History Music / MaliceMizer

* IndustrialMetal: Their final album. Along with GothicMetal, DarkWave, [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly and enough genres to take up their own page.]] (And it’s their least genre-screwy album.)

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: What led to the GenreBusting.

* BreakupBreakout: Gackt. Mana, Közi and Klaha have all enjoyed varying degrees of success since the band's demise, but their accomplishments are dwarfed by Gackt's, who has gone on to become one of UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}'s biggest-selling artists.

* FanNickName: "Mana-sama," and Yu~ki as 'The Count.'

* Kami - drums, backing vocals (1993-1999)†

* Gaz - drums (1992-1993)†

* UncannyValley: Invoked by both guitarists, to often [[NightmareFuel frightening]] effect. Let’s see...

* Mana - guitars, synthesizers (1992-2001)
* Közi - guitars, synthesizers (1992-2001)
* Yu~ki - bass (1992-2001)

* Kami - drums (1993-1999)†

* Gaz - drums (1992-1993)

Unofficial Members:

* ColorCodedCharacters: Although costumes varied greatly, each of the members stuck to a certain color. Mana's was blue, Kami's was pink, Közi mostly wore red, and Yu~ki dressed in yellow or orange. Gackt's color never quite settled, but he was often in black.

* EvolvingMusic: The backing music, rhythm, and occasionally even the lyrics of Tetsu era songs have been changed to accomodate Gackt or Klaha's vocals for live performances.

* IndustrialMetal: Their final album.
* MindScrew: "N.p.s N.g.s:" The lyrics are notoriously difficult to extract a true meaning from, partially because the English half of the song wasn't all that brilliantly translated, resulting in a minor case of WordSaladLyrics. This is complicated further by the best known live performance, in which the members dress up in [=WW2=] regalia and fly the Imperial Japanese flag across the stage, despite the fact that the song doesn't contain any lines that undeniably refer to war (although it does admittedly have a few that could be interpreted as such). Also "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" (Lyrical subject: Man finds clowns, clowns are cursed lovers, clowns come temporarily to life) and many of the ''Merveilles'' era music videos.

* ObligatoryBondageSong: "Illuminati."

* MindScrew: "N.p.s N.g.s:" The lyrics are notoriously difficult to extract a true meaning from, partially because the English half of the song wasn't all that brilliantly translated, resulting in a minor case of WordSaladLyrics. This is complicated further by the best known live performance, in which the members dress up in WW2 regalia and fly the Imperial Japanese flag across the stage, despite the fact that the song doesn't contain any lines that undeniably refer to war (although it does admittedly have a few that could be interpreted as such). Also "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" (Lyrical subject: Man finds clowns, clowns are cursed lovers, clowns come temporarily to life) and many of the ''Merveilles'' era music videos.

* CloudCuckooLander: Közi wanders in and out of this as he pleases.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/KYOMU_6657.jpg
[[caption-width:291: Yu~ki, Mana, Közi: The three consistent members circa 2000.]]

-->--Music/LuciferLusciousViolenoue

-->--LuciferLusciousViolenoue

For a band that were active for just nine years, VisualKei outfit Malice Mizer endured a rather turbulent existence. Founded in the summer of 1992 by guitarists Mana and Közi, they languished in relative obscurity until 1995 when recently-departed frontman Tetsu was replaced by a little-known singer named {{Gackt}}. Their breakthrough album ''Voyage ~Sans Retour~'' followed in 1996, released through Mana's own Midi:Nette label, and landed them a deal with major label Nippon Columbia. Their 1998 release ''Merveilles'' peaked at #2 on the Oricon Albums chart, spawned a run of hit singles, and a sold-out national tour, including a two-night run at the legendary Budokan arena. Alas, what looked to be the fairytale beginning to a long (and lucrative) career wasn't to last. On January 1st, 1999, Gackt announced his departure from the band. This forced the group to leave the Nippon Columbia label, but there was worse still to come, with the sudden death of long-time drummer Kami from a brain hemorrhage in June that year. He would never be officially replaced.

The band's musical style followed much the same pattern. Originally a Darkwave band, they lost all sense of genre with ''Voyage ~sans retour~'' and ''Merveilles'', liberally mixing their Darkwave sound with elements of pop, electronica, classical, and industrial metal. Things stabilized somewhat with ''Bara no Seidou'', but remained eclectic, mixing heavily distorted guitars and vocals with female sopranos and extended organ and harpischord solos.

