Note: This section summarizes each work as it relates to the overall MOON project, and as they relate to each other. They are discussed in the order they were released by Gackt, not in the order in which they fit into the MOON timeline (See section "Timeline of MOON" for a chronological treatment of the MOON project).

ANOTHER WORLD single (released September 5, 2001)

MOON album (released June 19, 2002)

Kagen no Tsuki Tour (October 14 to December 24, 2002)

MOON CHILD (released April 19, 2003)

Jougen no Tsuki Tour (May 4 to July 6, 2003)

MOON CHILD Requiem (released in October 2003)

Crescent (released on December 3, 2003)

SD/SN Tour (April 29 to July 4, 2004)

DIABOLOS (released on September 21, 2005)

DIABOLOS Tour (September 23 to December 24, 2005)

ANOTHER WORLD

The ANOTHER WORLD single was released on September 5, 2001, and it was the introduction and opening to the world of MOON. The song is fast-paced, and the lyrics give a sense of "being on a journey together". But the story is clearly told through the PV, which is almost like a movie in itself-- a condensed version of MOON CHILD. The setting is Asia (the PV was filmed in Hong Kong); the main character is played by Gackt and appears to be a version of Sho. Scenes of happy times with his three companions (most likely parallels to Kei, Son and Yi-Che) are intercut with scenes of violence. At the end of the PV, Gackt's character exacts revenge on the mafia boss who has terrorized his and his friends' lives. The PV's closing scene shows Gackt's character injured and driving away alone.

Gackt used this song and PV as a preview for MOON CHILD. The movie takes place in the near future, Chapter 4 of the overall MOON story (see Timeline of MOON for explanation of the four Chapters). It's a small glimpse into the world of MOON that expands with each new work Gackt produces.

MOON album/Kagen no Tsuki~Waning Moon~ tour

The MOON album was released on June 19, 2002. The CD was not accompanied by a lyric booklet. Instead, a short statement by Gackt was included with the CD; he states that the world of MOON should first be felt through "sound" and not "words", and that this work was a key to unraveling the mystery of MOON, a story that would continue the following spring (a reference to MOON CHILD, which was released in April of the following year). The lyrics for the MOON album were included with the Crescent album, released in December of 2003.

Listening to MOON without any other hints about the story or concept underlying the "world of MOON", the listener is able to create their own world. The one hint that the listener did have at this point was the ANOTHER WORLD single and PV. With that song and the story it told in mind, we can imagine who the characters are that populate the world of MOON. We can listen to each song and decide for ourselves who is speaking, and who is being spoken to or of. In Jihaku, Gackt states that he sees the story of "MOON" as a puzzle; he wants people to see the story little by little, assembling the pieces until the puzzle is complete. Thus the story told in the MOON album is just a piece of the overall MOON story (which we now know spans hundreds of years).

The Kagen no Tsuki tour ran from October 14 through December 24, 2002. It shed more light on the story told in the MOON album. The concert opened with Noah, setting the stage with images of modern Asia.

Setting the stage in Asia.

Noah is followed by Doomsday; Gackt is shot at the end of this song and appears to die. But with the start of death wish, he is "revived" by the masked dancers-- possibly an allusion to death and rebirth as a vampire. Masked dancers appear in all the concerts related to MOON. Do these masked dancers represent the DARTS as they are portrayed in the Sixth Day/Seventh Night and DIABOLOS tours (see discussions of Sixth Day/Seventh Night and DIABOLOS tours below). Doomsday is followed by Lu:na, in which he fights against the masked dancers. This could also be seen as the vampire's uprising against his creators, the DARTS.

Masked dancers appear on the stage.

He is revived by the masked dancers at the beginning of death wish.

Other than Gackt, dressed in a long black coat, and the masked dancers, no other characters from the world of the MOON album appear on stage. We had to wait until MOON CHILD, and the next tour to get a better understanding of the story told in the MOON album. After watching MOON CHILD, the listener can analyze the lyrics for each song in the MOON album and interpret for themselves which characters appear in those lyrics. A song like memories can be interpreted to be Sho speaking to Yi-Che... while a song like death wish sounds like Kei speaking to Sho. As is always the case with Gackt, he wants each person to come up with their own interpretation of his works, and MOON is no different.

MOON CHILD

The MOON CHILD movie was released on April 19, 2003. The movie focuses on a group of friends living in Mallepa, a city somewhere in Asia that is designated a Special Economic Zone. The story told in MOON CHILD spans the years 2014 to 2045. The details of the movie can be found in the Timeline and Residents of MOON sections, as well as in the MOON CHILD writeup *link to MOON CHILD writeup*

There are many themes that run through MOON CHILD: friendship, the ephemerality of moments, Japan's economy, relationships between Asians, wealth versus poverty, etc. But the core theme of the movie is existence. What does it mean to exist and how much are we willing to suffer to continue living? This is the theme that connects most strongly to the whole MOON concept.

