visual kei

{{Infobox music genre

|name = Visual kei

|image = Visual kei.jpg

|caption = Fans cosplaying as members of visual kei band Malice Mizer

|stylistic_origins = {{hlist|Glam rock|shock rock|heavy metal|punk rock|gothic rock|new wave|progressive rock|alternative rock|electronic|pop}}

|cultural_origins = Early 1980s, Japan

|derivatives =

|subgenres = Eroguro kei

|local_scenes = Nagoya

|other_topics = {{hlist|Japanese popular culture|Japanese street fashion}}

}}

{{Nihongo|Visual kei|ヴィジュアル系 {{lang|en|or}} ビジュアル系|Vijuaru kei {{noitalic|or}} Bijuaru kei|{{lit}} "Visual Style"{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|pp=75}}{{cite web|author=Kristen Sollee|title=Japanese Rock on NPR|work=The Big Takeover|date=2006-06-25|url=http://www.bigtakeover.com/news/japanese-rock-on-npr|access-date=2013-06-07|quote=It's a style of dress, there's a lot of costuming and make up and it's uniquely Japanese because it goes back to ancient Japan. Men would often wear women's clothing...|archive-date=7 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707235420/http://www.bigtakeover.com/news/japanese-rock-on-npr|url-status=live}}|lead=yes}}, abbreviated {{Nihongo|v-kei|V系|bui kei}}, is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of Bounce wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it "revolves around the creation of a band's unique worldview and/or stylistic beauty through visual expressions in the form of makeup and fashion".{{cite web|author=Koji Dejima|title=Bounce Di(s)ctionary Number 13 – Visual Kei|work=Bounce|language=ja |url=http://www.bounce.com/article/article.php/3419/|access-date=2007-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080301175244/http://www.bounce.com/article/article.php/3419/|archive-date=1 March 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} While visual kei acts can be of any music genre, it originated with bands influenced by glam rock, heavy metal, punk rock and gothic rock.

Visual kei was pioneered by groups such as X Japan, Dead End, Buck-Tick, D'erlanger, and Color, and gained further notoriety in the 1990s through the success of groups like Luna Sea, Glay, L'Arc-en-Ciel, and Malice Mizer. The movement's success continued through the 2000s with Gackt and more musically broad bands such as Dir En Grey, the Gazette, Alice Nine, Girugamesh, and Versailles, a period which some critics term {{nihongo|"neo-visual kei"|ネオ・ヴィジュアル系}}. Many acts tone-down their appearance upon achieving mainstream success, calling into question whether they are still to be considered visual kei.

Etymology

The term "visual kei" was derived from one of X Japan's slogans, "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock", seen on the cover of their second studio album Blue Blood (1989).{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=250}}{{cite book|last=Inoue|first=Takako|title = Visual kei no jidai|year=2003|publisher=Seikyūsha|location=Tokyo|isbn=978-4-7872-3216-8}} This derivation is credited as being coined by Seiichi Hoshiko, the founding editor of Shoxx magazine, which was founded in 1990 as the first publication devoted to the subject. However, he explained in a 2018 interview with JRock News that visual kei was technically coined, or at least inspired by, X Japan's lead guitarist hide. Hoshiko also said that at the time they were called {{nihongo|'Okeshou Kei'|お化粧系|Okeshō Kei|"Makeup Style"}}, "but it simply felt... too cheap... Even though X Japan was a big band and people used the term 'Okeshou kei' to describe them, the term was still lacking substance, I didn't like the term at all! Because of this, I tried to remind all the writers to not use this term as 'They are not okeshou kei, they are visual-shock kei'. From there, it went from 'Visual-shock kei' to 'Visual-kei' to 'V-kei'. After we spread the word, fans naturally abbreviated it to 'V-kei'. The Japanese love to abbreviate everything as a matter of fact." Hoshiko considers visual kei a distinctive Japanese music genre and defined it "as the music itself along with all the visual aspects of it."{{cite web|url=https://www.jrocknews.com/2018/01/interviewing-man-coined-term-visual-kei-seiichi-hoshiko.html|title=Interviewing the man who coined the term "Visual kei", Seiichi Hoshiko|publisher=JRock News|date=January 24, 2018|access-date=January 24, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.jrocknews.com/2018/01/interview-seiichi-hoshiko-part-2-impacted-hide-x-japan.html|title=Interview: How Seiichi Hoshiko was impacted by hide of X Japan|publisher=JRock News|date=January 31, 2018|access-date=March 18, 2018}}

History

=1980–1992: Origins and success=

Visual kei emerged in the 1980s Japanese underground music scene, pioneered by bands such as X Japan, Dead End, Buck-Tick, D'erlanger, and Color.Utz & Lau 2013, p. 250: "In the late 1980s and during the 1990s, Japanese bands like Dead End, Buck-Tick, or Luna Sea performed... The most successful and influential of these bands certainly was X Japan."{{cite book|author1=Tiffany Godoy|author2=Ivan Vartanian|title=Sokstyle Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-L2GQ0Di8N0C|year=2007|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=9780811857963|quote=...while Kiss is a heavy metal band, visual kei bands like X Japan, Color, Dead End and D'erlanger are by and large a cross between metal, punk, goth, cyber and rock. The sounds are hard and the looks are dark and severe.}} Music journalist Taiyo Sawada noted the musical diversity of the scene's early acts; some had strong metal influence, some were influenced by 1980s goth and new wave, while others evolved from hardcore punk.{{cite web|author=Taiyo Sawada|url=http://www.drillspin.com/articles/view/826 |script-title=ja:第110回：「ロックと日本の60年」第11章バブルの喧噪に射し込んだニルヴァーナ|work=DrillSpin|publisher=Sockets|language=ja|date=2015-07-21|access-date=2016-09-29|quote={{Nihongo2|それは、X JAPANやDEAD ENDのようなメタルの影響の強いものや、BUCK-TICKのような80sのゴス系ニュー・ウェイヴ（第10章参照）のタイプ、ハードコア・パンクからメタルに進化したGastunkに影響されたものまで雑多なものでしたが、それらはやがて外見上の傾向で括られ"ヴィジュアル系"と呼ばれるようになります。}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723225632/http://www.drillspin.com/articles/view/826|archive-date=2015-07-23}} Japanese pop culture website Real Sound wrote that similarities between the appearances and behavior of the founders of visual kei and members of the yankī delinquent subculture are often noted.{{Cite web|title=ヴィジュアル系におけるメタルサウンドの移り変わり X JAPANからLUNA SEA、DIR EN GREY、DEZERTまでを総括|url=https://realsound.jp/2019/11/post-453769.html |publisher=Real Sound |language=Japanese |date=2019-11-30 |access-date=2021-01-06}} The movement designated a new form of Japanese rock music influenced by Western hard rock and glam metal acts like Kiss, Twisted Sister, Hanoi Rocks, Mötley Crüe.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=250}} In The George Mason Review, Megan Pfeifle described the movement as being roughly divided into two generations, with the first in three transitional eras,{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|p=78}} of which the first era lasted just over a decade.{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-75494-introducing-globalizing-visual-kei-a-web-series.html|title=Introducing Globalizing Visual Kei: A Web Series|author=Pfeifle, Megan|date=2011-06-04|work=JaME World |publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2017-08-20}}

