gekiai

This af.

I'm not denying the OP's observations about a certain bias some fans may have, but at the same time, I think a lot of people downplay the uniqueness of different languages themselves. When it comes down to it, it's extremely difficult to find bands singing in different languages that actually manage to "sound" like each other. Even if a German-language band existed that sounded, musically, exactly like THE NOVEMBERS or something, I highly doubt I'd ever enjoy listening to them as much as Japanese NOVEMBERS, just from a phonetic standpoint. And this is coming from someone who studies/teaches/otherwise loves German.

But there's all kinds of biases. There's fans that never go beyond English-language or Anglo/European music. There's Japanese music fans that don't dare touch VK, because it would ruin their cred. There's VK fans who put the blinders on to any other scene or country's music.

anyone a bit familiar with the stereotype of jrock listeners already know the answer: pure and simple obsession with anything that comes from Japan. Most of japanese vocalists sucks balls compared to their western genre equivalent (rap, vkei/rock, pop, indie...), and people care? no they don't. Several VK bands rehashes riffs/song structures from more sucessful western acts. people care? no, they still do not care. They just need a nippon tag and any problem suddenly doesn't matter.
 
and it is what it is, you are looking for common sense in a pool of unreasonable, fanatic people. better save your breath.
 
ps: Deviloof is terrible, jeeeesus
 
also, cheers!

hope you're prepared for the usual stale arguments of
i don't understand the language which means its better because western lyrics are usually bad!! glorious nihonjin make ongaku better than white devils something about not being mainstream  
 
also cheers

cheers to you spilling some tea (your argument is leveraged toward an audience who probably doesn't care to acknowledge their own biases i mean how many intelligent nokubura and deviloof stans are on here tho)

Welcome! I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here

i think visual kei fans should be institutionalized... but thats a topic for another day!
 
while i like visual kei, i cant stand most of the scene surrounding it and find the fans pathetic. i feel the same towards kpop fans, idol fans and anyone who devotes incredible amounts of money and time towards musicians. i get it, its your time and you can enjoy your leisure however you want but it doesn't change how pointless of a hobby it is. a lot of ex-gya realize this, but between me and you, their attention-seeking personalities latch onto something equally stimulating for this purpose, whether it be hosts or other musical groups. why else do you see girls leaving bands once they become popular? because they no longer get the attention they seek from those dudes, as they're now busy with other things and can't prioritize their old fans like they could when they debuted. imma keep the rest of this to myself *kermit emoji*. This happens a lot among jp fans, thank god they acknowledge how sleezy the scene is...people in foreign fandom dont. In the case of vk, the mechanisms that allow for bandmen to become idolized regardless of relevance are quite different from say, a popular boyband's mob of fans but its the same in that case. its alright to be a fan of something and enjoy it, but if you think really hard about it, what does following a band or artist do for you? more importantly, what does it say about you? there's a reason gya are looked down upon, even by their fellow countrymen. the fact that westerns aspire to that is even worse, like you live in a country where women are slightly more empowered so that they dont feel their best accomplishment is that of following a band of crossdressers traveling the country to rehash slipknot songs YET you still want to do it? lmfao. NOW, this is all incredibly pointed but where it pisses me off is these same loony girls trying to come here and enforce that same shit they do in japan...bitch go hold your fucking president accountable for those damn nukes and leave our shows the way they are. until then, you can be crazy but its not my culture so i can observe u from a distance acting crazy...just dont bring that here and expect people to deal with it because you are amazing jouren no bitch u r a dollar bill for the band. keep in mind this isnt the majority of the people here, as we all like to observe from a distance while tossing some dollaz here and there....as for the minority of you crackheads this does apply to....god will find u at the heavenly gates and see how much ticket stubs you have left over at home and make a SWIFT decision.
 
tl;dr: stop following bands and read a book, get an education, read up about politics, empower yourself because there are better things to do with your time. im a hypocrite...but only a bit
 

