qotka

First heard Rentrer en Soi's single for "Wither" in either late 2004 or early 2005, and fell in love. Funnily enough, I had no idea what Visual Kei was and hadn't even seen a picture of the band at the time. The title track is still one of my favorite VK songs ever.
 
 

| If the gimmick works farm it; don't ditch it for something boring.
 
It's no secret that I fawn over everything Wagakki-Band has done. Let it be known that I also encourage musicians to have side projects and fully express their creative tendencies. But given the timing of it all, I could be forgiven for viewing Yuko Suzuhana's solo career as a power play. My gut reaction was that Wagakki-Band was still too young of a band for her to tire of the traditional aesthetic - even considering her past activities with Hanafugetsu - and deduced that CRADLE OF ETERNITY would break from the aforementioned aesthetic completely. I never doubted Suzuhana's vocal excellence, and she sounds beautiful on every song. But without the traditional bend to her music, something different but equally as compelling has to take its place. CRADLE OF ETERNITY is too safe; a cold, calculated, manufactured slice of unoffensive corporate pop that doesn't stand out.
 
There's a lot of competition in the pop scene. If you want to make it, you have to stand out. At one point in time, Jun Togawa, Shiina Ringo, and most recently Seiko Oomori have broken into the mainstream by bucking the trend, but remaining accessible. CRADLE OF ETERNITY  does the complete opposite; it's musically excellent but devoid of spice. There's no excitement, no surprises, and the album plods along at the same pace for ten tracks. At the end there's a piano solo of lead track "永世のクレイドル" and an even slower version of "Remains" - the most interesting songs on the album - because what the album needed to do was go even slower. There was plenty of room for experimentation with darkwave, electronic, the traditional influence she is purposefully shunning, or even classic rock, but CRADLE OF ETERNITY settles for only the safest brand of pop. It's shallow and one-dimensional, if not superficially pretty all the way through, and that's about it.  
 
I want to like the release more based purely on who is involved and how good she can be at her best, but CRADLE OF ETERNITY does Yuko Suzuhana no justice. She needs more than tracks that sound like generic anime openers on Prozac. This is a modest start to a solo career that won't take off until the music direction changes. At the very least, it's money for her and I'm happy about that. For me, it's the newest entry to the pile of music that I'll forget about soon.
 
 
Support the artist!

Amazon (JP) | Play-Asia

PENICILLIN are charging ￥6,500 to play in 500 people livehouses, I think. D'ERLANGER was charging the same amount and playing the same houses. That's the EXACT SAME AMOUNT I payed to see BUCK-TICK last year in a 2,500 people hall.
 
RADWIMPS are charging around U$75 and playing big halls and arenas, ONE OK ROCK is a bit cheaper, so it's a mix between popularity/name recognition and the kind of venues they usually play. And I guess it also depends on the bands and the fanbase demographic. Older bands usually have older fans and that means more money.
 
I mean, I understand that V系 bands usually charge more than "normal" rock bands (gotta pay for them outfits, right?), but it can get pretty gruesome. BLUE ENCOUNT who is doing pretty, pretty well, charge about ￥4,500. Suchmos are even cheaper: ￥3,500. So, yeah, check how much your favorite band is asking for a ticket. If they are charging a lot, that usually means they are doing ok enough, even if the shows aren't selling out.

Eh... I dunno, MERRY seems to be touring in the exact same places they've always played: livehouses (the medium ones, up to 1000 people), the occasional hall and playing smaller houses for their fanclub. Seems ok to me.
 
They did lose a bit of their fanbase during the Beautiful Freaks-era, but things seem to have calmed down.
 
The fact that they aren't on a major label anymore hurt them as well (and that would happen to anyone, see A9 for more). An indies label, no matter how well run and connected, can't compete with the level of exposure that a major can offer you. But, the fact that they appeared on TV shows somewhat recently (the same ones that DIR EN GREY/sukekiyo appeared, so that might mean that a producer on the show might dig those guys or Free-Will in general), show me that "hey, FIREWALL DIV. has SOME cash to spend on 'em."
 
PENICILLIN seems to be doing OK for a band with 25 years on the road. Those fuckers are charging ￥6,500 a piece.
 
As always with Japanese bands, you gotta check how much a ticket cost. Never fails. RADWIMPS, who just might be THE hottest Japanese rock band right now, are charging ￥7,900 for a ticket. I guess the older hardcore fans seem to fork enough money for HAKUEI and co. to be able to produce albums + singles and touring every year. 
 
 
 
 

Funny story: it was Plastic Tree, but I had no idea they were even considered v-kei and had no idea what the band looked like until a year ago. A friend recommended them to me and I've been listening to them on and off since 2004. I didn't have an internet connection at home back then and relied on copying friends' music folders whenever I had the chance. Shirochronicle got me through a shitty military service, I'll always have a place in my heart for this album.
 
