Ah, the Wonderful Creatures Known as Bangya

Hello. This is Mitsumame.
The other day, the comment section on a certain article by a follower of mine turned into something truly wonderful.

I received a comment that was far too generous, describing me as having the image of "a mature woman with a strong core," but that is absolutely not the case at all...
As the title suggests, I am a former bangya. And a pretty hardcore one at that. lol

I was born just barely in the Showa era.
I spent my impressionable teenage years in the late 1990s to early 2000s.
This was the generation when the Visual Kei scene was at its peak.

Even though it was at its peak, at the time, Visual Kei was completely treated as a niche oddity by the general public.
Bangya were positioned as low on the school caste system as otaku.
Perhaps as a reaction to that, when we met people with similar tastes, the distance between us would close rapidly, and we would open up as if we had been friends for 10 years, developing a habit of passionately discussing our favorite bands, songs, and members with each other.
(Recently, hobbies have diversified, and I feel that the trend of teasing or mocking what people like has faded. So, this might be a feeling that people in their teens and 20s don't quite grasp.)

I felt bad about getting carried away in someone else's comment section, so I decided that I would write an article of that sort myself.

This is completely a magnet for old-school bangya.
It's an article that completely leaves my regular readers behind, but I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry.

I'll be sharing memories of a bangya living in the countryside of the Kanto region while mentioning the names of bands I used to listen to often back then.
Even if you're just passing by, if you think, "I understand this story!" or "I know this band!" or if you want to say, "Please listen to my recommendations too!", please feel free to leave a like or a comment.
It's totally fine if you all get excited in the comment section without me!

※ Although I usually call them by their abbreviations, I have listed all artists by their official names for the time being.
It's quite common for the alphabet notation to change between uppercase and lowercase, or between katakana and alphabet, so I have written them out by era just in case.
A mysterious obsession.

The history of a bangya starts with a middle school classmate

As I wrote at the beginning, it was the height of the Visual Kei era.
When I was in middle school, it was a time when GLAY and L'Arc～en～Ciel were chart regulars.
It was such a boom that even in a rural middle school, conversations like "Which side are you on?" were exchanged in class.
(I loved both, but if forced to choose, I was on the L'Arc side)
Also, LUNA SEA, Kuroyume, Sads, and PENICILLIN had become quite famous and were even in charge of drama theme songs.
There were many music programs, so I listened to them naturally.
However, it wasn't that I liked a specific band, I just thought they were kind of good.

The reason I awakened (?) as a bangya was because of a middle school classmate.
She was quite the otaku, and even rarer for that time, she had a PC with an internet connection in her room.
She was the kind of girl who would set up a personal website, frequent hobby chat rooms night after night, and use a pen tablet with ease to draw pictures.

When I was hanging out at that friend's house, she let me listen to a CD she said she "borrowed from a friend she met online."
Mitsumame was 14 at the time.
At first, I thought, "What is this strange song?" but there was something that strangely stuck in my heart.
I didn't know what it was, but someone was screaming. (Death voice)
Then came the beautiful and somewhat sad melody and voice.
At that time, I borrowed the CD from her and recorded it onto an MD. (The era... lol)
As I listened to it repeatedly, I became completely hooked.
Since I couldn't really buy CDs with my middle school allowance, I kept listening to the MD with one album recorded on it over and over again.

That was my encounter with Dir en grey.
(Going straight to Dir without any immunity. And the first song I heard was 'Mitsu to Tsuba'. That's pretty wild... both my friend, and me for getting hooked on it.)

When I became a third-year middle school student, a PC finally arrived at my house.
Thinking this was my chance, I visited various bulletin boards and personal websites, interacting through comments and emails.
It was around this time that I made several pen pals in the bangya scene.
I've forgotten their names now, but it was my pen pals who told me about Raphael and PIERROT around this time.
They told me about others too, but some I could listen to, some I couldn't, and some didn't leave an impression.

Middle school students don't have money, and even if you wanted to rent something, there was no way a rural rental shop would have Visual Kei.
Naturally, there was no YouTube either.
There were quite a few patterns where I would follow some thin lead, listen to it with great effort, and then be disappointed because it wasn't my taste at all...

In the first place, Dir was a bit different from other Visual Kei bands at the time.
They didn't seem to interact with bands of the same generation back then, and they weren't at a scale where they would do joint gigs, so I couldn't find many bands with similar tendencies.
Because of those circumstances, I became even more obsessed with Dir.

It was also around this time that I learned of the existence of something called a "bridge."
I thought I wanted to go there someday.

The vast ocean of Visual Kei that spreads in the treasure trove of bangya (High school days)

The club I joined when I became a high school student was, surprisingly, a treasure trove of bangya.
I listened to Janne Da Arc, Gackt (and tracing back from him to MALICE MIZER), L'Arc～en～Ciel, and Plastic Tree constantly.
Although not Visual Kei, there were kids who liked Iceman or The Seeker after starting with T.M.Revolution, and there were also fervent fans of GLAY.
There was also a girl who liked Psycho le Cému. (I didn't really understand them, though)

Since I started buying music magazines in high school, I got deeply hooked on the "Big Three" that I became interested in there: MUCC, Kagrra,, and Merry.
I also enjoyed listening to Dué le quartz, baroque, and cali≠gari, even if I didn't go as far as getting hooked on them.
It was an era where I listened to everything I could get my hands on.

