MH FEATURED POLL #40: What are the things you HATE about Visual Kei?

[CAT5 9075]

MH POLL OF THE WEEK #39: What are the things you HATE about Visual Kei?

poll suggested by: @togz!

 

To submit a poll for the MH POLL OF THE WEEK, P.M. either @CAT5 or @beni with your poll question, choices, and state whether it's multiple choice or not.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Repetitive crowd-hyping songs that are usually 2 mins long on CD, and like 10 mins long when played live, haha.

 

Can't think of anything else right now, but gonna get back to it later.

[digi 192]

my only with problem with visual kei is the men looking better in female clothing than I. 

[paradoxal 2948]

The number 1 thing in visual kei that pisses me off is how expensive everything is, and I'm not even talking about the insane shipping costs I have to pay too.

 

It also pisses me off that Japan is so far away. I would like to participate the vk scene, go to concerts more often etc but it just isn't possible.

[Delkmiroph 1649]

Indefinite hiatuses and "Musical Differences"  AND Discovering a favorite new band only to find out that they've disbanded 

 

[vanivani 558]

For me it would be the cost of everything. Visual kei music is just expensive, then when you get the multiple versions of one single involved...yeah even more so. In my opinion it's worth it, because I love owning the music but it definitely teaches you how to finance for such a hobby lol But I couldn't imagine fans who actually experience the visual kei scene in Japan and how much they spend on traveling, concerts, merchandise, etc.       

[WhirlingBlack 1043]

My main issue with the visual kei scene isn't really represented in the options here, and it's something you generally get more in touch with once you get to Japan and get to experience the scene.

Firstly, the fact that a large majority of visual kei musicians more or less openly admits they don't have any artistic or personal integrity, they don't care what they produce and they don't care that their sound is exactly like every other band out there, because they know that as long as the members are pretty enough there WILL be fans, and they WILL pay you money for "company" and "favors" so that you can survive comfortably and keep rehashing the same song for a couple of years until you feel like calling it quits and do something more worthwhile with your life, or more likely, go into full time hosting business now that you have a decent circle of clients already.

 

This sort of leads me into my second issue and it's the bangya culture. It's generally really vile, and the way the girls not only talk about the musicians but also each other is quite disgusting. If the bangyas decide that a member has done something they do not approve of, that doesn't live up to their perfect ideals that they hold them all to (because god knows the fangirls don't live up to any of them) they can easily start enough shit to cause a band to break up or force a member out of the band. The issues doesn't end there though, because the few foreign bangya that exists generally adapt to this mentality and lifestyle too. They openly shun other foreigners who dare attend the lives of "their" band and ruin their "specialness", they participate in this completely daft saizen system where a designated person basically decides who gets what spot at a concert so everyone can enjoy playing ten year olds doing the "you're not allowed to play with us"-games... And the obviousness of what really drives people to be fans of these bands become so apparent when they get to this level, and it's certainly not the music.

 

To be honest, in a lot of ways I never realized how bad this was until I got there and could see it all for myself, and that's despite a 13 year stint in the scene by now.

[Shir0 1303]

My most hated words and things in VK are definitely indefinite hiatus/disbandet, live-limited & Mejibray fandom

[inartistic 1151]

I hate your ugly face, I hate your bad smell, I hate your warped mind, & I hate your existence

[inartistic 1151]

My main issue with the visual kei scene isn't really represented in the options here, and it's something you generally get more in touch with once you get to Japan and get to experience the scene.

Firstly, the fact that a large majority of visual kei musicians more or less openly admits they don't have any artistic or personal integrity, they don't care what they produce and they don't care that their sound is exactly like every other band out there, because they know that as long as the members are pretty enough there WILL be fans, and they WILL pay you money for "company" and "favors" so that you can survive comfortably and keep rehashing the same song for a couple of years until you feel like calling it quits and do something more worthwhile with your life, or more likely, go into full time hosting business now that you have a decent circle of clients already.

