MH FEATURED POLL #9: What are your favorite styles of Visual Kei?

[Yuuze 49]

Newtype thought shibuya-kei was a subgenre of visual once

[doombox 4421]

I'm not even going to go into another long post on this because you are being willfully ignorant ignoring the points I have made, and biased that visual kei is some special snowflake segregated from the way every other subgenre operates, when it is, in fact, not very different at all. You are going to tell me there are no crossover metal bands then you are truly not listening. And no, subgenre labeling is not magically better everywhere else. What a ridiculous generalizing statement. I am laughing so hard right now.

 

Short version, Visual kei ends up having more ways to categorize itself because it often has one genre for the image and another for music that can bisect and crossover between those genres is rampant. End of story.

 

And I've been into visual kei for almost 15 years. I don't think I missed the wank, I just don't bother with people who argue for the sake of arguing. Do I agree with every single subgenre specification? no. Do I consider them useless? Absolutely not. I just don't use the ones I don't agree with. It's not hard to do your own research. There are tons of subgenres in every single genre of music I have ever listened to that become excessive at some point. Every single one.

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

I'm not even going to go into another long post on this because you are being willfully ignorant ignoring the points I have made, and biased that visual kei is some special snowflake segregated from the way every other subgenre operates, when it is, in fact, not very different at all. 

If looks were enough to make a subgenre then scenekidmetalcore would be a thing, along with death metal bands from the late 80's that started wearing sneakers and shorts. I don't think the fact that visual kei happens to have extravagant looks plays such a fundamental role here that it's separate from aforementioned, when the music is so similar all the time. 

 

You are going to tell me there are no crossover metal bands then you are truly not listening. 

 

 

For example ff black metal adopts some slight shoegaze influence I hardly think that's reason enough to make some sort of a subgenre. But grindcore however is a "crossover" genre and the reason it deserves a separate label is because it functions totally different from other metal genres. These bands played metal with blazing speeds, hardcore structures and had punk ethics and marketing different from most other metal bands. When a visual kei band starts wearing different kinds of hats and maybe a nu-metal riff here and there, then I think we are going overboard if that suddenly warrants a new subgenre.

 

Short version, Visual kei ends up having more ways to categorize itself because it often has one genre for the image and another for music that can bisect and crossover between those genres is rampant. End of story.

 

Again if bands being a little different from one another warrants new genres then god damn. All these visual kei bands today have the same song structures, operate faithful to the same visual kei clitches, market themselves the same way, have the same labels and ethics. How it is today is just evolution, some bands innovated and the rest followed suit. My point is that the visual kei musical tradition is so strong, the evolution so consistent with no band outrageously breaking the mold and scene so tight and that I think a million subgenres aren't warranted. Other genres do just fine without hospitalwhatever kei subgenre. 

[doombox 4421]

The thing is ~scenekidmetalcore isn't really that far off. Only the genre is being called "popcore". And genres like "easycore" (pop punk and hardcore when it should simply fall under post-hardcore by your standards here but no, not quite the case.) etc all fall into this category, you can really go for days with all of the -core subgenres. You are saying is specific to visual kei. It's not. It happens in a lot of genres but I'm not going to do all of your research for you. Have fun. I'm over this one.

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

The thing is ~scenekidmetalcore isn't really that far off. Only the genre is being called "popcore". And genres like "easycore" (pop punk and hardcore when it should simply fall under post-hardcore by your standards here but no, not quite the case.) etc all fall into this category you are saying is special to visual kei. It's not.

Not particularly and I should have remembered this. I do think visual kei is the worst offender however, but it's not like bands and fans aren't labeling themselves inane shit everywhere else just for the hell of it. It does bring me comfort that no music historian will regard this post-prog shoegaze instrumental metal nonsense and just call it like it actually is musically. I do still claim that the subgenres provided here are inconsistent and nonsensical, but alas. 

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Newtype thought shibuya-kei was a subgenre of visual once

[kyoselflove 2680]

I don't really know any sub-genre's except, oshare kei. I just picked the ones that had bands I liked next to them lol.

 

I am curious, where does Lycaon and Mejibray fall under?

[hiroki 5521]

always hard to come up with subgenres that ppl will agree with, but good effort. anyway i'm surprised to see Kagrra, listed under angura kei, since i always thought angura kei (literally 'underground kei') is an umbrella term used quite differently. my japanese friend used to refer to bands like Kagrra,, Kiryu, etc. as wa-kei ("Japanesque-kei"), though i'm unsure if that's actually a term in popular use.

 

well i voted for the last 3 (and shall resist the urge to complain that "oshare" and "soft kei" can potentially be split into more categories than the 8 "subgenres" that preceded them ._.)

[doombox 4421]

I am curious, where does Lycaon and Mejibray fall under?

Since a lot of the newer bands like them take a influence from multiple styles I just call them neo-visual and leave it at that. I feel like both bands take cues from koteosa and eroguro, but I wouldn't go so far is to try to define them as either. 

