Is Visual Kei a Fashion, Music Genre, or Movement? Exploring V-Kei with Buttcape & @vninja

oh how cool! i didnt think youd make a video about vkei

Taka 😁

i’m gonna check out that brand now thanks 🖤

I love this video! Visual Kei first grabbed my attention when I watched Miyavi's Neo Visualizm video.

日本ではヴィジュアル系は常に過小評価されロックミュージシャンから馬鹿にされていました。容姿についても音楽についても。彼等はあんなものは歌謡曲でありロックではないと言いました。海外の本物のロックを知ってる者からすれば笑い者だといった扱いで、ロック雑誌（ロッキングオンなど）に載る事は決してありませんでした。ヴィジュアル系はヴィジュアル系の専門誌に載る事がほとんどでした。そういった攻撃が一番強かったのがGLAYやSHAZNAが登場したころだと思います。彼等はそれまでのバンドよりソフトな面を持っていた為に大衆に受けましたがヴィジュアル系はより一層馬鹿にされるようになり、ヴィジュアル系と呼ばれる事を避けるバンドも多くなりました。そんな中でL'Arc〜en〜Ciel
が番組MCにヴィジュアル系と呼ばれた事に反発してテレビ番組をボイコットするというような事も起きました。ヴィジュアル系が音楽ジャンルではなくファッションの事であるという分類はその頃に生まれたと感じています。音楽的に多様なバンドが現れもはや共通点を見つけるのが大変になったのです。つまり共通点は化粧をしているという事だけでした。
しかし今振り返ればBUCK-TICKとX JAPANでも音楽的なルーツは全く異なる事に気付きます。BUCK-TICKはパンクやニューウェーブのバンドをルーツにしており、X JAPANはメタルがルーツです。つまり元々化粧をしているということ以外に共通点は存在しなかったのかもしれません。

I produce visual Kei style music.

A main distinction I like to point out is:

The music has well placed melody and harmony.
Includes brilliant orchestration an unique tones

The outfits are ' classy' and well thought out

The Hairstyles are generally uniquely Japanese . A relative anime character vibe.

I produce visual Kei style music.

A main distinction I like to point out is:

The music has well placed melody and harmony.
Includes brilliant orchestration an unique tones

The outfits are ' classy' and well thought out

The Hairstyles are generally uniquely Japanese . A relative anime character vibe.

I produce visual Kei style music.

A main distinction I like to point out is:

The music has well placed melody and harmony.
Includes brilliant orchestration an unique tones

The outfits are ' classy' and well thought out

The Hairstyles are generally uniquely Japanese . A relative anime character vibe.

I produce visual Kei style music.

A main distinction I like to point out is:

The music has well placed melody and harmony.
Includes brilliant orchestration an unique tones

The outfits are ' classy' and well thought out

The Hairstyles are generally uniquely Japanese . A relative anime character vibe.

Where are some of the places they shop

Visual kei people would love royale high

I love the style
But absolutely hate the music 🐀

i’m so happy i found this video i know only a little bit about vkei and really wanted to get into it and this video help a lot :D

ahaha by her way of talking I knew she was german. We love to complain

I love visual kei and when I've transitioned somewhat i intend to be a androgynous VK guy :3

wound up here because Raleigh North Carolina of all places has a kote kei band? shout out to @flooddistrict y’all got me watching kei video essays at 2AM

both, visual kei have a music formules and sounds

in France vk was v popular (but still niche) like the huge boom was in the mid 2000's I got to know it through some friends in middle school, and then an acquintance of mine made me discover MALICE MIZER and I became a huge fan! I got the rest of information online :) thanks for including Mana's "lesbian silence" I love this meme XD I've been to a vk concert in Japan and the experience was out of this world it was exactly like the video extracts (I think it was in the same venue as the 1st one), I vaguely knew one choreography and for the rest I followed the people in the front XD I forgot to mention that I was recovering from a fracture so jumping was hard welp

I will now stan the matenrou opera

I have been a fan of VK for over 2 decades now and for many who are a part of this subculture this is their life although many Japanese girls ‘graduate‘ around their mid- to late 20s here in Japan. You don’t have to dress VK to be a fan of VK or participate in the subculture that’s what I love about it the most. Although it has its very very difficult aspects like girls giving money to their favorite bandmen and bandguys sometimes basically prostituting themselves, the fight between girls who are fans of the same bands etc its still a subculture that gives a lot of people who thing different a place to call their home and community. it’s a subculture you have to experience in Japan to get a feel of it.

