I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Isn't this something? A couple of lovers in their best finery as they look longingly into each other's eyes under a huge shining supermoon in some exotic city such as Casablanca. Cocktails and dinner are awaiting them on a table a few metres away.
I'm pretty sure that the setting established in Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）"Moon Rendezvous" is far less glamorous and luxurious but no less exciting for the people involved. From what I've understood of Shun Taguchi's（田口俊）lyrics, the lass is happily expecting to meet her beloved Dad or beau at the airport...or maybe both; that would be quite the interesting thing. As for Mitsuo Hagita's（萩田光雄）melody (and he also arranged the song), considering the lyrics and the title, I would've been anticipating a City Pop tune, but instead, it hews to an innocent and smooth bossa nova style. For an aidoru song, it sounds quite mature and refined, and at the time, Nanno was still under twenty. The song wasn't released as a single but was included as a track on her November 1986 2nd album"Virginal" which peaked at No.2 on Oricon.
Once again, the car stereo last weekend brought another song ripe for Reminiscings of Youth this week. I got to hear Belinda Carlisle's"Heaven is a Place on Earth" for the first time in a while. So, of course, I started remembering when it was first released in September 1987. The Go-Gos lead singer was already well into her solo career when this one came out and both the song and the music video were long runners on radio and television respectively. Considering the context of the title, I had thought that there were religious implications although it sounded like the ultimate cool and catchy power pop song for kiddies.
The fact that there were kids bouncing globes assisted in that impression but also seeing Belinda making out with that guy made me think "OK, kids...avert those eyes!". Speaking of which, the song and that video has quite the revelatory Hollywood background. For one thing, that guy just happened to be the singer's husband, Morgan Mason, who not only was the child of actors James Mason and Pamela Mason but held a key role in Ronald Reagan's administration in the early 1980s. The late thespian Diane Keaton directed the video, and the backup singers included Michelle Phillips of the sunshine pop band of the 1960s, The Mamas & The Papas, her daughter Chynna Phillips of Wilson Phillips and songwriter Diane Warren. Even the actual writers of "Heaven is a Place on Earth", Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley were also behind the mikes backing Belinda up.
"Heaven is a Place on Earth" hit No. 3 on Canada's RPM and No. 1 on America's Billboard chart. It also hit the top spot in countries such as Ireland and South Africa. So, let us see what was being released at the same time in September 1987 in Japan.
Well, the Winter Solstice arrived at around 10 am here yesterday morning, so we had the shortest day of the year. The good news of course is that now the days are going to get progressively longer until June. Even better is that Christmas is now in the homestretch. I've basically completed this year's Xmas shopping. Just a couple of more items and I'll be done.
80s aidoru Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）was pretty ambitious when she put out an album which was not only her first one with a Christmas theme but also one that was a concept creation. Titled "Snowflakes", it was released in December 1988 and each track covered the following things: dreams, hope, tears, sadness, joy, loneliness and love. Mind you, there are eight tracks so a couple of them shared one of those concepts.
I'm pretty confident in my guess that the penultimate track on "Snowflakes" takes care of the "joy" theme. "Lift no Shita de Aimashou"(Let's Meet Under the Lift) was written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, composed by Minoru Komorita（小森田実）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光男）and neatly covers the two things that occupy a lot of young Japanese minds during this special time of year: Christmas and skiing. There's probably nothing better than enjoying the Holidays while shushing down the slopes at resorts such as Naeba. And yup, this song is just perfect for Nanno's effervescently skippy vocal stylings. The album itself reached No. 2 on Oricon.
Last Friday night, as we usually do, we watched the latest episode of NHK information variety show "Chiko-chan", and found out that a franchise's original manga, the anime, the live-action movie and its theme song managed to revive a traditional form of clothing for graduating women.
Now, for some years, I'd known that the hakama was a popular but not mandatory special clothing that's worn by women during graduation ceremonies in Japan. But according to the "Chiko-chan" segment, it had been once worn as a regular school uniform a century ago during both the Meiji and Taisho eras but once World War II passed, the hakama disappeared from view for several decades.
But then, a manga titled "Haikara-san ga Tooru" (Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern) by Waki Yamato（大和和紀）made its debut in 1975 followed by an anime in 1978. It detailed the romantic (and otherwise) adventures of high-flying, hakama-wearing Benio during the Taisho era.
In 1987, the live-action version starring aidoru Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）premiered at the end of the year, and during the "Chiko-san" segment, it was related that the rerun of the anime and then the popularity of the movie brought back the hakama to graduation ceremonies everywhere. It may have also changed Nanno's image as she had been one of the "Sukeban Deka" girls with her contemporary sailor suit high school uniform and deadly yo-yo.
Of course, the live-action movie had the aidoru also sing the theme song which had the same title of "Haikara-san ga Tooru". Sounding very late Showa era contemporary, its synth perkiness probably reflected Benio's personality herself. Written by Megumi Ogura（小倉めぐみ）, composed by Wataru Kuniyasu（国安わたる）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, Nanno's 10th single was released in December 1987 and was another No. 1 hit for her, finishing 1988 as the 19th-ranked single and selling 270,000 records. Along with its single status, "Haikara-san ga Tooru" was also included in the soundtrack for the movie. Not surprisingly, she appeared in that hakama on any music show performances which probably further boosted its comeback.
KKP contributor Joana Bernardo was the first to bring aidoru group ClariS to the blog with their cover of Wink's "Sabishii Nettaigyo"（淋しい熱帯魚）, and on that same special 2023 EP of the same name, the unit recorded their version of Nanno's hit. Cute video tribute to all of those music shows of the 1980s, too.
It was January 2022 when I posted Wang Chung's"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" as the first (and certainly not last) entry of the band on KKP's Reminiscings of Youth series. From the date and at least one sentence in my comments, I got the impression that we were still cautiously exiting the pandemic tunnel at the time. We did need that great 80s party song to bring back some cheer and action into our lives again.
Well, more than two years later, it was nice to see lead vocalist Jack Hues appear on the local news channel here for an interview the other day because he and his partner Nick Feldman were to do a gig at the legendary El Mocambo in downtown Toronto. Absolutely amiable and classy guy. I'm sure everybody had fun that night.😛
So I figured that it was time for another Wang Chung song on ROY this week, and to keep the good times rolling, I'm going with their January 1987 single"Let's Go". I used to hear this all the time on the radio and I even ended up getting the 12" remix version but never got to see the entire music video. Man, is it the most 1980s video I've seen in recent memory! It's silly as all get out but fun as well. And I get to see Hues and Feldman really pour out the emotion unlike the stone faces they showed in the seizure-inducing video for "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". In fact, I think Hues had a major case of the giggles in the early part of the video here, much like Daryl Hall was having difficulty keeping it together in the video for "Method of Modern Love" (I'll have to cover that one soon enough).