From the many musical domains I have set foot on, I have personally experienced Visual Kei (or the Japanese fanbase in general) as being the very worst when it comes to its 'fans'. I absolutely do not wish to attack anyone by saying this, but the sheer amount of 'crazy fans' is just completely overwhelming and unhealthy, and regrettably the genre is one of those that is somehow attractive to those who often struggle in life or suffer from mental disabilities (myself included). It shows in the influence a fanbase has on bands and artists, take for instance last year's case of Femme Fatale; a bandmember supposedly cheated on his wife, and it was the fans' desire to see him punished — the man left the band and is never heard of again. I cannot wrap myself around the mindset so very present in the Visual Kei sphere; who are you —as a fan— to dictate a musician's life and decisions? Why is everyone so busy with others when they first have themselves to look out for? It is highly likely that in a person's general surroundings of family and friends, people take pleasure in debauchery, or maybe the fan himself or herself has made general mistakes in life. Do you turn your back on everyone who does differently? Why chastise another human being who is by default prone to make mistakes? Any 'scandal' in Japan leads to disaster and can completely ruin an artist's reputation, and sadly this showcase of completely berating artists over their personal lives has become popular with non-Japanese fans as well. As is said above, Koreans take it even a step further.
 
As the name implies, Visual Kei is unfortunately less about the music, and moreso about the participants themselves, and the genre has therefore grown into an uncomfortable, defensive business where it is mandatory to display a certain territorial behaviour over musicians, or a complete disdain toward others. There exists an extreme concept of bandwagonism where people are unaware of their own behaviour and merely portray themselves as such because this is the norm. For when you stray from this norm, you are chastized and abhorred, and disliked for your difference in opinions. It is therefore very attractive to jump on board and do as others do as to not be targeted, which blows this phenomena up even larger. I have experienced violent behaviour during concerts which was absolutely unnecessary, purely because some people believe they are the only ones priviliged enough to see their favourite artists live. Hair being pulled, being kicked, scratched and even bitten, pieces of clothing being torn from artists their outfits, etc. I can imagine this behaviour would have taken place during a Michael Jackson concert, but to display it during every small concert where there is plenty opportunity to share a word with the band afterwards, it is even more unacceptable. 
 
Truthfully, I cannot recall any such behaviour in other musical genres in which I wandered and as soon as I walked through the curtain into this world, I became confused. I cannot remember people wanting to see Axl Rose removed from this planet because he, say for example, slept with four girls at once, if anything, people'd give him a nod of approval. If any Japanese or Korean artist's sex-life is exposed, expect hell to be unleashed on earth, and expect them to never touch music again because of how awfully influential their fanbases are and how easily these 'fans' turn on these artists and make sure their lives are ruined. Surely, a band or artist thrives on their fans and they are a neccessary component in the industry — but to let things come this far is just unheard of. I do however recall telling other fans that I am uninterested in the personal lives of musicians, and they'd look at me as if I'd grown three extra heads. Why? Isn't it completely normal that you do not concern yourself with a stranger's private business? In the end, I am glad that an artist addressed the erratic and elitistic behaviour of these alleged fans and makes sure that international fans are just as welcome to share the experience of attending Japanese concerts.

Mamo from R-shitei posted the following texts on his 755 (a japanese SNS) profile: 
 

"For some reason i can't really think lesbian are dirty...
But gays are really disgusting.
 
I want to enter between two lesbians."
 

"If the gays are beautiful its okay. But its not if they are both bald guys with beard lol"
 
AFter that he even said he's really Lolicon (pedo) and that's not a character.
 
 
I'm so ashamed for being supporting this band until now. 
This guy just SUCKS.

I think it's been a good 10 years since I last posted on a BBS, but I've been looking for a J-rock/V-kei community for a while now and I was glad to find this one (figured that if I can't shut up about the music I love listening to I should probably join!).
 
I'm really into MUCC these days (can't wait for their new album! Just a couple more days!), and really love the big classic geezers (X Japan, Luna Sea, Buck-Tick, Kuroyume). I also love going to gigs and finding new bands to listen to. Thought the scene was dead until a year ago, but nope, still alive and kicking. DEZERT are currently my favorite fairly-new v-kei act. They're unpolished (sometimes in a good way) but give good vibes and have an interesting interaction with their audience.
 
I'm here to learn (so many bands I've never heard of just from skimming through the site, yay!) and meet new people. So, um, hi!

INFJ-T
 
Its really me 

Yeah, they did play in Budokan.
 
I kind of noticed that a lot of bands that were big, when I got into VK (which are still going) now are hardly heard of. I guess it's just a matter of them being overshadowed by young bands gaining in popularity. Also fans grow up and change their tastes in music. Not a lot of people can stick to their faves for, let's say, ten years.
 

Welcome! 