By the way, I found out what they looked like when I came to Japan and started looking into tour dates. It was a pleasant surprise! Love Ryutaro's emoboi hair and Moroccan grandma getup.

cali≠gari will release their new album titled "13" on 2017/05/10 in 2 versions: limited "Kyoushin-ban" CD+Blu-ray edition (￥6,000+tax) and regular "Ryoushin-ban" CD-only edition (￥3,000+tax). The limited bonus Blu-ray will feature scenes from the album's recording and various offshot footage. Also, the "Kyoushin-ban" cover art will be done by mangaka Maya Mineo (apparently known for classic shoujo and BL style manga).
 
They will also hold their Japan tour "cali≠gari △15th Caliversary”2002-2017″ TOUR 13 -Hell is other people-" from June 3 to July 22.
 

Idk where to put this or how to title it... sorry mods! But I came across an old thread (Wtf is Ains), and thought I'd dump a short history of Yukika/Ains. Only it turned out to be way longer than I expected, and had some crossover with non-Ains labels. So... I thought I'd dump it in the general section. Maybe this can turn into a general discussion of vk labels? (Didn't see anything similar extant when I searched.) Anyway, here:
Yukika (雪花) is a dude who was vocalist of a band called ETCETERA (エトセトラ). They were on their own label, called ● drop cafe, which I think he owned. Later, they joined a bigger label called ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE.
 
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Yayoi (弥生) is a dude who was in the bands Vice†risk and La'miss fairy, among many others. Back in the day, he owned a label called ● Eternal, which was in turn a sublabel of KISAKI's ● Matina label.
Eventually, ● Matina closed, and so did ● Eternal. Later―around the same time that KISAKI opened his new label ● UNDER CODE PRODUCTION―Yayoi opened a new label called ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE.
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ETCETERA eventually disbands, and ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE closes, whatever. Afterward, Yukika forms a band called Fils, but they operate without a label and disband pretty quickly. Yukika then forms the band CLUTCH (クラッチ) under his own record label, ● Culminate Screen.
 
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● Culminate Screen mostly had shitty bands, but there was this one group called CATHELINE (キャサリン)... They got a little popularity, jumped ship to Speed-disk, and became R-18, then R-15, then R Shitei (R指定).
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CLUTCH disbands, ● Culminate Screen closes, whatever. Yukika keeps at it, forms a new band called Buddy, and starts a new label, ● A heretic sound music.. Here's where it starts getting interesting:
Yukika gets lucky, and signs this band called ALSDEAD to his label. Somehow, they get a little popular, and he's probably making money from his label for the first time ever. Meanwhile, this little band called Valluna (ヴァルナ) starts hanging out around label (without actually joining), so that's pretty cool.
Cut to late 2009. Remember that Yayoi guy, the president of the label that Yukika's band ETCETERA used to be on? Yeah, that guy suddenly has a new label called ● FIREBALL―which has no artists, btw―and Yukika slides ● A heretic sound music. right in there as a sublabel of ● FIREBALL. That's definitely some tax evasion shit, right?
Like 3 minutes later, ALSDEAD mysteriously announces that they're “graduating” from ● A heretic sound music.. The next month, Yukika's like, “Hey guys, ● A heretic sound music. is closing.” (Haq;ch. and Navir, the two unsuccessful bands on the label, are just left to fend for themselves.) But don't worry! Yukika has formed a new label: ● Galaxy, which is also a sublabel of ● FIREBALL. (Yukika even co-sponsors one-day revivals of ● Eternal and ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE with Yayoi, 'cause they're totes great friends now.)
 
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Btw, did you catch that? He transforms his label into a sublabel, then immediately closes it and forms a new sublabel under the same company. He keeps the one band who was somewhat successful, and drops off the other two in some barren desert somewhere. That's definitely some tax wizardry, right? Or maybe just a cute way to end those other bands' contracts?
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So ● Galaxy is here, and they've got the somewhat successful ALSDEAD band. Then, surprise surprise, Valluna (ヴァルナ) joins ● Galaxy.
 
