Just for Fun: Hikaru Sticker Set!

 Not sure where this whimsical sticker set originally came from ( I personally got it from a collector on ebay) , but by the little info in the bottom corner, it's an official Manase Pro Nishida Hikaru Collectible!

Sophisticated "Yancha" Lady '95 One Sheet

 One Sheet promo for Hikaru's Sophisticated "Yancha" Lady Concert Tour, her latest single "C'mon3", album A File Of Life as well as a single she made with Sweet Beat Swing (the awesome vocal duo guy and girl who accompanied Hikaru in concert) , the bubbly "Go! Paradise!"

Never was able to get my hands on this single and it wasn't until Hikaru's Complete Singles Collection that I finally got the song! Hikaru and Sweet Beat Swing performed this on the Sophisticated Yancha Lady Concert laserdisc, such a great song !!!

"A File Of Life" Flyer

 An 8x10 promotional flyer advertising Hikaru's new single C'Mom3, her new album A FILE OF LIFE, and her new concert laserdisc "Sohphisticated Yancha Lady"!

A Wonderful Addition To My Hikaru Nishida Collection!

As one of my all-time top favorite J-pop artists ever, I am always on the lookout for books, magazines and collectibles for my humble Hikaru Nishida collection, and just the other month I came across a real find- a Hikaru Nishida PROGRAM from her 1995 "Sohpisticated Yancha Lady" Tour!!!

Though I have many, many Tour Programs some from concerts I've attended and some which I acquired through music shops (mostly Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks stuff), this was the first time I'd ever seen one for a Japanese Artist, much less one I LOVED!

I wasted NO TIME purchasing it, and just the other week it came in! Such a striking collectible- as programs go, this is HUGE, filled with pages and pages of beautiful Hikaru photos and pin-ups!

Additionally, this package included a few MORE collectibles: A couple of Hikaru flyers promoting her "A File Of Life" Album release (though on the sheet it calls it simply "Of Life"???) , two one-sheets promoting her "Sophisticated Lady" Concert release, and  as well as an 8x10 sticker sheet! Not sure if these came with the Program initially or the seller just threw 'em in to sweeten the deal, but You can bet I was in seventh heaven!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Goro 1991 04.25

 

My Hikaru Nishida Collection (So Far!)

After watching my Hikaru Nishida PV Collection video (twice!), I just HAD to dig up all my Hikaru Goods, and decided to take pics of 'em all! In celebration of the this awesome Nishida Hikaru DVD release, I present my entire Nishida Hikaru Collection along with its new addition!

Updated: 07/13

First up, my Nishida Hikaru 3cm Singles Collection…

Then Albums, EPs and Maxi-Singles…

Hikaru Photobooks and Magazines:

And my Hikaru Videos including the *new* DVD Collection!!!

Just about the only thing I wish they could have included were the commercial inserts that were in the original two video clip collections because those were just as fun to watch as the videos themselves! But I’l still pleased as punch here- So NICE to see my favorite Pony Canyon Idol girls in DVD format! Now if only RIBBON can FINALLY get a DVD treatment of their own, I will be SET!

* This Single was a song Hikaru sang with a group called Sweet Beat Soul, MAN, whatever happened to these guys? They accompanied Hikaru on a couple of her later concerts and they were SOOOO GOOD! The guy and girl had such beautiful voices, they really gave the concerts an added PUNCH!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

My 25th Anniversary Nishida Hikaru DVD Collection Arrives!!

Whooohooo~! As you can see, my CD Japan package came in today, and so for the very first time, a DIGITAL DVD enters my Nishida Hikaru Collection!!! So excited! Not only do I get to FINALLY see the clips from her first two video collections in crisp digital form, but also the later clips which would have filled her third video collection, if they had ever made one, that is!

