Visual Kei--WHAT IS IT?

So many times I have gotten people asking me, "Mari, what is with all this j-rock stuff? Why do the artists dress so funny?"

So here I am in the J-Rock forum and I have decided to explain the concept of Visual Kei (Visual Rock) within the realm of J-Rock~!

So what exactly IS Visual Kei? There are actually three definitions, depending on who you talk to; (1) Visual Kei is a genre of music, or a sub-genre of J-Rock, (2) a fashion style defined by the sort of people who listen to a particular hard J-Rock sound, and (3) a movement in the Japanese music world that is coupled with a flamboyant style of dress and sound of music. In many ways, it is all these things combined to make a very particular sub-culture of young generation Japanese.

What sort of style are we talking about? Let me give you a few examples:











Do you get the general idea of the look?

Now there are basics bands everyone needs to know in the realm of visual kei. X Japan pioneered Visual Kei when they started out in the 1980's and they reached their American and European audiences by the early 90's.

Through X Japan, Visual Kei bands gained popularity. Most frequently noted are Malice Mizer, Dir-en-Grey, Duel Jewel, D'espairs Ray, the guitarist Hide, Luna Sea, Miyavi (blah blah... )


For a list of artists noted as Visual Kei artists (COUGHJPOPCOSPLAYCONTESTOPPORITUNITYCOUGH) you can visit this page or read through SHOXX magazine (one of my personal favorite magazines)!

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In a way, Visual Kei is the J-Rock of today's American audience, but it is NOT the only J-Rock! There is even more beautiful sounds in J-Rock than one would originally think. Please don't be close-minded and frightened to explore bands outside of Visual Kei! J-rock is it's own realm of sound