{{listen| type = music| filename = Dead End - Danse Macabre.ogg| title = "Danse Macabre"| description = Sample of "Danse Macabre" (1987), a hard rock song from Top 15 charting album Ghost of Romance by Dead End.

| filename2 = Buck Tick - Just One More Kiss.ogg| title2 = "Just One More Kiss"| description2 = Buck-Tick's 1988 single "Just One More Kiss" is first successful single by a visual kei band, reaching Top 10 on the charts.

}}

In the late 1980s and until the mid-1990s, visual kei received increasing popularity throughout Japan, when album sales from such bands started to reach record numbers.{{cite news|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/23842/|title=Shinjidai ni Totsunyu! Neo Visual Kei Band Taidō no Kizashi|work=Oricon|language=ja|date=2006-06-07|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=14 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114000933/http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/23842|url-status=live}} The first band with recordings that achieved notable success was Dead End, whose independent album Dead Line (1986) sold over 20,000 copies,{{cite web|url=http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000051689|script-title=ja:短期集中連載：増田勇一のDEAD END回想録（1）『DEAD LINE』|date=2009-08-04|website=barks.jp|access-date=2017-08-20|language=ja|archive-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002203205/https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000051689|url-status=live}} and whose major label debut album Ghost of Romance (1987) released by Victor Entertainment reached No. 14 on the Oricon Albums Chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000051891 |script-title=ja:短期集中連載：増田勇一のDEAD END回想録（3）『SHAMBARA』|date=2009-08-11|work=barks.jp |access-date=2011-09-10|language=ja}} That same year, Buck-Tick released their major debut Sexual XXXXX! through the same record label.{{cite web|title=LUNA SEA: God Bless You|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/2007/08/webzine/luna-sea-god-bless-you-26|work=JRock Revolution|date=2007-08-27|access-date=2013-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109153939/http://jrockrevolution.com/2007/08/webzine/luna-sea-god-bless-you-26|archive-date=2016-01-09}} Dead End even had albums Ghost of Romance and Shámbara (1988) released by American label Metal Blade Records, with radio station and MTV exposure in the United States. In 1990, D'erlanger's major debut album Basilisk reached No. 5 on the Oricon chart,{{cite web |url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/5393/ranking/cd_album/ |title=D'ERLANGERのアルバム売り上げランキング |language=Japanese |work=Oricon |accessdate=2022-04-30 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121219023829/http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/5393/ranking/cd_album/ |archivedate=19 December 2012 |url-status=live }} but they and Dead End both disbanded that same year.

In 1988 and 1989, Buck-Tick and X Japan started to gain mainstream success that continues to present-day. Buck Tick's single "Just One More Kiss" entered No. 6 and "Aku no Hana" is first visual kei No. 1 single on the Oricon Singles Chart, while their studio albums Seventh Heaven (1988) and Taboo (1989) charted at No. 3 and 1 respectively and were the first Japanese rock band to hold a concert at the Tokyo Dome. They continued to have success, with nearly all of their subsequent albums topping the charts until 1995 and later reaching the top ten on the charts. X Japan's first album, the independently released Vanishing Vision, reached No. 19 in 1988, making them the first indie band to appear on the main Oricon Albums Chart.{{cite web| title = Indies eXplosion: The Early History of X JAPAN| work = JRock Revolution| url = http://jrockrevolution.com/2007/10/webzine/indies-explosion-the-early-history-of-x-japan-30| date = 2007-10-29| access-date = 2013-02-03| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150701191249/http://jrockrevolution.com/2007/10/webzine/indies-explosion-the-early-history-of-x-japan-30| archive-date = 2015-07-01| url-status = dead}}{{cite web| title = BIOGRAPHY バイオグラフィ hideモバイル-JETS- | url = http://sp.hide-city.com/biography/detail.php?year=1988| work = hide-city.com| language =ja| access-date = 2019-01-13}} Their second and major debut album Blue Blood (1989) reached number 6 and has since sold 712,000 copies.{{cite web|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/42172/|title=X、初期のリマスター再発商品2作が好調！|language=ja|publisher=Oricon|date=2007-02-14|access-date=2016-04-20|archive-date=12 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212114403/http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/42172/|url-status=live}} Their third and best-selling album Jealousy was released in 1991, topped the charts and sold over 1 million copies. They went on to release two more number one studio albums, Art of Life (1993) and Dahlia (1996). In 1992, X Japan tried to launch an attempt to enter the American market, even signing with Atlantic Records for a US album, but this ultimately did not happen.{{cite web|title=The Jrock Legend: X Japan|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/the-jrock-legend-x-japan/|work=JRock Revolution|date=2007-08-26 |access-date=2017-08-20}}

Two record labels formed in 1986, Extasy Records (Tokyo) and Free-Will (Osaka), were instrumental in promoting the visual kei scene. Extasy was created by X Japan drummer and leader Yoshiki and signed bands, not limited to visual kei acts, that would go on to make marks on the Japanese music scene, including Zi:Kill,{{cite web|title=Visual Kei and Extasy Records|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/visual-kei-and-extasy-records/|work=JRock Revolution|date=2007-08-25|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820080920/http://jrockrevolution.com/visual-kei-and-extasy-records/|url-status=live}} Tokyo Yankees and Ladies Room. Luna Sea and Glay, who both went on to sell millions of records, with Glay being one of Japan's best-selling musical acts, had their first albums released by Extasy in 1991 and 1994 respectively.{{sfn|Stevens|2012|p=57}} Free-Will was founded by Color vocalist and leader Dynamite Tommy, and while at the time not as popular as Extasy, it had many moderately successful acts, such as By-Sexual and Kamaitachi.

