More "Momen No Handkerchief"

Thought I’d said all I had to say about that awesome Ota Hiromi song “Momen No Handkerchief” after talking about both Ota Hiromi and Ayase Haruka’s versions, but I somehow COMPLETETLY FORGOT I had this AWESOME performance of the song from an old episode of Music Fair featuring Kudoh Shizuka, Moritaka Chisato AND the Gospellers!! MAN, how’s THAT for a line-up?! And just as you would have expected, they sound just freakin’ incredible! Shizuka-chan in particular has this song DOWN, for some reason…she sounds just MADE to cover this!!

After this the three artists also did covers of songs like “Blue Light Yokohama” and “Gin Gira Gin Ni Sarigenaku”(!) and they even found time for both Shizuka and Chisato to duet “Junanasai”, a song that Chisato had NO PROBLEM singing, naturally!

Kuninaka Ryoko eating an Andagi

Aragaki Yui eating an Anpan

Himitsu Sentai Candy Candy

As a kid growing up in Hawaii, our children’s shows consisted of not only the usual fare like Batman, Tarzan and Super Friends, but a whole ‘nother kind of Super Hero in Tokusatsu, those Japanese Champions of Justice like KIKAIDA, RAINBOW MAN and KAMEN RIDER V3!

  Once the Kikaida boom hit here (and it his HARD) a whole generation of kids got programmed to watch KIKU, the Japanese channel (back then channel 13) to see what the latest popular superhero show was.

In time, It progressed from not only shows like KIKAIDA, DIAMOND EYE, HIMITSU SENTAI GORANGER and INAZUMAN, to also including those “Giant Robot” shows like YUSHA RAIDEEN and GETTA ROBO-G, from there to the not-superheroish at all like ROBOCON and after awhile it strayed even FURTHER from the path when they began showing early anime shows like IKKYU-SAN and CANDY CANDY!

Super Hero or early anime if KIKU was showing it, we watched it all!

As we got older, this love of Tokusatsu (and the like) became a collectible hobby, and we spent our time trying to track down episodes of those long lost television show as well as toys like the Kikaida dolls and those expensive die-cast figures, and last but not least: the MUSIC from those shows!

 For some reason, even as a kid, more than wanting to get the latest Amazon Rider doll, I wanted the albums and singles of the theme songs I heard every night at the beginning and endings to my favorite shows, and this naturally led to me to collecting as many of those songs as I could on CD, and fortunately, the Japanese culture is pretty good on the nostalgia thing, and they release these wonderful “Memories” collections with all those superhero shows I grew up with!


One day I’m listening to a bunch of those CDs, and, while flipping through the booklets, happen to notice that the name of the girl singing the theme song for CANDY CANDY is the same girl who sang with Isao Sasaki in the HIMITSU SENTAI GORANGER theme! Of course, I couldn’t read the names at the time, but the could easily see that the Japanese kanji was identical!

The next day when I saw some of my fellow Tokusatsu followers, I proudly proclaimed,” I just found out something! That girl singing the 5 Rangers song is the same girl singing Candy Candy!” then they said, “What’s her name?” to which I admitted, “I dunno”.

Well, it was years and years later, but I finally found out who that gal was! Watching a Japanese special featuring singers from yesteryear, they initially had Isao Sasaki (who DIDN’T sing his 5 Rangers song) perform, and then they brought out a genki lady who was announced as Horie Mitsuko. Imagine my surprise when they began the clip and Candy Candy started! I was like “AHHH! This is her…that lady who sang both themes!”

Ah. Yes, it was! And no sooner did I register that then orchestra started and she began singing that very Candy Candy song! Though I was hoping Sasaki and Horie’d get together and sing Goranger, I had to admit, this perf  made me smile, as it’s such a HAPPY performance!!! 

Going online later, I was to find that Candy Candy and Goranger was only two songs out of a long and established career for Seiyuu Horie Mitsuko that also included shows like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Sailor Moon, Robo Gakken, Voltes V and the incredibly catchy Majokko Tickle!

