Aya Itō (伊藤 彩, Itō Aya, born October 11, 1991), better known by her stage name Luna Haruna (春奈 るな, Haruna Runa)[2] is a Japanese singer and fashion model from Tokyo.
Luna Haruna was interested in anime and music from a young age.[3] In her first year of junior high school, she became obsessed with Gothic Lolita manga characters, and started to collect Western clothes.[4] In her third year of junior high school, she auditioned for the Internet radio program of Rental Magica, and was selected to perform the opening theme. She became popular as an imoto-kei amateur model in the fashion magazine Kera when she was in her second year of high school, and also did tie-in modelling for Marui.[4] She gained popularity when she became a finalist at the fourth All-Japan Anime Song Grand Prix.[1]
In an interview with Japanese entertainment website Nihongogo, Luna shares her inspiration behind her career "In terms of TV and anime, I grew up watching and singing the songs from Sailor Moon. As for music artists, I was really inspired by Chiaki Ishikawa and also ALI PROJECT. When I watched them perform, I was really amazed by the power of music and song. This really inspired me to become a musician and an artist."[5]
Haruna started singing full-time in 2011, and released her debut single "Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau" (空は高く風は歌う, The Sky is High and the Wind Sings) on May 2, 2012, which is used as the second ending theme to the 2011 anime series: Fate/Zero. Her second single, "Overfly", released on November 28, 2012, was used as the second ending theme to the 2012 anime series Sword Art Online.[6] Her song "Startear" was used as the first ending theme to Sword Art Online's sequel Sword Art Online II,[7] while "Yoru no Niji wo Koete" (夜の虹を越えて, Over the Night Rainbow) was used in the video game Sword Art Online: Lost Song.[8][9] She also covered the song "Kisaragi Attention" in the 2014 anime series Mekakucity Actors. On January 28, 2015, her seventh single "Kimi-iro Signal" was used as opening theme to Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. Her eighth single "Ripple Effect" was used as ending theme of anime High School Fleet.[10] Her ninth single, "Windia", that released on October 12, 2016, serves as the opening theme of the game Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization.[11]
Haruna moved to the Sacra Music record label under Sony Music Entertainment Japan in April 2017.[13] Her tenth single "Stella Breeze" that released on May 3, 2017, is used as the opening theme to anime Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Flat.[14] Her third studio album "Lunarium" was released on June 21, 2017. Her eleventh single "KIRAMEKI☆Lifeline" (KIRAMEKI☆ライフライン, Sparkling Lifeline) was released on November 8, 2017; the song was used as the ending theme of 2017 anime series Urahara, in which she also made her debut as a voice actor.[15][16] A special single "Justice" was released on June 7, 2018; the song is used as the opening theme to the game Fate/Extella Link.[17] Her twelfth single, "Momoiro Typhoon" (桃色タイフーン, lit. Peach-Colored Typhoon), was released digitally on July 29, 2018, and received a physical release on August 22, 2018; the song is used as the opening theme to anime Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.[18] She released her first "best of" album Luna Joule on November 7, 2018: it included an orchestra version of "Overfly", which was released digitally on October 7, 2018.[19][20] She released a limited edition digital single titled "Lupa to Aries" (ルパとアリエス) on June 7, 2019.[21] She released her third mini album "Glory Days" on October 23, 2019; the title track is used as the theme song to anime movie Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend the Movie: Finale.[22] The album also contains her previous single and her cover song from the anime series itself.[23] Her Thirteenth single "Peace!!!" was released on March 18, 2020; the song was used as the sixth ending song of anime Puzzle & Dragon.[24]
Haruna left Sacra Music label at the end of September 2021 after her contract expired.[25]
On May 5, 2022, she released her first digital single "BLUE ROSE" as independent singer. The song was used as a character song for Cordie from the mobile game Memento Mori.[26]
