Osare-Kei (also called Oshare, along with other variants) is a kind of musical and aesthetic style comprised within the Visual Kei genre. The creation of this branch is commonly attributed to Baroque, a visual kei band formed in 2001. Unlike the subgenres known until then, Oshare Kei originally had as its premise a musical style inclined to Happy Punk (Pop Rock), added with a light and colorful clothing.
After their first exhibition and quickly attracting the attention of fans for presenting an unusual aesthetic due to the over-exploitation of kote-kei, different bands emerged in this initial period with a similar proposal. By 2002, bands like Kra, Charlotte, Grimm, Milphinne and Porori had drastically changed their appearances and musical styles, adopting them to this new style, being considered as the main promoters along with Baroque.
Already in 2004, with the appearance of bands like An Cafe, bis and Shelly Trip Realize, there was a boom for Oshare Kei. His songs with catchy melodies and upbeat lyrics were easy to listen to, quickly gaining popularity.
In 2005, the Oshare Kei was linked by some bands with the Decora aesthetic style, which had its boom in the 90s, brought back mainly by Eimy and Delphinium (which did not have much impact).
Finally, in 2007, Oshare Kei had gradually changed its basal musical style for the next decade: the addition of electronic music. Bands that promoted this new adaptation were Canzel, v[NEU], ZORO, SuG, among others.
Currently, the Oshare Kei has not achieved the same popularity as it did in the early decade due to various factors. One of the most common is that bands break up before being really valued or recognized (a common element within Visual Kei). Another important factor is the lack of originality when producing new Osare music.
However, thanks to the modern times in which we are living, there are better ways for bands to promote their musical and visual proposal, achieving immediate popularity within the reach of a click, through YouTube and other social networks. Currently, some of the most recognized bands that continue with their activities and represent the Oshare Kei style are DOG inThePWO, Vivarush, LM.C, among others.
What is your favorite Oshare Kei band? Thanks for reading this short review!