Please Stand By

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog posting to bring you this picture of Kuninaka Ryoko eating an andagi.

We will resume regular blogging next week. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Shinohara Ryoko / Motto, Motto

I’d gone to karaoke many, many times with friends and co-workers over the years, but it wasn’t until I got into j-pop in the mid-90’s that I sang it as intended, i.e.: singing Japanese Songs in Japanese!

In those early days, I had only a handful of songs I sang…(reasons to follow shortly) songs like “Time Machine” by Fumiya Fujii, “Kimi ga Itakara” by Field of View, “Yuzurenai Natsu” by Tube, and to round things off… Hmmm…. Something by Lindberg? Kome Kome Club? CoCo? 

How about Shinohara Ryoko’s “Motto Motto”?

Eh?

Yeah, I know, thinking back on it NOW, it seems almost unfathomable that I would choose that overly dramatic Tetsuya Komuro song as one of my very first tunes, but at the time, it was just about my favorite song on the latest j-pop cassette mix I was listening to, and for SOME REASON, I really wanted to sing it- and, given the tasks I would have to take to sing it song at Karaoke, I’d BETTER like it!

You see, whatever song I chose, I’d have to romanize it myself beforehand because I couldn’t read kanji well and would’ve had a hell of a time trying to read off the screen as I sung! And since my kanji skills sucked, I couldn’t transcribe it off the CD lyrics, either! No, all the lyrics had to be romanized PHONETICALLY! And since this was back before the Internet, I had no help with those difficult-to-decipher words…I was completely on my own!

Well, to say I failed trying to sing Shinohara Ryoko would be an understatement, not only did I struggle with Ryoko’s low-to-high pitch singing style, but J-pop buyer Dave thought it was the funniest thing to see me trying to sing holding these crumpled pieces of paper in my hand, and would remind me about it forever after! AHAHAHA

To this day, I still have that piece of paper with that brutally transcribed Motto Motto lyrics that I took with me to karaoke, and my lack of Japanese words and phrasing makes this thing LAUGHABLE to look at now, but it’s kind of neat to think I loved this song that much back then!

So, here we are years and years later, and while watching Shinohara Ryoko in her latest drama (Ryoko’s become QUITE the successful little actress since then!) I was reminded of how much I loved her back in the day, and when I dug up this old Hey Hey Hey performance of Motto Motto to rip for this post, I have to say:

I was BLOWN AWAY by just how AWESOME this song is! Listening to it now, it all comes back to me: The wonderful structure of the song and the way the chorus would build up to the next line, and before I knew it, I found myself mouthing the words right along with her! And MAN! Is Ryoko FRICKIN’ GORGEOUS here!!!! No wonder was so smitten with her!!! Watching it now, I can finally see the magic of this tune that made me want to sing it- it’s THAT good!!!  

Toda Erika eating a Dorayaki

Crush Of The Day: Mori Izumi

Mori Izumi via livedoor.jp

I’m a big fan of Arashi and all their goings-on, and just about my favorite show from them is the wonderfully insightful HIMITSU NO ARASHI, and one of the more fun segments of theirs is having beautiful guests come on and “Rank” the members of Arashi from top to bottom for a certain question, like “Who would you marry?” or “Who do you think is the coolest?” In this one episode, the guest was going to be Kitagawa Keiko, and as you all know, I was ALL FOR THAT!!!

As I waited in anticipation of Keiko’s appearance (the show ranks the members on various other things before the celebrity ranking), I was pleased to note that pretty SUZANNE was part of the in-house panel for that episode and she was as adorable as ever!

The game was going on very nicely, when suddenly, as they panned across the panel, I did a double take- “WHOAH!!!” Who was THAT super-fine babe next to FUJIWARA? Holy CRAP, that is ONE exotic lookin’ girl!!!

Fortunately for me, the kanji for “Mori” is one of the easiest to figure out so all it would take was for me to find out what that OTHER kanji in her name was!

