-OKESHOU KEI (お化粧系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

According to vg.ky's article, okeshou kei is not actually a visual kei subgenre! Rather, it's all the bands that heavily inspired and/or eventually became visual kei — the first bands that come to mind for me, in my limited knowledge, are X JAPAN and BUCK-TICK. I read that some bands (like the ones I listed) had a strong impact on the scene, whereas others had a far greater influence on the sound (like DEAD END and BOØWY, which I have not heard of).

X JAPAN - Blue Blood

DEAD END - Dead Line

BOØWY - BoØwy

I don't have much of a foundation of what visual kei really looks like, let alone the history of Japanese rock or of any of the genres okeshou kei pulls from, so I don't have anything very profound to say about the genre or music. I'm hoping these sections will be more interesting to myself and my (unfortunate) reader once I know more about the evolution of the genre.

-my thoughts-

(i'll admit that i didn't like having to log into spotify for first time in a few years... i'm not very fond of the site (^ ^)")

I listened to the playlist mostly while drawing and cooking, jotting down brief notes on each artist. I split listening to it over the course of two days because I had started rather late, and I grew sleepy before I finished. I will try to avoid doing this in the future, with exceptions made for exceptionally large (i.e. 3 hour-long) playlists or subgenres whose music I'll have to hunt down outside of Spotify.

It's a little difficult to talk about the music itself because of how varied it is — the playlist encompasses 4-5 genres across roughly a decade, after all. It's also difficult to try to talk about the music as it stands on its own, as this playlist exists to create a foundation for understanding the artists that followed in their footsteps. I hope my other write-ups will be more interesting, once I have something more focused to write about.

Funnily enough, while apparently BOØWY had a huge influence on visual kei, as they were the group that invented "beat rock," a genre that fuses pop and punk elements, according to Rate Your Music, I wasn't particularly grabbed by it (though, I did like 'MARIONETTE'). Nonetheless, I can see its influence on the bands I've listened to, as I have noticed a number of songs pair harsh rock music with catchy, pleasant vocals. On the other hand, I absolutely loved DEAD-END, the other band critical to the development of visual kei musically. I particularly liked its more rock-heavy sound and moody atmosphere; in general, I found myself most drawn to songs like it, in line with general music preferences and my personal schema of what visual kei sounds like. I think this is why BUCK-TICK was my favorite of the bands I heard on the playlist... because they turned into an influential visual kei act themselves. Several other bands on the playlist did, too, so I'm curious to see how their sound evolved.

I liked the playlist as a whole. Most groups' music were less obviously related to visual kei than the above mentioned bands — SOFT BALLET, for example, despite being very moody, felt far more pop-adjacent than a lot of what I'm familiar with, and X JAPAN reminded me more of western 80s rock and metal. In general, it's interesting to see how some of these bands both do and don't resemble their predecessors (metal, punk, glam rock, prog) and successors (the many subgenres of visual kei). I definitely could hear the influences of the former on various artists in the playlist; I love seeing the connections between different people's ideas and innovations, even if they aren't always very clear at first. I hope I can continue to do so with later genres.

-KUROFUKU KEI (黒服系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Unlike yesterday's okeshou kei bands, I was familiar with a larger number of the names on this list — LUNA SEA, BUCK-TICK, JUSTY-NASTY, and so on — which, combined with my knowledge of prior artists, gives me more to speculate about. I noticed that the bands on the playlist and listed on the article which carried over from the okeshou kei era were all rock-heavy, and "A Brief History of Visual Kei" says that most bands which turned into visual kei acts were associated with the metal scene in some way, so I assume the sound of kurofuku kei is "harder" than its predecessors. I suppose this also would have been reflected in the gloomier visual style groups adopted, with members styled with pretty make-up and dressed in black (it reminds slightly me of goth fashion, even though I know its connection to goth rock is tentative at best). One thing I noticed while reading the subgenre summary was that the word "decadent" was used very often to describe kurofuku kei, especially in the context of its music. I'm not sure what that sounds like, but I'll keep an eye out nonetheless.

-my thoughts-

Indeed, the sound of kurofuku kei is very rock-oriented, more so than some of the okeshou kei bands I listened to. I think one unique aspect of today's music, which I noticed particularly with LUNA SEA and BUCK-TICK, was the pairing of clean vocals with grungier, heavier tunes, as I didn't hear it nearly as often yesterday — I assume that's due to the influence of beat rock. I'm also stating the obvious here, but the pieces felt fairly consistent with another in terms of their instrumentation, singing style, and "vibes" (how shocking...).