=1993–2000: Expansion and decline=

File:MTV VMAJ 2014 Glay (2).jpg went on to become one of the best-selling musical acts in Japan.]]

Pfeifle described the second transition era as beginning in 1993 with bands such as L'Arc-en-Ciel, Glay (although formed in 1988, their first album was released in 1994) and Malice Mizer. They gained mainstream awareness, although they were not as commercially successful, except for L'Arc-en-Ciel and Glay whose later huge success was accompanied by a drastic change in their appearance and are often not associated with visual kei.{{sfn|Stevens|2012|p=57}} Around 1995, visual kei bands experienced a booming success in the general population, which lasted for four years. According to Pfeifle, the third transition era began by bands such as La'cryma Christi, Penicillin and Rouage achieving moderate success. At the time, "the big four of visual kei" were Malice Mizer, La'cryma Christi, Shazna and Fanatic Crisis.{{sfn|Road|2018|p=362}}{{cite web |url=http://news.ameba.jp/20121231-104/ |script-title=ja:【V系】ヴィジュアル系はもう「終わり」?「2012年のV系を振り返る」第3回(ゲスト:NoGoD 団長) - |work=Ameba|publisher=CyberAgent, Inc. |access-date=2018-09-09 |date=2012-12-31 |language=ja |archive-date=1 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101001032/http://news.ameba.jp/20121231-104/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.excite.co.jp/News/90s/20160314/E1457512628220.html |script-title=ja:「今夜はカラオケしマクリマクリスティ」90年代を代表するヴィジュアル系四天王 |date=2016-03-14 |author=野中すふれ |access-date=2018-09-09 |publisher={{ill|Excite Japan Co., Ltd.|ja|エキサイト}}|language=ja }}

Around the early 1990s, a visual kei scene that placed more emphasize on music rather than fashion arouse in the city of Nagoya, and as such was later dubbed Nagoya kei.{{Cite web |author=Shun |author-link=Fanatic Crisis |url=http://v-kei.jp/series/?seriesId=88 |script-title=ja:SHUN.'S FAVORITE THINGS Vol.30 ９０年代名古屋系 |access-date=2018-09-07 |publisher=Visulog |date=2015-01-27 |archive-date=26 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326200431/http://v-kei.jp/series/?seriesId=88 |url-status=dead }} Silver-Rose (formed in 1989) and Kuroyume (formed in 1991) were described as the "Nagoya big two" in the underground scene, and with Laputa (formed in 1993{{sfn|Road|2018|p=366}}),extrax Laputa 1999, pp. 104–105 are credited with "creating the early Nagoya kei style."{{Cite web|url=http://artist.cdjournal.com/a/laputa/134337 |script-title=ja:ラピュータ |work=cdjournal.com |publisher=CDジャーナル |language=ja |access-date=2018-09-07}} Kuroyume's albums Feminism (1995) and Fake Star (1996) both topped the Oricon chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/208773/rank/album/|title=黒夢のアルバム売上TOP12作品|work=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=2024-05-15|archive-date=15 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515223649/https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/208773/rank/album/|url-status=live}} During the 1990s, several other conceptual subgenres like Eroguro kei (notably represented by Cali Gari), Angura kei (underground style, wearing traditional kimono or Japanese uniforms) and Ouji kei or Kodona kei (prince style or boy style, notably Plastic Tree) emerged. In 1998, Pierrot released their major debut single,{{cite news |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2084004/full/ |script-title=ja:PIERROT11年ぶり本格復活! DIR EN GREYと異色プロジェクト始動 |date=2017-01-01 |access-date=2018-09-09 |publisher=Oricon |language=ja |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909184933/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2084004/full/ |url-status=live }} and Dir En Grey's first three major singles were released with the help of Yoshiki the following year.{{cite web |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/6902/profile/ |script-title=ja:DIR EN GREYのプロフィール |access-date=2018-09-09 |publisher=Oricon |language=ja |date=15 May 2010 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909184905/https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/6902/profile/ |url-status=live }} They were called "the big two" in the scene at that time.{{cite news |url=https://spice.eplus.jp/articles/137123 |script-title=ja:PIERROT×DIR EN GREY 『ANDROGYNOS』がもたらした"丘戦争"と歴史的融和 |date=2017-07-28 |author=清水素子 |access-date=2018-09-09 |publisher={{ill|E Plus Inc.|ja|イープラス}}|language=ja }}

By the late 1990s, the mainstream popularity of visual kei was declining;{{cite web|author=Chi Minnie|title=X [Japan]: Reliving the Height of Japan's Superlative Visual Rock Band|website=asiaarts.ucla.edu|date=15 April 2006|url=http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=7936|access-date=2013-06-07|quote=...a fleeting genre known to fans as 'Visual Kei'. Nonetheless, this fusion of metal, punk and gothic aesthetics ignited at least two generations of followers with its shocking visual appeal...; 'Visual Kei' as a genre has more or less expired since the late '90s. The music that derived from the scene has transformed and visual bands have generally subdued their appearance.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011140930/http://asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=7936|archive-date=11 October 2007|df=dmy-all}} Luna Sea went on a year-long hiatus in 1997 before disbanding in 2000, X Japan disbanded at the end of 1997 and one year later their lead guitarist hide died. In 1999, Malice Mizer's drummer Kami died after the departure of singer Gackt,{{cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/music/the-story-of-visual-kei|title=The story of visual kei|author=Bunny Bissoux|date=2015-06-11|publisher=Time Out|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820074101/https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/music/the-story-of-visual-kei|url-status=live}} who with a toned down appearance became one of the most popular and successful visual kei acts,{{sfn|Stevens|2012|p=58}}{{cite book|title=Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s|editor=Ian Chapman, Henry Johnson|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317588191 |chapter=Visual Kei: Glamour in Japanese Pop Music|author=Henry Johnson, Akitsugu Kawamoto|page=202}} and L'Arc-en-Ciel publicly distanced themselves from the movement (although, in 2012 they were partly promoted internationally as a visual kei band{{cite news|title=L'Arc-en-Ciel, Japanese Visual Rock Band, To Play Madison Square Garden This Weekend|author=Rob Schwartz|date=2012-03-23 |publisher=Billboard }}).{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=250}} In 1998, Billboard{{'}}s Steve McClure commented that "To a certain extent, hide's death means the end of an era, X were the first generation of visual kei bands, but the novelty has worn off. For the next generation of bands, it's like: That's it. The torch has been passed to us". As other bands could not meet financial expectations, most major companies backed out of the movement,{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=250}} and it became an underground style often associated with the rebellious generation, non-conforming to proper society.

