your fucking make-up, you are a goddamn band who produces music and the music is ALL ANYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT
i also dislike j-rock
>4 Visual kei is for Japanese visual bands only, not Chinese or anything else. In your logic, all 80s glam rock could be called visual kei and that's just silly.
>8 D sucks too. Malice Mizer at least had musical talent despite being over the top.
Recent visual-kei is retarded because every boy who can dye his hair and put on make-up and afford an instrument thinks he's a fucking rock star. And that includes Antique Cafe. Visual-kei died with one of those dudes who died in the late 90s and stuff.
Visual Kei is stupid. Mainly because it's just a bunch of guys in makeup with little or no talent. But everyone likes it because it's SEXY FEMININE MEN !!!
Rentrer En Soi is okay in my opinion, but mainly because the vocalist can actually sing.
Also, Malice Mizer was great. The Klaha stuff (Bara No Seidou ect ect) was amazing.
little or no talent can be applied to the majority of music in any genre.
i honestly dont think that matters as long as the listener thinks it sounds good. i was a music major, but i still like alot of "talentless" bands considering they have the ability to write catchy music.
also its not antique cafe they have never used the word antique. even if the katakana in their name suggests that, i like to preserve the integrity of the bands name. they have used antic, and AN (fan given).
and having seen retrer en soi so much, i can't stand them. i don't like their music at all. they are basically my mental note to leave a live.
I think visual kei is a relatively cool idea, but there are too many bands. I listen to Dir en grey, Gazette, Pierrot, etc, but the only band I really like is Diru. And sometimes they get kind of annoying.
yei i love VK. o.o
yay ancafe<33 but they are oshare kei. ^^;
oshare kei doesnt actually exist, its a plot to make girls panties wet.
bands just says oshare cause they are stylish looking, but in reality are just guys that have decora sense of fashion. VK is VK and thats that.
and rant on people calling panic ch oshare, thats like their normal everyday street clothes. and they call themselves "pop rock"
Oh please, those who say visual-kei is bullshit and stuff are people who don´t pay attention to anything more than the looks of it.
Japanese music has proven to be one of the best in the whole world.
Visual-kei bands work hardly to show their music and most of the time they make very good music because they understand something we don't... MELODY... which you can hardly find on western bands. They create their own music.
Visual-kei bands really show how to play a guitar creating MELODY and not repetitive sounds as most of western bands do.
Sorry if my english is bad^^
Visual-kei artists are not fags.
Visual-kei artists make up to create kind of character and interprete songs very dramaticly and when they are off stage they dress and look as normal as anybody.
If you don't know what visual-kei is please keep silent.
Visual-kei artists are not fags.
Visual-kei artists make up to create kind of character and interprete songs very dramaticly and when they are off stage they dress and look as normal as anybody.
If you don't know what visual-kei is please keep silent.
>>19-21 same person
>Visual-kei artists make up to create kind of character and interprete songs very dramaticly and when they are off stage they dress and look as normal as anybody.
I agree, except they don't always look exactly normal off-stage. :/
>...a bunch of guys in makeup with little or no talent. But everyone likes it because it's SEXY FEMININE MEN !!!
I like it because they're sexy and because they have talent. If you like Rentrer en Soi, you should listen to more VK before making such a statement.
X JAPAN
well i think visual kei rules all types of music. boys dont no what they talking bout and that a lot of insults. not very nive people arent u?? u BAKA'S
VISUAL KEI IS MY FUCKING LIFE!!!!
"The fan-base almost solely consists of girls and young women and is marketed strongly to that audience with items such as tradeable stickers, glossy photo-books, picture-postcards of band members and so on."
'nuff said.
Let's argue about taste!
> most of the time they make very good music because they understand something we don't... MELODY... which you can hardly find on western bands. They create their own music.
Bzzt! They understand something you, >>19, clearly don't. Thanks for trying to speak for the rest of us, though.
>Japanese music has proven to be one of the best in the whole >world.
>...they understand something we don't... MELODY... which you >can hardly find on western bands. They create their own music.
>Visual-kei bands really show how to play a guitar creating >MELODY and not repetitive sounds as most of western bands do.
