My Yukiko Okada 7 Inch Singles Box Set Arrives!!!

Yukiko Okada 7" Box Set!

 My Yukiko Okada 7 Inch Singles Box Set Arrived today- JUST in time for her BIRTHDAY!! !As some of you know well, I am a HUGE fan of 80’s idol Princess Yukiko Okada, and over time have tried to get as many original goods of hers as I could, especially regarding her albums, CDs and Singles. Of her original 45 single output, I was happily able to get four of her releases, Little Princess, First Date, Love Fair and Kuchibiru Network, but had less luck getting any of her others…not for lack of trying!!!

My four Yukiko Okada 45's

And so it was that I LEAPT at the opportunity when Pony Canyon announced a special BOX SET of ALL her 7 inch Singles (including her final release “Hana no Image”) in their original sleeves, newly remastered and pressed on COLORED VINYL for each single, and housed in a beautiful slipcase box.

The set ran for 18000yen, which came out to about $123.00, a modest price to finally be able to own some of those singles I was missing, especially ones like “Summer Beach” which featured covers I absolutely LOVED  (Yukko so adorable!) but never came across it on auction sites!

The Singles:

First Date/Soyokaze wa Peppermint
Little Princess/ Koi No Doubles
Dreaming Girl/ Kimagure Teenage Love
Futari Dake no Ceremony/ Private Red
Summer Beach/ Hoshi to Yoru to Koibitotachi
Kanashii Yokan/ Koibitotachi no Calendar
Love Fair/Futari no Blue Train
Kuchibiru Network/Koi No Etude
Hana no Image/ Himitsu no Symphony

Now comes the REAL dilemma: I want to display All the singles on my shelf- but at the same time, I feel it should be secured snugly in its slipcase box! The box itself is a work of art itself, and should look fine as a CENTERPOINT to my Yukiko Okada collection, but MAN, some of those covers are so PRETTY to look at!!!

A Yukiko Okada Christmas "Present" to Myself!

Just in: All SIX original Yukiko Okada LPs!

Winter is when I usually schedule my yearly Yukiko Okada listening (mostly because her music fits the Holiday season and I love listening to the albums while I window shop at the malls), like a lot of other albums I cherish, I try to hold off over-playing them so I can really savor them when I do get them out!

タッキー。

WELL, in the past few weeks I've been listening to all my Yukiko Okada as i browse the Malls, and I have to tell you- the songs just BLEW ME AWAY ALL OVER AGAIN! Giving time between listens REALLY sweetens the experience, and SO overwhelmed was I by these incredible songs that I got choked up a few times- a real sight in a crowd of  winter shoppers, I tell you!

It's "Yukiko" Season!

Cinderella, Fairy, Jyugatsu no Ningyo, and Venus Tanjyou, I lovingly breezed through them, all By the time it got to Okurimono II's “Believe In You”, I was in OBSESSIVE Yukiko mode, and it occurred to me that though I owned all her original releases in CD format, I didn’t own ANY of Yukiko’s original albums on Vinyl! With my current state of manic Yukiko mania upon me, I REALLY wanted to own at least SOME of what she'd released....

That evening, doing a little sleuthing around on the auction sites, I found someone selling not only both Okurimono albums, but Venus Tanjou as well! Just as I was about to make the bid, a new seller JUST uploaded a new listing, only this time, they were auctioning ALL SIX of Yukiko Okada’s LP releases and for a (relatively) decent price, at that!!!

You know I didn’t waste too much more time before closing THAT auction with my final bid (SLAMMED the "Buy It Now" Option faster than you could blink!), and just this week, my original vinyl Album releases came in...and HOLY HECK THEY ARE GORGEOUS!!!

Below: Cinderella, Fairy, Jyugatsu no Ningyo, Venus Tanjyou, Okurimono and Okurimono II

...and the beautiful back covers:

Not only were these covers and back covers stunning, but all four original releases included gatefolds with more Yukiko goodness.

Cinderella jacket, record and photo inserts:

Gatefold:

Fairy: Jacket and record wi Lyric Sheet

Gatefold:

Juugatsu no Ningyo: Jacket and record wi Lyric Sheet

Gatefold:

Venus Tanjou: Jacket and record wi Lyric Sheet

Gatefold:

Besides Yukiko’s 4 stellar Album releases, Pony Canyon also released two single compilations  from Yukiko, titled, respectively, Okurimono and Okurimono II.  In particular I'm thrilled to own these in vinyl as these albums have a huge sentimental attachment for me... Allow me to explain why!

Like Victor Records "CD FILE" Series,  or the Beatles "PAST MASTERS"  releases, the Okurimono LPs were made to showcase Yukiko's singles, both A and B sides, as well as non-album tracks. 

