(pause if u listen to the videos:p)

haii ehm before you read, 

I lost all of my updates and links on the information so take that part with a grain of salt...im still super devasted about it, so it'll take me a while to get around to re-editing all of this D: I also have a bunch of ideas for it, but 1 step at a time i guess...

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INFORMATION 1

So, Visual Kei is a movement/subculture originating from Japan, and like Gyaru and other, maybe Harajuku styles, it was for 'Visual Shock' and to rebel against standards. No, you don't have to dress in styles from this subcul to be a fan, and if anything, you'd really be more of a fan if you just appreciated the music...BUT that's not to say you can't dress in or appreciate the visuals and styles, usually ppl who are just fans and like listen to the bands/go to lives are called bangyas (or bangyaos 4 guys) :p theres nothing wrong with just being a casual listener and considering urself a fan, u dont have to be like super deep into it:3 but i will say it's totally awesome to expand on it cuz why not heheh

there's been a bunch of discourse on tiktok about the plastic tree older brother kmrii achrive fashion guys watering vkei down, so like i'd take a look at that...Although, I think soft kei (the style plastic tree usually has) is a little similar to SOME of the outfits those guys wear,,, personally i think those outfits might be similiar 2 some sort of substyle but its not visual kei as a whole, vkei is not an aesthetic:)

The thing about this subculture is that it's very diverse. Much like gyaru and how there's rokku (rock), goshikku (gothic), tsuyome, hime, manba, etc., there's oshare kei, iryou kei, angura (short for underground), neo kei etc. There is also so so many different genres of music within it. The bands usually wear these styles, and it kinda goes with the music they make so liek probably take a look at Shingeki no Awake, Versailles, or maybe Mejibray, and you'll see what i'm talking about ^_^;;

So vkei is not a music genre as a whole, but music and different genres are definitely the main half of it, and it is not one style as a whole, but many many different ones that have names, which is the other main half. It's usually the bands having these visuals, so that's why music is such a big part ;-; No, it's not only gothic lolita and mana sama. I really love Malice Mizer too but there's so much more to it :cc

*i think miyavi talked about it in an interview with that Zach (Zack??) guy, and other ppl talking about it kinda gave me the impression that to like.... "be" vkei, you really have to like be in a visual kei band/be a band member. then your music would be considered so, and so would you...but if not, and you just dress in the styles and listen to the music, you're still just a visual kei fan..,,,hmmm do with that what u will :d

Another thing I'd like to note is that some of the pioneers of visual kei were BANDS. so yes, music does matter, because i've seen comments that think it doesn't.. X Japan, Luna Sea, and Larc~en~ciel were some of the main 3 (not sure about larc en ciel tho oops, but they were definitely well known heheh)

!!!!JUST TO BE CLEAR, im not trying to tell anyone what to do or how to do/be anything, i just wanted to talk about it and give my take cuz theres a lot of misconceptions about everything andddd its like a rlly sensitive topic for a lot of elitists ppl so i just wanted to throw this out here; enjoy what you like if youre new and genuinely want to learn more abt it and get band recs dont listen to ppl calling you a poser or newgen. just have funnn TwT it doesnt matter if ur a fan of 6 years or 1 or you just like to dress this way or you just got into it last week, as long as you enjoy it and are open to recommendations:3 (well u dont ABSOLUTELY HAVE to be but like its good to be if that makes sense yanno) on the other hand, if youre like "ohh im so this and that and blah blah blah" but dont care at all abt being corrected or dont wanna bother doing any research,,,,ehm i wouldn't say ur in a position to tell anyone anything

!also if u dont wanna read just play the videos 4 a bit you might like something;d

So yea might add some more stuff in like a YEAR cuz im so heartbroken from losing my stuff but thx for reading if you did, now listen to sum songs :p

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(July 2024)
some stuff i wanted to put on my pf but i felt like i should just make a blog and add to it as time goes on( ´ _ `⁠ ⁠)

 i guess i made this cuz i wanna bring more recognition to vkei :p but id love to find more scemo bands too (other than the ones i listed on my pf)