But 80s imagery and goofiness aside, "Let's Go" is another fun-filled song. It may not have the nighttime party vibe of "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" but it's still as catchy with plenty of times to shout out during the song, thanks to that easy-to-yell title and it's a great thing that the expression "Let's Go" is still supremely popular at movies and sports events. The song reached No. 9 in both America and Canada and is also available as a track on Wang Chung's "Mosaic" album from October 1986.
So, what were taking up the three top positions on Oricon's list for January 1987?
Y'know, this is one of Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）singles that I hadn't ever heard before. Always nice to make a new discovery this late in life.
"Pandora no Koibito" (Pandora's Lover) was Nanno's 8th single from July 1987 and it was her 3rd consecutive single to hit No. 1 on Oricon, following "Rakuen no Door"（楽園のDoor）and "Hanashi Kaketakatta"（話しかけたかった）. It was the beginning of a long run of No. 1s for the aidoru which lasted for over two years from January 1987 to February 1989 when her 14th single "only" got up to No. 2.
It was quite pleasant listening to "Pandora no Koibito" because of its plucky melody and arrangement by Toshio Kamei（亀井登志夫）, who's been mostly known as a composer but has also been the violinist and vocalist for NASA, and Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. The synths and strings working together almost take Nanno into the realm of Fashion Music. Meanwhile, Shun Taguchi's（田口俊）lyrics speak of a young lady with a major crush on a boy who she would love to open up to, but gosh darn it simply can't. Strangely enough, I watched a "Chibi Maruko-chan" episode tonight with a very similar plot line.
The song became the 28th-ranked single for 1987 and it's also a track on her first BEST compilation "NANNO Singles" which was released in March 1988 and went all the way up to the top of the album charts.
On first listening of Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）3rd single,"Kanashimi Monument"(Melancholy Monument) from March 1986, my first impression was that this was one pretty spirited and dramatic aidoru tune.
And there is good reason for this because "Kanashimi Monument" served as the theme song for "Sukeban Deka II: Shōjo Tekkamen Densetsu"（スケバン刑事II 少女鉄仮面伝説...The Legend of the Girl in the Iron Mask）, the television sequel for the 1980s franchise of female juvenile delinquents-turned-crimefighters. Nanno herself was the star for this series so it would be natural that she would also provide the theme song. "Kanashimi Monument" was written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）, composed by Kisaburo Suzuki（ 鈴木キサブロー）and arranged by Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）, and accompanying the moodiness of the melody, Kisugi's lyrics tell of a young lady groping and stumbling her way for that desperately desired thing called love. I think that there was an undercurrent of that search throughout the franchise entries and the main characters.
I have to also add that the song also has that edge of the rock side of AOR in Shinkawa's arrangement, and wouldn't the West Coast be the ideal venue for a motorcycle-riding rebel to be riding the highways? "Kanashimi Monument" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon and ended the year as the 92nd-ranked single. The song also ended up on Minamino's debut album"Gelato"（ジェラート）which was released in April 1986, hitting No. 2 on the album charts. KKP contributor JTM also mentioned the song in his epic article about the "Sukeban Deka" franchise as a whole.
Happy weekend to all of you and of course, Happy Pride weekend. Almost a decade ago, one of our first contributors, JTM, was kind enough to write up an epic article on the whole "Sukeban Deka"（スケバン刑事） franchise. He not only wrote about the series starring aidoru including Yuki Saito（斉藤由貴）and Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）, but he also provided some of the songs associated with "Sukeban Deka".
One of those songs that he mentioned was Nanno's "Kaze no Madrigal"(Madrigal of the Wind), her 4th single from July 1986 which became the theme song for "Sukeban Deka II" that starred the young aidoru. And to also quote my friend on the definition of a madrigal: "a medieval short lyrical poem". To be honest, I don't know very much at all on music of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras, but as for "Kaze no Madrigal", the song by lyricist Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）, composer Daisuke Inoue（井上大輔）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）goes against my assumption of a "Sukeban Deka" theme being a kickass rock n' roll tune. Instead, the song is a fleet-footed number with hints of cowboy justice and Hiromi Ohta's（太田裕美）"Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" (さらばシベリア鉄道）originally created by the late Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）who had his own love for some cowboy Western twang.
The B-side is "Heroine no Densetsu" (Legend of a Heroine), something with some funk and urban contemporary in there that it could almost be a City Pop tune. It is indeed spirited and determined, befitting a song for a heroine. The same songwriters for "Kaze no Madrigal" were responsible for "Heroine no Densetsu" which peaked at No. 5 on Oricon.
Last night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）has been showing a regular segment for the past few episodes in which the hosts take a look at some of the Showa Era music. Of course, that's right up my alley.😆 This time around, the show took a look at some of the Showa Era aidoru from the 1970s and 1980s, and guess what? Goro Noguchi（野口五郎）, Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）, Yu Hayami（早見優）and Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）appeared to sing some of their hits from yesteryear.
Wow! I forgot about this one by Nanno...bad, J-Canuck, bad! "Hanashi Kaketakatta" (I Wanted to Talk to You) was a song that I now remember hearing from some of those VHS tapes of "The Best 10" which I used to rent out at Nippon Video decades ago. Her 7th single from April 1987, it's about as adorable as a late 80s aidorutune can be...and this is by one of the vaunted Sukeban Deka（スケバン刑事）!
Written by Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）, composed by Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, "Hanashi Kaketakatta" sounds as innocent as traipsing through Snow White's neighbourhood in Disneyland. Plus, there is a certain familiarity winding its way through the song. I'd wondered what it was and then I figured out that it sounds just like The Monkees'"Daydream Believer", so I guess that it also has some of that old-fashioned Sunshine Pop as well.
"Hanashi Kaketakatta" was the second No. 1 hit for Minamino following her January single"Rakuen no Door"（楽園のDoor）, and the string of top-ranked singles would continue for another half-dozen more times until early in 1989. It would finish the year as the 18th-ranked single. The song is also a track on her third album"Bloom" which was released in May 1987 and peaked at No. 2 on the album charts.
There's been a certain piece of classical music that I've often heard in motion pictures since I was a boy. It was used at the very beginning of the original "Rollerball", the 1975 sci-fi film starring James Caan.
Then I heard a brief snippet of it whenever the character of Dr. Van Helsing popped up in "The Cannonball Run" to great comic effect (I remember laughing my guts out because of his appearance and the music). Dramatic or funny, Johann Sebastian Bach's"Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" always heralded to me something quite sinister was afoot. Didn't even know the title of this iconic organ piece until today; just considered it "creepy organ song used in movies". This was the sort of music that a depraved but sophisticated villain would play in his monstrous mansion on a pipe organ the size of a two-story building.
So, it made me wonder why composer Tamaki Ito*（伊東玉城）would place a variation of "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" in the intro for 80s aidoruYoko Minamino's（南野陽子）2nd-biggest hit and 13th single, "Aki kara mo, Soba ni Ite"(Stay with Me from the Fall) from October 1988. Well, obviously, the song was a great success but still I'm rather mystified.
In any case, "Aki kara mo, Soba ni Ite" then goes into a lovely jaunty melody with those strings that I've often associated with some of the aidoru tunes in the late 1980s. Again, I envision the aidoru in a huge billowing dress, this time being Nanno, in some European castle near a bluff making out like some princess pining for her Prince Charming. The lyrics by Megumi Ogura（小倉めぐみ）take things, though, back down to Earth as a high school girl finally gets the boy of her dreams in the autumn after a number of seasons admiring him from afar. Not going to let him get away easily.
The song was also used for a Glico commercial starring Nanno herself. With arrangement by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）,"Aki kara mo, Soba ni Ite" was the 8th in her consecutive string of 8 No. 1 singles dating back to her 6th single"Rakuen no Door"（楽園のDoor）, and was 2nd to "Toiki de Net"（吐息でネット）in terms of records sold, selling a little over 270,000 copies. It eventually became the 30th-ranked single for 1988.
*Once again, I've come across a first name that I'm not sure about in terms of its reading since I couldn't find any verification online. I'm going with Tamaki here for now but once again, if any of you know the correct way to read it, then please let me know.
Oooh! It's been a few years since Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）has graced the pages of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Not that Nanno was the only one with that image, but I've always seen this latter-half-of-the-1980s aidoru as more of the princess-y type than as the girl-next-door. Although I can't say that I've heard every bit of her discography, the songs that I do know by her and her sweet and high voice gave me that regal and innocent image.
One case in point is Nanno's 16th single from November 1989, "Film no Mukougawa" (Beyond the Film). Ryo Aska（飛鳥涼）of Chage & Aska fame was the composer and lyricist for this song which has the atmosphere of fantasy castle life, thanks to Jun Sato's（佐藤準）arrangement. If I've read the lyrics correctly, it seems as if a princess from a fairy tale world has gotten rather curious beyond the veil or film and perhaps romance may be coming for her.
Looking at the settings for the two TV performances and considering the release date of the single, I'm wondering if the record company were seeing "Film no Mukougawa" as an Xmas tune of sorts. It's kinda got that jingly feeling. Although I didn't hear it on the TV versions, according to the J-Wiki article on the song, the outro for the recorded version adopts a bit of Pachelbel's"Kanon". In any case, Minamino's number hit No. 1 on Oricon and was the 100th-ranked song on the yearly charts for 1990. In fact, this would be her final No. 1 hit to date.
According to Oricon via J-Wiki, the top five lyricists in terms of singles sold are Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, Yu Aku（阿久悠）, Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆...the rankings are in his article）, Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）and Tsunku（つんく♂）as of December 2015. I've got a feeling that since then Akimoto has further left Aku and Matsumoto in the dust considering all those songs that he's created for his alphabet girl groups, and he was already in the hundreds of millions.
Lyricist Toyohisa Araki is not within that august group and I don't know where he ranks but considering the breadth of who he has provided words for over the past few decades, he can't be that far behind. I decided to write a Creator article about him one night when I took a look at his file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and noticed the wide variety of singers that he has collaborated with.
Araki was born in what is now Dalian, China in 1943. He attended the Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo where he was also a member of the ski club. Starting out as a writer, he broke his leg one time while skiing and ended up in a hospital. In gratitude to the nurses who helped him, Araki came up with a tune about a Niigata Prefectureonsen. The popularity of the song then started to spread around although the author behind it had remained unknown at the time until Araki finally admitted his participation.
That song turned out to be "Shiki no Uta"（四季の歌...Song of the Four Seasons）which was officially released as a single in February 1972 by Yumi Inui（いぬいゆみ）. Listening to this original version, I wasn't quite sure whether it wanted to be a gentle folk tune or something with a bit of urban pizzazz. Not sure how it did on Oricon but the fact that it didn't seem to make a huge splash was perhaps not that surprising.
However, "Shiki no Uta" has been heavily covered over the years by folks such as Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）, Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）and the Dark Ducks（ダーク・ダックス）, but the most successful cover was by singer Yoko Seri（芹洋子）as a 1976 single. Her version broke the Top 10 by hitting No. 8 and it even became a million-seller. Seri's take was a uniformly innocent pop ballad which most likely was more pleasant on listeners.
Since then, Araki has provided lyrics for many singers. In fact, the reason that I finally pulled the trigger to devote an article for him was re-discovering that he had written the City Pop classic "Fly-Day Chinatown"（フライディ・チャイナタウン）for singer and composer Yasuha（泰葉）in 1981. I've also discovered recently that "Fly-Day Chinatown" has also become another favourite one for all those Japanese Future Funk/Vaporwave enthusiasts (Round One, indeed).
He's also provided some pretty refined material for aidoru such as Yoshie Kashiwabara（柏原芳恵）. The song here is the classy "Machikutabirete Yokohama"（待ちくたびれてヨコハマ）from 1985.
I think, though, Araki has tended to hover in the enka/Mood Kayo field. He wrote a number of songs for the late Teresa Teng（テレサテン）including one of my favourites by her, "Tsugunai"（つぐない）. For me, it was one of the great examples of what I've called European enka.
The above songs have all been covered in the blog but I also found some new entries. "Nageki no Melody"（嘆きのメロディー...Melody of Grief） was sung by Yujiro Ishihara as a 1984 release. Takashi Miki（三木たかし）, a frequent songwriting partner for Araki, came up with the melody so Mood Kayo that the record probably smelled of cigarette smoke and scotch as soon as it was taken out of the sleeve.
In 1990, Araki wrote the lyrics for this contemporary ballad sung by Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）titled "Koufuku Game"（幸福ゲーム...The Happiness Game） as her 3rd single. Hiroshi Terao（寺尾広）composed the ballad which was used as the theme song for the TV Asahi drama "Utsukushii Uso Tsukemasuka"（美しい嘘つけますか...Can You Make A Beautiful Lie?）. Love lost and gained seems to be a favourite topic especially for Araki and surrounded by a classy melody.
Another example of that theory also popped up in 1990 through Yoko Minamino's（南野陽子）"Double Game"（ダブルゲーム）which was also another collaboration between Araki and Miki. This was Nanno's 17th single from June 1990 and it peaked at No. 3.
Now, the last couple of Creator articles that I've written for the blog have been on songwriters who unfortunately left this mortal coil recently. Happily, though, it seems like Araki is still quite happy and kicking. Although it's not listed on his own J-Wiki entry, Araki, who is also a bassist, came up with his own release in 2015 titled "Sha Ba Da Ba Da"（シャバダバダ）, a jolly song of party-hearty with the video showing the man himself enjoying the good things in life. I can only hope to be that lucky at his current age of 73. I just hope to be alive at 73.
As I said, Araki has written for a wide group of singers since 1972 so you can take a look at the rest of his works listed under his name in the Labels.
"Uta Kon" (うたコン) had its theme of broken hearts a few nights ago, and one song came up as performed by former 80s aidoru-turned-actress Yoko 'Nanno' Minamino（南野陽子）titled "Anata nara Dou Suru" (What Would You Do?) as written by longtime lyricist Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Kyohei Tsutumi（筒美京平）. In fact, Nakanishi was sitting with the rest of the hosts and guests since his songs were getting their due on the show...no pressure there. But as soon as I heard the plaintive title refrain, I knew that I had heard it before!