I had a much stronger reaction to these bands than yesterday's. I actually went out of my way to listen to ZI÷KILL and early LUNA SEA, who had 0 and 2 songs, respectively — that's unfortunately little for such influential groups! I guess I would agree kurofuku kei has a "decadent" sound (kind of in a dark chocolate way for BUCK-TICK? xP), but I can't put my finger on how. The moodier, heavier-sounding rock music? A heavy use of bass guitar across most artists? The aforementioned clean vocals in combination with a more layered sound? I don't know, but I am very fond of the kind of sound it creates.

I think BUCK-TICK has this "richness" the most of the artists I heard, which made them stand out to me (very positively!) once again, though a couple other bands I liked particularly above the rest, LUNA SEA and D'ERLANGER, had this sense, too. Honestly, the only band I wasn't really grabbed by was Gilles de Rais — I liked it, but something felt 'off' about it. I don't think it was a lack of this "decadence" or moodiness that persists throughout the subgenre, though. Maybe just a matter of preference.

I'll confess, I'm a little bummed I don't understand the lyrics of these songs because I think it could help me understand the changes in themes and tone from subgenre to subgenre. I don't have enough drive or time to learn Japanese, though; I must work on improving my Czech before anything else. Ah well. Maybe I'll retroactively look up lyric translations of a few songs and hope they're halfway decent...

-NAGOYA KEI (黒服系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

I was pretty excited to get to Nagoya kei — I'm really enjoying my exploration so far! — but I had to postpone finishing my write-up because I was busy for a couple of days, and once I finally had my write-up completed, Neocities went down. How unfortunate.

Nagoya kei, to contrast it against kurofuku kei, is said to be both moodier and even more rock-heavy. More specifically, it sounds like it moves from "cool" to "angry and gloomy," and from "punk- and metal-inspired rock with mainstream influences" to "heavier, punk-inspired rock, possibly to the point of sounding experimental". Aesthetically, it didn't strike me as very different — a similar use of dark outfits, teased hair, and dramatic stage make-up — though I did notice more religious, medical, and violent imagery. It's not entirely clear to me if Nagoya kei evolved from or alongside yesterday's artists, so I don't know if it's better to think of this subgenre as a "twin" that drew upon different musical influences (e.g. AUTO-MOD, GASTUNK) or a "younger sibling" that took certain aspects of their peers' bands and incorporated elements of their aforementioned inspirations.
According to vk.gy, Nagoya kei had multiple waves, so I will keep this in mind when listening to each band's handful of songs.

-my thoughts-

A lot of things stood out to me about Nagoya kei's musical style. For starters, the entire sound of the subgenre is much 'rougher' than kurofuku kei. If kurofuku kei is smooth and rich, kind of like dark chocolate, then Nagoya kei is sharp and shocking, like tasting one's own blood. The vocals rely far less on singing — if the vocalist is singing at all — gladly throwing in wails, screams, and growls. Even sung portions are unusual, in that they are far less catchy or straightforward (e.g. notes only being half a step away from another) than their peers'. I wouldn't go so far as to say Nagoya kei is experimental, as it does follow in the footsteps of their hardcore and positive punk predecessors, but it seems to be the most willing to be a bit "weird" with their music, going as far as to throw outright noise into their compositions. vk.gy claims the music of these bands tend to start mellow and build to a violent end, but I didn't really notice that (though, that could be the fault of my song selection). I think the tone tends to be either gloomy OR angry; pieces will swing between the two, but it doesn't tend to turn from one to the other over the course of a piece.

It sounds like, as the subgenre went through its so called "waves," new artists, mostly ones considered modern or honorary Nagoya kei bands, toned down some of its more off-putting elements. Now, this is not a universal statement — "Ai to lu, Hentai" by gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy, for instance, has a strangeness that seems in line with earlier waves — but songs like L'eprica's "rubble" or Lucifer's underground's "Konoyo no hate" have elements that make them have a greater mainstream appeal. I guess this is why people are reluctant to classify bands as Nagoya kei? It seems like it was limited to a pretty scene at a specific point in time; their successors can only resemble them.

As my fun little aside (because it seems like I put those in often), I think a lot of the songs I heard recently would be particularly fun to listen to live. I don't know if moshing is at all popular in Japan (if it is done at all), but just IMAGINE what it could look like for some of these songs...

-SHIRO KEI (白系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Shiro kei is most obviously different from its peers in that it's one of the only visual kei subgenres that is "light," both aesthetically and musically. Unlike later "light" bands, though, shiro kei still has... I don't know how to put it. A sort of divergence from the mainstream and overall moodiness, though in a more delicate, understated way? Compare a photo of kurofuku kei trailblazers BUCK-TICK and shiro kei founders L'Arc~en~Ciel and see if I'm making any sense...

