Himeaimichu

Tbf tho... Sena does look a lot like Lightning...
 
I'm sorry Komorebi

Just compare any bandman to Final Fantasy characters and you're bound to rustle a few jimmies

Wait, the GazettE were Diru roadies? Because I remember the formation story mostly being Ruki, Uruha and Reita playing around with different musicians, most notably vocalists Tetora (who'd join Kamikaze Boyz) and Saki (who'd form Cuartet) until Ruki decided he wanted to do vocals instead of drums and so they left Saki and Kanna and joined with Aoi and Yune from Artia. Plus, I remember their early history being much more associated with Yayoi from La'Miss Fairy than anything to do with Diru. Could you perhaps elaborate more?

Just compare any bandman to Final Fantasy characters and you're bound to rustle a few jimmies

Just compare any bandman to Final Fantasy characters and you're bound to rustle a few jimmies

Hot take: The reason they abandoned Visual Kei was so that they could legally perform in Russia without being accused of spreading "Gay propaganda"

Hot take: The reason they abandoned Visual Kei was so that they could legally perform in Russia without being accused of spreading "Gay propaganda"

congrats @ booking russia, p sure good sisters will sell it out
 
we all know they abandoned VK because russian mitsu in tokyo cut off dumb leech that is Retsu sorry to burst ur bubble!!!

Pop and Metal are considered to be almost completely opposite genres of music. One is perceived as being major key, happy, upbeat, often repetitive and known for not being diverse, while the other is perceived as minor key, angry, and incredibly diverse (Of course, these are just stereotypes). Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, these genres are sometimes mixed. Whether it's the popular artist Poppy, or the infamous Babymetal, these genres were bound to cross one way or another, especially in Japan, and Visual Kei is no exception.
For one, the mixing of the two comes with the territory of Visual Kei. After all, the movement in the 90's was filled with songs that contrasted Thrash Metal riffs with Post-Punk choruses. It is also definitely not unusual for a band to play multiple genres of music on one album. Even to this day, Visual Kei songs will often have a chorus that sounds completely different from the rest of the song. It's basically given that there will be some bands here and there who mix elements of Pop and Metal.
While there are a lot of Visual Kei bands that mix pop and metal, for this, I will be focusing on bands that specifically mix elements of J-Pop, since those are the most distinct and so I can make the title relating to Babymetal lol.
 
A very infamous example of this was the cult classic band DEViL KiTTY. Mixing pop and metal was their bread and butter, whether it's primarily poppy songs with occasional metal riffing, such as DRIVE, or a very thrashy, angry metal song that goes pop in the chorus, such as Hello Katty. They also just had fully pop rock songs with no metal elements whatsoever, such as 束縛 (Sokubaku), or full on metal songs with no pop at all, such as アンチお洒落系 (Anti Oshare-Kei). Their early looks also mixed in some elements of Harajuku Fashion, but that changed after ESE IKARE Rockstar, where they just started wearing suits. Not only that, but their music contains a lot of Japanese pop culture references, whether it be Japan's early internet culture in songs like 奇形の２ちゃんネラア (Kikei no 2channeler) or even references to Visual Kei culture itself, such as バンザイお洒落系 (Banzai Oshare-Kei). Their lyrics, however, were far from radio-friendly, as Yuuga's love for sex songs is well known, and many songs are your typical vkei songs about not-so-savory stuff like murder. To summarize it, DEViL KiTTY's sound was an abrasive, lo-fi interpretation of Visual Kei's love for mixing genres, with a huge emphasis on the contrast between the heavy parts and the poppy parts.
Although this primarily applies to their 2002-2004 era. When they returned in 2015, they still mixed pop with metal, but focused way less on the contrast. However, there was one song, バンギャル最終兵器 (Bangya Saishukeiki) sort of channeled old Devil Kitty with a modern take, but that was their last ever release. (Note: While making this, I just realised the only good quality upload of the PV for バンギャル最終兵器 was taken down. RIP)