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ALSDEAD was, like, doing pretty good. But right after their first release through ● Galaxy, they jumped ship to their own label, ● CTA Works ('cause they're assholes?). ● Danger Crue scooped them up after, which is a pretty big deal, 'cause, like... ● Danger Crue isn't major, but it's as close as most visual bands will ever get, and it has major distribution through ● SONY. It seems like they really fell off after that, but maybe that's just in the overseas community.
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That Valluna (ヴァルナ) band is doing well, like really well. Which, in the VK world, means it's time for a disbandment. So, Valluna (ヴァルナ) disbands, and the important members immediately come back as DIAURA.
DIAURA is doing super well; so much so that their album is distributed by the major label ● CROWN, which is rare for a tiny label like ● Galaxy. So Yukika and Yayaoi must be dragging home small bags of money every day, which is great. But eventually, Yukika gets smart, and is like “fuck this, I want all the bags of money”; so in early 2012, mentions of something called ● Ains start springing up. ● Galaxy is still publishing releases and sponsoring lives, but this ● Ains thing is being mentioned too.
Smash cut to March of 2012, and ● Galaxy has, like, lowkey disappeared, and all of DIAURA's activities are going through ● Ains now. Considering ● FIREBALL seemed to only ever be a shell company for ● Galaxy, I guess it closed too.
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I wanna talk about Yayoi some more.
Way back in 1979 (supposedly), some dude founded an entertainment company called EXCEL. That dude turns out to be Yayoi's father! In the 90s, ● EXCEL RECORDS released some omnibus CDs featuring Yayoi's then-current band, ANGEL DUST. (KISAKI's band, MIRAGE, was also on those CDs, so I guess that's how KISAKI and Yayoi hooked up, which lead to KISAKI giving Yayoi the ● Eternal sublabel of ● Matina.)
Anyway, around the time when Yukika closed ● Galaxy and formed ● Ains, EXCEL was reorganized into ● EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT, with Yayoi as the new president. The new ● EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT has had several clients―including KISAKI and some people from bands belonging to ● Eternal/● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE―but the company doesn't actually do anything, as far as I can tell. I guess it acts as a talent agency, but all of its clients are already being managed by record labels, so what's the point?
More recently, Yayoi formed the new record label ROCKSTAR RECORDS. (And, of course, all of that label's artists are simultaneously signed with ● EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT.)
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Ok, ok, it's 2012, ● Ains exists as its own entity, and DIAURA is helping Yukika drag home bags of money, which he gets to keep to himself this time. Now that he's making Trump Checks™, Yukika can afford to sign a new act, so he snipes people from the band RELOAD (リロード) to form Grieva (グリーヴァ). Just for shits and giggles, they're on their own ● Ains sublabel called ● MadWink.. (I truly assumed that ● MadWink. was created just for aesthetic reasons, but maybe it's some weird tax evasion thing too, idk.)
Grieva (グリーヴァ) is literally (literally, kids) a Dir en grey cover band (with other influences thrown in there, but it's mostly Deg), but they're like, killin' it. So Yukika tries to strike lightning twice, and creates a GAZETTE (ガゼット) cover band, Gossip (ゴシップ), also under the ● MadWink. sublabel. At the same time, KUROYURI TO KAGE (黒百合と影) forms under a different ● Ains sublabel called ● yamikakumei (闇革命). (Again, I assume the sublabel is for aesthetic purposes.)
Soon after, Grieva, Gossip, and KUROYURI TO KAGE release a coupling CD which is published by ● UNIVERSAL MUSIC. (This doesn't mean they're major, or that they left ● Ains. I'd assume it's probably some sort of test for ● UNIVERSAL MUSIC to see if they want to deal with ● Ains more in the future.)
Now, here's the most recent weirdness:
Some new band MEDIENA (メディーナ) appears, and they give off major “● Ains vibes”―in the sense that their graphic design is clearly done by the ● Ains graphic designer, and their release schedule is put together in a way that's similar to ● Ains bands. They're also always playing at ● Ains lives, but they clearly state that they're on a label called ● V-eyes RECORDS, which has nothing to do with ● Ains. ...Or does it? When their release was put up on iTunes, the publisher was listed as ● Ains; so I guess that explains that, lol. I personally consider ● V-eyes RECORDS to be a “secret sublabel” of ● Ains, though I have no official statement to back that up, and can't give a reason why they'd do that (tax stuff?).
There's also a new band called MALISEND, whom some people assumed to belong to ● Ains. I actually think that's wrong, at least when they formed.
Early on, MALISEND was clearly not using the ● Ains graphic designer, and their first releases were not announced in the same way that ● Ains releases are (ie. not using the same marketing staff). Also, tbh, their first look was not up to ● Ains quality. And finally, I want to mention that their first releases were completely independent (independent UPC & no label listed). However, their most recent release was through a new label called ● Culminate―and was published by ● Ains, according to Brand X. So, in my opinion, MALISEND did not form under ● Ains (like MEDIENA probably did), but is now signed to another “secret sublabel” of ● Ains. (Might the name ● Culminate be a tribute to Yukika's early label, ● Culminate Screen?)
And here we are
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To recap...
Yukika forms drop cafe
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Yukika's band joins CLIMAX ENTERPRISE
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Yukika forms Culminate Screen
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Yukika forms A heretic sound music.
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Yukika meets up with Yayoi, the former president of CLIMAX ENTERPRISE
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Yayoi forms FIREBALL, and Yukika transforms A heretic sound music. to a sublabel of FIREBALL
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Yukika closes A heretic sound music. and makes a new FIREBALL sublabel called Galaxy
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Yukika forms a new, standalone label called Ains
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Yukika transfers DIAURA to Ains and closes A heretic sound music., and Yayoi goes to EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT
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Yukika makes an Ains sublabel, MadWink., for Grieva
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Gossip joins the sublabel MadWink.
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KUROYURI TO KAGE joins the new Ains sublabel, yamikakumei
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Grieva, Gossip, and KUROYURI TO KAGE release a coupling CD which is published/distributed by UNIVERSAL (but they're not major)
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MEDIENA forms under an unofficial/secret Ains sublabel, V-eyes RECORDS
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MALISEND forms independently, but joins what might be another unofficial/secret Ains sublabel, Culminate
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Idk, I hope that was enlightening or entertaining to someone! Please let me know if you have any comments or corrections!
I've always found the world of VK record labels to be really fascinating. KISAKI's label history is deliciously convoluted, but I think Yukika actually beats him out, lol.

