The Japanese rock band Janne Da Arc followed in Hirakata, Osaka, in 1991. The group's striking appearance placed Janne Da Arc in the visual kei territory, although their sound also featured elements like alternative rock and progressive rock. By 1996, the lineup had coalesced around band members vocalist Yasunori Hayashi ("yasu"), guitarist Yutaka Tsuda ("you"), bassist Kazuyuki Matsumoto ("ka-yu"), keyboardist Masanobu Kiyose ("kiyo"), and drummer Shuji Suematsu ("shuji"). "Red Zone, the band's debut single, was released in 1999, followed one year later by the debut album D·N·A. Reaching number 11 on the Oricon Top 200, D·N·A was followed by Z-Hard, which peaked at number 16 in 2001. The group returned to the Top 10 with its third album, Gaia, which reached number 6 in 2002. One year later, Another Story climbed to number 4. Arcadia reached number 2 in 2004, marking a new peak for Janne Da Arc. After releasing another Top 5 hit, Joker, in 2005, Janne Da Arc reached number 2 on Japan's singles chart with "Furimukeba" and the platinum-certified "Heaven/Mobius," both of which were released in 2006. Janne Da Arc took an extended hiatus in 2007, when the five musicians all began pursuing solo projects. After a dozen years of inactivity, the group officially called it quits on April 1, 2019. The band's music remained popular in Japan, where Joker returned to the Top 100 Deezer chart in 2023, peaking at number 83.