Also unlike other subgenres... shiro kei barely counts as one. The vast majority of examples that vk.gy gives are of bands who only adopted the aesthetic for a brief period of time; the article even acknowledges that the only reason shiro kei is considered a thing of its own is because of unique it is in the scene. For this reason, I struggle to imagine it has a very unified sound. I don't think it's going to be super gloomy or grungy, sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if different bands vary whether it'll be pop or dreamy rock, cheerful or ethereal. It honestly sounds like the aesthetics matter more here.

-my thoughts-

Several of the major examples that vk.gy gave of shiro kei bands are not present on the playlist (thanks Spotify), so I tried to listen to some of their music on my own. Obviously, since I don't know their discographies, I picked out whatever seemed most popular (from their shiro kei era).

I'm finding it harder to pin down what makes shiro kei musically unique or cohesive than I did with the subgenres I looked at earlier because there's a fair amount of variety in what different pieces sound like. Some songs, like ramiel's "LOVE SONG" only barely count as rock. Some are rock, but distinguish themselves by use of unique sounds, like L'Arc~en~Ciel's fun little bell-like sounds or multiple bands' use of orchestral instruments. Others, like "If..with tears in one's eyes" by SHAZNA or "Sincerely" by RENTRER EN SOI are fairly straightforward rock, and, from what I can tell, they are mostly distinct because of their visual style and general vibes. Even trying to come up with a sound "profile" based on the leading artists (i.e. the ones who stuck with the style beyond one release). I think the main hallmarks, as far as I can tell, are slower-paced songs, more elements like reverb, falsetto, and delicate-sounding instruments (e.g. gentle synths, bells, strings), and fewer things like bass-heavy pieces or anything thrashy/grungy/at all "angry". Even these rules don't always apply.

I am genuinely curious about why bands rarely seem to stick to this aesthetic. Most bands adopt it briefly; even those who spent considerable time as a shiro kei band usually moved into the territory of other subgenres. Maybe it simply has to do with the fact that, visually, this is a very narrow style? What I mean by this is that, as I understand it, a kote kei band could switch up their look somewhat and still be considered kote kei, but a shiro kei band could not adjust its look very much without being redefined as, say, soft visual (or whatever direction the band moves in). The fact that the musical identity of shiro kei is so loose also doesn't help, as that means that people might be inclined to label as band as something clearer. I don't know; I'm just rambling here.

For my silly bit today: I think today is the first day I have actually had a viscerally negative reaction to a song, which is shocking considering I have at least slightly liked the vast majority of what I've heard. DazzlingBAD's "Feather" had OK music, but the pitched up vocals greatly irritated me. Hearing the familiar, beautiful "Fleur" and "白いブーケ" afterward made me feel like how Dante must have as he drank from the river Lethe.

-SOFT VISUAL (ソフビ)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Soft visual sounds to me like visual kei, adjusted to better fit with mainstream tastes. vk.gy probably described it best: "visual kei you can show your parents." Aesthetics still matter — a band's image is still heavily curated and visually appealing — but a lot of the drama and moodiness of previous genres is gone, replaced with clear faces, clean haircuts, and stylish outfits. The music itself is also fairly mainstream. The vk.gy description says they're more pop-heavy, which doesn't surprise me. I suspect these bands still are still rock bands, only with cleaner vocals, catchier choruses, and a cheerier tone than the previous subgenres I listened to.

-my thoughts-

Despite the size of this playlist, I somehow managed to listen to it all in one day (though not in one sitting xP)! Starting early helped, but I think soft visual, thanks to its gentler, pop-inspired music, was far easier to put on in the background (and accidentally tune out...) than, say, Nagoya kei, which demanded my full attention and tired me out.
I paid the most attention to the listed "representative" bands (GLAY, SOPHIA) and to three of the "four heavenly kings" of 90s visual kei (SHANZA, La'cryma Christi, FANATIC◇CRISIS) when trying to understand the sound and overall vibe of soft visual.

One thing that I found interesting about soft visual was that, even though the bands that adopted its look came from many different backgrounds — every subgenre I've looked at so far has been represented, even by (especially by) their biggest groups — its sound was very consistent. For example, nearly all the songs I heard today were pop rock, and tonally they were all fairly upbeat; no piece was particularly gloomy, aggressive, or "bright". I suppose this makes sense, considering that these artists would be adjusting their sound to fit popular taste. My only struggle is hearing the visual kei elements through all the changes. Some songs have a slightly moodier or harder sound, even momentarily, than one would expect of pop rock (e.g. "Maybe true" by FANATIC◇CRISIS for the former, "Fukushuu wa Seigi" by -Shintenchikaibyaku Shuudan- ZIGZAG for the latter), I suppose? And some pieces are bass-heavier (e.g. "Melty Love" by SHAZNA)? I might have to look at different eras of bands who's music I know better for a stronger understanding. I feel like I haven't done the subgenre justice.

