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| {{nihongo|'''Visual kei'''|ヴィジュアル系|vijuaru kei|literally "visual style"}} refers to a movement in ]ese art and popular culture where a ] or character in a work of ] is distinguished by eccentric, sometimes flamboyant looks. This usually involves striking ], unusual hair styles and elaborate ]s, often coupled with ] or ] aesthetics.<ref>{{cite web | title=New York Times article on Hideto Matsumoto's death | work=nytimes.com | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00EFD7103DF93BA25755C0A96E958260}}</ref> | |||
| {{unreferenced|article|date=December 2006}} | |||
| Beside occurrences in ] and ] (such as ]'s '']''), these outlandish looks have enjoyed popularity in Japanese music with similarities to and influences from ]an and ] genres like ], ] and ]. Popular bands who at least at some point sported a visual kei theme include ], ] and ]. | |||
| {{Infobox Music genre | |||
| | name = Visual kei | |||
| | color = #BB0022 | |||
| | bgcolor = white | |||
| | stylistic_origins = ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] | |||
| | cultural_origins = ] ] | |||
| | instruments = ], ], ], ] | |||
| | popularity = Mostly within Japanese independent scene, smaller followings across the globe. | |||
| | derivatives = | |||
| | subgenrelist = Japanese rock | |||
| | subgenres = ], ], ], ] | |||
| | fusiongenres = | |||
| | regional_scenes = | |||
| | other_topics = | |||
| }} | |||
| ⚫ | ==References== | ||
| {{nihongo|'''Visual kei'''|ヴィジュアル系|vijuaru kei|literally "visual style"}} refers to a movement in ]ese art and popular culture which started in the 1980s and became widely popular in the Japanese ] scene by the 1990s. | |||
| <!--This section uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/Cite/Cite.php --> | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| ⚫ | <references/> | ||
| </div> | |||
| == |
==See also== | ||
| * ] | |||
| Some fans believe that the ''visual kei'' movement was started "''almost single handedly''"<ref>http://youtube.com/group/xjapan</ref> by ]. However, a rising trend of utilizing visual shock to gain membership in the independent scene was well in effect by the time X went major. In this sense, X Japan may be seen not as a catalyst for the movement but a mechanism to involve dominant Japanese popular culture with it. | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| However, many of the magazines that later became visual kei magazines, most notably ''Fool's Mate'', had been published since the early 80's, but had a focus on UK ] artists, some aspects of which are visible in the look of visual bands. | |||
| {{Japan-stub}} | |||
| Bands in the early 1990s such as ], ], ], ], and ] along with previous bands ] and ] encouraged a "boom" of this media culture. | |||
| ==Characteristics== | |||
| Visual kei is characterized by bands using dramatic costumes and visual imagery to enhance the band's performance. Within ], the fan-base almost solely consists of girls and young women and is marketed strongly to that audience with items such as tradeable stickers, glossy photo-books, picture-postcards of band members and so on. | |||
| Members of visual kei bands often wear striking makeup, style their hair in dramatic shapes (reminiscent of "]" bands from the '80s) and wear elaborate costumes. Although the vast majority of the musicians are male, band members will often wear makeup and clothing which would be considered 'feminine' or '].' Recently, some bands are returning to the more colourful and "fantastic" image popular 5 or 6 years ago, taking inspiration from computer ] and ]. The appeal of the costumes to fans is so great that large numbers of girls will ] as members of their favourite bands, particularly in ], at live concerts in Japan, or in England, Poland, North America, Chile, Israel, Spain and Australia at ] conventions. | |||
| <!-- Unsourced image removed: ] of ], exemplifying visual kei image.]] --> | |||
| Because the visual kei genre remains at the edges of Japanese mainstream sensibility, as bands rise in popularity and sign to major labels, they may tone down their wild, colorful image, as well as extreme musical flourishes like screaming or audience-chanted lyrics that often characterize visual kei. For example, ]'s early years were characterized by eye-catching kimono-style costumes, but in their 2006 PV "Sakebi" the band appeared in suits. The loss of fashion and musical style may alienate fans who have followed bands from their inception. However, not all artists lose their visual kei image as they go major. ] and ] are examples of bands whose stage costumes became only more fantastic during their major label eras. | |||
| ===Bands=== | |||
| *'']'' | |||
| Visual kei bands, being defined primarily by visual style, do not necessarily play a specific type of music. However, there are bands playing or influenced by ''Heavy Metal'' (]), ''Darkwave'' (], ]), ''Industrial rock'', ''Punk rock'' and various other genres can be found. Taking the genre in a wide sense, most of the bands would be considered to play some kind of "rock" music. | |||
| Visual kei is closely linked with other fashion styles like ] and musical subgenres such as ] and ], which also have their own fashion styles. | |||
| A newer style of visual kei that showed up in the 2000's is ]. ], formerly from ], now a solo artist, is said to be one of the few that exemplifies this style.{{fact}} | |||
| ==Current status== | |||
| Visual kei remains a diverse, ever expanding genre. Many of the bands are beginning to play outside of ]. Bands such as ], ], ], ], and others have toured ] and ]. | |||
| ⚫ | == |
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| ⚫ | <references |
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Revision as of 11:03, 19 January 2007
Visual kei (ヴィジュアル系, vijuaru kei, literally "visual style") refers to a movement in Japanese art and popular culture where a performing artist or character in a work of fiction is distinguished by eccentric, sometimes flamboyant looks. This usually involves striking make-up, unusual hair styles and elaborate costumes, often coupled with androgyny or bishōnen aesthetics.
Beside occurrences in anime and manga (such as Kaori Yuki's Angel Sanctuary), these outlandish looks have enjoyed popularity in Japanese music with similarities to and influences from European and American genres like punk, glam and shock rock. Popular bands who at least at some point sported a visual kei theme include Luna Sea, Malice Mizer and X Japan.
References
- "New York Times article on Hideto Matsumoto's death". nytimes.com.
See also
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