History of Visual Kei (Briefly Explained)

[@ofmaliceandmizery]

I saw tetsu on the thumbnail and clicked instantly

[@regret_a]

"malice mizer" has never been pronounced more beautifully

[@itachi9567]

I am a metalhead and i like almost every type of visual kei, in fact, it was visual kei related music that got me into metal, as i was an otaku in my teenage years my first contact with metal music was from a visual kei band called Vistlip, then i discovered Dir En Grey and i totally fell in love with the genre, my favourite visual kei bands are, of course, the extreme metal ones (Deathgaze, Dir En Grey, Lynch and many more...) i also noticed that in the last years a lot of visual kei bands started to incorporate Metalcore and Deathcore elements into their music, just like what happened in the early 2000s with bands like Aliene Ma'riage that started to incorporate Nu Metal elements into their music. Visual kei is so various and it's constantly evolving so i guess nobody will ever get bored listening to this kind of music.

[@anachronism7.8]

Lynch ❤

[@indigohalf]

Angura kei's name comes from the word "underground," as in the underground theater scene. There aren't that many bands that actually call themselves angura kei and the term is often misapplied. A lot of bands who are called angura kei are actually wafuu kei (traditional inspired look and sound), misshitsu/showa kayou kei (vintage 20th century/showa era aesthetic), or something else.

[@fate9432]

Usually when I see videos of ppl talking abt vkei theres sooo much incorrect information and slandering but in this video I only found a few small ''mistakes''/stuff that could be explained in one way or another. Nice job! :D

[@Spook-y]

Tysm for the informative video, I'm just recently getting into V Kei music so this is perfect! I love how all your videos are so well thought out. I would love to see a video on how to dress V Kei!

[@bruce2372]

Hello! I started listening to Malice Mizer recently, thank you, for the recommendations of other bands, really like your videos 💜💜💜

[@13thfridays]

This is one of the best videos explaining visual kei I've come across as there's a lot of misinformation out there, but this was very insightful! Very well said. Thank you!

[@iseethebluescreen]

i think a big part of vk bands being 'only really Japanese' is the language and poetry style... for example if you were to look at the black metal band Cradle of filth form England, Dani Filth's lyrical writing style is distinctly inspired by victorian/classical literature, where if you take a look at Dir En Grey's Kyo's lyrical style, it is heavily influenced by classical japanese literature, the way metaphor and symbolism is used, spiritual or psychological concepts and choice of words, are all woven in a way that only Japanese bands can produce authentically... having said that i only really know Dir En Grey, but other non-vk japanese bands that i really like (passcode, ningen isu, wagakki band, babymetal, hanabie & bandmaid) all share this similarity. while each sub genre of vk i assume would have different lyrical imagery, the Japanese culture and way of speaking is imo the most iconic feature of vk music as well as every Japanese musical artist.

[@kjrasa]

That's an interesting take to it and that's true. I've never looked at the uniqueness of Vkei in that way so thank you for sharing this. (Btw I love wagakki band and bandmaid as well!)

[@GDsKitty]

I always loved the looks of visual kei and now I'm definitely going to check out the music as well 🤗

[@emeli_d]

I remember being 14 and randomly finding Dir en greys Saku and An Cafes Super Rabbit and that just AWOKE something in me at the time. Now its more than 15 years later and I still love this genre so much. My fav bands have changed a bit though, it's D.I.D and Forbidden! DID is sadly no longer active and Forbidden is not that known among western fans and a pretty new band so I hope everyone who reads this can go and listen to them so I have some people to share my love for them with!

[@pattobyo]

Nice video ^^ It is great to see that visual kei is still of interest around the world. 
I hate being so pedantic, but when it comes to Dir en grey, I wouldn’t classify them as “Neo Visual Kei” as, when they were visual kei, their style definitely matched those other 90s bands. I guess their aggressive sound would go on to influence a lot of other bands going forward, though. And on the whole.. I hesitate to categorize them as vk, given their long career. At one point, they definitely were, but they stated their wish to distance themselves from the scene in the mid 00s. And even now that they are back wearing makeup and costumes… it doesn’t feel like the same scene. You can see the clear distance by comparing the audience at their live shows to visual kei audiences. And their music doesn’t have a lot of the same cliches.

[@atomomirahija]

Buck-Tick mentioned!

[@fate9432]

Yay you finally made a video about visual kei!

[@sulo3701]

Im so happy to see some new videos about visual kei. It was a very sweet and informative video c: . I first discovered the movement first through Sid and L´arc en ciel, then I fell in love with it. My favorites are malice mizer and dir en grey ofc and I recently been obsessed with kuroyumes first two albums from 1993-1994 (who also heavily inspired dir en grey). Im not really that interested in the fashion, but extremely nerding out on the musical history and overall aesthetic. I would also love to see an in depth deep dive into the movement

[@JessAWeeb]

Good video! I got into VK when I was in middle school since my friend introduced me to An Cafe. I don't listen to it much now but for a while I was OBSESSED with the style and music and wanted to emulate that so bad in my life. Other good non-Japanese VK bands: Seremedy, Kerbera, YOHIO, DISREIGN, and Awoken by Silence.

