Yuan

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

I don't know how accurate my numbers are, it looks like the following for my VK/J-rock collection:
940+ CDs (albums, singles, mini albums, maxi singles) 30+ VHS tapes and DVDs 30 Vinyl LPs, EPs, and singles 10 Cassette Tapes 5 Autograph boards 15 Posters 40+ Magazines 50+ photos (most of them being 1st generation VK bands) 10+ flyers I don't know the exact numbers for my CDs or my VHS/DVDs because my bookcase is a hot mess 99.9% of the time and I still have a cardboard box that has about 100 CDs sitting next to it. 

 
If I included the rest of my CD collection (mostly J-pop, K-pop, glam rock/glam metal artists), I would have about 200+ more CDs in my collection on top of my VK/J-rock collection.

new band "EXDEATH" has formed!
 
[lineup]
Vo.HYUGA (@LGOS.)
Gt.結丞 (yusuke)
Ba.yu-ji
Dr.TaxchiaN (wacky toys)
 
Twitter
OHP
 
 
 

Loving the stuff being posted here. I'm slowly making my way through all the MVs
 
Wanted to add some more of my faves. A lot of MVs nowadays focus more on the singer showing off their face and outfits, so it can get a bit boring. What do we expect from the age of instagramses and tiktoks tho. It's not always necessarily a bad thing
 
Even if the focus is the band/singer, I prefer it when they're having fun, like this paiotsu PV where we get to see them  without make up and wearing just shorts and tank tops. It has a really nostalgic feeling.
 

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

I love PVs, it's so great to discover all the ones you guys picked! I just discovered Hysteric Panic and I'm very thankful for that, I love it haha!
 
I absolutely adore all of WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA's PVs. It's hard to pick just one but I guess Ikkyu-san will do, as it was the first one I saw from her and it made me instantly fall in love with her universe:
 
 
Much of the same can be said for MONDO GROSSO but I'll pick Labyrinth:
 
 
... and Charisma.com. But my favorite is moyamoyashite:
 
 
I have a big soft spot for KIRINJI's Jikanga Nai:
 
 
Anyway, as can be seen from all the ones I've mentioned, even though I do enjoy watching simple PVs just centered around the band playing, they usually don't make it to my favorites. It's interesting because it didn't use to be that way. There are many simple PVs from MUCC and Plastic Tree that I love, and they are simply that.
But the nicest "it's just the band playing but in extremely cool lighting" PV I can name is THE NOVEMBERS' Bad Dream. What a great song, too.
 
 
The ultimate PV to me will be, always and forever, MAXIMUM THE HORMONE's eponymous. It's just everything I love about them into one song and one music video hehehe
 
 
It's actually been a while since I've watched visual kei PVs, I guess I gotta get back to it. Which is why most of what I listed is J-pop (aside from the past 2). But what would be this topic without someone mentioning the GazettE's Taion, right?
 
 

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

One thing coming to my mind, that especially made it easy to go to KPop instead VK, is the language barrier. 
I don't talk about the songs itself, but the musicans/singer/idol/whatever themselves. There are so many in VK who can't even talk the most simple english or understand it. Meanwhile Kpop groups start to all have a english speaker inside, or someone who is learning english. 
(I am talking now mainly about english because its aknowledged as international language)
The thing about this is, that especially foreign fans will feel more near if their 'idol' sometimes posts on social media in a language they know. 
Or you write a fan letter and you know he will be able to read it.
 
You guys understand what i am writing? I am not good at writing stuff like this down, i think. 
Dont forget the cut off MVs. 
But beside this also TV shows or anything like this is so hard to get by because stuff gets straight away deleted from youtube. All over Japanese Music Industry was somehow never friendly towards outside.
(I do admit i am happy that they forbid cameras inside concerts, because i don't like those fancam stuff that is going on in KPop)
 
Happy to hear, other people had this awful phase too. 
 
 
 
Apparently there are some kpop girls that started listening to vk too. But you can find that old fans or "hardcore" fans like to critise those girls a lot.  It think entering the VK fandom is unfortunatly quite hard. There are not a lot who welcome you with open arms. 