And it turned out to be during my Gunma days back in the late 80s and early 90s when the song was used as a commercial jingle for the coffee whitener Brite. Considering that song title and what I know about the chemical composition of things like Coffee Mate now, I would be more than happy to stick with real cream, thank you very much.
If I had known then what I knew now, I would have figured it out almost immediately that "Anata nara Dou Suru" was more than just an especially well-constructed jingle. It was actually Ayumi Ishida's (いしだあゆみ) 2nd-most successful hit released as her 30th single from March 1970, and it was quite the revelation to me since I knew Ishida as the singer behind the legendary "Blue Light Yokohama"(ブルーライト・ヨコハマ) from a couple of years previously.
Over the last few days, my two active collaborators, Noelle and Marcos, have been talking with me about the angsty charms of the late Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）. And at first thought, I had gone with the opinion that "Anata nara Dou Suru" would have been the ideal cover for her and was surprised initially that according to J-Wiki at least, she never gave her version of this song. As you might guess, Nakanishi's lyrics were not about whether to choose coffee whitener over cream but about how to handle suddenly being dumped by the guy you love. I mean, wouldn't this be Fuji territory?
However after a bit more consideration, perhaps the original "Anata nara Dou Suru" as sung by Ishida was not quite dark enough. There is that tone in Ishida's voice which hints that the crisis is still ongoing with the (faint) hope that something can be salvaged from the relationship. With Fuji, there was always that feeling of "way too late" resignation and it was time to creep on, rather than move on.
Getting back to Ishida, what makes this ballad work is not just the downtrodden lyrics but again that heartfelt refrain of the singer as a woman who has just stumbled through the rain in shock to consult with an old friend at a bar for some liquid healing.
Although Fuji may not have covered it, a lot of other singers dove into the "Anata nara Dou Suru" pool which explains the loaded article title on top. It's quite something about the release of kayo kyoku back in the old days. It would seem that if there were even a faint whiff of hit potential with a certain song, then a good number of singers would record their own takes at the same time. Just imagine, not just Michael Jackson releasing "Beat It" but Hall & Oates, Quincy Jones, James Ingram etc. jumping on the bandwagon in the same year.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
And that is what happened with this particular song. There may have been as many as 6 acts alone who had covered "Anata nara Dou Suru" between 1970 and 1971 along with Ishida herself. All of them were album tracks, though, with one of those singers being Jun Mayuzumi（黛ジュン）. Her clear take on the ballad has a bit more of a bossa nova feeling and is available on her 1970 album"Jiyu no Megami -- Mayuzumi Jun Big Hit wo Utau"（自由の女神 黛ジュン・ビッグ・ヒットを歌う...Goddess of Freedom -- Jun Mayuzumi Sings The Big Hits）.
Then there are the distinct vocal stylings of Naomi Chiaki (ちあきなおみ) who also recorded her version in the same year for her album "Ai wa Kizutsukiyasuku -- Chiaki Naomi Hit Pops wo Utau"（愛は傷つきやすく ちあきなおみ ヒット・ポップスをうたう...Love Hurts -- Naomi Chiaki Sings Hit Pops）. Ishida's plea for help is in there but it's bolstered by some of that ennui and smokiness that Chiaki is famous for.
And here is Nanno providing her take on the song as one of several actresses performing covers of Nakanishi kayo for a 2016 tribute album titled "Nakanishi Rei to 13-nin no Joyu-tachi"（なかにし礼と13人の女優たち...Rei Nakanishi and 13 Actresses）. This is a follow-up album from the previous year which featured 12 thespians.
Of course, we gotta put in the fine synth-vocal stylings of Miku Hatsune（初音ミク）. As for the success of the original "Anata nara Dou Suru", it peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and later became the 21st-ranked single for 1970. Ishida would also appear on the NHK Kohaku Utagassen for the 2nd straight time to sing this one after her inaugural performance on the New Year's Eve special with, of course, "Blue Light Yokohama". In total, she appeared on the show 10 times with her last appearance in 1993.
Man, I didn't realize that Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）had such a good run of consecutive No. 1s. Her string of chart-toppers ran from Single No. 6"Rakuen no Door"（楽園のDoor）which was released in January 1987, through her 11th single"Toiki de Net"（吐息でネット）, all the way to her 13th single"Aki kara mo, Soba ni ite"（秋からも、そばにいて...Stay by my Side, Also from the Fall） from October 1988...a good chunk of 2 years. And the powers-that-be really had her spitting out those singles within a relatively short period of time.
Also within that string was her 9th single"Aki no Indication" (Autumn Indication) from September 1987 which I had never heard before. Written by Eiko Kyo（許瑛子）and composed by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, that melody was the thing that hooked me since it sounded rather exotic for a lack of a better word. But then again, I have said that a number of the aidoru tunes from the late 1980s went farther afield in terms of their music; I guess that aidoru-dom was following in the footsteps of some of that exotic kayo which had been released a decade earlier.
The song sounds as if it took a bit of European into itself. And according to the J-Wiki article, Nanno herself had been interested in a 1960s song by Italian pop singer Wilma Goich titled "In un fiore"(In A Flower), so I gather that Hagita was inspired by some of that melody to create "Aki no Indication". As mentioned, it did hit No. 1 on Oricon and became the 33rd-ranked single of 1987. It was also used as the commercial song for the Cecil chocolate bar from Glico. Nothing says fall more than a piece of milk chocolate, apparently.
Consider this a follow-up to JTM's epic article on the 80s teen heroine show, "Sukeban Deka"（スケバン刑事）. My fellow collaborator from Hawaii mentioned this song in his article and I just wanted to talk a bit more about it.
First thing is that I want to congratulate Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）who arranged "Rakuen no Door" (Door to Paradise) for aidoru Yoko Minamino（南野陽子）who not only sang the song but also starred in the movie version of "Sukeban Deka" as Yoko Godai, the titular juvenile delinquent-turned-crimefighter. Hagita managed to get the song to melodically describe the psyche of just about everyone who has gone through the Sukeban Deka programme: the low thrumming synths showing the uncertain rough-and-tough-and-unfair life while the sweeping strings which gradually come in represent the regular feminine life that the girls most likely yearn for.
Megumi Ogura（小倉めぐみ）was responsible for the lyrics which also related not only the girls' sad from-the-outside-looking-in situation but also the hope that slowly but surely the day is coming when they will be passing through that door to paradise. As for Nanno, she sings "Rakuen no Door" in a way that reminded me of another sailor-suit-sporting girl with a weapon, Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）.
Released in January 1987, this was the aidoru's 6th single. It became the first of her 8 straight No. 1s in the late 80s and the song eventually became the 14th-ranked entry of the year.