Kei and Sho both struggle with their existence. Kei lives by feeding off the blood of others, and he sees himself as a monster. Yet he continues to live, cherishing the fleeting moments he has with his friends. At times he tries to go without drinking blood, but in order to survive he must always go back to drinking. Although he is immortal, he sees it as a curse and not a blessing. Rather than seeing himself as moving forward with time, he feels he will be left behind when all of his friends grow old and die before him. He loses the will to live, and wishes to be put to death-- but as strong as his desire to die is, it is outweighed by his desire to help his friend Sho. Kei's existence demands many sacrifices in his life, and yet he is willing to face those sacrifices in the name of friendship. Gackt said in Jihaku that there are people in the world of MOON who do not know the meaning of their own existence, and people appear in their lives to help illuminate the road before them. These people are "moons" because they light the road in front of you, but it is still you who must advance forward on the road. For Kei, the road is illuminated by his friends, especially Sho. Through these friends, these moons, he is able to find a path that saves his humanity-- he does not turn his back on Sho. His love for Sho is so strong that he cannot stop himself from saving Sho's life.

When he finds Sho dying, Kei remembers the past spent with his friends.

Sho also struggles with his own existence. Constantly surrounding himself with friends, he is afraid to exist alone. His path through life was illuminated by many friends, and it was through these friends that he found meaning in life. At the end of the movie, everyone he has ever loved has been taken away from him. He is alone and can't find his way because there is no longer anyone to illuminate the path before him. However, rather than simply ending his life, Sho reaches out into the darkness and seeks help from Kei. It is only after he knows that Yi-Che and Hana will be left in Kei's hands that he feels he can end his life. We get the sense that Sho has suffered too many losses in life and could not bear to continue living in a world that cruelly takes away his friends as quickly as he makes them. Perhaps he felt that his own self-destructive behavior was leading to the deaths of his friends, and he did not know how to break the cycle.

After losing everyone, Sho turns to Kei for help.

Although there are many characters, themes and complexities in MOON CHILD, Kei and Sho are at the heart of the movie, and it is through their relationship that we can understand what Gackt is trying to convey through MOON.

Jougen no Tsuki~Waxing Moon~ tour/Crescent album

The Jougen no Tsuki tour ran from May 4 to July 6, 2003. In many ways, Jougen no Tsuki was similar to Kagen no Tsuki, with the performance of several of the same songs from MOON. However, Jougen no Tsuki came after the release of MOON CHILD, and the connections between the songs on MOON and the world of MOON CHILD were much stronger during this tour. In addition, Jougen no Tsuki included some songs that were on Crescent, an album which was released on December 3, 2003, several months after the tour. The lyric book for MOON was included in the Crescent album, and in it Gackt leaves us another message regarding the MOON story. He states that the story of MOON extends across these two works (MOON and Crescent albums), and that he wants us to find and to feel the story on our own. Thus each song on Crescent fits somewhere within the MOON story, and it is up to us to figure out where those songs fit.

Gackt goes through many costume changes during the Jougen no Tsuki concert, and these costumes can be used as a guide to which character is at the center of each song. In the beginning of the concert, Gackt appears in a coat similar to the one he wore in Kagen, but this time it is white. It brings to mind the figure of Sho at the end of MOON CHILD. When he sings Kimi ga Matteiru kara and Doomsday, he has changed into a black outfit, and it seems to signal a switch to the character of Kei. Then the actor who plays young Sho appears during Tsuki no Uta, and Gackt has changed into his casual outfit-- the lyrics of Tsuki no Uta sound like Sho remembering his past with Kei, longing to be in that time and place once again. For Birdcage, Gackt changes into the black coat he wore during the Kagen no Tsuki tour. The lyrics of Birdcage once again sound like they reflect Kei's point of view.

Gackt begins the concert wearing a white coat.

He then changes to black...

Little Sho appears during Tsuki no Uta.

Gackt wears the black coat from Kagen no Tsuki during Birdcage.

The masked dancers that appeared in the Kagen no Tsuki tour make a reappearance in this tour during Lu:na and Memories. As discussed above, these masked characters are a common thread running through all the concerts related to MOON.

The masked dancers reappear.

For the last song of the tour final, Toshi, Yi-Che and Son from MOON CHILD appear on stage, and Gackt has changed into the black and white jacket Sho wears as a young man. The song is Orenji no Taiyou-- the song which Luka always sang, and which was passed on to Kei and to Sho. It is a duet, a song reflecting the points of view of both Kei and Sho, and is the last song on Crescent. If there is one song that sums up MOON, it is this one. The setting sun at dusk, the eternal farewell to the times gone by, these signify the end to their lives. But there is hope in the lyrics-- although Kei and Sho may be saying goodbye to this world, they may not be saying goodbye to each other~ itsudatte aeru yo, hitomi wo tojireba... (“we can always meet again, if you close your eyes…”).

