Lawrlia

i have a pet theory about why foreign fandom shrank.

1) like @TheStoic, i think the death of scene/emo has a lot to do with it. like it or not the primary audience for visual kei is girls of about 15-23,  and that was probably also the same demographic for My Chemical Romance, Panic at the Disco!, FOB, etc. alternative in a girl-friendly package was all the rage. i probably wouldn't have found out about vk if there wasn't stuff like Sum 41 and co.'s pop punk and Linkin Park on the radio -- rock bands were cool at the time. they're not cool right now.

2) fragmentation of fan communities -- @nekkichibrought this up well but i'll run my mouth off about it too. lj in particular was centralized, filled to the brim with the primary fan demographic, and the structure was very conducive to roping fans in and keeping them not only interested but wanting to establish themselves as BNF. myspace groups may have been similar but idk i wasn't a myspace girl. there was incentive to make fan content even as simple as journal icons or fanfics and positive feedback would spur people to keep contributing. even something more controversial like roleplay communities served as fan labor. this promotion was invaluable even if it was prone to being derided by people who wanted a bigger focus on the actual music. resources, legal and less so, were available in huge one-stop shops, not just as mp3 sharing communities but things like jrock_scans (which has 23,661(!) members for reference). the craze for fanlistings and their older cousin, webrings, also connected people who posted about multiple bandoms and facilitated cross-pollination.
 
twitter was/is insufficient for a multi-media experience and doesn't allow for collaboration, and tumblr has the problem of lack of community building and cross-pollination (while on lj, kyosamaluvr666 could post actively in dir_en_grey, customers_suck, lotr-fanfiction, garagesalejapan and mention all of these topics on their personal journal to their 400 friends from all of these places). forum culture differs too much from these dedicated fan communities, and forums are kind of a dead meme on top of that anyway.  we no longer have BNFs/influencers that bring in teenage girls. 
 
 
tl;dr visual kei fandom died because teenage girls, the demo that propels pop culture trends, aren't being drawn in. we lost our beatlemaniacs, our MCR-my, our directioners.

There's a few things I want to point out while the topic is still young.
 
This is only reliable to gauge foreigner interest in visual kei. I do not know if Japanese fans of visual kei use Google, a different type of search engine, or if they avoid the process altogether and share privately. We have to combine this data with some other sources of data for more info. But this is a great start. The focus is on March 2009 but the rate of decrease is at its highest in 2010 roughly a year later. Then it peters out. What gives? Well, that's when Tainted World died off and we had to navigate to our ZetaBoards replacement. We used it until the end of 2010-2011 when we are able to get some real hardware and hosting providers (before we were running on total crap and the forum could barely stay up...oldies remember that). In that time I imagine a lot of people's interest died off since they couldn't get free music anymore. Tour managers shitting the bed bringing visual kei to the masses; fans shitting the bed asking for bands to come and then not going to the concerts. The sound changing. 2009 is where I'd peg the overall direction of visual kei to change to what it is today. I can't describe it aurally but we all know VK in 2016 isn't the same as VK in 2006. I think this lost a lot of people too when their favorite bands disbanded and there was no one to fill the void.

I'm surprised that 2009 was the peak. It was already around that time I was complainin' how there's no good shows to attend lol. With that said, those shows that we did have sold very well and a few bands could even venture to have gigs in the second largest city of the country as well. 
I reckon the pop culture peak of visual kei in Finland was in 2007-2008 when the odd few bands made the telly and got gifted some magazine space. Shows were packed, the fashion was wild, no koreans gnawing in on the real estate, events that were associated with visual kei could actually be held at relatively low risk.
 
 
What's up for debate though, is how the new fanbase of the peak years wasn't able to recover from the crucial wave of hiatus', disbandments and stylistic changes that the most popular bands went through around the turn of the 2010's. Everyone should recall how often one heard people lamenting on the state of the scene with ambiguous claims of a lack of X, Y and Z, setting the scene for the gradual petering out either to the clutches of the koreans or just general normalcy. This is the way of the flesh for a fad certainly, and nobody is able to sustain creative output nor popularity for an extended period of time, but that's not all that there is to it. I suppose among great many other things, it's not unjust to consider public merely as fickle if their visual kei habit was dependent on the existence of Dio and Unsraw. Visual kei on the internet had good enough infrastructure to allow these people to discover new and old bands with relative ease, but one should still never underestimate the stupidity and the incapability of the rank and file to utilize such tools perfectly well in their disposal. There are still people who'll waltz into a conversation, feigning willful ignorance, saying "OH THESE BANDS OF TODAY AREN'T LIKE THE GIRUGAMESH OF YORE. SO WHAT HAPPENED WITH THAT VISUAL KEI?". This means that relative interest is there; they haven't forgotten about it, so what gives? 
 
A certain contributing factor that I don't think gets brought up enough is the bush league organising and the sheer ineptitude of the promoters. The fad really blew its wad during the two years it was at its peak, and it wasn't sustainable. Absurdly dumb, dead certainly set for failure, shows got booked even as late as 2015: and anyone with a lick of sense ought to know that in the long term a no-show is always better than a small-shit show. When you're flopping the proper course of action is never to keep on flopping until you can flop no more, but to change the approach. Rest assured a lot of money and contacts have been squandered by idiots already one foot out the door. Unsraw's European tour is a classic example, and Merry's a more recent one. If you're not able to project that there's no demand, and that by booking this there'll be no demand in the future, then you're simply not helping.  
 
The networking on the local level wasn't great and at its worst there were even open divisions between the fanbase of privileged rich blogger cunts and those who took the train to shows from their shit provincial towns who could barely afford the mcdonald's and second hand converse ( I confess my dislike of the former, but I'm not merely projecting it. I heard many other people voice it also, completely unprovoked by yours truly. ) When enough shows and events are abjectly booked to fail with a lack of camaraderie to match, the rot is aggravated to spread into the brain, and eventually even the life support in form of a Gazette european tour won't do you no good. Their 2016 show in Helsinki did not sell out. That's equal to the sky falling out in visual kei terms.
 
A curious example of grassroots level organising seemingly done correct: take a look at the pictures of SANA's recent solo tour from from the backarse of eastern europe. Going through all those pictures you'll notice that while the central and western European crowds are only a handful at best, the Russian and Ukrainian shows pull a kind of a crowd that man of SANA's stature has no right of pulling. I'm terribly interested to find out how they've managed to do this. The only reason I can manage to come up with by speculation alone is that the fans of "Japanese stuff" are so organised, if not rabid, that when something is organised, enough effort is done that it'll pull enough solidarity to maintain the scene's health. I swear to God one of those Sana crowds has equal heads to what EAT YOU ALIVE or heidi had here in the past three years. It can't be that there's more fans of this shit there than in here just by sheer chance, luck and coincidence. 

Noticed something interesting when I was exploring worldwide trends for the search term "visual kei" on google - that tiny spike earlier this year just happened to be when youtubers react to visual kei came out:

 
So visual kei is dead. And at the rate it is going now, will be even dead-er; A scene stagnating on the same looks and sounds, rarely venturing out musically if at all. But it wasn't always that way. Although it would be  appropriate to refer to the 90s golden era of vk to remind us of how opulent the scene once was, I want to bring back memories of 2009.
 
In October 2008, Kerrang ran a feature on jrock, publishing an article predicting jrock to go big in Europe in 2009.
And sure enough, google trends highlighted the correlation clearly, confirming that the search terms "j-rock" and "visual kei" did indeed peak between January and March 2009.
 
However, following vk's brief global success was a period of near-exponential decline - to what we see now as the lowest point of popularity vk has ever experienced in a 12 year time-span. Even that spike in August wasn't enough to break above 2004's lowest point.
 