Izumi scores on Arashi's ranking Derby

Mori? Could she be Mori Izumi, and how did I even know that name? Though I was familiar with the name, I hadn’t the slightest recollection of how I’d heard it or if I’d even seen her before.

Well, after watching that HILARIOUS episode, I just HAD to track down when it was that I’d seen or heard of her before, and when I found out she’d been a guest on Himitsu no Arashichans’ VIP room, I immediately downloaded it to see if it that was where I’d seen her before!

on Himitsu No Arashi-Chan's VIP Room

Well, turned out it wasn’t, but that didn’t’ matter as it was a thoroughly enjoyable episode; Izumi was sooooo cute and sunny! As I watched, laughing along with the boys, it suddenly hit me: She was one of the guests on a previous episode of MANNEQUIN FIVE! Aw, YEAH!! That was it!!!

But which episode was it? It must have been the Valentine’s Day episode, since Izumi talked about when Youn-a was hitting on Nino during that special…Yep, that was it, all right!!! It was all coming back to me! And now that my memory was clearing up, it occurred to me that I’d even RAVED to Car about Izumi Mori BACK THEN, babbling about this “Super Pretty Hapa-Haole girl”!

on Himitsu No Arashi-chan's Mannequin Five segment

Digging through my Arashi files, I found that Mannequin Five episode in question, and sure enough, there she was, looking as radiant and cheerful as ever! Huh! Funny that I’d forgotten all about her after that episode was over, but kinds cool to think that she blew me away all over again!

PS: Going Online, I found Izumi and a whole slew of other gorgeous japanese actresses/models in those Shiseido "Tsubaki" commercials...MAN they's is some gorgeous li'l ladies, I must say....

Puffy & Eccentric Shonen Boy: Pie Challenge

Here it is, that INFAMOUS Downtown/Puffy Cream-Pie Challenge that I was raving about in that earlier PUFFY post!

Eccentric Shonen Boy

 Back when I was at the height of my love for j-pop duo PUFFY and I was renting everything I could that they appeared in, I came across a DOWNTOWN special where they participated in a batsu game to end ALL Batsu Games!

Puffy: "We'll Try Not To Cry!"

This was a special that featured not only Downtown, but their bigger troupe ECCENTRIC SHONEN BOY, which featured not only Matsumoto and Hamada, but Imada, Higashino, Kurano, Kimura and Yamazaki as well. They were going to have a Game challenge against each other, and invited Ami and Yumi to participate in the madness!

Ready To Begin The Challenge

Things are off to a zany start, as the girls enter the stage, and Hamada asks them if they know the rules. “Yes”, says Yumi, “Don’t Cry.” AHAHAHA! Hamada nods his head before taking Puffy’s stuffed mascot and flinging it off the stage!

The object of the game was to perform a round robin of various menial tasks like lighting a lighter on the first flick, or making a basketball shot in one toss, or the opposite: NOT draws two spades in a deck, NOT rolling double numbers in a dice roll, and whomever failed to do the appointed task would get a pie in the face!

That’s right: a Pie in the face! And ONE pie is bad enough, but when you’ve got six guys and two girls, you’re going to be hit from all sides! With that in mind, each teammate got a pie, and they began the game in earnest! 

Pie Challenge Part One:

I think it goes without mentioning that when  the girls are the recipients of the pie-throwing  batsu, the guys are pretty gentle with them (if you can call getting hit six times in the face with a pie “gentle”), but MAN, when it’s one of their own getting the punishment, they are as evil and brutal as you can get, slamming the pies in each others faces like a bazuka filled with cream! At one point Hamada cries, “My ears are RINGING!” to which Koji Imada just laughs!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!

Pie Challenge Part Two:

Pie Challenge Part Three:

Now, at this point, the main part of the game is over, and for the three remaining participants who have managed to come out of this brouhaha unscathed, they are put through a frenetic free-for-all tie-breaker, where Hamada will continually toss balloons in the air, and the first person to miss is OUT!

