I've been in love with Nishida Hikaru and her music ever since I first heard her single "Melody" way back in 1996, and since then I've cherished just about every single thing she's ever done, her music ranking up there in my Top Five Favorite J-Pop artists of All-Time!!
Besides featuring some of the catchiest, poppiest and at time sad and lovely songs, every one of Hikaru's albums and singles also have an incredible amount of sentimental significance for me, so when I was asked recently which songs of hers were in my Top Ten, I knew it wouldn't be a query I could answer without some difficulty!
In fact, when I came right down to it, I couldn't do a fave list without any less than fifty positions, because there were just too darn many songs I loved that were of equal appreciation, and in the end, the best I could do was give a sort of "general" placement of the songs in the list.By that I mean that a song ranked at, say, #11 isn't necessarily more loved than a song at #13, but probably more beloved than a song at #33 or so. But let's face it, I love everything Hikaru's done, and the list is merely a fun thing to look at to "spotlight" the songs of hers that have meant more to me and have gone even beyond beloved in my book!!
Z's 西田 ひかる TOP FIFTY SONG LIST!
EDIT: Updated 12.2021
1 Kokoro Dake Sobani Iru ~Here In My Heart -Esprit
2 Once Upon a Time -A File Of Life
3 Meguriai -19 Dreams
4 Miracle -Love Always
5 Kimi no Yuuki ni Kampai! -Esprit
6 Happy Dream -19 Dreams
7 HAPPY EVER AFTER -Love Always
8 Ikiterutte Subarashii -19 Dreams
9 Dear My Soul -Two-Four
10 Hohoemi ni Yakusoku -19 Dreams
11 Namida Tomaranai -Sun Dance
12 Oh My god! Da ne -Tokimeki No Prologue
13 Tokimeite -Esprit
14 A Song for You -Sun Dance
15 Don't Worry Yourself -Esprit
16 Juliette no Kuchibue -Clear
17 C'mon! C'mon! C’mon! -A File Of Life
18 Melody -Single
19 Kitto Ai ga Aru -Single
20 Rakuen Densetsu -A File Of Life
21 BIBIDEBU -Love Always
22 Tomodachi ni Naritai -19 Dreams
23 Koi Wa T-Shirt -Single
24 Sukida to Iwareta -19 Dreams
25 Nice-Catch! -Clear
26 Bimyou Na Kimochi -Single
27 Dear My Friends -Sun Dance
28 Fifteen -Clear
29 Madobe No Secret -Single
30 Jibun Rashiku Nareru Basho -A File Of Life
31 Youzashi ni Kakarete -19 Dreams
32 Aru Asa, Koi ni Tsuite Kangaetakoto -A File Of Life
33 Watashi no No.1 -Two-Four
34 Mamoritai no... -Love Always
35 Kesshin -Single
36 Sore ga Hajimari -A File Of Life
37 Tenshi Kara no Telepathy
38 Till The End Of Time -19 Dreams
39 Dolphin Christmas -Love Always
40 Te no Hira no Watashi -Tokimeki No Prologue
41 Iin Jyanai -The Singles
42 Go! Paradise (Sweet Beat Swing and Hikaru Version) -Single
43 Tsukiyo no Ningyo -Love Always
44 Watashi wa Watashi -Shiawase no Katachi
45 I'm Alright ~Yasashiku Naritai~ -Two-Four
46 Jun'ai Monogatari -Single
47 Totsuzen no Natsu -Two-Four
48 Egao No Tane~Seeds of Smile -Single
49 Go Beep! -Single
50 Natural Summer Days -Silhouette
51 Joy Train de Ikou -Two-Four
52 Kimi No Iru Hoshi -Single
53 Truth -Single
54 Over The Rainbow-What a Wonderful World -Single
55 Futari no Sora -A File Of Life
56 Shiawase wa Kitto -19 Dreams
57 Nakushitakunai no Anata o -Single
58 Pun Pun Pun -Tokimeki No Prologue
59 KISS -Esprit
60 Suki de... Suki de... Suki na no -Two-Four
61 Would You, Could You? -Love For All Seasons
62 Kagayaki! Kudasai -Sun Dance
63 Yes -Esprit
64 Seven Wonders -Single
65 Little Chance -Clear
Notes:
Looking over this list, it is pretty apparent which Hikaru Albums are my favorites! The list leans quite favorably towards her middle albums, the ones that I consider her “peak” releases: Esprit, 19 Dreams, Sundance and Love Always, with a handful of faves from later releases like A File Of Life, and the album that came out just as I was getting into her, Two-Four.
The releases that seem to appear less on my list are Hikaru’s early albums, Clear, Silhouette, Tokimeki No Prologue, where I always felt like she was still developing her own style and still sounding like the electronic j-pop of the early 80’s. It wasn’t until Esprit came along that I feel she came into herself, and from there, there was no stopping her!
A couple of albums that appear even more sporadically are Hikaru’s two later releases, Shiawase No Katachi and Love For All Seasons, and it’s not for lack of great songs. Though all the tracks on these albums are terrific tunes, because they came so much later than the previous albums, I'm not as sentimentally attached to them as the others!
