Eriko Tamura: A Glimpse of the Past and the Future

August 10, 2007 on 12:08 am | In Articles, Website Updates |

It is little known that Legendary Idol Eriko is actually based on a real-life singer by the same name. Tamura made her debut as a teen idol singer the same year (1989) with the opening them of the series, ‘Namida no Hanbun‘ (Half My Tears). Oddly, her real-life debut was a lot similar to her debut in the anime; it was very sudden and surprised people around her. She was always known to have a beautiful smile and hence the ‘perfect idol’, who loved cats and baking sweets. The anime was a made to promote the career of this cute singer, who then ruled the nation with her heartwarming performances and charm. Her favorite artists, the renowned Japanese singer duo, Chage and Aska, acted as her inspiration: ‘My dream is to have Mr. Chage and Aska listen to my songs’.

Earlier in the 80s, the well-known commercial success, Magical Angel Creamy Mami, was made for the same reason: to promote the career Takako Ohta. However, there are some big differences in the way the two different studios decided to promote their respective singer via the same means, which he have analysed here.

Tamura was not only a leading teen idol of her time (nickname ‘TamTam Elilin’) but went on to becoming a very successful actress in Japan, probably becoming more successful as an actress than as a singer. She moved to the US later and is currently living in LA. Making her Hollywood debut in early 2006, it has now been made public that she is to play the role of a Japanese princess, Yaeko, in the upcoming season of NBC’s superhit show Heroes. Beating even Miss Universe, Riyo Mori, over a very tough audition, our heroine continues to thrive in her career. We have included a ‘Info‘ section (as you can see on the panel above) which contains links to sites about her and will be listing our articles and hopefully a Eriko Tamura photo gallery soon.

Taken from the MetaPhysics Blog:

Once she was known as Legendary Idol Eriko, a fictional anime series based on her own pop success in Japan around 1990. But Eriko Tamura suddenly disappeared in 2001, moving to Los Angeles instead to break into Hollywood. Six years on, the 34-year-old actress-singer has snagged what is arguably her biggest role to date - a Japanese princess in the new season of the hugely popular sci-fi series Heroes. Little else is known about her character, but she could possibly be the next Japanese breakout star of the show, after Masi Oka, who plays the time-travelling dude Hiro Nakamura. Eriko’s name was announced last week as part of the new cast line-up for the upcoming second season of Heroes, reported Reuters.

Until now, she has only dabbled in minor roles in small-time films, directed by Joel Silverman last year.She writes a blog entitled Eriko Tamura’s LA Diary, chronicling her daily life and how she goes for various auditions. Eriko is also a host and producer for the LA-BASED JATV (Japan America Television) and she travels to Japan often to participate in ad hoc projects. Back home, she used to be ranked alongside ’90s pop idols Rie Miyazawa and Chisato Moritaka. She had shot to fame with her debut in 189, after winning a singing contest two years earlier. She had 10 albums and starred in 15 dramas and was once the face of cosmetics giant Kanebo. In an interview with the US-based Asiance magazine in June last year, Eriko said that she hopes to maintain her profile in both countries.

“I have has a successful career in Japan, but I am just beginning to find my way here in Hollywood,” she said. “Hopefully in the coming years, I will be more involved in LA and less involved with Tokyo. However, I don’t ever want to fully leave the Japanese market. I’d always like to have a foot in both countries.” But she knows it would not be easy. She acknowledged that “there are a lot of really talented Asian American actors and actresses vying for the limited roles available”. Heroes could be the edge she needs to make a more lasting impression. But when it comes to men, Eriko said at a movie premiere in Tokyo last year that she still prefers to date Japanese guys.

Meanwhile, Miss Universe Riyo Mori, 21, is also hoping to ride on the Heroes wave. Riyo recently revealed that she auditioned to play Masi’s new love interest Yaeko in the new season, reported Associated Press. “I’ve never acted before. I went to the casting audition and read a script in English and Japanese, and they said it was really good. So I hope I can be in the show.” It is know known yet if she has won the role, but the ballerina who lived in Canada for three years did say that “I have a samurai soul”. And the new season of Heroes has a lot to do with the ficitonal samurai warrior Takezo Kensei, who is Hiro’s childhood hero. Intriguingly, he is played not by a Japanese talent, but American actor David Anders of Alias fame.