From her First Video collection, we have

1. Fifteen

2. Nice Catch!

3. Oh My God!! Da Ne~

4. Tokimeite

5. Ikkiterutte Subarashi

6. Kagayaki! Kudasai

And then from her Second Video collection, we have,

7. Namida Tomaranai

8. Kitto Aiga Aru

9. Jinsei Kaechyau Natsu Kamone

10. C’Mon3

11. Go! Paradise*

12. Watashi No No.1

And then her later releases, including a few I’d never even seen before: 

13. Melody

14. Aa Honto Yannachyau

15. Love Is Changing

16. Dan Dan Musume

17. Pure

18. As Pure As

19. Sorairo

And then we come to a handful of Live Clips from Hikaru’s Video Concerts:

Pun Pun Pun (from Manatsu No Surprise Concert 1990)

Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt and

Kokoro Dake Sobani Iru~Here In My Heart

(from Manatsu Jouzu LADY vol. 2 Concert 1992)

Burning Tonight and

Jinsei Kaechyau Natsu Kamone

(from Live Two-Four 1996 Concert)

And one extra bonus that was so cool that I didn’t even know about was that Hikaru herself doing VIDEO COMMENTARY along with a few other people from the MANASEPRO team about the clips as they played! It’s times like this that I REALLY wish I understood Japanese better! Had to watch the clips mostly guessing what they were talking about, oooh, subs would have been SO NICE! Still, a very nice bonus!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Nishida Hikaru / Kokoro Dake Sobani Iru~Here In My Heart

 With Hikaru coming back with her brand new single after all this time, I’ve been getting back into Nishida Hikaru in a BIG way, digging out all of my concerts and CDs, and have even been going online to hunt for any live television performances that may have been uploaded since I checked last! 

Well, this time I REALLY lucked out because there was this extremely awesome person who had uploaded a whole TON of awesome classic (re: early 80’s) performances from some of my most favorite artists including CoCo, Moritaka Chisato and Ribbon and among them all were four live clips of Hikaru, and in clear audio and crisp definition to boot! 

  Not only were these of such high quality, they happened to be some of my favorite songs, and at the top of the list was a song I’d NEVER seen performed live, her wonderful song Kokoro Dake Sobani Iru~Here In My Heart…MAN,watching this performance just hit me right in the feels and reminded me of why this girl is one of my favorite artists of all time! 

Back in the days when I was first getting into Hikaru and everything was new, I had chosen some of her albums (recorded onto cassette for my walkman) as my traveling companions for my long bus ride home from work, and her album “Esprit” was on as I made my way through my neighborhood towards home.

  By the time I’d reached my house, I’d listened to most of the album and was about to remove my earphones, when the keyboard chimes for the song Kokoro Dake Sobani Iru began, and it sounded so gentle and sweet, instead of turning the walkman off and going in the house, I sat in our garage listening to the whole song. What a sweet, comforting song, with sweet vocals and a guitar refrain that reminded me ever so slightly of CoCo’s “Wedding”, I was entranced!

  By then, the sun had begun to set, and the entire garage had taken on that hazy, orangey effect and I just had this warm, comfortable feeling as I sat there with that beautiful song playing. When it ended, I finally turned off the tape player and went in, but I couldn’t shake that magical feeling, and from then on, I always tried to listen to that song and album during the evenings to retain that warm, fuzzy feeling!

  Eventually, Esprit became my favorite CD from Hikaru, and one day listening to it I realized that not only was Kokoro Dake Sobani Iru my favorite song on the ALBUM, it was in fact my favorite song from her EVER! That feeling I had listening to it watching the sun set that one evening is the same feeling I now get listening to almost ALL of her albums, and I consider that period of my life a very special one, indeed!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Hikaru Nishida "Just Lovin'" is HERE!!!!

My Nishida Hikaru CD "Just Lovin'" Comes in Today!!!

YATTTTTTAAAAA!!!! Just spent the day off listening to some of my beloved Hikaru Nishda CDs (this time A File Of Life, Love For All Seasons and 2-4) and came home to the most AWESOMEST of surprises waiting for me on my doorstep- her brand new CD Just Lovin' arrived today!!!! WHOOOHOOO

Aw man, can't stay long to write much since I am going to go out cruising and listen to this album RIGHT AFTER I post this entry up! Already heard some of it through her promotional video clip, can't WAIT to hear how the whole Maxi-Single sounds!!!! 
OK, SEEYA!!!!

