WOW Meryl! That was the most informative post I've ever read regarding a question of mine!
The visual kei bands sound most interesting. Malice Mizer among others. Actually I wouldnt be surprised at all with any form of weird dress or artwork involved in some of these bands music because a lot of american and european industrial/rock/ everything else bands do the same thing. Actually, I'd be interested to see the japanese take on the whole wild gear/costume stuff because in northern europe for example a lot of those guys dress up with armor and spikes and carry medieval weapons out on stage while others dress up as vikings...heh. Goth rockers in the U.S. like to try and look androgenous sometimes it seems....and so on.
More importantly, though, the music itself....and that sounds absolutely intriguing based on your desciption of some of these categories and sub categories. I'm gonna try n check out some of these bands online...if i like their songs i'm a orderin some cds!
_RED_ stuff