Okurimono

Okurimono includes Singles:

First Date/Soyokaze no Peppermint

Little Princess/Koi No Doubles

Dreaming Girl~ Koi Hajimemashite/Kimagure Teenage Love

plus non-album track

Believe In You

Okurimono II

Okurimono II included singles:

Futari Dake no Ceremony/ PRIVATE RED

Summer Beach/  Hoshi to Yoru to Koibitotachi

Kanashii Yokan/ Koibitotachi no Calendar

Love Fair/ Futari no Blue Train

 

plus non-album track

Kohitsuji NOTE

These were both terrific comps, but when it came time to put it on my ipod,  I eliminated the 4 tracks already represented on prior albums (First Date, Little Princess, Futari Dake no Ceremony and Kanashii Yokan), which left 12 tracks to make ONE solid, single album, which I arranged as such:

01. Soyokaze no Peppermint

02. Summer Beach

03. Dreaming Girl~ Koi Hajimemashite

04. Kimagure Teenage love

05. Koi No Doubles

06. I Believe In You

07. Love Fair

08. PRIVATE RED

09. Hoshi to Yoru to Koibitotachi

10. Koibitotachi no Calendar

11. Futari no Blue Train

12, Kohitsuji NOTE

Now, as you know, I had already been a big fan of Yukiko before this, but I must say that it is with THIS new Okurimono compilation that she went from love to OBSESSION in my book. I cannot overemphasize how much I ADORED this album- not only did I listen to it over and over and OVER again, but those tracks would go on to become among my ALL TIME fave songs from her! Soyokaze no Peppermint, Summer Beach, Kimagure Teenage Love, Koi No Doubles, Believe in You, Love Fair, etc, etc, If I made a top tops today, they would all surely be within the list's upper echelon!

Okurimono” means “Present” in Japanese, and in fact, when Pony Canyon released all Yukko’s albums in UHQCD format, they made a similar single-album compilation of the two Okurimono albums (though some were delegated to bonus tracks on the earlier releases), and THIS new compilation they called “PRESENT”! Coincidentally, I justified the big purchase of the 6 albums by calling it my "Christmas Present"  to myself, and that’s truly what it’s become! A PRESENT indeed!!! 

Such an AWESOME addition to my humble (but growing) collection! I now have all Yukiko's albums in Vinyl, CD and UHQCD (as well as four singles, and hoping to get more!

Whenever I listen to Yukiko's wonderful songs, of course it it a bittersweet experience knowing she has regretfully left us (and in such a saddening way). But luckily she has left behind an enduring legacy of music that continues to brighten our lives, and for that we must be thankful!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

80's Manna from Japan!!!

 I'm a huge fan of 80's idol Yukiko Okada and though I've gotten all her CDs in the UHQCD format, I've always wanted to have copies of her original CDs as well, Over time I'd managed to get her third and fourth albums (Juugatsu no Ningyo and Venus Tanjou, respectively) and her collection Okurimono II, but her first two albums Cinderella and Fairy had always managed to elude me...until now!
The great online collector's store OTOKICHI PREMIUM has always been a boon to obsessives such as I and I'd completed many a collection thru them (notably Nishida Hikaru, Rieko Miura and ribbon) and while perusing the site this past Christmas (hoping they had a particular Shizuka Kudo CD I'm still missing), I was HAPPILY stunned to see that they had BOTH Cinderella AND Fairy in stock!!! WELL, I wasted NO TIME throwing BOTh of those into my shopping cart, and since I was making an order, decided to see if they had anything ELSE I needed!

They still didn't have the Shizuka CD I needed, but I DID find a TON of other CDs I wanted-Besides the Yukiko Okada Cds, I got a whole slew of Yuki Saito CDs including Axia, Glass No Kodou, Fumu, Ripple, and Pant...

...a few Yu Hayami CDs: TWIN, Shadows Of The Knight, Who's Gonna Come, and Moments.  

I only recently got into Yu's music, and after falling in love with them, it was time to start getting some of her CDs!

As some of you know well, I've been trying for YEARS to get the Iyo Matsumoto Sweet 16 CD Box Set. But every time I found a seller and thought I had finally gotten it, my package would not arrive and, citing "lost in transit", my money was refunded and the deal cancelled. This happened to me THREE TIMES, from THREE DIFFERENT sellers!

I also managed to get one elusive Iyo Matsumoto CD I needed, "Believe"!

I've finally decided to give up on that and have begun to focus on getting the individual CDs. A LOT harder since Iyo CDs are so hard to come by, not only that, the Box Set had the remastered versions with bonus tracks, but it's all I can do for now.

Right Now, out of Iyo's original 13 albums, I only have three of her CDs: Believe, Tenshi No Baka  and Innocence, as well as the 40th anniversary edition of Sentimental IYO and Something IYO and also a few collections. 

40th Anniversary perks aside, I'd still want to get the original Cd releases of Sentimental and Something. And even without counting those, I'll still have 8 more CDs to go, looks like this might take awhile!!!

Can't Get Enough Yukiko Okada!!

After discovering how positively awesome the Pony Canyon UHQCD re-releases of J-pop Idol Yukiko Okada's albums Cinderella and Fairy were, I knew that I'd have to get  the remaining three CDs in the reissue catalog, and just today, my copies of  Jyuugatsu No Ningyo, Venus Tanjyou and Present came in!