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

People have talked in great depth about the musical and listening aspect of turning from VK so I'll speak from more of a collector's perspective. For me the 2 main parts of collecting VK music that made me lose interest in the scene in recent years is boredom and exclusivity.
 
1. It just got boring collecting CDs over the years. Bands always had very predictable releases, your typical type-a or type-b for singles and regular/limited editions for albums with either bonus tracks or a PV DVD or something. The bigger bands put out more luxurious deluxe editions but those are usually just a giant box filled with stuff I never really cared for (like photo books) and I don't want to spend close to $90 for something I feel just lukewarm about. The last CD packaging I really got excited about was the GazettE's Dim limited edition but that was 10 years ago.
 
2. The live limited/fan club limited releases got old really fast. The first few times was exciting because who doesn't want to own a super limited and rare CD. But bands just kept pumping these out and that's when I folded. Regular/limited edition releases are already $40-$60 apiece and to have to shell out $60-$80 for a live single that I have to use a service for just didn't make sense. Sure, exclusivity isn't limited to just the VK scene but by this point I wasn't really invested in the music to want to go the extra lengths to collect exclusive items.
 
I understand there's a lot of decisions made related to catering to fans, using practices that are proven to work or financially makes sense, or trying to pack live performances that result in band's/label's decisions to release something a certain way, but it just isn't for me anymore.

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

This is a such an interesting topic, and many of your perspectives bring to light things I definitely agree with!
I guess I entered a frenzy and my message is pretty long, but here's my experience as someone who has kinda left the scene (but never really left, as I explain).
 
 First off, I got into vk when I was pretty young, in middle school. Metal and vk were the first genres of music I started being active in, as in, purchasing CDs, going to concerts, etc. Before that, it was all classical music (I started playing classical piano at 5 years old), and a bit of pop or rock here and there, and Gorillaz, because I always loved animation and well, all of their MVs were animated and I loved seeing them on TV. So when I got into vk, my musical horizons were quite narrow. I was basically a musical baby. I didn't know a lot of music, and my tastes were only starting to develop. As many have said in this thread, it's natural for tastes to change as you grow older, because you want to try new things, etc.
It's also worth pointing that I was really into manga (and still am lol), and branched out like many into "wow, Japanese culture is pretty cool", so it's why I was so drawn to Japanese music in general at first.
 
So at some point in high school, I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I did. I started listening to a lot of electronic music and jazz, and a wide spectrum of different genres. I was starting to figure out that I really loved music, no matter where it came from or what genre it was, and that I was fascinated with music history. But as that was happening, I also became more and more critical of vk, because I started to figure out that many younger bands I was following were pretty much doing the same gimmicks as older bands. I was also starting to learn about idol culture and how it worked. I must admit, idol culture really threw me off the more I learned about it, and it made me pretty much run away from the scene. I didn't feel so comfortable anymore in spending lots of money on merch now that I had a better understanding of the business model behind it.
 
This post really summarizes how I viewed the shift that happened towards K-pop. To me, whether it was K-pop or vk, it was ultimately the same model, but with a different aesthetic.
 
Despite this, I didn't stop listening to vk altogether, and I still loved older bands, who are still active to this day. So I couldn't part with artists like DEG, Plastic Tree, MUCC, BUCK-TICK, etc. I stopped following very actively, but I still listened to them, which is why I don't consider I moved on from vk, but rather just expanded my tastes. Which, in truth, was only natural considering vk and metal were pretty much "my introduction to any music that isn't classical".
I have also since reconcilied with idol culture, as in, I am not really shocked by it anymore. I like to understand how it works, I'm thankful I have left my "the artists I follow are perfect" naive phase, and I can still be critical of many aspects of it (selling 10 versions of the same single is still bogus to me). But let's just say I've come to accept it for what it is lol.
 
