Braindead Shithead

Okay, I'm not saying this is necessarily the case with this group, but I often find it difficult to distinguish between male and female performers in this genre of music. I'm sure the difference in cultural exposure is important, but I wonder if there is an intended effort to further an androgynous image by the bands.

I'm also curious if people outside the US had trouble telling men and women apart during the glam rock days, or hair-metal days in America. I find that sort of thing very interesting.
 

Well, there's a reason you might have trouble distinguishing between male and female. It's because the guys dress like women. Hah! I bet you didn't expect the obvious! It's called Visual Kei. As to why they do it, I'm not sure, but it's not that much different than what David Bowie was doing in the '70s, just more do. I'd say it has its' origins in kabuki culture but there the reverse was true -- women played both female and male parts. Also, there can be a blending of male and female forms in anime so maybe it comes out of that too. Both j-pop and j-rock, certainly visual kei, are heavily influenced by Japanese video game soundtracks, and anime is in turn influenced by video game plot devices, so maybe it all gets tied together in Japanese youth culture.

No matter what, there's more energy and intensity in even the silliest formulaic j-pop than there is in most American music these days.