1986–1991: Formation and debut album Childhood friends
Jun "J" Onose and
Kiyonobu "Inoran" Inoue founded a band called Lunacy in high school in 1986. The name was chosen because they felt something akin to "madness" in their sound, the future they aspired to, and the things they were doing. As the other members left to pursue careers or college, they recruited Pinocchio drummer
Shinya Yamada and guitarist
Yasuhiro "Sugizo" Sugihara on January 16, 1989. According to Sugizo, they played a single concert before firing their vocalist for a lack of talent. However, in his autobiography, J recalls that vocalist Yasuhiro "Yasu" Imai, one of his closest friends, suddenly told him one day that he wanted to quit. He speculated that Yasu might have become uncomfortable because, like any band, the members grew at different rates, differences in direction became apparent, and their expectations of each other gradually increased. At the same time, J learned that
Ryuichi Kawamura (then called "Rayla") was considering leaving his band Slaughter, and said the timing worked out perfectly for Ryuichi to replace the outgoing Yasu on May 6. In October, they transferred their activities to
Meguro, where they performed at local venues such as Rock-May-Kan and Live Station. In early 1991, they were discovered by
hide and signed to his
X Japan bandmate
Yoshiki's independent label,
Extasy Records. Luna Sea took part in the label's Nuclear Fusion Tour in March with Gilles de Rais and Sighs of Love Potion. The self-titled
Luna Sea was released on April 21. It was followed by the band's debut tour Image or Real in May, and corresponding with their increasing popularity, continued with After the Image tour in September. The band started working on their second album and began touring throughout the country for it on April 16, with the Search for My Eden tour. The tour included 14 concerts in the same number of locations, and mobilized an audience of around twenty-six thousand people. On February 12, 1994, the band performed the tour's final concert at the sold-out 17,000 seat
Yokohama Arena. Between August 9 and 30, the band went on a sold-out five-stop tour with
Soft Ballet and
Buck-Tick titled LSB. On September 21, Luna Sea released their fourth single "
True Blue", which topped the charts, J later explained that some members wanted to start solo activities, while others did not as they felt they should all be focusing on the band, and the resulting conflict is what resulted in the one year limit. May 1997 saw the release of the
Rew home video, which summarizes the band's activities from their formation. On the same day
Singles was released, Luna Sea resumed their activities with a concert at
Akasaka Blitz, where they unveiled a toned-down visual image. It, like
Singles, was awarded "Best Rock Album" at the 13th Japan Gold Disc Awards. The song "Breathe" from this album was also used in the Japanese release of
Walt Disney's animated movie
Mulan. On December 23, a sold-out joint live by Luna Sea and
Glay, titled The Millennium Eve, was held at the Tokyo Dome. On January 29, 2000, the band's song "Sweetest Coma Again" was included in the Japanese release of the original
soundtrack to, the
James Bond film,
The World Is Not Enough. Their first release in almost two years, the single "
Gravity" was released in March and topped the charts, On November 8, they released their fourteenth and last single, "
Love Song", which peaked at number 4. Looking back decades later, J wrote in his 2025 autobiography that ever since they achieved their first Tokyo Dome concert in 1995, the members lacked a goal to strive for in unison, and that he personally started to sense the band was coming to its end when they regrouped and began working on
Shine, after a year off in 1997 for solo activities. Although it was never said aloud, he suspects each member went into recording
Lunacy with the feeling that it would be their last. In 2014, after the band reunited, Inoran claimed that at the time "we promised to each other that we would all go out into the world while we were in our 30s, absorb things and regroup."
