raspberrynilla

I'll tell my grand-kids I've witnessed the birth of of the two most solid 201x VK bands : Kizu and DIMLIM.

How can they get so much better at each release ? Album please.

I actually really like the sound of this and I never got into Marco before

Live Dist releases for sure, and the new trend of the more settled older bands or a member of the said bands doing side project and releasing limited versions with super hefty prices, like, chill Chris Brown! Your DVD just not worth $50 no matter what 😂😂😂
 

For as much as I love visual kei, there are plenty of practices I detest. I could go on forever. It wouldn't be fair to celebrate all of the good in the scene without admitting the bad as well. There are so many things that make me sad, make me irate, or make me want to rip my hair out that it was hard to settle on just five. Here's five commonplace practices in visual kei that's a total ball ache for any international fan invested into the scene.
 

 
 


 

 

 
Like I said above, I have way more than five things that annoy me about the scene. Does anyone else want to fill in the gaps with practices that they hate that they've come to accept within the scene? Come share your frustrations and horror stories with me. We have plenty of tea and live-distributed crackers for you.

Lyrics and translation (except for one line) taken from the promotional ver., romanisation done by me.
 
 
 
 

I enjoy their sound but there have the same problem avec NOCTURNAL BLOOSTLUST to me... their chorus are really too happy.

I caved and listened to Ranunculus. It's good. Definitely not bad... just kind of there.
 
So far, all three released songs are quite by-the-numbers. That's almost a quarter of the album. A bit concerning. Hopefully the rest will make up for it.

If it makes you feel any better, it’s because Dir en grey are held to a higher standard than any other VK band. I would consider that a testament to their quality. 

Nice review, this album it's 6/10 for me.
 
Here is some interview translation I did in news thread on why they change style so drastically.
 
"I just read chiaki's new interview on cure, it seems like this album is his answer to this question(why doing music) he kept searching for over a year.
Basically he's in existential crisis right now.
 
Here's a brief translate(Sorry for my bad English):
 
-Why name this album [Today]
Chiaki: How to get through [Today], to me its really difficult for past year. I have insomnia for over a year, can't sleep, don't wanna go out. I know there is no answer but I'm keep searching by hang out with members and go on tour(That explained why their last tour name is"Please save/help chiaki"). Sometime I get a little realization but mostly don't. So it's really difficult for me to live through everyday.
 
Although you might think:"Even though you depressed before bed, you just close your eye and today will end, right?" . The answer is no, it doesn't. Because there are no ways you can experience tomorrow, you can only live in "Today". I wanna get an answer, otherwise  there will be no inner peace in my mind. In order to move forward from this restless state, from now on I will create songs on this premise. I'm not trying to deny our past, I will still write heavy songs when I'm angry, but right now this album is my state of mind.
 
I know a lot of people will think:"wtf are you guys doing, you changed so much", I don't expect this album will reach to everybody, it would be great if I can create something everybody like, but I cant. If there is one moment in the album that can resonate some of you, for me right now, its the happiest thing ever. I expect a lot of backlash, I will take full responsibility, that's how important this album to me. "
 
After read this interview, that explain why they have some thematically change on lyric since live-distributed single ohayou. It changed from grotesque theme to this kind of existential theme.
 
Some of the lyric in ohayou means "I used to be think everything was fine but now every morning I wake up feel like shit,why is that? whats wrong with me? It really suck." "I dont wanna live yet I dont wanna die, I just keep singing" "when can I smile again from bottom of my heart, I wanna go back to that morning" So my guess is his depression start around that time(2016).

Their new single 『安藤の雌豚-ドメスティック製法-』(Andô no mesubata-domestic seihô) will be released on 2018.11.21.
 