The genre is considered more or less dead, or, at least, drastically less common than it used to be back in the day, and I'm not surprised this is the case. The circumstances that created soft visual bands simply don't exist in the same way they used to. Back in the day, bands changed their look either because they had gone mainstream or because they wanted to win over more of the general public. Nowadays, more mainstream rock or pop musicians look strange, so visual kei bands don't need to change their look to succeed, and more visual kei bands wear everyday clothing and play pop, so one can still be a visual band without being soft visual.

(One band, SID, struck me as sounding like its music would fit an anime intro. Imagine my surprise when I found out they wrote the first ED for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood! I loved that series in middle school; I should have known! (^ ^)")

-KOTE KEI (コテ系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Sorry it took forever for this one to get out. I had to split this playlist up as a result of poor planning, and I was also mentally fried the last day or two.
I am very excited to listen to kote kei! It is definitely the most immediately recognizable visual kei subgenre, with its ridiculously over-the top outfits (I say this affectionately!); for this reason, it's probably the best known, too. My interest in the subgenre was piqued by how vk.gy described it: a fusion of the elegant moodiness of kurofuku kei and the dark theatrics of Nagoya kei, with music that is louder, stranger, and more melodramatic (and, sometimes, less technically impressive). In a way, it almost sounds like the opposite of soft visual, to me. While established bands reeled in their unusual fashion choices and softened their sound, new bands on the scene doubled down on the visual aesthetic and played music that was even more hardcore and bizarre. I anticipate a lot of screaming, wailing and guitar shredding.

-my thoughts-

This write up is unusually short because my listening and writing was divided over an equally unusually long period; I struggled to make meaningful observations as a result. Forgive me, please. I will return to kote kei later to give it the reflection it deserves.

Anyway! I liked kote kei, though I will admit that its sound surprised me a little at first. This was because, though the influence of both of kote kei's predecessors can be very clearly seen in their fashion, the music is fairly distinct from its predecessors. Still, I found myself comparing what I listened to far more often to Nagoya kei than kurofuku kei. For example, like the former, this style can be a bit overwhelming in its loudness and intensity — it's certainly not something you turn on in the background and forget about! I do like this aspect of it, but, once again, it's something I need the mental energy to listen to (i.e. not alone, in a dark room at 11:30 PM, after a long day). I mostly noticed it in the frequently "violent" or aggressive tone and experimental sounds and vocals; This is not to say that kote kei relies solely on its "older siblings" for inspiration: it sounds like it borrows more from metal than them (which instead look to punk and beat rock), and some of the more subdued elements of Nagoya kei, like gloomy or slow (parts of) songs, and kurofuku kei, like bass-heavy pieces, seem less common, though not absent.

-TANBI KEI (耽美系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

I finally got through the first week... and I only got there five days late! xD
But, seriously. Tanbi kei is the only visual kei subgenre I would comfortably call myself familiar with, by virtue of it being the only one I've listened much to. Even then, like I said in my intro, my knowledge is still pretty limited to the big names in the niche (yes, I unfortunately am that kind of young, western visual kei fan who listens primarily to MALICE MIZER and anything related to KAMIJO or Versailles...).

Long story short, tanbi kei is yet another distinctive and well-known subgenre of visual kei, most easily identified by its elaborate, gorgeous costumes inspired by the clothing of late 18th-century French nobility. It was kicked off by the massively popular MALICE MIZER (which was the only non-soft visual band among the "four heavenly kings" of the genre at the time). Some bands successfully followed in their footsteps, though most currently active tanbi kei bands did not form until the late 2000s, when former LAREINE vocalist KAMIJO began Versailles. I can't speak much of the sound of tanbi kei as a whole, but, based off of the sound of the artists I know, I expect either dramatic or melancholic rock-heavy (though not harsh) pieces, alongside a handful of pop-adjacent ones, that utilize a lot more symphonic instruments and "baroque" sound. vk.gy also says that some bands adopt a more goth sound, thanks to the influence of Moi dix Mois (a band started by MALICE MIZER's former guitarist).

(Also, I won't discuss this later, but tanbi kei musicians LOVE vampires. MALICE MIZER had music videos about them, and Gackt claimed to be one; Versailles' backstory is about vampires, and almost all of KAMIJO's solo career is about them; I have seen at least two songs and one band on the vk.gy playlist with the word "Vampire" in there somewhere. I guess they fit the vibe of "melancholic aristocrat.")

