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J!-ENT | AUGUST 04Concert photography taken by JUNICHI TAKAHASHI

Photos provided by SONY MUSIC JAPAN, KI/OON RECORDS and TOFU RECORDS

READY STEADY GOL’Arc~en~Ciel IS KNOWN FOR ROCKING THEIR FANS IN JAPAN AND THEY SHOWED US THEY CAN DEFINITELY ROCK IN AMERICA! JOIN THE J!-ENT TEAM AS THEY COVER THE

CONCERT EXPERIENCE AT OTAKON, THE PRESS CONFERENCE, THEIR WORLDWIDE FANDOM AND SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR FANS TO SMILE ABOUT! BY DENNIS A. AMITH

[WHAT’S HOT IN MUSIC]

L’Arc~en~Ciel

larc_article.indd 1 9/1/04 9:22:34 AM

J!-ENT | AUGUST 04

[WHAT’S HOT IN MUSIC]n July 31, 12,000 scream-ing fans filled the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md.

The concert was one of those rare occasions where you would see music fans from all over the world travel to watch a popular band perform live. No, it wasnʼt the Rolling Stones, U2 or any major American or Brit-ish band. It was a Japanese rock band known as L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. Their live performance was part of the festivities for Otakon, one of the largest anime (Japanese anima-tion) conventions in the United States. Some of you may be wondering, who is L̓ Arc~en~Ciel? L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is a Japanese rock band that debuted back in 1991. The band currently consists of hyde (lead vocalist), ken (guitar), tetsu (bass/band leader) and yuki-hiro (drums). The bandʼs name means “rain-bow” in French — a fitting name for the group, because like the varied colors of the rainbow, the band delves into a variety of musi-cal styles. Since their debut, they have sold over 35 million albums. The group has been featured on magazines and on television many times in Japan and they also have their own Sony PlayStation video game. Their song “Spirit dreams inside” was the ending theme to the motion picture “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”. Along with their music style, the band also is known for their image, which has, created fashion fads all over Japan. In 2001, they released a collec-tion of popular hits, titled “Clicked Singles Best 13”, in the United States available through Tofu Records. The album tracks were cho-sen by voters from Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines who ranked 21 of the bands singles on Yahoo! and the album featured 12 of their popular hits plus “Anemo-ne”, an unreleased song. Three years ago, the band went on hiatus as each member performed their own solo proj-ects. Tetsu setup his own label,

ment of a schedule promoting their concert, “Shibuya Seven days 2003”, that summer. In February 2004, the band released their ninth album, “SMILE” and an announce-ment was made later that the album would be released in the United States in June by Tofu Records. The band went on their national tour, “SMILE TOUR 2004”, performing in May, June and several days after the release of their U.S. album, an announcement was made on the L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, Tofu Re-cords and Otakon Web sites announcing L̓ Arc~en~Ciel would be performing in the United States.

“SPROUSE”, and released CDs as a solo project known as “TETSU69”. Yukihiro formed his own solo and band project called “acid android”. Ken formed a new band “S.O.A.P.”. Hyde went on to have a solo ca-reer with two albums released and also a mo-tion picture, “MOON CHILD”, sharing the lead role with another Japanese rock vocalist, Gackt. Also, hyde will be in a new movie to be released in October titled “Last Quarter”. With each year passing by with no reunion by the band members, many fans wondered about the possibility of the band breaking up. Fortunately the band denied those rumors and surprised their fans with an announce-

LʼArc~en~Ciel (L to R): tetsu, yukihiro, hyde and ken. Photo provided by Ki/oon Records.

In June 2004, LʼArc~en~Ciel released the album “SMILE” in the United States through Tofu Records. Among the released singles featured in the album are “Spirit dreams inside” (Sept. 5, 2001), “READY STEADY GO” (rel. Feb. 4, 2004), “Living In Your Eyes-Hitomi no Jyunin” (rel. March 3, 2004). “Jiyu eno shoutai” (rel. June 2, 2004), their latest CD Single was performed live at the anime convention, Otakon.

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Within a few hours after the announce-ment, I searched the various L̓ Arc~en~Ciel mailing lists and message boards worldwide and I was surprised by the number of fans from all over North America as well as around the world already discussing travel plans, booking their air fares and reserving hotel rooms. In Japan, a large number of fans from the L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fan club were preparing to travel to the United States for the concert. For this article, our J!-ENT team and correspondents will cover L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs successful concert at Otakon. We will share with you the experiences of L̓ Arc fans who traveled from distant areas to attend the concert. We will also feature the bandʼs post-performance press conference held at Otakon. We will also show how much of an impact L̓ Arc~en~Ciel has made on their fans throughout the world. Fans from North America, Asia, Europe and South America will talk about their passion for the band. Last, we will feature a “SMILE” section where fans around the globe discuss their feelings about L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs latest album. Enjoy! - DENNIS A. AMITH LʼArc~en~Ciel (L to R): tetsu, hyde, yukihiro and ken. Photo provided by Ki/oon Records.


J!-ENT | AUGUST 04

L̓ Arc~en~Ciel LIVE

LʼArc~en~Ciel performs in front of 12,000 screaming fans at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md., on July 31. Photo credit: Junichi TakahashiPhoto Copyright: Tofu Records, All Rights Reserved.

J!-ENT TAKES YOU THROUGH THE L’Arc-en-Ciel CONCERT TIME LINE - BEFORE THE CONCERT, DURING THE CONCERT AND AFTER THE CONCERT DIRECTLY FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF FANS WHO ATTENDED THE LIVE PERFORMANCE.

month before the concert, Kasey, a L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fan from Indiana joked with her friends and family about “what if

L̓ Arc~en~Ciel” performed at Otakon? She was greeted with a response similar to what many die-hard fans have experienced for years. The usual... “Itʼll never happen,” “Donʼt be ridiculous,” “I donʼt think so,” “Yeah, right.” Many fans like Kasey have talked about their “what ifs” of Japanese music artists coming to the United States to per-form live and for many Japanese music fans, L̓ Arc~en~Ciel was among those bands that ranked high on that wish list. At 2:20 a.m. (Pacific Time) June 27, Tofu Records, L̓ Arc~en~Ciel and Otakon made a surprising announcement on their Web sites that the rock band L̓ Arc~en~Ciel will be performing in

concert at Otakon in Baltimore, Md., on July 31. Many L̓ Arc~en~Ciel message boards were quickly filled with posts by fans who were shocked and excited that their wish for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel to perform in America has finally come true. “I found out through my friend. When she told me, I didnʼt believe her. I thought she was lying to me,” said Laurel of San Francisco. “My jaw just dropped. I was in total shock. My mind could not comprehend that they were going to be in America per-forming. I just started screaming. I didnʼt care how much it was going to cost me! I didnʼt care if itʼs going to put me in debt for the rest of the year! I didnʼt care if we had to camp out for tickets! I would totally shoot myself in the foot if we donʼt go.” For some fans, there was no time to waste. Fans wanted to make sure that

flights to Baltimore and hotel rooms near the convention area were available. “I was absolutely thrilled when I first heard of their appearance in the U.S. I im-mediately started looking for hotel reserva-tions and airfare,” said Wynne Ip. “I have to fly from Los Angeles to Bal-timore and knowing that the announcement was made, fans from all over the country will flock to Baltimore. I had to act quick.” As for Elizabeth Walker of Kansas City, Mo., L̓ Arc~en~Ciel performing in concert at Otakon was a dream come true. She explained to us that there was no way she was going to miss this concert. “When I became a L̓ arc~en~Ciel fan, I made an oath to myself that I will go see them in concert. Whether it be in the U.S. or in Japan,” Elizabeth commented. “When I found out that they were com-ing here in the U.S. for a one-day-only concert, I literally started to cry.”

AJ!-ENT TIMELINE: A MONTH BEFORE THE CONCERT

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n July 31, fans began to line up for the concert very early in the afternoon with temperatures around

80 degrees and humidity around 60 percent. The concert was planned to begin at 5 p.m. and lineup for the concert would begin at 3:30 p.m. But a few fans who were eager to get front row seats were waiting near the arena as early as 9 a.m. and were told by arena security to leave. Around 2:30 p.m., there was a line of about 25 to 30 people. Around 3:30 p.m., several hun-dred people started lining up and Otakon staff were definitely busy trying to keep the lines organized. Laurel was one of the first people to get in line early that afternoon. “The wait was a little brutal be-cause it was so hot and humid. And

J!-ENT TIMELINE: HOURS BEFORE THE CONCERT

we were waiting for over three hours in the sun without much shade or water,” Laurel explained. “We were in between two groups of Japanese girls, so we pretty much kept to ourselves and tried very hard not to pass out from the heat.” To help fans out during the hu-mid weather, Patricia Bowden and friends from Roosevelt, N.Y., went to a nearby eatery by getting ice for people in line. “We had experience standing on long lines so we knew what to do. Two of us went to the Pizza Shop and got food for ourselves and ice for everyone else,” Patricia commented. “By the time we got back, the line was moving. It was about 4:30 at the time. We ended up sharing ice with a girl behind us. She was practically suffering from heat stroke!”

