Rica Matsumoto/Shoko Nakagawa -- Type: Wild（タイプ:ワイルド）

 

Ahh, it is rather nostalgic. I used to remember not only the whole "Pokemon: GO" craze but the Pokemon（ポケモン）card mania from the late 1990s. When my mother actually asked me to get some of those cards for her employer's grandkids when I came home biannually for Xmas, I knew that this was a fad of monumental proportions; I figured that somewhere cats and dogs were living together (that's a "Ghostbusters" reference, by the way). Never got into "Pokemon" myself, though.

So, why talk about it? Well, I had this particular video in the backlog and it belongs to singer and tarento Shoko Nakagawa's（中川翔子）cover of "Type: Wild", one of the ending themes for the 1997-2002 run of the anime "Pocket Monster"（ポケットモンスター）on TV Tokyo. Coming from her December 2019 5th studio album "RGB ~ True Color", I wanted to write about it today since I heard that Nakagawa had recently gotten married so many congratulations to her and her new husband.

When I first heard about "Type: Wild" via Nakagawa, though, I hadn't known about the "Pokemon" connection since there was nothing written about it in the J-Wiki article on "RGB". It actually took the Yahoo Japan search engine to reveal several references to the anime before I realized that it had been a "Pokemon" theme song. 

"Type: Wild" was the 5th ending theme for the series and it was originally recorded by seiyuu/singer Rica Matsumoto（松本梨香）who has been on the blog before under fellow contributor Marcos V.'s paragraph on the singer's other "Pokemon" theme, "Alola!!"（アローラ!!）in his article "Special Selection Vol. II". The original "Type: Wild" was released as one of the songs on Matsumoto's 9th single, "Rival!"（ライバル!）which came out in March 1999, peaking at No. 13 on Oricon. It also appeared on her second BEST compilation "Matsumoto Rica ga Utau Pokemon Best"（松本梨香が歌うポケモンソングベスト...The Best of Pokemon Songs by Rica Matsumoto） from July 2011. 

The original song was written by Akihito Toda（戸田昭吾）and composed/arranged by Hirokazu Tanaka（たなかひろかず）. Both versions are that morning OJ for the kids to get really excited about the franchise and characters (while the parents practice saying "NO!" forcefully in turning down their charges' requests for merch), but the Nakagawa cover as arranged by Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）sounds like a major otagei anthem. Make sure you have the RUB-A535 or other liniment handy when you're swiveling your waist.

Shoko Nakagawa -- Brilliant Dream

 

All these years, I've been highlighting singer and TV personality Shoko Nakagawa（中川翔子）performing covers of other singers' works but I had yet to showcase any of her original material. Well, that stops today.

The lady that I had initially mistaken for a manga artist due to her appearance on a late-night variety show came out with her first single in July 2006. "Brilliant Dream" is quite catchy because of those analog synths which remind me of the synthpop of the early 80s, the dawning of my interest in music on either side of the Pacific. Nope, there is no way that I can assess Shoko-tan's vocal prowess through this original recording of "Brilliant Dream" because of all of that computer manipulation, but as a cute technopop tune, it's pleasant enough for me.

Ah, her concert footage gives some more perspective on her natural voice. Not too bad, all told. Sabohani（サボハニ）was behind the creation of "Brilliant Dream" but according to J-Wiki, that name is actually one for a character created by Daito Giken, a manufacturer of slot machines. In fact, it was apparently a convenient name to be used for unidentified singers and songwriters for a 2006 anime about slot machines called "Yoshimune"（吉宗）which was broadcast through independent Japanese TV stations. "Brilliant Dream" was used as the opening theme song after which it reached No. 29 on Oricon.

PSY-S/Shoko Nakagawa -- Angel Night ~ Tenshi no Iru Basho（天使のいる場所）

I had no idea that PSY-S' "Angel Night ~ Tenshi no Iru Basho" (Place of Angels) was used as one of the opening themes for the "City Hunter"（シティーハンター）franchise. It's been on a couple of BEST compilations by the eclectic band but there was no mention of its placement.

