How to make Visual Kei popular again?

[Himeaimichu 1535]

5 minutes ago, Cereal Killer 13 said:

Unless vkei bands start mumble rapping I don't see it. (That would be hilarious tho). 

I hope that NEVER happens lmao. No offense to those who like trap, but I hate the sound (at least the current sound. There is some "proto-trap" that I find tolerable, like UGK), the aesthetic, the whole attitude.

But sadly, that may actually become a reality. Falling in Reverse's "Popular Monster" mixed edgy white boy trap™ with metalcore, and while I do see there is an audience for it, I'm way too much of a Hip Hop boomer to really vibe with it.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Himeaimichu

[Axius 2019]

7 hours ago, BrenGun said:

I mean... visual kei... most bands suck anyway and don't even play the music which the mainstream will like. 

 

There are a lot of hidden talents in V-kei. Some yes do suck but its more opinion based just like how every type of music out there internationally.

 

To be honest most people i have showed this genera to i always find one thing in common and that is, a reaction like you just got hit by ton of bricks or relate it to anime openings. Also have stated that "Why am i going to listen to a band i do not understand". (I'll get more to that below ). I live in new york and in a region where a lot of pop/rap music flourishes. I have rarely found fans maybe might be looking in the wrong places some days but have lived here most my life and even when i have found fans they dont know as much as i thought they would have known. Honestly people can say V-kei some of is bad but select few have a ear for this type of genera and surprisingly it has grown ever so slightly now of days. Even fans of the genera ive have met don't have an ear for some bands that are visual kei. Remember when Mejibray music videos had only like about 50k even 100k now its like a million or half a million closer to those number ranges. This is just a base example. Or even now deviloof's MV for ONI has now 1m views and they did that in a couple months. I would have to say that's pretty impressive. Yes many have fans in japan that watch these videos but my based point is this: There are a couple of under lying reasons why its not popular or main stream and these are some of the barriers to my knowledge. If anything is incorrect please let me know ill be happy to change this.  : 1. Expensive import costs for Music/Availability. I get it you if people have to buy music overseas but Shipping costs are pretty up there. Some releases i bought that are exclusively on cd can cost anywhere from 10-20 dollars on just shipping alone. Mostly for the ones not on CDjapan.  Not to mention the limited lives >.>.  Im glad some music has been being sold on official amazon. com which gives free shipping. There has been digital support some people like the hard copy. (Spotify has helped in some availability issues) 2. Translation support/Band recognition. I think the language barrier can cause some issues with trying to love your band that you do not understand. This turns some people off from the genera. Major aspects of music changing and constant line-up changes are something people aren't use to this can deter people away some some bands.  There are also bands that don't really put themselves out there internationally all that much. This leads right into the final point. 3. Disbandment. Due to the nature of the genera there are constant disbandment, reforming and other extra terms that can be confusing to a person. This can also be hard for a band to even get to be known if a band isn't functioning to its full capability which in turn doesn't make them popular/ lack of ability to go international.

 

 

Overall what generally people like is things simple rather confusing and also talented music. Visual kei is only one of those things, half the time because of the nature of the genera and how one band can change so much or disband and reform. This is also the beauty of the genera as well. Case in point to much going on for one thing. 

 

Side note: The V-kei disbandment rate has been unchanged for the past 20 years so i honestly dont think visual kei will die anytime soon but it will remain a float as that one underground scene that not many people pay attention to. As long as there are still fans of the genera that support bands to make music there will always be new member awaiting in the back stage you have never seen before. But visual kei is at a all time low as of recent... 😕  Hopefully 2020 changes that. 

 

Last thing, this is a far off distant wish of mine i would love to see a nice chart that displays popularity of visual kei bands from 1980 - 2010 or 15 in this style. Im quite interested. What are peoples thoughts?

Edited January 8, 2020 by Axius

[Himeaimichu 1535]

1 minute ago, Axius said:

Side note: The V-kei disbandment rate has been unchanged for the past 20 years so i honestly dont think visual kei will die anytime soon but it will remain a float as that one underground scene that not many people pay attention to. As long as there are still fans of the genera that support bands to make music there will always be new member awaiting in the back stage you have never seen before. But visual kei is at a all time low as of recent... 😕  Hopefully 2020 changes that.

