After almost 20 years, famous visual kei magazine Cure will suspend publication.
The magazine’s last issue is the June 2022 volume which will be published on April 21st. The featured artists in the issue will be announced shortly before, on April 19th.
The magazine’s publisher, ASIA HOUSE (エイジアハウス株式会社), released a statement announcing the decision this morning. Although the reasoning is vague, it seems to boil down to the lack of readership for magazines in general.
Cure was the last regularly published visual kei magazine, with SHOXX and FOOL’S MATE having ceased publication years earlier. (hévn, which technically ended years ago, still makes occasional issues, and various free papers such as Vijittoke continue production.)
The statement from ASIA HOUSE (エイジアハウス株式会社) clarified that this is a “temporary” suspension, but it seems unlikely that the magazine will come back in the same form if at all. Still, the staff of Cure say that they are exploring ways to continue to promote visual kei to the world.
The announcement is no surprise to longtime fans, as Cure had reduced the size of their issues in recent years. Still, the magazine’s commitment to promoting smaller indie bands was extremely important to the scene and their absence will be felt.
A translation of the magazine’s message is below:
Notice of suspension of publication
Cure magazine was launched in September 2003. The magazine was created with the slogan “Japaneseque Rock + Visual Styling Magazine,” to convey the appeal and culture of visual kei bands and their fans, while focusing on the indie scene. However, we have decided to temporarily suspend publication with our upcoming June 2022 issue.
We realize that we have been able to create and to continue publishing a magazine which is loved by many people only because of the cooperation of various bands and artists, and of course the support of our readers.
As the times and the music scene change, we at Cure will continue to look for new possibilities to convey the appeal of visual kei to everyone.
We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for everyone’s support and readership for the 19 years since our first issue.
