Visual Kei

Visual Kei, literally "visual type", refers to a movement in J-Rock which started in the 1980s and became widely popular in Japan by the 1990s.

Origins

Largely the movement is credited to have been started "almost single handedly" by X Japan, however a rising trend of utilizing visual shock to gain membership in the independent scene was well in effect by the time X went major; they may be seen in this sense not as a catalyst for the movement, but a mechanism to involve dominant Japanese popular culture with it. Bands in the early 1990s such as Luna Sea, Kuroyume, Kill, Shazna, and Baiser along with previous bands Buck-Tick and X Japan encouraged a "boom" of this media culture.

Characteristics

Visual Kei is characterised by bands using dramatic costumes and visual imagery to enhance the band's performance. Within Japan, the fan-base almost solely consists of girls and young women and is marketed strongly to that audience with items such as tradeable stickers, glossy photo-books, picture-postcards of band members and so on. In other countries, the comparatively small quantity of Visual Kei followers is roughly an equal division between male and female youth. Visual Kei is often focused upon in the West as a uniquely Japanese part of the Rock music scene.

Members of Visual Kei bands often wear striking makeup, style their hair in dramatic shapes (reminiscent of "glam metal" bands from the '80s) and wear elaborate costumes. Although the vast majority of the musicians are male, band members will often wear makeup and clothing which would be considered 'feminine' or 'androgynous'. Recently, some bands are returning to the more colourful and "fantastic" image popular 5 or 6 years ago, taking inspiration from computer roleplaying games and anime. The appeal of the costumes to fans is so great that large numbers of girls will cosplay as members of their favourite bands, particularly in Harajuku, at live concerts in Japan, or in Poland, North America, Chile, Spain and Australia at anime conventions.

Bands

List of Visual Kei bands

Visual Kei bands, being defined primarily by visual style, do not necessarily play a specific type of music. They most often play general J-rock (Luna Sea, Dir en grey) and vocal based pop or light rock (Glay, Gackt).

However, there are also bands playing or influenced by Heavy Metal (Sex Machineguns, Onmyo-Za, EZO - This, entered in US in 1987 with a Gene Simmons of Kiss produced record)), Darkwave (Velvet Eden, Schwarz Stein), Industrial rock, Punk rock and various other genres can be found. Taking the genre in a wide sense, most of the bands would be considered to play some kind of "rock" music. Particularly popular in recent years are the projects of Mana; Malice Mizer (now defunct) and Moi dix Mois.

Within the field of Visual Kei several popular movements have arose; the fashion style Gothic Lolita and the musical sub-genres; EroGuro and Angura Kei, which form particular visual styles.

Current status

Visual Kei remains as a diverse, ever expanding genre. Many of the bands are beginning to play outside of Japan. Bands such as Dir en grey, MUCC, Moi dix Mois, D'espairs Ray, Kagerou, Calmando Qual and Hagakure have toured Europe. Dir en grey and Moi dix Mois are planning 2006 United States tours, as their popularity has increased in recent times among fans of rock movements in that country.

External links

J-Rock | Rock music genres

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Origins

Characteristics

Bands

Current status

External links