[CAT5 9075]

I just changed the thread title from "subgenres of VK" to "styles of VK" since there seems to be some misinterpretation of the word "genre" here. I believe beni used the term "subgenres" in reference to the different "kei"s or "systems/styles" which seem to have more to do with the visuals and aesthetics and less with the music. Although , yeah, I guess some of the noted styles do share various musical nuances, albeit on a level too microscopic for the term "genre" to be applied in it's usual musical sense.

[evilcoconut 109]

I'm not even sure why I voted, since I don't pay much attention to shit like this. I just recognized some names of bands I like lol. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[togz 2004]

Honestly... I don't really favor one sub genre/style. The reason is because my interests in visual kei have spread so far on different sides of the spectrum. Some bands are obviously one sub genre/style and some you don't know or they are in limbo between two different genres. So I don't really care for these kinds of labels, though they do help when explaining a timeline of VK, but i think it's gotten way  way way too complex and the sub genres/styles are just creating more reasons for people to be anal and closed minded because a band doesn't fall with in their favored category. 

My fav sub genre/style is the "IF IT SOUNDS GOOD I LIKE IT" genre. 

 

Edit: And as for the visual aspect of it, not just sound, generally if a band has a solid theme, quality promotional pictures (or appears to have), and they look pretty nifty, I'll probably assume they're worth checking out, but a bands look/style doesn't really effect my choice to like them or continue listening to them.

[togz 2004]

These supposed subgenres really have to be the most redundant things ever invented

I think it's fair to say this goes for any genre of music with sub genres. 

Like Visual kei falls under Rock I'm sure, let's be nice and give Visual kei their own little sub genre. 

But then we start getting in to sub-sub-sub-sub-sub genres. 

Basically Sub-genre to the millionth power exists in more than just visual kei, visual kei just happens to be one of the playgrounds for genre nazi's.

I have to side with Disposable for the most part.

[CELESTIAL CIEL 985]

Not every band accurately describes each genre, but I'm into angura, eroguro, (you can also combine them... I'm not sure kagrra can be angura, they're pretty popular and just wore traditional clothes but their sound was... too usual? for me. Angura bands is the most weird shit you've ever seen I'm sure! And they're awesome.) everything oldschool (kote?... i'm not sure lareine is suitable for it, at least, kote is pretty aggressive styled subgenre, more like mix of goth and punk with awesome japanese style sense, not only in their clothes, sound is also a bit different) and other things that nobody knows about.

Also +1 to picopico (but as well nowadays it's angura subgenre)

[Ikna 1225]

Oh dear, the infamous "VK genre/style" thing. One of the main problems with it is that it is highly disputable if VK itself is a genre. Quite a lot of people have made good points in the past why it isn't and how it's merely an umbrella term for rock or pop bands from japan putting make up on their face. On the other side there are arguments that proof that there is somewhat of a consistency or pattern in VK music. Does it mean that it's a music genre after all?

 

I personally can't answer it. The old, 90s VK music I mainly listen to does have a certain sound, even if it's as huge and diverse as VK is today (on one side you had the glam metal and hardrock groups; on the other you've got the goth and post-punk influenced ones. And then there were the soft, light and poppy bands too). I end up labeling Matina bands and similiar Kote kei though, even if it's not a legit "genre" and even if it's image has been mostly formed by the fans rather than the bands. It just helps a bit for finding some of that typical "old school" flair. I think most of us can agree though, that despite the direct line age, 00s VK isn't entirely the same as 90s VK. One could even say that 00s bands were different in both look and sound than the 10s bands. of course it seems silly to make a new label or tag for every era so I can understand the reasoning.

 

Going purely by the looks of VK groups is silly; one should at least consider to analyze the full package (especially the music) to decide whether or not something belongs to a new type of genre or style. The way a VK group can express themselves are endless, yet there are certain trends. That doesn't justify the creation of a new style or otherwise we'd have silly things such as "Vampire kei", "Princess kei", "Clown kei" or "Cosplay kei".
I remember when some "I know more shit about VK than you"-weaboo posted a list of invented VK genres on a German forum and the number of people who started to use the terms, including "debiru kei", "goochikku kei" (lol, seriously?), "porno kei" and more. I guess that's where most of these imaginary genres, including eroguro kei, are coming from. Oshare kei is probably a legit description, even if it just describes the visuals. But Oshare bands have their own sound and also often their own fanbase. Nagoya kei is surely a complicated case, but I have seen it being used by japanese people, though mainly referring to bands such as Silver~Rose, ROUAGE or With Sexy. Nagoya kei had a huge influence on VK in general and  a lot of bands who weren't from the location, adopted the sound. So it's difficult to say how much Nagoya kei really is a style or not. Soft visual is another canditate. I have seen it very often on japanese sites and as title of music playlists on NicoNico. I guess it could be a legit term.