Hikaru Nishida "Just Lovin' Back Booklet Pic

EDIT:

Okay, just back from giving the album a few whirls, and AW YEAH, Just Lovin' is so damn GOOD! Man, I was happy to hear that she sounds exactly like the Hikaru I know and love; Her voice as warm and carefree sounding as ever, and these happy, upbeat tunes could have EASILY been on her earlier Pony Canyon releases, that’s how much she’s retained her signature sound!!!

From the album’s opening with “Egao No Tane~ Seeds Of Smile”, I was beaming from ear to ear (so I guess that song really DID have the power of growing smiles!), parts of the song even reminded me of her super-catchy “Dear My Soul”, but it was all mixed into this fresh new tune!

Followed by the cool, relaxing “Nagisa No Gradation” with its gentle samba “Antonio Carlos Jobim” vibe, this was perfect for driving along the beachside (which was good since that was EXACTLY what I was doing!) Note the appropriate picture accompanying the lyrics inside the booklet!!

When I read the tracklisting for the EP and saw “Over The Rainbow” coupled with “What A Wonderful World”, my first thought was, “Hey, is Hikaru doing a cover of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole? Shrugged it off, but when she began singing, I began LAUGHING, for that’s EXACTLY what it was! Though her version is so bright, summery and GENKI that I didn’t recognize it at first, the vocal arrangement is pure IZ (even down to the tru-hoo-hoooo’s), and this made Hikaru’s cover have a bit of a “Hawaii” flavor to it which was like an added BONUS for me! 

Gotta say that when the fourth and fifth tracks were only karaoke tracks, I was SOOO disappointed that my time with Hikaru had ended! NO problem- I went back to the beginning and listened to the CD TWO MORE TIMES before getting home!!! BTW, when I got in the car and first took the CD out to put in the deck, I realized there was one more picture of pretty Hikaru hidden behind the disc! Had to dig out my camera again to capture that!

Awesome CD, Hikaru, looking forward to many more!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Nishida Hikaru PV on DVD!!!

With this flurry of recent Hikaru Nishida activity going on regarding her  mini-tour and Maxi Single "Just Lovin", I thought it would be a good idea to check up on her CD Japan status to see if any other new releases were scheduled- and WHADDAYA Know?!! Hikaru's FINALLY releasing her PV Collection on DVD!!! WHy, I had JUST been watching some of her videos from her VHS Twin Collection- SOOOOSTOKED to finally have these clips in "hard" format!!!

  Taking a look at the cover of the DVD, it doesn't look like much- just a collage of screencaps from her various videos over the years, but then I looked closer and had to LAUGH as I spotted something that made this cover pretty COOL for me!!!
   Awhile ago, I had mentioned that Hikaru had shot her video "Kitto Aiga Aru" here in my state of Hawaii, and not only did she film it in my hometown, at some point in the video, she rides her bicycle right past my house! I call this my "Greatest Hikaru Moment"and screencapped it here:

Hikaru-chan rides right past my apartment!

Well, imagine my surprise when I saw that the very same scene featured on the cover of the Nishida Hikaru DVD Collection- Hikaru riding her bicycle with my apartment right behind her!!! LOLOLOL! Yes, True Believers, however miniscule- MY HOME IS ON THE COVER OF A NISHIDA HIKARU DVD!!!!

LOLOL, Okay, Okay, looks like the image CD Japan had up was only one of them "temporary" image holders and the actual cover of the Hikaru DVD will look a lot more...professional! AHAHA

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

New Nishida Hikaru CD Single Almost Here!!!

Just Lovin' Ready for Pre-Order!!!

After spending the day listening to some of my favorite Hikaru Nishida CDs (19 Dreams, Love Always and Sundance), I was pleasantly surprised to come home to find that her brand new CD Maxi-Single Just Lovin’ (which I’d been waiting for release date news since March 1st!) is not only already available for pre-order, but is set for release in less than two weeks!!!
You best believe that when I saw the CD single up on the amazon site, I pre-ordered that thing RIGHT AWAY and now am eagerly waiting for May 31st to arrive so I can dive into my new Nishida Hikaru Goodness!!! OH My gosh, check out the promotional video here- Hikaru sounds jsut as fantastic as EVER!!!! I LOVE this girl!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com