Pie Challenge Conclusion:

Ah, MAN! This show was so darn funny! At this time, Puffy was out promoting their awesome single Nagisa, Matsubara, Etc, and Eccentric Shonen Boy were out promoting their self-titled single, so I saw the two of them quite a bit on the TV programs, and every time I saw it, I had to LAUGH thinking about this INCREDIBLE Cream-Pie batsu that would have made Soupy Sales proud!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Kato Noriko / Fuyu Ga Kita

 The first drama I ever saw Ms.Noriko  Kato in was in the so-so drama Garasu No Kutsu, with Kato playing the lead character as the humorously named Ando Natsu. This show was supposed to be a kind of “modern day” retelling of the Cinderella story, but ended up as nothing more than another dreary, dragging show where the slings and arrows of misfortune just keep on coming Natsu’s way, over and over each episode.

The show was supposed to show what a great character Natsu was by having her keep a stiff upper lip in the face of continued hardship, but it really became an exercise in frustration, and in fact, I remember my friend’s mother watching the show one night, and as yet ANOTHER bad thing happened to Natsu, Golden’s mom yelled out, “Why doesn’t she DO anything? All she does is just SIT there looking pretty!”AHAHAHAA

The first time I saw Noriko Kato as a singer was on an episode of Music Station. Though Kato had released a couple of CD as well as a few singles, I hadn’t heard any of them, but as soon as I saw her amble out onto that stage, dressed adorably in her kimono, she immediately got my attention, and when that song started…MAN! I was hooked!

Opening with a vocal chorus  like a breath of fresh air, once the drums kick in it turns into a groovy George Harrison twanged little number that I found immediately catchy!!! Now, admittedly, Noriko doesn’t have a really strong voice, but her sincerity really shone through with this one! And the thing that really sealed it all up for me was that open mouthed smile at the end that seemed to say “I did it!!!”  Too Cute!

I ordered Fuyu Ga Kita that following day, and enjoyed it so much that I went ahead and picked up both of her albums, Le Beaux and Flower Diamond, the latter of which became another GREAT album that spawned many, many favorite songs for me! Though she didn’t appear in too many things after this, and I didn’t get to hear much from her musically, I DID become a big fan of the releases she HAD done! Here’s Fuyu Ga Kita!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Imai Miki / Piece Of My Wish

Piece Of My Wish is the beautiful, beautiful song by vocalist Imai Miki, the incredible artist that a co-worker always referred to as “The Japanese Karen Carpenter”. High praise indeed, but I’m gonna go out on limb and say that THE TITLE is TOTALLY WARRANTED!

Piece Of My Wish was the theme Song for the Japanese drama Ashita Ga Aru Kara, (There’s Always Tomorrow) starring Imai herself as the main character along with Sendo Nobuko and Granny Goose Ishibashi Ryo in the supporting cast. The drama told the story of a woman working towards independence in her life, free from having to rely on anyone, or at least, that’s what I got out of it, your own mileage may vary.

Nonetheless, this was a highly effective ending theme song (heck, it’s gotta be one of the best!) and I would find myself wiping the tears away at the end of each episode as the credits rolled…Sniff, sniff! MAN what a powerful, emotional song!

Check out this AWESOME performance (taken from either SOUND ARENA, MUSIC STATION, or another one of Tamori’s many music shows) and see for yourself…

Imai Miki is another one whose CDs were among the first albums I got, and I believe Miki’s album “Love Of My Life” (which I’d purchased for her catchy song “Sunny Sunday”) was only the third non-Pony Canyon-related album I bought!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Puffy / Asia No Junshin

Back when I was in a band that did j-pop covers, we played songs from bands like Glay, Wands, and even Lindberg, but by far my favorite of all those tunes on our “setlist” was a super cool song called “Asia No Junshin” sung by a new duo act called PUFFY.

