Chateau de Bonjour

LAREINE

Lareine were a visual kei band formed in 1994, led by singer Kamijo. They had a distinctive visual style inspired by 18th century France, similar to Malice Mizer, but lighter in tone. They were also based loosely around the concept of "flowers." Though Kamijo is now primarily known from his work in Versailles and as a solo artist, Lareine will forever be some of his best work both musically and visually.

Kamijo - Vocals

Mayu - Guitar

Emiru - Bass

Machi - Drums

Bonjour

Purble

Fairy

Machi

Lareine group shot, circa 1998

Metamorphose Promotional Image

Early Lareine Photoshoot

Lareine Autograph Board

Signed Photo Collection

Article about Lareine fan event, titled "Welcome to the Haute Couture Collection"

Flyer for Lareine live shows at Club Citta and Meguro Rokumeikan

1998 flyer advertising the Lillie Charlotte photobook and album

Scan of Fleur, the Lareine fan magazine, from 1998

Lareine flyer from indies days

Lareine featured in a magazine

Lareine featured in a magazine, part 2

Kamijo offshot during a photoshoot, circa 2005

Kamijo and Mayu

Lareine members from pre-Lareine days, when they were friends in a tennis club. From the left, it's Mayu, Emiru, Unknown, and Kamijo.

Lareine band practice

Shenanigans

Lareine re-enacting the Franco-Prussian war of 1870

France is defeated by Germany in 1871, resulting in the unification of Germany

Lareine members

Lareine celebrating

Mayu and Machi

Mayu and Kamijo

Machi and Emiru

Machi and Kamijo performing "Emeraude" at Shockwave Illusion in 1998

Emiru playing the maracas in "Emeraude" at Shockwave Illusion in 1998

Kamijo singing and playing guitar during the 8.22 live tour titled "Umi ni Miserarete" (Fascinated by the Sea)

And of course I can't leave out New Sodmy! New Sodmy was created by Kamijo after Lareine broke up. It was active for only one year, from 2001-2002, but during that time they made one album that was actually pretty good. New Sodmy was not supposed to be a visual kei band, it was Kamijo's normie phase, but even then his idea of 'normal' seems to be a bit skewed.

For example, one of the songs they wrote, "Are You Sodmy?" consisted of Kamijo singing the line "are you sodomy?" in varying levels of falsetto, set against heavy guitar. Surprisingly, it's not a completely bad song, although at one point he does scream "fuck me!" in his signature falsetto voice. If you want a better example of a good New Sodmy song, listen to Audrey.