* {{Gackt}} - vocals, piano (1995-1999)

* ''Voyage ~sans retour~'' (1996)

---------------------------

* BreakupBreakout: {{Gackt}}. Mana, Közi and Klaha have all enjoyed varying degrees of success since the band's demise, but their accomplishments are dwarfed by Gackt's, who has gone on to become one of Japan's biggest-selling artists.

* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Not always a trenchcoat, but when offstage, Mana does have a certain look that could be described as 'Spy-chic'.

* ElegantGothicLolita: Mana's widely credited with helping launch this particular brand of fashion -- he owns one of the more popular EGL clothing companies, and he has had it since the late 90's.
* EvolvingMusic: The backing music, rhythm and occasionally even the lyrics of Tetsu era songs have been changed to accomodate Gackt or Klaha's vocals for live performances.
* FanNickName: "Mana-sama", Yu~ki as 'The Count'.

* MindScrew: N.p.s N.g.s: The lyrics are notoriously difficult to extract a true meaning from, partially because the English half of the song wasn't all that brilliantly translated, resulting in a minor case of WordSaladLyrics. This is complicated further by the best known live performance, in which the members dress up in WW2 regalia and fly the Imperial Japanese flag across the stage, despite the fact that the song doesn't contain any lines that undeniably refer to war (although it does admittedly have a few that could be interpreted as such). Also ''Gekka no Yasoukyoku'' (Lyrical subject: Man finds clowns, clowns are cursed lovers, clowns come temporarily to life) and many of the Merveilles era music videos.

* ObligatoryBondageSong: Illuminati.

* TheBandMinusTheFace: Despite not being a founder, {{Gackt}} was immensely popular amongst the fans, and his departure prompted their departure from the Nippon Columbia label.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Kami.

* CreativeDifferences: Tetsu's departure appears to be a rare case of genuine creative differences (he wasn't wild about being in a Visual Kei band).
* CreatorBreakdown: Kami's sudden death in 1999 is speculated to be the inspiration behind the notably darker tone of '''Bara no Seidou'''.

* OneOfUs: Gackt (Has been known to cosplay), Mana (a gamer), and Klaha (apparently a touch socially awkward).

For a band that were active for just nine years, VisualKei outfit Malice Mizer endured a rather turbulent existence. Founded in the summer of 1992 by guitarists Mana and Közi, they languished in relative obscurity until 1995 when recently-departed frontman Tetsu was replaced by a little-known singer named {{Gackt}}. Their breakthrough album ''Voyage ~Sans Retour~'' followed in 1996, released through Mana's own Midi:Nette label, and landed them a deal with major label Nippon Columbia. Their 1998 release ''Merveilles'' peaked at #2 on the Oricon Albums chart, spawned a run of hit singles, and a sold-out national tour, including a two-night run at the legendary Budokan arena. Alas, what looked to be the fairytale beginning to a long (and lucrative) career wasn't to last. On January 1st, 1999, Gackt announced his departure from the band. This forced the group to leave the Nippon Columbia label, but there was worse still to come, with the sudden death of long-time drummer Kami from a brain hemorrage in June that year. He would never be officially replaced.

The band's musical style followed much the same pattern. Originally a Darkwave band, they lost all sense of genre with ''Voyage ~sans retour~'' and ''Merveilles'', liberally mixing their Darkwave sound with elements of pop, electronica, classical, and industrial metal. Things stabilized somewhat with ''Bara no Seidou'', but remained ecletic, mixing heavily distorted guitars and vocals with female sopranos and extended organ and harpischord solos.

* {{Gackt}} - vocals, piano (1995-1999)
* Tetsu - vocals (1992-1994)

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Kami.

* CloudCuckooLander: Közi wanders in and out of this as he pleases.
* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Not always a trenchcoat, but when Offstage Mana does have a certain look that could be described as 'Spy-chic'
* ColorCodedCharacters: Although costumes varied greatly, each of the members stuck to a certain color. Mana's was blue, Kami's was pink, Közi mostly wore red, and Yu~ki dressed in yellow or orange. Gackt's color never quite settled, but he was often in black.
* CreativeDifferences: Tetsu's departure appears to be a rare case of genuine creative differences (he wasn't wild about being in a Visual Kei band).

* ElegantGothicLolita: Mana's widely credited with helping launch this particular brand of fashion - he owns one of the more popular EGL clothing companies, and he has had it since the late 90's.
* EvolvingMusic: The backing music, rhythm and occasionally even the lyrics of Tetsu era songs have been changed to accomodate Gackt or Klaha's vocals for live performances.

