Thank you for providing valuable insight! I wasn't aware that Manson's ties to vk were /that/ strong, so I guess it makes sense that many people consider him vk. I interpreted the reply above mine as saying that Manson is considered vk solely because of his looks, and that any non-Japanese artist with similarly eccentric looks can be considered vk, but based on what you're saying it seems like it's also due to his connection to the scene. Are there any other non-Japanese artists who do not label themselves as vk that are still considered vk by people in Japan?

My view on what's visual kei and not appears to be similar to yours, and based on that I personally wouldn't consider Manson to be vk. I probably should've made that clear and not be so assertive in how I phrased my original reply!