Strawberry Fields weren’t proto-visual. They were one of the first-wave official VK bands, alongside guys like BY-SEXUAL, LUNA SEA and Eins:Vier, and one of the first bands to make visual kei a mainstream mainstay.

But the common story about VK getting its name is from X releasing the “Blue Blood” album in April of 1989. I assume your placedate for October 1990 refers to the first issue of Shoxx, which got its famous slogan “Visual and Hard Shock” from that album. SF are widely regarded, though, as one of the earliest VK bands to bring it to mainstream recognition (the first wave). Although their legacy has indeed been buried over time due to them breaking out at the same time as much, much more popular groups like the aforementioned bands.

Strawberry Fields was active beyond 1990, so we'll call them vkei regardless. Same for those other Free-Will bands.

Absolutely, that's why VISUAL SCANDAL can be called proto-visual, and I can definitely see where someone is coming from if they called X proto as well lol. But to me, proto-visual is exactly like proto-punk: bands that were vastly significant to the structure a certain genre. In other words, were bands like Question Mark and the Mysterians, MC5 and The Stooges punk? No, not necessarily. But they were indeed ridiculously important to the scene, hence being proto-punk. That's how I see proto-visual bands: and Strawberry Fields were not proto, but were rather instead out right when visual kei was coined, alongside the first wave of VK. Similar to the first wave of punk bands in the mid 70's, more-or-less.

That's why I believe bands like BY-SEXUAL (who began releasing demos in 1989), Eins:Vier (who released their first mini-album in 1990), LUNA SEA (who, despite being active since 1986, released their first demo in August of 1989), GLAY (who released their first demos in late 1989) and Strawberry Fields (who began releasing material in late 1989) to be in the first-wave, after proto-visual was a thing.

Personally speaking, I would consider a band that were already active and releasing demos and singles and whatnot before 1989 to be proto-visual. If they were releasing material starting in 1989 onward through the mid 90's (maybe 1994?), even if they formed years prior, they would be a part of the first wave VK scene. But those are just my two cents.

To me, the label issue is basically irrelevant, because there weren't any 100% visual labels until the mid 90s - only indies and rock labels. Strawberry Fields had a visual look, came after the visual scene had developed from its baby stage, and were a part of the early visual scene - so what is the problem here?