Like Cinderella and Fairy before, these have beautiful packaging, with glossy, sturdy sleeves, complete LP recreations and of course those dazzling gatefold centers!
Jyuugatsu No Nongyo CD and gatefold

Venus Tanjyou CD and Gatefold

Present Back and Front and Gatefold

PS: Present seems to be a collection of both Okurimono I and Okurimono II songs, which were all of Yukiko's songs not appearing on her regular albums. Some of her singles ere included as bonuses on  the album re-releases and the rest of them appear here, including two songs, Hana No Image and Secret Symphony, the A and B sides of her last posthumous single which I'm hearing for the very first time!!! 
This was truly a worthwhile purchase and I intend to spent the weekend listening to all of them from beginning to end!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

More Yukiko Okada Goods

As a latecomer to the absolute awesomeness that is Yukiko Okada, i've spent a lot of time trying to get my hands on her CDs, Singles and Collectibles, all with only moderate success. One of the BIG items I've always wanted for my collection was her first two CDs, "Cinderella" and "Fairy". I had managed to acquire her three later albums, Juugatsu no Ningyo, Okurimono II, and (my favorite album of hers) Venus Tanjou, but it seemed no one wanted to give up their copies of her first two releases!

In 2015, Pony Canyon announced the release of all 5 Yukiko Okada albums in UHQCD, but I was still holding out hope on getting my hands on the "original" releases just to complete my set. but by late 2017, I realized that if I didn't grab the re-issued Fairy and Cinderella now, I might NEVER own a physical copy of them. So order them I did...and I was SO GLAD I did!!!

Yukiko "Cinderella"  CD and booklet

Cinderella Gatefold

Well, just this week, my order came in, and I was blown away by how freaking BEAUTIFUL these albums are- I'd thought these re-issues would be regular CD-sized paper sleeves, but what I got were 7"x7: glossy mini ALBUMS, complete with Gatefold Centerfolds! Each album contained a mini booklet and lyric sheet inside, and even had LP OBI reproductions for FAIRY and an LP album Sticker reproduction for Cinderella!

"Fairy" CD and Booklet

Fairy gatefold

Also, since I'd never owned the CDs before, I had no idea what the back covers looked like, and to see them for the first time as an 8x8 glossy presentation was a sweet bonus!!!

These Re-issues look and sound so damn great that now I'm looking into purchasing the remaining three albums in this series. But at 32 dollars a pop, I will have to see if the budget allows it! But I know if I'm gonna do it, I'd better act before they get away!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Wonderful Addition To My Yukiko Okada Collection!

50% of Yukiko Okada’s “Okurimono” CD songs were what I assumed were unreleased tracks, as none of them were on any of her four regular albums. Love Fair, Peppermint No Soyokaze, Futari No Blue Train, these were all fantastic songs that I immediately loved, and I couldn’t understand how these hadn’t made it to any of Yukiko’s albums.

Then I saw a list of all of Yukiko’s 45 singles and was to realize that there were a bunch of songs of hers that were released as standalone single releases and B sides! It was here that those non-album tracks came from that eventually made it onto the Okurimono CD collections for us Yukiko fans, but the collector in me wanted to get ahold of some of those physical singles!

Going onto ebay, and lo and behold, a dealer in Japan was selling a bunch of Yukiko 45’s and holy toledo, they were freaking beautiful! Gorgeous photos on both back and front of the jackets and picture inserts as well: 

I immediately scooped them up before anyone else could get their hands on it, and my package just came in the other day! Opening the parcel up, I was blown away by how nice they were!

Holding them in my hands, they are even more beautiful than the auction pictures showed- unlike other Japanese 45 singles I have, which come with only a square 7 inch picture inserted in front of a plain paper sleeve, THESE Yukiko Okada single were more like mini albums, sturdy cardboard jackets and two of them even had printed spines! And if you look at the back of "First Date", they even die-cut the back so you could pull out tabs to make the single as a prop-up desktop picture! Simply AMAZING!

And the pictures…as someone who didn’t know Yukiko in her heyday, I have no physical pictures of her (save for the CD booklets) and these singles are almost like glossy magazine pin ups! SO Nice!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

An Okada Yukiko Surprise!

Okada Yukiko "Juugatsu no Ningyo" with OkurimonoII and Venus Tanjyo

  Was stoked to find that on a recent trip to Japan my friend was able to pick up a copy of Okada Yukiko’s third album Juugatsu no Ningyo (October Mermaid) on CD for me. As you may know, all four of Yukiko’s albums are out of print and pretty hard to find, (I myself was only able to locate a copy of her fourth and final album Venus Tanjou through ebay, as well as Okurimono II, one of her greatest hits packages) so this is a welcome addition to my eventual goal of obtaining all of her wonderful releases!
  I do already have MP3 copies of all of Yukiko's CDs, but I love them so much that I really wanted to have "hard copies" in my collection...gotta say, the CDs look mighty fine on my J-pop shelf!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com