[@nerdy_spooks]

All it takes to get me to click is Tetsu 😊

[@Dark-Wolf-066]

This is truly an eye opener to me to know that ALI PROJECT is also count as a Visual Kei since their music is land to more a classical & electronic pop genre, even tho they have a gothic elements on them, i still always thought that Visual Kei musics is rock or metal influence only due to it's majority examples that i've seen so far until i found this video, this is really interesting... great video sis

[@axldecay3056]

Great job and fantastic art

[@aguadefruita9320]

I wanted to add some more info on Nagoya Kei! Some ppl feel that it doesn't really fit into vkei because it doesn't follow the same patterns sonically or visually and feel it refers to it purely from a geographic standpoint. However, early Nagoya Kei, especially Silver Rose, Kuroyume, and Laputa have the signature qualities. These early bands shaped a culture within Nagoya and really turned their vkei into a "scene" of sorts. Nagoya Kei shifted from a punk/heavy metal sound to a darker/ melancholic sound. As for the visual aspects, it has a larger focus on street wear rather than costumes but keeps the gothic/ androgynous makeup and hairstyles. Unfortunately, the scene is quite small and is sort of fading out but many of the prominent bands are making comebacks! My faves are Deadman, Phobia, and Gibkiy Gibkiy Gibkiy🩵 (Pretty much anything with Aie or Mako is where it's at) Emmurée is another band that is pretty Nagoya Kei but not technically considered part of it. Great music too!

[@yuri_pilled]

A pretty underrated band that I see not a lot of people (overseas at least) is Amai Bouryoku/Sweet Violence. A great song by them that's pretty recent is called 'Kamiato' and I also suggest to check out their other songs as well such as 'kimi, izon, tattoo', 'itazura', 'Busu no Hikari', and 'Namaeganai'. The songs range from being desperate, romantic, obsessive, and regretful to rude, blunt, cheeky, and unapologetic. Amai Bouryoku also don't limit themselves on what their sound can be and they've experimented quite a bit with metal, rap, pop, etc. There are quite a few videos of them performing live too and this band is definitely a force to be reckoned with--just really energetic and you can feel the excitement radiating through it I swear. They don't take themselves too seriously which really allows them to let go and feel their music when they perform. It's super great! Amai Bouryoku is a really fun band that isn't afraid of trying out new things and putting their all into it too; I have no idea how this band has gone under the radar for so long but I swear you won't regret giving them a listen!

[@fuyushitarisou1]

I discoverer amai bouryoku two years ago, faaaar too late. I do blame it on the pandemic though. They are easily now one of my favourites and i spend like two years going completely mad about them and catching up on their huge discography All the love to Amai Bouryoku ❤

[@kjrasa]

Sounds interesting...definitely gonna check those out. Thanks!

[@DJigen3]

Pour moi tout est parti de X en 1991, hide a était un prodige et un pillier du Visual Kei . 🎸

[@ririnikite]

i kinda like vkei (as a jpop idol fan) and idk which vkei band i should be a fan of (i love malice mizer)

[@-RONNIE]

Personally I have heard of the style before but didn't know anything about the music. However I will say the fashion aspect of it is wiley familiar to Western fashion styles of the ages with some other aspects to it. Which could be ok or bad in some people's opinions put to each their own.

[@kjrasa]

Hm...I've never really thought about it as a good or bad thing. I mean, in the earlier period of Vkei, it looks very similar to western fashion, yes. But eventually, they adapt it according to fit with their own taste and it has some uniqueness in itself. At least that's how I view it.

[@-RONNIE]

@@kjrasa yeah it's always good to have an original or unique style. However if you're taking something from another culture then putting your own spin on it barely then that's not an original

[@RaineBans]

the reason i dont look that way isnt becus i cant be bothered to prepare. i have 2 reasons: 1 i cant afford such clothes. 2 my hair simply.doesnt.stay.up.

[@cawfeecheetos]

not sure if you'll be able to answer this(*_*) but, do vkei concerts in america hold the same etiquette as in japan?

[@axrippingmaniak]

I would also argue British punk fashion was influential to the image. All the progenitors of visual kei were influenced by 70's British bands like Sex Pistols as well as 80's British bands like Chaos UK, Discharge, etc.

[@axrippingmaniak]

There is also lots of crossover between Japanese hardcore scene and early vkei. Great example: look at the bands doing guest chorus on X Japan's Blue Blood. The same is true a decade later on Dir en grey's Gauze album.

[@IrchiSoga]

これで英語勉強しますわ

[@DJigen3]

Et le Français ! 😉

[@IrchiSoga]

@@DJigen3 Ouais! Chouette ✨✨

[@senjianiki]

Ngl all "Kote Kei" bands mentioned in video are Okeshou Kei not Kote.

[@aguadefruita9320]

Yea there’s a lot of overlap which causes them to fit into both

[@senjianiki]

​@@aguadefruita9320nah, author made lil mistake in naming. Kote isn't so heavily insp by glam (Okeshou is), + it wasn't a thing during late 80s.

[@aguadefruita9320]

@@senjianiki Oh, I always that kote kei simply refered to anything 80s-90s and that Okeshou Kei refered to the specific makeup/costumss with glam rock influence

[@jigokuoyabun]

ty

[@angeldevil9509]

Im surprised to see you show a post abt vkei from everskies out of all places Ngl the userbase in es r annoying asf

[@DriftYGK]

Is plastic tree visualkei

[@77zard]

🤍

[@Official_Mrpalmtree]

We share much of our favorite bands :D i will surely check out other bands from the cideo aswell, Btw i noticed the blog you linked was on Everskues, do you perhaps play the game? If so I'd love to add you there :]