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Laurence02

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  1. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to 薔薇の末裔 in Sexuality matters within VK   
    It might sound weird from a western perspective, but visual kei is like the straightest and most homophobic music scene in Japan. We tend to look at visual kei with western eyes and mix its cultural aspects with things that belong to the western culture. Fanservice and provocations used for shock value put aside, the androgynous aesthetics of visual kei band rarely expressed anything related to gender identity and especially sexual orientation. 
    After all, it started with people like X Japan who admittedly were inspired by glam rock bands and way of life, which I would find hard to connect to sexual orientation. Visual kei early bandomen were mostly chinpiras, bosozokus (bikers) and the likes. They really incarnated the somewhat glamrock aesthetic of riding bikes getting drunk, banging girls, etc. Of course X had their own decadent/romantic taste that made them different, and a lot of influences changed the scene over time. However, visual kei is still remains 99% driven by social outcasts looking for pussy and very rarely by something else.
    In Japan we also have onnagatas, who are kabuki actors specialized in female roles that are again 99% straight. Bandoman with feminine looks call themselves onnagata, not josou (crossdresser), implying that the cultural source behind their looks is not connected with crossdressing but just playing a female role in a band,  but again this something that might be hard to completely understand it taken outside of Japanese culture. For example Izam, the king of all onnagatas, married more than once and has more tha one child, and outside of his role in Shazna he rarely did anything ambiguous, just like the kabuki onnagatas out of stage. Both media and fans are everything but respectful of privacy, but I've rarely seen Japanese articles or message board questioning bandomen sexual orientation. That's because the number 1 reason people do visual kei is because the girls like it (well, liked it, I am not sure this is the trend with young girls anymore). 
    Soft Ballet/Ken Morioka are closer to Soft Cell/Marc Almond so I would not even count them as visual kei even though they had some influence on it. And of course, there are exceptions as you mentioned. The chinpira bandomen of the 90's almost extincted and younger generations bandomans are usually anime/game otakus. They grew up with different influences and values, and it would make sense if the current incarnation of visual kei instinctively appealed to more people with sexual orientation/gender identity concerns, especially after Japan started talking about these issues in a less obsolete viewpoint.
  2. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Anne Claire in Favorite Band/Artist Promo Pics!   
    Banana Fish. Need I say more?

  3. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to Doesn'tEvenGoHere in How to make Visual Kei popular again?   
    I always bite my lip when this comes up in general discussions about rock music because I never want be or sound like the sour adult who's mad that a scene they loved is dying out, but this, from what I observe, is true. I don't know what it is, but rock music doesn't seem to be picking up with the zoomers like it did with previous generations (yes, rock music has always been an alternative scene, but it still had a notable presence both in the charts and in fans). Now add that to the fact that once rock stars like Radke and Barker have implemented hip hop to their work and rock music aesthetics have been adapted by rappers and other pop music musicians, and it feels like our presence is nearing irrelevancy further than ever. 
     
    It's also a hard yes to what you mentioned about how what would have been the present-day vk western fandom is now just another part of the kpop fandom and that point hits an emotional string in me because it was that realization that first made me notice how a taste for rock music seems rarer than ever with today's kids. I worked as a substitute teacher when I was in university and got to work around middle schoolers frequently and at some point it dawned on me that all the kids who were really into anime were also really into kpop. If I thought about that crowd in my day , that would have been the crowd where you would find the vk-fan kids (which as mentioned in other comments were in large responsible for the perceived popularity vk had around 2010). Anime is more popular than ever/Japanese fashion is more mainstream in the west than ever, and scene/emo fashion is popular again. All these trends are moving along. What's not being taken with them is rock music. And that hurts like heck to write. All of that being said, I would love to see zoomers make me eat my words and have them experience a proper rock movement of their own. But at the moment, that's just not what I'm seeing. Mind you there are some kids who still like rock music and vk, but their numbers are considerably lower than what we had in the 2000's.
  4. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to Karma’s Hat in What genres would you like to see more of in VK   
    Instead of having the scene go around appropriating gimmicks I'd just rather have it go back to what it used to be. It's not like anything has happened in rock music in over ten years other than metalcore dying and a collective turning back the clock to feed on nostalgia, which then as a result synthesised what he have now with our impression of the past. It happened in vk too sort of with nu-metal coming back and bands getting darker and edgier, but it petered out finally once AINS was gone and now what we got is r-fucking-shitei and raido cutting themselves in music videos. The best thing that I could hope for is bands like that we got with that wave but just better, and with more (post-)punk and definitely less metal. I think a lot of band guys miss this old school attitude and music too from what I can tell from interviews, and yet they seem to be hopelessly inept in realising it. I guess they can want what they want but if the gya ain't buying it, they ain't going to do it. And since we're here I wouldn't mind something going were bands like La'cryma christi, Luna Sea, L'arc and Eins:Vier were going at their most ambitious but this will never happen.
     