2007–2011: Reunion concerts and World Tour Reboot Nearly seven years after disbanding, Luna Sea reunited for the God Bless You ~One Night Dejavu~ concert on December 24, 2007, at the Tokyo Dome. Tickets for the show sold out within five minutes, and the concert was broadcast live on Japan's
NHK BS Hi-vision Satellite channel. A tribute album to the band,
Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album -Re:birth-, was previously released on December 19, 2007. It features covers of their songs performed by artists that were either influenced by Luna Sea or artists that the band's members respect, such as
Nami Tamaki,
Masami Tsuchiya,
High and Mighty Color,
Mucc, and
Merry. Less than a year later, Luna Sea reunited again to perform at the
hide memorial summit on May 4, 2008, at
Ajinomoto Stadium. On May 29, 2009, the band's music catalog was released on
iTunes. in 2010. The concert was recorded and released as the theatrical film and live album,
Luna Sea 3D in Los Angeles. On August 25, 2010, it was announced that Luna Sea would hold a press conference on August 31 in Hong Kong, where they previously announced the end of their activities ten years earlier. At the press conference, the band officially announced their reunion. Their first concert tour in ten years, the world tour named
20th Anniversary World Tour Reboot -to the New Moon-, was confirmed and the band also said they were in the process of writing new songs. Inoran later cited the success of their 2007 concert as a major reason for the regrouping. A third show, a free concert titled , which referred to the three previous
kurofuku gentei gigs held in their indie days, was held on December 15 with all songs performed being from pre-1995. The tour finished with two additional concerts at the
World Memorial Hall in Kobe on December 30 and 31. Before the last shows, in December, they transferred record companies to
Avex Group's HPQ label. A new re-recording of their debut album,
Luna Sea, was released on March 16, 2011, as a self-cover. In response to the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11 in Japan, the band released the
digital download song "
Promise" on April 9. It was their first new song in ten years and was released exclusively on
Amazon websites, with all proceeds donated to the
Japanese Red Cross to aid the victims. A live album and video of their US concert, both titled
Luna Sea 3D in Los Angeles, was released in June, with the film being shown in Japanese theaters nationwide. On October 22, they held a charity concert titled A Promise to the Brave at
Saitama Super Arena, and all proceeds from the event went to the Japanese Red Cross. Tickets for the show went on sale on August 14 and sold out in five minutes. peaked at number 5 and spent 7 weeks on the charts. On Universal, Luna Sea released their sixteenth, and first
double A-side, single "
The End of the Dream/Rouge" on December 12. A concert series titled Luna Sea Live 2012-2013 The End of the Dream was announced, with shows at Osaka-jō Hall on December 23 and the other six nights at the Nippon Budokan on January 11–13 and 18-20. It was their first concerts at both venues in 13 years. After the concerts sold out in one day of going on sale, the Zepp Tour 2012 was announced to take place before them, with all performances being at
Zepp live houses. It started on November 16 in Osaka and went to Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and ended in Tokyo on December 16, with each venue being played two to three consecutive nights each. Additionally, in a sequel to the previous year's charity performance at Saitama Super Arena, the band performed another at
Sendai Sun Plaza on December 24. in February 2013 Following the performances at the Budokan, another Asian tour started on January 26, 2013, with two shows in Taiwan, then moved to Hong Kong,
Bangkok and ended on February 8 in
Singapore. After the tour, Luna Sea also held an exclusive live performance for their official fan club members on February 17. Originally,
NHK Hall was selected to hold the event, however, the band decided to change the location to
Ryōgoku Kokugikan to serve excessive demands. The single "
Thoughts" was released on August 28 in celebration of the band's 24th anniversary, and is featured in a TV commercial for the online video game
Master of Chaos. The group's next single, "
Ran", was released on November 13 and used as the theme song to the television drama
Toshi Densetsu no Onna 2. Luna Sea performed at
Fuji TV's 2013 FNS Kayōsai festival, which was broadcast live on December 4.
A Will, the group's first new studio album in 13 years, became available on December 11, 2013. 2014 marks Luna Sea's 25th anniversary, and they celebrated the occasion in several ways. The band performed a fan club-only show on May 26 at Akasaka Blitz, at which they performed
A Will in full, and announced four more fan club-only
kurofuku gentei concerts at the Diver City (June 21–22) and Osaka (August 23–24) Zepp music halls. They released both the remastered compilation album
25th Anniversary Ultimate Best -The One- and the live compilation album
Never Sold Out 2 on May 28, and performed a special anniversary concert at
Yoyogi National Stadium on May 29. Their first nationwide tour since reuniting, Luna Sea 25th Anniversary Live Tour The Lunatic -A Liberated Will-, took place from June 7 to September 14 before picking up again in January 2015 and ending on March 1. As an epilogue to their 25th anniversary, Luna Sea hosted a rock festival titled Lunatic Fest on June 27 and 28, 2015, with an estimated 60,000 fans attending. Held at
Makuhari Messe, there were three stages and 12 artists, with the host band performing twice both nights; once as opening act Lunacy and again as Luna Sea. Other acts included
Dead End,
Dir En Grey, X Japan,
Siam Shade and
Tokyo Yankees the first night, and
Aion,
Buck-Tick,
D'erlanger, and
Glay the second night.