(at about 5:00)
The man who originally composed the song, Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, gave his own distinctive spin on "Rakuen no Door" when he covered it for his 13th album, "Étranger" which came out in November 1987. His version wasn't City Pop but the arrangement by Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）transformed the saga of the bad girl-gone-good into a metropolitan sophisti-pop soother as if the heroine here were more of a countryside girl on the cusp of making it big in the even bigger city. The song sounded perfect for crooner Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）but Kisugi did just as well. Rather difficult to decide which version I like better.
I cracked open an old compilation LP of kayo kyoku from the 1980s that I hadn't heard in years some days ago. I bought it at ol' Wah Yueh and heard some old favourites but there were also some tracks that probably didn't really see too much daylight outside of the singers' really die-hard fans. One case in point was Yoko Minamino's （南野陽子）"Kamisama ga Inai Getsu" (The Month Without A God).
First off, I'm a bit uncertain about the title. Initially, I had thought that the last kanji there,「月」, was tsuki or moon. After all, I think in Japanese folklore, there is that story about Princess Kaguya returning to the moon, and in more recent culture, there is...well, the one....Sailor Moon. However I took a look through the lyrics but saw no mention of ol' Luna although there are references to a god. There is a message, though, of the year passing from summer to winter as it gets colder and a girl's fortunes seem to be waning. So perhaps that kanji might actually be standing for getsu or month. If any die-hard Nanno fan can elucidate, I would be very happy indeed.
"Kamisama ga Inai Getsu" is a track from Minamino's 4th album, "Garland", which was released in November 1987. Listening to it after so long on the old phonograph, I rather felt like a sommelier sampling a complex glass of Bordeaux. Although the song starts off on a fairly maudlin note with those strings and Nanno's vocals, it picks up in the refrain sounding like an old jaunty European ballad. At points, I wondered if this could've been sung by folks like Taeko Ohnuki （大貫妙子）or Reimy（麗美）, and I even thought whether the tune was a throwback to those kayo by Judy Ongg and Saki Kubota（久保田 早紀） from the late 70s which sent listeners to foreign climes. Definitely pretty interesting for an aidoru ballad. And as mentioned in the last paragraph, the lyrics by Megumi Ogura （小倉めぐみ）hold plenty of ennui for the poor young girl who feels that her god has abandoned her with the receding last rays of summer. Masayuki Kishi （岸正之）was responsible for the music.
As for "Garland", it was her only LP that would reach No. 1 on the charts although in the CD format, both it and a later release, "Gauche"(1989) would hit the top spot.
Thanks again to J-Canuck for letting me start up this new and hopefully regular feature entitled - 「テレビ 主題歌 テーマソング 特殊」 where I will be posting about various TV shows and their theme songs and/or soundtracks. For this posting I'd like to cover one of my favorite idol shows from the 80s, the cult adventure, idol drama series - 『スケバン刑事』.
With its outrageous stories, over-the-top plots, fetching heroines, melodramatic dialog, and campy Tokusatsu-like action "Sukeban Deka" would not only captivate Japanese teen audiences in the mid 80s but would also encourage production company東映/Toei to produce a number of other similar idol action shows such as 『 花のあすか組!』 (1988) and 『少女コマンドーIZUMI』 (1987) as well as inspire copycat shows like 『セーラー服反逆同盟』 (1986) and 『ポニーテールはふり向かない』 (1985). While taking a page from rival 大映/Daiei's hugely popular 大映テレビドラマ series like 「スチュワーデス物語」 (1983) and 「不良少女とよばれて」 (1984) with regards to making the story almost like a teen "Soap Opera", Toei would do them one better and incorporate trendy fashion, keen pop-culture references and a "Chart Topping" pop music soundtrack to the mix, making a winning formula that Daiei would ironically copy from Toei for their subsequent idol dramas such as 「ヤヌスの鏡」 (1985) and 「アリエスの乙女たち」 (1987). "Sukeban Deka" was also wickedly humorous in a very "tongue in cheek" way, from the gruff 関西/Kansai street-lingo catch phrases that heroine Asamiya Saki spouted out like - 「おまんら、許さんぜよ」 and 「せからしか! きさんら許さんわい! 」 to the flamboyant way she would display her 「桜 の ダイヤモンド」 police badge (contained in her Yo-Yo Weapon which she would reveal in an obvious homage to iconic classic series 『水戸黄門』), to the often times outrageous ways Asamiya Saki would take down her various opponents with her Yo-Yo, this series was definitely not for the overly serious.
Weapon of Choice - Sukeban Deka's Yo-Yo
『スケバン刑事』 "Sukeban Deka" began as a serialized manga series by 和田慎二/Wada Shinji which debuted in 白泉社/Hakusensha's 『花とゆめ』 a girl's anthology comic series in 1976. The idea for the series was suggested to Iwamoto by editors at Hakusensha who published a comment asking whether Iwamoto was interested in writing a story involving a "police woman".
From that simple idea, Wada crafted the premise for what would become "Sukeban Deka", a story about teen heroine 麻宮サキ/Asamiya Saki, a tough-as-nails "Sukeban" (Juvenile Delinquent) with a troubled past. Her mother had been imprisoned and sentenced to death for the murder of Saki's abusive biological father. Saki was desperate to free her mother from prison and was soon approached by the mysterious government official known only as 暗闇警視/Dark Inspector who offered Saki the opportunity to win her mother's freedom but only if she agreed to become "a secret police agent" for the Japanese government. With no other options left for her she agrees and is teamed up with private detective 神恭一郎/Jinkyo Ichiro to infiltrate Japanese high schools across the nation to solve various high profile youth crimes.
The first volume of the series lasted only one year after which Wada went on to write the boy hero fantasy manga 『ピグマリオ』. However editors wanted him to continue the "Sukeban Deka" series which had since generated a large and vocal loyal fan following. Wada is said to have replied that he would be willing to revisit "Sukeban Deka" only if his current series flopped. Sure enough as fate would have it, the "Pig Mario" series only lasted a year and true to his word Wada returned to do "Sukeban Deka" again. This time however Wada deviated from the standard crime-solving format of the first volume and instead weaved an even more elaborate plot for this "Second Volume". Saki would return to her former alma mater 鷹の羽高校/Washinoma High School to reinvestigate one of her very first cases which would ultimately lead her to encounter her greatest enemy and former friend 海槌麗巳/Mizuchi Remi who has since become a ruthless and sadistic criminal mastermind. Saki would also face against a renegade "Sukeban Deka" as well as a sinister phantom school government/student body organization known only as 青狼会/Seiroukai (Blue Wolf League).