    Either way I want something darker, visceral and ambitious done with the genre's already existing foundations instead of some fucking flavor of the month metal gimmick. I mean come on that's just terrible.
     
     
     
     
  5. Yikes
    Laurence02 reacted to Takadanobabaalien in What genres would you like to see more of in VK   
    Swedish dansband
  6. LOVE!
    Laurence02 reacted to Biopanda in Favourite demo tapes?   
    La Rêve du Fleur - pride of sorrow
  7. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to Gesu in Difference between male and female vkei fans?   
    I must be a straight man then lmao
  8. 悲しい
    Laurence02 reacted to Seelentau in Your last music-related buy!   
    ah, demo is a fake
    so the hunt continues ><
  9. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to Seelentau in Your last music-related buy!   
  10. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to hyura in Naziploitation in Visual-kei   
    A lot has been already written about the SS uniform being an 'edgy fashion thing' that was copied over and over again by generations of vk bands from the 80s until today. Personally I think it's cringy and stupid but I can't really feel offended after seeing it done so many times.
    In fact it's also pretty exotic and in a way understandable that the Japanese wouldn't feel as sensitive to it as Europeans and would generally be less educated about it than them.
    What I find much more problematic is the way a lot of bands are using the  imagery of Japanese imperialism. (WWII Uniforms, rising sun flags, propaganda) After all, Japan has its own fascist history of imperialism and war crimes, mainly in other Asian countries. And in contrast to Germany they don't really admit them and don't make mention of it in their history books. It's not really controversial to use these images, despite the crimes they stand for. Using symbols from foreign history as some exotic gimmick is one thing (albeit not great), but using the same propaganda your ancestors used a while back without any proper reflection and not expecting backlash either just shows that young Japanese people are very oblivious and ignorant due to their lack of a proper political education.
  11. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from jaymee in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  12. I feel ya..
    Laurence02 got a reaction from dovesi in Is YOHIO and DISREIGN really bad people?   
    I eat it too. I am a proud Swede.
  13. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to Karma’s Hat in Is YOHIO and DISREIGN really bad people?   
    In that case visual kei might not be for you
     
     
  14. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Naaaaani in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  15. wow
    Laurence02 got a reaction from FOSCOR70 in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  16. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Anne Claire in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  17. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Seimeisen in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  18. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Arkady in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  19. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Gesu in VK/J-rock confessions   
    I don't give a shit about new X Japan. I've never listened to that and I have no desire to start.
  20. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Ito in Favorite J-rock Guitar Solos!   
    You're never gonna make me change my mind on this. I'm a huge fan of Kuroageha and their old-school, silky-smooth, metal-ish ballads.
    5:12 to 6:07:
     
     
  21. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from IGM_Oficial in Your last music-related buy!   
    My latest purchases. Please excuse the shitty photo!
     
     
    Emergency Express 1992 ~surging the next crisis~
    黒蝪蝶 (Kuroageha) - 帝王切開
    黒蝪蝶 (Kuroageha) - 遺書剥奪 (3rd Press)
    GACKT - Episode.0
    Skywings - The Advent Melody (2013 version) 
    Mars Brigade - Progress
  22. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from VESSMIER in Your last music-related buy!   
    My latest purchases. Please excuse the shitty photo!
     
     
    Emergency Express 1992 ~surging the next crisis~
    黒蝪蝶 (Kuroageha) - 帝王切開
    黒蝪蝶 (Kuroageha) - 遺書剥奪 (3rd Press)
    GACKT - Episode.0
    Skywings - The Advent Melody (2013 version) 
    Mars Brigade - Progress
  23. Like
    Laurence02 reacted to maddcat in [Selling] the Gallo/ギャロ OLD misc. items!   
    ギャロ/THE GALLO various comment DVDs/photosets/live distributed CDs

    2 old live distributed CDs, each containing 3 tracks.
     


    7 old comment DVDs (1 is more of a sample dvd including live footage)


     
    Photos include 4 live shots purchased via convenience store in Japan 2010, two artist photos of Kaede and Wajow, 2 group photos (1 is signed by all members)
     

     
    1 very large poster (Alice in world's end era) ask for picture!
     
    I do also have chekis of Jojo and Hikaru but I'm not sure where they are, if anyone wants them I can search my room and hopefully find them 😂

    All items are shipped from Sweden.

    I'd like to sell the DVDs/CDs in a bunch but of course they can be purchased separately aswell.

    If anyone is interested, leave a comment or message me to discuss prices.
  24. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from crucifiction in Your last music-related buy!   
    Thanks @Shadowtear!
     
    Kuroageha's LIVE at ON AIR WEST, 夜想曲, and Sad Song PV videos.
  25. Like
    Laurence02 got a reaction from Cantavanda in Your last music-related buy!   
    Thanks @Shadowtear!
     
    Kuroageha's LIVE at ON AIR WEST, 夜想曲, and Sad Song PV videos.
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