J!-ENT TIMELINE: MOMENTS BEFORE THE CONCERT

round 4 p.m., the doors were now open to allow people into the concert. There was little pandemo-nium as fans in the front of the line

desperately wanted to get to the floor/stage area. “While the doors were opening, we were told not to run, but nobody was really listen-ing. I heard one of the girls scream, `Run! ̓So, while my friends and I were trying to walk through the doors, about 50 to 60people immediately behind us just dashed past us in an instant down the ramp aiming for the stage/floor section,” Wynne Ip from Los Angeles said. “It was rather chaotic and, truthfully, dangerous. They all ran towards the inner door that led directly into the floor seating area, with a whole bunch of security staff screaming angrily at everyone to not run and back off. I think they must have immedi-ately closed the doors behind us, seeing how chaotic the situation was.” Hank of Sunnyvale, Calif., described to us what he saw when the doors were opened. “In my opinion, the arena security were not prepared at all for the crowd when they opened the doors, and they were not ex-

pecting the rush that inevitably ensued. Of course, not being from Japan they probably didnʼt know or expect how popular an act L̓ Arc~en~Ciel was.” “They just opened the door, and the ensu-ing rush of people running at full speed to try and get a front row seat was like a wall of water from a broken dam,” Hank com-mented. “I didnʼt run and got bumped into from behind by several people as they ran past me. My friends who didnʼt run either got bumped into as well. Eventually, since the inner access doors werenʼt open yet, the flood of people were stopped at those doors, and it took security about 5 minutes to restore some semblance of order and get the people into a line to enter the arena.” It didnʼt take long for Otakon and arena staff and security to have everything under control. Patricia Bowden of New York entered the arena like many others without any problems. “Getting into the concert was remarkably organized. I thought it was going to be crazy with people shoving. Everyone just walked into the arena in a calm and organized manner. I think its because it was so orga-

nized,” Patricia said. As attendees started to fill the seats throughout arena, next to the stage show-ing on a big screen was the first episode of the anime “FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST” (to air on the CARTOON NETWORK in November), in which L̓ Arc~en~Ciel sings the opening theme song “READY STEADY GO”. Once the emcee began to introduce the band, fans in the floor area rushed towards the stage. Especially the hundred or so hard-core L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans from Japan who made sure they got to the front stage. As for Laurel of San Francisco, she explained, “The announcer came on the speaker to introduce L̓ Arc, and all of a sudden, people from the side sections rushed towards the stage! People in our section were hopping over seats to get to the front. The Otakon staffers came out and shooed everyone back to their seats,” “And then a little while later, the actual announcer came out in person to introduce the band. And even more people rushed the

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Concert attendees wait in line to get inside 1st Mariner Arena. Photo credit: Wataru Kanemitsu

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LʼArc~en~Ciel rocks Baltimore. Photo (clockwise from upper left): hyde, tetsu, yukihiro and ken. Photo credit: Junichi TakahashiPhoto Copyright: Tofu Records, All Rights Reserved.

WE ARE L’Arc~en~Ciel!HELLO AMERICA!




SONGS PERFORMED AT THE CONCERT:

01 Kiss-Kuchizuke *02 Lover Boy *03 HEAVEN’S DRIVE **04 Spirit dreams inside* 05 Jiyuu eno Shoutai +06 Forever-Eien *07 KASOU ***08 Living In Your Eyes-Hitomi No Jyunin *09 Driver’s High **10 Feeling Fine *11 STAY AWAY **12 REVELATION *13 READY STEADY GO *14 HONEY **15 Blurry Eyes **16 Pieces **

* On the U.S. album, “SMILE”** On the U.S. album, “Clicked Singles Best 13”*** On the Japan album, “ray”+ “Jiyuu eno Shoutai” is their latest CD single in Japan

THE 411 ON THE L̓ Arc~en~Ciel CONCERT

LʼArc~en~Ciel performed at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md. for 12,000 people. Photo credit: Junichi Takahashi. Photo Copyright: Tofu Records, All Rights Reserved.

After “HEAVEN’S DRIVE”, hyde asked the crowd if they ate crabs. Because he ate two crabs the day before. For those not from Maryland, the city is known for its famous crabs. Promoted at

dining areas, gift centers and seafood markets and also used as a symbol via pencils or stickers to pro-mote an event at the Baltimore Convention Center.

When the band came back for their encore, tetsu was sport-ing a banana T-shirt. During “Blurry Eyes”, he asked the audience if they wanted to eat his banana? He then threw several autographed bananas to the audience. But what is the signifi cance of tetsu’s banana? It’s all about MUKIMPO-kun. What is Mukimpo? Oops... Sorry, ran out of space. We’ll let you fi gure that one out.

J!-ENT TIMELINE: THE CONCERT

Arc~en~Ciel had now come on stage to perform their fi rst song “Kiss-Kuchizuke” and the stage was lit up by the

pyrotechnics. Hank from Sunnyvale, Calif., said, “Feeling the wall of fl ames shoot up from the stage during the fi rst song. The heat of the fl ames made me realize “yes, you are not dreaming, you are really at a L̓ Arc~en~Ciel concert.” As for Elizabeth Walker from Kan-sas City, Mo. who was at the front of the stage, she described her experience when the concert began. “The excitement of the many fans in the arena was very contagious. When the lights went out and they came on stage, the only thing a person could really think was, “Wow, I canʼt believe Iʼm seeing them live,” Eliza-beth said. “With the combination of the pyro-technics and the burst of energy from both the audience and the band at the start of the show, I could tell that the rest of the show was going to be noth-ing less than awesome. And it was!” As for audience participation throughout the concert, Michelle Li said, “For the most part, the crowd on the fl oor responded to L̓ Arc~en~Ciel well, and the front of the fl oor were movin ̓and shakin ̓all through the show.” After “READY STEADY GO”, the band took a fi fteen minute break and the audience started screaming for an

encore. Jeffrey Taft of Connecticut ex-plained to us about how those who may not have known anything about L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs music before the concert, have become converted fans because of this concert. “The most telling evidence, how-ever, came between the end of the bandʼs set and their encore. For about 15 minutes, the stadium was consumed in stomping, screaming, cheering and chanting as the crowd attempted to show their appreciation for the band,” Jeffrey said. “It was defi nitely the wildest Iʼve ever heard a crowd go for a band and I say this in light of having seen ʻOzzfest 2004 ̓only three weeks earlier, where a fully reunited Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, two legend-ary bands, both played. There were a lot of people at Ozzfest, sure, but even they didnʼt generate the sheer scream-ing abandon that L̓ Arc did at Otakon.” The concert was indeed a success. For so many years, many fans have waited for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel to perform in the United States and, for some, it is still a surreal feeling that they saw their favorite Japanese band perform live. “Words canʼt begin to convey how I feel about them having been here. For weeks after the announcement Iʼd say to my friends that I could die right after the concert was over, and I would have a fulfi lled life,” Michelle

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stage again. The chair jumping was a little harder to accomplish. We only jumped to the row ahead of us.” For Krystle of Baltimore, she and friends did what they could to get to the front row area. “It was defi nitely a chaotic fi ght to get to the front row. Before L̓ Arc~en~Ciel even came out onto the stage, people were already rushing to the front. Climbing over rows of chairs and there was defi nitely a lot of pushing. People were so worried that

they wouldnʼt be able to see, that they actually stood up on the chairs and were cheering,” Krystle said. “I was separated from a few of my friends at fi rst, but they eventually made their way to the front with me.” Michelle Li of New Jersey described her situation. “There was indeed a mad dash to the front. As soon as the guitar riff for ʻKiss-Kuchizuke ̓started, people started streaming into the aisles and ran towards the stage. After a few seconds I realized that I could also be one of those people, so I ran forward, too.”

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The LʼArc~en~Ciel concert featured a professional setup, great lighting and pyrotechnics. Photo credit: Junichi Takahashi. Photo Copyright: Tofu Records, All Rights Reserved.

explained. The significance of the success of this concert is indeed an understatement. L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, the management, the label and Otakon staff were pleased with the result. “We were absolutely ecstatic to see members travel from all points of the globe, including Japan, Peru, Spain and Brazil, all coming together as members of a unified community to enjoy the concert and the convention,” said Terry Chu, president of Otakon 2004. “Having L̓ Arc~en~Ciel featured at Otakon 2004 for their premiere U.S.appearance was a once-in-a-lifetime oppor-tunity that will be remembered byall of our attendees. We are humbled by and grateful to all of the fans who traveled long distances to attend the convention and to see the concert! Weʼre amazed and glad they could be with us!” To explain the challenges of having a major Japanese band perform at Otakon, Jonathan Harmon, Otakon 2004 guest relations said, “It was rather challenging for us, as we had never committed so much money to a single project nor had we had to use an outside venue like the 1st Mariner Arena.”

