The quick definition of cosplay kei
Cosplay kei (コスプレ系) bands are visual kei bands who primarily dress in cosplay-like outfits that resemble mascots or tokusatsu characters, with these outfits typically being based on a different theme for each release. Their songs are often pop-forward, and they tend to be skilled at “entertainment” beyond just playing instruments, i.e. dancing or talk shows.
A brief history of cosplay kei
Cosplay kei refers to a small group of bands whose costumes go even further than other visual kei bands, to the point that they resemble cosplay of creatures or anime protagonists. Their goal is usually to create a specific fantasy such as “pirates” or “fairy tales.”
The earliest notable example was self-described “kanaderu otogi (カナデルオトギ) {musical fairytale}” band Da'vid shito:aL (Da'vidノ使徒:aL). Their concept centered on a dying boy named PIETORO (ピエトロ) and his imagined fairytale world, where he and his dolls were chased by the villain KuroPIE (黒ピエ). The band's costumes resembled living cartoons, their music was heavily electronic and lullaby-like, and their performances featured storylines such as KuroPIE appearing on stage.
Da'vid shito:aL (Da'vidノ使徒:aL) were successful enough to have a release through ENAMELL RECORDS, and they were produced by EURO (SPEED-iD) and YASU (DEFLOWER) of KEY PARTY. Nevertheless, they disbanded in 1999 and immediately formed a new “story,” pleur. Their follow-up band was similarly fantastical in concept, often resembling giant stuffed animals, but disbanded after only a year.
Which brings us to the representative band of the subgenre: Psycho le Cému. They formed in 1999 and rapidly grew in popularity due to their over-the-top visuals that made them look more like anime characters than a band. And each of their releases brought a new “story” and new costumes with it, each seeming more fantastical than the last.
Psycho le Cému was also unique in their performance style that featured entertaining MCs, comedy skits, and guitarist AYA and drummer YURASAMA (YURAサマ) guiding the audience in furitsuke (振り付け) {choreographed dance moves} instead of playing their instruments. In fact, the band is often credited with popularizing furitsuke within visual kei; it would become a standard element of the genre in just a few years.
The band went major in 2002 and began frequently appearing on TV, which gained them a reputation for being especially charismatic and adept at entertaining. It was during these appearances that they described themselves as a “super cosplay band (スーパーコスプレバンド),” which gave name to the nascent subgenre.
Another band that came to prominence around that time was Imitation PoPs Uchu Sentai NOIZ (Imitation PoPs 宇宙戦隊NOIZ), who billed themselves as alien sentai protecting Earth. They were prolific around 2005, but went major in 2009, and are active as of 2025 as Neu:NOIZ.
Psycho le Cému paused activities in 2006, but most of its members immediately went to Mix Speaker's,Inc., a horror-themed cosplay band. This kind of theme is fairly common in the subgenre, with bands like ELM (エルム) and Leetspeak monsters also adopting similar concepts.
Another surprisingly common theme in the subgenre is pirates: Aikaryu (藍華柳~Aikaryu~), A, DecoLa Hopping, and even D adopting this theme at different times. (D is an interesting case, as they started as a kote kei (コテ系) band, but over time became more like characters in their costuming, especially with their long-running VAMPIRE SAGA story concept.)
Unlike most subgenres, there was no particular wave of cosplay kei, probably due to the difficulty of having such costumes made. But there has been a steady drip of such bands every five years or so: Ruritama (るりたま) around 2000; POITRINE (ポワトリン) around 2005; ELM (エルム) around 2010; reirei (麗麗-reirei-) around 2015; Leetspeak monsters around 2020, and so on. Psycho le Cému themselves revived at the end of the 2010s, and are still active as of 2025.
Why is it called cosplay kei?
The name comes from Psycho le Cému, who called themselves a super cosplay band (スーパーコスプレバンド).
What are the other names for cosplay kei?
Da'vid shito:aL (Da'vidノ使徒:aL) described themselves as a marchen fantasy (メルヘンファンタジー) band (märchen being the German word for fairytale), and their concept was kanaderu otogi (カナデルオトギ) {musical fairytale}. As such, both phrases have been suggested to describe the subgenre, but both are too specific to apply to many bands.
The similar phrase marchen kei (メルヘン系) {marchen style} appears somewhat frequently. But again, it is too specific to describe many of the bands in the subgenre, and it also risks being confused with kikei marchen (奇形メルヘン) {malformed fairytale}, which is a term that Misshitsu kei (密室系) band cali≠gari used to describe their style.
Another term that is used somewhat frequently is fantasy kei (ファンタジー系) {fantasy style}, which touches on the fact that many of these bands craft specific “fantasies” for each look. But that term is so vague that it could apply to almost any visual kei band, and it was also proposed as an early name for art kei (アート系).
None of these names (even including cosplay kei) have ever reached particularly high usage. However, cosplay kei is clear, concise, allows for a range of themes, and is used by the biggest band in the subgenre, so we have chosen to stick with that one.
What does cosplay kei look like?
Like character cosplay; mascot, tokusatsu, or sentai -esque costumes that are large, unwieldy, colorful, and clearly themed. Even more “realistic” themes like pirates or ninjas are made anime-like through the use of bright colors and exaggerated features.
What does cosplay kei sound like?
Typically pop-forward rock that makes heavy use of electronic sounds and is extremely catchy. It may be crafted with the intention of featuring call-and-response sections or furitsuke sections at lives. However, some bands may sound more like other subgenres such as koteosa. Songs often have some theming that matches the band's costumes, such as sea shanty melodies when the band is in pirate-themed costumes.
Is cosplay kei a legitimate subgenre of visual kei?
Yes, but an extremely small one.
Cosplay kei alignments
Often heavily skews toward pop.
Emphasizes complete concepts.
Cosplay-esque costumes.
Rarely emphasizes instrumentation.
Audience participation is main goal.
Often happy or parodic.
Meant to energize crowds.
Ridiculous but not childish in tone.
When was cosplay kei active?
It was never especially active, but the first band was roughly 1997 and its representative band Psycho le Cému started in 1999. It was probably most famous around their 2002 major debut. The occasional cosplay band has appeared every few years as of 2025.
What are the representative cosplay kei bands?
Representative: Psycho le Cému
Others: Da'vid shito:aL (Da'vidノ使徒:aL), Mix Speaker's,Inc.
Modern: Leetspeak monsters (later), Ensoku (えんそく) (later), reirei (麗麗-reirei-), Baby Kingdom
Edit History
- 2025-01-27: corrected featured artist
What is cosplay kei?
代表者は、Psycho le Cémuですよ☆
2025-01-24
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