Noriko Hidaka -- Mou Ichido Black Coffee（もう一度・ブラックコーヒー）

 

Ah, yes...black coffee. That is the question. Is it indeed the drinkable arbiter of true adulthood or perhaps the judge on whether you will become a coffee connoisseur or merely a coffee drinker? For myself, I'm unrepentantly the latter...gotta have at least cream in there. When I hit Tim Horton's, I also end up ordering a Double-Double (double sugar, double cream). Connoisseurs might sniff at whether I'm actually drinking coffee at all.

If I had known about this song earlier, I probably would have included it in my "Coffee, Tea or Milk?" article from several days ago. "Mou Ichido Black Coffee" (One More Black Coffee) was then-aidoru Noriko Hidaka's（日髙のり子）third single from October 1981. My last article on Hidaka was her January 1980 second single, "Hatsukoi Sunshine"（初恋サンシャイン）, which was her gift to the Nio Sun Exposition（仁尾太陽博）in Kagawa Prefecture. This time, though, "Mou Ichido Black Coffee" is her tribute to sharing that coffee with that special someone.

To be honest, I'm not sure if there is a certain age when drinking black coffee and at least getting used to the bitter taste is seen as a sign of maturity in Japan. Hidaka herself was still just nineteen years of age when "Mou Ichido Black Coffee" but of course I'm not sure if she was already glugging down the java unadulterated at that point, but there is a certain serious tone in Jun Irie's（入江純）horn-filled arrangement (despite or because of the hint of disco) of this aidoru tune as if the lass were singing "Dang it! I'm gonna drink down my joe and be an adult about it!" although I think Tomoko Aran's（亜蘭知子）lyrics were describing something more cutesy. Her co-lyricist was someone named Daimon Nazuki（奈月大門） (a number of readings is possible for both names but I'm going to go with this particular one) which was actually a pseudonym of Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）who also composed the song. 

Four years old, this kid is! He may have ended up bouncing off the walls later on...and maybe much later on, he will end up as the president of his own coffee distribution company.

Noriko Hidaka -- Hatsukoi Sunshine（初恋サンシャイン）

 

Not sure if I ever mentioned this thing about haikyo（廃墟）which refers to the abandoned ruins or remains of a building or town. Perhaps it doesn't get any attention in the West but apparently in Japan, there are websites devoted to these eerie decrepit places that were once bustling structures and folks even try to explore them like the Scooby Gang at a haunted house. I once even sent a link of one of these sites to a student of mine who had first told me about haikyo only for him to ask me politely not to send any more links since this particular one was creeping him out.

Anyways, the above example of haikyo is what was once Nio Sunshine Land（仁尾サンシャインランド）, an amusement park in Kagawa Prefecture which had its time between 1984 and 1995 following its predecessor, the Nio Sun Exposition（仁尾太陽博）which ran between 1981 and 1983. From what other information I've read in its J-Wiki article, even what's showing in the YouTube video above has been completely cleared from existence.

But let's go back to rosier times, shall we? Singer and voice actress Noriko Hidaka（日髙のり子）had just begun her career as an aidoru with a January 1980 single under her real name of Noriko Ito（いとうのりこ）, but then with her 2nd single, she took on the stage name of Hidaka. That sophomore single was "Hatsukoi Sunshine" (First Love Sunshine) which was released later that year in December.

From the whimsical melody by Koichi Sugiyama（すぎやまこういち）, and yes it's the same guy behind the iconic "Dragon Quest" soundtrack, I was going to think that "Hatsukoi Sunshine" was a theme song for some shojo anime. However, it was actually the image song for the aforementioned Nio Sun Exposition. Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）was the lyricist for a story for falling heads-over-heels under a blazing sun and blue sky. Well, it's kinda too bad that the amusement park has gone to that architectural ash heap but we still have a musical reminder of what was. Ah, by the way, the audio tends to skip a couple of times.

Noriko Hidaka -- Kuma ni Kamareru yori Mashi（くまにかまれるよりまし）

 

I've been hearing about the horror-comedy "Cocaine Bear" which should make for some hilarious viewing. Maybe someday in the not-so-distant future, it could be part of a double feature along with "Snakes on a Plane".

Quite the ironic thing then that on the same day that "Cocaine Bear" premiered in theatres, veteran seiyuu Noriko Hidaka（日髙のり子）appeared on NHK's morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）to talk about her 40-year-plus career along with her own bear incident. The voice actor admitted that she felt kinda strange appearing as a guest on the show when she was already a regular by narrating several segments on "Asaichi" over the years.

Of course, Hidaka cringed half-jokingly at some old footage when she debuted as an 80s aidoru after which she spoke on some of the dues that she had paid while also doing her duties as a junior tarento reporting in the field. So, we come to the bear incident. Apparently, she was out at some animal sanctuary when one bruin decided to sample some of Hidaka's hair which caused no small amount of grief and terror and tears (as in from the eyes, not lacerations in her flesh). Although she thankfully didn't suffer the gore that the folks in "Cocaine Bear" do, it must have still been traumatizing for the young lady.