* GenreBusting: The members all had different styles. It showed.
* GratuitousEnglish: Some of the lyrics and song names.
* GratuitousFrench: the band name is derived from French, as are some of the album and song names.
* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Enough of them to clothe a small country.
* IndustrialMetal: Their final album
* MindScrew: Nps Ngs. The lyrics are notoriously difficult to extract a true meaning from, partially because the English half of the song wasn't all that brilliantly translated, resulting in a minor case of WordSaladLyrics. This is complicated further by the best known live performance, in which the members dress up in WW2 regalia and fly the Imperial Japanese flag across the stage, despite the fact that the song doesn't contain any lines that undeniably refer to war (although it does admittedly have a few that could be interpreted as such). Also ''Gekka no Yasoukyoku'' (Lyrical subject: Man finds clowns, clowns are cursed lovers, clowns come temporarily to life) and many of the Merveilles era music videos.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: what led to the GenreBusting.

* ObligatoryBondageSong: Illuminati.
* OneOfUs: Gackt (Has been known to cosplay), Mana (a gamer), and Klaha (apparently a touch socially awkward)
* RapunzelHair: Half the band in the early years, but Kami is best known for it.
* RockMeAmadeus: If people could have personal tropes, this would be Mana's. A lot of the music he wrote for Malice Mizer- especially in the final album- feature classical excerpts. This trope is also heavily present in Moi dix Mois.

* TheStoic: Mana. Also see TheVoiceless.

* AttractiveBentGender: Mana. If you didn't know he wasn't a woman, you would never be able to tell. Not helped by the fact that you don't often get a chance to hear his voice.

* TheVoiceless: Whether its because he doesn't want his man's voice to mess up his image or whether he just thought it would be a cool idea is anyone's guess, but throughout his career Mana has refused to speak or emote in public, maintaining a fully blank facial expression and communicating mostly by whispering what he wants to say into the ear of the person next to him, who then translates. Not counting the occasions in which he has provided distorted backing vocals, he has only ever slipped up twice.

* EvolvingMusic: the backing music, rhythm and occasionally even the lyrics of Tetsu era songs have been changed to accomodate Gackt or Klaha's vocals for live performances.

* ElegantGothicLolita: Mana's widely credited with helping launch this particular brand of fashion - he owns one of the more popular EGL clothing companies, and he has had it since he late 90's.

* OneOfUs: Gackt (final fantasy cosplay), Mana (a gamer), and Klaha (apparently a touch socially awkward)

Reduced to just two guitarists and a bassist, the band went quiet until the new millenium with the release of EP ''Shinwa'', featuring songs written solely by the late Kami. Then, still lacking a singer or drummer, production began on the band's fourth (and to date, last) album ''Bara no Seidou''. For the subsequent tour, the band recruited session vocalist Klaha as their new official frontman, and he took on lyricist duties for the four non-album singles that would be Malice Mizer's last original releases before the announcement of the band's indefinite hiatus in late 2001.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly- what led to the GenreBusting.

Malice Mizer was a VisualKei band, active between 1992 and 2001, and spearheaded by the two guitarists Mana and Közi. However, due to the band's GenreBusting, numerous stylistic changes and, well, outright bizarre stage shows and costumes, defining them beyond that is- difficult. Throughout their nine year career Malice Mizer have experimented with many types of music- from goth rock to pop to classical to electronic- and often mixed them together, with very unusual results. They also made heavy use of synthesisers despite having a traditional band set-up, which meant that during many songs one or more of the standard instruments was obsolete, and on numerous occasions the instrumentalists stepped forward to provide heavily distorted backing vocals. The overall effect was diverse and distinctive.

Being a Visual Kei band, Malice Mizer also made use of extravagant stage costumes designed to compliment the music, and in this aspect, they really took things to extremes. Giant angel wings, bondage gear, admiral hats, lederhosen, frilly victorian dresses, imperial Japanese soldier uniforms and clothes tailored to look like plants are just some of the garments various members of the band took to the stage in. A couple of the members also had trademarks: Drummer Kami was, for a while, instantly recognisable for his hip-length hair, and although androgyny was already well established in the VK scene, Mana was one of the first to push it to the point of completely crossdressing. They are also notable for the high spectacle of their live performances, during which they often behaved more like a theatre troupe than a band.