I'm determined to spark a shitstorm with my opinions sooner or later.

BABYMETAL isn't the spawn of Satan
 
Sexism at it's finest, really. BABYMETAL has succeeded at doing what the visual kei scene has failed at repeatedly - juxtaposing music and appearance in such a way as to confuse the listener. It's unorthodox, it's original, it's exactly the same reason why plenty of people say they listen to visual kei...and yet they get lambasted for it over and over and over again.
 
BABYMETAL plays the same kind of music that's popular within the visual kei scene, which is deathcore mixed with pop hooks and a ton of electronic influence. I would expect the same people that like those kinds of bands to at least tolerate their existence, if not enjoy them as something familiar yet different. But once again the hivemind takes over. Since one person decided they didn't like it, everyone else hops on the bandwagon without listening for themselves.
 
Inevitably, I come across someone that says that they don't like their style of music, yet has in their collection plenty of bands that use the same formula. Oops. 

True facts right here, if Black Gene For The Next Scene or REALies covered メギツネ (which sounds exactly like what they've tried to do and have failed at for the last forever and a half), I would bet my bottom dollar nothing but praise would be lobbed at those bands for getting back in shape, improving their squeals and writing actual riffs. 

Disclaimer:  BABYMETAL isn't the greatest band to squeal into a breakdown or three. They just get a lot more hate than they deserve because people care too much about what other people think of their music taste and in the visual kei world it's easy to hate "pop music" or anything associated with it.
 

Since I can't stand the Mejibray/GazettE-stanning that's taken over this topic and has gotten away from the original intent, I'm bringing it back. I'm also giving you all something new to talk about since new unpopular opinions have ceased to surface over the last page or so.

Visual kei is not a genre or an aesthetic movement. It's a paradoxical manifestation of an anomaly against the negatives of Japanese culture.

This is closely related to the problem of "what is visual kei?".

Stolen shamelessly from Wikipedia, a genre is defined as
 
 
We can stop right here. Before you start processing the definition, ask yourself "what is visual kei"? We can have a ten page discussion about that in this topic right now and still not come to a consensus. Visual kei is an open-ended, ill-defined term exploited by both us and the bands in the scene to refer to whatever we please. We agree to disagree on what the term is supposed to mean and take it at face value when someone tells us that a band is or isn't visual kei anymore.

By definition, visual kei can't be a genre because we can only define it by what it is not, and very conservatively at that. The difference between newbies and veterans in the scene mostly comes down to context sensitivity determining band classification. What do I mean by this? Well, we can all look at a band or an idol group and very clearly say "this is not visual kei". But if we look at a visual kei band next to a band that uses theatrical make-up and aesthetic elements, we get into murky territory. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Newbies lack the knowledge to make this distinction, and utilize only the looks to say whether or not a band is visual. Then, they get lashed upon by fans of that band who "don't want to associate this band with those bands" for getting it wrong, and they learn. Eventually they learn only to label a band as visual kei if they describe themselves as such or if someone else before them says it first. [1]

The thing is, the newbies have the right approach at first. They get into the scene, they hear that it's a genre, and seek to classify it. But before long they realize that over the span of twenty years, visual kei has birthed bands that sound very, very different. Going off of sound alone, all bands that were ever considered visual kei can't be connected short of a definition so vague it's useless. So then we turn to the costumes and theatrics and claim that as a large component of what makes a band visual. But even there, we can piece together different bands that don't look anything alike - some bands which don't look remotely visual at all - and claim they are all visual kei. Hell, lynch. has looked like a normal band for quite some time and there's still a heated debate to whether or not they're visual kei. On the first page of this very topic, one of the unpopular opinions was that "Dir en grey is still visual". Once again, you now have bands that have very little in common aesthetic wise and short of a very vague, useless definition we have nothing to go off of.