Selected listening:
Deaitai (出愛隊) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9suBOucP7I
Hello Katty (note: I plan to upload the PV for this soon, but for now, please bear with this video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj7qwpfdwtM
 
Another infamous example of this is legendary Oshare-Kei band An Cafe. Specifically, their early years. Whereas DEViL KiTTY mainly focused on harshness and aggression, An Cafe was more focused on contrasting heavy with happy (or should I say, Nyappy?). Of course, in the beginning, their lyrics weren't always happy, as songs like My Favorite Beat actually have sorta dark lyrics. However, especially unlike DEViL KiTTY, these guys' music was definitely something that would probably be played on a pop radio station if those songs were ever popular enough to do so. Like DEViL KiTTY, they make references to Japanese pop culture, and implement elements of Harajuku fashion into their looks. (I mean, the whole Oshare-Kei shtick kinda grew out of Harajuku fashion). Sadly, they kinda dropped the whole thing sometime after 2005 (I'm not sure when because I honestly do not listen to much of An Cafe after their first album) and went on to just being pop rock, and then Bou left.

Selected listening:
My Favorite Beat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOjcc6B_C04
Touhikairo (頭皮回廊) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIeV3a174o8
 
So what are your thoughts on these type of bands? What are your favourite examples?

Pop and Metal are considered to be almost completely opposite genres of music. One is perceived as being major key, happy, upbeat, often repetitive and known for not being diverse, while the other is perceived as minor key, angry, and incredibly diverse (Of course, these are just stereotypes). Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, these genres are sometimes mixed. Whether it's the popular artist Poppy, or the infamous Babymetal, these genres were bound to cross one way or another, especially in Japan, and Visual Kei is no exception.
For one, the mixing of the two comes with the territory of Visual Kei. After all, the movement in the 90's was filled with songs that contrasted Thrash Metal riffs with Post-Punk choruses. It is also definitely not unusual for a band to play multiple genres of music on one album. Even to this day, Visual Kei songs will often have a chorus that sounds completely different from the rest of the song. It's basically given that there will be some bands here and there who mix elements of Pop and Metal.
While there are a lot of Visual Kei bands that mix pop and metal, for this, I will be focusing on bands that specifically mix elements of J-Pop, since those are the most distinct and so I can make the title relating to Babymetal lol.
 
A very infamous example of this was the cult classic band DEViL KiTTY. Mixing pop and metal was their bread and butter, whether it's primarily poppy songs with occasional metal riffing, such as DRIVE, or a very thrashy, angry metal song that goes pop in the chorus, such as Hello Katty. They also just had fully pop rock songs with no metal elements whatsoever, such as 束縛 (Sokubaku), or full on metal songs with no pop at all, such as アンチお洒落系 (Anti Oshare-Kei). Their early looks also mixed in some elements of Harajuku Fashion, but that changed after ESE IKARE Rockstar, where they just started wearing suits. Not only that, but their music contains a lot of Japanese pop culture references, whether it be Japan's early internet culture in songs like 奇形の２ちゃんネラア (Kikei no 2channeler) or even references to Visual Kei culture itself, such as バンザイお洒落系 (Banzai Oshare-Kei). Their lyrics, however, were far from radio-friendly, as Yuuga's love for sex songs is well known, and many songs are your typical vkei songs about not-so-savory stuff like murder. To summarize it, DEViL KiTTY's sound was an abrasive, lo-fi interpretation of Visual Kei's love for mixing genres, with a huge emphasis on the contrast between the heavy parts and the poppy parts.
Although this primarily applies to their 2002-2004 era. When they returned in 2015, they still mixed pop with metal, but focused way less on the contrast. However, there was one song, バンギャル最終兵器 (Bangya Saishukeiki) sort of channeled old Devil Kitty with a modern take, but that was their last ever release. (Note: While making this, I just realised the only good quality upload of the PV for バンギャル最終兵器 was taken down. RIP)

Selected listening:
Deaitai (出愛隊) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9suBOucP7I
Hello Katty (note: I plan to upload the PV for this soon, but for now, please bear with this video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj7qwpfdwtM
 
