platy 3018 Posted January 28, 2020 Visual kei is essentially a collection of tropes from song structure, naming conventions and stylistic choices. Anyway, some of these characteristics can be very unpleasant so which one would you ban if you had the power to do so? I'll start off with Engrish. The artists probably have no idea what they're saying to begin with and are only doing it for cool points/to cater to a possible western audience(???) and anyone who speaks more than one language knows that your tone of voice changes depending on which one you are speaking in. Usually when Japanese artists switch to English their voice changes for worse, not to mention the mess they make trying to pronounce stuff. See: the first minute of Sukekiyo's Foster Mother sounds like kyo's blowing flour from his mouth IT RUINS THE MUSIC EXPERIENCE 2 1 Gesu, suji and CAT5 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gesu 1537 Posted January 28, 2020 Edgy face reveals. Unless you're a really popular/established musician making a surprising comeback, there's just no need for it and it kind of defeats the point of VK being a visually striking genre that jumps out at you the moment you see it. It's meant to get your attention and not being able to see the members just completely takes that aspect of it away. I do believe that the music is more important than the visuals but in such a stylised genre, you're taking a huge (and usually stupid/arbitrary) risk by obscuring yourself like that and more often than not, they fail to live up to the high expectations they give to the people waiting to see what they look like with mediocre music. It kind of adds insult to injury, imo. 5 Ruri, suji, ShTon and 2 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himeaimichu 1535 Posted January 28, 2020 I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars? So many great bands have been lost to this trope 7 3 Hoyahe, platy, mushi308 and 7 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokage 5930 Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) dressing up as girls x in fact ban all forms of dressing up other than shironuri makeup & cool uniforms imo Edited January 28, 2020 by Tokage 1 1 1 4 1 lichtlune, R/O, mushi308 and 5 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
platy 3018 Posted January 28, 2020 47 minutes ago, Himeaimichu said: I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars? So many great bands have been lost to this trope +1 but this is how the big boys make money apparently? "Tone down your looks so you'll appeal to the masses and make big bucks" but then they just lose what made them good in the first place and end up disbanding a year (tops) after going major. Stoopid. 52 minutes ago, Gesu said: Edgy face reveals. Unless you're a really popular/established musician making a surprising comeback, there's just no need for it and it kind of defeats the point of VK being a visually striking genre that jumps out at you the moment you see it. It's meant to get your attention and not being able to see the members just completely takes that aspect of it away. I do believe that the music is more important than the visuals but in such a stylised genre, you're taking a huge (and usually stupid/arbitrary) risk by obscuring yourself like that and more often than not, they fail to live up to the high expectations they give to the people waiting to see what they look like with mediocre music. It kind of adds insult to injury, imo. Especially now that most vk bands have really pedestrian looks there is literally NO need for this trope. 1 Gesu reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Komorebi 2193 Posted January 28, 2020 The one that really annoys me and is thankfully dying out lately is the silent member trend. It was cool when Mana did it, not so much when it became a trend and a bunch of newbies started doing it. 3 suji, Gesu and Seiji reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrenGun 2261 Posted January 28, 2020 Yes those "Edgy face reveals" I would say, just don't announce your new band until the day you gonna announce everything. I also dislike like the "My age is secret", "It's secret in which previous bands I played" kinda of crap shit. But I don't mind the Engrish part. Engrish is a known common thing in Japanese bands. not only visual bands are doing it.... no it's a daily thing in Japanese language anyway. Even if it's in the common language spoken in the Japanese way and written in Katakana, English is something which just flew in the language. Only we Gaijins can often only hard get what that Japanese human is actually saying. Which remembers me of a Dragon ball song, which they sing "ANGEL ANGEL ANGEL" and I misunderstood it for ears as ENJEM ENJEM ENJEM So for me Engrish is simply amusing Give me more of wrong English. Whenever they know what they are singing or not it's fun! But I still must say, if a band decide to write a lyric in complete English; then please sit down with a English/Japanese speaker to form a bit of correct English sentences which you 100% understand the meaning off. But even so... It's fun to read such "not corrected google translated" lyrics. 1 1 Arkady and Gesu reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