“It was by far the most difficult project that the Otakon staff has ever had to under-take, far outstripping the demands of past guest performers. To give some grounds for comparison, the total budget of theL̓ Arc~en~Ciel concert at Otakon 2004 was close to 10 times that of the T.M.Revolution concert the preceding year.” Yaz Noya of Tofu Records ex-plained to us about the significance of L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs concert in America.

“The concert has enormous significance in that it reached such diverse and large au-diences. L̓ Arc~en~Ciel didnʼt just perform and then went home but they actually satis-fied the audience beyond border and cultural differences,” Yaz said. “I greatly appreciate them for making such a difference. They are the pride of Japanese rock artists. Our mission is to make great artists accepted here regardless of border and language barrier.”

J!-ENT TIMELINE: THE DAY AFTER THE CONCERT

Arc~en~Ciel at Otakon was the larg-est concert by a Japanese performer in the United States.

After the concert, emotions were still running high with excitement and also a little sadness that the concert was over. “Everyone was sort of ʻOh my God! ̓after the concert. We were high off the music. A lot of people walking down the street were singing songs, I saw a couple of girls crying. People were saying how fun the concert was, how sad they were that it was over and how they hope another one will happen.” said Karyn Waller from New York. Kim Henderson from Silver Spring, Md., said that a few people were upset and sad because they left before the encore performance. “After the concert, everyone was really hyped up but upset that the concert was over. A lot of people had left before the en-core because they thought the concert was over.” Kim said. “The day after the concert, everyone said

they loved the concert, but a few people were upset because it isnʼt likely that any of us will be able to get enough money to travel to Japan and see L̓ Arc again.” Krystle of Baltimore said that a large group of fans were waiting outside the arena hoping to see L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. “There was a lot of people, including myself, waiting outside afterwards hoping to catch a glimpse of the band leaving, but we were then told that they had already left. But the fact that everyone still stayed there, excited and pumped was just amazing.” Fans also wondered if L̓ Arc~en~Ciel would perform in the West Coast or at smaller venues. Hank from Sunnyvale, Calif., said, “I think their popularity here in the States definitely can warrant more performances. I live on the West Coast and I know many, many L̓ Arc fans who could not make the trip to Baltimore. If L̓ Arc ever performed on the West Coast, theyʼd get a very good turnout.” One evidence of how people became

converted fans after the concert was through the sales of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel mer-chandise at the dealers room. Casey Blandford of Savannah, Ga., worked at the Anime Pavilion booth in the dealers room. “The day after the concert, the demand for the CDs had increased dramatically. On Friday and Saturday, people would walk up to the booth, just browsing or asking for J-ROCK in general and we would promote the L̓ Arc CDs. Most people bought them with only being slightly familiar with the band,” Casey explained. “After the concert though, people were specifically coming up to the table asking for the L̓ Arc~en~Ciel CDs. Many people were talking about how they went into the show not knowing who L̓ Arc was, but after seeing the show, theyʼre now diehard fans. Mostly everyone was very enthusiastic about the concert and the band.” Casey said that copies of “SMILE” were all sold the day after the concert.

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HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?CONCERTCONCERT “I loved the accented English hyde and

ken attempted to speak. Also, the way hyde teased the fangirls by kneeling right in front of them, only two inches out of their reach was almost unbearable.”

- Elizabeth Walker, Kansas City, Mo.

“The highlight had to be when tetsu asked everyone,

“Would you like to eat my banana? But really the highlight was every time hyde stood on the speakers because then I could really see him.”- Patricia Bowden, Roosevelt, N.Y.

There were so many of them! I got to see them up close and was splashed by hyde’s water. I got to see hyde touch tetsu’s chest from behind as a fan service. Ken was really funny with his dolphin mask skit!”- Wynne Ip, Los Angeles, Calif.

“Hearing hyde say he ate two crabs and that everyone goes berzerk! ken and his dolphin-talk and tetsu asking if we wanted to eat his banana. They were so funny and adorable.”- Laurel, San Francisco, Calif.

HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?

J!-ENT WANTS TO KNOW: WHAT WAS YOUR...

- Elizabeth Walker, Kansas City, Mo.


“Would you like to eat my banana? everyone goes berzerk! ken and his dolphin-talk and

HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?“Hearing hyde say he ate two crabs and that everyone goes berzerk!

HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT?HIGHLIGHT? - Elizabeth Walker, Kansas City, Mo.


“Hearing hyde say he ate two crabs and that everyone goes berzerk!

“Hearing hyde say he ate two crabs and that everyone goes berzerk! ken and his dolphin-talk and tetsu asking if we wanted to eat his banana. They were so funny and adorable.”Laurel, San Francisco, Calif.

from behind as a fan service. Ken was really funny with his

- Wynne

from behind as a fan service. Ken was really funny with his


J!-ENT | AUGUST 04

L̓ Arc~en~Ciel PRESS CONFERENCE

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L’Arc~en~Ciel at their press conference. Photo (clockwise from upper left): tetsu, hyde, yukihiro and ken. Photo credit: Junichi Takahashi.

The press conference!L’Arc~en~Ciel:




n Aug. 1, Tofu Records held a press conference for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel at Otakon.

The following is a transcript of questions asked by the media and answers by the band members of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel.

How was your U.S. debut performance at Otakon? Was performing here different than in Japan?ken: I got to Baltimore, went to all the tourist sites first and did the show after I had learned everything about Baltimore. I probably know Baltimore the best out of all of us. Because of that, I felt very relaxed and it didnʼt ̓make any difference if itʼs Japan or the U.S.tetsu: I thought it was an extension of a Japa-nese tour and I also felt very happy.hyde: It was the first time that I played in America. The audiences were so warm and they made us feel very welcome and I really had a good time.yukihiro: I really had a good time, too.

LʼArc~en~Ciel has one of the largest fan followings for a Japanese band outside Japan. Are you guys aware of your popu-

larity outside of Japan?ken: We didnʼt know that.hyde: Same for everybody. We really didnʼt know that weʼre so popular outside Japan.

“SMILE” is your first album in several years. How did the time in between help you focus on what you wanted to do with this recording?ken: Because I got much time off from the band, I almost felt like a teenager again. I got time to listen to music the way I was when I was a teenager. So, feeling that way really helped with recording this new album.tetsu: The recording process felt very fresh because we got time in between recordings. hyde: Because we hadnʼt played together in a while, you look at your band members with new eyes. I thought like, “Wow, this guy plays great guitar!” or “Theyʼre really professional musicians,” which you kind of forget after being together for a long time. And everybodyʼs chorus ability is a lot better than before so the chorus of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is a lot better now.yukihiro: This recording was so much fun to do and I also felt very fresh coming back

together again.

Who are your musical influences and some of your current favorite musicians?hyde: There are so many. Last year, I lis-tened to Linkin Park a lot. This year, Limp Bizkit. I just love music so I listen to all kinds of music. Any messages for your North American fans?tetsu: Iʼm sure there are a lot of people who donʼt know our music yet. So we hope that theyʼll get to know our music.

What motivates your performance on stage?ken: I pray… I pray to Buddha (jokingly).

Please describe each of your involvement in song writing process? What do each of you try to bring into the songs?yukihiro: We bring all of the song that each of us wrote into rehearsal studio. We share

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L̓ Arc~en~Ciel FANDOM

J!-ENT TAKES A LOOK AT THE L’Arc FANDOM

WORLDWIDE

Photo (Clockwise L�Yun), Bonnie and Meghan of Glendale, Calif. SMILE cosplay at Anime Expo 2004, SMILE cosplay at Pacific Media Expo 2004 (photo credit: Nergene Arquelada) and Wendy from Honolulu shows off her LʼArc posters and merchandise.

Arc~en~Ciel has a dedicated fan following in Japan. A strong network has helped the band top the Oricon music rankings and

quickly sell out concerts all over Japan. But the dedicated following for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel doesnʼt start and end in Japan, the musical impact that L̓ Arc has made can be seen all over the world. In this special section of our coverage

L’Arc Fandom in NORTH AMERICA

When J!-ENT held its L̓ Arc~en~Ciel “Clicked Singles Best 13” album contest back in 2001, we were surprised to see many entries from many fans from all over the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

on L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, we will cover the fan-dom for the band in North America, Asia, Europe and South America.

Many fans in this region who discov-ered L̓ Arc~en~Ciel through anime such as “DNA^2”, “G.T.O.” and “Rurouni Kenshin”. Attending an anime convention, itʼs quite common to catch fans singing their favorite L̓ Arc~en~Ciel songs at karaoke competitions and also seeing several L̓ Arc cosplayers. In North America, we found a variety of different fans of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. A

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Hardcore LʼArc~en~Ciel fans in America showing their appreciation for the band. Photo (L-R): Wendy from Honololu, Hawaii, has her bedroom covered with LʼArc~en~Ciel posters and photos. Amy “Rins” Bogin of New Jersey is a big fan of tetsu and she is cosplaying as tesu from the LʼArc~en~Ciel live performance “Grand Conclusion Cross Live”. Laurel from San Francisco displays her LʼArc~en~Ciel merchandise.

few who were just casual fans that liked to buy the albums, read the magazines and keep up-to-date with the latest news. There are fans who have created their own fan sites and we noticed large number of fans who like to cosplay or do karaoke of the group. For Laurel of San Francisco, she enjoyed cosplaying as hyde at Otakon. “I went dressed as hyde. I was dressed in a black and white tank top and wore some of the jewelry similar to what hyde wears. I also got my brother to do a henna tattoo on my back with hydeʼs angel wings. And I had the words “L̓ Arc~en~Ciel” around my arm.” In Honolulu, Wendy has pictures of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel decorated throughout her bedroom. When asked how she became a big fan, Wendy said “I heard ʻsnow drop ̓

L̓ Arc~en~Ciel FANDOM

on a local Japanese radio station in Hawaii. I was semi-interested in J-POP at the time and happen to catch the song on the radio. I didnʼt even know what they looked like but I went ahead and bought a CD of theirs at a Japanese bookstore. ʻRay ̓was my first album and from then on, I was hooked. “I then bought all their albums and start-ed collecting their merchandise like a crazy fangirl. Them being extremely gorgeous and cute, also fueled my craziness.” In New Jersey, Amy “Rins” Bogin enjoys cosplaying as tetsu and also doing fanart of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. When we asked how she became a fan, Amy had an interesting story to tell us. “The way I got into L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is pretty interesting, although itʼs a little embarassing. On my first date with my boyfriend, we were walking down the boardwalk and I asked him to sing me some-thing and he sung ʻPieces ̓by L̓ Arc. At

first I thought he was strange, because Iʼd never really heard any Japanese music until I met him. However, since L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is his favorite band, I got to see and hear a lot of their stuff. Ever since that time, Iʼve been a big fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, and ʻPieces ̓always remains dear to my heart.” L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans are not all female though. There are

plenty of male fans whoAmy “Rins” Bogin of New Jersey did a fan art of LʼArc~en~Ciel.Her LʼArc artwork can be found at www.byebyereality.com

enjoy L̓ Arcʼs music. Hank Wong of Sunnyvale, Cali. was a member of a rock band that did cover songs by Japanese artists. In 1998, he was turned on to L̓ Arcʼs music from their album “Tierra”. “I was amazed at the depth of their music and became a fan. I own all of their albums. When I am asked which bands are my favorite, not just for J-Rock, but all music in general, L̓ Arc is one of the first bands I name,” Hank said. For some guys, they look towards L̓ Arc~en~Ciel for the latest hairstyle and fashion styles. “I started getting interested in L̓ Arcʼs fashion style when I first saw their music video ʻHONEYʼ,” said Jason Chu of Toronto, Canada. “I think that L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is one of the most stylish bands to come out of Japan and I really respect them for being trendsetters from their hairstyle, their clothes and even their accessories.” Jason also explained that L̓ Arc~en~Ciel has made an impact in his life to learn how to play the guitar. “I like kenʼs style of playing the guitar and every time I listen to L̓ Arcʼs songs, I tend to zero in on kenʼs guitar playing. I want to learn how to play the guitar like him!” For Rachel Gonzales of Dallas, L̓ Arc~en~Ciel has been a big part of her life. “There have been times Iʼve been down and out and it seems that each time I listened to their CDs, their music inspires me to try even harder and to always smile.”


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PHOTO: Sana and friends from Indonesia show their appreciation for LʼArc~en~Ciel.

Hardcore LʼArc~en~Ciel fans in Asia literally have shrines in their bedroom dedicated to the band. From CDs, DVDʼs, photobooks, fanclub magazines and books, the Asian fans are totally hardcore when it comes to the merchandise. Merchandise photos (L-R): yukisakura of Taiwan, Juliana Phang Yee Mei of Malaysia and Esther of Singapore.

L’Arc Fandom in ASIA

pon the announcement of L̓ Arcʼs performance in the United States, many fans from Asia were prepar-

ing their trip to Baltimore to see L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. Many fans throughout Asia have access to television music shows such as “Music Station”, “Pop Jam” and “Pop Jam TV”. Access to L̓ Arc~en~Ciel merchandise can be purchased via online or stores that obtain Japanese music merchandise. Juliana Phang Yee-Mei from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, became a L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fan after watching the film “MOON CHILD” (starring HYDE and Gackt). Like many hardcore L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans in Asia, Juliana has an impressive collection of merchandise and memo-rabilia. “I have been collecting their singles, albums, videos and merchan-dise since October of last year. Iʼve even sold my old cell phone because I needed the money to purchase L̓ Arc~en~Ciel DVDʼs,” Juliana said. “I have their pictures as my com-puter wallpaper and not forgetting my phone, ringtones, hand phone straps, their ʻShibuya Seven days 2003 ̓of-ficial tour T-shirt, which I won from an auction.” Juliana was inspired to take guitar and Japanese lessons because of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. Also, she began eat-ing bananas, which she hated eating, because it is the favorite fruit of band member, tetsu. Juliana hopes one day they will perform in Singapore. In Taiwan, yukisakura became a fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel through a Shiseido

photobooks, VCD, DVD, LD, VHS, post-ers and tons of pictures on my computer, their faces and names on my files and T-shirt,” Esther said. “I learn Japanese mainly because I want to understand L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs lyrics in their purest form.” Estherʼs fandom led her to start a mail-ing list and forum for L̓ Arc fans in Singa-pore. Esther said that she would love to see L̓ Arc~en~Ciel perform at Singapore Kallang Indoor/Outdoor Stadium. For many fans in Asia, collecting L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is definitely an expensive hobby. Sana from Bandung, Indonesia, became a fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel after listening to the song “get out from the shell” from a Toyota commercial and the anime “Rurou-ni Kenshin”. When asked if she spends a lot of mon-ey on L̓ Arc, Sana said, “Iʼm a big fan! In truth, Iʼm a poor girl and I have to save my money every day to buy their stuff because they are too expensive! My parents will not give me extra money for it! Right now I only have five albums, their ʻShibuya Seven days ̓photobook, magazine and a special book imported from Japan. They are my biggest sacrifice!” When asked how big of a L̓ Arc fan she is, Sana said that she hunts online for any news, data, stories or pictures of the band every week. “My computer is filled with all their pictures!” For some fans, L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs cool fashion style makes such an impression that they will try to dress like the band members. One fan who is inpired by their fashion is Jhoanna Ysabelle G. Ting of Olangapo City, Philippines. “ I sometimes base my style from their

commercial featuring the bandʼs song “NEO UNIVERSE”. From that moment on she has been a true fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. “Basically, I have all of their CDs and I will try my best to collect their older mer-chandise and magazines. I also learned the Japanese language so that I can understand what they are trying to say and, up until now, Iʼve translated quite a number of re-lated information and interviews. Iʼve also been to their ʻShibuya Seven days 2003 ̓live for two days,” yukisakura said. Yukisakura expressed that fans would want to see L̓ Arc~en~Ciel perform in Taiwan. One fan who literally has her bedroom covered with L̓ Arc~en~Ciel merchandise is Esther Huang from Singapore. Esther became a fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel when she heard “Pieces” on the radio. Ac-cording to Esther, when she started hearing the song, she was touched by hydeʼs voice and the songs melody made her cry. When asked about her L̓ Arc shrine in her room, Esther said, “Iʼm a L̓ Arc~en~Ciel monster. Although I donʼt do any physical mimicking, I have many CDʼs, magazines,

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L̓ Arc~en~Ciel FANDOMmusic videos such as `STAY AWAYʼ, ʻDriverʼs High ̓and ʻBlurry Eyesʼ. I base my style on what tetsu wears on the music shows or music videos because heʼs such a fashionista,” said Jhoanna. Jhoanna is such a big L̓ Arc~en~ Ciel fan that she played their songs at her debut birthday party. Jhoanna said that L̓ Arc~en~Ciel has made an impact on her life. “Their songs inspire me to keep on moving with my life. [They are] the reason why I should never give up in life. And their songs always brighten up my day,” Johanna said. For L̓ Arc fans, you will see fans who are casual fans with music and merchandise being enough. But then there are the hardcore fans who go to great lengths for their favorite band. Natalie of Hong Kong has had the opportunity to watch the concerts of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel and the solo members in Japan. “I wanted to see all of the solo

Photo: Esther Huang of Singapore has her bedroom filled with LʼArc~en~Ciel merchandise.

members perform live. So without my parents knowing, I secretly went to Japan for ʻDANGER II ̓(a concert featuring TETSU69, S.O.A.P. and acid android) and also hydeʼs ʻ2004 FIRST TOUR 666 ̓in Sendai which was on my 18th birthday on March 14 (White Day),” Natalie said. Natalie is among fans who network with other L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans and this has helped when trying to find out when a band member is planning to arrive at the airport. When hyde was at an airport in Tai-wan, she managed to travel there and take a picture of him. She also had the opportunity to ask hyde a question on a radio show while hyde was in Hong Kong promoting his album “666”. As for how, L̓ Arc~en~Ciel has im-pacted her life. Natalie said that when she talked to hyde on air, her Japanese was poor. So, because of that moment, she is now putting the effort into learn-ing Japanese.



