Moriguchi Hiroko – “I am here thanks to Gundam”

Moriguchi Hiroko (51) was recently interviewed by Friday Digital and the singer said, “I am here thanks to Gundam.  I was saved every time I faced adversity”.

Her album “GUNDAM SONG COVERS” which was released back on August 7th debuted at #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it was the first time in the top 10 for her in 28 years and two months.

Moriguchi debuted at the age of 17 with the song “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete” which was the theme song for “Mobile Suit Z Gundam”.

While the song was a hit, at the time, the anison scene was quiet and wasn’t really promote at music stores.

In 1991, Moriguchi sung the theme song “ETERNAL WIND” for the animated film “Kidou Senshi Gundam F91” and the song became a smash hit debuting at #9 on the Oricon Weekly Charts.

And from 1991, she would perform for six consecutive years on the year end music special, “Kouhaku Uta Gassen”.

But there was a time when Moriguchi hit bottom, as she would average 3 hours of sleep and it affected her physical condition.

Moriguchi said, “There was one bad year.  Relationships, work and romance all suddenly went wrong.  But my mother told me at the end of the day, ‘Thank the people around me’.  At first, I was only able to laugh, but I started to think about it and things started to take a turn again when I was able to smile”.

In 2018, Moriguchi sung the song “Torikago no Shonen” for the pachinko game “CR Fever Kidou Senshi Z Gundam” and the song was #1 on on Recochoku and ranked #1 in GYAO!’s MV Daily ranking.  And on NHK’s “All Gundam Major Voting” poll, her debut song “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete” beat out 360 songs taking first place as voted by fans.

As for her album debuting at #3 on the Oricon Charts, Moriguchi said, “I am full of gratitude.  This is an album filled with history for fans who have overcome challenges in various eras!  Thanks to the staff and everyone.  Gundam theme songs have saved me, I will continue to sing the songs even as an 80-year-old oba-chan”.

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