Another infamous example of this is legendary Oshare-Kei band An Cafe. Specifically, their early years. Whereas DEViL KiTTY mainly focused on harshness and aggression, An Cafe was more focused on contrasting heavy with happy (or should I say, Nyappy?). Of course, in the beginning, their lyrics weren't always happy, as songs like My Favorite Beat actually have sorta dark lyrics. However, especially unlike DEViL KiTTY, these guys' music was definitely something that would probably be played on a pop radio station if those songs were ever popular enough to do so. Like DEViL KiTTY, they make references to Japanese pop culture, and implement elements of Harajuku fashion into their looks. (I mean, the whole Oshare-Kei shtick kinda grew out of Harajuku fashion). Sadly, they kinda dropped the whole thing sometime after 2005 (I'm not sure when because I honestly do not listen to much of An Cafe after their first album) and went on to just being pop rock, and then Bou left.

Selected listening:
My Favorite Beat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOjcc6B_C04
Touhikairo (頭皮回廊) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIeV3a174o8
 
So what are your thoughts on these type of bands? What are your favourite examples?

Pop and Metal are considered to be almost completely opposite genres of music. One is perceived as being major key, happy, upbeat, often repetitive and known for not being diverse, while the other is perceived as minor key, angry, and incredibly diverse (Of course, these are just stereotypes). Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, these genres are sometimes mixed. Whether it's the popular artist Poppy, or the infamous Babymetal, these genres were bound to cross one way or another, especially in Japan, and Visual Kei is no exception.
For one, the mixing of the two comes with the territory of Visual Kei. After all, the movement in the 90's was filled with songs that contrasted Thrash Metal riffs with Post-Punk choruses. It is also definitely not unusual for a band to play multiple genres of music on one album. Even to this day, Visual Kei songs will often have a chorus that sounds completely different from the rest of the song. It's basically given that there will be some bands here and there who mix elements of Pop and Metal.
While there are a lot of Visual Kei bands that mix pop and metal, for this, I will be focusing on bands that specifically mix elements of J-Pop, since those are the most distinct and so I can make the title relating to Babymetal lol.
 
A very infamous example of this was the cult classic band DEViL KiTTY. Mixing pop and metal was their bread and butter, whether it's primarily poppy songs with occasional metal riffing, such as DRIVE, or a very thrashy, angry metal song that goes pop in the chorus, such as Hello Katty. They also just had fully pop rock songs with no metal elements whatsoever, such as 束縛 (Sokubaku), or full on metal songs with no pop at all, such as アンチお洒落系 (Anti Oshare-Kei). Their early looks also mixed in some elements of Harajuku Fashion, but that changed after ESE IKARE Rockstar, where they just started wearing suits. Not only that, but their music contains a lot of Japanese pop culture references, whether it be Japan's early internet culture in songs like 奇形の２ちゃんネラア (Kikei no 2channeler) or even references to Visual Kei culture itself, such as バンザイお洒落系 (Banzai Oshare-Kei). Their lyrics, however, were far from radio-friendly, as Yuuga's love for sex songs is well known, and many songs are your typical vkei songs about not-so-savory stuff like murder. To summarize it, DEViL KiTTY's sound was an abrasive, lo-fi interpretation of Visual Kei's love for mixing genres, with a huge emphasis on the contrast between the heavy parts and the poppy parts.
Although this primarily applies to their 2002-2004 era. When they returned in 2015, they still mixed pop with metal, but focused way less on the contrast. However, there was one song, バンギャル最終兵器 (Bangya Saishukeiki) sort of channeled old Devil Kitty with a modern take, but that was their last ever release. (Note: While making this, I just realised the only good quality upload of the PV for バンギャル最終兵器 was taken down. RIP)

Selected listening:
Deaitai (出愛隊) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9suBOucP7I
Hello Katty (note: I plan to upload the PV for this soon, but for now, please bear with this video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj7qwpfdwtM
 