Personally, I'd been a passive fan of visual kei for many years prior to 2009, but it wasn't until 2009 that I became fully engaged. One prominent catalyst was Japanese blogging platform Ameba launching its virtual community ‘Pigg’ that year, becoming a game changer in the way fans and bands could interact. Popular musicians were also given accounts powered by ameba, a la twitter's verified personalities.
 
I remember 2009 as a year that several vk bands were going major and gaining international recognition. It was no surprise that vk reached its global height by being much more accessible through social media and other digital channels. This momentum seemed to be gaining quickly until 2010 brought a sharp turn of unfortunate events within the scene and the emergence of kpop poached a large part of the international vk audience.
 
However, the situation in Japan is a bit different, as vk has been pretty steady since it had already declined by the turn of the century. The search term "ヴィジュアル系" on google trends says as much.
 
A few years ago, major labels published all those visual kei cover albums probably in an attempt to raise the relevance of visual kei, but the hype had pretty much died by then. The drought of talent and variety meant that each band was no better than the other, and was enough for many people to lose interest. Stricter piracy laws also meant that music had become less accessible, with people being reluctant to pay the exorbitant prices of some CDs. Not to mention the discontinuation of many vk magazines as an indication of the scene's current degradation. Marketing and business models that worked in the 90s and early 00s struggle to find significance in the present day, yet management has not evolved to adapt to current trends (or have done so poorly).
 
Now that the last of the influential underground vk labels is defunct, vk doesn't have the backing and budget as it once did. X Japan and Luna Sea are like the only lifeline left for vk - there can't even be a vk festival without either X Japan or Luna Sea in the lineup.
 
I remember reading an interview where Yohio mentioned that he kinda killed western interest in vk, but I don't particularly attribute that to those western vk acts damaging the reputation of this uniquely japanese scene. Bands such as D'espairsRay, girugamesh, the Underneath, Rentrer en Soi, Dio, UnsraW and Black:List etc who laid the groundwork for vk to make its mark in the west are no longer around. I'm surprised lynch. didn't carry the torch.
 
I don't want this thread to sound too much like #resurrectvk, but instead I want ignite a discussion (and maybe create a dialog) - how did the vk boom of '09 affect you in your country, what could've been done differently, or the best things to come out of  that little modern renaissance of vk history.
 
 

About one year on my own, plus one year and a half at university now. I think that the online teacher is a great idea, it will help you stay motivated, which can be hard when you have to remember some words and kanji. Good luck~

Thank you
 
It's pretty hard cause I learn on my own, but I need to find an online teacher. How long have you been studying?

Isn't it funny how anime for Japanese is just animated series, whereas for everybody else it's JAPANESE animation.

Welcome!
I like your taste! It's nice meeting new people who are studying japanese~

Welcome!

this is it.
 
this is all i am.

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

Concordo sull'assenza di Kifumi nei Born, la differenza si era cominciata a sentire...
Riguardo i Razor, devo dire che questa band pare essere una grande opportunità per esaltare Ryouga come cantante, mentre gli Initial'L (ho sentito solo la lead track) sono assai promettenti. Spero anche che il nuovo progetto di Die dei Diru, i Decays, rilascino qualcosa l'anno prossimo, perchè Baby who wanders è un album davvero incredibile (che mi ha fatto approfondire la carriera di Ataru Nakamura, consigliata per la sua voce angelica e insolita per il J-pop)

Io ascolto rock giapponese e più nello specifico il visual kei dal 2007 e anche io purtroppo sto notando dei forti cambiamenti nella scena, specialmente a causa degli scioglimenti anche da parte di grandi band (devo dire che gli ultimi 3-4 anni sono stati tremendi da questo punto di vista, pensate a ScreW, Born, Girugamesh e Lycaon), portando a rendere la lista delle band appetibili sempre più ristretta. In alcuni casi gli scioglimenti sono diciamo "serviti" a rinvigorire il sound e a migliorare il proprio stile (faccio due esempi: i Memento Mori, che sono divenuti i Kuroyuri to kage, una delle band più promettenti al momento, e i Xibalba, divenuti Morrigan, altra favolosa band).
Spero, come voi, che l'anno prossimo porti una ventata d'aria fresca al genere (già avuta col ritorno dei Versailles!)