Orenji no Taiyou.

MOON CHILD Requiem

Gackt's novel, MOON CHILD Requiem, was released in October of 2003, between the Jougen no Tsuki tour and the release of Crescent. A companion to MOON CHILD, the novel follows events that are not shown in the movie, and is told from the point of view of Lin Qi-yang, a writer who befriends Son in Mallepa. The story starts in the year 2033, which is the time period in MOON CHILD when Son goes his separate ways from Sho and joins the Taiwanese mafia. Gackt wrote the novel to more fully express the themes of country and race with respect to Asians, and the barriers that exist between them.

The Sixth Day/Seventh Night Tour

The Sixth Day/Seventh Night tour ran from April 29 through July 4, 2004. The Sixth Day and Seventh Night albums were not specifically related to the MOON project, but Gackt used the concert stage to preview the next part of the MOON story that he was going to tell. It provided a link between the parts of MOON told in his previous works, and the part of MOON he would tell in DIABOLOS.

The concert opens with the song Utakata no Yume; Gackt and the members are dressed in white kimonos and play the shamisen (a three-stringed traditional Japanese instrument), accompanied by the drumming of an odaiko (large drum). The story within the song Utakata no Yume is the story of the DARTS, a clan who was originally from Japan (see Residents of MOON section for more information on the DARTS). The DARTS were born in the first Chapter of the MOON story, in the 700-1300 time period (more precisely, the mid-Heian period which ran from 794 to 1185). Gackt has said that Utakata no Yume concerns a prophecy of the near future as seen from the past, and that "memory" is the main theme of this chapter.

Utakata no Yume.

Utakata no Yume is followed by Oasis. As Gackt said, Utakata no Yume concerns a family/clan that emerges from the darkness and makes a prophecy of the near future, while Oasis is the "point of the prophecy". With that in mind, it can be inferred that Oasis represents the near future, the time period of MOON CHILD. In the performances of Utakata no Yume and Oasis, there are masked dancers that Gackt refers to as "wooden dolls" instilled with a soul and prophesizing the future-- these represent the DARTS. The dancers carry and shake bell-trees, which are instruments traditionally used in Shinto rituals (kagura suzu). These rituals were often performed by miko, priestesses at Shinto shrines who went into trances and conveyed prophecies. The DARTS as seen in DIABOLOS also wear masks. However, because DIABOLOS takes place between Chapters 2 and 3 of MOON, and not in Chapter 1, we are left to wonder what the prophecy was and how it ties into the rest of the MOON story. In a later interview when DIABOLOS was released, Gackt refers to the prophesizing of the future as a "reincarnation of sorts"...

DIABOLOS album and DIABOLOS tour

The DIABOLOS album was released on September 21, 2005. The tour followed soon after, running from September 23 to December 24, 2005. Rather than covering Chapter 1 of the MOON story, which was hinted at in the Sixth Day/Seventh Night tour, Gackt presents us with events that take place between Chapters 2 and 3 (see Timeline of MOON for more information). It is through this album and tour that we learn about the Shito, who were created by the DARTS (see Residents of MOON for more explanation on Shito and DARTS). The Shito, once awakened to their powers, are what we refer to as vampires. Thus DIABOLOS is the origin story of vampires. We first became aware that DIABOLOS was going to be about vampires when we saw the PV for Todokanai Ai to Shitteita noni, Osaekirezuni Aishitsuduketa... In that PV, the two main characters are vampires, two of the original 13 Shito that were created by the DARTS (more about these two characters is in the Discussion section.

The two Shito in Todokanai ai...

The overarching theme of existence found in MOON is once again expressed through DIABOLOS. But this time Gackt plunges deeper into the questions of existence by looking at humans and the evil that exists within them. Humans seeking the meaning of their own existence will find that there is darkness underneath the surface; that is represented by the cover of DIABOLOS, which shows that another "self" exists beneath the mask. The act of taking off the mask represents the ability to face yourself and to realize that there is darkness in yourself. This is different from the theme as expressed in MOON CHILD, because there the "darkness" remains hidden, the characters simply anguishing over their existence. In DIABOLOS, Gackt uses vampires as a mirror by which we can look at the darkness in humans indirectly. Humans are the opposites of vampires in the sense that they are mortal and they seek immortality. Through vampires, we learn that immortality has a price-- to continue living, the vampire must live off the blood of others. This is a reflection of humans and their need to perpetuate themselves by going to war and fighting others to survive. The vampires in DIABOLOS are aware of this, the dark side of them that exists for fighting purposes, and so they struggle with finding other meaning in their lives. What does it mean to exist-- to protect loved ones and companions, and to live and die in peace. Humans should do the same; acknowledge that they have a dark side, but strive to find meaning in their lives other than continuing the cycle of killing to survive.