-my thoughts-

Since I am familiar with the biggest artists in the scene, I am most interested in hearing how smaller bands resembled and differed from their inspirations, as well as how tanbi kei's direction changed following the success of Versailles. Since the vast majority of the artists on the playlist formed after 2007, I went out of my way to listen to pre-Versailles bands Raphael and AMADEUS, which are unfortunately absent from vk.gy's playlist.

MALICE MIZER and the bands it inspired definitely have a different sound from their successors. Generally, though, I would say the sound and look of tanbi kei in this period is "softer" than a lot of visual kei, using catchy choruses, conventional vocals, and no particularly harsh noises. (I can see now how and why tanbi kei would often bleed into shiro kei during this time period!) The melancholic drama of the subgenre is no doubt present, though — listen to AMADEUS' "In the Mist" or MALICE MIZER's "Syunikiss ～二度目の哀悼～" for good examples. Another common element of tanbi kei which appeared in this era is the use of instruments outside of typical rock band fare, typically piano, violin, harpsichord, acoustic guitar, and/or synths. Though the elements and "vibes" of tanbi kei are very consistent, the actual songs one finds in the subgenre is relatively varied. For instance, I have heard things spanning from typical pop rock, to outright pop, to slower pieces, to much harder rock, all with different degrees of the typical "tanbi kei sound"; these extremes can even be seen within the same album.

Post-2007 bands are very different from what was described above. Tanbi kei did not change like the waves of Nagoya kei, which clearly build on and alter the sound of previous waves. On the contrary, many new bands ignored the milder, pop rock sound of MALICE MIZER and its follower bands, instead choosing to adopt loud, dramatic symphonic power metal music — the genre of choice for Versailles — with a few exceptions, like Kaya, who leans more into baroque pop. (This unusually uniform sound across the subgenre does mean, sadly, that bands can sometimes sound a bit similar to one another.) The sound of tanbi kei has become "harder" in turn, thanks to the heavy use of shredding guitars and ridiculously fast tempos, yet its vocals are still seldom violent or aggressive (though it certainly can be, like D's "7th Rose", which uses growling, or Scarlet Valse's "Rose Cruel Scar," which has shouting). It has a very "grand" (occasionally overproduced) sound, which gives songs a kind of cinematic drama. Despite these changes, the roots of tanbi kei are easy to spot. For example, a general sense of melancholy and romance is still present, albeit more in its lyrics than sound; this is most easily heard in ballads. The genre is still heavy on using the unconventional instruments their predecessors did. And, of course, though the outfits of tanbi kei bands sometime cross over into the aesthetics of subgenres like kote kei, they are still absolutely gorgeous.

As my silly aside, I guess it's worth noting that today I decided my "favorites + tl;dr" table should only include songs on the playlist or listened to for the sake of the write up. Otherwise, I probably would have spent a looooong time agonizing over which LAREINE or Versailles song(s) to list (^ ^)" Sadly, this means no MALICE MIZER or Moi dix Mois songs are included, since I didn't listen to them today, but believe me when I say both bands are quite good!

-MISSHITSU KEI (密室系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Ah, we're finally getting into territory almost entirely unfamiliar to me...
Pretty much, from what I can glean, Misshitsu kei (sometimes called "angura kei") is a catch-all term for artists who started mostly around the late 90s to early 00s, who clearly were visual kei, but were also outsiders to the scene and didn't cleanly fit any pre-existing subgenre, visually and musically. As a result, the bands often associated with and influenced one another, as opposed to the scene as a whole, which excluded them. Because of its "anything goes" nature, it appears that there isn't a unified aural or aesthetic identity beyond a shared deviance from typical visual kei. Nonetheless, I will try to listen for earlier influences and potential common threads throughout the subgenre, if there are any.

By vk.gy's admission, the definition of what is and isn't a Misshitsu kei band is a little hazy, since it often overlaps with subgenres that were established after its heyday. This is something I can't act on now, but I will keep an eye out for bands bleed into or precede other subgenres that became popular after the height of its popularity.

-my thoughts-

While Misshitsu kei doesn't have a consistent sound across the genre (unlike, say, yesterday's tanbi kei, which was uniform nearly to a fault), there are a few common archetypes I noticed across vk.gy's playlist. For example, the genre consists mostly of rock, save for a couple of pop songs by GOATBED and XA-VAT, presumably because the non-pop acts moved into or were reclassified as subgenres like osare or pikopiko kei. It was also unique for its atypical pool of influences: songs sounded like they drew from goth, shoegaze, and retro pop. Tonally, the genre was quite consistent, as it often sounded moody or dark, and the few songs which didn't usually had still had bizarre and depressing lyrics (according to deeply flawed machine translations online, anyway). Sometimes songs incorporate noises, unusual singing, or unusual instruments (e.g. acoustic guitar), though never in a way that feels particularly experimental. vk.gy says that an "irreverent weirdness" is an important part of the subgenre; unless this is mostly a lyrical or visual component, I don't hear this. Most songs were unusual for visual kei, yes, but the music itself was, on the whole, not particularly strange. I suppose they're irreverent in the sense that they don't seem bothered by or self-concious of their weirdness.