 This was when those wacky girl vocalists Ami and Yumi had just come out, and though in a few years they would really explode onto the scene with hit singles, hit albums, TV shows and even exposure in America, back then they were mostly known for being produced by singer-songwriter extraordinaire Okuda Tamio (he of UNICORN fame), as well as being christened by none other than Jellyfish’s own Andy Sturmer!

The song Asia No Junshin had this VERY retro-70’s laden song which sounded not just a bit like ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, that Jeff Lynne led group famous for such songs as Evil Woman, Sweet Talking Woman and Don’t Bring Me Down, though the Puffy song sounded more in the vein of their later works like I’m Alive and All Over The World (yes, the songs from Xanadu) with its phased vocals, droning guitars and melodramatic synthesized violins throughout!

This song was such a joy to play!! One thing that really makes a song fun (particularly for the drummer, in other words, ME) is when it has a lot of changes, and I loved the way the song alternated between the steady ¼ time during the verses and the regimented drum fills during the “Shiro no Panda” bridge to the chorus.

Bereft of any keyboardist, our band made do with two lead guitars, and I have to say that the way our guitarist Ken-chan used his whammy bar to simulate the swirling organs always was a highlight for me! In fact, to this day, when I listen to the Puffy song, I still expect to hear it! HAHA!

Later I was to finally see the PV for Asia No Junshin, and I was pretty impressed by what a cool bunch of chicks they were! Back before the matching blue or black t-shirts (which kind of became their look for awhile) they were just a couple of alt looking gals with faded jeans and flannel shirts, VERY Seattle looking! I liked them immediately!

By the time I got to see them performing Aisa No Junshin live on a music show, they had already adopted the aforementioned “Puffy & Co” t-shirt look, and so some of the edge was taken off, but what did it matter, they were here to have fun, and have fun they did! From this point on, I became a big fan of theirs, buying all their singles and albums, and even making an effort to videotape as many episodes of Pa-Pa-Pa Puffy as I could!

And who wouldathunkit that just a few years later, they would be successful over here in America! When I heard those familiar voices on the Cartoon Network, singing the theme song for DC Comics’ TEEN TITANS show, that’s when I realized that Puffy had really come full circle!

PS: The High, High HIGHLIGHT of my Puffy fanaticism was an EXTREMELY interesting and enjoyable appearance on a show comedy duo Downtown hosted. On that show Matsumoto and Hamada had invited along the rest of their bigger comedy troupe ECCENTRIC SHONEN BOY, and along with Puffy , had the game contest showdown to end all game contests- Shaving Cream Pie in the face batsu! Oh, MAN, I’ll have to find that one and rip it to share with y’all! Tanoshimi, yo!

J-Drama Femme Fatale: Sada Mayumi

Holy Crap, I’ve always known that actress Mayumi Sada was one HELL of a SEXY girl, and I guess it’s pretty common knowledge to everyone else, too, if you consider that most if not ALL of her various appearances in dramas have always been (for the most part) that of the uber-attractive vixen, but MAN, something about her portrayal of the deliciously DEVILISH Nishino Wakako in the extremely funny Aragaki Yui/Tachi Hiroshi drama PAPA TO MUSUME NO NANOKAN just pushed me over the edge! Man is this woman fine!!!

Sada Mayumi in Tsubasa  Oreta Tenshi-Tachi

As the conniving Nishino in Papa To Musume No Nanokan

Like most of you out there, Maya was introduced to me as the first of many gorgeous girls as Shizuka in both Hana Yori Dango 1 and 2…. Taking one look at this beautiful model, and you can’t help but sympathize with Rui!

As the Sophisticated Shizuka in Hana Yori Dango

Next I saw her as a sleek ‘n’ sexy bar hostess, the  top drawer of a rival bar in Ginza, who forms a group of girls to hijack  Masahiro Matsuoka’s bar one night (hijack: take up all the seats so that no “real” customers can get in) Ah, this was the first sign of how evil she could get!!!!

A Killer Vixen in Yaoh!

Then I saw her in a brief appearance in the Ueto Aya story in the popular Tsubasa Oreta Tenshi Tachi series,  this time as a glamourous high-end saleswoman, who really makes an impression on Aya (and Me), as she represents all that Aya aspires to be: refined, respected and HAPPY. Love how the casting people said, :Hey, who can we get that gives off the aura of a refined, respected woman?” “Get Sada Mayumi!”

As REIKA in "Handsome Suit"

As if to up the ante just another notch, the next time I saw Mayumi was playing REIKA, an OVER THE TOP jet-setting world famous model who somehow falls for Muga Tsukaji disguised as Shosuke Tanihara in the hilarious HANDSOME SUIT.  They had so much makeup and effects on Mayumi in this one, I think it actually distracted from her natural beauty! When Yer THIS good looking, ya shouldn’t HAVE to put so much camouflage on!

Sada Mayumi in Papa To Musume No Nanokan

From there I saw her in a handful of other things, (like guesting in Osen and Hataraki Man) but none of these really made too much of an impression with me, though I still thought she was pretty as heck. But then that wacky Aragaki Yui drama came up, and though I began watching it solely for Gakkichan (who in fact, is AS CUTE AS CAN BE here) but by episode 2, I was totally watching every move that Mayumi made!

Gahhh, It seems like Papa To Musume To Nanokan is only 7 episodes long! 7 episodes? MAN- that’s not enough time to enjoy both Yui Aragaki AND Mayumi Sada! Somebody tack some more chapters onto this show right now! All Hail to the Bronzed Goddess!

Crush Of The Day: Aragaki Yui

Aragaki Yui as Koume in Papa To Musume No Nanokan

Though I’ve loved actress Aragaki Yui in many dramas before, they’ve always been ones that have featured her as part of an ensemble cast. Shows like GALCIR and Dragon Zakura have made me a big fan of hers, but they’ve never been those where Yui was the main featured actress… Silly as PAPA TO MUSUME NO NANOKAN (the story of a high school girl switching bodies with her salaryman father) may be, it’s the first drama I’ve seen where Gakky is the main character, and for the first time, I really feel like I “know” Aragaki Yui as a character rather than just a face in a bigger cast…and naturally, all this close contact with her has totally enamored me to her!

As Yoshino in Dragon Zakura

Funny, as I’ve mentioned many times before, it was in Dragon Zakura that I first fell in love with Aragaki Yui- the tough tomboyish ganguro persona she played, with all the trappings therein: bleached out hair piled on top of her head and heavy, garish makeup along with the usual earring and bracelets, was instantly striking, to say the least, and not only did I fall head over heels for her, I actually thought that was what she looked like!

Yui's appearance in Domoto Tsuyoshi Shojiki Shindoi

Car had seen Gakky before in some other drama, and warned me that I would be in for a surprise if I ever got to see what Yui “really” looked like, but I’m happy to report that the first non-Dragon Zakura appearance I saw her in (in the Domoto Tsuyoshi variety show SHOJIKI SHINDOI) wasn’t disappointing in the least, though, to be fair, at this stage she still kinda looked a lot like her Yoshino character.

As Yamada in Waruboro

It was only after seeing her in dramas like GALCIR and movies like WARUBORO that I got to see the plain, clean-cut image that she usually looked like: straight hair with minimal makeup and sensible bangs. Not quite as impressive as her Zakura turn, but still very, very nice!

with Tachi Hiroshi in Papa To Musume No Nanokan

Now we have her in Papa To Musume no Nanokan, and It’s been SO much fun watching her finally get to go the “cute” route. Really, even when she’s supposed to be channeling her father (the ever-adaptable Tachi Hiroshi) she’s adorable beyond belief, like in this one passage where she scarfs down an entire plate of peach slices! AHAHAHAHA!

Polishing off a plate of magical peaches in Papa To Musume

From Papa To Musume no Nanokan, I was really in Aragaki-mode, and dug up KOIZORA, a movie I’d downloaded awhile ago but never got around to watching. High on the romance and BIG on the tragedy, this was a LOT different from the cute comedy I’d just watched, but it gave me a more rounded perspective of Yui’s acting skills, and it was wonderful to see her play another fully developed character! I now REALLY felt like I “knew” her!