Right. Please don't state crap like this as it only makes you look stupid. Try something else considered 'western' than MTV. Thank you.
haha...oh wow!
Visual Kei is great
Oshare Kei does excist btw, its a subgenre
guys just piss their pants if they see another guy wearing makeup -___-"
I like Visual Kei, the music and the way the artists look
99% of this thread (not counting me) is female.
Some visual kei is alright. I tend to listen to the much less flamboyant bands such as Dir en Grey, Girugamesh, Kagerou and DespairsRay, mainly because they are seriously awesome METAL bands, and metal is a genre I predominantly listen to. Looks are something I honestly couldn't give a flying fuck about, but if the music is good, then I see no reason not to give it a listen. I mean, Slipknot wears makeup, but people don't call their fans homos or fags for it.
It's sad really because there are actually some GOOD visual kei bands with GOOD music, yet a lot of fangirls bastardize the genre with shit comments like "OMG MIYAVI AND KAORU BUTTSECKS WUD BE SOOOOO HOTT!!! ^_________________________^." For example, when I saw Dir en Grey in Phoenix, I talked to a girl in the audience and asked her "What was your favorite song?" Her response, "G.D.S." the techno filler track they played before the band even came on. She said the rest of the "real" and "performed" music they played live was "too screamy" for her tastes. I mean, what the fuck? Why see a band live unless you actually like their music? This is what's wrong with fangirls and why they ruin the genre for people who might actually enjoy the MUSIC the bands play. For the number, I saw Girugamesh in Yokohama some time ago and the audience was an even mix of male and female fans, so I think this is a predominantly American way of stereotyping visual kei.
And yes, I am a guy, I am straight and don't like "teh cock." So stfu already.
>I tend to listen to the much less flamboyant bands such as Dir en Grey, Girugamesh, Kagerou and DespairsRay, mainly because they are seriously awesome METAL bands, and metal is a genre I predominantly listen to
Onmyouza = Fucking metal visual kei. If you enjoy female vocals, they should give you something interesting to listen to.
visual kei is bullshit
Hmmmmmm....
Kagrra, and diru
mmm dont know how to respond to a certain person, but im trying to respond to 32.
Dir en Grey is fucking awesome, im seeing them here in Chicago in Feburary!! im really excited.
you have NO IDEA how fed up i am with those shitty comments....i hate it when ppl say stuff like that, its about the music, now how they look.
if it has anything to do with looks, i think its more about fashion. :)
whats ur favorite song? (by diru)
Do it by clicking the post number, or just type >>32.
As for the topic, I'm not a HUGE fan of visual kei, but I do like Dir en Grey. And I agree that it's stupid to like a band for their appearance and not the music. Of course, a large part of visual kei IS the appearance, but if the music didn't matter, they wouldn't be a band, right?
I'm pretty sick of visual kei and people still thinking Dir en grey is a visual band.
They're not. End of story.
Malice Mizer= love. Their Klaha era stuff is great (I'm forcing myself not to squeal and fangirl over Mana, and it's hard). +D'espairsRay+ and Dir en Grey are both good, too. And...does Kana count as visual kei, I wonder?
The gazette is the best-looking even in visual rockers.
Though little old,I like X JAPAN.
I have all their CD and DVD.
Some favs include, Diru, X Japan, Gazette, Naitomea, Malice Mizer, and some more...iono why, but the music from visual kei interests me.
Kyo of Dir en grey himself has said that he would rather people like them for their music than how they look, and that the fans who like them for their visual style would not come to their concerts. Anyways, my favorites are deathgaze, Kagerou, X Japan, Gazette, MUCC (not really visi anymore either), Annie's LTD, Aikaryu, Dali/Dari, Chateau La Tour, Madeth Gray'll, D'espairsRay and Phantasmagoria.
>>39 Sorry to break it to you babe, but Dir en Grey IS a visual band. Thats how they got started, that's what they are. Yes, toned down some, however they are still considered visual.