Despite the fact that their musical career was fairly successful, the band themselves did encounter problems, and the two main ones ran more or less in tandem. First, there was the departure of the band's most popular vocalist, {{Gackt}}, in 1999, and although the real reasons for it were never publically discussed, it is generally believed that the split was not amiable. Because of this knowledge, a viewpoint blaming Gackt's departure on unreasonable treatment by Mana quickly became established somehow or other, causing a permanent stain on Mana's reputation. Just a few months later, Kami died suddenly of a subarachnoid haemorrhage aged just 26. He was never officially replaced, with numerous support drummers being used in his place from then on. It also took a while to find a replacement for Gackt in Klaha (previously of Pride of Mind), which meant that for several months Malice Mizer was essentially two guitarists and a bassist, making things more difficult still.

In 2001 the band announced they were going on Indefinite Hiatus. To date, they have not reformed and the members have all either launched their own solo projects (Gackt, for instance, is now one of Japan's top entertainers) or faded into obscurity. However, Mana recently announced that an upcoming concert of his solo project, Moi Dix Mois, would feature both Közi and Yu~ki as guest musicians.

''Final Lineup''
* Mana (guitar/bandleader- 1992-2001)
* Közi (guitar- 1992-2001)
* Yu~ki (bass- 1992-2001)
* Klaha (vocals- 2000-2001)

''Previous Members''
* Kami (drums- 1993- 1999) (deceased)
* {{Gackt}} (vocals- 1995-1999)
* Tetsu (vocals- 1992-1994)
* Gaz (drums- 1992-1993)

''Studio Albums''
* Memoire (1994)
* Voyage~sans retour~ (1996)
* Merveilles (1998)
* Shinwa (2000)
* Bara no Seidou (2000)

Describe Malice Mizer here:

Well, Malice Mizer was a VisualKei band, active between 1992 and 2001, and spearheaded by the two guitarists Mana and Közi. However, due to the band's GenreBusting, numerous stylistic changes and, well, outright bizarre stage shows and costumes, defining them beyond that is- difficult. A quote by VK/goth singer LuciferLusciousViolenoue, who was also active in '90s Japan, goes "We can say there is a genre called Malice Mizer, can't we?" And however you look at it, she isn't too far wrong. Throughout their nine year career Malice Mizer have experimented with many types of music- from goth rock to pop to classical to electronic- and often mixed them together, with very unusual results. They also made heavy use of synthesisers despite having a traditional band set-up, which meant that during many songs one or more of the standard instruments was obsolete, and on numerous occasions the instrumentalists stepped forward to provide heavily distorted backing vocals. The overall effect was diverse and distinctive.

* AuthorExistenceFailure- Kami.
* BreakupBreakout- {{Gackt}}. Many of the members went on to front new bands and projects, but only Gackt managed to become one of Japan's most famous musicians of all time.
* CloudCuckooLander- Közi wanders in and out of this as he pleases.
* ConspicuousTrenchcoat- Not always a trenchcoat, but when Offstage Mana does have a certain look that could be described as 'Spy-chic'
* ColorCodedCharacters- Although costumes varied greatly, each of the members stuck to a certain color. Mana's was blue, Kami's was pink, Közi mostly wore red, and Yu~ki dressed in yellow or orange. Gackt's color never quite settled, but he was often in black.
* CreativeDifferences- Tetsu's departure seems to be a rare example of creative differences that actually ''was'' creative differences (He didn't really want to be in a visual band), and not code for a big row.
* CreatorBreakdown- After the one-two punch of losing both {{Gackt}} and Kami in rapid succession, '''Bara no Seidou''' is noticeably darker than earlier works.
* ElegantGothicLolita- The general consensus is that it was Mana who kick-started this particular brand of fashion- he owns one of the more popular EGL clothing companies, and he has had it since he late 90's.
* EvolvingMusic- the backing music, rhythm and occasionally even the lyrics of Tetsu era songs have been changed to accomodate Gackt or Klaha's vocals for live performances.
* FanNickName- Yu~ki= 'The Count'. Subversion in that it might have been Mana who started it.
* GenreBusting- The members all had different styles. It showed.
* GratuitousEnglish- Some of the lyrics and song names.
* GratuitousFrench- the band name is derived from French, as are some of the album and song names.
* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit- enough of them to clothe a small country.
* MindScrew- Nps Ngs. The lyrics are notoriously difficult to extract a true meaning from, partially because the English half of the song wasn't all that brilliantly translated, resulting in a minor case of WordSaladLyrics. This is complicated further by the best known live performance, in which the members dress up in WW2 regalia and fly the Imperial Japanese flag across the stage, despite the fact that the song doesn't contain any lines that undeniably refer to war (although it does admittedly have a few that could be interpreted as such). Also ''Gekka no Yasoukyoku'' (Lyrical subject: Man finds clowns, clowns are cursed lovers, clowns come temporarily to life) and many of the Merveilles era music videos.

