L’Arc~en~Ciel

by Leanne on September 3, 2005 · 68 comments · AddThis

hyde hyde
vocals
Birthday: January 29, 1968*
Height: 158 cm*
Misc: colorblind, married, artist
ken ken
guitar
Birthday: November 28, 1969
Height: 178 cm
tetsu tetsu
bass, leader
Birthday: October 3, 1968
Height: SHORT
Misc: Gundam freak
yukihiro yukihiro
drums
Birthday: November 24, 1969
Height: 165 cm
Misc: Chocolate freak

L’Arc~en~Ciel (French for Rainbow) is very different than the everyday rock bands you hear today. There is something about them that sets them apart. They, along with the band GLAY, are the last of what some people refer to as the “Early 90’s Greats”. The band currently consists of hyde on vocals, ken on guitar, tetsu on bass, and yukihiro on drums. Yes, all their names are lowercase.

L’Arc~en~Ciel (Laruku for short) have been around a long time, 12 years on a major label (since 1994), and almost sixteen if their indie days are included. Since the beginning they were different from most bands, dressing with a Mediterranean gypsy fashion rather than the black and gloomy clothes that was so prevalent in the indie rock scene at the time. They don’t like to play by the rules; they like to make them up. L’Arc~en~Ciel is one of those bands that go beyond a rigid genre of rock, just as their name suggests, they explore every color of the rainbow, from punk to metal to pop. They can be dark and haunting at times (finale), light and fun (Driver’s High), or slow and beautiful (Pieces). This may be cause for their large fan base in and outside of Japan: the visual rocker and the pop listener will both find something they enjoy. Their music transcends the language barrier. And there is no doubt that L’Arc~en~Ciel has left a big mark on, not only the Japanese music scene, but also Japanese culture, from video games to manga to fashion.

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ZYX

by Lainay on September 1, 2005 · 5 comments · AddThis

Mari Mari Yaguchi
Birthday: 1983-01-20
Birthplace: Kanagawa
Blood type: A
Megumi Megumi Murakami
Birthday: 1992-06-06
Blood type: A
Momoko Momoko Tsugunaga
Birthday: 1992-03-06
Birthplace: Tokyo
Blood type: O
Maimi Maimi Yajima
Birthday: 1992-02-07
Blood type: O
Saki Saki Shimizu
Birthday: 1991-11-22
Birthplace: Tokyo
Blood type: O
Erika Erika Umeda
Birthday: 1991-05-24
Blood type: A

ZYX

I’d like to bring your attention to another Hello! Project group: ZYX. Or should I say former Hello! Project, as the group hasn’t released anything since winter, 2003.

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Hitomi Shimatani

by Rinoa on September 1, 2005 · 16 comments · AddThis

Hitomi Shimatani
Hitomi Shimatani posing in CDData 2006
Name: Hitomi Shimatani
Birthday: September 4th 1980
Hometown: Hiroshima
Star Sign: Virgo
Height: 161 cm
Blood Type: O type
Hobbies: Karaoke, shopping, movies
Record Label: avex trax
Talent Agency: PROCEED

Hitomi Shimatani is a relatively popular singer in the J-Pop scene, who has made her debut back then in 1999. Apart from being a singer, Hitomi is a popular television personality and is an actress. She has a reputation of having powerful vocals and her beauty has labelled her as being one of the most beautiful personalities in Japan. Her trademark is her long hair.

Despite the fact that she is not extremely popular and is not one of avex’s biggest source of revenue, Hitomi still manages to attract a fair amount of attention. She has her personal fanclub called Eye-Land. Hitomi’s personality is rather well mannered and she is a compliant woman to work with, according to those who have done so. Hitomi frequents many music and radio programmes, just because she an interesting person. For these reasons she has made a lot of friendships and connections with various personalities, most notably the illustrious actress Yukie Nakama and Ryoko Kuninaka.

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ZONE

by spellcheck on September 1, 2005 · 54 comments · AddThis

MIYU MIYU
Guitar and Vocals
DoB: 20/05/1988
Blood Type: B
Height: 156cm
MIZUHO MIZUHO
Drums and Vocals
DoB: 12/12/1986
Blood Type: A
Height: 153cm
MAIKO MAIKO
Bass and Vocals
DoB: 24/07/1986
Blood Type: O
Height: 154cm
TOMOKA TOMOKA
Guitar and Vocals
DoB: 19/09/1986
Blood Type: O
Height: 160cm
TAKAYO TAKAYO
Ex-Guitar and Ex-Vocals
DoB: 13/06/1985
Blood Type: A
Height: 154cm

In 1999, Studio Runtime held an audition in Sapporo for a new type of group that they called a “bandoru” (band+idol, a group that could both dance and play instruments). Initially, 8 members were picked, but that was later shortened to 4: TAKAYO, MIYU, MIZUHO and MAIKO. This became ZONE. The name “ZONE” refers to the group’s goal, starting from the bottom, or “Z” (the last letter in the alphabet), all the way to number one (“ONE”).

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Biyuuden

by Lainay on August 31, 2005 · 25 comments · AddThis

Rika Ishikawa Rika Ishikawa
Birthday: January 19th, 1985
Birthplace: Kanagawa
Blood type: A
Erika Miyoshi Erika Miyoshi
Birthday: November 8th, 1984
Birthplace: Hokkaido
Blood type: B
Yui Okada Yui Okada
Birthday: December 28th, 1987
Birthplace: Osaka
Blood type: A

Biyuuden

I’d like to share with you a semi-new group in the Hello! Project: Biyuuden. Biyuuden is made up of 3 girls: Rika Ishikawa, Erika Miyoshi, and Yui Okada. Rika is a former Morning Musume member, while Erika was chosen in a 2003 Hello! Project audition, and Yui was one of the many girls that advanced in the Hello! Project “Egg” Audition.

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