But what was the most interesting to me, is that most from my friend group from back in the day did not have the same evolution at all. I definitely do remember that what killed most people's fun was D'espairsRay's disbanding. Basically, everyone that hadn't already moved on from vk, moved on soon after that. I was also on an A9 fanforum at the time, and their releases were starting to slow down. So it all happened over time and organically.
If I look at what those friends are listening to now, it's either: they don't really listen to much music anymore save for what they were listening to at the time (so 2000s vk and other artists), or they have moved on to K-pop.
The only conclusion I can draw from that is the same that was drawn by many people here: you're either in this for the music, or it's just a fandom, and fandoms come and go.
 
From my standpoint, and considering the very small number of small vk bands who caught my attention in the recent years, I can only wonder how the scene will evolve? I kinda have the feeling, like many I suppose, that the golden age of vk is over, much like glam rock is over with its boom. I hope I'm wrong and that we will see interesting developments in the years to come.
 

I love PVs, it's so great to discover all the ones you guys picked! I just discovered Hysteric Panic and I'm very thankful for that, I love it haha!
 
I absolutely adore all of WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA's PVs. It's hard to pick just one but I guess Ikkyu-san will do, as it was the first one I saw from her and it made me instantly fall in love with her universe:
 
 
Much of the same can be said for MONDO GROSSO but I'll pick Labyrinth:
 
 
... and Charisma.com. But my favorite is moyamoyashite:
 
 
I have a big soft spot for KIRINJI's Jikanga Nai:
 
 
Anyway, as can be seen from all the ones I've mentioned, even though I do enjoy watching simple PVs just centered around the band playing, they usually don't make it to my favorites. It's interesting because it didn't use to be that way. There are many simple PVs from MUCC and Plastic Tree that I love, and they are simply that.
But the nicest "it's just the band playing but in extremely cool lighting" PV I can name is THE NOVEMBERS' Bad Dream. What a great song, too.
 
 
The ultimate PV to me will be, always and forever, MAXIMUM THE HORMONE's eponymous. It's just everything I love about them into one song and one music video hehehe
 
 
It's actually been a while since I've watched visual kei PVs, I guess I gotta get back to it. Which is why most of what I listed is J-pop (aside from the past 2). But what would be this topic without someone mentioning the GazettE's Taion, right?
 
 

https://natalie.mu/music/news/371749
 
9mm Parabellum Bullet's first tribute album「CHAOSMOLOGY」and 11th single（TITLE UNDECIDED）will be released on September 9th. The tribute album will come with two discs. The first disc will feature covers with vocals. The second disc will be an instrumental disc  of the covers. So far no participating bands nor a track list have been revealed.
 
The have also announced a new live tour:
 
9mm Parabellum Bullet「カオスの百年 TOUR 2020～CHAOSMOLOGY～」
 
2020年9月9日（水） 神奈川県 KT Zepp Yokohama
＜出演者＞
9mm Parabellum Bullet / folca（オープニングアクト）

2020年9月12日（土）福岡県 Zepp Fukuoka
2020年9月13日（日）大阪府 Zepp Osaka Bayside
2020年9月19日（土）北海道 Zepp Sapporo
2020年9月21日（月・祝）宮城県 SENDAI GIGS
2020年9月27日（日）愛知県 Zepp Nagoya
2020年10月3日（土）東京都 Zepp Tokyo
 
The tour tickets will apparently entitle you to a CD with one new song and  also a "MUSIC CONNECTING CARD" (whatever the hell that is)  which supposedly entitles you to download a live recording of the show you attended on that date.
https://re-how.net/music/460565/

I've placed my thoughts under a spoiler tag because my fingers got keyboard happy.
 
 
Anyways, a really great topic!

I have seen people mentioning this ITT already but I want to stress how your age when you started listening is really important. When you like something, you ask the question to yourself, "why do I like this?"
 
The answer will be vague when you are young, because this is a point where you are a fickle being, because you are discovering a lot of things in a short spam of time, you kinda want to try it out and also depending in a lot of other factors in your life (social circle and even your OWN appearance influences this) you will be more fickle than most for that young part of your life.
 