* ObligatoryBondageSong- Illuminati.
* OneOfUs- Gackt (final fantasy cosplay), Mana (a gamer), and Klaha (Apparently a touch socially awkward)
* RapunzelHair- Half the band in the early years, but Kami is best known for it.
* RockMeAmadeus- If people could have personal tropes, this would be Mana's. A lot of the music he wrote for Malice Mizer- especially in the final album- feature classical excerpts. This trope is also heavily present in Moi Dix Mois.
* StageNames- Everyone in the band goes by a moniker or nickname, and to this day, on a few members' real names are known (Kami= Ukyou Kamimura, Tetsu- Tetsu Takano, Klaha is ''probably'' Haruna Masaki)
* TheStoic- Mana. On stage and in TV interviews, anyway. Also see TheVoiceless.
* TheBandMinusTheFace- Although {{Gackt}} didn't run the band, he was very popular amongst the fans, and his departure really shook things up.
* AttractiveBentGender- Mana. If you didn't know he wasn't a woman, you would never be able to tell. Not helped by the fact that you don't often get a chance to hear his voice.
* TheVoiceless- Whether its because he doesn't want his man's voice to mess up his image or whether he just thought it would be a cool idea is anyone's guess, but throughout his career Mana has refused to speak or emote in public, maintaining a fully blank facial expression and communicating mostly by whispering what he wants to say into the ear of the person next to him, who then translates. Not counting the occasions in which he has provided distorted backing vocals, he has only ever slipped up twice.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience- Although costumes varied greatly, each of the members stuck to a certain color. Mana's was blue, Kami's was pink, Közi mostly wore red, and Yu~ki dressed in yellow or orange. Gackt's color never quite settled, but he was often in black.

Well, Malice Mizer was a VisualKei band, active between 1992 and 2001, and spearheaded by the two guitarists Mana and Közi. However, due to the band's GenreBusting, numerous stylistic changes and, well, outright bizarre stage shows and costumes, defining them beyond that is- difficult. A quote by VK/goth singer Lucifer Luscious Violenoue, who was also active in '90s Japan, goes "We can say there is a genre called Malice Mizer, can't we?" And however you look at it, she isn't too far wrong. Throughout their nine year career Malice Mizer have experimented with many types of music- from goth rock to pop to classical to electronic- and often mixed them together, with very unusual results. They also made heavy use of synthesisers despite having a traditional band set-up, which meant that during many songs one or more of the standard instruments was obsolete, and on numerous occasions the instrumentalists stepped forward to provide heavily distorted backing vocals. The overall effect was diverse and distinctive.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience- Although costumes varied greatly, each of the members stuck to a certain color. Mana's was blue, Kami's was pink, Közi mostly wore red, and Yu~ki dressed in yellow or orange. Gackt's color never quite settled, but he was often in black.
* CrazyAwesome- Közi. His music, his behaviour, the way he can wear the most ridiculous things and somehow manage to make them look perfectly OK... it all fits. It's also arguable that the band in general is this.

* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit- enough of them to clothe a small country.
* InternetBackdraft- If you bring up Gackt's departure without being extremely careful, you could cause world war three. Implicating another member or insisting that Gackt WAS the band are examples of what not to do if you wish to avoid this.
* LoveItOrHateIt- Tetsu's voice is either so amazing it makes angels weep or reminiscent of a dying cow; Mana is either a delightfully eccentric genius or a source of NightmareFuel with added pretentiousness; Even the band in general is either to your taste or not.

* NightmareFuel- Mana, to some people.

* ScapegoatCreator- After Gackt's departure, many people began to think of Mana as an egotistic, jealous, slave-driving control freak who had forced Gackt out of the band over something stupidly petty. Mud very much stuck in this case and these days, whenever someone he's working with leaves or a band on his label splits up, people instantly point the finger at Mana and [[MisBlamed assume he's to blame]].

* ViewerGenderConfusion- Mana. If you didn't know he wasn't a woman, you would never be able to tell. Not helped by the fact that you don't often get a chance to hear his voice.