L'Arc-en-Ciel, stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist Tetsuya and vocalist Hyde. Following the departure of original members Hiro and Pero, guitarist Ken and drummer Sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by Yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up.
Hoshin Engi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryu Fujisaki, inspired by the Chinese literary classic Investiture of the Gods, a shenmo novel. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from June 1996 to November 2000, with its chapters collected in 23 tankōbon volumes. The story involves Chinese mythology and history of China, in particular the last members of the Yin dynasty, and the plot to overthrow them. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Viz Media. Fujisaki also wrote a short gaiden manga, titled Hoshin Engi Gaiden: Senkai Dōsho, serialized in Weekly Young Jump from April to June 2018.
Penicillin is a Japanese visual kei alternative rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1992.
Ryu Fujisaki is a Japanese manga artist from Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture.
Heidi. is a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in Tokyo in February 2006. They gained popularity after performing at the memorial concert on the 10th anniversary of the death of the musician hide on May 4, 2008, to tens of thousands of people. Their third album was released in Europe by Gan-Shin records in 2009 and the following year Heidi. signed to major label Geneon Universal Entertainment.
Gastunk is an influential Japanese rock band, first active from 1983 to 1988. Initially a hardcore punk band, guitarist Tatsu later recalled that when Gastunk made their major label debut they were dubbed heavy metal by the media. They reunited for one-off concerts in 1999 and 2006, before fully restarting activities in 2010.
Nagi Yanagi, stylized as yanaginagi (やなぎなぎ), is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Osaka Prefecture who is signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After becoming interested with music in her childhood, she began singing and writing original songs. In 2006, she began uploading her music to Niconico and other websites, gaining the attention of the J-pop band Supercell, who featured Yanagi as the guest vocalist from 2009 to 2011.
My First Story (マイ・ファースト・ストーリー、マイファス、MFS) is a Japanese rock band from Shibuya, Tokyo. Formed in 2011, the band currently consists of vocalist Hiroki Moriuchi, guitarist Teruki Nishizawa, bassist Nobuaki Katō, and drummer Shōhei Sasaki. Their debut album My First Story (2012) caught people's attention and put them in lineups of major music festivals. Their fourth studio album Antithese (2016) ranked 4th on Oricon chart, and directed their first Nippon Budokan live show, gathering 12,000.
Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas(sic) is a Japanese electronicore band from Kobe that was formed in summer 2008. The band currently consists of vocalist So, keyboardist Minami, guitarist Taiki, drummer Tomonori, and bassist Tetsuya. They are best known for their heavy use of vocoder and synthesizer blended with emo/metalcore music and rave beats.
Silent Siren is a Japanese all-female band formed in 2010 and associated with Platinum Production. The members consist of three fashion models: Sumire Yoshida, Aina Yamauchi, and Yukako Kurosaka (keyboard). Ayana Sōgawa was originally the group's keyboardist until she left in 2012.
Nextreme is the sixth EP by Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was released on 13 July 2011 through VAP. The title Nextreme was formed from "next" and "extreme", meaning that the band received the previous work and thrust their "next limit" into a mini album. The EP made its debut at number 8 on the Oricon chart with 12,126 copies in its first week sales. Nextreme won the CD Shop Awards for New Blood category in 2012. The song "Jump Around" was selected to appear in the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 as the fourth track, and "Chase the Light!" was used as the opening theme for the second season of the anime Kaiji.
All That We Have Now is the second studio album by Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was released on 8 August 2012 through VAP. This is the last release to feature founding member Mashu on bass. He left the band in 2013, and was later replaced by Kei. The album's title, All That We Have Now, says that they have become their culmination content so far. The album reached number 4 on Oricon chart, sold 23,525 copies in its first week release. The single of the album, "Just Awake", originally recorded in Japanese, was later released with an English version. It was used as the first ending theme of the Hunter × Hunter reboot anime.
Rave-up Tonight is the ninth EP by Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was released on 15 January 2014 through VAP. It features remixes of songs from Dance & Scream, Nextreme, and All That We Have Now. The EP debuted at number 3 on Oricon chart with sales of 19,409 copies in Japan in its first week release. A music video of "Rave-up Tonight" was nominated for the 2014 Space Shower Music Awards for Best Video category. The song was used as the theme song for arcade game Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost.
Phase 2 is the third studio album by Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was released on 6 August 2014 through VAP. It debuted at number 4 on Oricon chart with sales of 21,978 copies in Japan in its opening week. The single for the album, "Rave-up Tonight", was released on 25 January 2014. Its music video was nominated for the 2014 Space Shower Music Awards for Best Video category. "Rave-up Tonight" was used as theme song for arcade game Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost. Other songs of the album, "Virtue and Vice", was featured as the opening theme for anime Brynhildr in the Darkness, while "Thunderclap" was chosen for the opening theme for anime Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement.
Feeling of Unity is the fourth studio album by Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was released on 30 September 2015 through VAP. It is the last album to be released on this label.
Mary's Blood was a Japanese all-female heavy metal band from Tokyo, formed in 2009 by four former members of Destrose. It consists of vocalist Eye, drummer Mari, guitarist Saki and bassist Rio since 2012. After releasing three EPs as an independent band, they signed to Nippon Columbia for their first album, Countdown to Evolution (2014). Mary's Blood then switched to Victor Entertainment for the release of Bloody Palace (2015) and Fate (2016). They signed to Tokuma Japan Communications in 2018 and released three further studio albums, including their highest-charting, Confessions (2019). Mary's Blood began an indefinite hiatus on April 9, 2022.
Conqueror is the sixth studio album by the Japanese all-female rock band Band-Maid. It was released digitally on December 4, 2019, with physical formats released one week later. It debuted at number nine on the Oricon Albums Chart and debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly Rock Album ranking. The album was preceded by the singles "Glory" and "Bubble", both released in January 2019. The international version from JPU Records includes English lyric translations and Romaji lyric transliterations.
Novelbright is a five-member Japanese rock band formed in 2013 and mainly active in Osaka. the band currently consists of vocalist Yudai Takenaka, guitarists Kaito Yamada and Sôjirô Oki, drummer Negi and bassist Keigo.
New Sunrise is the fifth studio album by Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was released on 25 October 2017 through Warner Music Japan. It is the first release on this label since the band's departure from VAP. It also the last album to feature founding lead guitarist Sxun, who left the band due to personal circumstances. It is also the last one to feature their second bassist Kei, who died due to an acute heart failure at his home on midnight of 12 January.