When the "Sukeban Deka" manga series ended its run in 1983, 東映/Toei studios soon set about plans on adapting the manga into a TV drama series. Toei was not new to the seedy world of "スケバン" having practically invented a film sub-genre on the subject matter with its numerous sexploitation/teen violence movies collectively known in the West as "Pinky Violence" films. Such films such as the 『ズベ公番長』 series (1970-1971), 『女番長ゲリラ』 (1972), 『女番長』 series (1973-1974), 『恐怖女子高校』 series (1972-1973) and 『女番長ブルース』 series (1971-1972) among others focused on strong willed, steely and tough female protagonists who would make attempts of leading normal lives but who would ultimately be drawn back into their criminal pasts (generally by force or personal tragedy) only to be arrested again and/or have friends or lovers die in often violent clashes with other gangs, Yakuza organizations or the Police. Producing "Sukeban Deka" seemed like a natural fit for Toei. However since this would be adapted for TV, Toei opted to adjust the story to be more acceptable to family audiences catering especially towards younger teens.
Initially teen idol and singer 宇沙美ゆかり/Usami Yukari was offered the part of heroine Asamiya Saki but decided to pass on the role opting instead to star in the hyper-violence cult movie 「V.マドンナ大戦争」 (1985) which oddly enough also featured a story involving Sukebans.
Burgeoning young singing idol 斉藤由貴/Saito Yuki was next offered the role. Yuki had just released her debut single 「卒業」 that same year (1985) just four months earlier and it became an instant hit for her. The story was modified a bit from Iwamoto's orignal manga - Asamiya Saki (Saito Yuki) was the ruling Sukeban (Female Gang Leader) of Takanoha Gakuen High School where she caused no end of trouble (getting into fights, skipping classes and damaging property). Frustrated, her teachers soon had her arrested and incarcerated in Juvenile Detention. Ironically, her mother Natsu was also incarcerated on death row, charged with the murder of Saki's father, Asamiya Junya. Learning of her exploits, Saki was approached by the mysterious Kurayami Shirei/Dark Director (長門裕之/Nagato Hiroyuki) with a unique deal. If she would use her skills and talents and work for "The Cabinet" as an undercover juvenile agent, she would be pardoned of all her past crimes. She would also win her mother's freedom. Given no real choice, Saki grudgingly accepts the offer, although she doesn't fully trust Kurayami Shirei. Assigned a handler by the name of Jin Kyoichiro (中康次/Naka Koji), Saki would become the first recruit for the government's "Sukeban Deka Project". Her only weapon against the various juvenile gangs, Yakuza criminals and government subversives that she was assigned to stop, was a specially designed steel compound "Yo-Yo" which she would use as a throwing and grappling weapon. After a number of dangerous missions, Asamiya Saki seemingly perishes in a burning building while battling the beautiful but sinister Mizuchi Remi (高橋ひとみ/Takahashi Hitomi).
Cover for Sukeban Deka Vol. . 2 DVD courtesy of Supra70
While relatively short (only 22 episodes), the series was a huge hit for Toei and フジテレビ/Fuji TV (which broadcasted the series Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM).
Producers quickly set into motion plans for continuing the series.Yuki decided not to return to the role of Asamiya Saki opting to instead focus on her growing singing career. Another new young idol 南野陽子/Minamino Yoko (ナンノ) was selected to portay Asamiya Saki. Entitled 『スケバン刑事II 少女鉄仮面伝説』 "Sukeban Deka 2 -Shojo Tetsukamen Densetsu" - the Second Season begins a year later and focuses on a totally different girl, the reclusive Godai Yoko (ナンノ). Her tragic childhood began with the loss of her mother (she does not know who her father is). Since childhood, she was forced to wear an "Iron Mask" which made her life in the Kansai region of Japan, a virtual nightmare. A severely troubled student, she was constantly involved in fights at school and caused no end of trouble for her teachers. She was soon rescued by Nishiwaki (蟹江敬三/Kanie Keizou), Assistant Director of the "Sukeban Deka Project". He released Godai Yoko from her Iron Mask and offers her the opportunity to become the next "Sukeban Deka". She refuses at first but is given an offer she can't refuse when Nishiwaki offers to help her find her father in exchange for her services. In tribute to the first "Sukeban Deka", Godai would soon be given the alias "Asamiya Saki". Armed with Asamiya Saki's trademark steel "Yo-Yo", Godai Yoko begins her role as "Sukeban Deka" No. 2. Along the way Godai would meet and recruit two additional agents, the street-wise Osaka born Nakamura Kyoko AKA "Okyo" (相楽晴/子Sagara Haruko) and the refined Kyoto socialite Yajima Yukino (吉沢秋絵/Yoshizawa Akie). Together they would battle an assortment of evil subversives, youth gangs and other eccentric criminals.
Image courtesy of the Houkagou AKB48 Time Ameba Blog
L-R - Yoshizawa, Nanno and Sagara - Image courtesy of the Toei Channel website
Season Two would prove to be just as popular (if not more so) as the First Season and ナンノ's idol career would receive a tremendous boost with her starring role in this series. The series would prove so popular that Toei released a movie version of "Sukeban Deka" starring ナンノ in which she would battle the corrupt headmaster of a remote private school who in reality turned out to be a "Terminator"-like cyborg despot committed to bringing down the Japanese government. The movie also introduced us to another "Sukeban Deka" in training who would headline the Third Season.
As with Yuki, ナンノ opted to not return to "Sukeban Deka" after 42 episodes and instead went off to pursue other TV roles and continue her growing music career. Yet another newbie idol singer was recruited for the Third Season, this time in the way of petite 浅香唯/Asaka Yui. For the third series, producers decided to move away from the urban crime drama formula of the previous two seasons and instead go with a slightly more fantastical approach with the Third Series.
Inspired by the success of ショー・コスギ/Sho Kosugi's "Ninja" films like "Enter The Ninja" (1981), "Revenge of the Ninja" (1984), "Pray For Death" (1985) abroad, producers decided to include elments of "Ninjitsu" into the story (which also oddly enough contained elements inspired by George Lucas' "Star Wars" as well). Originally set to be called 『スケバン忍法帖』, the title was eventually simplified to just 『スケバン刑事III 少女忍法帖伝奇』 "Sukeban Deka III - Shojo Ninboucho Densetsu". After the events of 『スケバン刑事』"Sukeban Deka The Movie" (1987), Godai Yoko retires from the "Sukeban Deka Project" for a normal life. However a new and powerful threat emerges in the form of "The Emperor" who seemingly possess mystical and supernatural powers. Kurayami once again recruits another girl to join his "Sukeban Deka Project". He finds her in the form of Kyushu native and rural tough girl Kazama Yui (浅香唯) a tiny but spunky "Sukeban". She soon becames the "San Dai Me" (Number 3) Asamiya Saki. Yui is sent to Tokyo to meet up with her long lost sisters, Yuma (中村由真/Nakamura Yuma) whose weapon of choice were crochet needles and Yuka (大西結花/Onishi Yuka), whose weapons of choice was razor sharp metal 'Orizuru'. Together they form the 風間三姉妹 "Kazama San Shimai" (Three Kazama Sisters) and utilize Ninjitsu techniques in their battles with criminals. They soon discover that the "Emperor" is really their own father (who had mysteriously disappeared when they were born) and who had abducted Yui's twin sister who he has corrupted and whose psychic powers he has manipulated.