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Fan Web sites on the Internet dedicated to LʼArc~en~Ciel created by fans in Europe. (Photo L-R): Thomas of Nowa Sol, Poland created a tetsu (http://tetsu.glt.pl/) and LʼArc~en~Ciel (http://laruku.glt.pl/) fanlisting sites. Umiko of Spain has a Spanish-based LʼArc fan club called “Heavenly” (http://heavenly-club.iespana.es/heavenly-club/)

L’Arc Fandom in EUROPEn Europe, the fandom for Japa-nese music is also quite large and during the announcement of L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs performance

at Otakon, Iʼve noticed several people throughout Europe discussing flight plans to see the band. Like some fans in Asia who were inspired to create their own Websites, mailing lists or forums for L̓ Arc, the same applies in Europe. Thomas of Nowa Sol, Poland, created fan listings for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel (http://

laruku.glt.pl) and for tetsu (http://tetsu.glt.pl). For Thomas, he was first introduced to L̓ Arc~en~Ciel from a friend who showed him photos of the band and was drawn in by tetsuʼs fashion style. “Few months ago, I had tetsuʼs hairstyle but now I have long hair and maybe I will make hydeʼs hairstyle although it would be difficult because I have blonde hair,” Thomas said. As Thomas enjoyed L̓ Arc for their style, Taliana of Devon, England, enjoys L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs music because of their lyrics. “I enjoy their music and the feeling that

they put into their music. I love how their lyrics arenʼt just lyrics, there is meaning behind it, a message that goes with it. And the fact that hyde is hot and tetsu is adorable is just an added bonus,” Taliana said. For Charissa Reijimers of Dieren, Netherlands, she was introduced to L̓ Arc~en~Ciel by midi files sent to her from a penpal in Japan. Although she is a fan, she doesnʼt have the posters on the wall but she does have pictures of the band on her school material. When asked why she enjoys

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L̓ Arc~en~Ciel FANDOML̓ Arc~en~Ciel so much, Charissa said, “One band, so many different styles.” The various music styles were also a big factor of how Milky Way of Austria became a fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. “I think everybody has one band that will always be their favourite as long as they live and for me it is L̓ Arc,” Milky Way explained. “After so many years, the band still exists. They have gone through various changes, may it be their looks or their sound, but one thing never changed and that is the quality of what they do. Each member is so individual but they still are recognized as a band.” Carola van der Drift of Hillegom, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, is a fan who has her own J-ROCK site and a forum for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel with over 300+ members. Carola became a fan when her friend sent her a cassette tape with music by L̓ Arc~en~Ciel. From there, she started researching them on the Internet. When asked about how big of a fan she is of L̓ Arc, Carola said, “I donʼt dress like the members and I canʼt style my hair like them because it would be a

bitch. I wanted my hair to be like hyde in `Last Quarter ̓.” “ I have only one L̓ Arc~en~Ciel poster on my wall with hyde from his ʻ666 ̓album. Iʼd have more if Iʼd only get the chance to get my hands on more. I also have the ʻDune ̓poster.” When asked about ideal locations in Europe for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel to perform in Europe, Carola commented, “Iʼd say, if they would give a concert in the Nether-lands, it would be best for me, but I think overall Germany would be a good idea and I would go! Belgium would be fine, too.” As some fans were planning to travel for Otakon for the concert, there were also a group of fans who wondered why L̓ Arc~en~Ciel was only having a concert in the United States. What about a concert in Europe? Laurent Petit of Belgium explained to us through his interview with L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans regarding their feel-ings about the concert in the United States. “The hardcore L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans in Europe were filled with enthusiasm that their favorite band will be performing outside of Japan. But they were also disap-pointed by the fact that they were only

planning to perform in the United States and there were no announced plans for a performance in Europe,” Laurent said. “But everyone hopes for the success of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel and other Japanese music artists outside of Japan. Through that success, a hope that more future projects will be planned by the label to bring more Japanese artists in the near future not only to the United States but also to Europe and other countries,” Laurent concluded.

Photo: Milky Way, a fan from Austria, shows us her appreciation for LʼArc~en~Ciel with posters and LʼArc figures in her bedroom.



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L’Arc Fandom in SOUTH AMERICA

ur final look at the L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fandom takes us to South America where we focus on the L̓ Arc fans in Brazil.

Many people know that Hawaii and Peru have a large concentration of Japa-nese residents but Brazil has the largest population of Japanese people in the world outside of Japan. When it comes to Japanese music, Eduardo Arakaki explained to us how Japanese music and anime are big in Brazil. When it comes to L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, many fans have discovered L̓ Arc~en~Ciel through anime. Since Brazil hosts a large anime convention, we were curious if at-tendees showed their fandom via any L̓ Arc~en~Ciel cosplay. “In America, there are manyL̓ Arc cosplayers, but not in Brazil.I know that we have a huge number of cosplayers here in Brazil, but most ofthem are anime cosplayers,” Eduardo explained. “I know that we have a cover band thatperforms L̓ Arc~en~Ciel songs at anime events.”

When asked about music fan reactions in Brazil regarding L̓ Arc~en~Cielʼs per-formance at Otakon, Eduardo said, “They were very excited because they have the idea that if L̓ Arc~en~Ciel performed in the U.S., they can perform everywhere.” Eduardo said that he would love to see L̓ Arc~en~Ciel perform at Credicard Hall in São Paulo. As for the L̓ Arc~en~Ciel fans in Brazil, they are in somewhat of a dis-advantage when it comes to obtaining merchandise compared to their American and Asian counterparts. Aline Costa of Fortaleza-Ceara said, “As a Brazilian fan, I donʼt have a place to buy CDs, DVDs, posters and other stuff. Buying from Japan by Internet is very expensive. My only choice is to download their songs, clips, shows and TV programs by Internet.” Aline keeps many Brazilians informed with what is going on with L̓ Arc~en~Ciel through her Web site “perfect ciel” (www.perfectciel.blogger.com.br). For Patricia Yuri Ueda of São Paolo, Brazil, she first became a fan of L̓ Arc through their song “What is love”. When asked if she was a big fan, Pa-tricia said, “I canʼt say that I am a fanatic

with my bedroom full of their posters, but I have some things that are very special to me, like some posters and a beautiful band photo, and of course, their CDs, video clips and many folders on my PC.” Since anime is pretty huge in Brazil, many fans discovered L̓ Arc~en~Ciel through the anime “DNA^2”, “Rurouni Kenshin” and “G.T.O.”. Rodolfo Francisco de Oliveira from São Paolo, Brazil, is a fan who discovered L̓ Arc through anime.

Photo: Aline Costra runs a LʼArc~en~Ciel blog called “perfect ciel” which provides fan informa-tion from around the world to fans in Brazil.

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J!-ENT | AUGUST 04

CONTRIBUTORSThis nt2099/J!-ENT article on LʼArc~en~Ciel was indeed a glob-al team effort. I would like to thank everyone who participated with this special article and the J!-ENT team of correspondents who made this this article possible. - DENNIS A. AMITH

Garland Gee (pictured on left) is the lead copy editor, also a writer and photogra-pher for J!-ENT. He’s a copy editor for newspaper publications in California. He is also known for coming up with deli-cious cocktails at parties.

Edwin Macaraeg (pictured on right) is a writer and photographer for J!-ENT and also a talented musician by heart and a person who gets a lot of credit and attention for his hairstyle.

Laurent Petit is our J!-ENT European cor-respondent for this article. Laurent lives near Liege in Belgium and is a high school student studying horticulture. At the present time, Laurent writes Japanese music articles and news on a French portal about Japanese culture called WebOtaku.com.

Juliana Phang Yee Mei is the J!-ENT Asian correspondent for this article. Juliana resides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A first year pre-medical student at Taylorís Col-lege, Juliana spends most of her time with her camera snapping everything in sight. She enjoys talking bout L’Arc~en~Ciel and can never stop once she’s started. Juliana owns a weblog at http://www.xaclxhydex.net which features her ramblings on her life and admiration for L’Arc~en~Ciel.

Eduardo Arakaki is the nt2099 South Ameri-can correspondent for this article. Eduardo resides in São Paulo, Brazil, and is a system analyst at EDS company. His articles on JPOP can be found on the HAI-NET (www.hainet.com.br) Web site that brings information about Japanese culture to Brazilians and Japanese descendants in Brazil.

Dennis A. Amith is the lead writer for this article. Dennis has contiributed to publications such as “US Weekly”and “Asian Pacific Review” and is known for his articles and interviews on Asian and Asian American entertainment. He is also the founder of nt2099 and J!-ENT and enjoys singing a pimped out version of L’Arc~en~Ciel’s “Shinsoku ~Lose Control~”.

