It all started when I launched my first ZARD the BEST site, the one in the picture on the right. It was quite a simple design, but it was enough to let it do what I had in mind: providing Zard news in English. I remember I was searching for a good English fan site back then and I did find some, but none of them were very up-to-date. So I thought, "Why not make one myself?". But what I didn't realize was that how difficult that is, without knowing the Japanese language. So the first few months I really had a hard time to post anything new at all. It slowly got better when I had visited enough fan sites to know which are the good ones. With the aid of translation software and translational help of friends, especially Retsuya in June with news on the Olympic theme song, I managed to keep track what ZARD was doing. And now, with over a year of experience, I don't think I would miss any Zard news at all ^_^

One of the most memorable event of the passed year was probably the release of the Cruising & Live album. Although I hadn't got the chance to buy it immediatly when the album was released, I was still excited to know I had a chance to get it when I went to Hong Kong last summer. And I really found it, I would never forget that day when I entered a CD shop in HK and saw the album lying there, complete in blue bag and with video. I bought the album and walked home like in a trance and awoke only after the last song Makenaide. Since then I have listened to this album hundreds of times, and I don't know how many more times I will in the future. I'm still dreaming of attending a real ZARD concert though...

Of course ZARD also released singles, and to be exactly: three in total with the last one released just a few weeks ago. The quality of those singles goes like this: good -> better -> best. And that's also what ZARD has been doing the whole time, getting better and better each time. That's also the reason why it feels so good to be a Zard fan: you won't be disappointed when they have a new song. Another nice feature of the singles are the short promotional videos. It started with the release of Get U're Dream when there was suddenly a PV available. They continued to have a PV with the release of Promised You. Needless to say those videos are a real added value, especially when you have to do it with short TV CM's in the past. Oh, already can't wait for a new single or even better, a new album! In the meantime I will keep listening to these three singles and the Cruising & Live album.

Last, but not least, I want to mention ZARD2000 mailing list here. That mailing list changed my whole life. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but it certainly feels good to receive tons of mails a day and all about ZARD! The brilliant idea of a Zard mailing list was invented by the already legendary Fong Yick Chee and started a few months back in September. In the beginning we had some problems to get enough people joining the list , but now the list is like a real growing community and every member is starting to post like mads ^_^ But who cares when we are all Zard fans! So, if you consider yourself as a Zard fan and you aren't a member yet, what are you waiting for?