OMG this is so sexy and so sad because you are leaving me all at the same time

Really love this too!! Actually a bit happy that he went solo, even tho I miss Glamhaze.

they realized that working 12 hour shifts at family mart is not for them, and as they have no university degree  they don't have much choice.

游彩(Yusai) is their new band and they began on 2017.01.01.
 
A first single will be released on 2017.03.01. It is called 『アイラク偽心』 (Airaku Nise Kokoro).
 
TYPE A  : 1944 yens
CD :
1.アイラク偽心 (Airaku Nise Kokoro)
2.色暮 (Shoku Kure)
DVD :
1.アイラク偽心(Airaku Nise Kokoro)
 
TYPE B : 1620 yens
CD :
1.アイラク偽心 (Airaku Nise Kokoro)
2.色暮 (Shoku Kure)
3.地団駄序曲地団駄序曲 (Jidanda Jokyoku)
 
 
 
Here is their website : http://yusai-web.net/
 

Twins☆ will be in the movie adaptation of the manga "帝一の國 (Teiichi no Kuni)"

A LITTLE LOUDER in case those "hurr durr i am #1 gaijin fan i buy all types of cd durrr durrrrrrr i am best fan u all suck" people here didn't get the message.
technically (according to jp girls) u arent a true fan unless you attend lives, buy cheki, attend in stores, buy merch. thats where their money is, of course, but its also ridiculous. so then who is a real fan? visual fans love to impose hierarchies of devotion onto each other, so think about how fucking stupid you look bragging about what you do compared to jouren or girls who actually do stuff for their band. at which point do u draw the line between a bandomen money sink or a true fan? exactly, there's always a bunch of people above you, so don't be a twat to those below. lets all be nice to each other, and support our bands as much as we want to without dragging others down because they support their bands in different ways u might not think is the best (except jouren/mitsu because duh).
i hate to go on this off-topic rant but i think its important considering some of the behavior i've seen on here recently.  also its none of my business *wink* BUT a lot of the people abroad claiming they are "good fans"  because of buying 3 types of a cd or something (god forbid spending 100s on live dists on auction which give more profit to gya then the musicians) don't do much financial for bands considering how much of the cut they actually get from CD sales lmfao.
NOW THAT I HAVE THIS OFF MY CHEST...LETS PROCEED.
 
i wanna see kai in a band less mejibray styled and more djenty tbh, it'd suit his vox more.

yay more nightmare on every cover

Most people in japan use Yahoo, but I don't think Yahoo has a similar trends analysis tool to google. Hence I searched in Japanese, and Japan was the only region available so I didn't have to narrow it down further:
 
Blue: "visual kei" / Region: global
Red: "ヴィジュアル系" / Region: Japan

 
Also communities and individuals migrating from livejournal to tumblr might've been a factor as well. It created a mess at the time and information sources became convoluted.

masaya's official disbandment comment:
 
The rest are similar in essence to his, so I haven't translated them.
 
 
And here's masaya's blog entry from this morning:
 
This is such a huge loss i can't even begin to put it into words. I've followed them since they were standing along the streets outside tiny Hiroshima livehouses giving out free music to random strangers because no one cared about them, and they had to work so so so hard to get to where they are now. But if it's down to member differences (which I believe is the truth) then I guess it can't be helped. I'll be there to see them off at their last live ♡
 
 

Well...I've been silent for a very long time but all of my friends who used to listen VK/Jrock aren't friends anymore, so I thought it might be awesome to penetrate you all with my thoughts xD
 
Came to VK around age 18/19 and fell in love with A9 and the GazettE. Afterwards my range widened for some bands which are more metal. I'm not into that poppy bands.
I've had some ups and downs with Jrock, stopped listen to it and withdraw from the whole scene, then listen to it again etc etc.
 
My heart beats for D'espairsRay. I know they're disbanded but i'm still hoping for Hizumis recovery and a resurrection of despa <3
Further I listen to the GazettE, lynch, <3, Dadaroma, Jiluka, Shellmy, The Egoist, Canival, girugamesh (still grieving .__.), Nocturnal Bloodlust, Archemi. and Develop One's Faculties...for now. I'm always looking for some nice new indies. So if you think you know one hell of a band, don't hestitate to tell me

Follow and Blesscode in the same year..... wow..... was raving about both of their songs as song of the year and they both left me.... I hope they come back under a new name or start over somewhere else, just don't leave VK