So I've basically run through this problem, haven't given a solution and haven't explained my point (or have I?). What gives?

Well as a fandom we tend to separate visual kei bands based on decades, so let's do that:

- The mysterious late 80's, which most of us like to pretend doesn't exist, full of bands that play some form of rock or metal.
- The music of the 90's, which is usually thought of as bands inspired by Victorian and goth costumes playing...well, whatever they want.
- The 00's, which was populated by lots of flashy costumes, usually subdivided into subkeis to better be able to classify and understand bands but still full of bands playing whatever they want.
- The 10's, which seems to have a preponderance of electronic elements in the music but for the most part still full of plenty of different bands playing whatever they please.

And even here we tend to simplify this as to "80s HAIR METAL, 90'S GOFF MUZIK, 00'S KEI ON KEI ACTION/RAWRCORE, 10'S WUB-WUBCORE", which illustrates the points I made above. As a fan, you get to a point where you realize that the term can't be defined and thus you stop. The working definition is "If a band wants to be visual kei, they'll be visual kei. When they don't, they're no longer visual kei". [2]  So doesn't this describe a movement, which brings together people just as different for a common cause? Let's go through all of the things that should make a movement and see if it lines up.

Well let's see:

- Coordinated group action. Well, visual kei isn't very rebellious or subversive, outside of the low barrier to entry being offensive to some people's ears and the costumes being offensive to some people's eyes. Unless there is this entire "point" they all share that we've missed for forever and a day, I believe that most bands focus on staying functional over staying Stallman-esque in their beliefs. [3] And frankly, I can't blame them. Pragmatism rules. [4]

- A common cause. But what is that cause and do all bands share it? As I said above, we really don't think of visual kei as something as much as we do as an entity against something. But even that "entity" changes over time, reflected by the different forms of visual kei. So do the bands of the late 80's and the bands of today share the same goal? Yes and no. [5]

- People from different walks of life. We can't say too much because we don't know the details of most musicians. Note however that on a macro scale most visual kei bands are Japanese and many tend to gravitate around a few cities on the mainland. We also can surmise that a lot of these musicians are poor or struggling. We also haven't seen the scene take root in any other countries with similar situations. In this sense, it represents a truly Japanese problem - disillusioned youth versus "The System". If it's a movement here, it's on a small scale.

Visual kei is too anti-classification to be a genre and too inconclusive to be a movement. So what is it?

My admittedly semantic description of visual kei is that of a paradoxical anomaly. It exists, full of people perpetuating it unaware of it's purpose, fighting against an issue that plagues the Japanese society whilst embodying almost every characteristic of that society. What is that issue? Well, I believe the issue lies in the extreme conformity and deference to authority found in the society, coupled with high expectations placed upon every member of that society, along with a thirty year recession that has stagnated the Japanese economy and makes it hard to achieve the life every Japanese person feels it is their duty to obtain.

A strictly Japanese problem. [6]

Visual kei exists as an antagonist to everything in that society, even definition, because it refuses to conform. It's piloted by people who know full they may never see success but toil anyway as a gigantic "FUCK YOU" to their society. It's also mostly populated by young people with the drive and ambition to change their surroundings but no means to achieve that change (and older people who exploit these young people for the cash they'll never see, bringing the entire scene into territory so meta it hurts). When those kids grow up and lose their drive, as after years of fighting against this nebulous problem they watch it shift into something new but no less harmful, they give up, slip into the routine, and become working salary men that can't be identified. It's an anomaly that just is, and that anomaly happens to make noise that we like to listen to.

To pigeonhole visual kei into anything else misses the political and cultural significance that caused it's birth.

tl;dr - Visual kei is the Japanese "hippie culture" of the 60's, with no Vietnam War in sight to bring it to an end. [7]

Notes:

Here I extrapolate on points that I wanted to make above and didn't because I didn't want to go on a tangent and not come back.

[1] This is my personal belief behind why revival bands like Grieva and Ru:natic will never see a resurgence. The forms that visual kei took in the 90's was in resistance to the culture and expectations of the 90's. The world is an irreversibly different place and thus visual kei must change along with it. This is also why I believe that visual kei is not an aesthetic - the fashion world moves in cycles much shorter than 30 years. Visual kei hasn't repeated a phase to date. That's why I believe it supersedes such a definition.

[2] Not only does this loose definition work but it reflects a lot of what I get into later in my argument. Most importantly, that it gives an element of control back to the band. I've read in multiple places that the Japanese populace don't feel like they have much choice - they must succeed in school, get into better schools, succeed there, get a good job, start a family, etc. - and then must face a wall of depression when they realize that most can't get to the head of the pack and they didn't. By sticking to this definition, bands can have a say in a core element which defines them.