THIS. I hate it when people act like bands somehow lasted longer in the 90's. Like, Pierrot, La'mule and Shazna were some of the most popular bands of the 90's, and they still met their fate where it was due. Indie Scenes all around the world have similar disbandment rates as well. It's pretty much the nature of a niche music scene

[Axius 2019]

Just now, Himeaimichu said:

THIS. I hate it when people act like bands somehow lasted longer in the 90's. Like, Pierrot, La'mule and Shazna were some of the most popular bands of the 90's, and they still met their fate where it was due. Indie Scenes all around the world have similar disbandment rates as well. It's pretty much the nature of a niche music scene

I wasn't referring to the 90s in that aspect rather i was being general. I never stated that the disbandment rate was longer in the 90's. Just that it has been unchanged as in a lot of disbanding.  Just a clarification. 

 

Also i have to agree it is a bit of a "Its own thing " of genera and does things out of the norm when it comes to releases sometimes.  

[Himeaimichu 1535]

Just now, Axius said:

I wasn't referring to the 90s in that aspect rather i was being general. I never stated that the disbandment rate was longer in the 90's. Just that it has been unchanged as in a lot of disbanding.  Just a clarification. 

 

Also i have to agree it is a bit of a "Its own thing " of genera and does things out of the norm when it comes to releases sometimes.  

Oh I know, I just know some people who act like somehow bands lasted longer in the past, and that the disbandment rate is somehow a new thing, and I was agreeing with you that it's been pretty stable.

[Axius 2019]

Just now, Himeaimichu said:

Oh I know, I just know some people who act like somehow bands lasted longer in the past, and that the disbandment rate is somehow a new thing, and I was agreeing with you that it's been pretty stable.

[LIDL 692]

A better marketing team. That is what VK lacks.

 

Being edgy isn't the issue, Billie Eyelash is the latest example of that. And language barrier? Although valid, but with these K-Pop acta around and actually popular, so much so that they went to evening talk shows or performs at Coachella, one of the major Summer music festival in the world, I don't think it is that much of an issue these days. Especially when your music genre audience market is younger people or people who are young spirited.

 

And what did Billie, BTS, BLACKPINK, Ariana, Kardashians, and others have that VK acts don't? A marketing team that control the hype machine up in large scale.

 

Also, they are not utilizing internet very well when it is a great  tool to expand your reach. And actually this is a main issue with Japanese music industry in general. Like, L'arc~En~Ciel a major label band have only set up their official YouTube channel in December 2019!! And have been copyright strikes every single uploads of their music or music video by regular people so nobody but the actual fans actually know who they are. Imagine that.

 

Which is sad and tragic, since internet was the reason VK went viral outside Japan in the first place in the early 2000s with the P2P file sharing such as Soulseek being popular.

[Axius 2019]

19 minutes ago, LIDL said:

Being edgy isn't the issue, Billie Eyelash is the latest example of that. And language barrier? Although valid, but with these K-Pop acta around and actually popular, so much so that they went to evening talk shows or performs at Coachella, one of the major Summer music festival in the world, I don't think it is that much of an issue these days. Especially when your music genre audience market is younger people or people who are young spirited.

 

And what did Billie, BTS, BLACKPINK, Ariana, Kardashians, and others have that VK acts don't? A marketing team that control the hype machine up in large scale.

 

Also, they are not utilizing internet very well when it is a great  tool to expand your reach. And actually this is a main issue with Japanese music industry in general. Like, L'arc~En~Ciel a major label band have only set up their official YouTube channel in December 2019!! And have been copyright strikes every single uploads of their music or music video by regular people so nobody but the actual fans actually know who they are. Imagine that.