The Kazama San Shimai - Onishi, Yui and Nakamura. Image courtesy of the Toei Channel website.
Whether it was because of the fantastical 特撮/Tokusatsu elements, the bizarre and often confusing "Star Wars" influenced storyline or audiences finally tiring of the series, "Sukeban Deka III" didn't do as well as the previous seasons and producers ended the series for good in late 1987.
As a final hurrah, a second movie 『スケバン刑事 風間三姉妹の逆襲』 was released in early 1988. Distancing itself from the TV series, the movie took elements from the original "Sukeban Deka" manga and had the Kazama Sisters pitted against a corrupt police inspector and government bureaucrat (the always flamboyant 京本政樹/Kyomoto Masaki) and his personal army of teenage enforcers called the "学生刑事".
Interestingly elements from FAMICOM's/ファミリーコンピュータ tie-in video game 『スケバン刑事 風間三姉妹の逆襲』 also made their way into the storyline. Yet this wasn't the last we'd see of heroine Asamiya Saki.
In 1991, director ひろたたけし/Hirota Takeshi produced a three volume Anime OVA series called simply 『スケバン刑事』 which faithfully adapted parts of Wada's original manga series. Seiyu actress 伊倉一恵 who was the voice for 槇村香 in the 『シティーハンター』 series provided the voice for Asamiya
Saki.
The Many Faces of Asamiya Saki
It would not be until eighteen years later that we would again see a live action version of the series this time with 深作健太's 2006 feature film release of 『スケバン刑事 コードネーム=麻宮サキ』. While plans for another 『スケバン刑事』 had been rumored since the 1988 film, Toei producers were never quite able to come up with a good enough story. In fact, 『スケバン刑事 コードネーム=麻宮サキ』 was originally planned as a TV special, until producers opted to do a big screen movie adaptation instead in order to handle all the storyline elements and SFX requirements. Producers nearly shelved the project entirely as they didn't think they would be able to find someone good enough to follow in the footsteps of 斉藤由貴, 南野陽子 and 浅香唯, that was until someone suggested ハロー!プロジェクト pop idol 松浦亜弥/Matsuura Aya. あやや would prove to be an unusual choice but not only did she have the acting talent to pull off the role but her musical credentials gave her a bit of a nod and connection with her singing idol predecessors. In fact, Director Fukasaku would include a number of homages to the original TV series in his movie including a brilliant cameo by 斉藤由貴 who portrayed あやや's incarcerated mother character. With it's grittier storyline, Maurice Binder "James Bond" -inspired opening title sequence and more serious tone, the movie did very well and introduced a new generation of fans to the 80s series including foreign audiences as 『スケバン刑事 コードネーム=麻宮サキ』 was released on DVD in the U.S. by Magnolia Films in 2007 under the very campy title "Yo Yo Girl Cop" (the first two movies were also released in the U.S. by Tokyo Shock in 2008).
Ayaya as Asamiya Saki in full battle suit mode. Courtesy of BluePhobo Image Gallery
The soundtrack for the 『スケバン刑事』 TV series was absolutely terrific with each of the three stars contributing songs to serve as the ending theme song their respective season shows.
My personal favorite of the bunch is 斉藤由貴's 「白い炎」 which was the ED song to Season One. The song was written/composed by singer/songwriter and 安全地帶 frontman 玉置浩二/Tamaki Koji, with arrangements by producer and "Kōkua" member 武部聡志/Takabe Satoshi (who also produced Yuki's debut single "Sotsugyo") with lyrics by 森雪之丞/Mori Yukinojou of the rock group ピカソ. It took all but two week to debut in the Top 5 オリコン charts and was another big hit for Yuki. With its melancholy lyrics and somewhat edgier rock sound it proved to be the ideal song for the series.
ナンノ would contribute a number of songs to serve as ED songs for her season starting with 「悲しみモニュメント」. Written by 来生えつこ/Kisugi Etsuko and composed by 鈴木キサブロー/Suzuki Kisaburo with additional arrangements by 新川博/Shinkawa Hiroshi, this song was ナンノ's third single release and was her very first Top 10 オリコン hit. Songwriter Kisugi originally wrote the song as a 'graduation' song marking the turning point in a teenager's life where they would leave friends and family to go off into the world. ナンノ would name this as her personal favorite and would include it in her "Best Hits" collections as well as perform the song at most of her concerts.
「風のマドリガル」 was ナンノ's 4th single release and was another Top Ten オリコン hit for her (reaching No. 5 on the charts). The song was written by prolific songwriter 湯川 れい子 (who would also compose such great songs as 小林明子's 「恋におちて -Fall in love-」 and 中森明菜 's 「SOLITUDE」) with lyrics by 井上大輔 and arrangements by the legendary 萩田光雄 who also contributed his talents on such hits as あみん's 「待つわ」, 中森明菜's 「 飾りじゃないのよ涙は」 and 「少女A」 中山美穂's 「BE-BOP-HIGHSCHOOL」 and 「C」 and 山口百恵's 「 横須賀ストーリー」 and 「イミテイション・ゴールド」. By the way, the マドリガル/madrigal in the title refers to a medieval short lyrical poem
Other notable songs used within the various episodes include ナンノ's 2nd single 「さよならのめまい」, cast mates 吉沢秋絵's「季節はずれの恋」 and 相楽ハル子's 「ヴァージン・ハート」.
ナンノ's 6th single 「楽園のDoor」 would be featured prominently in the first 『スケバン刑事』 movie which debuted on Valentine's Day 1987. It eventually went on to become a No. 1 オリコン hit for her. The song was composed by 小倉めぐみ with lyrics by 来生たかお and arranged by 萩田光雄.
(Sorry, but the above is a karaoke version.)
Former おニャン子クラブ/Onyanko Club member 福永恵規/Fukunaga Satomi's 「ハートのIgnition」 "Heart No Ignition" was initially used for Season 3's ED song before Asaka Yui's 6th single release 「STAR」 was chosen as the ED for the series starting from Ep. 8. "Star" would be Yui's first Top Ten オリコン hit since her debut in 1985. The song was composed by 有川正沙子/Arikawa Masako (who also wrote 1986 Omega Tribe's hit "Kimi Wa Sen Percent") with lyrics by タケカワユキヒデ/Takekawa Yukihide and arrangements by 鷺巣詩郎/Sagisu Shiro.
Asaka Yui also contribute two additional songs to the soundtrack - her 7th single「瞳にSTORM」 "Hitomi Ni Storm" (which would be the ED song for the "Sukeban Deka" Special - Ep. 31) and her 8th single「虹のDreamer」 "Niji No Dreamer" (which would be the ED song for Ep. 32-37).
