This was a really interesting video! As a black girl who’s also into vkei, im so happy youtube recommend your video to me

Most VK I can't get into cause most is not heavy or dark. Dir en grey will always be my favorite for they always kept it that way and damn good at it still!

I was a firm osare kei hater back in the day but even I had to admit that ANCAFE's Smile Ichiban Ii Onna was top tier. All these years later it still gets stuck in my head from time to time! Totally in the same boat with a lot of these though. I feel like the popular bands were harder to get into because by the time you encounter them they have like 6 albums and 800 singles. Where the smaller bands might get out one single before they disband so you just play it over and over.

You got an instant follow when you said one of your favorite groups is Sadie lol. Love those guys. Teenage me had such an obsession, I remember buying these Japanese music magazines at Hot Topic whenever Sadie was in it. Hopefully going to see them next year when I visit Japan! Super excited (and nervous) about it.

I was deadass about to leave a comment about Exist Trace right before you mentioned them. I once ran a half marathon with them on a playlist in my ears for 2 hours straight. I loved all their stuff before their album VIRGIN. Everything after that started sounding like jazzy casino music or Isekai OPs and left me feeling a type of way. You made a video before about how the sound of visual kei is changing and that's pretty much what's happening 🤷🏾‍♂️ Side note, when Bou left An Cafe I was so lost in my life. Like, if Bou is gone, what's left? "If we can't go to Bella Noche's where the hell can we go?!" 😂😂

It’s the fact the all the bands you couldn’t get into, they’re all one of my favorites 😭. (Nightmare is the only one I could agree with a bit :,)

When u said u weren’t really into D my jaw dropped 😂 i was surprised but good to see u getting into them. Asagis voice is beautiful

For me my favourite Visual Kei bands are the symphonic/ power/ thrash/ heavy metal style groups.

I'm so happy to see that VK fans exist 🥹😍. Never was a huge fan of oshare kei. Scapegoat, mejibray and crimson Shiva were around my wheel house since I normal favor Black metal Death metal and core.

Hi! I am a nightmare fan. You have a valid point. Especially the recent work of them, the songs always sound the same and i cant really get into their new songs. Their older ones (2003-2006) are far more better. You are completely correct on how their songs dont sound original and i respect your opinion Once i heard the same riff from Dasei Boogie which is a song from 2004-2005 ish The same riff is at the song on one of their song in the Killer Show album. (Idk how to spell it since its written in japanese) its like at the end and i heard the same riff. Idk if im tripping but i get your point and i really dont believe that any Nightmare fans have any reason to attack you and defend the band when your point is correct

I'm so glad I discovered your channel. So much nostalgia. ❤ And I remember that feeling of desperately wanting to like a visual kei band's music, haha. Had that with amber gris. I loved their looks so much. The fact that I couldn't get into their songs drove me mad, lol.

omg the intro with -Oz

Ryoga is so good in Razor. i think Razor is one of my favorites purely because Ryoga is the vocalist. i absolutely love his vocal tone and the music is so good. i would definitely recommend checking out Razor’s music!

I really love your dedication to visual Kei and spreading the word of the scene 👹🇯🇵🤙! I try to do so as well! As being a Glam Rock/ Metal scene it's still very misunderstood & unknown. Unfortunately I didn't find out about the J - Rock /VK until after high school. It's also a shame you never got into -D- they are super unique and talented band Asagi is a VK God! I'm so sad they're going on hiatus after the end of this year 😢... But as a vampire theme they've had a very successful career.

Interesting video! As someone who has been into vk for about 17 years, many of these bands are the same for some reason. I did listen to Alice Nine and Exist Trace a bit, but they were never my favorites. Kiryu I've barely listened to at all. I tried SCREW, but I didn't find them interesting enough in sound or styling. But you are right, many of these bands are probably great if I just gave them a chance. I just didn't for whatever reason. Also, loved hearing OZ in the intro.

Love Visual Kei 👍🍀✨

D=OUT is just pronounced as "doubt" since it's based off of the foreign word! IMO they're criminally underrated and get mistaken for oshare kei a lot (they aren't) but obvs to each their own and what not ❤️ I too couldn't get into Alice Nine though, I never understood at the time why they were so popular 😅

I feel so old. The mid to late 2000s was my high school and early college years... I was lucky and saw a lot of artists in concert... then after college I lived in Japan for over 5 years and saw even more. lol I agree with most of your choices, and I had the same "I know them and think they're cool" but then never really got deep in the music. An Cafe is probably the group out of these that I listened to the most, but I went to a concert that had MUCC as one of the guests...and Despairsray was there too, so I ended up seeing them live even though I still don't know them well. I think they have one song (Garnet) I've ever listened to regularly. 😅

out of topic but i like your voice! idk feels like we're actually talking face to face hehe also what are your thoughts to mainstream vkei bands like malice mizer, buck-tick, dir en grey and the gazette?