And BTW >>36 and >>37 Dir en Grey is awesome live. I've seen them twice, once at the Family Values Tour in Dallas, and then at my fave little venue called The Palladium Ballroom (also in Dallas).
Also, I'm female, I like visual kei, j-rock, and the likes. However I'm not a fangirl. I find them.......for lack of better words... blithering idiots. I mean come ONNN!!! I had two of them standing next to me screaming at Kyo the whole time, "I want to have your babies!!!!" and something to the effect of "Kaoru and Die are sexy when they fuck!" It was ridiculous. I understand being a fan, but most fangirls aren't even fans. They just get all hot and bothered over a few hot guys. They are hot, I have to admit... and REALLY cool guys. But I'm not screaming at them like a dog in heat. I say we take all fangirls and put them in a room together for a week... maybe they'll... I don't know... kill eachother over a poster of Mana or something.
>>45
I can see where you're coming from on the 'Diru is visual' thing, but since being labelled as visual kei depends entirely upon looks, I wouldn't say they are, not now. Visual kei isn't a style of music; it's putting on a show with incredible costumes and stuff. The music is separate from it. So while their music is still similar, if they're not wearing those cool costumes anymore, they aren't visual; just a really great rock band.
Dir en grey
Malice Mizer
Gazette
Antic Cafe
Girugamesh
My favorites include -
Dir en Grey
Gazette
D'espairs Ray
Deathgaze
MUCC
Buck-Tick
Malice Mizer
Sadie
Lynch.
Deadman
Gackt
...... although some of these bands aren't strictly "ROCK" .... I would like to know someone else's opinion of thier favorite "ROCK" bands or just some really good ones... or songs. ^-^
I used to be a huge fan of certain visual kei bands - that was how I got into Japanese music (Kurenai the first Japanese song). I'm not a buff though. I like the early stuff, Dead End, Buck Tick, Kuroyume (I actually wrote that crappy article on Wikipedia), X Japan. I have an Auto-Mod album but that's more 80s goth, and I wanted to download some BY-SEXUAL stuff but can't find anything on Soulseek. I like some Pierrot, Laputa, L'arc (early stuff - haven't listened to the rest), Glay, Shazna, Luna Sea, Gilles De Rais, some Gackt songs but am more familiar with Malice Mizer.
I've heard shit VK too, like D'erlanger. Not sure about Dir En Grey. I've heard a few songs and liked them, but the names don't come to mind (Cage is good although it sounds an awful lot like Kuroyume's Misery, but then Kyo was a roadie for them bla bla bla).
I've listened to japanese rock since 1991 and I've tried a lot of bands and god, I have to say that visual kei bands are the worst bands of Japan. Why? The voices are totally crappy, all vocalists try to imite between them singing with a pushing and creepy voice.
Read this: I'm not against the fans but I think visual kei is totally overated. Actually, the best J-Rock bands are non-vk. The most fans (not all) of vk are girls between 12-20, and I think the problem is that j-rock is generalized with vk, and that is not true.
X JAPAN is NOT visual kei, never was. X JAPAN is only a rock band inspired by western bands like Kiss.
I really suggest you to listen non-vk bands and you will see the difference. Try Boris, Envy, the band apart, Rin Toshite Shigure, Drum:Kan, etc. and you will see.
And sorry for my english, I'm not native to that language.
So I did a Google search for Visual Kei and it gave me groups of women cosplaying as Kiss.
They are not women, they are MEN. Yeah the first time I saw a vk band I said: "Holy sh**t! they were men!"
There is good VK, just as there is good manufactured pop. The VK style of music is pretty unlike anything I can think of in the west. Deathrock is perhaps the closest I can think of and probably a big influence, but can anyone think of a Western band that sounds just like, say, early Luna Sea? Meanwhile, Boris sound like the Melvins + Sunn 0))) and Envy are emo hardcore. I don't have anything against either and am not saying that, for example, VK > Boris, but you have to admit that the whole VK fad has no real equivalent in the Western charts. Closest I can think of is maybe sped-up, more technical U2 or a more commercial Rozz-era Christian Death.
Of course, if I'd grown up in Japan I'd be sick to death of it too. VK is not the be-all and end-all of Japanese music, and I don't know how the term J-Rock became a synonym for VK.