=2001–2009: International expansion and neo-visual kei=

File:Versailles Chile.jpg performing in 2010, wearing costumes inspired by the French Rococo style]]

A second generation emerged in small visual kei-specific live houses managed by record companies like PS Company (Free-Will) and Maverick DC Group.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=250}} The difference between the first and second generation is that the second; has no straightforward music style, ranging from metal to pop, but still seemingly focused on heavy rock genres; the fashion and gender ambiguities are of central importance. Although economically not very significant in the Japanese music market, it became the first Japanese music to succeed on an international scale.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|pp=250–251}}

Notable newer visual kei bands include Dir En Grey, the Gazette, Alice Nine, D'espairsRay and Girugamesh, as well as solo performer Miyavi,{{cite web| url=http://www.wrasserecords.com/MIYAVI_215/biography.html| title=Wrasse Records Biography| publisher=Wrasse Records| access-date=May 2, 2014| archive-date=3 May 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503024629/http://www.wrasserecords.com/Miyavi_215/biography.html| url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ca-sneaks-miyavi-unbroken-20141102-story.html|title=Japanese rock singer Miyavi makes debut in 'Unbroken'|date=2014-10-31|access-date=2017-02-23|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=23 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423053958/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ca-sneaks-miyavi-unbroken-20141102-story.html|url-status=live}} who have all performed overseas. Veterans of the scene also established new acts, such as Malice Mizer's Mana with his band Moi dix Mois and three members of Pierrot forming Angelo. In 2007, visual kei was revitalized as Yoshiki, Gackt, Sugizo and Miyavi formed supergroup Skin,{{cite magazine |last=Evers |first=Mi. |date=December 11, 2007 |title=Gackt! Gackt! Gackt! |url=https://otakuusamagazine.com/gackt-gackt-gackt/ |magazine=Otaku USA |access-date=December 4, 2023}} Luna Sea performed a one-off performance and X Japan officially reunited with a new single and a world tour. With these developments, visual kei bands enjoyed a boost in public awareness, with acts formed around 2004 having been described by some media as "neo-visual kei". From this generation the subgenre {{nihongo|"oshare kei"|オサレ系}} emerged, where the musicians produce upbeat pop rock and wear bright colorful attire. Pioneers of this style include Baroque, Kra, Charlotte and An Cafe.{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-62095-oshare-kei.html|title=Oshare Kei|author=Lara Garnermann|date=2010-04-18|work=JaME World |publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2019-01-11}}

Although the first international concert by a visual kei act was held in Taiwan by Luna Sea in 1999, it was not until 2002 that many visual kei bands started to perform worldwide (United States, in Europe from 2004), with the initial interest coming from Japanese-themed conventions like A-Konwhere bands like Psycho le Cemu performed.{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|p=78}} In the first five years Dir En Grey was especially well received having performed in Korn's Family Values Tour in 2006.{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|pp=79, 86}} In 2007, the Jrock Revolution event was held in Los Angeles and featured visual kei bands.{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|pp=78–79}} Although some bands like the Gazette have played at Tokyo Dome (not at full capacity), the majority of acts play in much smaller venues like Shibuya O-East.{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|p=81}} In 2009 the V-Rock Festival at Makuhari Messe was reported as the "world's largest Visual Kei music festival" gathering over 50 "visual artists," although this included some Western acts like Marilyn Manson.{{cite web|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/v-rock-festival-2009/|title=V-Rock Festival 2009|author=JKlein|date=2009-08-11 |work=JRockRevolution|access-date=2017-08-20}} A second V-Rock Festival was held in 2011 at Saitama Super Arena.{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-81990-v-rock-festival-2011-white-and-rainbow-stages.html|title=V-Rock Festival 2011 - White and Rainbow Stages |author=Polina & Kay|date=2011-12-22|work=JaME World|publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2016-09-29}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-86849-v-rock-festival-2011-rose-and-moon-stages.html|title=V-Rock Festival 2011 - Rose and Moon Stages|author=Remy Zane|date=2012-05-29|work=JaME World|publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2017-08-20}}

=2009–present: Reunions and further expansion=

File:LUNA SEA Singapore 2013 02.jpg in Singapore, 2013]]

Dead End officially reunited in 2009 and La'cryma Christi (which disbanded in 2007) reunited for an anniversary tour in 2010.{{cite web| url = http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/music/67417/| title = 伝説のロックバンド・DEAD END、20年ぶりに復活| date = 2009-07-03| publisher = Oricon| access-date = 2019-01-12| language = ja}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/70055/full/ |script-title=ja:ラクリマ再結成! 来年ツアーへ世界初のV-ROCKフェス初日に1万5000人 |publisher=Oricon |language=ja |access-date=2015-07-19 |date=4 March 2015 |archive-date=7 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907183203/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/70055/full/ |url-status=live }} Kiyoharu announced the reformations of both Kuroyume and Sads,{{Cite web|url=http://natalie.mu/music/news/26997 |script-title=ja:解散から1年を経て黒夢本格的復活＆SADSも7年ぶり再始動 |publisher=Natalie |language=ja |access-date=2015-07-19}} and Luna Sea reunited and began a world tour.{{Cite web |url=http://japan.techinsight.jp/2013/12/lunasea-syuumaku-livemon20131201.html |script-title=ja:【エンタがビタミン♪】LUNA SEAが終幕と復活の真相語る。「ここで終わらせるのは罪だと思った」。 |publisher=Techinsight |language=ja |access-date=2015-07-19 |date=4 December 2013 |archive-date=19 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719173916/http://japan.techinsight.jp/2013/12/lunasea-syuumaku-livemon20131201.html |url-status=live }}