Very interesting video. :) About D, I also wasn't their fan when I heard their music for the first time years ago, I don't know why, maybe because it was in begginings of me listening to Visual Kei and I was searching for different style that D have. My first band was The Gazette and I was searching for something similar, not the same, but D is completely different music genre. In that time I found D'espairsRay and Girugämesh very intetesting, and Lycaon started in that time. But I must say that in end of last year I've listen to more their songs, I think almost all songs, what is kinda difficult because their discography is huge. :D But I really like them now, really good symphonic/speed/power/folk metal band. :) I really recommend song "Draconids", one of my favourites by them.

When you said you couldn’t get into Kiryu, I thought it was because of Mahiro’s voice because that’s the usual reason why people don’t like the band. Personally I love them because I think they’re creative and a lot of their songs are really good (hyakkiyoku is a good one for those who haven’t listened to them before). Also, not liking ExistTrace back in the day made people refer to you as “sexist” lol

As soon as I heard Kiryu my hand instinctely tried to reach my chest in shock 😅

NOOO I LOVE EXIST TRACE 😭 I also love Ganglion too hfkdnhxh altho tbh I don't blame you, misogyny was really normalized back in those days even amongst fan girls. Visual Kei is honestly such a male dominated subculture, which is so weird to me since at its core it embraces gender nonconformity so it would make more sense if it expanded to women and people of other genders too. I'd also love to see more bands with trans and nonbinary members but know very little examples 🥺😔

oh god, i never really listened to born. during the pause to read slide i assumed you were talking about their members and i just wanted to google them for reference... but even after selecting results for the specific band all image results are babies being born 🤦‍♀🤦‍♀🤦‍♀🤦‍♀ i wasn't gonna comment this if i didn't see anyone else talking about it, but alice nine are gonna stop activities once they finish touring in... september i think? which made me sad, because i got back into them a couple years ago and i was also happy to see them still around like you had mentioned. they're calling it an indefinite hiatus. they were my bias group back in the day, 10-11 years ago. i too mostly knew a couple songs from most groups, but i went back to theirs more and could remember what i liked by them. funny thing---a band that i didn't really get into until recently is actually the gazette. i mean i was here for them, i knew i'd like their stuff but for a long time i didn't know much by them that i liked. i don't think i remember a single specific song of theirs that i liked back in the day. maybe reila? i'm not even sure though, i know that there were a few though. i thought of them to be like alice nine but bigger and more stylish. with both a9 and the gazette, i like a lot of their work but im not always big on like, metalcore kind of stuff. well i remembered what i liked by alice nine but for the gazette, i did not. there's a good amount of both of their work that i'm not into but i'm still enthusiastic about the bands in general. i'm looking forward to the new gazette album next year. if they do an international tour, i'd love to see them. anyway, great video. you're making me wish i was more involved with the fandom back in the day. i think i tried to be but i just never really fell down the rabbithole. i think it just wasnt really big where i was looking for it. but yeah, nice video and have a good one. and thank you for the song recs!

Awwww AliceNine was my favorite and they just went on pretty much permanent hiatus :( But all the other bands you mentioned I never got into either.

When getting into D'espairs Ray you need to watch the backstages too, it's normal to feel scared at first but the guys are so silly out of character. I personally loved their early style and first album, saw them in concert too, my favorite song is Grudge. I heard Hizumi formed a new band, and Karyu joined Angelo, not sure about the others. I still cherish my Zero's bass pick I catched at the concert. I actually mostly agree with you about the other bands. For D's recommendations I really like "Yami yori kurai doukoku no acapella to bara yori akai jounetsu no aria" (also took me a bit to get the full title, they're difficult to google because of the single letter name), it has a part with Asagi trying to sing opera style which I'm not sure can be considered successful but it is interesting. Asagi is also one of the most lasting visual kei artists, most eventually grow out of the style.

I just realized I’m not even a vkei fan because I only genuinely love modern Dir En Grey ( from their 2005 albums to now ) and that’s it 😅 And, total opposite of you because I initially discovered them musically and didn’t bothered searching for what they looked like before actually going to a concert and seeing them live. I don’t really care about the visual aspect of it so I guess that just makes me a regular metalhead and not a vkei fan 💀

I find I have similar opinions to yours, plenty of good visual bands that the music just didn’t do anything for me. It’s funny what time does to our music taste too. I’ve found recently that bands (or even certain eras of a bands music) that I thought I wasn’t interested in, sparked my interest after another listen, even years later.

OMG SOMEONE MENTIONED 12012 OMGMGMFSKSSKS

And because I feel I need to help you soul look up visual kei j rock forever

I felt the same way about alice nine, i have a handful of their songs, but im going to try them again if their still around. D'espairsray, never came up on my radar until much later, but at that point i just didnt want to get into new bands. 😅

I love D and Asagi-san!