2016–2022: Luv, 30th Anniversary and Cross The band provided the new song "
Limit" to be used as the opening theme song for the
Endride anime series. It was released as a single on June 22, 2016. They performed at Makuhari Messe on October 14 and 16 as part of the three-day Visual Japan Summit. On December 23 and 24, Luna Sea performed The Holy Night -Beyond the Limit- concerts at Saitama Super Arena. A limited single of a Christmas song titled "Holy Knight" was sold only at these concerts. Luna Sea held a special concert at the Nippon Budokan on May 29, 2017, where Sugizo's guitar was powered only by
hydrogen fuel cells, making it the first concert in history to be powered as such. They then headlined at the
Summer Sonic Shanghai 2017 festival on August 26. The band's ninth studio album
Luv was released on December 20. The equipment of all five members was powered by hydrogen fuel cells for their December 23 and 24 concerts at the Saitama Super Arena. The eighteen-date Luv Tour -World Left Behind- was set to begin with two concerts on January 27 and 28, 2018 at Mori no Hall 21 in Chiba, but these two concerts were rescheduled to May 23 and 24 due to Sugizo having the flu. Instead the tour began on February 3. The band hosted another two-day Lunatic Fest at Makuhari Messe on June 23 and 24, 2018. Performers who were not at the 2015 festival include
Glim Spanky,
lynch.,
Maki Ohguro, and
The Oral Cigarettes. Beginning the celebration of their 30th anniversary early, Luna Sea held two concerts titled Lunatic X'Mas 2018 -Introduction to the 30th Anniversary- at Saitama Super Arena on December 22 and 23, 2018. The first was subtitled "Image or Real" after their 1992 tour of the same name, while the second was subtitled "Search for My Eden" after their 1993 tour of the same name; each night saw them perform songs they had not played since the original tours. Ryuichi underwent surgery to remove
adenocarcinoma of the lung in January 2019, and returned to work the following month. The band's eight major label studio albums from
Image to
Luv were released on vinyl record for the first time on May 29. That same day, a double A-side single titled "
Sora no Uta ~Higher and Higher~/Hisōbi", the first and second opening themes of the
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin - Advent of the Red Comet anime, was released. Luna Sea contributed a cover of
TM Network's "
Beyond the Time ~Moebius no Sora o Koete~" as the third opening theme of the anime. Anniversary concerts were held at the Nippon Budokan on May 31 and June 1, The band's tenth studio album,
Cross, was released on December 18, 2019. Co-produced by
Steve Lillywhite, it marks the first time the band has worked with a record producer. It was their first album to top
Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. On December 21 and 22 the band performed two 30th anniversary Christmas concerts at Saitama Super Arena. From February 1 to May 31, 2020, Luna Sea was scheduled to have a nationwide 30th anniversary hall tour titled Cross the Universe with over 29 performances in 13 cities. However, all tour performances from the end of February on were postponed until 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. On April 28, 2020, the band released the digital song "Make a Vow", which was produced remotely within two weeks as an answer to the pandemic. A day later, their twenty-first single "
The Beyond" was released in limited production. It became their first song in over 20 years to top the
Oricon Singles Chart. Inspired by
One World: Together at Home, Luna Sea designed and hosted
Music Aid Fest. ~For Post Pandemic~ on
Fuji TV One on May 31 to support medical workers and others on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. Essentially a television music festival featuring live remotely recorded performances to elicit monetary donations, over 25 artists participated, including
Ellegarden,
Char,
Koda Kumi, and
9mm Parabellum Bullet. Luna Sea were set to perform at Saitama Super Arena on December 26 and 27, 2020 as their first concerts since the pandemic forced them to postpone their 30th anniversary tour earlier in the year. They were to be the band's first live streamed concerts with physical seats limited in capacity. However, both days were also postponed after Shinya tested positive for COVID-19 on the morning of December 26. These two shows, titled Reload, were finally held in 2021 on March 27 and 28. The seating was limited to 50% capacity or less and the shows featured a 20 minute break to allow ventilation in the arena. Following three days at the Tokyo Garden Theater from May 28–30, which were originally intended to be the Grand Final of the 30th anniversary tour, the rescheduled Cross the Universe tour began on June 12. The tour's new Grand Final shows were held at Saitama Super Arena on January 8 and 9, 2022, but the regular tour actually ended on February 1. Ryuichi then underwent surgery to remove microvascular lesions in his vocal cords and Luna Sea began a "recharging period".