As an epilogue to their 25th anniversary, Luna Sea hosted a rock festival titled Lunatic Fest on 27 and 28 June 2015, with an estimated 60,000 fans attending.{{cite web|title=Luna Sea Celebrate 25th Anniversary With Star-studded Lunatic Fest.|url=http://www.mtv81.com/features/live-reports/luna-sea-celebrate-25th-anniversary-with-star-studded-lunatic-fest/|author=Daisuke Kikuchi|work=MTV|date=2015-07-31|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150802225309/http://www.mtv81.com/features/live-reports/luna-sea-celebrate-25th-anniversary-with-star-studded-lunatic-fest/|url-status=live}} Held at Makuhari Messe, there were three stages and 12 artists,{{cite news|title=Luna Seahosts Lunatic Fest. 12 artists perform on 3 stages (Moon, Shine, Fate)|url=http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000005500|website=barks.jp|date=2015-04-14|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414192435/http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000005500|archive-date=14 April 2015|url-status=dead}} most visual kei acts including X Japan, Dead End, Dir En Grey, Siam Shade and Tokyo Yankees the first night,{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-116542-lunatic-fest-at-makuhari-messe-part-1.html|title=Lunatic Fest. at Makuhari Messe: Part #1|author=Tomo|date=2015-07-21|work=JaME World|publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=1 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001191131/http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-116542-lunatic-fest-at-makuhari-messe-part-1.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-116545-lunatic-fest-at-makuhari-messe-part-2.html|title=Lunatic Fest. at Makuhari Messe: Part #2|author=Tomo|date=25 July 2015|work=JaME World|publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2017-08-20}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-116541-lunatic-fest-at-makuhari-messe-part-3.html|title=Lunatic Fest. at Makuhari Messe: Part #3|author=Tomo|date=2015-08-02|work=JaME World|publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2017-08-20}} and Aion, Buck-Tick, D'erlanger, Glay and Mucc the second night.{{cite web|title=Luna Sea "Lunatic Fest." Lunacy was announced as the opening act for both days|url=http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000005642|work=barks.jp|date=2015-06-01|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809134851/http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000005642|archive-date=9 August 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

A large three-day visual kei rock festival titled Visual Japan Summit was held at Makuhari Messe between October 14–16, 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.syncmusic.jp/wordpress/?p=26383|title=The Legend of Visual-Kei begins here once again "Visual Japan Summit 2016 Powered by Rakuten" is officially confirmed!|date=2016-08-16|publisher=Sync Music Japan|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820074623/http://www.syncmusic.jp/wordpress/?p=26383|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.japan-finder.jp/eng/entertainment/article/4984|title="Visual Japan Summit 2016 Powered by Rakuten" makes 4th release of artist lineup with 29 more groups|date=2016-09-09|work=Japan Finder|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820074225/http://www.japan-finder.jp/eng/entertainment/article/4984|url-status=dead}} Luna Sea hosted another two-day Lunatic Fest at Makuhari Messe on June 23 and 24, 2018.{{cite web| title=「LUNATIC FEST.」にGLAY、back number、大黒摩季登場| url=https://natalie.mu/music/news/278246| work=Natalie| date=2018-04-16| language=ja| access-date=2018-04-16| archive-date=26 April 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426225656/https://natalie.mu/music/news/278246| url-status=live}}

According to sales figures from online music store CDJapan, some of the internationally popular visual kei acts on the late 2010s include the Gazette, Kamijo, Nocturnal Bloodlust, Versailles, Jupiter, Mejibray, lynch., Dimlim, Matenrou Opera, Miyavi, D, Diaura, Dadaroma, Initial'L, A9, Buck-Tick, Yoshiki, Hyde, Luna Sea, Mucc, Hizaki and Gackt.{{cite web|url=http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ranking/archive/2016?term.shop=music%2Fj-pop%2Fvisualkei|title=Ranking (2016)|publisher=CDJapan|access-date=2019-10-17}}{{cite web|url=https://jrocknews.com/2017/12/top-15-visual-kei-japanese-acts-2017.html|title=TOP 15 VISUAL KEI AND JAPANESE ACTS OF 2017|date=2017-12-04|publisher=jrocknews.com|access-date=2019-10-17|archive-date=17 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017210523/https://jrocknews.com/2017/12/top-15-visual-kei-japanese-acts-2017.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ranking/archive/2018?term.shop=music%2Fj-pop%2Fvisualkei|title=Ranking (2018)|publisher=CDJapan|access-date=2019-10-17|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505181957/https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ranking/archive/2018?term.shop=music/j-pop/visualkei|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ranking/archive/2019?term.shop=music%2Fj-pop%2Fvisualkei&page=1|title=Ranking (2019)|publisher=CDJapan|access-date=2019-10-17|archive-date=24 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424131232/http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ranking/archive/2019?term.shop=music%2Fj-pop%2Fvisualkei&page=1|url-status=live}}

In 2021, visual kei journalist Chiaki Fujitani noted how newer acts were combining visual kei with other elements to create originality. She cited Nocturnal Bloodlust's muscular vocalist Hiro for defying the usual delicate appearance of visual kei musicians, 0.1g no Gosan for utilizing tropes of underground idols, such as playing tug of war with fans during concerts, Choke for their avant-garde form of rap metal, and former D'espairsRay drummer Tsukasa Mogamigawa for being the first visual kei enka singer.{{Cite web|title=『マツコの知らない世界』ヴィジュアル系特集に反響 LUNA SEAからMALICE MIZER、アリス九號.まで……非日常を追求する尊さ|url=https://realsound.jp/2021/04/post-737299_2.html |publisher=Real Sound |language=Japanese |date=2021-04-07 |access-date=2022-02-26}} Mai Yajima's singing style has been referred to as "enka rock".{{Cite web |last=荒金 |first=良介 |date=May 31, 2016 |title=矢島舞依激ロックインタビュー |url=https://gekirock.com/interview/2016/05/yajima-mai.php |access-date=May 14, 2024 |website=gekirock.com |language=ja |archive-date=14 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514151411/https://gekirock.com/interview/2016/05/yajima-mai.php |url-status=live }} Moi dix Mois, Versailles, D and Matenrou Opera teamed up for the four-date Japanese Visual Metal tour in late 2023 and released a collaborative single.{{cite web| title = Moi dix Mois × Versailles × D × 摩天楼オペラが共同声明「我々は共に手を組みここに宣言する」| url = https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000228457| work = Barks| language = Japanese| date = 2023-01-01| access-date = 2023-12-14| archive-date = 14 December 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231214213847/https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000228457| url-status = live}}{{cite web| title = Moi dix Mois、Versailles、D、摩天楼オペラのメンバーによるプロジェクト、JVM Roses Blood SymphonyがメモリアルSGをリリース| url = https://www.billboard-japan.com/d_news/detail/124965/2| work = Billboard Japan| language = ja| date = 2023-05-09| access-date = 2023-12-14| archive-date = 14 December 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231214213847/https://www.billboard-japan.com/d_news/detail/124965/2| url-status = live}}

Characteristics

File:Mana moi dix mois.jpg or cross-dressing in their aesthetics, such as Mana.]]