But there will come a point in your life where you will finally set you own "tier-list" of things that are important because you will have experienced enough things to know what you really like more. Of course this doesn't mean you are set for life in never discovering new things, but these things will not be that much different from what value the most by now.
 
When you get to this point in life, you will be able to answer the question "why do I like this?" more precisely. Great topic btw, always like seeing discussion about this

I love PVs, it's so great to discover all the ones you guys picked! I just discovered Hysteric Panic and I'm very thankful for that, I love it haha!
 
I absolutely adore all of WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA's PVs. It's hard to pick just one but I guess Ikkyu-san will do, as it was the first one I saw from her and it made me instantly fall in love with her universe:
 
 
Much of the same can be said for MONDO GROSSO but I'll pick Labyrinth:
 
 
... and Charisma.com. But my favorite is moyamoyashite:
 
 
I have a big soft spot for KIRINJI's Jikanga Nai:
 
 
Anyway, as can be seen from all the ones I've mentioned, even though I do enjoy watching simple PVs just centered around the band playing, they usually don't make it to my favorites. It's interesting because it didn't use to be that way. There are many simple PVs from MUCC and Plastic Tree that I love, and they are simply that.
But the nicest "it's just the band playing but in extremely cool lighting" PV I can name is THE NOVEMBERS' Bad Dream. What a great song, too.
 
 
The ultimate PV to me will be, always and forever, MAXIMUM THE HORMONE's eponymous. It's just everything I love about them into one song and one music video hehehe
 
 
It's actually been a while since I've watched visual kei PVs, I guess I gotta get back to it. Which is why most of what I listed is J-pop (aside from the past 2). But what would be this topic without someone mentioning the GazettE's Taion, right?
 
 

I think one of the reasons VK might have such a high turn over rate is that a lot of people who listen to VK seems to listen to VK only. That's not an healthy way to approach an "hobby", and one is bound to get tired of it. It's also hard to follow bands for a long time since the lifespan of a vk band is shorter than average, so that might be turn off for people after a while. 
 
Also the way VK is "marketed" is closer to idol music than it is to """normal""" music, and just like how people stop following idols at some point, the same happens with VK. I dont consider the visual kei > kpop passage to be moving from one thing to another, but moving to a different version of the same thing. 

Kisou's sounds honestly never really bothered me. It sounds thin to me and sometimes sounds like it's playing through a plastic tube, but I've always thought that was a stylistic choice. At the very least it has personality and has a diverse sound palette. 

TIW sound has the character of a deep fried piece of mozzarella dipped in stone cold marinara. Every track sounds like it's a radio rip or something. I'd take a rain soaked copy of a La:Sadie's demo tape over TIW's sound any day. 

i don't really like current VK PVs anymore, they're more often than not really bland;
however looking back at past 5 yeats, I keep coming back to those ones:
 
lanuncurus serving budget for the last time in this scene (?)
 
I like all femme fatale videos but their last one before hiatus/disband was the most bittersweet, and their looks were always on point
 
I like how OTT and hysterical verxina acting is, other girlies could take a lesson or two
 
 
this video isn't on utube and I can't make a decent rip but indie-indie era UFJ videos are something else I stan
 
honorary nostalgia mentions:

I've fallen out of the habit of watching PVs, but decided to check out xaa-xaa's latest and it really held my attention. Now I've been on a MV/PV binge.
 
Let's talk PVs! Share your favorites/least favorites/etc. new or old, j-jpop, v-kei, j-rock and k-pop (i guess)
 
I loved the color and style of this MV as well as the song. I don't know how xaa-xaa does it every time. Kazuki is really expressive (well, at least when it comes to showing despair lol)
 
 
 
It reminded me of another one of my favorite mvs by pentagon. I mean the art direction is just  *chef's kiss*
 
 
and speaking of bands who release their best mv just before they disband, SuG's SICK'S is one of my all time favorites
 
 

I love these VK PVs/MVs for their bright, colorful and somewhat goofy aesthetics.
 
