Special

Globalizing Visual Kei: Final Results

28/08/2011 2011-08-28 00:01:00 KoME Author: Megan Pfeifle (Phelan)

Globalizing Visual Kei: Final Results

In the final edition of the "Globalizing Visual Kei" web series, we will review the worldwide results from our March survey, which spanned 87 countries and 6,384 fans. THIS ARTICLE IS IMAGE HEAVY.


© Lydia Michalitsianos
On March 11, 2011, JaME's English version coordinated with eleven other versions around the globe and launched the “Globalizing Visual Kei Survey.” The survey ran for two weeks and ultimately reached 6,384 fans across 87 countries. It covered a variety of issues, many of which had never been documented before for research purposes.

Below you will find the combined answers of all twelve versions of the “Globalizing Visual Kei Survey.”

Fan Statistics


How old are you?



Where do you live?

Country

Algeria
Andorra
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
Columbia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Estonia
Finland
France
Gabon
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Hungary
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Fans

3
2
60
60
53
1
31
43
3
423
4
4
89
196
337
48
1
4
8
8
5
2
1
5
6
71
541
1
1
750
74
3
37
26
6
201
1
49
1
18
12
24
3
37
Country

Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia Republic
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam
Non-specified European fans
Fans

1
1
104
5
1
3
101
6
9
1
3
1
35
29
745
15
3
1
28
560
3
6
46
7
2
2
3
131
97
35
1
30
5
3
2
1
3
63
141
865
5
20
3
4


TOTAL COUNTRIES: 87
TOTAL RESPONSES:6,384

How long have you listened to visual kei?



How did you find out about visual kei?



When you hear “visual kei,” what do you immediately think of?



Would you listen to a non-Japanese band that embodies visual kei?



Do you listen to multiple types of music?


Do you listen to underground music from your own country?




Music Consumption


How often do you listen to visual kei music?



How do you obtain visual kei music?



How often do you purchase visual kei music and merchandise?



How often do you download visual kei music and merchandise?



Do you download legally via iTunes, Hear Japan, Japan Files or another similar site?



How much do you spend on visual kei music and merchandise every three months?



Do you think it will be easier to obtain visual kei music and merchandise in the future?





Concert Activity



How often do you attend a visual kei concert?



How far will you travel to see a visual kei event?



Would you attend an anime convention SOLELY for the visual kei bands who are performing at that convention? (For fans who weren’t nearby conventions, this was hypothetical.)



If you've seen a visual kei band live once, will you attend their concert again if they return to your country?



Do you think visual kei concerts are violent?



Why do you think visual kei concerts are violent?



Have you ever been injured or in a fight at a visual kei event?



Due to previous violence they have experienced or seen, fans have...



Do you think that anything can be done to stop some of the violence at visual kei concerts? (This question utilized check boxes.)



In the free-write section, many fans around the globe found the questions on violence peculiar; where they lived, this behavior did not exist. Broken down individually, certain areas had much higher levels of fans responding “yes” than others. For example, 55% of Polish fans reported “yes” they had either been in a physical or verbal fight or witnessed one, while 71% of Chinese fans said they’d never been in a fight nor witnessed one.

At nearly all concerts, a certain level of violence is expected: moshing and pushing are normal and are unavoidable. These questions were designed to target opinions of fan violence that exceeded those “typical” levels: Intentional injuries by fans fighting over spots in the crowd or items tossed from the band, etc. These answers helped to gauge if there was indeed an issue with crowd violence that anime conventions, promoters and venues need to consider. As the fan base was divided in several of these questions, it appears to be an issue which could be given a closer look through future research.


Living Visual Kei



Do you think visual kei is a mainstream music style, both in Japan and overseas?



What is best about visual kei?


Is sex appeal a reason you enjoy visual kei?



When you began listening to visual kei music, what made visual kei most appealing at that time?



Do you think most Japanese people are accepting of visual kei?



What do you think of visual kei's popularity overseas today?



What do you think of visual kei styles today?



What do you think of visual kei music today?



What do you think of visual kei overseas performances today?



What do you think of the future of visual kei?




The Fan Base


How do you connect with other fans? (This question utilized checkboxes.)



What is best about the overseas visual kei fan base?



What is the worst thing about the overseas visual kei fanbase?



Do you cosplay visual kei artists?




Summary


I hope you have enjoyed the “Globalizing Visual Kei” web series, and I would like to thank all of the readers for their insightful thoughts and comments during this journey through the in’s and out’s of visual kei.

This project was ultimately the culmination of many people's hard work. Over 100 people were interviewed during the early stages of research, and when it was decided to do the survey, members from twelve versions of JaME came together to help make it possible. When writing was underway, critique and beta readers, translators, and even helping hands from other teams and outside parties came together to supplement more information and finalize the project.

I'd like to thank every person who helped out because without you, this never would have been possible.
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