Language barriers have a lot to do with it when it comes to that majority of people. Every person i ran into is faced with that decision of language myself included. Some people also have a fear of the unknown but others and like you said and mentioned are young or young spirited. I dont believe v-kei targets this audience but is more general for anyone who cares to listen. Those majority of people might have a keen respect to the vkei genera. Billie, BTS, BLACKPINK, Ariana, Kardashians all are pop artists. Case and point basically make similar if not the same music, simple beats to words. V-kei is different then this and more complex but if your talking about pop marketing as a whole it has never really changed since its inception and therefore your statement may have validity in that area on a marketing standpoint. 

 

29 minutes ago, LIDL said:

Also, they are not utilizing internet very well when it is a great  tool to expand your reach. And actually this is a main issue with Japanese music industry in general. Like, L'arc~En~Ciel a major label band have only set up their official YouTube channel in December 2019!! And have been copyright strikes every single uploads of their music or music video by regular people so nobody but the actual fans actually know who they are. Imagine that.

I agree this basically is similar to the point i made before. Similarly i think Mejibray didn't have official videos until a little while to as well as r指定.

 

 

[Romlaw 82]

For the west it is mostly the same reason new non-rap / non-edm music doesn't get popular. Like previously stated here, its way less costly to make (giving consequently bigger profits/less risk for the creator) but at the same time a lot of people see the possibility of doing it themselves, which regardless if the person is actually doing it or not it still creates more instantaneous attachment.

 

Saying they should do the same thing korea did would not work because most famous kpop groups are still composed of mostly singers / dancers which is not the same as having to buy/learn about an expensive instrument AND find other people that play the other instruments that you don't so you can actually start getting somewhere.

 

Also, I going to be a retard here and say the main reason k-pop exploded the way it did its because it got the people that liked the androgynous look PLUS it had the benefit of going the same way musically that was getting popular (rap/edm). They just had to add coreographies and multiple members that raises the chance of the listeners getting attached to at least one of them instantaneously. Although, obviously they are not the inventors of the boyband concept they did it with such efficiency (and mercilessly if you see how most k-pop trainees live) that it could only result in a lot of money.

[Rahzel 110]

12 hours ago, Himeaimichu said:

Visual Kei was, and pretty much always will be a counterculture movement with a cult following. Things come and go in popularity. That's been the case with Nu Metal, Eurodance, etc.

 

Part of it is the fact that Harajuku culture is dead and J-Fashion is so toned down, and a proper J-Fashion revival is possible, but no matter what, Visual Kei isn't going to be the mainstream phenomenon it barely even was at one point. Its always gonna be a niche movement with niche music tastes. Japanese people and Americans always have, and always will be mainstream taste-wise. Thats the nature of things. No use getting mad about it, because there really is nothing you can really do about it. Just enjoy Visual Kei while it's still a thing. 

 

8 hours ago, Disposable said:

Well there's many reasons and we've had topics or discussions about this before on the forum so if you do some digging you'll find some decent posts about it. Here's some points tho:

 

1. The Japanese have stopped investing time and money in the western market. The big tours and promotion campaigns and shit are all long gone after everyone ( most likely ) lost their money ten years ago. This situation has actually now started to change slightly with big relevant bands like DADAROMA making the exception for anime conventions for that big anime cash, and also they've been starting to wake up about the potential of streaming services like spotify despite having been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I don't think this will amount to a boom like it was before, but maybe at least it will normalise the situation where our existence is at least acknowledged in some roundabout way. 

 

2. Visual kei ain't doing so hot in Japan either. Now with the hiatus of R-shitei the amount of big bands is only dwindling down and the fact that successful new bands like Raid that, let's be real, are nothing to write home about musically and that would never ever get any press outside the vk fandom because it's strictly for visual kei die hard gyas only, super niche. Also the biggest media draws are getting dangerously close to retiring for good if not by their own will then by time itself. The international rock circuit is not going to recover once those legends are gone and the time is almost here, and I'm open for suggestions as to who'll replace X, GLAY and L'arc and draw like they did. 

