Writing Feedback / My most recent discovery is Japanese music, J-ROCK [11]

I hope you'll help me with correction grammar and spelling mistakes, and maybe give me some feedback or idea, thank you!

Japanese music

I've written this essay awhile ago and got it corrected here, and now I'm back. I'll be reading this aloud at my English exam, so I would appreciate it, if someone would correct it :) I've added some things to the original essay and tried to shorten the stuff I'd already written.

If you have any suggestions to another word I could use instead of my original word or tell me if something doesn't make sense, that would also be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Lately I've been quite addicted to Japanese culture.

My most recent discovery is Japanese music, which is commonly referred to as the term J-rock. I've been listening to it for some months and then in October I decided to order a magazine about Visual Kei, which is a genre of Japanese music that not only focuses on the music, but also the appearance. Every time I looked in the magazine, I got more and more fascinated - it was a completely new world unfolding before my eyes. It was so unlike anything I'd ever seen. Compared to European/American bands Visual Kei bands are unique. It's not just their music, but it's their whole culture - everything from how they act in public to their marvellous stage shows.

On stage, they usually wear striking make-up, unusual hairstyles and elaborate costumes. Most J-rockers are men, but some of them like dressing in female clothing. They are neither gay nor transvestites; they're just performers, who like to please their fans.

I then started searching on the Internet for the new names I found in the magazine, because up until then I'd only been listening to the artist called Miyavi.

The first band I found was An Cafe, which consist of Miku, the vocalist; Bou, the guitarist; Kanon, the bassist; and Teruki, the drummer. I liked their music right away. Their genre is more Oshare Kei, which is happier and a lot more upbeat than Visual Kei. The clothing is also quite different, because it features very bright and happy colours. When I listen to and look at An Cafe, or Oshare Kei bands in general, I become so cheerful, and it's definitely the perfect medicine, if you've had a bad day.

I continued my hunt and one day I stumbled upon the artist Gackt Camui, who is undeniably my biggest obsession at the moment. He's a songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, actor, author, model and voice actor - all at the same time!

He made his big debut with the band Malice Mizer, but in 1999 he decided to go solo for reasons known only to him. After he left the band, he became widely popular, and he still is.

Many people would most likely describe him as odd, and I guess they're somewhat right. Gackt's abnormality dates all the way back to his childhood. He began to see himself as an outsider at age seven. One day while he was swimming off the coast of Okinawa, he nearly died. After his near-death experience, he had the ability to see the dead. When he was ten, he suddenly collapsed and was hospitalized. It was a hospital for gravely ill children, and he had to watch his friends in the ward die, one after the other. During his stay, he became continuously more and more mentally unbalanced and was denied release. Desperate to escape what he felt was a prison, Gackt started acting as if he was cured until he was released. This experience had a profound effect on him.

But even though he has been through so much hardship he has still been able to carry on, and that's really a trait to admire.

He has also always been very competitive, and it's certainly not enough for him to be next best - that's why he's so skilful at everything.

In his interviews, he always tells bizarre stuff about himself. He believes that he was born in the year 1540 and is a vampire. He also thinks that electric light can injure his eyes, and therefore he wears sunglasses most of the time.

Most J-rockers are, like Gackt, peculiar in some way, and that's why I like them so much.

In the world of J-rock, fans feel very attached to their favourite bands and to one another. This is true especially in the West, where fans of J-rock are rare. Therefore, it is important to work together to help J-rock gain more popularity in our part of the world.

In spring 2007 our support and hard work had finally started to pay off, and the Japanese bands realized, that they have lots of fans outside Japan. In May, one special and very important man in the J-rock industry known as Yoshiki managed to put a festival together in America, where about ten famous Japanese bands performed. Not surprisingly was this festival given the name J-rock Revolution, because it certainly was revolutionizing. It turned out the be a big success, and now many bands are following in its foot prints. On June 23 a festival in Germany called J-shock is scheduled, where four famous bands, including An Cafe, will perform, just to mention an example. I'll of course be attending this festival, as it will the first of its kind in Europe.