As Mika in Koizora

Though I’m a BIG fan of Erika Toda as well as Yamapi, I’ve really not had any interest in seeing any of those CODE BLUE series in either its first or second incarnations, but this THANG I’ve got with Yui happenin’ now makes me think that perhaps the time is right!

Oh, and though Aragaki Yui’s musical career hasn’t been breaking down any doors, I think her tiny, sweet little voice makes the cutest records ever! Listening to her “Akai Ito” single, I tell Car, “It’s like a little mouse singing her heart out!”AHAHAHAHA!

Aragaki Yui

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Hirose Kohmi / Dramatic Ni Koishite

When I first got into J-pop, the J-pop Buyer  at work made me a cassette (the first of many, it would turn out) of the latest j-pop singles out at the time, and it was then that I first heard artists I would later come to love, like Nakayama Miho, Hiramatsu Eri, and Koizumi Kyoko!

Anyway, the mix began with an explosive little number called “Shiawase Wo Tsukamitai (which I’ve gushed about in an earlier post) by quirky singer/songwriter Hirose Kohmi, and that wasn’t all, as the second song on that cassette mix was yet another Kohmi song, but this one was a lot more fun and playful, a GREAT contrast to the previous ROCKIN’ tune!

 The song was called “Dramatic Ni Koishite” and for a while I ‘d thought my friend had simply put the Shiawase Wo Tsukamitai single and its B side together,(as they almost seemed connected) but it wasn’t, as I was to find out when I actually purchased the Shiawase Tsukamitai single and found a DIFFERENT song entirely as the B side! It wasn’t until I picked up Kohmi’s stellar HARVEST album that I finally GOT the happy Dramatic Ni Koishite tune in my possession!

Anyway, fast forward a few years, and I’m not only quite heavily into j-dramas, but have reached the point where I’m trading with other j-drama enthusiasts online. It was there that I hooked up with someone who had a copy of a wacky little comedy called UE O MUITE ARUKO, which I was DYING to see because of my burning love for its lead star, Nishida Hikaru!

Nishida Hikaru in Ue O Muite Aruko

 Ue O Muite Aruko is the story of a gofer named Chiaki (Nishida) at a zany TV station where she’s the perpetual slave to the station’s snobby and bossy Sports Commentator played by Tachi Hiroshi; from the get go, they are at each other’s throats, and the running gag is that he calls her “Kobuta” (Piggy) and she retaliates by calling him “Wani”!  With a supporting cast that included Katsunori Takahashi, Ishida Yuriko, the ever-zany Ibu Masato, as well as a very young Tomosaka Rie, this show was as fun as it could get!

Nishida Hikaru as Chiaki "Kobuta" Hosoi

And with every fun drama, comes an equally fun theme song and opening credits, right? In this show, I was kind of expecting the theme song to be the latest single from Hikaru herself, or (most likely) some rendition of the famous Kyu Sakamoto song that the show was named after! So I’m sitting there watching the show, and as it goes into its wacky opening credits, who do I hear, but Ms. KOHMI HIROSE, belting out DRAMATIC NI KOISHITE!

 I just fell over- THAT SONG WAS JUST PERFECT!!!! Sooo much fun as the song follows Nishida Hikaru battling against Tachi Hiroshi in the grand  “Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner style- it REALLY matches the visuals as the two chase each other across the cartoon town, ultimately coming to a Three-Stooges-style ending with the title proclaiming (in “Looney Tunes font): The KOBUTA and WANI Show!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Below: Hikaru, Hiroshi Tachi and Yuriko Ishida magazine promotion for Ue Wo Muite Aruko!

This must have been only the fourth or fifth drama Yuriko Ishida ever did...who could have guessed from these humble beginnings what a terrific career she had ahead of her!