 

3.  General culture shift is hugely in favor of music that can be done at home and then toured for fraction of the price ie. rap music and electronic music. Big spectacle pop performers aside, touring a rapper and a singer without loads of equipment is significantly cheaper and easier.  People can start realising their musical ambitions without finding other people even in the middle of nowhere; and then to this you add the reality that rock music stopped innovating for the culture years ago. Nothing came after the metalcore post-hardcore fad, and rock audiences are aging by the year while hip hop audiences span multiple demographics from all male to all female and from young to older and the underground scenes change faces around every six months. Techno is also insanely profitable where the night lives of cities around the world function around the techno economy that can cater to normies and underground diehards at the same time. People ( normies ) go to rock clubs on the weekends as a curiosity to listen to shit that's at least 20 years old and most often between 30 and 40 years old.

Uh, I certainly think OP is right in saying our tastes are coopted by modern marketing strategies online. Back then we had ICQ, forums and web circles to learn about weird Japanese cartoons abd androgynous metalhair dudes because... yahoo was not a very trustworthy web search engine actually lol. Then came Google and Facebook and Internet became mainstream and now the media conglomerates are more powerful than ever as are our tastes homogeneous. Honestly is thete a single citypop fan who did NOT find out about it through some weird youtube algorrythm that led u there through some mix of almost public domain japanese music made by a 18 year old online but by buying vinyl instead...  of. I do not know what the big idea is and I am afraid to know. 

 

But I feel that visual rock was always perceived as a weird uh community even in Japan. To this day there are Japanese bands that enjoy moderate success internationally (I think of One Ok Rock or Ajikan for instance) but I agree that with the decline of crazy extreme jfashion styles ie. Decora and gyaru as well as the general decline of popularity of anime aesthetic not only through anime and manga but also jrpgs and so (which as it turns out has always been an inspiration AND way of becoming popular for plenty visual rock bands) and the simultaneous ... Rise of shitty youtubers who think spewing " Japan is so weird lol " is cool and, well paired with new technologies that left then cutting edge Japanese technologies behind ... Thats all to amount for this failure of Cool Japan and, well, it really goes reeeeally deep. 

 

But theres a few things that come to mind that I wanted to share to add to the discussion. 

 

Lately I have been into an even more obscure kind of japanese fandom aka japanese seiyuu fandom lol. Theres this guy (there are definitely a few posts on this forum about his act!) called Tatsuhisa Suzuki who is himself in a rock band called OLDCODEX. It's a rather conventional indielike (because they started out indie although now theyre with Lantis) rock band with average rock songs, but the guys are great at performing ... Really passionate stuff. (Theyre good at the looking cool and otherworldly stuff that made Japan cool some decades ago tbh.) So he was voicing characters from popular (cough, with fujoshi) series for which this band performed ost songs. And so the band saw a big rise in popularity and has actually performed in Budoukan a few times. Really enthusiastic reception, pumped audience. But what had me interested is this: Their aesthetic ... Its no trashy garage metal band but not too idolish either. Theyre just at that point where it doesn't offend either crowd too much. The "Grandma probably wouldn't look too badly at anison bando" kinda thing, kinda like OOR or maybe less idolish. It's anime but not too anime, indie rock grawrhhh but Lantis ... Etc. I expected to see an audience full of fujoshi and seiota but that's not the case at all. What I saw were a bunch of youngsters getting pumped to the energy and powerful lyrics. It just looks really fun. So I realized, hey, it's not that rock is dead in Japan - sure it isn't as popular all over the world anymore but it still has a huge following of young people when the product is right (ofc Lantis... Helps). I dare say Japan is The place where poprock music still thrives and finds some good innovation. In fact my shuffle just now started playing amazarashi lol. 

 

But ... I think visual rock after lessening popularity definitely became a bit too "takadanobaba freakos shit" at this point. I mean the fact that everyone either grew weirdo or grew average normie and ran like a bitch from the scene (...sometimes grew traitor Miyavi cough) is not helpful at all I think. It just became too established to shock as it did in the past I guess. So it's one of those things... Revolutionary in 1800 so its just anime boys doing bl aesthetic ; ; ; but that's what I feel. And at the end of the day Japan probably realized a domestic strategy was better, so to understand this market I am not considering westerners opinions. 