Limited edition : 1944 yen
CD :
1.安藤の雌豚-ドメスティック製法-(Andô no mesubata-domestic seihô)
2.呵責 (Kashaku)
3.僕は君を殺したい(Boku wa kimi o koroshitai)
DVD :
1. 安藤の雌豚-ドメスティック製法- (Andô no mesubata-domestic seihô)  (PV + making-of)
 

 
Regular edition : 1620 yen
CD :
1.安藤の雌豚-ドメスティック製法- (Andô no mesubata-domestic seihô)
2.呵責(Kashaku)
3.浴槽(Yokusô)
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

The first band that comes to my mind would have to be DIAURA. I started listening to them when they first started and since then I've kept up with them quite regularly. I think their style really evolved to something unique and fresh, especially  during a time period when I saw VK starting to wane., for me at least. They're also one of the much "semi-older" (if you can call them that considering they started in 2010) that I still get quite excited with their releases.
 
Dir en Grey would also be another band I still keep up with but lately their most recent singles haven't really stood out to me. Same case with BUCK-TICK and their album this year and their single from 2017.

The new single is called "Onibi."  It contains 3 tracks and will be released on September 26th.
 
01. 鬼火 (Onibi)
02. 般若心狂 (Hanyashingyou (a word play of "般若心経"))
03. 此処 (Koko)
 
The album art they provided is obviously a screenshot because it still has the edit buttons shown 💀

VK/J-rock fans really have this hard on with slapping the "Dir en grey copy" card on any band that decides to change their style and go heavy.

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".

I couldn't possibly be any more erect right now

Hello! 
 
I've been a fan of Visual Kei for more than 10 years now. My love for Visual Kei really started with Alice Nine. They were my favorite band for the majority of my teen years, I even had a Twitter account simply dedicated to them (@AliceNineWorld for anyone that might remember!). I would  also try to discover new bands daily, listen to VK 24/7 and just emerge myself in anything Visual Kei. However back in 2014, my interest for it just slowly started to fade and left the scene all together.  I just felt Iike major bands were experimenting with sounds I did not enjoy and newer bands all sounded the same to me. You could say VK died for me that year. But occasionally, I would go back and check up on bands that I still had some interest in, such as Dir en Grey, Diaura, BUCK-TICK, and sometimes A9. 
 
Fortunately, this summer my love for Visual Kei resurged once again. Coming back into it and trying to catch up with everything I missed in the past four years has been overwhelming haha. The amount of older bands that have disbanded has come as a complete shock, but the newer bands that are starting out have seriously brought in new life to Visual Kei that I personally think really needed. In my opinion, I think we might be reaching a renaissance of Visual Kei, and that absolutely excites me!
 
All in all, I joined this forum because I wanted to be part of a community in which I could keep up with news and talk with other fellow fans. Visual Kei has always been a huge part of my life growing up, so coming back into it almost feels like coming back home.

It means 喜(Che, pleasure)怒(do, anger)哀(a, griefs)楽(ra, joy) in Japanese which describes four basic human emotions.

can you like not curse them so soon

Hello! 
 
I've been a fan of Visual Kei for more than 10 years now. My love for Visual Kei really started with Alice Nine. They were my favorite band for the majority of my teen years, I even had a Twitter account simply dedicated to them (@AliceNineWorld for anyone that might remember!). I would  also try to discover new bands daily, listen to VK 24/7 and just emerge myself in anything Visual Kei. However back in 2014, my interest for it just slowly started to fade and left the scene all together.  I just felt Iike major bands were experimenting with sounds I did not enjoy and newer bands all sounded the same to me. You could say VK died for me that year. But occasionally, I would go back and check up on bands that I still had some interest in, such as Dir en Grey, Diaura, BUCK-TICK, and sometimes A9. 
 
Fortunately, this summer my love for Visual Kei resurged once again. Coming back into it and trying to catch up with everything I missed in the past four years has been overwhelming haha. The amount of older bands that have disbanded has come as a complete shock, but the newer bands that are starting out have seriously brought in new life to Visual Kei that I personally think really needed. In my opinion, I think we might be reaching a renaissance of Visual Kei, and that absolutely excites me!
 
All in all, I joined this forum because I wanted to be part of a community in which I could keep up with news and talk with other fellow fans. Visual Kei has always been a huge part of my life growing up, so coming back into it almost feels like coming back home.