Sugizo
Yūne Sugihara, better known as his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese rock guitarist and violinist best known for being the lead guitarist of the Visual Kei band Luna Sea. After Luna Sea, he became a solo artist and an environmental and political activist, releasing several singles and joining the band Juno Reactor.
He was invited to perform on stage with X Japan in place of/alongside lead guitarist hide starting in 2008, and became the sixth official member of X Japan starting in 2009, on lead guitar.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear disaster of 2011, he has become one of the most notable figures in the recovery, volunteering on the ground as a worker at Ishinomiyaki for a couple of weeks, and performing at various charity and anti-nuclear events.
- BSOD Song: "Dear Life" from his solo career. It's more like a "recovery from BSOD" song, though.
- But Not Too Foreign: One quarter Chinese, one quarter German.
- Cassandra Truth: With a bitter side of Harsher in Hindsight. Sugizo has been an anti-nuclear activist in Japan for many years. Among other demonstrations, he once participated in one against none other than the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
- Double Entendre: "Super Love" from his solo career. What isn't Double Entendre in that song is all on display.
- His side projects "SHAG" and "Spank Your Juice."
- Genre Roulette
- Performance Video: Several from his solo career and with Luna Sea, and he's starred in at least five X Japan Performance Videos now.
- Power Ballad: Several with Luna Sea.
- Promoted Fanboy: Luna Sea was the first band signed by hide to Extasy Records, and Sugizo and hide were both friends and mentor and apprentice... and now Sugizo has the role that hide once had, lead guitarist of X Japan.
- Protest Song: "No More Machineguns Play The Guitar" is a protest of war. Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped applies, and the song itself is very much worth a listen.
- A remix entitled "No More Nukes Play The Guitar" and an original song called "The Edge" were released as protests to the TEPCO nuclear disaster of 2011.
- The Quiet One: At least, compared to hide. Tropes Are Not Bad applies here: he is equally skilled (if not more so at points, arguably, from not being drunk or high out of his mind on stage), and his stability and intelligence both onstage and offstage are very much a good balance to Yoshiki's and Toshi's problems.
- The Sixth Ranger: In place of hide for live lead guitar.
- Succession Crisis: One of the candidates for lead guitarist of X Japan after the reunion, and the one who got the position.
- Survivor Guilt: Very much so, and his approach to handling it vs. Yoshiki's approach to handling it (despite neither's being wrong) almost led to a huge miscommunication between the two of them that once left their friendship almost destroyed and each's fans hating the other's. Both seem to be over that fight now, though.