 

Think of it... It strikes me as ... Very interesting, the case of Amai Bourypku which is one of the bands I listen to regularly when listening to vk. Their early songs beginning as Shounenki were in late 2000s/early 2010s. Those days I remember songs full of !! Emotion !! And !! Power !! Were the norm in jpop because thats what anime songs were and top popular songs worldwide were anisons etc. But at that time was starting this whole culture shift to yknow basic music produced by uninspired djs to publish on youtube fad and vk started dying down (lol being in seiyuu fandom also made me realize thats around the time Gackt Did Voice Acting bro) So their early songs were quite ... quality stuff, but at some point things probably fell short of their expectations and they disbanded kind of only to come back with a late 2010s aesthetic ... Which is precisely making trashy indieish songs pandering to problenatic girls who are probably the bulk of the vk crowd these days. I mean it's probably easier to make and sustain anyway. I realized this shit was seen in a negative light by the western vk niche but they seem to be enjoyimg some popularity in Japan with this crowd anyway. I think this might be ... Quite emblematic. Of what we actually crave, vs what Japan craves and what musicians in those places see as a way of reaching their aspirations be it money or whatever. 

 

In short, things are changing... I think sadly. I really love in a "always have and always will" way japanese music and these trends are being quite hurtful for, well, more complex music and Japan is falling behind because of it. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Chell

[Ikna 1225]

I haven't read to all big texts (no time atm), but really, I feel we really overcomplicate things. The sad truth that many are in denial is, that VK in the west was just a fad and trend. The majority of people who aren't into it anymore wouldn't have stuck around even without the web, mumble rap or K-POP.

 

VK was popular because it was the kind of thing to be obsessed with if you were an awkward weeb in the 00s. By the time it hit seemingly big in the west it was already heavily declining in Japan. I mean, the last time VK was actually relevant in a music scene was in the 90s, when it peaked in popularity back at home. 00s VK was only seemingly relevant in western circles thanks to anime and manga, hence the illusion many weebs had about wanting to go to Japan as they imagined it some kind of VK paradise with hawt bandmen waiting for them at every corner and then are disappointed when they got there and had to realize that it was pretty niche and rather embarrassing thing, that most japanese people either don't care about or deny to like.

 

The japan hype that was so closely tied to the advent of manga and anime in the west is long over. Sure, there are still weebs and fans of that stuff, but the hype isn't quite as strong as it used to be. We have to put our rosa tinted glasses down and accept that the time was over when most of us edgy and angsty  kids that were outcasted for liking "chinese cartoons" all hopped on the japanese music bandwagon. I used to be quite pissed by VKs decline in quality, aesthetics and appeal too and was cringely obsessed with 90s VK, but eh… I just have to live with it being a niche genre and that most people I knew who liked it have moved on because it was just a phase for them. In that regard it's no different than grunge, Nu Metal or 00s new-modern emo. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Ikna

[The Moon 989]

ariana grande owns tho. stream sweetener x

[nekkichi 6043]

vk won't become the next k-pop because it's not even that big in Japan to start with and there're no major parties interested in funding and representing it;

 

a whole bunch of social phobias in the west (the entire racism>xenophobia>homophobia>otherization mental umbrella that american mass culture is built on) is also not helping it, but there's a good chance a random japanese VK act will unexpectedly obtain cult status completely accidentally, by mere combination of talent, theatrical game, and charisma

 

buy underfall justice on closet child x

[MAGORiA 33]

17 hours ago, Himeaimichu said:

Visual Kei was, and pretty much always will be a counterculture movement with a cult following. Things come and go in popularity. That's been the case with Nu Metal, Eurodance, etc.

 

Part of it is the fact that Harajuku culture is dead and J-Fashion is so toned down, and a proper J-Fashion revival is possible, but no matter what, Visual Kei isn't going to be the mainstream phenomenon it barely even was at one point. Its always gonna be a niche movement with niche music tastes. Japanese people and Americans always have, and always will be mainstream taste-wise. Thats the nature of things. No use getting mad about it, because there really is nothing you can really do about it. Just enjoy Visual Kei while it's still a thing. 