The problem with J-Rock is this:
-VK bands have popularity outside Japan beacause of FANGIRLS. The good bands (non-vk) remain "rel. unknown" outside Japan beacause the forums are full of vk fangirls that don't try "normal" bands because that bands are not "visual enough for them".
So, when a person who is beginning in the j-rock world and wants to search for bands always find vk.
Many people are starting thinking that Japanese Rock is full of guys looking like drag queens, and gay bands.
Other people think that Japanese bands are ridiculous and stupid.
The non-vk indie rock in Japan is getting stronger but not enough here, we have a lot of deaf-vk-fans.
My opinion is visual kei is totally overrated, the same as Gackt and Laruku. The fact is the music, GOOD music, say NO to ridiculous looks and gayish behaviors, please.
>>53
Yeah..I said women on purpose..
Most of vk rockers are gay or bisexual, actually.
VK has a small fanbase in Japan. Most Japanese have probably never heard of all these bands. I'm not saying that popularity equals good music, but most of today's VK really sucks. Like >>55 said, it's more popular outside Japan and when people get into J-rock, the first things they find are 1. Malice Mizer/Gackt, 2. Dir en Grey, and 3. all those other new, indie bands that EVERYONE likes. Seriously, all VK fangirls have the same taste in music because there isn't exposure for the less popular bands. I guess the parallel for non VK are bands like L'arc, The Pillows, and Asian Kung-Fu Generation because of their ties with anime -- although Japanese people have actually heard of these bands.
Well I really don't give a crap what others think about J-ROCK bands.I don't care if they cross dressers,bi,or whatever.They are all cool to me and I like them regardless.-_-
Is not about Japanese Rock bands, is about visual kei bands, Japanese Rock is not only visual kei. Understand that, please.
And what do you mean with "They are all cool to me and I like regardless" ? If the music is shit, you will like them?
Go Gazette! Girugamesh! Merry! Ayabie! Buck-Tick! Malice Mizer and yes -> Dir en grey <- being my fav band.
Can girls do VK as well??
I know there's being Lolita and what not. I haven't found a band yet that has girls in it that does VK
>>61
just tape your breasts up and pretend to be a guy, they'll never notice
hahah ya eh?
I want to start a band VK style, but there's noone around where I live or let alone even like VK
Why don't you waste your money buyin instruments and learning more instead of make up?
>>57
So you're not wrong at all.
Seriously, though. All you people need to shut the fuck up about vkei. It's done. It's over with.
It died back in the early 90s with the end of X and LUNA SEA and 黒夢. Malice Mizer helped it along towards the end, but now M10M is just crap.
Don't make a visual kei band, you'll be laughed at by anyone with common sense who realizes you're NOT Japanese and CAN'T play your instruments.
Shut UP you fucking Japanophiles. Japanese people HATE you disgusting, overweight white/most likely black people.
But even funnier is the Japanophiles/weeaboos (and yes if you're not Japanese, including if your Chinese or whatever other Asian, you are a weeaboo) that think that as long as they hate Japanese pop culture, it makes them not a weeaboo anymore. No, if you genuinely disliked Japanese culture, you would not know the name of every single band or whatever that was popular at the height or whatever of whatever trend. You wouldn't even bother because you would have just heard it a few times, said, "meh" and left it alone.
You're still a weeaboo, just one that's fooling themselves into thinking that they somehow aren't, and that somehow by hating some or often many parts of Japanese culture, it somehow makes you more legitimate, like that copypasta of the guy claiming to hate weeaboos, and then asking his chances of becoming Japanese.
>> Jeez, someone is having a bad day or something?
plus I already know how to play countless instruments.
Who cares if VK is old or ended in the 90's, point is, there are people who still love it thankyou very much and no matter what you say, you really think it'll change our views? It certainly doesn't matter to me what you say.
>>66
Lol i don't think they said anything about not being a weeaboo, dumbass. They're just another person irritated with people like "Visual kei" over here. Obviously if they didn't like the Japanese culture they WOULDN'T know the bands and shit like that obviously they have a problem with the countless people like visual kei.