Sources have variously referred to visual kei as a movement,{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv81.com/videos/video-interviews/the-gazette-2-segment-1/|title=Visual Kei 101 – Segment 1: the GazettE|date=2013-11-11|work=MTV|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=Visual-kei is a uniquely Japanese music scene, but it doesn't have a specific sound – it's more of a movement.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421043557/http://www.mtv81.com/videos/spotlight/the-gazette-2-segment-1/|archive-date=2016-04-21}} scene, subculture, and music genre. It is not associated with any one musical style,{{cite web|url=http://noisecreep.com/despairsray-explains-visual-kei-movement-expressing-emotions/|title=D'espairsRay Explains Visual Kei Movement, Expressing Emotions|author=Allyson B. Crawford|date=2009-08-14|work=Noisecreep|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=Musically speaking, visual kei can do anything.|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714125630/http://noisecreep.com/despairsray-explains-visual-kei-movement-expressing-emotions/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv81.com/videos/video-interviews/the-gazette-2-segment-2/|title=Visual Kei 101 – Segment 2: the GazettE|date=2013-11-12|work=MTV|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=Visual kei isn't a genre of music.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112102947/http://www.mtv81.com/videos/video-interviews/the-gazette-2-segment-2/|archive-date=2013-11-12}} as visual kei artists play a variety of genres including punk rock, heavy metal, pop, electronica, classical, and industrial.{{cite web|title=International Music Feed feature "J Rock"|work=International Music Feed|url=http://www.imf.com/link_player.html?video_id=2283|access-date=2007-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012022959/http://www.imf.com/link_player.html?video_id=2283|archive-date=12 October 2007|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} Instead, it is defined by an act's emphasis on aesthetics, particularly their fashion and use of makeup,{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-5299-interview-with-mucc-at-rtoc.html|title=Interview with MUCC at RTOC|date=2008-07-25|work=JaME World|access-date=2015-11-14|quote=[…]Visual kei is not a style of music, but the whole physical image of the band.|archive-date=17 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117023813/http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-5299-interview-with-mucc-at-rtoc.html|url-status=live}} with a number of visual kei artists and critics describing it as a freedom of expression and experimental fashion.{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-80940-interview-with-yoshiki-in-brazil.html|title=Interview with YOSHIKI in Brazil|author=Daniel Robson|date=2011-11-20|work=JaME-World.com|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=But visual kei is more like a spirit, it's not a music style or, you know… I think it is a freedom about describing myself, a freedom to express myself, that's what I believe visual kei is.|archive-date=9 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509054400/http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-80940-interview-with-yoshiki-in-brazil.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/2008/11/webzine/interview-with-angelo-250|title=Interview with Angelo|date=2008-11-24|work=JRock Revolution|access-date=2013-06-07|quote=Well I still don't think "visual kei" is a name for a genre; I see it as a bigger picture, as a part of rock. The visual aspect is something for a band to set themselves apart from others, at least that's what it was ten years ago. Now it's more like people are dressing up a certain way because they want to be "visual kei" or look "visual kei." They are doing it to look like others instead of doing it to look different. This is obviously very different from when we started out more than ten years ago. That's how I see it.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113194419/http://jrockrevolution.com/2008/11/webzine/interview-with-angelo-250|archive-date=13 November 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/the-underneath-debuts-interview-part-1/|title=the Underneath Debuts: Interview Part 1|date=2008-02-29|work=JRock Revolution|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=Well, visual kei isn't a genre of music; it's used to categorize the bands that show their unique characteristics with their costumes and makeup, though sometimes the music doesn't necessarily fit the image. Either way, it's used to describe such bands that show their individualism through their appearance.}} Koji Dejima of Bounce wrote that visual kei "revolves around the creation of a band's unique worldview and/or stylistic beauty through visual expressions in the form of makeup and fashion". Sources have also noted that visual kei is a "uniquely Japanese" phenomenon.