Another infamous example of this is legendary Oshare-Kei band An Cafe. Specifically, their early years. Whereas DEViL KiTTY mainly focused on harshness and aggression, An Cafe was more focused on contrasting heavy with happy (or should I say, Nyappy?). Of course, in the beginning, their lyrics weren't always happy, as songs like My Favorite Beat actually have sorta dark lyrics. However, especially unlike DEViL KiTTY, these guys' music was definitely something that would probably be played on a pop radio station if those songs were ever popular enough to do so. Like DEViL KiTTY, they make references to Japanese pop culture, and implement elements of Harajuku fashion into their looks. (I mean, the whole Oshare-Kei shtick kinda grew out of Harajuku fashion). Sadly, they kinda dropped the whole thing sometime after 2005 (I'm not sure when because I honestly do not listen to much of An Cafe after their first album) and went on to just being pop rock, and then Bou left.

Selected listening:
My Favorite Beat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOjcc6B_C04
Touhikairo (頭皮回廊) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIeV3a174o8
 
So what are your thoughts on these type of bands? What are your favourite examples?

kalen with karen haircuts.....  
is the world ready for it?

i thought this was about vk band kalen at first and i was excited thinking the queens finally got the respect they deserved 😭

For any newbies wanting to do Kote Kei looks, lace leggings can easily be turned into a lace top, which is something Goths have been doing for years (so this is obviously common knowledge to some people here). While this link does not use lace leggings, the process basically the same. Just wear something over it that is short sleeved or sleeveless, and you got an instant Kote Kei look. https://www.handimania.com/diy/one-cut-leggings-crop-top.html

 
As well, platform shoes, creepers, and anything with studs or spikes will certainly add a nice edge to your look.
Also, don't be afraid to mix elements from other forms of J-Fashion. Decora, Lolita, and Gyaru can all mix with Visual Kei in their own ways.

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

I would ban the trope of completely toning down your sound and visuals once you go major. Like... you actually got money now, why not go all out with the visuals and the music? Why the hell do you just start wearing less makeup and host-boy hair and playing generic pop rock the second you make more than 10 dollars?
So many great bands have been lost to this trope

For any newbies wanting to do Kote Kei looks, lace leggings can easily be turned into a lace top, which is something Goths have been doing for years (so this is obviously common knowledge to some people here). While this link does not use lace leggings, the process basically the same. Just wear something over it that is short sleeved or sleeveless, and you got an instant Kote Kei look. https://www.handimania.com/diy/one-cut-leggings-crop-top.html

 
As well, platform shoes, creepers, and anything with studs or spikes will certainly add a nice edge to your look.
Also, don't be afraid to mix elements from other forms of J-Fashion. Decora, Lolita, and Gyaru can all mix with Visual Kei in their own ways.

My two cent is that angura-kei is a music/ visual/ theatrical exploration of the post war Japanese identity. I think a lot of artists in the Heisei period (post-Bubble and pre-millennium, so basically the 90s), the so-called "lost generation", questioned their place in a post-modern Japan that went through a century of extremes of war and peace. Some found inspiration and identified with the existential anxieties expressed by the counter-cultural movements in the 1970s, led by figureheads like Terayama Shuuji and Shibusawa. And the raccoon people have carried that subversive and transgressive context on to the present time by toying with time: some like the Inugami, Guru guru eigakan, etc. deliberately dress in pre-1945 ways with ghost/ butoh white face paint and sing about folktales and myths, as if to remind their modern audience of an innate Japaneses-ness by digging into the past; whilst the bleep bloop raccoon people, such as Metronome, Shinjuku Gewalt, etc. are trying to reconcile the technologically fast advancing future Japan with the lost identity in the present.
 
Of course, a lot of raccoon people feel the need to dress like characters from Terayama's films and make nagomu music is probably because many were born around the 1970s and be deeply influenced by all the social upheavels then. But I think it is because of their play on time, by the subversive questioning of the past and future in a transgressive fashion, that I think set angura kei bands apart from other bands that dress in kimono or sing kayoukyoku.