One question I pondered while listening to the playlist was "What makes something visual kei?" Because of the nature of Misshitsu kei, which exists on the fringes of the visual kei scene, it has become harder for me to define. It isn't something as simple as not adhering to the mainstream, because soft visual bands were about as mainstream as it got; it's not looking and sounding dark or edgy in a certain way, because both shiro kei and tanbi kei, obviously visual subgenres, are neither; now, it's not even adopting certain looks or sounds, because Misshitsu kei bands went outside of those boundaries. Eventually, being mostly rock music won't be a qualifier, as I believe some later genres are almost purely pop music. This is not at all a complaint about the expanding definition, but more so a curiousity about still what holds all these vastly different subgenres beyond vague things like "cultivated aesthetic" and "general rock or pop," especially as things continue to change. For these bands, it was a little hard for me to tell sometimes, but I suppose their looks, though weird, do appear to be heavily inspired by visual kei. However, the sound of bands wasn't always as obviously related to visual kei to me, but I suspect that's more the fault of my inexperienced ear.

-COSPLAY KEI (コスプレ系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Cosplay kei appears to be a niche but enduring genre where artists dress up like characters from popular media, like television shows or video games (not as existing characters, like the subgenre name might imply). While it's not unheard of for visual kei bands to have a backstory or concept that unites their work, cosplay kei takes it to the next level by having outright stories that they are purpose-dressed for. Fittingly, their music is said to have a less hard, more pop-based sound, and it is also said these bands encourage live participation. I assume the playlist is going to be a lot of fun, upbeat pop rock, with maybe a few more aggressively energetic songs thrown in.

-my thoughts-

Since vk.gy said there aren't many cosplay kei artists on Spotify, I listened to several listed representative and modern bands (Da'vid shito:aL, Mix Speaker's,Inc., reirei) on my own.

Cosplay kei is notable not just for its particularly outlandish outfits, for it is also easily the most pop-oriented subgenre I've listened to so far. I would say that roughly half of the bands were almost purely pop: they had a more intense sound than typical pop, as the songs were often percussion-heavy and fast-paced, but they seldom had a "rock" sound beyond the use of some electric guitar; most of the music comes from electronic sounds. The other half of the bands were rock acts; vk.gy says that some bands cross over into kote kei, but I didn't notice anything strikingly "kote kei-like" beyond the occasional shout or darker-sounding song. I did, however, hear some of the edginess of visual kei at times, to my surprise. It certainly wasn't saccharine: some, like Ensoku and D, whereas others, like Mix Speaker's,Inc., had a pop rock sound not unlike soft visual bands like SID. I really wish I could understand the lyrics for these songs, because some (i.e. "12月にできた曲" by Da'vid shito:aL) clearly have neat things like characters talking back and forth...

If nothing, cosplay kei is very fun. I was bopping my leg along to the songs, and they made me smile oftentimes; I can easily imagine a crowd jamming along and having fun with whatever the band asks them to do. Before this point, it doesn't seem like it was common the band to interact with the audience beyond what one would usually expect of audience engagement at a rock concert (e.g. encouraging certain actions), if even that. I doubt cosplay kei had a signficant impact on breaking the barrier between artist and fan — that honor probably goes to osare kei — but it's still cool to see yet another significant change in the view of what visual kei can and can't do. (On the last remark, I think cosplay kei is the first subgenre I've seen so far that a notable band with a female member: Kyon, the drummer of Da'vid shito:aL and follow-up band pluer.)

I found a particular remark in the article funny: "There is often one particular member who is in an even more unwieldy costume than the rest." At the mildest, this is someone wearing a slightly more elaborate outfit or having animal-like traits, and, at its most extreme, this is wearing full-on mascot suits or very bizarre, alien-like outfits. This was almost always either the bassist, drummer, or both. Only very rarely, like in Psycho le Cemu, a guitarist will look weird, too; it is NEVER the vocalist. I guess they're not the face of the band, so they're allowed to dress like wacky creatures. But just imagine joining a band, then being told that, *because* you're the bassist, you're going to have to dress like a fish man or face-stealing alien! (-_-)"
...that sounds kind of cool, actually xD

-WAFUU KEI (和風系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Wafuu kei's premise is clear from the moment you see it: visual kei with aesthetic and musical inspiration from traditional Japanese clothing, art, theatre, and instruments. In this way, it reminds me of tanbi kei, as both subgenres draw upon history to form their look and sound, albeit from different countries and time periods. (I believe one more subgenre on the list is history-based?) vk.gy emphasizes that, though it is not uncommon bands that adopt this look for a release or two, then drop it, this is not a subgenre which is only ever used temporarily, like shiro kei; there are many bands that have this look and sound full-time, such as those who popularized wafuu kei to begin with (VIRUSHANA and Kagrra).