platy 3018 Posted January 28, 2020 2 hours ago, BrenGun said: I also dislike like the "My age is secret", One thing that I admire about k-pop, they are open about the members' age. I was pleasantly surprised by how many K-pop dudes are nearly 30. Actually, I can't remember if this is the same with girl groups? Anyway, in Japan it's a crime to be over 18 years old in media/music/etc., which I find creepy and annoying tbh. As if people over 18 can't be charming or cute, can we stop pretending human beings don't age 4 ShTon, Miku70, BrenGun and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evenor 1655 Posted January 28, 2020 Awkward/sudden key changes. 4 1 Seimeisen, Seiji, platy and 2 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
violetchain 912 Posted January 28, 2020 The "risutokatto" trope in general is a huge turnoff for me, tbh. 4 platy, Komorebi, suji and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShTon 268 Posted January 28, 2020 I don't mind Engrish. I find the awkward use of it in lyrics pretty amusing and world would be a little bit sadder without the google translate tier phrases in songs, lol. I gotta say +1 on edgy face reveals. 1 Gesu reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nekkichi 6043 Posted January 28, 2020 ayabie line-ups from the 2nd one and onwards heteronormativity robe attire fad of 2019-2020 2 Seimeisen and Arkady reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frayed 404 Posted January 28, 2020 Nazis. 4 Arkady, Cantavanda, MissConduct and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suji 8317 Posted January 28, 2020 50 demo releases once you're active for more than a year Live limited shit Pop/Visualcore (??? is that the right term?) Joke bands putting out 50 consecutive monthly singles instead of just putting them all together on a fucking album Starwave-tier production quality MENHERA 2 Gesu and evenor reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colorful人生 2777 Posted January 28, 2020 the swedes 1 8 2 4 CAT5, evenor, Gesu and 12 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chemicalpictures 1888 Posted January 28, 2020 all crowd related stuff furi, rows and everything else that makes freaking metalcore concerts look like a kids show live audience or smh 5 1 1 1 1 Komorebi, Tokage, Seiji and 6 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sleepy coffee 1476 Posted January 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, chemicalpictures said: furi +1 1 Miku70 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted January 28, 2020 The "we're not visual anymore" cop out. 🙄 1 3 Wakarimashita, Miku70, CAT5 and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CAT5 9075 Posted January 28, 2020 7 hours ago, platy said: I'll start off with Engrish. Yep, although this is a problem that I have with Japanese music at large too. Apparently, the Japanese simply think "it's cool". 🤦🏿♂️ 1 platy reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
platy 3018 Posted January 28, 2020 1 hour ago, suji said: MENHERA I'll raise you one up... MEN DRESSED AS BABIES/YOUNG CHILDREN PROMOTING MENHERA 3 1 Gesu, suji, ShTon and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokage 5930 Posted January 28, 2020 PVs/songs about abusive parents and/or TWISTEEEEED children trying to kill their parents in some way 2 mothhe and suji reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saishu 1589 Posted January 28, 2020 The music box intro 1 1 1 Hoyahe, suji and crucifiction reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peace Heavy mk II 7200 Posted January 28, 2020 Not really a trope, per say, but I want to enforce a strict rule that requires you look up a band name before you officially debut to ensure there aren't already 3423042042 other bands with the same name already. 4 1 2 suji, crucifiction, platy and 4 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lichtlune 915 Posted January 28, 2020 Shitty synth to cover up bad/lazy instrumentation 2 suji and Seiji reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saishu 1589 Posted January 28, 2020 31 minutes ago, Peace Heavy mk II said: Not really a trope, per say, but I want to enforce a strict rule that requires you look up a band name before you officially debut to ensure there aren't already 3423042042 other bands with the same name already. Also make sure your band name is easy to Google. Don’t make it one letter or a super common word like “Sugar” 6 1 platy, Cereal Killer 13, NICKT and 4 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites