"Visual Style"[1][2]), abbreviated v-kei (V系, bui kei), is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s.

The movement's success continued through the 2000s with Gackt and more musically broad bands such as Dir En Grey, the Gazette, Alice Nine, Girugamesh, and Versailles, a period which some critics term "neo-visual kei" (ネオ・ヴィジュアル系).

"[6][7] Visual kei emerged in the 1980s Japanese underground music scene,[8] pioneered by bands such as X Japan, Dead End, Buck-Tick, D'erlanger, and Color.

[11] Japanese pop culture website Real Sound wrote that similarities between the appearances and behavior of the founders of visual kei and members of the yankī delinquent subculture are often noted.

[18] Dead End even had albums Ghost of Romance and Shámbara (1988) released by American label Metal Blade Records, with radio station and MTV exposure in the United States.

[3] Extasy was created by X Japan drummer and leader Yoshiki and signed bands, not limited to visual kei acts, that would go on to make marks on the Japanese music scene, including Zi:Kill,[24] Tokyo Yankees and Ladies Room.

[25][24] Free-Will was founded by Color vocalist and leader Dynamite Tommy, and while at the time not as popular as Extasy, it had many moderately successful acts, such as By-Sexual and Kamaitachi.

[4] In 1998, Billboard's Steve McClure commented that "To a certain extent, hide's death means the end of an era, X were the first generation of visual kei bands, but the novelty has worn off.

[42] As other bands could not meet financial expectations, most major companies backed out of the movement,[4] and it became an underground style often associated with the rebellious generation, non-conforming to proper society.

[4] The difference between the first and second generation is that the second; has no straightforward music style, ranging from metal to pop, but still seemingly focused on heavy rock genres; the fashion and gender ambiguities are of central importance.

[14][15] From this generation the subgenre "oshare kei" (オサレ系) emerged, where the musicians produce upbeat pop rock and wear bright colorful attire.

[66] According to sales figures from online music store CDJapan, some of the internationally popular visual kei acts on the late 2010s include the Gazette, Kamijo, Nocturnal Bloodlust, Versailles, Jupiter, Mejibray, lynch., Dimlim, Matenrou Opera, Miyavi, D, Diaura, Dadaroma, Initial'L, A9, Buck-Tick, Yoshiki, Hyde, Luna Sea, Mucc, Hizaki and Gackt.

She cited Nocturnal Bloodlust's muscular vocalist Hiro for defying the usual delicate appearance of visual kei musicians, 0.1g no Gosan for utilizing tropes of underground idols, such as playing tug of war with fans during concerts, Choke for their avant-garde form of rap metal, and former D'espairsRay drummer Tsukasa Mogamigawa for being the first visual kei enka singer.

[38] It is not associated with any one musical style,[75][76][77] as visual kei artists play a variety of genres including punk rock, heavy metal, pop, electronica, classical, and industrial.

[2][75] Visual kei musicians often have elaborate, dyed hair, extravagant costumes, frequently with leather, PVC or lace, or based on traditional Japanese clothing pieces, and excessive jewelry.

This rose to prominence through the success of Malice Mizer, whose guitarist Mana performed dressed as a woman and singer Gackt was a "living specimen of bishōnen".

[79][87] Dejima generalized visual kei as being based on the androgynous sensibilities of the New Romantic movement and Los Angeles metal scene, or the goth subculture, and topped off with elements from "strange" and "taboo" interests such as Lolita, psychopathy, and the occult.

Nowadays, there's one band and everyone copies off of them," with Free-Will founder and Color frontman Tommy concluding with "I don't think our breed of visual kei exists anymore.

"[92] In 2013, Kiyoharu (Kuroyume, Sads) said that although he, Ryuichi (Luna Sea) and Hyde (L'Arc-en-Ciel) were influenced by Morrie (Dead End), they "sublimated each other" inventing something new, but the younger generation is more imitative.

[93] In the same interview, Morrie added that the problem with new visual kei bands is that "they're established as a genre... well, there's probably a part of it that's business-wise, but it wouldn't be fun if it got stiff.

"[93] Time Out Tokyo's Bunny Bissoux concluded in 2015 that the movement "today is basically a parallel of the J-pop idol system" and "that originally prided itself on being different, it now attracts those who want to 'look' visual kei.

[7] Magazines published regularly in Japan with visual kei coverage are Arena 37 °C, Cure, Fool's Mate Express, Shoxx, Shock Wave, Rock and Read among others.

The popularity and awareness of visual kei groups outside Japan has seen an increase in recent years, mostly through internet and Japanese anime,[94] shown for example by German magazines Peach (discontinued in 2011[95]) and Koneko, as well European record label Gan-Shin.

The biggest fan communities are found in United States, Germany, Poland, Russia, France and Brazil and to some extent Finland, Chile and Sweden.

[96] From this influence on international youth subcultures, bands like Cinema Bizarre emerged, but they hesitate to consider themselves visual kei because they are not ethnically Japanese.

[98] According to the musicologists, the Lacanist psychoanalysis of the subculture indicates that the fascination with the singer's voice (the lack of understanding amplifies the effect), as well ineffable and unfulfillable desire, are what attracts most of the (predominantly female) fans to the groups on an international scale.