Studio giapponese all'università e noto ora che studio nella città in cui vivi attualmente! Studi per caso giapponese anche tu?^^
 
Immagino che di anno in anno questo ambiente muti molto! Io non lo conosco da tantissimo tempo e ringrazio questo sito che mi permette di ricevere notizie in tempo reale e di informarmi sui vari gruppi, altrimenti credo mi sarebbe decisamente più difficile orientarmi. Gli scioglimenti mi rattristano sempre, anche se magari non mi riguardano in prima persona. Però il bello del visual kei è che nascono velocemente gruppi sempre nuovi, quindi basta solo attendere quello giusto!
 
Grazie mille! Lo auguro di cuore anche a te!
 

Anch'io sono legata alla musica giapponese anche per motivi di studio, anche se è venuto molto dopo questa passione. Per curiosità, cosa studi?
I disbading sono stati una delle cose che sorprese anche me ai tempi, per quanto fossero molto meno comuni di adesso, forse anche perché ai tempi arrivavano meno informazioni e quindi le band più piccole e nuove non erano troppo prese in considerazione o comunque non c'era un sito che aggiornasse anche su di esse spesso. Sembra che parli di millenni fa, ma non lo erano. Forse. O sono io che sono in denial...
Ti auguro di trovarli presto, una delle cose più belle del visual kei è proprio questa immensa libertà artistica. Auguriamoci buona fortuna per la nostra ricerca del 2017!

Sono ancora abbastanza nuova dell'ambiente, credo di ascoltare questo tipo di musica da due-tre anni circa. Non ero abituata a vedere parecchie band sciogliersi in un lasso di tempo relativamente breve e questo mi ha colto un po' alla sprovvista.
Ci sono diversi generi all'interno di questa categoria, quindi credo sia solo questione di tempo prima che io trovi nuovi gruppi da seguire, però ammetto di avere spesso timore di finire per vedere le band che mi piacciono sciogliersi una dietro l'altra. Mi farò coraggio e cercherò di abbandonare questo mio pessimismo.^^
Credo ti copierò il tuo proposito per il nuovo anno! Vorrei anch'io ricominciare ad ascoltare cose nuove!
Mi ero avvicinata sia per motivi di studio sia perché mi piacevano veramente alcune sonorità che sentivo, per cui devo ritrovare questa mia passione!

Grazie ti capisco, è sempre brutto quando una band si scioglie improvvisamente ;_;
Da un certo punto di vista di capisco, io sono rimasta attaccata ai miei artisti favoriti e ad eventuali nuove band successive a qualche scioglimento, ma non ho provato praticamente nulla di veramente nuovo. In parte è stato il fatto che il visual kei è leggermente in declino, sia come "popolarità", con conseguente scioglimento delle band per ragioni economiche, sia come qualità; quindi ho un po' di paura perché non vorrei in una situazione simile trovare artisti bravi costretti a sciogliersi, né essere ancora più sfortunata e sprecare ore ad ascoltare roba che mi lascerebbe "meh". Nel 2017 voglio veramente ascoltare cose nuove, magari iniziando a riavvicinarmi con qualche band attiva da un po'.

Salve a tutti/e!
E benvenuta Lawrlia!
 
Perdonate se mi inserisco così all'improvviso nella conversazione!
Sono una ragazza pure io e le band che maggiormente mi piacciono sono i DADAROMA, i Royz, i Kiryu e gli AvelCain. Ascolto anche altre band e dovrei un attimo aggiornarmi sugli ultimi singoli usciti.
Ammetto che lo scioglimento degli AvelCain mi ha colto alla sprovvista, tant'è che non mi sono ancora ripresa del tutto. Ultimamente non ho ascoltato moltissimo questo genere di musica, ma sto cercando piano piano di ricominciare.
 