In point of fact, "Angel Night" was the first opening theme for Season 2 of "City Hunter" which was followed by Fence of Defence's "SARA". However, the PSY-S contribution to the anime has that energy which starts off another crackling episode. Still, there is no doubt that it is a PSY-S tune. It was composed by Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）and written by Yukio Matsuo（松尾由紀夫）, and of course, the amazing CHAKA is on vocals.

"Angel Night" was also PSY-S' 7th single from April 1988. Although it isn't listed on J-Wiki how high the song rated on Oricon, it's difficult to imagine that the song didn't get into the Top 100 during the week somehow. Mind you, I think of the opening and ending themes for "City Hunter" that have been put up so far on the blog, "City Hunter: Ai yo Kienai de"（愛よ消えないで）still comes out on top for me. An album version of "Angel Night" is on their 5th album "Non-Fiction" from August in the same year.

Tarento and illustrator Shoko Nakagawa（中川翔子）brought her own cover of "Angel Night" in 2010 through her album "Shokotan Covers 3 ~ Anison wa Jinrui wo Tsunagu ~"（しょこたん☆かばー3 〜アニソンは人類をつなぐ〜...Anison Will Bring Humanity Together） which peaked at No. 10.

Yoko Ishida/Shoko Nakagawa -- Otome no Policy （乙女のポリシー）

I actually have already brought in Yoko Ishida（石田よう子）into the annals of this blog via her cover of "Sugar Baby Love" for another anime but this is the article for her "official welcome" of sorts since I will always think of this particular song when it comes to the anison singer. Commenter Edu P.R. sparked me into finally putting up "Otome no Policy" (Policy of a Young Lady) for which I'm thankful.

It was also surprising to find out that "Otome no Policy" has the distinction of being Ishida's debut single from March 1993. I've been hearing her songs from time to time and seeing her name in the opening/closing credits of anime for some time now but never realized that she started from the franchise of "Sailor Moon"（セーラームーン）.

Of course, when it comes to the music of "Sailor Moon", there is that iconic tango of an anison "Moonlight Densetsu"（ムーンライト伝説）which started each episode in the early years of the original series but frankly, I wasn't all that enthused about the first couple of ending themes. Then, when the second season of the show "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R"（美少女戦士セーラームーンR）premiered fresh after literally resurrecting Usagi and the rest of the gang from evil, there came the new ending credits with the refreshingly down-to-earth images of Meatball Head just walking then running down the street. All this was accompanied by this cheerful and catchy song which became the first ending theme from "Sailor Moon" that I enjoyed.

The song was created by Rui Serizawa and Makoto Nagai（芹沢類・永井誠）, and the lyrics were pretty much the policy of Usagi Tsukino:

I will never ever give up no matter how hard it becomes
That's right! That is the sweet policy of a young lady

Yup, she's the one...Sailor Moon. Mind you, Sailor Mars would probably snark off something under her breath, and of course, Moon would somehow be able to hear it, leading to a mass punch-up. By the way, "Otome no Policy" managed to peak at No. 77 on Oricon and sold around 300,000 copies.

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/%E4%B9%99%E5%A5%B3%E3%81%AE%E3%83%9D%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B7%E3%83%BC/575571524?i=575571630

(excerpt only)

Huge anime fan and singer Shoko Nakagawa（中川翔子）covered the song in her 2007 album "Shokotan ☆ Cover - Anison ni Koi wo Shite."（しょこたん☆かばー 〜アニソンに恋をして。〜...Shokotan Covers - Fall In Love With Anison）That album went as high as No. 17 on the Oricon weeklies. Apparently her fans really wanted her to cover a "Sailor Moon" song.

And even Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）daughter, Sayaka Kanda（神田沙也加）, sang a brief but very sweet excerpt from "Otome no Policy" for a snack commercial. Excuse me...I've got something in my eye.

To finish off, "Otome no Policy" isn't the only "Sailor Moon" ending theme I've liked. There is a later tune with a different beat which has been just as fun.

