My Hikaru Nishida Concert Collection is Complete!!!

 

As some of you may know, one of my favorite J-pop artists of all time is 80’s idol Hikaru Nishida, and besides feverishly acquiring all her CDS and Singles, was also desperate to get all her concert laserdiscs that she had released thru the years- Fortunately, at the time I got into Hikaru, most of her Concert output was still available to get through special orders at Tower Records and Hakabundo….
There was, however, ONE Concert laserdisc that I was unable to acquire, her very first concert release, MANATSU NO SURPRISE. This wasn’t too much of a shock, as both the debut concert releases of fellow Pony Canyon artists Coco (Heart To Heart) and Ribbon (Parade Parade) were equally hard to obtain. But OHHH, How I wanted it- Not only was it Hikaru’s debut, but she was covering songs from her first few albums (from Clear to Tokimeki No Prologue) that she didn’t perform later in the concerts I had. And some of them were songs I really loved!!!
 I tried in so many ways to get my hands on this concert, and some of you may even remember that when I had my old geocities J-drama trading page, Hikaru’s Manatsu No Surprise was high up there!!! But to no avail! Even Otokichi Premium, which filled in holes for so many of my J-pop wants (including those two aforementioned Coco and ribbons discs) came up empty.

My only option left was to wait for it to show up on ebay or the like. Only took 2 DECADES but a copy of Manatsu No Surprise FINALLY came up for sale on ebay recently for a tidy sum, but a price I had NO hesitation paying!!! Well, after MONTHS of waiting (Disc came all the way from Australia, of all places!) , my Hikaru Laserdisc came in today, and WOW, it was WELL worth the wait!!!!

The disc was as beautiful as could be and, aside from some banged-up edges inflicted during shipment (wish it was packaged better, TBH), was a bright and glossy as if it had just come off the shelves! As all Pony canyon fans know, one of the nice perks of the laserdisc is the sweet insert full of colorful pics, and this was no exception!

And the actual concert itself? PERFECTION!

Man, from the moment she took the stage performing her song “Natural Summer Days”, Hikaru took control with the confidence of a seasoned performer! After seeing so many artists’ debut concerts and having to watch a lot of shy and awkward performances, it was a ray of sunshine seeing someone so doggone CAPTIVATING!!

She then went into”Fifteen” and by the time she got to “Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt”, I was breaking out in goosebumps, she was so DARN GREAT!!!!!  

She then went into”Fifteen” and by the time she got to “Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt”, I was breaking out in goosebumps, she was so DARN GREAT!!!!!  Fifteen, Pun Pun Pun, Te No Hira no Watashi, Namida no Pearl Moon, Sorezore no Hibe E, Hikaru's voice and the awesome LIVE BAND sounded so great!!

Loved this one scene during Te No Hira no Watashi: A fan's dream come true: Someone threw a stuffed plush seal onto stage while Hikaru was strutting along and she scooped it up and held it during her perf, SO CUTE!!

Side Note: Some have told me how shocked they are to see Hikaru ranked so HIGH on my "Favorite J-Pop Artists" list (ranked at #2) above others, but it's watching terrific performances like this that reassures me that her ranking is well deserved...She's absolutely one of my most beloved artists!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com