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Photo: Due to the difficulty of obtaining LʼArc~en~Ciel merchandise in Brazil, Aline Costa of Fortaleza-Ceará, Brazil displays her own personal LʼArc~en~Ciel T-shirts that she made.

“I knew of their music through anime but I didnʼt know who the band was and listened to their songs like ʻBlurry Eyes ̓and ʻNijiʼ, then I started to look-ing for more information and found out that they were called L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, so I became a huge fan of them.” When we asked Rodolfo about how big a fan he is, he said, “Here in Brazil, it is hard to find stuff about Japanese bands, so I just have the songs and clips that Iʼve downloaded. I always show L̓ Arc~en~Ciel to people, so they can know more about them.” From many of the fans of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, it was inter-esting that all of the people interviewed learned of the band through anime. We did find a fan who does purchase the import merchandise from Japan. For Ricardo Hideo Shimada of Sao Paulo, his fandom for L̓ Arc~en~Ciel is a bit expen-sive. “I have all their albums but itʼs too expensive. I have post-ers and I always try to bring

imported stuff of the band to Brazil.” When we asked Ricardo how he became a fan of L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, Ricardo said he was watching the “Rurouni Kenshin” movie and heard their song. He then started to look for the band on the Internet and learned more about the group from friends who were already fans. If there is one thing that many Brazilian fans had in com-mon with their answers of why they liked L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, it was mainly about their music and their fashion. For Felipe Shimabukuro Kai of Sao Paolo, as a musician, he lives to study their musical style. “As a musician, I like the way they look. I also like to listen to them, study them and transcript,” Felipe said. “I try to analyze the harmony, lyrics and things like that.” When asked what he enjoys about L̓ Arc~en~Ciel, Felipe said, “The skills they have to compose their different. but simple songs. They remind me of The Beatles.”

Wynne Ip is our J!-ENT North American correspondent for this article. Wynne is a programmer and project consultant based in Los Angeles. She is a big fan of L’Arc~en~Ciel since 1998 and has a Live-Journal blog (http://rabi.livejournal.com/) where she discusses L’Arc~en~Ciel, GLAY, baseball and miscellaneous things in general. She also loves the Chicago Cubs and loves to sing karaoke of L’Arc~en~Ciel, GLAY, X-Japan and Luna Sea songs.


J!-ENT | AUGUST 04

W H AT D I D Y O U T H I N K A B O U T “ S M I L E ” ?nt2099/J!-ENT asks L’Arc~en~Ciel fans around the world about their opinion of the band’s latest album “SMILE”:

What is your favorite song from the album “SMILE”?What is your opinion of L’Arc’s latest album?

What would you like to say to L’Arc~en~Ciel?

> “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”> The songs are a very different kind of style that I remember from the beginning of their career.> Hyde, you are very cute! I want to take you to my home! tetsu, I like you so much! You are perfect and you are the best bass player of all time! ken, you are very funny, you make me laugh... I like that. Yukihiro, I love the way you are. Very shy ! At last, I love you all! If one day you come to Brazil, you won´t be disappointed. And whatever city you´ll be, I’ll be there in the first row waiting for you!

Aline Costa MacambiraFortaleza-Ceará, Brazil

> “REVELATION” attracts me most, especially the part where L’Arc~en~Ciel yells together. I feel like yelling whenever I hear that.> I would say it’s very different from their previous albums. Just the cover itself tells everything. But nonetheless, all the tracks were greatly composed and arranged. I like the DVD that came with it. Seeing them put so much effort into this album makes me appreci-ate their music even more.> It’s wonderful being your fan. I’ll remember you guys forever and I hope you guys will remember me. Keep the songs coming and bring the live performances around the world!Juliana Phang

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ayu-chan - Jakarta, Indonesia

> “Feeling Fine”.> GREAT ALBUM!> HEY GUYS! I JUST HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON HERE! I LOVE YOU ALL.

Thomas - Nowa Sol, Poland

> My favorite song from this album is “Lover Boy”.> I think “SMILE” is a one of the best L’Arc~en~Ciel’s albums. New, fresh songs and the sound is great.> In Poland we can’t buy yours CD’s or other L’Arc~en~Ciel’s stuff. We have them from web stores but it’s still difficult. Hope I will go to Japan in the future and see you face to face because you are the best band in the world!

> “Kiss - Kuchizuke”> I didn’t care about them be-fore until I listened to “SMILE”. This album is very high quality and the songs can be played by any radio station in the world.> Keep doing these great songs as we’ve seen in on the “SMILE” album. Ganbare !

Fabiana AraiNiteroi – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Valerie RoyoSanta Cruz, California

> My personal favorite from the album has to be “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”. Everything about it is absolutely perfect. The lyrics and the musical composition of the song itself are both highly impressive, but what left me absolutely, positively speechless was the vocal range hyde demonstrates within this one song alone. The falsetto notes he hits are mind-boggling.> I actually like “SMILE” a lot. I think the songs on this album are just beyond exceptional, as one can expect from such an amazing band. From the hyper “READY STEADY GO” to the moving “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”, “SMILE” delves into a bit of every single genre, which is why I love L’Arc~en~Ciel so much. They can do it all. Their talent and music are exactly why they’ve captured the hearts of so many, especially fans from overseas.> L’Arc~en~Ciel, I absolutely love the music you guys create. No words can express my gratitude for how much you’ve all touched my life with your music. When I see what you all have accomplished, it inspires me to do my best in life; your songs speak to me in a way that no other band has ever done before, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you come back to the United States, particularly California, because I would love to experience that musi-cal euphoria with all of you that one can only experience in the syn-ergic atmosphere of the life performance. I was unable to go to the Otakon show because of financial reasons and because of the very short notice, so I hope that one day, I’ll get the chance to finally see all of you soon. You’ve all got a ton of overseas fans who’d greatly appreciate a chance to see you live, especially when this kind of chance was so limited to us before. Please, come back to the United States and please continue making music for your loyal fans!

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> It’s of course hard to choose but I’d have to say I like “REV-ELATION” a lot.> I love “SMILE” hands down. The tracks on it are definitely different from things in the past, and the style is great. There is also a variety. > I can’t thank you enough for the music you’ve made. I’m so glad that you’ve all decided to get back together from your break and make more great music. Your music has helped me get through tough times. I hope that you continue to do what you all do best. I’ll support you all in your choices as musicians. I definitely can’t thank you all enough for coming to America and performing at Otakon. It was an experience that me and many, many others won’t forget. You guys were awesome, and you should be proud. Thank you for letting me see that anything is possible.

KrystleBaltimore,Maryland



J!-ENT | AUGUST 04




Jhoanna Ysabelle G. TingOlongapo City, Philippines

> It’s a great album and I love lots of songs on there like “For-ever - Eien”, “READY STEADY GO”, “Lover Boy”, “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”, “Time goes on”, “REVELATION” and “Feeling Fine”.> It’s a great album. A must hear for those who haven’t heard it yet. Their styles, looks, performances and the songs gets better and better as time passes.> God! Your the best band I have heard in the world. You all rock! I wanna say thank you for being my inspiration in my life.Your music definitely had changed my life. You’ve given me hopes and big dreams through your songs. One would be seeing you and going to your concerts in Japan. Your songs always brighten my day even if I’m in a tight situation. I want to say thank you again. Keep up the GOOD WORK! Continue making GREAT, GREAT SONGS because there are lots of people that really supports and loves you all the way. Thanks and God Bless.

TalianaBarnstaple in Devon, England

> Uhhm... This one is hard. I think that “Kiss - Kuchizuke” is the strongest track on “SMILE”, but I also loved “Lover Boy”, which I think is a very sexy song. “READY STEADY GO” is another good song, it’s got a lot of energy behind it and it makes me want to get up and dance. But I also liked “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”, it was very beautiful and I love how hyde can hit the high notes. So uh ... I guess I would say that ... My favorite “SMILE” song is “Coming Closer”. I love the line “Cry to the wind”. It sends shivers up my spine.> I feel that “SMILE” is lacking what I call “Larukuness.” I believe that this is because they took time out to explore themselves as individuals instead of as a band. tetsu did his own solo work, hyde did his own solo work, ken joined up with S.O.A.P and yuki worked on acid android. They had the change to grow and evolve apart from each other. This is a good thing. But then when they go back together, they were all very different people from what they were and so they had to learn how to be a band again. They had to relearn what each of them were capable of doing. They had new places to explore together. So, its like SMILE is them testing the waters with what they’ve learnt while they were apart. It lacks a little something, that little something that I can’t describe any bet-ter than “the Laruku feel”. I have high hopes for their next album though, because “Jiyu eno Shoutai” is positively DRIPPING with Larukuness.> Thanks you for making music.

> “READY STEADY GO”. I love the rhythm and the clip is very cool! I always listen to this song when I go sleep... with low volume, of course.> I love it and I think it could be a huge success in the world and for Brazilian fans.> I have so many things to say that I can barely start. Well, I think that the most important thing to say is that they need to and must come to and tour in Brazil. Know our wonderful country and do some shows. I’m sure that it will be full of people. I would thank them. I could even make a promise to see them perform here and I could pay my promise if they read this interview. It would be great! And I have to say that: hyde .. You’re W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L, very cute... I’m in love with you! You’re my “Forbidden Lover”!