P.S. I haven't been able to see the new "Sailor Moon" and my anime buddy hasn't exactly been too enthused about viewing it. Apparently, although it may have quite the lineup in seiyuu including the original Sailor Moon herself, Kotono Mitsuishi（三石琴乃）, it's been said that the new series is lacking a lot of the humour that was the chief draw for me for the original series in the 90s. The above video was one of the biggest examples of hilarity...I don't think I've ever seen a gag involving sleeping feet anywhere like this.

Yukiko Okada/Shoko Nakagawa -- Kuchibiru Network (くちびる Network)

During my first forays into Toronto's Chinatown to search for Japanese records, I often came across album covers of Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） and Akina Nakamori（中森明菜） with their hypnotic come-hither stares ("Yes, I will buy you all with part of my student loans and grants, my mistresses...."), and there was one other album that I remembered seeing with plenty of regularity. The cover had a cute young lady with short hair and a wide smile wearing an electric-blue silk shoulder-less top and matching sleeves, as she rested her face on her palms. The album was "Venus Tanjo"（ヴィーナス誕生....The Birth of Venus）, and the singer was the late Yukiko Okada（岡田有希子）. I never got the album since at the time I was pretty conservative (and economical) in my choices....going with just who I knew like Seiko, Akina and Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）.

Later on, though, I did get to listen to one of the tracks from "Venus Tanjo" on "Sounds of Japan". "Kuchibiru Network" (Lip Network) was one of the chirpiest and quintessentially aidoru tunes I'd ever heard by anyone. And as I had mentioned in one of the other articles on the singer, Okada struck me physically and musically as being one of the quintessential aidorus from that decade. She had the cute face, the short bob and that high wispy voice which seemed to quaver at certain points in a song.

Perhaps that aidoru-ness about her was the reason for not only for a lot of the big songwriting veterans such as Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and Chinfa Kan（康珍化） to get behind her, but also a number of artists themselves such as EPO, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや） and Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）. "Kuchibiru Network" itself has quite some pedigree behind it: Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一） of The Yellow Magic Orchestra was the composer, and the Queen Aidoru herself, Seiko Matsuda, was the lyricist. According to the writeup on the song on J-Wiki, Matsuda had some initial misgivings about her work: "I'd thought that the lyrics were just a little too sexy, but when Yukiko-chan sang them, they became a cute and charming song." And certainly when I listened to it, I never got the impression that this was anything but a cute puppy love sort of ditty with Okada singing about how impatient she was getting over who was gonna make the first move.

This one actually has Yukiko's appearance on one of the big music shows.

"Kuchibiru Network" was released as a single in January 1986 with "Venus Tanjo" getting released on March 21. It became Okada's biggest hit, reaching No. 1, and later becoming the 36th-ranked single of the year. It was also used as a campaign song for Kanebo Cosmetics. However, less than 3 weeks after the album came out, the singer would take her own life at the age of 18.

(Unfortunately, the video showing Shokotan performing

"Kuchibiru Network" has been taken down, but you 

can enjoy a 3-minute retrospective of her life here.)

About a couple of years ago, the Otaku Aidoru, Shoko Nakagawa（中川翔子）, released her 4th album of cover songs titled "Shokotan Cover 4"（しょうこたん☆かばー４） (peaked at No. 14 on Oricon after its release in October 2011) in which she tackled the Okada classic. I first saw Nakagawa on a late-night quiz show of sorts, hosted by the Osaka manzai duo, Downtown, in which the panelists were given a topic for which they had to draw a 4-frame cartoon within a couple of minutes. I had never seen her before so I had thought that she was a young professional manga artist since she usually came up with the best drawings. But her fame quickly spread like Extra Light No. 1 maple syrup across TV and music, and soon she was not only popping up everywhere in the music shops and variety shows, but she had her own fluffy program on one of the music channels in which she waxed poetic on her favourite aidorus, her beloved pets and anime, among her other very varied interests. I've heard that she has even shown up at some of the international ComiCons over the years; not sure if she has ever been to the Toronto equivalents but I've got a feeling that if did ever show up, there would be a fair bit of mayhem. For a bit more information about her, and to see a bit more of her, you can try this link.