[3] Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU Project. Read up on him to see what ideals unbounded by pragmatism really is. Hint: it sounds like crazy.

[4] When bands have no motivation or have run out of reasons to continue they sometimes disband for no reason. On the other side of that coin, some bands are so tight knit that they feel as if they can't function if a member leaves. But at the heart of it all, many bands don't put ideals and beliefs over success. Those that have them use them alongside the visuals and their music - and even then if it becomes too hard they quit or if they become successful they tone it down or cut it out completely. See, NoGoD.

[5] Even more interestingly, visual kei itself tends to conform in ways, which subverts the point of the whole thing. It's like a military group led by a dictator attacking a dictatorial government for its evils. This is why I refrain from calling it a movement, because it itself embodies the very principles it seeks to combat.

[6] Which is why "overseas visual kei" will never take off. The societal conditions are not right for it to spawn. YOHIO and Seremedy are second-order simulacra.

[7] After WWII, Japan isn't allowed to have a real standing army so it isn't in it's best interest to get into conflicts. I meant it literally. In another sense, you could say that the counterculture of the 60's was against "The System" but manifested itself through the War. Once the War ended, the culture had little reason to exist. Since visual kei doesn't have such a clear cut enemy, it will continue on for much longer. This is also why visual kei can't "die".

"IT IS A TRAVESTY WHEN VKEI BANDS TONE DOWN THEIR VISUALS"
 
I had to use a fucking Gaia Online widget site to make that text, so you know I mean it. I honestly get really upset when I try out older, god-tier vkei bands and look at their old pictures and see how fetishy they looked at one point, and their most recent pictures are pretty much regular Japanese guys, maybe one with auburn colored hair and one having blond, in street clothing. One of my biggest appeals with visual-kei is the visuals: I live for frilly, neon hair, guys who can't paint, feathers, bloody bandages, useless face belts, hooker stockings, 8 inch Hot Topic boots, naziploitation, and unnatural eye colors. To an extent, I do feel that there is a lot of creativity that can go into stage costumes, and it is a damn shame that there isn't more effort put into visuals in an artistic sense, instead of "our frontman is blond and we have a trappy bassist so we are vkei ok." Obviously as the scene has become more streamlined, there are typical styles and ~*~visual shock~*~ approaches that are going to be repeated over and over, but that isn't to say that one day someone else will share my stance on it.
 
Take Malice Mizer, for example, They took visuals and theatrics to the extreme to accompany their music. Versailles, to a lesser extent, did as well. As did groups like Raphael, Lareine, Missa, and listenable Diru. However, groups like Penicillin, Pierrot, Luna Sea, Kuroyume, and Rentrer en Soi all mellowed out as time went on. I get that Hakuei no longer wearing having flowing red hair in a pvc g-string is going to appeal to a larger audience, but that doesn't mean I have to be fucking happy about it. Due Le'Quartz is the biggest offender here. Their outfits were stellar, and then they ended in 3 piece suits with cigars and sun glasses. MYV, put those bat wings back on and cut this shit out.
 
This all stems from my appreciation of androgyny. I do find being gender ??? to be artistic, not only in vkei but in other art forms as well, and find the elements of visual-kei costumes that shroud the band members' humanity to be fascinating. That's why I really don't care about finding pictures of Mana without makeup because I can already tell that home girl needs Adobe's help.

Visual kei gets a bad reputation because visual kei fans can't talk music
Elaboration is the cornerstone of great conversation and great writing. Talking about music and bands is an exercise in persuasive writing. You're giving your audience - anyone that took the time to read what you have to write - very good reasons to consider why your position is correct. Now let's say I just left this topic with that one sentence in bold. I may have a good point. If I explain, I very well may change your view. But since I don't, you won't take me seriously. If I do this over and over again very soon I'm going to build up a reputation as someone not worth listening to because I don't explain the "why's" behind my beliefs.
Expand this out to the entire visual kei scene.
One of our largest problems isn't that we don't have a lot to say about our favorite artists. We do. We just never get around to ever saying it. This extends out beyond Monochrome Heaven. I find I can't take people's opinions or reviews seriously because they'll just say something is great or something is shit and leave it at that. Most of the time I'm convinced that subsequent people just parrot the first person to say something different, and it continues in that direction from there. There is hardly ever details and when there is it is at the most basic level possible. As fans, we should continue to promote our favorite bands and our favorite releases, but then couple that with reasons. Why do I like this album? Why don't I like this band?
And let's keep it strictly about the music, because believe it or not saying "the vocals are good and the guitars are awesome!" tells a potential interested reader nothing. What exactly does awesome sound like? Right...
Now if you are not confident in your writing and explanation abilities, don't let it stop you. Read up on professional reviews on other websites. Take tips from them. Continue to work on it. You can't become better at reviewing if you never try. But if we all begin to discuss the actual music behind visual kei when we make our claims, I believe that people in other scenes will stop dismissing us outright as wankers who only listen for the pretty boys.