I'll admit that I don't know too much about traditional Japanese art or music beyond pop culture, so I might not have the most insightful remarks on specific things (e.g. recognizing instruments by name, the significance of certain visual or musical choices). If you know something I don't, I encourage you to correct me or fill me in on things I might have missed. Thank you!

-my thoughts-

Wafuu kei's unique look definitely transfers into its music! While I wasn't exactly keeping track, I would say that a majority of songs on vk.gy's playlist used some kind of traditional instrument in its composition. More often than not, I would say they were used for flourishes or "extra flavor" for certain sections — not unlike the harpsichord in tanbi kei — but they occasionally would have a presence throughout the entire song. I think I heard koto the most often, but I also heard some traditional percussion instruments and , too; occasionally, instruments like acoustic guitar would be used, unusually for visual kei. Not all the songs had this kind of sound, though: some pieces, like "nue" by Kiryu or all of Shintenchikaibyaku Shuudan- ZIGZAG's songs, don't use instruments or note progressions that were noticeably different from what typical visual kei sounds like. In these cases, I suppose the title of wafuu kei is truer of the look of the band than the sound of it. I would say that, while some songs that are undeniably rock, it generally leans towards pop rock. It doesn't seem too afraid to dip into other subgenres for visual and aural inspiration, perhaps because wafuu kei is so distinct from the rest of the scene that it can safely incorporate different styles while keeping its identity.

I adore the little tale vk.gy shares about the founding band of wafuu kei, VIRUSHANA, which alleges that they settled on their signature style because a relative of the vocalist sold kimonos to them for a discount. Now, I have no clue if this is true or not, but I have to admit there is something a little funny about the idea of a subgenre getting off the ground because a band wanted to save money in a genre which loved to spend ludicrous amounts of it. Realistically, though, wafuu kei would have likely formed regardless. Different bands with a similar visual style were already cropping up, independent of VIRUSHANA, across the country. This makes sense to me. After all, it seems natural that a music genre very specific to one country would eventually look back to its own history as something to pay homage to, parody, or reinvent/reinterpret. I assume this is also the reason why plenty of bands adopt a wafuu kei-adjacent sound or look for a release or two.

-SHIRONUI KEI (白塗り系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Shironui kei is a subgenre that is mostly distinct because of its unique appearance, as its bands tend to paint their faces fully white and use bold, strange make-up. It is, also, admittedly used more to differentiate different flavors of bands under the Misshitsu kei umbrella, rather than to describe a particularly large or unified movement. This is not to say that, at least according to vk.gy, the genre does not have a general sound or place of inspiration it draws from — its bands mostly play punk and electronic music. Interestingly, vk.gy said that shironui kei, even more so than Misshitsu kei, exists on the fringes of the visual kei scene; though it is typically included on subgenre lists, there is reason to argue it isn't part of visual kei at all. This statement caught my attention, so I will try to pick up on any musical influence that visual kei might have on shironui kei, since the subgenre seems to reject the aesthetic ideas of the wider scene.

-my thoughts-

For a subgenre with such an unmistakable look, I'm not sure much unites shironui kei as a subgenre beyond "mostly rock, almost never pop". Influences range from fairly "typical" rock (SEX-ANDROID), to punk (GURUGURU Eigakan), to metal (NoGoD), to pop ("I LOVE ME" by RYUKETSU BLIZZARD). Even "vibes" didn't really shine through to me, like they did for shiro kei: the mood was not outstandingly gloomy, cheerful, or angry; at best, I could say that shironui kei is often energetic, though not necessarily intense. Most notably, nothing struck me as distinctly "visual-sounding," which doesn't surprise me. After all, the broader subgenre shironui kei fits in, Misshitsu kei, is itself already a fringe category, which, though odd and at an arm's length to the visual kei scene at large, is visually and musically inspired by visual bands and has no qualms associating itself with said inspirations. Shironui kei is basically a fringe group within a fringe group — its link to visual kei is existent but tenuous. It sounds like its association with the scene comes more from its earlier connections with Misshitsu kei, which naturally weakened as many bands under that label moved in their own directions. I didn't give any modern bands listed on the vg.ky article (i.e. KIZU) a listen, but it seems that, for a shironui band to be considered visual kei nowadays, it typically needs to cross over with some other subgenre.