i'm starting to learn more about vkei and this was a super informative conversation! thank you so much <3

Visual kei was a movement it's a established culture now case closed

Thank you for a very insightful video! It's so nice to see that someone can still have respectful dialogue about a largely misunderstood topic. I love VKei but have only scratched the surface of what I understand about it. For those who want a deeper dive, check out Bokuwahyde and the community! Anyone who's interested in VKei can find many of us who have a special interest specifically in VKei bands. hide from X Japan inspired not only the brand name but also the entire aesthetic of the creator behind it all... Even the name means "I am Hyde"!

I think that V Kei music is actually very distinctive, it's way more experimental than the western music, it also blends more genres, the same with fashion, it's more experimental and usually leans more towards feminine styles

Living in japan since 2008, came here in 2006 because I liked vk music. I really don't think its fashion as all. It was very clearly a music style. If the fans don't cosplay, they usually don't dress like the bands. They are just going in normal clothes or maybe gothic lolita or any other cuter style. The make up and stage clothes comes off as soon as they leave the stage and usually they just wear jeans and t-shirts or famously adidas tracksuits *laugh*. I often look more rock than my musician friends off stage and I generally just wear ripped jeans and oversized shirts with boots and dark make up. nothing special really.
As mentioned before by others, the fangirl community of the v-kei bands can be pretty toxic and it's very host-ish and always was. It can really kill your joy going to the concerts as going as a non japanese sometimes feels a bit like stepping on landmines when walking through the fans eventhough i disturb nobody and stay glued to the wall most of the time. No community sense really.

I live in Japan and used to often wear Civarize. But I’m in my 30s now and feel a lot of pressure to “dress my age”…

I'm got into visual kei at 2005 and absent from it since 2015 but coming back at 2020 and already many things happen and change in the fandom or i'm just getting old LMAO. This kind of discussion already happened in the past too. But honestly i don't really care if it's label for only visual/fashion or music as long as they make good music, i also like the style or fashion but i don't see the label or its description as something crucial, since art is freedom. At the end they're all musician and sell music as main.

Great video. :) But small correction... Word "angura" describes something different and aren't related to Visual Kei. It's word "underground" in japanese pronunciation and is related to japanese underground theater from 60s if I'm correct, it was some really dark fashion in 90s, but not Visual Kei. Western people started calling bands like Kagrra and Kiryu as Angura Kei, but it's misinformation, it's Wafuu Kei, from word "Wa" which was old name of Japan and it means just japanese style, kimonos, traditional japanese instruments etc.

I wanna be v-kei but like im not skinny and its hard to find oufits that would fit me and idk where to look jf somone has recommendations also im very poor no moneeyy if ppl could recommend cheaper stuff for me to buy clothes pls tell me ♡

Hearing the stories of people who know visual kei much longer is really interesting. I had the feeling that there were a lot of changes and transformations (even morphing different styles) over the years. (in music & fashion). I had the feeling, that in Switzerland the fashion and the music always showed up together. (but the popularity has faded )

I got into vkei late 2023 and I think the fashion and music are important equally, and the music is a lot of different genera’s. I love vkei so much! I’m so glad people are talking about it more and more ppl are getting into it! Like me

I’m starting to get into this subculture and so far, this has helped a lot. The music is amazing!

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Visual Kei was my shit back in middle school ('07-'08), and I randomly started getting more videos about it recommended to me recently. Educate meeeeeee! It definitely feels like it's not just a single thing--it's definitely a combination of music, fashion, and culture. I would definitely consider it a subculture!

Rubie Drive

the teased hair reminds me of 80s new romantic/goth hair styles

Moore Mountains

The comments are so fresh😭

This is so helpful 😭 getting into vkei is overwhelming and a lot of fans are very “name every song”

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Rodriguez Sandra Lewis Angela Garcia Charles

Javon Fields

Nostalgia! I was hugely into V-Kei in my early 2000s :D. Nowadays I am not anymore, but it's fun to listen to interviews like that :).

I remember @buttcape from the OG EGL days! Stephano we barely missed each other at that legendary A-Kon show ;o;

Watching this while pooping