Hey everyone!
I am a v系 veteran I guess (or saw myself as one before my co-workers started sharing their memories about the v-kei shows they attended before I was born), originally from Europe and currently living in Japan.
I was a massive fan of the genre around 2007-2010 (mostly listened to An cafe, Gazette, Dir, LM.C, Sug, Neu, L’arc and everything else that was popular at that time), but a lot of people who I used to look up to have left the fandom, so I kind of switched to listening other kinds of music (I regret it very much)
I also got into uni to do a course in Japanese studies which turned everything Japan-related into a job for me and I only occasionally listened to Gazette and Dir en Grey between 2010 and 2015. I was still quite young and immature and found Dir bit hard to process, so it was a bit of an ‘older sister’ music for me.
I began getting curious about v系 again around 2014 and went to see An Cafe, which was fun, but it was the end of me being interested in the band.
I moved to Japan in 2015 and became a LM.C gya, but lost interest in the band soon as I found their lives a bit repeptitive and their new music a bit generic (still think that their early releases are absolutely fantastic)
Then go absolutely obsessed with Dir and Gazette again, after attending their live shows, and have been like that for 7 years! I enjoy occasionally listening to other v-kei stuff as well, both old and new. I collect Gazette merch and fliers and different artwork, including their 会報, and try not to give too much money to Dir en Grey as I find their label super shady (I happily went to see Petit Brabancon because they are under a different company)
Now, I will be trying to get more into the genre/fandom/subculture as a way to reconnect with my past and find some normalcy to deal with the world being so unstable and dangerous recently.
That’s it for now! Hoping to make a list of bands that I’ve seen live and post it soon.
