Collaboration: L`Arc-en-Ciel

L'Arc-en-Ciel (French for "The Rainbow") is a Japanese rock band from Osaka formed in 1991. The group consists of vocalist Hyde, leader and bassist Tetsu, guitarist Ken, and drummer Yukihiro, who replaced drummer Sakura in 1997. At their start, they also had guitarist Hiro and drummer Pero. All four members are established composers, which adds to the variety in their songs; their music ranges from ballads to hard rock to light pop-rock tunes.

In February 1997, then-drummer Sakura was arrested for illegal drug possession (heroin). He officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. This proved to be the lowest point in the band's history: when news of Sakura's arrest became public, there was an immediate official response, with CDs being removed from the shelves and The Fourth Avenue Cafe, then the current ending theme for Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan, being immediately replaced with the former theme, Heart of Sword: Yoake Mae by T.M.Revolution, after only four episodes of running time; the single for The Fourth Avenue Cafe was also put on hold, being eventually released in 2006.

L'Arc-en-Ciel also has an alter ego called P'unk-en-Ciel, stylized as P'UNK~EN~CIEL, with heavier and faster music. P'unk-en-Ciel features each L'Arc-en-Ciel member doing different roles in the band in relation to the regular formation, and each also takes an all-uppercase alter ego name, in stark contrast to their usual names which are stylized in all-lowercase. P'unk-en-Ciel songs have been recorded and used as B-sides on L'Arc-en-Ciel singles since 2004 and their performances can be found on live DVDs as well.