>>67
And I'm pretty sure we can count the "countless instruments" which you have mastered. ;)
>>66
Lol i don't think they said anything about not being a weeaboo, dumbass. They're just another person irritated with people like "Visual kei" over here. Obviously if they didn't like the Japanese culture they WOULDN'T know the bands and shit like that obviously they have a problem with the countless people like visual kei.
>>67
And I'm pretty sure we can count the "countless instruments" which you have mastered. ;)
There are people that like japanese culture, japanese music, but detest vk. Vk is not all in japanese rock babes.
Isn't VK special because it's something unique to the Japanese music scene? It's okay if everyone "over here" doesn't like it.
It is not something unique, is like a plague, even japanese people don't care about vk. You don't will see many vk fans in Japan.
VK is usually a gimmick to get enough fans and sales to go major.
LOL everyone here is getting all hot and bothered about Visual Kei. Fact is, it's still popular, and there will always be people who hate it. So for the people who like it, what do you do once a mean troll messes insults your favorite band? LOL and move one.
Ha ha, right.
Because we're supposed to like these bands for their music, right?
Supposedely.
It's a bit like Stock Aitken Waterman - everybody hates it because it's mainstream pop or whatever, but there are some good tunes in there that nobody will admit to liking. Which is a shame. I'm no VK fanboy but there are good songs, even good albums. Those who say that these bands rely on the visual component to distract people from realising how shit their music is are actually half right, because most of the posts in this thread are waffling on about the appearance and how tacky it is.
These people do write songs, you know. Some of them are nu metal and alternative horseshit, but others are melodic in the tradition of modern sugary Japanese pop music from the 80's onward. That's why bands like, say, Queen have always been big over there - they love that big stadium bubblegum glam thing. But like I said before, I can understand how Japanese people could get a little tired of hearing those particular cheap "dramatic" chords at the end of every chorus/verse or slickly arranged and fast paced "epic" songs on the radio for over 27 years. It's like if I were to listen to 27 years of power metal.
I wouldn't listen to a band if they sounded like crap. I think their VK style is an added bonus :]
Their are some VK bands that I don't like because of the music.
>>75
Fact is, it ISN'T popular anymore.
Go to Japan and learn your fucking shit, asshole.
>> 79
It might not be popular in Japan anymore
But there are many people throughout the world who like Visual Kei. Especially people who are into anime, a good majority of them like the Japanese music and like Visual Kei that goes along with it.
>>65
LUNA SEA and Koroyume both sucked. And MALICE MIZER was too fucking repetive to be considered as anything special, they were all about the appearance. There are some good visual bands these days, for example Viored, who released a pretty good album last year. I have no idea how they look, because I don't care.
I used to listen to visual bands all the time, but not anymore, so my Last.fm profile is beyond fucked. I remember MUCC (not visual these days), Imitation PoPs 宇宙戦隊 (uchuu sentai) NOIZ, X JAPAN, 仙台貨物 (sendai kamotsu, Nightmare's gag band) and another cell as being awesome, and sometimes listened to the Panic bands when I was in a really happy mood.
But then I discovered the many awesome artists that release their music at Comiket Market and similiar conventions, and am now listening to little else. Screw visual kei, indie video game music arranges are the best!
>>79
Indie vkei still has a following in Harajuku and Shibuya.
It was never popular in Japan to begin with, with the exception of X JAPAN and MALICE MIZER, but that was YEARS AGO.
i think vk these days are lot classier than your 90s shit and from a purely aesthetic view.
Who cares when it was popular
I looooooooooove it and forever will
And you are a Visual Bitch fan.
El comportamiento te delata.
blah blah blah
LOL, you must be a girl Visual Kei.
yurayura teikoku
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikOUA-aB97s
yurayura teikoku is not visual kei
>>80
Exactly why people hate vkei. Idiot fans like yourself.
You are the perfect example for "fangirl".
You like anime, you like visual kei and you think visual kei is the best thing about music in Japan.
That is your reality. But is so far from the real world.
>>95
Um, I never said 'I' liked anime. I just said there are people who do like anime and etc and they like visual kei because they found it through the conventions and such.
I never said I liked anime. I hardly watch it. I have friends who do though, you might want to try talking to them ok??
So lay off
should read what people say more closely and don't make assumptions
"It might not be popular in Japan anymore
But there are many people throughout the world who like Visual Kei. Especially people who are into anime, a good majority of them like the Japanese music and like Visual Kei that goes along with it."
where does it say I like anime??
Plus, i do listen to other music as well like From first to last, Underoath, I could go on.
So watchout who you're judging here
First, you must come with good reasons. Then, a decent discussion could be start, with valid arguments.
The reason because everyone is talking to you by that way is that your comments are like a 14 years old histeric fangirl. It could be better if you don't take the things in a defensive way.
sorry if I like to write with exclamations and all excited like on the internet
you can't really determine how a person is in real life just over a few comments on the net.
But you are annoying with you "I looooooooooooove it and forever will." Nobody cares if you love it, it is actually crap (there are few, very few decent bands). Don't you think ther their voices are totally shitty? Ughh all sounds the same.
LOL. Gackt's, Klaha's and Kyo's voices are so similar. Funny.
Visual Kei, try to put things in the same post. i think you're all annoying and arguing offensively about nothing important. some bands do use VK style just to go major because some people find it cool or attractive, and i think some bands do it well. but it's all unrelated to the music, and a lot of bands are talented no matter what they look like, so people that like japanese bands only that dress in the VK style do make those bands look worse (fangirls, etc). i like all sorts of japanese bands, as long as i like the way they sound, but some bands' style, ancafe's for example, catch my attention. the only reason i started listening to the band was because bou's so adorable. anyway, you should know more about japanese music as well as other kinds of music (not that they're really all that different in the long run) and avoid saying things like "it is actually crap" as if it were fact.
If you think that way about bands in Visual Kei
I dont care. I dont care if you think it's crap. That's your opinion. I think it's good and I don't care what you think. So why bother? What people say wont shut me up. So give it up.
I said before in a previous comment that a band that does visual kei is an added bonus for me. Of course I listen to a band because I like the way they sound not just for the style. They have to sound good to me, or I don't even bother listening to them. There are some Visual Kei bands I don't like because I don't like the way they sound, like Alice Nine. I listened to one of their songs, not sure which one and I didn't like it.
>>107
yeah i wasn't talking directly to you. alice nine is okay, but i mostly like the way they look, so i don't listen to them much.
I see I see. I think it was the singers voice I didn't like, not quite sure, it was quite a long time ago since I listened to that song. maybe I shall see if the other songs are the same. hmmm.
OH GAZETTE DEY'RE HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!! FUCK ME RUKI, HAVE MY BABIES OHHHHH KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!
That's what Visual Kei is. It's called, Visual Type, an emphasis on looks. But the music is also very good. And if you people don't like it, don't rain down on our parade about it.
Also, if you did know a thing, you'd know it's not "dead" or "not popular anymore."
Look at some of the girls you see in Tokyo, Harajuku, walking around in Gothic Lolita, or Oshare Kei.
It's still very popular, and is growing.
Sure, America has pushed it's way over to Japan, and has settled musical influences there, but to say Visual Kei is dead is pretty oblivious.
J-Rock Revolution, May 25th and 26 (which I attended), a couple of the bands were Visual Kei.
Just because some people give J-Rock/Visual Kei a bad name doesn't mean you should flame it.
>>104
Ha ha ha ha. You is a big fool man.
You're arguing it from a really biased point of view. I agree that it's not dead but it's not as popular as foreigners make it out to be. It's because we immerse ourselves with others who are really into vk that we think it's so popular and taking over the world by storm.
When it comes to Japan though visual kei barely makes it into the charts. There will always be a majority for pop and there will always be a lot of jap people who do not know who Dir en grey or Gazette is.
Oh and not all girls who walk around Harajuku in that kind of wear are into visual kei.
I also think it means something that the Jrock Revolution happened. They're moving out to the fans in the US which means they're lacking at home. Fan bases for certain bands may grow but the overall scene of vk is probably declining.
Yoshiki is a smart man but he's also in his mid-life crisis.
Yes, there are not so much vk fans in Japan nowadays, because of that those bands are targeting US.
To be honest, Japanese Rock listeners FROM Japan itself are more focused in non-visual and indie bands. They have festivals, more radio stations appearing, and more bands with an indiesh sound becoming well-known, like Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Syrup16g, Lunkhead, etc.
The problem with vk is that, for japanese people, the mean reason to be a vk band is give a bonus @ the shows, a different concept for the band. But these days, there are A LOT of vk bands that only use the look to attract more fans.
coughs Antic Cafe, visual? More like oshare. >_>
Oshare kei is a sub-division of visual kei.
Yeah, so it's not visual kei. It's a subgenre of visual kei.
It's a part of visual kei, so IT IS visual kei.
>>121 is a silly fangirl.
Yankii kei is best!
Whatever-shit kei is good for blinded and lesbian fangirls.
don't forget the deaf
Visual Kei fandom is full of horny lesbians
Of course this topic is filled with many clashing responses. I do think that american fan girls can be quite the scare. I am male,17, of Chinese and Japanese decent. I am very much into visual kei and such but I do not think many people understand exactly what we try to accomplish by being VK. Some bands use it to cover up for their lack of talent, others do it to appeal to younger generation and become more popular for their looks, and then there are the ones who simply enjoy the art. KISAKI-Sama is a wondeful example of a modern day geisha. A person such as KISAKI-Sama, who is deeply in love with art wished to go further. He became a breathing masterpiece. It is not meant to be lust over, it is a very respectable art.He brings smiles to the lips of his adoring fans by presenting his voice and his body for them to enjoy as a work of art. It isn't some strange hobby for a bunch of faggots, as most of you think. It is a way of life. We have chosen this to be what we want to do, and although being your views on VK are ugly and stubborn minded, it doesn't matter. We are what we are and we will always be such. Feel free to visit my myspace.
Forgive for english, I am not all that good.
♥♥- Jen
I wonder what Kisaki are you talking about. I know one and he is huge ass failure. I think Kenzi on the other hand has always been only VK artist I had any respect for. Until I saw that he too had sold himself out after over 10 years of looking the same and keeping his own style. <.<
And what the hell has geisha gotto do with VK artists? I can think of one similarity and that's wearing make-up... except they barely wear it these days. Also VK artists these days have no fucking style what so ever. They dress more like punk artists. In the 90s I could say there was some similarities to something oriental. These days... there is none. They are hardly even feminine. <.< I certainly don't see what that has to do with geisha.
Yes, then thats the one I am referring to. I will admit that he did indeed disappoint.Well...Theres is really nothing else for an aging rocker. I mean...Age only matters to some fans I suppose. But of many do not care so much now, but the artist are always being worrried about they're appearance and how to keep up with the newest trend to stay popular amongst the people. I do feel alot of respect for Dir en grey, they started out visual and realized what was happening and decided not to go with the movement.They may not make the best music now, but back then they made great music.
Not for femininity,it is an art. I only used it as an example. Forgive me for not of knowing another word to being put instead.I have not taken many year of english.
♥♥-Jen
You can be old man and keep the style you've had. They are not that old for that matter. I know some really damn good looking Japanese musicians who are in their late 40s.
They have never sold too well neither Kenzi nor Kisaki... so I dont really see what good does it do to completely change your style when you still aren't anymore popular.
Whatever comes to Dir en grey changing their style... well seems most bands followed. There are very few left with the 90s VK styles anymore. Either they all look like dir en grey or then like some indie version of psycho le cemu.
VK is really stupid style since it constantly changes and doesn't stay the same. 80s it was very colourful and glammy. In the 90s it was gothic and glam and in 2000 it's been very punkish. <.< It never had much anything of it's own.
I agree with what you say, but the artist may not feel that way. Yes, sadly I see a blond vocalist, a blue haired bassist and a feminine drummer in most bands now.That is true that it continuously changes but thats what makes it interesting. If it stayed the same it wouldn't be anymore.