Lynch and Gazette are boring me to death.

VAMPS is really not that great of a band, period. I tried listening to them but everything ive checked out is nothing short of mediocre, just boring rock. At least to me, it feels like a lot of their fan base our just blind Hyde stans...or people who miss L'arc and feel like VAMPS is the next best thing to cling to (which they aren't). 

Older GazettE was better than newer GazettE. Even though they had lower budget production, they were more creative and unique back then
I think the GazettE are very skilled musicians who have either become lazy to make anything that I haven't heard over and over, or they're getting artist block a ton. Either that or Sony told Ruki not to trill his Rs xD. I mean, they went from almost all their music having a parental advisory, to literally no lyric warnings on the CD covers. That says a lot about how they've changed..
 
Also, Wagakki band in my opinion is overrated. I used to love them, but they pulled an MCR, going from heavy to poppy really quick. Also, Yuko's vocals have too much post production on them, making them sound a bit overpolished, which someone as skilled of a vocalist as her, shouldn't need polishing. She's truly an amazing vocalist, but you'd only hear her true skills in Hanafugetsu, not Wagakki. Also, sometimes, the music can get a bit cacophonous with all the instruments trying to play different parts at once. Like, there is an easy way to fix this: don't make every part so complex. It is ok to have the Koto, Shamisen, Shakuhachi and Taiko parts simple.  Also, I think they've gotten too popular. I mean, you have these fangirls now who think Wagakki is so special, saying "They were the first Japanese folk metal band!", and "Yuko's lyric writing in Tengaku is so amazing!". Like, Wagakki Band's covers have gotten more popular than the original, to the point where people think Wagakki actually wrote the songs. Also, there have been other bands mixing traditional Japanese and Metal for a LONG time. Bands like Onmyouza, Kiryu, Memento Mori, Whispered, Ningen Isu, etc. Heck, Kurona used to be in a Vkei band called CrowXClass (My first ever Vkei band I got into) and they used traditional Japanese instruments, and on their only EP, had 2 metal songs, and had even more live. And really, with how poppy Wagakki has gotten, I don't think they should represent Japanese folk metal. Kiryu or Onmyouza would be better representatives. Though, Ningen Isu is the oldest out of the ones I've mentioned, they're style of folk metal is not in the instruments, but in the composition and vocals. Plus, they're more of the first EroguroKei band.
 
Also, and finally, Vkei was always full of clones, especially in the 90's. In the early 90's, there were a TON of X Japan clones. Then, in the mid 90's, it seemed as if everyone wanted to start doing a mix of Alternative Rock, Gothic Rock, Alternative Metal and New Wave. And also you had the Kuroyume sound-a-likes and clones. Dir En Grey's early stuff being kinda like that (Even though I still enjoyed it). And almost any Metal that was played in the 90's, was either Gothic Metal, or Thrash Influenced Alt. Metal. And every single song had to have a chorused guitar, playing the same 3 notes... You did have a few bands that went outside the norms, but it wasn't until 2001 that you had a rise in Vkei bands play more Punk rock, Nu Metal and a little bit of pop rock and such, finally doing something different than what filled the scene before. Also, there were a ton of crappy bands in the 90's. In fact, since they couldn't clean everything up in the mix, it often sounded crappier. 

Was driving around listening to Cassis getting excited for Gazette's NYC show in a couple weekends.... thought I'd record some thoughts. Let me know what you think of this (old) Gazette single!
 
(shoutout to Jrocknyc shoutboxer Ken who made a few videos like this about old school Nagoya Kei that were fun... I couldn't find any of them anymore though.)

I can't think of very many projects that tried to include overseas fans or that used Western sites like Gofundme or Kickstarter, but I have definitely seen more rock and punk bands turning to Japanese crowdfunding sites for special projects recently.
 
https://camp-fire.jp/category/music/most_funded
https://eggs.mu/support_project/
http://www.j-wave.co.jp/jcm/project.php
 
I was actually shocked that a band like Yellow Studs managed to pull one off a few years ago, but they've been doing weekly streams with their fans for years, so I guess they built up enough trust to make it work.
 
I know RHEDORIC tried to do one just for overseas fans not that long ago, and it was a complete failure. Honestly, after looking at what they were offering as perks, I'm not surprised they didn't get any money. Even if I was a diehard fan I wouldn't be willing to pay $50~100 for some buttons and photos or whatever.