But nu-metal and eurodance is still  being played on the radio, articles and documentaries about it is still being made. The new generation is still getting exposed to it in one way or another, compared to visual kei which is very hard to discover these days if you don't know what to search for. 😕

 

When I show people visual kei, they usually like it and get interested in it. Melodic metal fans today loves versailles for example if you just show them. I think that's what the problem is. Visual kei would live on just like metal and rock if it was easier to discover it today. 😕

[MAGORiA 33]

17 hours ago, Himeaimichu said:

Also, there are a ton of people, regardless of their political affiliation, who wear colored hair. Dyed hair is arguable more popular and accepted than it ever was, and so are piercings and makeup on men. 

The current social climate is arguably the best for Visual Kei, because alternative fashion is becoming more normalized as people just stop giving a fuck. I mean, Scene fashion is seeing a revival in 2020, and in recent years, Gothic Rock and Post Punk made a mini comeback. People are finally starting to no longer giving a fuck what you look like, or what you wear. 

Yes, but where does it come from? It's because of the subcultures. Don't you find it weird that people seem to like colorful hair and alternative fashion, but don't know where it comes from? I think they would like visual kei if they just got exposed to it. Cool hairstyles, colorful hair, makeup etc is very popular today, visual kei has that. It comes from subcultures, yet now many people associate pink or blue hair with mainstream pop.

[MAGORiA 33]

16 hours ago, Cereal Killer 13 said:

Even when it was popular it was a niche thing. I would say people in the community could do a better job at broadening the discussion and making communities more lively to join. That would help but a lot of the fans have gone silent or moved on to more active fandoms/communities.  

I can only speak for my country, it was very huge in my country (Sweden) not just a niche. They showed visual kei on mainstream TV, in popular magazines etc. In every class at school there was at least one who loved it. We even had shops selling visual kei merch, fashion and everything.

 

Yeah, I feel like the community is very silent. Closed and inactive groups on facebook, people who dress up in visual kei doesn't even mention it which makes other people believe they just like metal or something. We don't share the music like we used to, we don't talk about it etc...

 

The fandom might be the problem, we are too silent and not very inviting for new commers.

 

Maybe we should create a cool discord server for visual kei and subcultures or anyone really, that way it might spread more? ❤️

[MAGORiA 33]

11 hours ago, zombieparadise said:

I'm completely fine being in the remaining minority of a dying genre. I would rather find what I like on my own, then have 'them' figure it out for me.

 

I think the whole 2006-2010 resurgence of the genre was more organic than any of the created/algorithmic/lackadaisical trends the post 2010's have given us. This was in part due to social feeds/search terms/content that we were using/sharing/discovering ourselves during this period. These days, the internet has basically been turned against its users, and through very powerful technology, we're shown a barrage of cookie cutter content that the vast majority are entertained by. It doesn't matter if it's good or not, or if some of us aren't interested in it, it's what works. Fortunately, VK is only cookie cutter enough for it's own genre, and too risky for mainstream audiences.

 

If it takes VK following mainstream trends to get popular again, count me out. I am grateful for the old bands and existing bands that keep true to their style without selling out.

It isn't dying, it's still just as popular as it was back in the day in japan for example. New bands pop up pretty often! The only thing that is dying is the fandom I believe because we are not as inviting and we don't share it with friends and such... It used to be a lifestyle, now it feels like it's a secret thing we do that we don't want to share. We don't have a proper community like the K-pop fans has etc

 

Yes, we have this site, but we don't have youtube channels, discord servers, groups and such on other social media that is popular and big.

 

I guess it would just take a couple of big youtubers who likes visual kei that talks about it to make it bigger. People discover K-pop by watching some popular beauty guru putting on k-pop inspired makeup, why not do that with visual kei?

 

The only thing that keeps it alive right now is the fans in Japan. We need to help the bands in Japan, we as fans need to share their music and make people interested! If they don't get any money or become more successful, they will disband it's all on us!