Patricia Yuri UedaSão Paulo, Brazil

Cheryl HarPerth, Western Australia

> I think my favourite song would be ‘Forever - Eien’ because the lyrics are so beautiful, the meaning really touched me.> I think “SMILE” rocks! It’s so different from the old albums and shows how versatile L’Arc is. It was definitely worth waiting two years for! > This may sound a bit weird but thanks for being who you are and making the best music there is! I’ve watched lots of your appearances on TV and concerts on DVD and it always makes me so happy to watch you perform. I hope one day I can see you guys perform live! I’m sure I speak for many fans in Australia when I say that we’d love to have you over here!! You guys rockand inspire me!

> All! All are L’ Arc’s masterpiece, each song has its own special meaning that attracts me.> I think it is fresh. The style varies which includes the members solo style. Listening to the album for the first time, maybe I couldn’t get adapt to it for the first time, however the songs are much more attractive after listening to it. They did a perfect job!> I hope L’Arc~en~Ciel can come to Asia and perform in concert! Please find time to visit Hong Kong some day to see your fans. I’m looking forward to seeing your new work. I wish all of the members good health and success.

NatalieHong Kong

21

> It’s easier if you ask me which one is my least favorite song. I just love too many of them. But if I have to pick one, I’d say “Living in Your Eyes–Hi-tomi No Jyunin”, although “Kiss - Kuchizuke”, “Coming Closer” and “Lover Boy” are all up there.> Excellent! Having followed the band for quite some years and with the band’s 2-year break in the middle, it was definitely nice to know that their band sound has matured and become richer. By listening to each song, a faithful fan can tell who wrote which song by comparing their styles to their solo work as well.> Thank you so much for putting together a great show in the U.S. Words simply cannot describe how much that has meant for us U.S. fans, to be able to see you live and up close. I love you guys so much and certainly hope that you would return to the U.S. and perform for us again. That would so rock! Honto ni, honto ni, kansha shite masu.

Wynne IpLos Angeles, California



J!-ENT | AUGUST 04





> I like the way they are romantic with their melodies like “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin” and “Jiyuu eno Shoutai” and how those songs show an incredible energy and was one song that I really liked for the very first time. > Excellent! All their songs have something special, a magic that I can’t describe, it fascinates me. In my opinion, they improved themselves and today we have the opportunity to enjoy their melodies. I would say that this album is the definition of what is L’Arc~en~Ciel.> Well, first... guys, I like and really admire your work and I’m very happy to be able to say it to you. You’re amazing! Your songs are simply wonderful and I hope that we could always hear your songs for a long time. We’ll be waiting for you here in Brazil!

Liara Takemoto MonteiroSão José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil

> “Lover Boy”> A very fresh feel. They did at-tempts that were different from the past. Their range of music has expanded. I can feel each mem-ber’s own style from their own works. It is a very good album, all the songs were great.> I’m very happy to see L’Arc~en~Ciel getting back to-gether as a band again. I’m a little disappointed because I could not attend their live performances this year. If I have the chance, I’ll definitely go! I feel very happy to be your fan. Your music has given me motivation in my life. Thank you very much

yukisakuraTaiwan

> Its a cross between ‘Lover Boy’ and ‘Forever - Eien’. I like “Lover Boy” because of the high energy in the song, you can tell that it was the work of ken. “Forever - Eien” is great, it seems like the kind of song most people overlook. The song may seem somewhat bland, but hyde’s voice just sounds so emotional.> At first I was expecting there to be a big chance, since they had went off with their own projects, but after listening to it, it was nice knowing its still got the great Laruku sound. Not to mention that this was the most unique cover (inside the booklet) that has been done.> Now that you have seen the response from the American con-cert, would you as a group or any of you considering to do some shows in America? Also, I want to say that I am glad that I had been able to see them, since I felt like there was no way I would be able to. I am filled with so much joy!

Michelle BaileyColumbiaville, Michigan

> For Singles: “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”. Non-singles: “Feeling Fine”> It’s an album that has mostly individual form of music from each band members. It almost makes it feels like I’m listening to HYDE, TETSU69, S.O.A.P and acid android works at times if I can pretend it’s not hyde on vocal. But it’s altogether refreshing to see the dif-ferences pooled together from the members own solo styles in one unit as L’Arc~en~Ciel. Although I admit I do missed the elements of sound and style from their older works such as those from “ark” and “ray” era.> Thank you L’Arc~en~Ciel for all the wonderful music that you guys had come out with. Although I have been exposed to your music since 1998, I’d only been able to fully appreciate what a group of musical geniuses all four of you are in my university years while slaving away for my projects and assignments day and night. Your music helps to cheer me up and keep me awake at all times during midnight, oil-burning sessions as a design student; giving me fresh inspiration every time I work with my stereo on. I would have never survived the whole ordeal without that.

ayaPahang, Malaysia

> I don’t really have one! But if I have to say, I would choose “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”> I am sorry to say this but I am disappointed. It’s something like their comeback album, isn’t it? L’Arc~en~Ciel used to give me a feeling that I liked the song, be-cause each song was somewhat special. But I am missing this feeling from this album. I also thought so, when I first listened to “READY STEADY GO” > Continue with you music as long as possible! We love you! Come to Germany! And return back to your good style, so that the next album will be as great as the ones before SMILE!

Nicole MarienhagenWindhagen, Germany

> My favorite song on “SMILE” is “READY STEADY GO”.> I really like the whole album. It’s got a great mix of both slow and upbeat songs and I’ve been listening to it non-stop since pick-ing it up this weekend. > I would just like to say to L’Arc... Thank you so much for recognizing your American fans. We reallyloved and appreci-ated you coming all the way to our country and putting on a spectacular show. I just hope that you had as great of a time as the rest of us did and you will want to come back and play for us again. Thank you!

Rebecca EdwardsMillersville, Maryland

22

Carola van der Drift - Hillegom, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

> “Coming Closer”> I like it, but it’s definitely not my favorite album.> Come visit the Netherlands!


J!-ENT | AUGUST 04




> I like them all, but I choose “READY STEADY GO” as my favorite.> They already show what they can do and this album is more heavy, the way I like, but they didn´t leave their classic style.> Could you please come to Brazil one day? I’ll be waiting, ok? Congratulations for your very good work and keep doing the same! You´re very good and have a big fan here in Brazil and I´m sure that I´m not the only one here !


Rodolfo Francisco de Oliveira São Paulo, Brazil

> “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”. Absolutely brilliant. First run-ner up - “Coming Closer”, the chorus in this tune blows me away.> I love the album. Not one minute of it lacks and I am really glad the guys are back together again. I like the direc-tion the band is moving in. I was a little disappointed there were only ten tracks though.> Thanks for coming to the States. It was such an honor to see you perform and I hope you will grace our presence again. I look for to future releases and will always be a supportive fan.

Esther Huang - Singapore

> “Lover Boy”and “Coming Closer”, “Kiss-Kuchizuke” and...> L’Arc~en~Ciel’s unique awesome ROCK style.> I LOVE L’Arc~en~Ciel very much! Please come to Singa-pore to perform for us! Make our (mine especially) dreams come true! People all over Asia will definitely come fly to watch you! Keep up the awesome music and keep the CDs coming!

> “Lover Boy” although “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin” is a close second.> I love it. One of my favorite albums and definitely worth the effort I made to buy it. It rarely ever leaves my CD player.> I love everything you do and I think it’s great that you could take the time to come and play for your fans here in America. I wasn’t able to go but it makes me happy just knowing that you were in the same country as I was, performing for fellow fans. My friend was able to go and she was so happy that it makes me glad you took the time to do something like that for us American fans. Thank you so much and good luck with all your future projects!

KaseyMishawaka, Indiana

> Without any doubt it is “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”.> A very good album with more progressive songs like “Lover Boy” and “Coming Closer” and soft melodies like “Living in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin” and “Time goes on”. I liked the al-bum because it retains the band’s behavior.> Fight for your dreams but keep calm. The fall could be big if you wish too high. Keep going always and never give up. The road is long and isn’t easy to be in the world’s music and entertainment, but you’ve already show your talent and you’re a big band. So, keep doing your good work.

