Visual Kei: The Drama and Extravagance

Whether you have a love of Japanese pop music or you love wonderfully elaborate and entrancing styles, you’ll find that visual kei is right up your alley. Visual kei, which is literally translated to “visual style”, is a term that is used to refer to a movement among Japanese musicians who have devoted themselves to an aesthetic that is colorful, eye-catching and extremely dramatic. Depending on what is being referenced, the term visual kei may also refer to that method of dressing, the subculture that has grown up around the music.

What is it that makes visual kei different from more standard forms of Japanese rock, which is often abbreviated to J-rock? In many cases, it is the style of dress affected by the bands. Without a doubt, it is the aesthetic of this musical movement that sets it apart, and far from being a comment on the musicians’ skill, it has been embraced as being one more important part of the performance. The movement first got underway in the late eighties, but it wasn’t until around 2000 that this movement started to receive notice in the international arena.

As an aesthetic style, visual kei can perhaps be described as a bright mixture of punk and goth. Many of the bands that subscribe to this look have invested in amazingly detailed and tailored costumes and in some cases, cross-dressing might be involved. Whether the male band members are convincingly dressed as women or whether they are simply wearing flattering dresses is something that changes depending on the band or even on the moment. There is also very much a sense of the artificial with regards to visual kei style; there is a strong tendency towards very pale, very smooth makeup and towards elaborately applied eyeliner.

If you are thinking about taking a look at visual kei styles or if you are interested in listening to visual kei bands, there are a several resources that might interest you. For instance, there are several great magazines that are published in the United States that will help you figure out a sense of the style, and they include Cure, Kera and Shoxx. You will also find that there are plenty of pictures available on the Internet of these bands and of people dressing in this fashion, and above all, they are quite lovely and unique.

One popular visual kei band was Malice Mizer, a band that was active until 2001. They had very strong French influences in both their songs and in their styles of dress and through their career; they progressed through a Gothic Victorian aesthetic that was highly imitated by other visual kei bands. Though the band went on hiatus in 2001, their music and their style remains an important part of the genre.

Another important visual kei musician is Miyavi, who performed with the group Dué le Quartz. Miyavi, who was once known as Miyabe, started his own solo career after Dué le Quartz disbanded in 2002, and remains an important part of the musical movement.

There is a lot of great information out there on visual kei and plenty of great merchandise as well, ranging from CDs to DVDs of the extravagant performances, to some really lovely cosplay gear so make sure that you check it out!