This could become the hottest thing in 2017. Or maybe not. Either way shitfest report is much appreciated!
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Not VK, but I've recently had the privilege to witness crowdfunding done right by Japanese post rock/math rock band te' for their China/Taiwan tour DVD. They invited all funders and the general public (funders got to enter first) to a free gig at Shibuya's Kinoto in addition to the rewards people got by donating. It surprised me how well it worked (they got 102% of the sum!). So yeah, in Doguramagura's case it's a world of... difference, but I'm glad to see it can be done.

i see it done more often with games.
 
also if you have catgirls it totally works (tho im sure there were a lot of western supporters for this one as well :P) 
 
crowdfunding can totally work and alice nine proved it but the difference between them and this western gya's faves is that they actually are committed to their music....i aint giving money to some band that hasnt even proven themselves to their 5 stans yet smh
 
 

This could become the hottest thing in 2017. Or maybe not. Either way shitfest report is much appreciated!
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Not VK, but I've recently had the privilege to witness crowdfunding done right by Japanese post rock/math rock band te' for their China/Taiwan tour DVD. They invited all funders and the general public (funders got to enter first) to a free gig at Shibuya's Kinoto in addition to the rewards people got by donating. It surprised me how well it worked (they got 102% of the sum!). So yeah, in Doguramagura's case it's a world of... difference, but I'm glad to see it can be done.

We've got a most recently purchased thread, so how about a discovery one?
 
Be it that you're not that much of an instant fan, or if you're digging it as soon as your ears graced the sound, feel free to share your most recent new artist/band you've found. It's encouraged you talk a little bit about it, or just simple answers to questions like: What do you like about it/dislike about it, do you think it's a grower, will you be following the musician from now on, do you think you'll ever go back to it? What's its genre, is it new to you? What about the artist's ethnicity, is it outside what you'd usually search for/stumble on? And all that jazz~ Without further ado...
 
This really is what I've randomly stumbled on a few minutes ago:
 
 
Not really a fan of the talking instead of singing delivery, but that chorus is hilarious and fun and don't get me started on the video. I'll be coming back to watch instead of listening really, that's for sure.
 
EDIT: I just checked out their other stuff and it's much more up my street and not so down right silly and nuts. Real smooth rock dudes, glad I stumbled on 'em.

I haven't followed them close enough to know. Mirumo keeps deleting his tweets, so if he has, he's erasing evidence. But I'm staring at the haircut.... and lips. And maybe it's just me. but they're looking the same.
 
 
 

I'm down for more spookycute bands. Bring 'em.

Hehe it can't be helped that they never fail to perform that song everytime too!
Yes, here's my twitter: https://twitter(dot)com/saite_kirikyan 
I'm not really active there though. I use it mainly for updates ;3 
 
Ohhh that video. It seems like it's quite popular here LOL! Yeah, eventhough I don't know much about bands like X and Malice Mizer, I'm happy that the PV got some great reviews by old-time vk fans! 
VJS 2016? I don't think I've seen their part. I think I've only watched the interview part or something...was it the one where they sang 'Memeshikute' together with Yoshiki? And then Kirisho was praised by ToshI and all right? You're so lucky to be able to go!

You have no idea how harmful that would be to him.

Yes! I also almost feel frowned upon when I try to communicate with people by adding comments when I reblog or adding my own thoughts on content I post. It's ridiculous how shallow the communication there can get.
 
I can totally relate to this. VK for me was a nostalgia until I went to Visual Japan Summit a couple of months ago and everything just resurfaced. Damn was it glorious.
 
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I'm really glad I've read this thread even though I don't have much of substance to add. My friends who were into VK back in the day think I'm going to some weird mid-life crisis (I'm not old enough for that!) and keep slagging me off and asking where I got machine to go back to 2005. I totally understand them though, for many it was a fad and something we did as edgy teenagers who loved the aesthetics and wanted to feel speshul.
 
But it's a great scene and I'm glad to be back. Granted, about 95% is crud, but there are too many gems out there for me to give up.
 
Also IDK if dead or not -- I think that really depends on where you're looking. I've seen enough indie bands (not just v-kei) that barely have an audience of 10 (and sometimes you realise most of the people sitting around you at the club are the other bands playing that night), but then again you still have bands like MUCC who have almost sold out their current zenkoku tour and are doing two Budokan days this June (I'll have to wait for the general sale to see if they manage to sell it out though, though I bet they will). They're the only 'major' band I'm closely following at the moment but I'm sure there are more examples to this. Sure, the underground is where you wanna look for the future of a scene/genre,  but as long as bands keep forming and bangya keep... doing their thing, I'm not worried.
 
PS. @desparejo86 LEAVE YOSHIKI ALONE he's just a human being and it's OK to express yourself through taking 100 selfies a day!!1111 Also the new X album is totally happening. (sadface)