E' un piacere conoscervi!^^

Grazie, e non sapete quando mi faccia piacere saperlo ;_;  comunque sono una ragazza, sono romana ma momentaneamente abito a Venezia. Le band che seguo di più al momento sono i The Black Swan e i Dadaroma,  gli Elysion e i Morrigan dovrei seguirli meglio e di più, ma sono ancora nella fase in cui temo improvvisi cambi di stile/disbanding. E ascolto un sacco di band sciolte come ad esempio CELL,  ma allungherei troppo la lista~
Sono stata a due concerti visual kei, i Versailles a Roma e i D a Milano, quindi sì, parliamo di concerti di cinque/sei anni fa ;_;

Another boring package story:
I had a package shipped out last week and I picked the EMS shipping option so it could get here as quick as possible. But based on my observations from watching tracking from the Japan Post site, it didn't come in 2-4 days like it was supposed to, so I was about to LOSE MY SHIT because this was a super ultra top secret item with frosting I got and I couldn't afford to lose something like that!!! But then today, my brain started working and I looked up the tracking on the UPS site - it was at the post office waiting for me~ I'm getting it tomorrow!!! #AChristmasMiracle2 #WithFrosting

Back into the dungeon for Aki then, RIP bb

OK somehow I read that novel and the long and short is:

A director of Pleasure" Entertainment is a childhood friend of Hiroki's. They worked with him for a few earlier shows which went smoothly, but as Asagi put it his incompetence became evident with this show because he didn't seem to understand anything about the youth protection laws (prohibiting people under a certain age from attending all night events), didn't consider how to line attendees up for the parade, didn't seem to even understand what it meant to make templates for goods or to send things to press.
 
Anyway shit pops off when P"E tells them that even with enough attendees they won't gain any profits from the shows in these 3 Puroland venues. It became clear that the promoter didn't bother to get an estimate on the costs until just before they told D that it was too costly, because they only saw the budget a few days ago (some time in December). Various proposals about how to make the event profitable were bandied about, and the employee of P"E suddenly breaks contact. He's tweeting about shopping and partying but nothing.
 
At the end of all this lack of contact, they get the mail saying it's been cancelled. P"E continues to not respond to LINE, mail, telephone, etc. D is like o shit, we have to hear from them so we can announce this if it really can't be salvaged because all our fans have already made year-end plans to go and we've already put money into this. It takes so long to get into contact that they have to use a lawyer. Finally their lawyer talks to P"E's laywer, and their lawyers are still talking currently.

Grazie, e non sapete quando mi faccia piacere saperlo ;_;  comunque sono una ragazza, sono romana ma momentaneamente abito a Venezia. Le band che seguo di più al momento sono i The Black Swan e i Dadaroma,  gli Elysion e i Morrigan dovrei seguirli meglio e di più, ma sono ancora nella fase in cui temo improvvisi cambi di stile/disbanding. E ascolto un sacco di band sciolte come ad esempio CELL,  ma allungherei troppo la lista~
Sono stata a due concerti visual kei, i Versailles a Roma e i D a Milano, quindi sì, parliamo di concerti di cinque/sei anni fa ;_;

... fa sempre un po' strano uppare un topic che non viene uppato da mesi, è un po' come essere la particella di sodio del "c'è nessssuunoooo?"
Spero che qualcuno di voi sia ancora attivo ;;

Hello
I'm the person who loves the visual system for more than 20 years.
I like D≒SIRE, Waive, wyse, NoGoD, matenrou opera  etc...
 
Nice to meet you

Hi everyone, Wakarimashita here. Been silently lurking since august 2012 (!!!). After more than 4 years I figured I might as well drop my opinions here and there when I feel like it