*i didnt put genres so some of this is on the metal/rock side and others are more calm or light hearted-ish or energetic, there's info about it at the bottom*

the "Falling" video does have a lot of flashing so plz watch at ur own risk

Theres not much rite now but i wanna space it out 'TwT'

although i do recommend from the gazette - filth in the beauty, nakigahara, D.L.N, Undying, Invisible Wall, Inside Beast, Dogma, Chizuru, Reila, Toguro, Without a Trace, Taion, Red, Suicide Circus, Clever Monkey, Agony, Disorder Heaven, The $ocial Riot Machine$, Cassis, Pledge, Reila, Dawn, Ominous, Dim Scene, 13STAIRS[-]1

vk.gy page --> the GazettE profile | the GazettEプロフィール | vkgy (ブイケージ)

wikipedia --> The Gazette (band) - Wikipedia

crimson.lotus --> The GazettE (ガゼット) - Crimson Lotus - Visual Kei promotion

^^this was on repeat 4 a hot sec i'd check it out heh

Diaura - Lost november (mv and live), Lily, Tosakushou Resistance, Melt, Lost Story, https://on.soundcloud.com/YBWcFEunztKxhUef6

vk.gy page --> DIAURA profile | DIAURAプロフィール | vkgy (ブイケージ)

wikipedia --> Diaura - Wikipedia

crimson.lotus --> DIAURA (ディオーラ) - Crimson Lotus - Visual Kei promotion

Dir en Grey (i dont think they are really vkei anymore, just some sort of j-metal. but these somgs are from around that time and theyre super good:> you could check out their new stuff if youd like to, i havent heard any of it tho)- Kodou, Obscure, Yokan, Mushi (live), Cage, Saku (i recommend vestige of scratches ver. for obscure), Garden, Yurameki, aint afraid to die, clever sleazoid

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

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SORRY ik this seems like a lot so dont watch if u dont want to, im just rlly passionate about this stuff ( ´ ▽ ` ) and theres so so so sooooo much more i could add 2 gazette but hopefully you'll discover the songs on ur own ;T

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 (sorry4the title, i promise the songs good lol)

Dadaroma - Ame no WALTZ, Tururira, Risley Circus, Trend Identity, Dendrobium, watashi bangyajanaiwa, Alice in Underground, Mr.Terrorman

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

also from mejibray - distance.exe, raven, Sliver

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

Sadie - Meisai, IceRomancer, Madara, Jealousy

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

XAAXAA - Love Letter, Psycho Party, yukidokei, shinitai, horror

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

 Zombie - Kusottarega, Zombie Shisu, 100%shinderu

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

Miyavi - eccentric otona yamai, Coo Quack Cluck (from his movie oresama), What a wonderful world

theres also a song from due le quartz which is in the movie, and miyavi was in that band at one point

Malice Mizer (plz watch the PVs theyre amazing!!) - Au Revoir, Le Ciel, Gardenia, Ma Cherie, Bel Air, Gekka no Yasoukyoku, Mayonaka ni Kawashita Yakusoku, Aegen, I know the reason for her sadness, Baroque, Beast of Blood, je te veux, Shiroi Hada, Aprés Midi, Transylvania, Illuminati, Premier Amour, Kioku to Sora

they also have a 30 min movie with gackt (i cant remember the name) and basically a dracula remake or something with klaha (Bara no Konrei)

Aegen was my first song, but this is the first PV i saw:>

vk.gy page --> MALICE MIZER profile | MALICE MIZERプロフィール | vkgy (ブイケージ)

wikipedia --> Malice Mizer - Wikipedia

crimson.lotus --> Moi dix Mois (モワ ディス モワ) - Crimson Lotus - Visual Kei promotion (not MM cuz there was no page but this is Mana's project and he is one of the guitarists, i really like their song Monophobia:3 sometimes Seth does Malice Mizer covers live, and Mana, Kozi, Yuki, and mainly Kamijo i think, do Moi-Meme-Moitie (Mana's brand) anniversaries, the last one was in January 2024, 25th anniversary! sorrey i got off track heh)