Felipe Shimabukuro KaiSão Paulo, Brazil

23

> It’s hard to say which one is my fave on this album. I would have to say that “Lover Boy” is one track I keep going back to listen to. It has wonderfully deep vocals by hyde coupled with the back up vocals make the song have a certain sexy flair. The melody is ener-getic and a little melancholy at the same time, and the song has a mature feel to it. The lyrics compliment the music (or is it the other way around?) and make for a song full of heat and excitement. Also it is interesting to note that it is ken who wrote the lyrics, not hyde, who usually writes them. It is a nice change of perspective to hear from ken’s emotions.> Waiting for three years of Laruku hiatus, I can happily say that SMILE was very fulfilling. Although their individual efforts to their solo career were very interesting and allowed them more expression than usual, I am happy to hear them back together. SMILE ranges from strong and energetic songs like “READY STEADY GO” to sexy songs like “Lover Boy” to wonderfully beautiful songs such as “Liv-ing in Your Eyes–Hitomi No Jyunin”. Such a musical range simply shows off the fact that L’Arc is still around and there’s no stopping them. Rather than thinking of “SMILE” as a get together before some rumored break up, I think of it like the name “READY STEADY GO” implies: a new beginning for this wonderful band.> I would love to see them in concert again on the East Coast. I think that it’s simply wonderful that they’re expanded to America. I’ve always seen them as a sort of modern day reincarnation of the Beatles. It’s as if in this world of political heated battles and separa-tion, L’Arc~en~Ciel will rise and unite people under their music. Keep going Laruku!

RinsNew Jersey

> My favorite song from this album is “Lover Boy”.> According to me, this album is not perfectly complete. On one hand, we have got some fabulous tracks which fortunately accentuate their level but on the other hand, they are uninterest-ing songs. It all depends on a person’s taste. Compared to the others albums, this one is really short. I think it would be better if there had been something new. The addition of “Spirit dreams inside” was so strange it was not in the same key of the album. Finally, “SMILE” is a good album but not completely finished.> Come to Europe, we want your albums and singles distrib-uted in our country.

Olivier PaniPedreauville, France

Casey BlandfordSavannah,Georgia



Continued from Page 11

the songs and each of band members starts writing each part.

Too many bands, breaking into the U.S. market are considered a major success. What are your feelings regarding having released your music in the U.S.?ken: There are other Japanese artists that try to break into the American market. But they release an album and go home. I donʼt feel that is a success. So, we have to continue working hard to be an actual success in this market.tetsu: As long as we sing our lyrics in Japanese I fi nd it may be diffi cult to really break into America. Our musical activities will always be based in Japan but if we could come to America and have a good time, Iʼm up for that.

Based on success of the Otakon per-formance, would you like to or are you already planning for future U.S. perfor-mances?hyde: I was so happy that music crosses the border. We were all one at the arena yester-day. If we could continue doing that, Iʼd be very happy.

What keeps you guys coming back to make the great music that you do?yukihiro: Just the fact that we have a great time together.hyde: Having a good time is obviously very important. Each and every one of us has good musical tastes, so I feel very lucky to be part of this band.tetsu: Itʼs almost like destiny.ken: I think our musical tastes are similar in a sense but theyʼre also a bit different. I think those differences can bring something new when the four of us come together and I guess that helps us make the music that we make.

Performing a concert at an anime conven-tion, your anime music themes were ex-tremely well received at the concert. What position do you think anime fans have in LʼArc-en-Ciel fan as a whole?tetsu: In Japan, a lot of elementary school kids watch anime. So itʼs just a window for them to listen to rock music and theyʼre exposed to our music at a young age.

What were your expectations and feelings

prior to the show?ken: Right before the concert we were really busy. I basically packed the night before I left Japan, got on a plane and before I knew it, I was in Baltimore. So, I really didnʼt have too much time to think about it. Now Iʼm short of one pair of underpants.tetsu: I thought that every single person here would be a cosplayer and that theyʼd be at our concert but it wasnʼt every person.hyde: I had no idea what to expect. Perfor-mance-wise, I knew that we wanted to do the show that we always do. During the shows in Japan, I always tell a lot of dirty jokes. But I refrained from doing that at this concert.yukihiro: I didnʼt really think about too much. I just thought that if we tried to do the best show we could do, things would go well.

What was the one most unique experi-ence/memorable moment that you had in Baltimore? yukihiro: The dolphin show.hyde: I had a lot of great experiences here but the most memorable one is defi nitely the concert. Iʼm used to playing shows in front of Japanese audiences but the U.S. perfor-mance felt different. Just looking at the U.S. audience and seeing a lot of faces that were smiling was very impressive.tetsu: Doing a concert for the fi rst time in America and so many fans came all the way to see us. That was such a precious experi-ence.ken: Just listening to the crowd before going on stage, it seemed like the crowd was really into it and wild. Once I came out, the Amer-ican audience was still loud and wild and they were really close. In Japan, because the restrictions are so severe, people in the fi rst row are 6 meters away and they could never come up or the show would get stopped. I almost felt like I was playing in a tiny club because everybody was so into it and upfront. It was like a small club but at the same time, there were massive fi reworks going on. So, that was my feeling and I want to do a con-cert in America where restrictions arenʼt as severe as Japan.

In America, the theme song for the ani-mation “FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST” (“READY STEADY GO”) is very popular, but whatʼs the song off the “SMILE” that has most signifi cant meaning to you?ken: We write the songs but in the end itʼs hyde who actually sing the lyrics so I wonder what hyde thinks.

hyde: There are many songs that are sig-nifi cant to me as every song we write brings moments and emotions to mind. But if I had to pick one song off the album, it would bethe one called “Forever-Eien”.tetsu: I would say, all songs. Iʼm always committed to do a performance that makes our singer comfortable singing.

If you could make any one wish come true in the music industry, what would that be?ken: I want to use Michael Jackson as a warm-up speaker before our show.

hyde mentioned that he likes Linkin Park. Would you want to make a promotion video with original animation like they did?hyde: We had a plan but only ken and I were up for it.

We asked a lot about “SMILE” today, but do you think American audience likes your old songs such as “DRIVERʼS HIGH”, which you released in the late 90s?yukihiro: Of course.

What was the funniest moment in Baltimore?ken: We went to the Baltimore Aquarium and my manager took pictures of every single fi sh there, which was funny. He was giving the fi sh very caring eyes. I wanted to tell him,“You should look at ME like that!”tetsu: An American fan came up to me ask-ing for an autograph. He gave me our artist photo and three of the membersʻs autographs were already there. But where my picture was, there was kenʼs autograph so he prob-ably didnʼt know the difference between ken and I. I signed above kenʼs autograph and he kept looking at the picture and then my face, picture and my face…that was funny.hyde: After I came back to the hotel last night, someone knocked on the door. There were group of American fans there and they asked me, “Why donʼt you join us to drink?” I said, “I ̓m sorry, Iʼm very tired” and closed the door. They came back with even more people and this time they asked for autographs. They were like, “Would you please?” and looked very apologetic. Al-though I was very tired, I thought they were adorable.yukihiro: When you go out to eat in Ameri-ca, the portion of food are so massive. I think itʼs kind of funny.

J!-ENT | AUGUST 0424

L’Arc~en~CielAVAILABLE INTHE US FROMTOFU RECORDS

TOF010

TOF011

L'Arc~en~CielSMILE01. Kiss - Kuchizuke02. READY STEADY GO03. Lover Boy04. Feeling Fine05. Time goes on06. Coming Closer07. Forever -Eien08. REVELATION09. Living In Your Eyes -Hitomi No Jyunin10. Spirit dreams inside11. <Bonus Track> READY STEADY GO

(hydeless version)

L'Arc~en~CielClicked Singles Best 1301. Blurry Eyes02. flower03. Lies and Truth04. niji05. winter fall06. DIVE TO BLUE07. HONEY08. HEAVEN'S DRIVE09. Pieces10. Driver's High11. NEO UNIVERSE12. STAY AWAY13. Anemone

A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF THE FANS WHO MADEL’Arc~en~Ciel’s US PERFORMANCE A HUGE SUCCESS!

F O R M O R E I N F O V I S I T W W W . T O F U R E C O R D S . C O M

PLUS! POST-OTAKON WEB EVENTS! VISIT WWW.TOFURECORDS.COM FOR NEWSON UPCOMING ONLINE SPECIALS WITH EXCLUSIVE OTAKON CONTENT!


L’Arc~en~CielAVAILABLE INTHE US FROMTOFU RECORDS

TOF010

TOF011

L'Arc~en~CielSMILE01. Kiss - Kuchizuke02. READY STEADY GO03. Lover Boy04. Feeling Fine05. Time goes on06. Coming Closer07. Forever -Eien08. REVELATION09. Living In Your Eyes -Hitomi No Jyunin10. Spirit dreams inside11. <Bonus Track> READY STEADY GO

(hydeless version)

L'Arc~en~CielClicked Singles Best 1301. Blurry Eyes02. flower03. Lies and Truth04. niji05. winter fall06. DIVE TO BLUE07. HONEY08. HEAVEN'S DRIVE09. Pieces10. Driver's High11. NEO UNIVERSE12. STAY AWAY13. Anemone

A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF THE FANS WHO MADEL’Arc~en~Ciel’s US PERFORMANCE A HUGE SUCCESS!

F O R M O R E I N F O V I S I T W W W . T O F U R E C O R D S . C O M

PLUS! POST-OTAKON WEB EVENTS! VISIT WWW.TOFURECORDS.COM FOR NEWSON UPCOMING ONLINE SPECIALS WITH EXCLUSIVE OTAKON CONTENT!


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