Japanese all-female rock band Scandal emerged from Osaka as a spunky indie outfit playing anthemic, pop-friendly punk rock heard on early singles "Space Ranger" and "Koi Moyo" before taking their music to the masses on their major-label debut, Best Scandal (2009). Releasing one Top Five album per year until 2014's Hello World, they hit a chart peak in 2016 with Yellow. Expanding their presence into anime and manga, Scandal also contributed singles to animated properties like Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist, which helped them capture an international audience.

Scandal are Haruna Ono (guitar), Tomomi Ogawa (bass), Mami Sasazaki (guitar), and Rina Suzuki (drums). The women met in a vocal and dance school in Osaka in 2006 and began to play live in the streets, soon proceeding to performing at local clubs, and eventually securing a joint deal with Kitty Records and Tower Records after a show in Shibuya. Their debut single, "Space Ranger" (2008), sold out in no time, forcing the label to release the single digitally as well. The success enabled Scandal to tour overseas straightaway, participating in the Japan Nite U.S. tour in 2008 and playing Sakura-Con in Seattle, as well as shows in France and Taiwan.

After their next two singles topped the indie charts, Scandal went major, signing with Epic Records. This opened the doors of show biz wide for them: the band's 2009 songs were featured in a movie, a TV program, a video game soundtrack, a Judy and Mary tribute, and, most notably, the smash hit anime series Bleach, which launched the single "ShoujoS" (2009) to number six in the charts. Scandal themselves began to appear in commercials, including one for Nike. It was high time for a full-length, so their official debut, Best Scandal, was released in 2009, charting at an impressive number five despite mainly comprising previously released material. The single "Shunkan Sentimental" was selected as a theme for another wildly popular anime, Fullmetal Alchemist.

In 2010, Scandal issued their sophomore set, Temptation Box, which became their best-selling release to date. They subsequently released an album per year -- 2011's Baby Action, 2012's Queens Are Trumps, 2013's Standard, and 2014's Hello World -- with each one peaking in the Oricon Top Four. A 2015 Greatest Hits compilation coincided with a world tour. Their seventh studio full-length, Yellow, arrived in 2016, producing a pair of Top Ten singles, "Stamp!" and "Sisters." Their eighth album (and fifth Top Three release), Honey, arrived in 2018. Scandal promoted the effort with an international tour that included a streak of shows in the U.S. ~ Alexey Eremenko & Neil Z. Yeung