Buck-Tick - Coyote (live), Dress, Taiyou ni Korosareta (live), Just One More Kiss, Kiss Me Goodbye, Romance, In Heaven, Jupiter, Sakura, Kuchiduke, Kagerou, My Funny Valentine (live), Speed, die, My Eyes and Your Eyes, Empty Girl, Sexual xxxxx, Moon Light, Taiyou to Ikaros, Kogoeru, https://on.soundcloud.com/zS4Bst2DVPvpvW8R7

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

RAZOR - DNA

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

Shazna - Melty Love, Dizziness, If...with tears in one's eyes, Sumire September Love, Topaz, Pearl, Sweet Heart Memory

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

Alice Nine - Phoenix, shunkashuutou, cosmic world

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

Nightmare - of course, the death note op and ending 'The World'/'Alumina', Raison D'etre (rezondetoru), Can you do it?, DIRTY, Criminal Baby

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

Madman's Espirit - idontknowwhoiambutthes*xgoeson

vk.gy page -->

wikipedia --> 

crimson.lotus -->

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Bands I know of/dont listen to a whole whole bunch

Penicillin

SuG, Sick2

Danger*Gang

LOG

Janne da Arc - DOLLS

Ashen Dead - Lost Agony

The is aslo Vampire Rose which I listen to but cant list more than like one song off the top of my head....so mother doll is a good song to start with, goes with the album cover and the whole vibe i really like it ^_^ 

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https://on.soundcloud.com/tPeHEybDoHSFEJXd7

Lareine (kamijo vocals:> he is in versailles/solo now) - metamorphose,  https://open.spotify.com/track/6RhRXYnuXBiGWgqhGQGqz8?si=csRZYPKHQme7tO_Z1liphA, Fleur

Luna Sea - Dejavu, I For You

Morphine - Collapse, Theory of Happiness

L'Arc-en-Ciel - My Dear

EYENêS - Neon no ame

DOGMAS -Succubus

DAMNED - Datura, AtraAtra, STAIN

Yusai - Ame (uhm they only have like 3 songs LMAO, so like it's good to support active bands so ppl arent disbanding left and right. But obviously it's fine to listen to disbanded bands too)

D'espairsRay - Reddish, Dears, FALLING, Love is Dead, Tainted World

Kebyo

La'veil Mizeria is also really good too, i recommend Secret Moon, Suicide Labyrinth, XXXX, and 淫虐の理 (ingyaku no ri/Law of Incident)

XANVALA - My Black, seisen i think it is

so here are some lives i was obsessed with 4 a while (along with Ride with the rockers The Decade & RCE, and mushi live from dir en grey 2003, theres eng subs if you look it up) and IM SORRY i know its a bit biased cuz they r my fav band, and i know im recommending a lot of their older stuff but their newer songs are super good too :D 

Falling, Undying, The Mortal, Blinding Hope, Deux, Dogma, Gush, Sono koe wa moroku, and Ominous are some ones i really like

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INFORMATION 2

(some day id probably get to working on dropdown sections and fun facts wouldnt that be so organized and coolll) :<

 some of these bands like mejibray and dadaroma (im p sure), specifically the vocalists may have other projects or started new bands, so i think it's good to look into those :s

ex. kyo from dir en grey is also the vocalist in sukekiyo

or, Yoshiatsu from Dadaroma (disbanded) is now the frontman of Fukuro

some good sites to learn more about bands would be crimson.lotus (probably search vkei at the end of it), The holy grail vk.gy, wikipedia for background, and jrockone (forum site). and there is a site called DefectiveTragedy that does the gazette translations and info about them and the  discography

there are a lot of different subgenres and styles within the culture,,, fashion-wise, the most popular styles ive seen are tanbi kei, kote kei (like oldschool), menhera, and eroguro. there is also oshare, and koteosa, and much more.