All that has been encapsulated by her own song and music video which came out in December 2021. The short-but-sweet "Kuma ni Kamareru yori Mashi" (Better than Being Bitten by a Bear) is humourously autobiographical as she relates that all of the sturm und drang that she went through in show business doesn't compare to the attack on her scalp by a bear. I can certainly agree with that. Written and composed with even the animation provided by singer-songwriter Keiko Yanai（矢内景子）, it starts off innocently as a kiddie-friendly pop tune until the attack brings on some rock music drama to the proceedings.

You can also check out my article on Hidaka's "Image Ihan"（イメージ違反）which I wrote about in the same month that "Kuma ni Kamareru yori Mashi" was released.

Noriko Hidaka -- Image Ihan（イメージ違反）

 

All these years and a lot of Norikos later, and yet I had never put up an article involving Noriko Hidaka（日高のり子）. Good heavens! Cats and dogs are indeed living with each other.

Born in Tokyo, her name has been that of a veteran seiyuu and narrator, and I know that she's had a lot of plum roles, but when I think of Noriko Hidaka, I always go first to her performance as plucky Jean in the 1990 anime "Nadia, The Secret of Blue Water"（ふしぎの海のナディア）.

And most recently, Hidaka has been the narrator for the hit anime "Komi Can't Communicate"（古見さんは、コミュ症です。）. It's been as a narrator that I've known her for in the last several years since she's helping out in that way through a number of NHK programs. 

iTunes excerpt only

Noriko has also acted on screen and stage since 1977 when she first went by her birth name of Noriko Ito（伊東範子）before changing her family name to Hidaka. That all came about in 1980 at the time of her debut as an aidoru singer when she became the campaign girl for the Kagawa Prefecture amusement park, Nio Sunshine Land（仁尾サンシャインランド）. At that time, there was actually another aidoru with the same name of Noriko Ito, albeit written in hiragana（いとうのりこ）*, and so having tried out a few stage names for size, that upcoming gig with Nio Sunshine Land had her go with Hidaka since its kanji, which literally means "sun high", could represent the feeling of "the sun rising high into the sky".

In April 1986, Hidaka released her 2nd album "Minami Kaze ni Fukarete"（南風に吹かれて...Touched by the Southern Breeze） which brings us to one of the tracks, "Image Ihan" (Image Transgression). The title might sound ominous but the song by lyricist Emi Kanda（神田エミ）and composer Ryo Matsuda（松田良）is anything but. I'm not sure whether Hidaka was still considered an aidoru by the mid-1980s, but although there are some very cute aidoru elements in the arrangement, I'm still placing this in the Pop category. Indeed, "Image Ihan" is very pleasant to listen to for its French-like lilt through those synthesizers. Probably if I were to consider it an aidoru tune, it would be reflective of how a number of those songs in the late 1980s took on more sophisticated arrangements in comparison with the summery and super-perky songs of the early 1980s.

YouTuber CinnamonCh has provided a video of Hidaka's other characters including Jean from "Blue Water" so enjoy her walk down Memory Lane.

*According to Hidaka's J-Wiki file, she did take on that hiragana name of Noriko Ito earlier in her high school years when she sang the theme for the anime "Futago no Monchicchi"（ふたごのモンチッチ...The Monchicchi Twins）.

CoCo/DoCo -- Omoide ga Ippai （思い出がいっぱい）

Well, I gotta say that it isn't everyday that two beloved anison produced years apart share the exact same title. Therefore, today will be that special day. The one that I've already known about for years is "Omoide ga Ippai" by the folk-pop duo, H2O, the touching ballad that ended the anime "Miyuki"（みゆき）back in the early 1980s and has since become a graduation ceremony favourite, usually guaranteed to induce tears in the students.

"Ranma 1/2"（らんま1/2）is an anime that even I have heard about but only through reputation based on the original manga by Rumiko Takahashi（高橋留美子）. Even so, I have been listening to the theme song, also titled "Omoide ga Ippai" (Full of Memories) for the second entry of the anime franchise, "Ranma 1/2 Nettohen"（らんま1/2 熱闘編...The Fierce Fighting Edition） which went on for almost 3 years (1989-1992). The song often came up as part of my anime buddy's anison hour and I've got it in my collection of anison without having known its source for a number of years.

The aidoru group CoCo recorded the original version as the coupling song to their 3rd single "Natsu no Tomodachi"（夏の友達...Summer Friends） from May 1990. Written by Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）and composed by Masayuki Iwata（岩田雅之）, the cute anison sounds like something Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）would have sung in her junior high school days; I think it is the synths that make me think that way. The single peaked at No. 3.

But to be honest with you, my preference is for the cover version by the female seiyuu from the cast of "Ranma 1/2". Forming the quintet DoCo in 1990, the members were Kikuko (17 forever) Inoue（井上喜久子）, Noriko Hidaka（日高のり子）, Megumi Hayashibara（林原めぐみ）, Minami Takayama（高山みなみ）and Rei Sakuma（佐久間レイ）. Their "Omoide ga Ippai" was recorded for one of the franchise's OVAs "Super Vol. 2" in November 1995.

For me, the difference was just the added depth in DoCo's performance when they recorded it and that soaring instrumental bridge near the end. Incidentally, when asked how their collective name, similar to CoCo, was created, the answer provided was apparently that "D" was next after "C". Plus, there is the fact that the Japanese word "koko" means "here" whereas "doko" means "where".

Anyways, let's finish up with CoCo's performance.