I never got into Alice nine or despairs, but panic*ch was cool, I liked old dir en grey, Lulu, deadman, vidoll, lareine.. X Japan, hide solo or malice mizer was my top favourites 💕 really good mentions in this video! Oshare kei also still have a spot in my heart, I also wonder what happened to Bou! I remember everyone wondering about him on forums back then.

agree at most of your elections and adding Gackt and L'Arc~en~Ciel, never really could get into them and i recomend dasei boogie and nazuki from nigthmare, great songs

I’m a fan of all the bands you listed there’s not too many vkei styles and bands I don’t like however I hadn’t listened to a whole lot of an cafe or trace, d=out is pronounced doubt.

VKEI AND JOJO POSTER IN THE BACK 🗣🗣🗣🗣

Hey guys, please help me out. What is the song, thats playing in the beginning when the Savette logo is on? It is god damn familiar but I can not remember.

Just wanted to say you titled it 'On Cafe' but they're 'An Cafe' short for 'Antic Cafe'.... And really their band ranges through a ton of genres and styles, they've got an era for everyone to enjoy, if you look through their entire catalog I'm sure you'd find songs of theirs that you enjoy. Also they were the pioneers of Oshare-kei music and I think there should be some love for that too. Please tell me what types of songs you enjoy the most and I guarantee I'll find some An Cafe songs you love! Sadly, they have officially broken up and have done a true final farewell tour just this year, so I'm heartbroken but hoping all the members find new passions and hopefully I'll be into their new projects!

I heard Gazette first, and they're still my favorite band, but I haven't heard much of their last two albums. I also like Kagrra, a lot, and Miyavi. I tried to get into other bands, including Dir en Grey, but just didn't really click. I like a couple of songs by D, Grimoire, Alice 9. That's it. But back in 2011 or so, I had heard every single Gazette song.

I still love Alice Nine, at least their earlier stuff. I see them as legend. Their song called Mirror Ball imho, is one of the best visual kei rock songs ever. I miss that midst 2000s era. For newer generation I recommend Arlequine and Ashmaze, they do some amazing stuff. *I'm a huge fan of Luna Sea btw, they're still the best visual kei rock band ever, especially in their "prime" era.

Not sure how got here, I don't listen to this genre of music. I haven't even heard any of this genre. Don't know why im watching lore on it lol. Anyways great video, cool contacts, very beautiful. Cheers

I never got into an cafe, d (I do love syndrome though) , d=out, dir en grey, gilgumesh, daizy stripper and luna sea, I oddly like insanity injection which I know most probably wouldn't get into, I dont think they're bad but its just my personal taste, I do like 1 or 2 dir en grey songs but never really got into them

Do you at least listen to Asagi's solo stuff?

Do you know Ganglion ? Female visual kei band that sounds good!

If you love Gazette you will get it

Nightmare fan here. For me The World and Alumina were ruined to me because they were "overhyped" and they had a much greater variety of songs I thought were better. Yomi messes up his voice a lot after 2010. You may like their 2015~ since his voice is completely different. In 2016 he was diagnosed with dysphonia. Only in January 2024 did he formally announce he was cured of his dysphonia and he still sounds different but there is noticeable improvement Recent songs I'd recommend are Spin and Minus (you can find a performance of Minus on my channel). Completely different to The World and Alumina.

Frell KZfaq!!!!!!!

Born is cool

Do you listen to realies? People barely heard of them 😞

It is visual to begin with.

Check the thirteen dir en gray malice miser larean sid la sadie vivid vistlip kuroyuri to kage memento mori, the Gazette SIM fact ellegarden one ok rock,

não consegui gostar de an cafe

Cool, there is still vk channels! 99% agree with the list, except D'espa! At times I loved them more than Dir en grey. But they also often came to Germany, always were a blast. Really loved nightmares first or second? album. But yeah, after that Yomi just never developed his singing. Was shocked the other day that their newest single basically sounds like 20 years ago... Band I never got into are all the Kamijo and Kisaki bands... Versailles and so on... the arrogant aristocrat style was off-putting...

.............. YT deleted my f**king comment...

I'm so annoyed with YT right now... all I'm doing is trying to comment about VK and my channel.... It's the most annoying frelling thing ever!

to be honest i dont really like 12012... i dont really like there music😭

I disagree

Wait! I’m okay he same way sort of. I got into vkei about a year ago casually but my fixation is here now and I have a lot of band photos on Pinterest saved for some I don’t even listen to lol but then again a lot of bands I learn about aren’t on Apple Music so 🥲

Nightmare! :O I love nightmare!

I was so emo but An Cafe was just too