The DIABOLOS concert begins with a film that sets the stage in Europe. The theme is presented with a quote before the action begins: ningen wa kami to akuma no aida ni fuyuu suru. "Humans are suspended between god and devil." Gackt and the members portray five of the Shito that have risen up to fight against their creators. They ride into battle against countless DARTS, and only one Shito is left standing. During the ride into battle, Gackt's character sees a vision that is either a flashback or a glimpse into the future-- a woman and child being pursued by a DART. The woman is killed, and the fate of the child is unknown. Who these people are, and how they are related to Gackt's character is left to our interpretation.

The five Shito ride into battle.

Vision of woman and child.

As the Shito ride into battle, the film ends and the first chapter of the DIABOLOS concert begins; the chapter is called “Saigo no Yoru, Yami no Shoukan” (“The Final Night, Redemption of Darkness”). This title refers to the Shito’s fight to the death with the DARTS, in which they redeem themselves by proving their worth. The opening song is Dybbuk, from the Crescent album. The DIABOLOS concert pulls in many songs from Crescent, tying this part of the MOON story with the parts told in previous works. A "dybbuk" is a wandering soul that attaches itself to a living person, controlling that person in order to accomplish a task. Dybbuks are not necessarily bad or 'evil'; they sometimes attach to a person in order to help that them accomplish something. In both cases, the dybbuk is attracted to people that have struggled with the same thing it struggled with when it was living. The song Dybbuk seems to clearly have two speakers, one speaking to the other. It could represent the internal struggle of the Shito, the "human" soul fighting with the vampire within.

Surrounded by DARTS in Dybbuk.

Dybbuk is followed by white eyes (also from Crescent), Dispar, Metamorphoze, Redemption, Ash and Misty. This group of songs deals with the themes of fighting, why people fight and the losses they suffer in war. The Shito fight to prove that their existence is not worthless; they fight to protect their loved ones and their companions. For all of the songs up to this point, Gackt is wearing the costume of a Shito.

The Shito costume.

The second chapter is titled “Yume no Bannin” (“Guardian of Dreams”). As the concert continues, we hear a voice say, “This is a dream. In his dream, everlasting life is a journey to everlasting death. He is a sole survivor…” Lust for Blood, also from Crescent, opens this chapter, and Gackt emerges from a coffin dressed in a black hooded coat. This marks the Shito's "awakening" as a vampire. Because Lust for Blood is from Crescent (and the black coat is once again reminiscent of the one he wore in Kagen no Tsuki), it can also be interpreted as being from the point of view of a vampire (Kei). This interpretation is supported by one of the lyrics in which the vampire longs to return to human form ("honno sukoshi no aida de ii..., hito no sugata ni modoritai" (“even if it’s for just a short while, I want to return to the shape of a human”). Gackt remains in this costume through Noesis, Farewell and Future, expressing the rest of the story of DIABOLOS from the point of view of this vampire.

He emerges from a coffin at the beginning of Lust for Blood.

The third chapter is titled “Tomo yo, eien ni” (“We are companions, forever”). It begins with a continuation of the opening film. The five Shito are desperately battling with the DARTS, and one by one, they are killed. Gackt’s character is surrounded and is being stabbed from all sides by DARTS, when he suddenly awakens. He is wearing modern day clothing; it is the long white coat of the sole survivor (seen in the DIABOLOS pamphlet).

The soul survivor awakens from a dream of the past.

As the title of the chapter indicates, this is the chapter that confirms the everlasting friendship between the Shitos. It also connects the story of DIABOLOS to the rest of the MOON story, which takes place in the future. After the humorous scenes of Gackt’s companions appearing to him in the mirror, Gackt wakes up yet again, finding himself backstage with GacktJob. As they walk to the stage together, they morph into the five Shito, showing, perhaps, that they are all still together in spirit.

GacktJob morph into the Shito.

The way Gackt brings the story from the past, to the future and then to the present, all within one concert, brilliantly expresses how far-reaching the MOON story is. This chapter begins with BLACK STONE, a song that celebrates the memory of a lost companion. It ends with Road, which has the main theme of being on a journey together, never leaving each others’ side. These are themes that can be applied to the Shitos, or to the companions in MOON CHILD.

The final song related to the MOON story in the DIABOLOS tour is Todokanai Ai to Shitteitanoni, Osaekirezuni Aishitsuzuketa… For this song, all five of the Shito are back together, and we can sense the pride they have in themselves as they raise their swords in unity and walk off together. The MOON story comes to a close…at least until the next album and tour.

The five Shito companions.

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