 

This sort of leads me into my second issue and it's the bangya culture. It's generally really vile, and the way the girls not only talk about the musicians but also each other is quite disgusting. If the bangyas decide that a member has done something they do not approve of, that doesn't live up to their perfect ideals that they hold them all to (because god knows the fangirls don't live up to any of them) they can easily start enough shit to cause a band to break up or force a member out of the band. The issues doesn't end there though, because the few foreign bangya that exists generally adapt to this mentality and lifestyle too. They openly shun other foreigners who dare attend the lives of "their" band and ruin their "specialness", they participate in this completely daft saizen system where a designated person basically decides who gets what spot at a concert so everyone can enjoy playing ten year olds doing the "you're not allowed to play with us"-games... And the obviousness of what really drives people to be fans of these bands become so apparent when they get to this level, and it's certainly not the music.

 

To be honest, in a lot of ways I never realized how bad this was until I got there and could see it all for myself, and that's despite a 13 year stint in the scene by now.

Ditto! I think a lot of this ties into Japanese culture at large. It's a pretty gross aspect, and one I wish that more foreigners understood before throwing all their emotions into this shit

[lollipopmonstar 346]

Buying 500 copies of _____ single (Type A-Z)
The need to place 'kei' after everyone word I think describes a band XD
GazeRock not being dead.
Indefinite hiatuses and "Musical Differences"
Discovering a favorite new band only to find out that they've disbanded

 

[Original Saku 1593]

definitely that feeling of finding a good band and only finding out later they are either disbanded or on hiatus.... or finding a really good band and then they disband shortly after you discovery because of "musical differences"... : /

[Pretsy 1343]

In all seriousness, my main issues lie mainly in most trending visual bands nowadays, and even older ones, not giving much thought to what they are doing. Cohesive, worthwhile concepts of the past have been shaded by a large plethora of groups that either pay huge respects to their biases sans peculiarity ("tribute bands"), or just attempt to storm through effed up repertoire of sounds and tones for the sake of garnering "oh, look, they are diverse!"-praises (I am gonna let you figure out which acts).

 

It doesn't take a genius musician to realize what could complement flamboyance and "visual shock" of your performance, ffs.

[sakuran 1216]

My main issue with the visual kei scene isn't really represented in the options here, and it's something you generally get more in touch with once you get to Japan and get to experience the scene.

Firstly, the fact that a large majority of visual kei musicians more or less openly admits they don't have any artistic or personal integrity, they don't care what they produce and they don't care that their sound is exactly like every other band out there, because they know that as long as the members are pretty enough there WILL be fans, and they WILL pay you money for "company" and "favors" so that you can survive comfortably and keep rehashing the same song for a couple of years until you feel like calling it quits and do something more worthwhile with your life, or more likely, go into full time hosting business now that you have a decent circle of clients already.

 

This sort of leads me into my second issue and it's the bangya culture. It's generally really vile, and the way the girls not only talk about the musicians but also each other is quite disgusting. If the bangyas decide that a member has done something they do not approve of, that doesn't live up to their perfect ideals that they hold them all to (because god knows the fangirls don't live up to any of them) they can easily start enough shit to cause a band to break up or force a member out of the band. The issues doesn't end there though, because the few foreign bangya that exists generally adapt to this mentality and lifestyle too. They openly shun other foreigners who dare attend the lives of "their" band and ruin their "specialness", they participate in this completely daft saizen system where a designated person basically decides who gets what spot at a concert so everyone can enjoy playing ten year olds doing the "you're not allowed to play with us"-games... And the obviousness of what really drives people to be fans of these bands become so apparent when they get to this level, and it's certainly not the music.

 

To be honest, in a lot of ways I never realized how bad this was until I got there and could see it all for myself, and that's despite a 13 year stint in the scene by now.

Has this mentality always been there, or is it a more modern thing?

[yakihiko 1480]

• Live limited sold and indie store only.

• "I don't like, than they are bad".

• "_______ is copying gazette and/or dir en grey".