I'll confess, this has been one of the hardest summaries to write since I started this project. It's not a problem when a subgenre doesn't have a strong musical identity (shiro kei) or less obvious call-backs to previous visual musicians (soft visual, Misshitsu kei), but trying to writing about a subgenre where both things are true is tough. Ah well. At least it was easier than okeshou kei, because I at least have some historical background and a single, unified scene to write about, as opposed to probably a decade worth of several genres of Japanese rock, all condensed into one playlist! (^ ^)"

-PIKOPIKO KEI (ピコピコ系)-

vg.ky's write-up

vg.ky official playlist

-initial impressions-

Pikopiko kei is yet another oddball subgenre and the last which I will look at that has close ties to Misshitsu kei. Uniquely, its music is neither pop nor rock, opting for unusual, electronic sounds rooted in 80s electropop. I wonder how it sounds tonally, since generally pop-heavier genres have tended towards cheerful or energetic sounds, whereas rock has tended more towards gloomy, angry, dramatic, or occasionally, ethereal "vibes". Since pikopiko does not fit cleanly within either genre, I'm not sure if it tends towards one of the established extremes or if it forges its own path instead. Also, like with Misshitsu kei and its other "relative," shironui kei, I'm curious if and how the sound of visual kei is preserved in such a different form.

-my thoughts-

Since multiple representative bands — namely, Himitsu Kessha CODOMO A, Shinjuku GEWALT, and AINORI TECHNOS — were not on vk.gy's playlist, I listened to them separately.

Pikopiko kei quite surprised me, honestly. I'm not sure how, but it was somehow both more and less electronic-heavy than I expected? I suppose I meant this in that there is a wide range of how "electronic" bands sound exactly, as the subgenre ranges from electronic backing music with some typical rock band instruments over it, like the music of Metronome or Himitsu Kessha CODOMO A, to a funkier, pop-like sound with no live instruments, as demonstrated by Shinjuku Gewalt and SANDWICH de 120 pun?, to very aggressively electronic-sounding music, which even go as far to heavily filter its singer's voice, like FLOPPY and Ainori Technos. Some even mix electronic-heavy sounds with other subgenres, like Gpkism's "Immaculatus," which (if it wasn't obvious from the title xD) takes tanbi kei's aesthetic, elegance, and unique instruments (i.e. harpsichord and string orchestra) and fuses it with a pikopiko-like sound. I also probably should have expected this, but some bands, like FLOPPY, even took inspiration from retro video game music — I can't say I'm shocked, but it certainly caught me off guard in a visual kei playlist!

I said I was going to keep an eye out for the tone of the music, but, honestly, that thought slipped to the wayside as I grew more interested in the surprising variety pikopiko kei has. The tone isn't really consistent across the genre, depending more on the song or band itself. I would say it's more playful or bizarre than most visual kei subgenres, though there were definitely angstier or angrier songs. As for the sound of visual kei... I'm not sure why, but I feel like it comes through, which I didn't expect, considering how different the instruments are from typical visual music, as well as how shironui kei, despite being rock, didn't sound particularly visual at all. Certain songs, like METRONOME'S 脳内消去, struck me as visual quickly; in this case, it was a combination of the song's moodiness, prominent bassline, and key.

I'll confess that I wasn't big on pikopiko kei at first. If you've read my previous entries, you've probably noticed that I greatly favor rock-heavy songs, bands, and subgenres over pop ones. As it went along though, I was able to get into it. There's some really fun tunes, and I loved seeing how electronic music fuses surprisingly well with visual kei!

Unlike my main site, a lot of the assets and information on this page come from other places. Here is a list of everything I used:

Information and Music

• My main reference is vk.gy's "The Official Guide to Visual Kei" and their spotify playlists.
• I sometimes referred to cultic's "Subgenres and Visual Kei: Everyone is Wrong Except Me."
• I used Discogs relatively often.
• If I use any more specific playlists or articles as references, I will add them here.

Assets

• Images:
• neckdoll | tiled background
• candyshoppe | bow png, rose divider, all pixels, template for back button stamp
• pixelprism | black flower png, rosary png, cross divider
• Daniele Franchi on unsplash | background image for header
• Text:
• bunnyfonts | body text (crimson text)
• fontmeme | site header (gl stellamystica)
• Other site elements:
• scripted | cross animation script
• solielios | lace border on main div and table
• valetines | lace border on images
• doodad.dev | dithering
• textfixer.com | html encoder for japanese characters