DIV - Taste of Life
 
SuG - Gr8 story
 
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pon Pon Pon - This one isn't VK, but it's also got colorful, bright, and silly aesthetics. Not to mention it was everywhere at the time, so it's permanently stuck in my head.
 
There's always something very aesthetically beautiful about Moran's PVs that I always admire. My favorite in particular is this one:
 
Moran - 春の夜の、ひと雫 - It uses computer graphics (I believe?), so the scenery isn't shot in real life, but I think the artistry of it perfectly fits the heartfelt ballad.
 
And my nostalgia enjoys the dark aesthetics and random black and white footage in the Reddish PV by Despairs Ray even though it's just them mainly playing in front of the camera.
 
Vidoll - I my aimai - Couldn't find a better quality sadly, but the crazy and chaotic way it is shot is just my cup of tea for early to mid 2000s VK. Props to it being filmed in broad daylight in some random outside areas.
 
Kagrra, - Kotodama - The effects (i.e. water ripples) and aesthetics help add to the overall dark themes contained within the lyrics.
 

I really like Hysteric Panic's "Cinderella Syndrome". It complements all the shifts in mood in the song well, and I like how it's always kind of right on the line between goofy and serious.
 
 

Production =/= mixing =/= mastering.
 
Production is song creation, choosing instruments, recording them, crafting them to get the right atmosphere for the project.
Mixing is the balance of the stems recorded for each song.
Mastering is making sure all songs across an album are balanced the same, and getting the final 'sound' of the album with effects like EQ and compression.
 
For example, The Insulated World is a pretty well-produced album (a little laziness in writing aside). The mix is okay, but it's absolutely destroyed by an atrocious master that makes everything sound far too compressed, creating a fatiguing listen.
 
 

Hello! I'm Yuan, in my mid-twenties, an art school dropout trying to make it in this hard ass world :^)
 
I used to be really into vk when I was in high school and up to around 5 years ago. I was on Livejournal (the good old dayssss), owned a ton of merch, and went to as many concerts as I could. I had a lot of fun, but a couple years ago, I did a big vk sale, mainly for the money, but also because there were a lot of bands I didn't listen to anymore, namely Alice Nine, and sold their entire discography, which I had diligently collected til then, and many many issues of Shoxx, Neo Genesis, Fool's Mate, etc. Sometimes I regret selling those magazines, especially considering how they've all stopped running... But thankfully I kept most things from my favorite bands! And one day I'll finally complete my collection from Plastic Tree, DEG and Gazette.
 
What has changed since, is that I've lost interest in indie vk, because I just couldn't keep up, although every once in a while there will be a good band that pops up and that will spark my interest. My favorites are BUCK-TICK, Plastic Tree, MUCC, cali≠gari, the GazettE, DIR EN GREY, Deadman, Pierrot, LUNA-SEA, 9GOATS BLACK OUT, MIYAVI, the studs, D'espairsRay, 12012... I guess that covers at least a good general idea. I also listen to a lot of other J-music, and in general, more music than I can name. Other big favorites (from all horizons) include Nujabes, Flying Lotus, Gorillaz, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Thee Oh Sees, toe, Kikagaku Moyo, Shiina Ringo, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus... I'm a big music nerd in general, I've played the piano since I was 5, and listen to a lot of classical, traditional/folk (from all around the world), and experimental music (including noise). It's a big part of my life haha. I love exploring new sounds and expanding my tastes beyond my zones of comfort.
 
I'm also quite invested in visual arts (illustration & animation) as my studies suggested, fashion, cinema, video games, etc. Basically my interests are very broad and I like passionate ramblings. Which is why I love forums! I haven't been on a forum in many years, and I do miss it a lot. I've been reading this one for a while now, and figured it's time to stop being a lurker haha!
 
If curious, esp about my art and/or eventual OOTDs, my @ on most social media is yuanankh (for instance on Twitter and Instagram). I'd love to make new friends, especially since this pandemic has emphasized how important it is to not hesitate to be active online - which I knew already, as I made most of my long-term friends that way anyway.