[WhirlingBlack 1043]

As far as I understand it, in terms of the current style of bangya culture, is that it's not new but it certainly hasn't been going on forever. Visual Kei has gone through a lot of changes and while there's always been parts of the scene more affected by this than others, it's much more prevalent now than it was 15 years ago, according to people I've spoken to. Just like the commercialisation of the genre have reached new heights due to the safety of this economic system that have developed between the two. Talentless hacks would not have lasted like they do today.

Would be interesting to research deeper into the connections there.

[blackdoll 907]

That it only had Lycaon really, then it lost that...

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

"Discovering a favorite new band only to find out that they've disbanded"

 

this all the time, sadly.

[niivozombie 30]

Well, that "discovering a band that has disbanded or will disband shortly" is something we all can agree upon. Also, those extreme commercial tactics like "500 versions of one single" are a turn off.

 

But musically, what I hate the most are the vocalists desinterest to sing well. While you may say that there are a lot of crappy bands out there, still you'll find mostly crafty musicians that play really bad songs really well; but vocalist just don't care. Of course there are a lot of exceptions, but generally they just don't give a crap as long as they look good.

 

Once I read a comment in a blog about old vk that said something like they had singers without a broad range, but with a LOT of charisma in their singing. I kind of miss that.

 

I could be wrong though, I don't listen to those new bands formed in the last 6 years. Old cranky guy, I know.

[gekiai 231]

Definitely "discovering a band that has disbanded or will disband shortly" has hit me hard because I'm still a newcomer in vkei (only 3 years). I say Vidoll is hands down my favorite band, but I never got to experience them when they were still making music...I have many regrets.

 

What I don't like is what many people have mentioned before me: that a lot of bands (especially the newer ones), tend to care only for their looks while releasing music that is simply...garbage. But to a lot of fans (and they totally have a right to feel this way), as long as they look good, they'll think their music or the band as a whole is amazing. But to each their own.

 

Also, there's some vocalists that just really don't sing well....at all. I simply cannot listen to them if their vocalist literally has no skills. Singing isn't an easy task, nor is music writing or composing. It takes talent , not just good looks.

 

I'll probably add more to the thread later since I'm salty as hell, but there's my two cents.

[suji 8317]

How about the shitload of disbandments and member departures, followed by a vague reason such as "musical differences", and also "personal/family reasons" and such...especially when the band/member has been active for only a couple of years, even just months.

 

Also, ditto on the vocalist putting looks over actual talent. The astounding amount of shitty bands these days just blows my mind, especially with this current trend of screamo-kei going around and all.

[emmny 4139]

seconding whirlingblack with the bangya culture, im not even gonna get into it but its just sick--then again ALOT of japanese culture goes against my core moral set and beliefs so bangya culture as an extention of japanese society isn't too surprising. i love so much of japan and i detest a lot too, so the legitimate fandom in japan i find to be taxing in awful--both on the part of the musicians and the fans.

 

also i hate the pay-to-play system and most of visual kei distribution, i wish my fav musicians who dont make enough to constantly release music could be able to get studio time easier and self-record like a lot of western acts; but then again i understand the reasons why they cant. its a shame tbh considering there's some brilliant songwriters who dont get to release more than once/twice a year because they dont have the time or resources to keep up with music because of their limited fanbases.

[YuyoDrift 1540]

To sum it up in as few words as possible:

 

Most of the fans.

[eiheartx 1310]

Seriously, this: "We have a new release!! EXCLUSIVELY ON OUR WEBFKNSHOP THAT DON'T SHIP OVERSEAS!! :'DDDDDD"

This makes me so mad each fucking time. JUST PUT YO SHIT ON CDJ FFS, IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK?!!

And also "Spending a small fortune for that one live-distributed single/DVD." é.è

"Discovering a favorite new band only to find out that they've disbanded" the struggle is real.

[-NOVA- 3027]

The fact that i have to go thru ridiculous lengths to get them rarez.. it kills me

 

also these people: