shiroihana

I don't think anyone could have said this any better with any less words, absolutely. The culture was very distinct and a very acquired taste before it became more pop-inspired. You could listen to a song by a visual kei band back then and think "Woah, this is a visual kei band!" while now there are many visual kei bands today where that distinct sound has been replaced with a more familiar family-friendly indistinct pop-rock sound, and I can only imagine this shift to continue over time as the scene continues to change with the years. As for looks: while it's easy to write of looks as trivial because hey a band is supposed to perform music right? You can't listen to pictures. Looks are a very distinct facet within the visual kei scene and if you're really invested into the genre you can sort of get a feel for how a band will sound like just by looking at their photos so it truly is a unique artform. I have discovered many bands that I enjoyed that caught my attention because of their looks. Finally I'll just add something that I'd hate to admit but it's my opinion and I'll say it. The skill level in visual kei today has increased significantly since my favorite era. These new kids in the scene are perform faster, heavier, more impressive music overall compared to the indies music from the era I grow up listening to. I see vocalists in the scene today like the vocalist of Purple Stone and many other bands and while they don't have that old fashioned distinct esoteric raspy visual kei voice that I love I can commend that these guys really know how to perform a song and these vocalists are hitting notes that most vocalists wouldn't ever attempt to hit back in the era I grew up with.

Yeah I'm a man. Many people here know who I am but have never seen a full face photo of me so yeah.

My camera doesn't have amazing quality but this is my food. It's chinese eggplant in hot garlic sauce with some general tso's tofu and veggies with brown rice. I don't really eat meat all the time but I love my veggies and I only seldomly eat meat, I am not vegan though.

Very cool drawings, hope to see more from you! Do you do requests or just whoever you like?

Very nice, nothing is better than trying something out and it turns out you end up really enjoying it. Very much props to you and keep it up. I made a pizza today and I made it from whole ground wheat berries. The crust was a bit tough but it was very flavorful, a much healthier alternative to the typical pizza crusts made purely of purely processed white flour. I used the six cheese ragu sauce and a generous amount of part skim mozzarella and it was very delicious. Next time I'll probably add a nice helping of cooked veggies on top for more flavor and health benefits yey.

Couldn't agree more, and while I'm one of the very few avid indie oshare fans probably out here, I would agree that Aicle was definitely one of the best oshare bands that graced the scene. I loved the bands that would combine unusual guitar melodies, occasional heaviness, random screaming bits and melodic choruses and mend it all together to create some sort of chaotic masterpiece and early Aicle did that. Lolita23Q is another solid example that @JamesRbrought up - another very nice mid 2000s band. There were also other really nice oshare bands (Hime Ichigo, Juliette, etc)but oshare was a very very acquired taste. The indies sound back then was much more esoteric than it is today. A good example of this would be the vocal style transition that we've seen from vocalists. That raspy signature visual kei voice is something we don't hear quite as much anymore and has been replaced with a more refined clean singing style. All of the bands listed in the OP were pretty cool though and I had difficulty choosing between Aicle and Kagrra,

Kind of funny story, kind of chilling to me. Very strange that the president of South Korea could allow herself to be manipulated by a man claiming to be a psychic, but given the circumstances it makes a little bit of sense. Elder choi used Park's mother's death as a sick ploy to manipulate her feelings and gain her trust. She believed in him and found solice in him as her spiritual guide. But the fact that this was all discovered only because Choi was clumsy enough to leave her galaxy tablet sitting on a desk unencrypted in an office is just asnine. This would make a wonderful documentary. I will be sharing this story lol Oh and there's this part: That was from 2007 too, crazy...

We live in a world where people aren't allowed to be themselves even under circumstances which doesn't hurt anybody. Agree with Zeus that it's very strange he would do something like this knowing full well the conditions related to the environment he lived in. "The man had also allegedly posted his phone number on the social networking site and was offering sexual services to other men." And then there's that... but even censurable and dicey behavior such as that doesn't warrant such an extreme punishment. He's not going around nonconsensually violating or harming people in any way as far as I know.

I'm playing Pokemon Moon.. I really enjoy that one. Also looking forward to the next Fire Emblem.

Seems people think zooc's vocalist is bad. I think that style doesn't suit him, but he was decent in Lilith many many years ago. Rob M is a legend for uploading this gem

Fourth and fifth wave for me, but mostly the indie stuff. I miss when VK had that very distinct sound especially vocal-wise. Today's VK is still cool though even if I don't listen to it as much.

Mine is to do well in college lol

Hello nice to meet you and hope to see you around.

I don't have anything and can't find any written lyrics. Thanks for the help although if it's possible I'd like a full translation from someone who is willing to go out of their way to help me out.

Hello I would like to request that someone translates this song from Japanese into Romaji for me. It would be VERY appreciated.

Hello

They look amazing tbh

Omg Princess Kiss is gorgeous. Also love A Rose, and 永遠の花. I don't think he ships internationally though so how am I gonna buy his CDs?

Yeah people dismiss the music a lot here too just because it's Japanese. I'm just like "so what if you can't understand it" you know.. I find it so strange because Japan is filled with so many talented musicians and bands but all of it goes over their heads for such petty reasons. I think it's mostly because they're not used to it though. As for visual kei the language barrier or racism is not the only issue here. We are a vast minority not just as Japanese music fans but also as visual kei fans because so many people will say things like "Those are guys?!" or "Fags!" and it's pretty ridiculous and ignorant. Most anime music fans I know wouldn't like visual kei, unless it's Nightmare or other VK bands who appeared in anime intros / outros. As for the language barrier issue: Music is much more than lyrics. Lyrics give a song meaning, but the sound is ultimately what makes the song and because of this dismissing a song because of lyrics is absurd. If you listen to mainstream pop or rap music on the radio the lyrics are 90% vapid meaningless lyrics that are repeated over and over again. Sometimes the lyrics don't even make any sense too and these people just want a 'beat' to listen to, so I don't understand why someone would dismiss Japanese music based on lyrics when the sound can make up so much for that lack of understanding.