J-Rock vs. Emo - The Ultimate Show Down

Firstly,lets clarify, J-rock with everything like visual kei included and emo with screamo, hardcore etc.
When I refer to those main two unless otherwise stated I mean all sub-categories in a whole :3
And lets not get picky about hardcore not being emo etc, etc, to me it all comes from emo and has got the same characteristics as it and most of them it's a fine line between.

Ok! On face value, both lots of music are pretty much the same.
With the exception of, ones in english, ones in japanese.
They sound pretty similar and look fairly similar.
In look comparison I decided to use for the english bands, My Chemical Romance and The Fall Of Troy.
Japanese bands I used Antic Cafe, Abingdon Boys School and The Gazettes
I picked these five bands, particularily My Chem, An Cafe and ABS because they showed the comparison of image the best.

Firstly! Casual.
Above ^ Fall Of Troy. Below \/ An Cafe.
Fair eough AC's style is a bit more funky than the boys above tees and hodies but in the rough comparison of the two, not much differnce, tees, jackets and casual pants. I would have made a better comparison if i could have been bothers to find a better pic ^.^
Continuing, on rough face value, not much difference, both take good care in their hair and have a casual rockish look to them
Though looking closer there is the much closer attention to detail in An Cafe's appearance then those of above.
Partly due to the nature of their sub-category of being Vis Kei.
Thus the difference in their appearance.
VERDICT: Visual Kei is far more interesting to look at, and even thought casual has more style ^.^





Second! Fancy Dress
Both bands (above MCR ^ below An Cafe \/) have this semi gothic look about them and fit in well with the other band members, though, My Chem has more consistency in the outfits.
Once again, you could easily chuck both bands into the same boat, but that would be doing the later injustice.
Not only do they (AC) have a cross dresser in the band (gotta love Bou, I miss him *insert sad face here* ), but they have far more creativity and induviduality.
MCR on the other hand, have a cliched emo look about them.
VERDICT: Vis Kei, IS indivual, emo, follows trends. Though one could say vis kei is a style to which many follow, it's point is utter randomnes within certain boundries, though they're still to be discovered.







Third! Promo time :3


Fair enough, 90% of shots of bands are for magazines, posters, album art, etc, but lets look at the layout and appearance of the two (upper MCR, lower The Gazettes).
MCR, as you see in just about every photo of them, has three layers, singer at front, the two more attractive guys second and the "ugly" ones at the back. Now I will not deny that the frontman is 99% of the time in the middle/front regardless of what ever band, though, excluding a band like Fall Out Boy, who has the most attractive of the unattractive at the front instead of the singer.
Though I must add on that point, it goes to prove how petty emo bands can be, trying to sell on appearance to the scene girls more than how good their music is.
Anyway, TG on the other hand has the members equally standing side by side.
My Chems once again uniform cliched appearance is the focus in their dress, all standing in ways to try to be more manly and appealing, (though failling I must add).
TG on the other hand, seem more natural, and though appearing far more feminine have a somewhat manly sense to them than the above. They do not need to try to be so, they just are.
Though both dressed up, TG does not seem dressed up for a purpose, it comes across as how they are, with MCR on the other hand, has a fake put on look.
VERDICT: Vis kei, wins another round. Vis kei's style and induivuality is natural and has a genuine feeling to it, emo is too much of a manafactured, put on look.



Fourth yay! Uniform.


Considering MCR (above) is so familiar to this forte, one would assume they'd win a point for emo over ABS (below).
Weeelllll.... Lets compare! Both bands have extremely matching outfits.
Difference of the two though... My Chem, the outfit is merely for show. ABS, its the whole image of their band, it fits with their name and gives them character unlike MCR who only does it to look cool (though failing).
VERDICT:Once again, Vis Kei wins hands down, likewise said before, the feeling you get from vis kei is more genuine, plus it has more style. The "uniform" look is consistent unlike My Chem, who swaps and changes to suit the audience.


Ok, so we've made comparisons in the overall look. Now lets check out the music, which in the end, MAKES the band.

Though there are many similar aspects of between the music, and judging on face value they're pretty much the same.
With all modern music, regardless of language, it will be similar to another style, in another language.
J-rock though, has something more. Vis Kei for instance, is only drawn together by the dress, and that even varies. The music itself ranges widely, and even though the band may dress loligoth, they might make slow romantic music,
J-rock, is far more experimental and funky, unlike emo that all seems to be kept to a strict genre,
All the music that comes out from emo and it's sub-genres, are all so similar, you listen to Hawthorne Heights then From First to Last, then you go to AFI and The Used.
Yes, they ARE different, but only marginally, the all sing about the same things, use the same riffs and beats.
J-rock also has far more interesting lyrics, it's not the same stuff emo spits out all the time.
The manner in which J-rock songs are written are far more interesting and creative, they aren't blatant and cliche, like emo.
Take for instance one of the most famous emo lines, "So cut my wrists and black my eyes, so I can fall asleep tonight."
I'm sure you know a lot of the song yourself and can relate to the lameness of it.

Ahhh... I'm getting sidetracked, so I'll end it here, I think I've got most of my point across, J-rock beats emo tenfold.
XD

LouiseMaree Nya~! ^.^