Visual kei musicians often have elaborate, dyed hair, extravagant costumes, frequently with leather, PVC or lace, or based on traditional Japanese clothing pieces, and excessive jewelry.{{cite web|last=Strauss|first=Neil|author-link=Neil Strauss|title=The Pop Life: End of a Life, End of an Era|work=The New York Times|date=1998-06-18|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00EFD7103DF93BA25755C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=For visual kei bands, outrageous, usually androgynous looks – gobs of makeup, hair dyed and sprayed in ways that made Mohawks look conservative and a small fortune spent on leather and jewellery – were as important as music (or, in many cases after X, more important than music).; To a certain extent, Hide's death means the end of an era, said Steve McClure, Tokyo bureau chief for Billboard, the music-industry magazine. X were the first generation of visual kei bands, but the novelty has worn off. For the next generation of bands, it's like: That's it. The torch has been passed to us.|archive-date=6 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306095144/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/18/arts/the-pop-life-end-of-a-life-end-of-an-era.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|author=Reesman, Bryan|title=Kabuki Rock|work=Grammy.com|date=2006-11-30|url=http://www.grammylive.com/Latin/News/Default.aspx?newsID=2278|access-date=2007-08-07|quote=Josephine Yun, author of the book Jrock, Ink., explains that visual kei originated in the late 1970s and early 1980s as Japan's rock scene began cultivating its own identity. 'It was rock 'n roll, punk rock, glam and metal with a twist – a twist just as angry and rebellious as what came before it – but a poetic one, artistic, with painstaking attention to detail,' Yun explains. She points out that "visual kei" literally translates as "visual style" and spans a wide range of musical genres.; Musically, it can be anything: American rock, British punk, glam, metal, Euro-pop, techno, new wave, electronica," explains Yun. "Visually, the influences are diverse as well: traditional Japanese dress, S&M outfits, costumes made of vinyl, leather, lace, plastic...you name it."|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928204954/http://www.grammylive.com/Latin/News/Default.aspx?newsID=2278|archive-date=28 September 2007|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|last=Suzuki|first=Chako|title=Pretty Babies: Japan's Undying Gothic Lolita Phenomenon|work=fashionlines.com|date=January 2007|url=http://www.fashionlines.com/2007/jan/fashionPrettyBabies.php|access-date=2013-06-07|quote=Visual Kei is exactly as it sounds: Rock music that incorporates visual effects and elaborate costumes to heighten the experience of the music and the show. Visual Kei started in the 80s and became so popular by the 90s that the nearly all-female fan base started dressing up as their favorite band members (known as 'cosplay') who were often males that wore make-up, crazy hair and dressed androgynously or as females (usually, the more feminine the rocker, the more fans rush to emulate them).|archive-date=25 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725152552/http://www.fashionlines.com/2007/jan/fashionPrettyBabies.php|url-status=live}} Many musicians make use of androgynous and gender bending aesthetics,{{cite web |last1=Adetunji |first1=Jo |title=Japan's gender-bending history |date=March 2017 |url=https://theconversation.com/japans-gender-bending-history-71545 |access-date=1 July 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701161545/https://theconversation.com/japans-gender-bending-history-71545 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Adrienne Renee |date=2019 |title=Shōjo Across Media: Exploring "Girl" Practices in Contemporary Japan |chapter=From Shōjo to Bangya(ru): Women and Visual Kei |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcuJDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=303–313, 322 |isbn=9783030014858}} with some of its male musicians cross-dressing in a manner similar to traditional Japanese onnagata performers. This rose to prominence through the success of Malice Mizer, whose guitarist Mana performed dressed as a woman and singer Gackt was a "living specimen of bishōnen".{{cite web|title=【インタビュー】Mana × Közi、MALICE MIZERを語る「Kamiの約束が実現できる」|url=https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000158491&page=3|work=Barks|language=Japanese|date=2018-08-29|accessdate=2021-01-02|archive-date=26 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426024350/https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000158491&page=3|url-status=live}} Such aesthetics are reminiscent of those seen in shōjo manga. Different artists have taken aesthetic influence from various fashion styles including glam, metalhead, punk, goth and cyberpunk.{{cite magazine|first=Mike|last=Mascia|title=Dir En Grey feature interview with guitarist Kaoru|magazine=Blistering |url=http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/12842/tempidx/5/menuid/3/|access-date=2017-08-20|quote=When we were growing up around [the] late '80s and early '90s, visual kei was influenced by glam music.|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728173833/http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/12842/tempidx/5/menuid/3/|archive-date=28 July 2012|df=dmy-all}} Dejima generalized visual kei as being based on the androgynous sensibilities of the New Romantic movement and Los Angeles metal scene, or the goth subculture, and topped off with elements from "strange" and "taboo" interests such as Lolita, psychopathy, and the occult. Many subsects of visual kei exist to describe separate styles. Eroguro kei is one such subsect which is influenced by BDSM and horror imagery, while angura kei makes use of traditional Japanese clothing styles like kimonos. Many acts tone-down their appearance upon achieving mainstream success, calling into question whether they are still to be considered visual kei.{{Cite web |last=Arulvarathan |first=Subha |date=April 15, 2006 |title=For those about to J-Rock |url=http://carillon.uregina.ca/03.09.06/arts6.html |work=The Carillon|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011161750/http://carillon.uregina.ca/03.09.06/arts6.html |archive-date=October 11, 2007}}

In addition to the visual aspects, visual kei artists often have a wider "decorative fantasy" concept or context and their on-stage performances are "overwhelming, multisensory experiences whose constructed nature is made apparent to audiences" (e.g. observed in Gackt's career claim about being a vampire).{{cite book |last=Kennell |first=Amanda |date=2023 |title=Alice in Japanese Wonderlands: Translation, Adaptation, Mediation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ca8EAAAQBAJ |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |page=124 |isbn=9780824896874}}

Criticism

There has been criticism directed at newer visual kei bands for having lost the spirit of their forefathers by copying each other in design and sound, and becoming all the same. As far back as 1998, Neil Strauss reported that to visual kei bands "after X" makeup and outrageous looks became "more important than music." Several musicians have expressed their discontent; in 2008, Kirito (Pierrot, Angelo) said "now it's more like people are dressing up a certain way because they want to be visual kei or look visual kei. They are doing it to look like others instead of doing it to look different. This is obviously very different from when we started out more than ten years ago," while Sugizo (Luna Sea) stated in 2010 that "they cannot make good sounds and music is more like a hobby for them. I cannot feel their soul in the music."{{cite web|title=Sugizo on Luna Sea|url=http://www.jame-world.com/uk/articles-68169-sugizo-on-luna-sea.html|work=Jame World|date=10 February 2010|access-date=2017-08-20}}

Although almost from the newer generation himself, Dir En Grey bassist Toshiya said in 2010 "to be honest, when we first started and we were wearing a lot of makeup on stage and stuff, there were a lot of bands doing that at the time in Japan and people thought it was cool. But not anymore, ha ha." and added "the music was so unique, too – bands like X Japan. At that time, there weren't any two bands that sounded alike; these days everyone sounds exactly the same."{{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/12/17/music/shock-rock-act-dir-en-grey-snub-cartoons-for-cred/#.UbIVqpxArIU|title=Shock-rock act Dir En Grey snub cartoons for cred|last=Robson|first=Daniel|date=2007-04-27|work=The Japan Times|access-date=2013-06-07|quote=...visual-kei, where peacockish fashion far overshadows any definitive sound.; To be honest, when we first started and we were wearing a lot of makeup on stage and stuff, there were a lot of bands doing that at the time in Japan and people thought it was cool. But not anymore, ha ha. The music was so unique, too – bands like X Japan. At that time, there weren't any two bands that sounded alike; these days everyone sounds exactly the same|archive-date=13 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113192102/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/12/17/music/shock-rock-act-dir-en-grey-snub-cartoons-for-cred/#.UbIVqpxArIU|url-status=live}} Kenzi (Kamaitachi, The Dead Pop Stars, Anti Feminism) commented in 2009 that "back in the day, there were bands, but people would try to do things differently. Nowadays, there's one band and everyone copies off of them," with Free-Will founder and Color frontman Tommy concluding with "I don't think our breed of visual kei exists anymore."{{cite web|title=Interview: The Killing Red Addiction|url=http://jrockrevolution.com/interview-the-killing-red-addiction/|work=JRock Revolution|date=12 July 2009|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=25 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925010622/http://jrockrevolution.com/interview-the-killing-red-addiction/|url-status=live}} In 2013, Kiyoharu (Kuroyume, Sads) said that although he, Ryuichi (Luna Sea) and Hyde (L'Arc-en-Ciel) were influenced by Morrie (Dead End), they "sublimated each other" inventing something new, but the younger generation is more imitative. He proposed that from Morrie's perspective this probably appears to be a "copy of his copy's copy".{{cite web|url=https://natalie.mu/music/pp/deadend/page/3|title=V.A.「DEAD END Tribute -SONG OF LUNATICS-」特集 |date=5 September 2013 |work=Natalie |language=ja |access-date=13 September 2022}} In the same interview, Morrie added that the problem with new visual kei bands is that "they're established as a genre... well, there's probably a part of it that's business-wise, but it wouldn't be fun if it got stiff. I would like to see people who are trying to break through that area. It doesn't matter how good you are, whether you're doing it on the visual kei route or not, it's something fundamental."

