Dragon Ash is a Japanese rap rock group founded in 1996 by Kenji "KJ" Furuya and Makoto Sakurai. They were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. Dragon Ash is a member of Mob Squad, which is an affiliation with the bands Source and Endive. Dragon Ash uses the French fleur-de-lis as their band logo/symbol.
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.
Bump of Chicken is a Japanese alternative rock group from Sakura, Chiba. The band members are Motoo Fujiwara, Hiroaki Masukawa (guitar), Yoshifumi Naoi (bass) and Hideo Masu (drums). Since their conception in 1994, they have released 27 singles and 10 albums. They are a popular group in Japan; every release since their third single, "Tentai Kansoku", has charted in the top ten on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their music has been used in various video games and as theme songs for movies, television shows and anime in Japan.
KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Smile-Up in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Tatsuya Ueda, and Yuichi Nakamaru. Their debut on March 22, 2006, was marked by a tripartite release of a CD single, album and music DVD on their exclusive record label J-One Records. Since then, all of their single, album and music DVD releases have debuted at number one on the Oricon music and DVD charts.
Mami Kawada is a former Japanese pop singer and lyricist who was signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan and also a member of I've Sound, a musical group which produces soundtracks for eroge and anime.
Uverworld is a Japanese rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide.
0079–0088 is a compilation album released by Gackt on December 19, 2007. It contains eight tracks, which had either previously been used on the soundtracks of the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam movies or were covers of earlier songs from the Gundam franchise.
Jupiter is Japanese rock band Bump of Chicken's third and major debut studio album, released on February 20, 2002. It peaked at #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Jupiter was #45 on the 2002 Oricon Top 100 Albums.
"Tentai Kansoku" (天体観測) is the third single by Bump of Chicken. The title track is from the album Jupiter. "Tentai Kansoku" was used as the second ending theme for Teasing Master Takagi-san: The Movie (2022), covered by the main character's voice actress, Rie Takahashi. A parody of this song was sung by Tadano from Komi Can't Communicate (2021).
"Zero" (ゼロ) is a song by Japanese rock band Bump of Chicken. Created as the theme song of the 2011 role-playing video game Final Fantasy Type-0, it was released by Toy's Factory on October 19, 2011 as a single with their earlier track "Smile". The song was written by band member Motoo Fujiwara, with band producer MOR and Bump of Chicken as a whole arranging and producing. It later featured in two of Bump of Chicken's live concerts, and as a track on the 2014 album Ray.
The year 2013 in Japanese music.
Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, videographer and illustrator. He began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name Hachi (ハチ) in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 million physical copies and over 7 million digital copies in Japan.
Tree is the seventh Japanese studio album by South Korean pop duo Tohoshinki, released by Avex Trax on March 5, 2014. The record was released in four physical versions, each with a seasonal theme cover – Version A (Spring/Summer), a CD+DVD version with music videos; Version B (Autumn), another CD+DVD version with off-shot movies; Version C (Winter), a CD only version with two bonus tracks; and Version D, a fan club limited edition with a CD-Extra. Musically, Tree is a varied pop music album that is influenced by a broad range of musical genres, such as electronic dance music, hip hop, R&B, swing jazz, rock music, power ballads, and reggae. Recording for the album began well before the launch of their sixth Japanese studio album Time in early 2013.
The music for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, a regular contributor to the music of the Final Fantasy series. Several other composers including Masayoshi Soken and Naoshi Mizuta contributed music for updates to the game. The music for the game's reboot, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and subsequent expansions, is compiled of a collection of original and remixed songs by numerous composers, namely Uematsu, Soken, as well as others including guest composers such as Okabe of the NIER series. Soken was the sound director for both releases of the game. Music from both releases of the game has been released in several albums. A pair of mini-albums containing a handful of selected tracks from XIV, Final Fantasy XIV: Battle Tracks and Final Fantasy XIV: Field Tracks, were released by Square Enix in 2010 when XIV first launched. A soundtrack album titled Final Fantasy XIV - Eorzean Frontiers, containing most of the music that had been released by that point for XIV, was digitally released in 2012. A final soundtrack album for the original release of the game, Before Meteor: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack, was released in 2013 just before the launch of A Realm Reborn, and contains all of the music that was composed for XIV throughout its lifetime. The latest soundtrack album, Shadowbringers: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack, was released in 2019. This album contains the music for the third expansion, Shadowbringers, and music from the previous expansion, Stormblood, that was added to the game via patches after the release of that expansion's soundtrack.
The music for the 2013 action role-playing game Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, developed and published by Square Enix, was composed by Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Mitsuto Suzuki. Hamauzu was the leader composer for XIII and XIII-2, and Mizuta and Suzuki previously composed music for XIII-2. Musicians who had previously worked with the composers on XIII-2 and The 3rd Birthday worked on the project in Japan, while the main soundtrack was performed and recorded in Boston by the Video Game Orchestra, conducted by Shota Nakama. Along with including more percussion and ethnic elements, the soundtrack used "Blinded by Light", the main theme for main character Lightning, as a leitmotif. Unlike the previous XIII games, the soundtrack did not include a theme song, as the composers felt it would detract from the emotional impact of the ending.
Oldcodex was a Japanese rock band from Tokyo, Japan, formed in 2009. They performed the opening themes for the anime series Free!, Servamp and God Eater and the ending themes for Kuroko's Basketball and Togainu no Chi. Their band name indicates their wish to "create their distinctiveness" in rock music. They also take on a unique concept, having a painter draw on canvas while the main vocalist sing on live stages.
And is the fourteenth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi, and the first of two planned albums released for 2018. The album was released on February 28, 2018, nearly one year after her previous studio album W Face.
Akari Nanawo is a Japanese musician and YouTuber from Osaka Prefecture who is signed to Sony Music Associated Records. Starting her career as an independent musician in 2011, Akari gained a following performing at various live houses in Japan, as well as through uploading songs on the website Niconico. She was also cast in a stage play adaptation of the mobile game Fate/Grand Order. She made her major debut in 2018, performing the opening theme to the anime television series Happy Sugar Life. She released her first full album in October of that year.
Aurora Arc is the ninth studio album by Japanese band Bump of Chicken, released through Toy's Factory on July 10, 2019. It debuted atop the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 202,157 copies in its first week. The lead single, "Aria", was released in mid-2016.
Butterflies is the eighth studio album by Japanese band Bump of Chicken, released through Toy's Factory on February 10, 2016. It debuted atop the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 197,160 copies in its first week.