♥♥-Jen
X Japan FTW. :)
KISAKI is =B
Cute Japanese guys for the win. They're just fun to look at.
AnCafe!
The opening 2 song for Darker than Black!!!!!!!
X Japan
Himitsu Kessha Codomo A
Baiser
CROSS HARD (are they VK?)
anyone tell me what visual kei is?
even though ive heard of/listened to some of the bands mentioned here.
>>138
Its Japanese bands that put a focus on dressing up. Usually one member of the band is the designated trap.
LUNASEA is an extremely creative rock band of Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDH9XTB537A&feature=related
>>140
I don't think Luna Sea is that visual.
They're doing some reunion shit right now though. And there's an awesome album of bands covering their songs that was released last year. (its called something like Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album)
Vidoll, which is an awesome visual kei band, performs live shows as a Luna Sea cover band called Visual Sea too. Unfortunately I've never found a recording of one of those shows.
(for those who dislike jrock here,why the hell are you commenting your opinion if you dont like it at all...you guys are really stupid seriously)
はい、ビジュアル敬は、これまでで最も驚くべきことは、日本のロックの歴史だ。
私としては、すべて自分たちの音楽をサポートします。
アリス九號 ンがすべてだ。
井戸です。
ずっと大好き！
cant understand? look it up :D
>>142
All people are allowed to have opinions.
Except you.
Visual kei is not even a musical genre.
As well as j-rock.
So please stop with these.
I mean, do we call all US band "US-rock" ?
Seriously...
>>142
Rules · 規則
基本的には英語の使用を強く希望します。ただ日本語板の場合は日本語か英語。
Can you understand?
Ah~! I like a love of VK artists.
Antic Cafe.
SID.
D.
Gazette.
Miyavi.
Luna Sea.
Malice Mizer.
BLOOD.
Lolita23Q.
A bunch more.
Gazette
Vidoll
Malice Mizer
Sadie
D
Alice Nine
Antic Cafe
Awesome music,awesome looks,awesome styles, and awesome people
VK pretty much sucks major balls
>>149
agreed.
having said that, I haven't listened to any in a while but in my day i liked vidoll and MASK and like many others in this thread, D
I suppose I'm a bit oldschool when it comes to my VK...
~Dir en Grey's older stuff
~Velvet Eden
~LunaSea's older stuff
~Due le Quartz
~X[Japan]
~Lareine
Malice Mizer (all eras)
Well...there are other bands too, I suppose. Like MUCC, Merri and Inugami Circus-dan. Onmyou-Za and Rentrer-en-Soi are good as well.
Velvet Eden ftw
I enjoy Vidoll,
Pride of Mind,
Blam Honey
Közi
Seems like everyone likes Malice Mizer... I think they are genuinely good, quality band. Unique. An extremely pleasurable orgasm to listen to and look at.
It's disappointing, to me, to see every VK otaku like Alice Nine and An Cafe and, especially, the horrid Dir en grey -_-
They hear about them from other weeaboos, and then listen to them, thinking they've found the VK god, when infact there are so many other options and varieties of music within "Visual Kei".
Also, there are good bands out there that don't give a shit about their appearance. While I really enjoy when a band works hard on both image and music, I can also appreciate music without a face (Buckethead).
Most of the bands from 80s-90s are good. Recently there's been a trend towards emo/screamo/nu-metal bollocks in VK (if it's even called that anymore) so I'm wary of new bands.
Then again VK is a bit of a loose thing anyway since it always referred to the fashion, but there is (was?) some sort of musical style that developed around it.
Visual Kei? Moar liek Visual Gay amirite?
>>154 Visual HEY! You can't say that!
The only good VK band was Schwarz Stein, and you all know it.
I am incredibly glad X Japan got back together :]
I hope to see them in NYC soon
The only time visual kei is suitable is if you're X Japan.
>>157
Oh? Did Hide un-suicide?
>>160
Yeah, I know, that was just sarcasm. Hide was an awesome guy. Too bad they have to do this without him. Meh, Yoshiki still is an awesome musician and songwriter, so whatever.