[Bear 1817]

Sæd.

[MAGORiA 33]

Visual kei is a great genre if you think about it. It's so expressive, there are almost no rules of how the music is supposed to sound, what the artists should look like etc.

 

People who likes metal will like some visual kei bands, people who like pop rock will like other bands. The music is usually a mix of different genres which could make the music very unique. It's a cool style, it's very artistic and it's fun to watch live performances because of that.

 

If you, as a fan, dress up in visual kei you will feel like a part of a community, which people enjoy!

 

Visual kei is brilliant, it could be huge and successful if we just made the comminty more interesting. Visual Kei isn't as extreme as the gothic subculture if you think about it. It's easier to enjoy the music, the clothes aren't that different to mainstream clothes. I mean, put on a regular outfit using a blazer and regular jeans, some jewelry and then just focus on the hair and makeup and you will look visual kei. It's pretty simple actually. No need for lolita dresses or goth makeup to look visual kei. It is very stylish and formal kind of. People love cool hairstyles, most people enjoy pop rock. Visual kei could be a huge thing! We just need to spread it more.

 

No one wants it to die it's an fantastic genre, it's fun and cool!

[MAGORiA 33]

The only visual kei bands and songs that people get exposed to these days are the most extreme ones. That's why people think it's weird, they believe all bands sounds and looks like the most extreme ones. The majority of visual kei fans doesn't even like those extreme bands!

 

I watched youtubers react, they enjoyed the gazette and that video attracted more fans to the gazette. They thought they looked cool and beautiful, they enjoyed the song. The other bands they showed was too extreme for the mainstream audience and it might have been confusing for them.

 

If everyone thinks visual kei is like obscure by dir en grey, of course it will come across as scary and weird. They need to see the beauty of it. It's like showing lady gaga in a meatdress and saying that is pop, of course people will think pop is weird if that's the only thing they see. We need to show people the beautiful songs and bands, make them emotional so that they like it. I wouldn't show them macabre by dir en grey the first time. It's an emotional song but it's hard for regular people to see the beautiful aspects of it. I would show them As if forever exist by Lin or something instead. My 72 year old grandmother enjoys that song and that song made her a fan!

[Naaaaani 1173]

What a huge teenage problems, lmao.

Is it so difficult to just enjoy your favourite music?

[sleepy coffee 1476]

6 hours ago, nekkichi said:

buy underfall justice on closet child x

+1

[nomemorial 341]

I'll just say it?

 

Visual kei as an international music scene is and has for many years felt incredibly elitist and gatekeepy. 

 

There are very few places to interact and discuss it, very few reliable international news outlets, and even as those things do pop up or grow they seem to fade away just as quickly or come off so dense that it's hardly worth the effort. 

 

Add to that the fact that it has a very high cost of entry for supporting bands with your wallet ($15+ for a single? $30+ for an album on CD? Multiple types?) and a minimal chance of ever getting to see your "fave" live, it often feels like more effort than it's worth in a world where there is basically an endless supply of good music and over 90% of it is much easier to consume.

 

I respect the idea of wanting more people to enjoy something you enjoy - but I don't think it's effective when packaged in a way that makes it seem "better" or "more valid" than other things. 

 

Hell, I'm pretty sure most of the people on here enjoy visual kei with a certain level of self-awareness that it's extremely niche (and kind of goofy) ((and often honestly kind of really bad)) but we still dig it for our own reasons.

 

[Cereal Killer 13 25]

The lack of translations is insane.  I can read/understand Japanese but even I sometimes just don't feel like dealing with having to look up a word(s) I might not know.  In the past translations for stuff was easier found but now, either you better know enough Japanese yourself or know someone who can translate for you even if it's a rough translation. Heaven help you if you are fan of bands that don't have a fandom with some translators. 

[saiko 429]

1 hour ago, nomemorial said:

Hell, I'm pretty sure most of the people on here enjoy visual kei with a certain level of self-awareness that it's extremely niche (and kind of goofy) ((and often honestly kind of really bad)) but we still dig it for our own reasons.

 

I hope so.