I listened to various things, but Dir remained number one in my heart, immovable.
I was a hardcore "Tori" (fan).
I bought all their CDs, including singles, going back to their indie days. I bought all their DVDs. I joined their fan club.
My live concert debut was, of course, Dir.
It was the "Kisou" hall tour, which I will never forget.
After that, I went to at least one performance for every live tour.

I often went to concerts in my school uniform right after school.
I would put on makeup, change just my tie to a BA-TSU one, or change into a tour T-shirt. I'd put on tons of piercings.
I'd change my socks into black knee-highs or striped ones. lol
When I had time, I would change into an outfit that was halfway between Gothic Lolita and Hime-gyaru.
My hairstyle was, of course, a wolf cut. (I was a Toshiya fan)

I'm getting excited just remembering it.
That's a way of enjoying things unique to a student bangya.
Being called over by beautiful cosplayer ladies before the concert and joining a big circle... it was so much fun...

I was a bangya, but a classmate I became close with liked Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and Destiny's Child.
Out of curiosity, I listened to all of that too.
(I thought it was cool, and I didn't dislike the songs)

I got along strangely well with that girl, and even though our hobbies were completely different, we often went out to Tokyo on weekends to hang out.
I should have stopped, but we went to karaoke together, and she would say, "I don't really get the stuff Mitsumame likes. Sing something refreshing.". lol
Since she said it so much, I thought, if it's this... and sang Avril Lavigne (around the 'Let Go' era), and she gave me a passing grade, saying, "It's a little different, but Avril is okay."
According to her, Ringo Sheena and Cocco were also "a little different." lol

Anyway, it was a high school life spent centered around Visual Kei (or rather, Dir).

As for the "bridge," I was taken there by the "internet friend" of my middle school classmate.
I think it was right after I entered high school.
However, the group that the "internet friend" belonged to was a group with a very strong otaku vibe.
It was too maniacal and we didn't click, so I thought, "What, is this it?" and I never went back.

My college days, drifting toward Western music and the J-ROCK scene

Once I became a college student, I found lectures to be so much fun.
I was also taking a teacher training course, so I was basically at the university all day long.
Furthermore, with travel becoming a new hobby, I drifted slightly away from the Visual Kei scene.

Also, the trend at the time had shifted toward what was called the "Neo-Visual Kei" scene, but there wasn't much in that circle that I could really get into...
Back then, the only bands I kept following without change were DIR and MUCC.

In the latter half of my student days, partly because my part-time job was at a rental shop and partly due to the influence of my ex-boyfriend, I drifted toward Western music and the J-ROCK scene, which was also called the "Rockin' On" scene.

Around this time, I particularly enjoyed listening to Evanescence, Red Hot Chili Peppers, LINKIN PARK, and Marilyn Manson.
As for Japanese bands, I listened to ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Maximum the Hormone, Ling Tosite Sigure, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, THE BACK HORN, ACIDMAN, RADWIMPS, and so on.
Also, toward the end of my student days, I listened to VAMPS, and the reunited SADS and Kuroyume.
You can sort of see the trend, right? Haha.

From becoming a working adult until recently

My husband, whom I met at my part-time job during my student days, is actually a fan of hard rock and metal.
I'm the type of person who gets told, "It's surprising that you listen to V-Kei," but my husband is even more surprising in that regard.
He is also a rare male DIR fan among the people I know.
"ABC is good too, but I just have to have Janne, you know?"
He is someone who agrees with my laments like that.
(Do you get this feeling? Haha.)

Since I started dating my husband, my range has expanded to include Western rock and metal from the 60s to the 90s.
Among the ones he recommended and I listened to, I liked Trivium and Amorphis.
It seems my sweet spot is death growls and heavy, intense melodies leading into a melodic, clean-voiced chorus...
Although they aren't V-Kei or metal, I went to concerts for BON JOVI and Mr. BIG with him.

I'm not as fanatically obsessed as I was when I was young, but the bands I've been enjoying and listening to a lot very recently are Sokoninaru, SiM, coldrain, and MY FIRST STORY.
Especially for Sokoninaru and SiM, I seriously want to go to their concerts.

Also, bands like Petit Brabancon, which started in December 2021, really pierce the heart of an aging V-Kei fan. It's heart-warming. I want to go to their concert.
I also especially like the recent stuff from sukekiyo.
(They are all connected to Kyo-sama, though... Haha.)

Ah, the Wonderful Creatures Known as V-Kei Fans

I've tried sharing some memories related to music that started with V-Kei, which I don't think I've ever told anyone before.

Nowadays, the genres of hobbies have become quite fragmented, so perhaps it's no longer common to talk about things under the umbrella of V-Kei.
In that sense, I think I spent a relatively happy era where there were people who spent their time as V-Kei fans in the 1990s and 2000s, shared a common sensibility within a certain culture, and could get excited about it.

In the latter half, I drifted quite far from V-Kei, but I think the feeling of loving music and loving bands is something that resonates with everyone.

Whether you are a former V-Kei fan, a current V-Kei fan, or someone who was super obsessed with something else even if the genre is different.

I would be happy if this could be a trigger for you to remember those fun times, even just a little bit.

Lastly, thank you very much, Won-san and Yoha-san, for giving me the opportunity to look back on these fun times!

*****
A review of Sokoninaru's cover (Sokoninaru Light Music Club)
Come to think of it, I used to write these. The power of music is great.

Self-introduction for those meeting me for the first time
Usually, this note is about taking a leave of absence and returning to work due to mental illness.
Currently, I am just an ordinary working mom in her 30s with no trace of a V-Kei fan left. Haha