While "Hitomi Ni Storm" would be another hit for Yui, reaching No. 4 on the Oricon charts, she would finally get her first No. 1 Oricon hit with "Niji No Dreamer". "Niji No Dreamer" was another great song composed by 湯川れい子/Yukawa Reiko with lyrics by 井上大輔/Inoue Daisuke and arrangments by 新川博/Shinkawa Hiroshi (who worked on such hits such as ラ・ムー's - 「少年は天使を殺す」, 本田美奈子's 「1986年のマリリン」, 早見優's 「PASSION」, 小林麻美's 「雨音はショパンの調べ」, 荻野目洋子's 「六本木純情派」, 刀根麻理子's 「デリンジャー」 and 中原めいこ's 「君たちキウイ・パパイヤ・マンゴーだね」.
Yui and co-stars Nishino Yuka and Nakamura Yuma would collaborate on the song 「Remember」 which was the ED for the final few episodes of the series (Ep. 38-42). Releasing the song under their "Sukban Deka" alias - 風間三姉妹/Kazama San Shimai, the single would reach No. 1 on the オリコン charts for October 1987. It would be a another career highlight for Yui but would particularly be a vindication for Yuka and Yuma (being their first No.1 hit). The song was composed by 湯川れい子/Yukawa Reiko with lyrics by 来生たかお/Kisugi Takao with arrangement by 中村哲/Nakamura Satoshi.
(cover version)
Yuma and Yuka would contribute some of their other songs to various episodes of Season 3 included Yuma's 「ジレンマ」 "Dilemma", 「シビアー」 "Severe" and 「パニック〜I'm in Panic〜」"Panic-I'm In Panic" and Yuka's 「シャドウハンター」"Shadow Hunter", 「チャンスは一度だけ」"Chance Wa Ichido Dake" and 「哀しみのシャングリラ」"Kanashimi No Shangri-La".
For the 2nd "Sukeban Deka" movie, all three would contribute songs to its soundtrack. Yui's contribution would be her 9th single 「Believe Again」 was written by 麻生圭子/Aso Keiko (whose credits include 小比類巻かほる's signature hit 「Hold On Me」, 中森明菜's 「BLONDE」, and 小泉今日子's 「100%男女交際」 with composition by Nakazaki Hideya (whose credits include AIRMAIL from NAGASAKI's 「メロスのように ～LONELY WAY～」, BaBe's 「I Don't Know」 and 原田知世's 「早春物語」. It would be another オリコン Top Ten hit for her (reaching No. 2 on the charts for January 1988). Yuma would contribute the song 「ミモザの奇蹟」 "Mimosa No Kiseki" while Yuka's contribution would be 「君の夢に飛びたい」 "Kimi No Yume Ni Tobi Tai".
For the Anime OVA, Rock musician 謝花義哲/Shabana Yoshinori's song 「絆 KIZYNA」 would be used as the theme song.
あやや and fellowハロー!プロジェクト idol singer 藤本美貴/Fujimoto Miki would team-up to sing the theme song 「Thanks!」 for 『スケバン刑事 コードネーム=麻宮サキ』. Under the duo name "GAM" (which was an acronym for Great Aya x Miki) a play on the old English slang for "Pretty Legs", the unit would be yet another invention from the mind of producer, singer and Morning Musume mastermind つんく♂. The song, written and composed by つんく♂ with arrangements by Japanese Heavy Metal band "Earthshaker" vocalist 西田昌史/Nishida Masafumi, would do relatively well reaching No. 5 on the Oricon charts for September 2006.
The B-Side single「蜃気楼ロマンス」 "Shinkirou Romance" would also be included in the film. This song would also do reasonably well, reaching No. 5 on the Oricon charts.
Oddly enough Hello! Project group 美勇伝/Vuuden would not contribute a song to the soundtrack for the movie even though its members 石川梨華/Ishikawa Rika, 三好絵梨香/Miyoshi Erika and 岡田唯/Okada Yui feature prominently in the movie.
In 2003, Wada would write a manga sequel to the original series entitled「スケバン刑事if」 "Sukeban Deak if" which would bring back the character of Asamiya Saki as well as other prominent characters from the orginal series. The manga was released through publisher Media Factory.
In 2011 members from AKB48 and its subgroups SKE48 would form the unit スケバンGirls "Sukeban Girls" in homage to 風間三姉妹 and release a song entitled 「突っ張る理由」 "Tsuboru Riyuu" which would be used for the Pachinko Game「びっくりぱちんこスケバン刑事」 "Bikuri Pachinki Sukeban Deka". The unit would be comprised of 大島優子/Oshima Yuuko (from AKB48チームK), 河西智美/Kasai Tomomi (from AKB48チームB) and 松井玲奈/Matsui Reina (from SKE48チームS).
There are a few CDs available which feature all the songs from the 『スケバン刑事』 series, the best of which is Sony's release 2006 release - 「スケバン刑事 ラスト・メモリアル~麻宮サキよ永遠に~」 which features most of the songs from all three seasons. Independent label SMD would release individual BGM soundtracks for each season -「スケバン刑事 オリジナル・サウンドトラック」,「スケバン刑事II 少女鉄仮面伝説 オリジナル・サウンドトラック」, and「スケバン刑事III 少女忍法帖伝奇 オリジナル・サウンドトラック」, however all three are currently OOP.
In addition two separate CDs were released for Season 3 - 「スケバン刑事III 完結篇」 and フォーライフ ミュージックエンタテイメント's 「スケバン刑事III~少女忍法帖伝奇~」 however these are also currently OOP.
An original soundtrack to the first movie was released by株式会社ソニー・ミュージックレコーズ called 「 『スケバン刑事 』 オリジナル・サウンドトラック」 but this is currently OOP.
A movie soundtrack and BGM CD was also released by independent label ビー!スマイル entitled 「劇場版・スケバン刑事 YOHKO MINAMINO オリジナル・サウンドトラック 」. The same company released a companion CD for the second movie entitled「劇場版・スケバン刑事 風間三姉妹の逆襲 オリジナル・サウンドトラック」. Both are OOP.
Yet another CD was released for the second movie entitled「スケバン刑事・風間三姉妹の逆襲」.
Lastly a CD omnibus was released by ポニーキャニオン entitled「女性アイドル主演ドラマ 本人歌唱主題歌スペシャル ~「スケバン刑事(デカ)」から「ポワトリン」まで~」 which not only features song from all three seasons of the TV show but also has songs from other Toei Teen Heroine shows such as 「花のあすか組」, 「美少女仮面ポワトリン」, 「セーラー服と機関銃」 and my personal favorite 「少女コマンドーIZUMI」.
Oddly there's no official soundtrack album for the 『スケバン刑事 コードネーム=麻宮サキ』 movie.
"Sukeban Deka" is one of those rare gems of a programs that just had that special quality about it that has made it an endearing series years after its debut. While I admit that some of the various individual episodes were a bit uneven, the series as a whole proved to be very entertaining and memorable. All three movies were great and I was particularly surprised at how much I enjoyed the 2006 reboot with あやや. It's been six years since we last saw "Sukeban Deka" either on TV or at the movies but I'll bet that this isn't the last we have heard from Asamiya Saki. As the character has proven both in the manga and in the TV series, she will endure and return again and I for one will be looking forward to seeing what the future will hold for "Sukeban Deka".