Time Out Tokyo{{'}}s Bunny Bissoux concluded in 2015 that the movement "today is basically a parallel of the J-pop idol system" and "that originally prided itself on being different, it now attracts those who want to 'look' visual kei. Genuine originality (in the music, at least) seems to be dying out." In 2018, Seiichi Hoshiko said that he was worried about this trend's effect on the movement's future.

Magazines published regularly in Japan with visual kei coverage are Arena 37 °C, Cure, Fool's Mate Express, Shoxx, Shock Wave, Rock and Read among others. The popularity and awareness of visual kei groups outside Japan has seen an increase in recent years, mostly through internet and Japanese anime,{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|pp=78, 83}} shown for example by German magazines Peach (discontinued in 2011{{cite web|url=https://www.otaji.de/news/manga/dokidoki-raptor-startet-neues-magazin|title=dokidoki: raptor startet neues Magazin|date=2015-08-10|language=de|access-date=2019-10-18|publisher=otaji.de|archive-date=18 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018122417/https://www.otaji.de/news/manga/dokidoki-raptor-startet-neues-magazin|url-status=live}}) and Koneko, as well European record label Gan-Shin. The biggest fan communities are found in United States, Germany, Poland, Russia, France and Brazil and to some extent Finland, Chile and Sweden.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=251}}

From this influence on international youth subcultures, bands like Cinema Bizarre emerged, but they hesitate to consider themselves visual kei because they are not ethnically Japanese.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=251}} Despite the existence of visually similar music acts in the West such as Marilyn Manson, Tokio Hotel and Lady Gaga,{{cite web|url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-76285-globalizing-visual-kei-investigating-the-visual-style.html|title=Globalizing Visual Kei: Investigating the Visual Style|author=Pfeifle, Megan|date=2011-07-30|work=JaME World|publisher=Japanese Music Entertainment|access-date=2017-08-20|archive-date=1 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001192818/http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-76285-globalizing-visual-kei-investigating-the-visual-style.html|url-status=live}} Pfeifle writes that the androgynous look of visual kei bands often has a repulsive effect on Westerners.{{sfn|Pfeifle|2013|p=82}}

According to the musicologists, the Lacanist psychoanalysis of the subculture indicates that the fascination with the singer's voice (the lack of understanding amplifies the effect), as well ineffable and unfulfillable desire, are what attracts most of the (predominantly female) fans to the groups on an international scale.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|pp=17, 262–288}} The female fans ({{nihongo|bangyaru|バンギャル}}) show a behavioral pattern while attending the concerts, and there are several furi (movements) like tesensu (arm fan), gyakudai (reversed dive), hedoban (headbang), saku (spread hands in the air).{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|p=258}} The explicit fan fiction and homoerotic acts on the stage by some musicians, called fan service (a sexual term borrowed from manga culture), are related to the Lacanian man's type of desire (to be recognized by the other, desire of the other), i.e. the female fans do not desire the musician himself, but his desire; a kind of cultural social training ground for the inescapable process of learning how to desire.{{sfn|Utz|Lau|2013|pp=258–262}}

Gallery

File:Candy Spooky Theater Concert 024.jpg|The Candy Spooky Theater with white face paint in New York City 2007

File:Dio Distraught Overlord 20070708 Japan Expo 05.jpg|Dio – Distraught Overlord vocalist Mikaru wearing a costume in Paris 2007

File:Machine 20080704 Japan Expo 017.jpg|Penicillin vocalist Hakuei in Paris 2008

File:Vistlip 20090702 Japan Expo 19.jpg|Vistlip wearing matching outfits in Paris 2009

File:ViViD 20100702 Japan Expo 03.jpg|Vivid guitarist Ryōga in Paris 2010

File:Sugizo in São Paulo, Brazil 2011-11-09.jpg|Sugizo performing with X Japan in Brazil 2011

File:Exist Trace at Tekko X.jpg|All-female band Exist Trace in Pittsburgh 2012

File:DaisyStripper at Animethon.jpg|Daizystripper in Alberta 2012

Notes

References

=English=

{{cite book|first=Megan|last=Pfeifle|title=The George Mason Review|chapter=Exposing the Underground: The Japanese Subculture of Visual Kei|url=http://gmreview.gmu.edu/past-volumes/|date=2013|publisher=The George Mason Review|volume=21|pages=74–87}}
{{cite book|first=Carolyn S.|last=Stevens|title=Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHMkdcL9DAMC|date=2012|orig-date=2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-38057-7}}
{{cite book|first1=Christian|last1=Utz|first2=Frederick|last2=Lau|title=Vocal Music and Contemporary Identities: Unlimited Voices in East Asia and the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdwd6ZStWzoC|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-15521-5}}

=Japanese=

{{Cite book|author= 加納一美(KANO Kazumi) |date= 1999-10-27|title= Laputa―from the cradle to the grave 1999 (Fool's Mate extrax)|publisher= FOOL'S MATE|isbn= 4-938716-18-6|ref=extrax Laputa 1999}}
{{cite book|script-title=ja:すべての道はV系へ通ず。|trans-title=Every Road Leads to the V Kei. |author= 市川哲史(ICHIKAWA Tetsushi) |author2=藤谷千明(FUJITANI Chiaki) |publisher=Shinko Music |date=2018-08-26 |isbn=978-4-401-64639-5 |ref= {{sfnref|Road|2018}} }}