^___^ Raphael ^___^

Raphael was a Japanese visual kei rock band that formed in 1997 when the members were only 15. The band disbanded in 2001, a year after Kazuki died at age 19.

Members:

Yuki Sakurai - vocals
Kazuki Watanabe - guitar (leader, main composer and lyricist) (deceased)
Yukito Honda - bass
Kazuhiro Murato - drums

Biography:

Raphael was originally formed in 1997 and their first concert was held on December 10, 1997. Their first album Lilac was released in 1998 and was followed with a video. They arrived on the Oricon chart for the first time when the song "Yume Yori Suteki na" was used for the TBS show Kyaiin Kanbyou no Megumi no Heart (キャイーン・寛平の女神のハート). They released two singles on the same day, one hitting number 37, and one number 38.
In 1999 their major label debut, "Hanasaku Inochi Aru Kagiri," hit number 25 on the Oricon charts.[3] Their later releases centered about graduation because it was around the time the members would have graduated from high school, had they not dropped out to pursue music.
On October 31, 2000, Kazuki died of a tranquilizer overdose. A year later Raphael decided to disband. Yuki and Hiro went on to form Rice, while Yukito formed Black Love.
Raphael's song "Yume Yori Suteki na" was covered by Dog in the Parallel World Orchestra on the compilation Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-. The album was released on January 26, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.

Discography:

Albums and mini-albums :

Lilac (April 7, 1998)
Mind Soap (December 1, 1999) Oricon Album Chart Weekly Top Position: 30
Sotsugyô (卒業, March 23, 2000) Oricon Album Chart Weekly Top Position: 50
Fumetsu Hana (不滅華, February 21, 2001) Oricon Album Chart Weekly Top Position: 17
Raphael Singles (August 1, 2001) Oricon Album Chart Weekly Top Position: 25

Singles:

"White Love Story" (November 1, 1998)
"Sick (XXX Kanja no Karute)" (Sick～xxx 患者のカルテ～, February 20, 1999)
"Sweet Romance" (April 29, 1999) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 38
"Yume Yori Suteki Na" (夢より素敵な, April 29, 1999) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 37
"Hanasaku Inochi Aru Kagiri" (花咲く命ある限り, July 23, 1999) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 25
"Eternal Wish (Todokanu Kimi e)" (eternal wish～届かぬ君へ～, October 1, 1999) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 28
"Promise" (November 20, 1999) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 32
"Lost Graduation" (February 2, 2000) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 40
"Evergreen" (August 23, 2000) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 28

Home videos:

VHSs:

"Lilac: Vision of Extremes'' (August 1, 1998, PVs)
"Lilac: Vision of Extremes II'' (September 20, 1999, PVs)
"Pictorial Poem'' (March 24, 2000, PVs)
"Raphael Special Live "Graduation" -2000.3.4 Nippon Budokan-'' (August 23, 2000, Concert)
"Forever and Ever'' (April 25, 2001, Making of)
"Pictorial Poem 2'' (September 19, 2001, PVs)
''Last'' (September 19, 2001, Concert)
''First'' (September 19, 2001, Concert)

DVDs:

''Forever and Ever'' (April 25, 2001, Making of)
''Raphael Clips'' (September 19, 2001, PVs)
''Last'' (September 21, 2001, Concert)
''First'' (September 21, 2001, Concert)
"Akikaze no Rhapsody" (秋風の狂詩曲) (November 1, 2000) Oricon Single Chart Weekly Top Position: 24

Demo tape:

"Eternal Wish, Todokanu no Kimi e" (December 24, 1997)