https://forum.jrockone.com/t/2000s-kote-osa/826

 not all of the vk styles have to align with the music (idk how to explain that part--like a scene person listening to emo music i guess) because it is a mix of both, vk bands just tend to have some of these styles, along with the different genres like oshare being more upbeat, usually tanbi kei bands having the "vampire-esque" or more royal/classic sound (this is the type of music ppl caption "pretending i'm a 3000 yo vampire"), and bands like Jiluka having a more deathcore/electronic metal sound. there is also a genre called 'loud kei' which is kind of influenced by western metal, bands like DEG were popular in this scene

---i think like 2017 or just 2010s in general is when some bands (that weren't already) started getting a bit electronic or having more synths, you can hear it a lot in Dadaroma, and also probably Lyrica (i don't listen to them much so i wouldn't know for sure)

and honestly, this subculture is a HUGE umbrella and so not every style is gonna have bands that wear it and vice versa...like, onii kei, especially morikei, and like whatever else, dont really have music that goes with it,..you just wear it, yknow? (i dont even know if theyre part of the 'vkei umbrella' musically fashion wise cuz 'kei' just means style, but i say 'musical fashion' meaning styles like kote kei and tanbi kei have a certain sound because of bands...but mori kei is just a style. does that make sense.....i hope that makes sense.....

you could dress in a certain vkei style, but maybe not listen to the music associated with it and that's okay because like i said it is both fashion and music (flor on tiktok has a video about it). i will say itd be pretty interesting to see someone in menhera but listening to, say, Lareine or something heh

another important thing for vkei would def be the makeup, ill work on that topic a bit later:> again tho, it doesn't only have 1 look - theres looks like mana sama's, takashi's from dadaroma, yo-ka's from diaura. and waka's from danger*gang.

and yes there have been problematic members/bands who's surprised....i wont talk about it too much but ill get to it soon,,, heres one hole you can jump down if youre into drama and stuff...https://forum.jrockone.com/t/post-your-unpopular-japanese-music-opinions-aka-hot-takes-p/3273

theres also been fights/arguments between deg and gazette fans cuz one thinks theyre better than the other, or deg fans think gazette totally sucks/has tried to copy dir en grey before or maybe the fans ruin the band for them and blah blah blah. i would stay away from kaneto-juusei tho because almost all of the members have done something western fans would call problematic (aside from the ones that ACTUALLY ARE) i think its chill just making a weird storyline in the songs and Ai from Gulugulu having beef with him cuz he copied Ai's look im guessing, and Ai also has beef with international fans cuz either theyre also kaneto juusei fans, or also because a lot of them just straight up harass him or say stuff like "english pls" in comment sections or whatever. but yuriko is a child liker and racist and the other members have done weird stuff too, dunno about Uru tho. id say the only weird thing is that hes still in the band lmao

i will admit that ive listened to them before tho, lots of ppl have obviously. though i didnt know about these things at the time or it happened later after. even then i only listened to like 2 songs cuz those were the only ones that were decent

i dont listen to gulugulu a whole bunch but id be cautious of them too cuz i heard ppl saying things about them?? and this one person i wanted to friend request had gulugulu fans dni (maybe just cause of cringe 12-14 yr olds but you can never be too sure right??) shouldnt be too bad though...

i had a bunch more stuff here like links that i thought described this well:c itll take a while 4 me to look for those but never give up amirite.......💔

yey infodump!! i may be wrong about some things here but what i've said is based off of what i know and have seen or heard :p. as into it as i am after only like 2 yrs im still learning lolz. Sorry 4 my complaining of "oh i had this:ccc its gone :ccc" but i'll fix it eventually hhghhh....

and sorry 4 the empty link pages i rpomise ill fill those in some time soon