VISUAL KEI BEGINNER'S GUIDE xDD
So after a good long healthy debate over visual kei subgenres as we name them here's an easy, understandable & legit guide! Please look to it and add on your opinions, thankyou! ^^
1) 80s Visual Kei - when things were taking form as shoots and plants - music was more of Gothic rock.
2) 90s Visual Kei - when the shoots and plants became trees - experimental music, will find metal and club sort together; but since they were all experimental and mostly included shocking visuals and were breaking stereotypes they were all brethren.
3) 2000 onwards Visual Kei - when only fruits and flowers are growing out of the tree, eventually becoming plastic fruits and flowers - It is called Neo Visual (neo meaning the modern wave to the traditional existence); so everything we hear in our contemporary works of vk, be it good or garbage.
As for subgenres- THERE'S NONE in 80s & 90s visual kei scene, it's all contemporary construct
1) Tanbi Kei - European classical aesthetics - Versailles, Vampire Rose, Moi dix Mois, Misaruka, etc.
2) It has two further parts :
2a) Kote-Kote Kei (also abbreviated as Kote Kei) - bands emulating 90s sound - Phantasmagoria, Missa, La'miss Fairy, EREMIA etc.
2b) Neo Kote-Kote Kei (also called Neo Kote Kei) - bands emulating 90s sound with symphonic operatic and modern symphonic influences - Megaromania, Grieva etc.
3) Koteosa (Koteosa = kote-kote/kote + Oshare) - darker versions of lighter themes - Himeyuri, Sick² etc.
4) It has two further parts :
4a) Old Oshare Kei - metal sounds with happy and everyday themes which show in the bubbly lyrics & bright odd costumes, but heavy instruments & screams connect it to vk properly with dark motifs present in costumes too - DEViL KiTTY, early An Cafe, Anjyu', Milphinne etc.
4b) Neo Oshare Kei - happy bubbly poprock with costumes stylized as leaning more towards mainstream & edgy makeup - late An Cafe, Canzel, Dog In The PWO, UNiTE etc.
5) Angura Kei - traditional Japanese setting & costumes with death as themes - Birushana, Kiryu, Waggakki etc.
6) Eroguro Kei - Erotic + Gore & nonsense (not bad nonsense but nonsensical) themes - cali≠gari, Inugami Circus dan etc.
7) Nagoya Kei - bands from Nagoya - Kyokutou Girlfriend, AvelCain etc.
8) Soft visual Kei - as the name suggest, this is a softer, toned-down style of visual kei. Band members wear natural make-up and classy outfits, and the songs are catchy and easy listening. This was really popular during the boom era (2000-2006), but is nearly extinct these days. - Janne da arc, SID (late era)
9) Kobushi Kei - Kobushi (fist) kei seems to be a fairly new genre and refers to bands that forbidssaki, so the fans have to raise their fists instead. Most of these bands are heavier in their sound, but without the flashy attire of kote kei. - OZ, girugamesh, Dir en grey (late visual era), DEATHGAZE, ScReW, UnsraW, Sadie, the GazettE.
10) Cosplay Kei - it's not cosplaying anime or manga or movie etc. at all! This type is called so because the songs & costumes are theme based like fairy tales, horror tales, dragons, pirates, video games etc. and artists become characters while their songs are aptly written so. The music differs from pop rock to heavy metal to simple rock to experimental etc. - Psycho le Cemu, Mix Speaker's,Inc., Souiumono etc.
11) Elegothic Kei - Velvet Eden likely fall into this category along with Kaya and Hora's projects, either it's Electro Gothic, or Elegant Gothic...
12) Kurafu Kei - (Literally means "Colorful Kei", Normal Kote Kei with Bright colors, Usually reds and blues) - Metis Gretel, The Piass, ∀NTI FEMINISM, etc.
Basically then here's the CRUX - Two phases of Visual Kei, “80s to 90s" & “Neo Visual" (contemporary). The subgenres which we use are subgenres of Neo Visual ONLY and DOES NOT APPLY to the old/previous phase of vk.
Made by +IGARASHI YURI & +La'Keysha Fairley after lots of listening and research from reading here and there and our own observations. Thank you for reading! ^^
#Visual_Kei_Beginners_Guide
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