Hotaru was formed in November 2001 by two ex-members from Persona - vocalist Shinichirou (previously known as Shin) and drummer Gao - together with guitarist Ryota from kc+loid and bassist Takashi from Traffic Jam.
In their early period Hotaru's appearance fell on the "extreme" end of the visual kei spectrum; while other visual kei bands preferred a sexy look with a lot of lacquer and leather, Hotaru sported a rather eccentric look. It seemed as though they were dressing up as characters from movies, taking on roles such as detectives, criminals and little girls.
In late 2001 they started their live activities with a few secret lives, and in January 2002 one of their songs was featured on a visual kei compilation album. Their first releases were a demo-tape and a video, which was followed by their first maxi-single, Kayou suspense gekijou in July. The 1000 copies were sold out very quickly, which resulted in a second press about a month later.
They released two more demo-tapes and then their next maxi-single, Rakuyou Picaresque, in January 2003. Their popularity continued to grow, slowly but surely, and they were invited to participate in various events, such as the Stylish Wave 03 in March and a three-man concert with bands Deadman and Gullet a while later.
It was also around this time that they began toning down their visual aspect and started wearing more casual street clothes.
In October they released their first full album, Seraba yo no kura, saredo yo wa yami. Shortly after that, they changed the spelling of their name from the Japanese 'ホタル' to 'Hotaru' in Roman characters.
In June 2004, the band released an unplugged mini-album which featured a few unplugged versions of older songs, as well as some new songs. However, throughout the summer rumors of Hotaru disbanding started to spread, though it seemed to be just rumors at first as the band continued recording and performing.
However, there had been some truth in those rumors as Hotaru announced their disbandment in September. After releasing the single Te in October they held their last concert on November 27 in the Takanadobaba area.
Nowadays, Shinichirou and Ryota are in the band Jully, joining with other ex-members from Kalimero and Poroli, two bands that were close with Hotaru. Takashi seems to have disappeared from the music scene while GAO started the band Cube Line.