2022–present: 35th Anniversary and Shinya's death Following Ryuichi's successful rehabilitation, Luna Sea resumed activities with two concerts at the Nippon Budokan titled on August 26 and 27, 2022. Gachi Sea, a cover band formed by comedians
Kamaitachi, Hiroki Nunokawa of Tom Brown, and Shinya Takagi of Joyman, with the addition of Luna Sea's Shinya, performed during the encore of the first night. Two
kurofuku gentei gigs took place on December 17 and 18 at Saitama Super Arena. Luna Sea played two nights at the
Musashino Forest Sport Plaza on May 27 and 28, 2023, which marked the first time in about three years that the audience could cheer aloud, as it was previously not allowed due to COVID-19 guidelines. On May 29, the band held a short free live for 150 members of their fanclub at Meguro Rock-May-Kan. On November 29, Luna Sea released self-cover re-recordings of their albums
Mother and
Style via
Avex Trax. From October 7 to December 31, they held a dual arena tour of 10 concerts at five venues where they alternated recreating the setlists of those two albums' tours, the 1995 Mother of Love, Mother of Hate tour and the 1996 Un Ending Style tour, respectively. Luna Sea held the largest nationwide tour of their career in 2024, to commemorate their 35th anniversary. Split into three episodes, the 41-date Era to Era tour saw the band continue to alternate setlists from their old tours, adding the 1992 Image or Real, 1993 Search for My Eden, 1998 Shining Brightly, and 2000 Brand New Chaos tours into the mix. Episode 1 took place between May 25 and July 14, Episode 2 between July 27 and September 1, while the final Episode 3 took place between September 14 and November 15 and included several
kurofuku gentei gigs performed under the Lunacy name. Additionally, a Memorial Talk & Unplugged Session for members of their fanclub was held at Culttz Kawasaki in their home prefecture on May 29, 2024. On September 8, 2025, it was announced that Shinya had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and that, because the radiation therapy he would be undergoing could impair his mobility, his former protégé and
Siam Shade drummer Jun-ji would be filling-in for him at Luna Sea's upcoming Lunatic Fest that November. Additionally, it was revealed that Shinya was previously diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2020 and had continued to perform with the band while receiving treatment, which included radiation, chemotherapy and seven surgeries. The third Lunatic Fest was held at Makuhari Messe on November 8 and 9. Marking the tenth anniversary of the first festival, performing acts included
The Yellow Monkey,
Kuroyume,
Uverworld,
Ling Tosite Sigure,
Nemophila and
Brahman. Jun-ji also filled-in for Shinya at the 2025 Jinmirai Festival celebrating Brahman's 30th anniversary on November 24. Luna Sea were scheduled to hold Lunatic X'Mas 2025 -Our Journey Continues- at
Ariake Arena on December 23, but postponed the show to March 12, 2026, after Sugizo was involved in a traffic accident on December 18. Shinya died at 6:16pm on February 17, 2026, after his condition suddenly worsened. Luna Sea announced his death six days later. Their first new song in six years, "
Forever", will be released as a single on May 29 and features Shinya. The Unending Journey -Forever- tour will begin that same day and see 33 shows in 22 cities, before ending on October 18. ==Musical style and influences==