And then there was...screaming

I have been feeling a lack of inspiration in terms of writing this blog recently, so I decided that I'll move into various topics that I find interesting, but may or may not be as interesting to everyone else. Yes, the topic of anime is coming, but for today, I plan on covering Japanese music a bit, especially "visual kei", or visual style music. I listen to a few groups quite regularly and, you may notice, that my clothes somewhat reflect that fact. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to take many pictures of visual kei groups, as the venues were generally unfriendly to photography, not to mention that the lighting is pretty prohibitive anyway. You'll have to deal with pictures I gathered from websites instead. Oh, and enjoy the videos!

Visual kei is a niche within the genre of rock and/or metal, characterized often by lots of screaming, both in terms of instrumentation, as well as vocals (and a lot of grunts). There are many, many bands in this field, so how do they differentiate themselves? Looks. There is an incredible range of different styles they go with, sometimes reflecting their music, sometimes not.

Phantasmagoria


These bands are almost exclusively male, though there are times when you honestly can't tell the difference. I can't tell you how funny it is when people comment on Mana (guitarist of Moi dix Mois, better known for his role in Malice Mizer), saying that "she" is hot or some such thing. I hate to break it to you, but...anyway, I figure that's why the fanbase of visual kei is primarily female. I speak from experience, having gone to quite a few concerts while I was in Japan, and it is very true, most concerts had relatively few guys. The only exception I can think of is Onmyouza, but personally, I don't really consider them visual kei. Their style is more of a rock/traditional fusion, and they wear suitably traditional Japanese clothing to go along with it. I know most people would disagree with me, but there are a number of cases where, since the band keeps a look that "suits" the music, I don't really consider them visual kei. Moi dix Mois, for example, has a look that entirely complements the music, so I don't consider them visual, though many would.

As far as I know, the visual kei movement kind of originated with a band by the name of X Japan back in the day, and has grown from there. I don't think X Japan's look would be particularlyJapan shocking to most people these days, but rather would be reminiscent of some strange mix of various glam/hair-metal bands of the 80s. Then again, I doubt they were ever trying to be "shocking" really, but just to really differentiate themselves from all the other bands of the genre. Most bands do that to some extent, but visual kei really ups the ante. Even the worst of bands may gain popularity because they look great.

Kibouya Honpo


I would guess that the most popular visual kei group these days is Dir en Grey. If not, they're at least up there and used to be the top. I'm not really a fan myself, but I definitely still see their influence, judging by the number of bands that I saw violently clawing their chests and pretending to cut themselves on stage. None were brave enough to actually do it, though I hear Dir en Grey, back in the day, used to do so. Recently, they have changed their look a bit and aren't quite as violent, I hear.

Nega

Yeah, this one is pretty creepy.

You might wonder, what do visual kei fans think of the classic American "shock rocker" Marilyn Manson? Well, judging from people I talked to at concerts (as well as the fact that one of clubs I went to was playing a number of his songs as pre-show entertainment), they do enjoy him. Another popular group, surprisingly enough, was Slipknot. I honestly have no idea why, but nearly every girl I talked to at the concerts asked if I was a Slipknot fan. I'm assuming they asked because they were fans, as I see no way my clothes could somehow make people think I was a Slipknot fan. I also haven't heard their music recently, so I couldn't judge how similar they sound or look compared to visual kei bands I'm familiar with. If you're interested in looking into that, I'll leave it to you, as I really have no interest in Slipknot and, well, most American bands. It's not that I just toss them aside outright, but rather that the American music scene has stagnated, so I favor various bands from around the world, specifically Europe and Japan.

Though not visual kei, I really enjoy a Japanese female duo by the name of Kokushoku Sumire, whose genre I couldn't even begin to try and name. Suffice it to say that Yuka plays accordion, piano, and does vocals, while Sachi primarily plays violin, though judging from their latest album, she has also picked up trumpet. I got to see them twice and even had the priviledge of having dinner with them! From these experiences, I can say they are not only are they a great group, but they're really cool, too. I only wish I had been in the Tokyo area so I could have seen them more often.

If you have any questions about my experiences or something that you would like to know in more detail, please let me know! I know about plenty of things, but I tend to take them all for granted (having lived there for a whole year), but outside observers might find something really interesting.