 

Angura kei, as far as I know, isn't even directly connected to VK. It just means "underground style". Eroguro kei sounds strange too. Eroguro is, if I am not telling shit, a type of horror related art style. At least it was at the beginning, when it was used to describe the stories created by Maruo Suehiro. His works had a huge influence on VK, especially in the 90s. If eroguro kei would be a thing, about 80% of the dark indie VK bands of the 90s would be eroguro kei. That just doesn't make much sense. Mejibray are probably not eroguro either. Tsuzuku is known to like some old VK clichés, even if his band's musical style is "modern". But he made several hommages to the old manga Kissxxxx, which was heavily connected to early 90s VK. Also horror elements and Suehiro references are cool in VK every once in a while.
About DIAURA: I wouldn't say they are oshare kei or kote kei or even any kind of kei except just Visual kei. They are using elements from here and there, both in their music and visuals, but they never end up sounding completely like their sources. Kote kei is still a rather disputable term, but DIAURA are 100% not oldschool. I'd say even Grieva are more oldschoolish.
 

 

I think it's an interesting subject to talk about, but probably not suited for this thread, so I am sorry if I am off topic.
I belive it's fairly well known by now what kind of VK music I like. I definitely have a preference towards the late 80s, 90s to early 00s. I am using to describe it as "oldschool" because it's easier that way (for me). I dig some new bands as well, but I rather go for appeal, musical style, image/visuals, concept and so on rather than "style". As long as it's not too poppy, no 0815 metal- or deathcore, techno or the like it has potential fo me to be likeable. I am heading mostly towards anything related to post-punk, punk rock, glam, goth or alternative. I feel these genre terms are more useful, as VK bands can really play any kind of music.

[Biopanda 2675]

In regards to VK styles, here are the "accepted" styles. These were taken from a book about VK that I own which was written in 2013, so I presume it's pretty up to date. Funny that you mention "cosplay kei" as a joke when it's actually an accepted term in the VK scene XD

 

[CAT5 9075]

^ Would you be willing to make a list of those "accepted styles"?

I was actually waiting on you to post though cuz I figured. if anyone, you'd be somewhat of an authority on the issue!

[kurenaishineek 646]

Kote Kei all the way .

[togz 2004]

I like sheep kei, cat knows.

[Biopanda 2675]

Well, these are the ones it has listed... I'll try my best to translate their descriptions a bit(some of the names are changed around a little):

 

kote-kei: Short for kotekote visual-kei. Visually characterized by gorgeous clothes and thick makeup. Musically, there are beautiful melodies and profound performances. There's often a member who disguises themselves as a woman and is called the oyama(female impersonator).

 

osare-kei: Derived from the word "oshare", meaning "fashionable". Visually characterized by bright/glittering makeup and colorful clothes. The style is heavy with poppy, danceable music.

 

soft visual(sofuvi): Abbreviated term, meaning "soft visual-kei". Though it looks like osare-kei, it's closer to street fashion. They use natural makeup and wear brand clothes. Vocal melody is highly valued in the music.

 

missitsu-kei/basement-kei: This term comes from cali≠gari's label "Missitsu Neurosis". It's a sort of generic term for bands with a similar atmosphere which played alongside cali≠gari. A defining feature of these bands are their surreal performances.

 

kuro-kei: Generally speaking... BLACK! BLACK! BLACK! Enamel, rivets, and leather all over. Most of the bands intensely perform loud metal music.

 

cosplay-kei: They wear clothes that look like they've leapt straight out of anime and games. Whether by armor, kigurumi(animal/mascot costumes) or any sort of uniform, they are always excessively decorated.

 

shironuri-kei: White grease paint and makeup like the work of an artist is used. Traditional Japanese clothes and Showa-era clothing are often worn. It has a very distinctive atmosphere.

[Pretsy 1343]

"Koteosa kei"? Did some mini-Oshare fangirl circle invent this or does it really have a legit, "professional" background? (e.g. being discussed in mags, by critics and alike etc.)

 

"Kurofuku kei" has no point either when you consider countless numbers of vk bands sporting "dark, blackened looks" at some point of their respective careers... (Buck-tick? LOL)

[JRD 5156]

"Koteosa kei"? Did some mini-Oshare fangirl circle invent this or does it really have a legit, "professional" background? (e.g. being discussed in mags, by critics and alike etc.)

 

Koteosa is an accepted style which is basically already dead. The last one I know of that was really popular was Paradeis. Just think of kote kei costumes and throw in color.

 

Discussions and questions about different variants of VK being asked and answered with examples.

http://chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/tag/tags.php?tag=%E3%82%B3%E3%83%86%E3%82%AA%E3%82%B5%E7%B3%BB

 

Example:

 

Old Lolita23 and Soroban

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/nero_photo/hevn_soroban_vs_lolita.jpg

 

Jack11

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/367708.jpg

 

Old Ayabie

http://www.japanforum.com/gallery/data/513/Ayabie2.jpg

[Minami 450]

NEO VISUAL-KEI SHOULD BE IN THIS POLL ...

[Gaz 1097]

^ nice trolling, bro ;D

[Keiyuu 745]

Post-neo vk pls.