Noriko Ishikawa

**Noriko Ishikawa** is a main female protagonist of the *Wonderland* series of *Wasteland 2011*. She is friends with Mikado Ryuugamine, Masaomi Kida, Anri Sonohara, and Chiharu Hashimoto.

## Appearance and Personality

### Appearance

Noriko has long black hair to her high back with messy bangs, brown eyes, and a mole under her left eye. In *Dark Alice in Dark Wonderland*, she sports a curly ponytail to the right of her head. She's got a round face with visible cheekbones. Noriko also has little plump lips and a slender nose. Aside from her Raira school uniform, her outfit consists of a lacy white top and jeans. In her past life, she looked mostly the same.

### Personality

On the surface, Noriko seems like a normal teenage girl. However, there are hints that she might be mentally unstable. It is implied that she can be suicidal. So much so that her friends are always trying to protect her. She doesn't like anyone trying to control her, like Yuki and her therapists. Still, recent events could be sending her on the verge of another psychological breakdown. Things get worse after the Seven Deadly Sins have their powers back. It is hinted that she might have another personality inside of her. It is revealed in *Black Swan Wonderland* that Noriko is scared of mirrors and will cover them up.

## Back Story

Izaya Orihara and Junko Nakahara keep saying that Noriko's personal information on her files are either missing or fake. Yuki had her on medication and going to therapy ever since she was a child. During the sessions, she wouldn't talk about what was wrong with her with her therapists. It is also hinted that she might be the reason that her two previous therapists are missing. Noriko was on medication before the series started and she decided to stop taking it.

### Life as Hya-chan

In her past life, Hya-chan was happily married to Makoto and her son in the countryside. Before that, the couple had a brief courtship. In a dream, Hya-chan made a wish to an angel that Makoto would fall in love with her. In return, she gave the angel her favorite charm necklace as payment. When she woke up, Hya-chan didn't think much about it and thought it was just a dream. Overtime, the couple fell in love. Makoto took her out to see the fireflies one night.

She was good friends with Artemis. They met while Artemis was on vacation in Japan. The goddess found Hya-chan in her garden after she heard her singing. It was love at first sight for Artemis. She ended up watching long enough to get Hya-chan's attention. Artemis had to make up an excuse of needing directions to get the bus station. As a result, the goddess would come to visit her every morning at the fence. Artemis would leave before anyone else came to the house. The women grew close and soon Artemis would come into the house to visit.

However, things took a turn for the worse after Hya-chan's son died. She sank into depression because of it. She cried all of the time, stopped eating, lost interest into things she loved, and even stopped going to church. It got so bad that Hya-chan acted like the child was still alive. With nowhere else to go, Makoto committed her to Chou Mori Intuition. Hya-chan was there from January 1987 to August 1987. While there, Katsuhiro Kitano was her therapist. He decided to try and kill God. When he failed, that triggered the starting steps to the apocalypse game.

In August 1987, Makoto came to pick up his wife. However, things took a turn for the worst when they ended up in the middle of a protest that led to many dead. The couple tried to get away, but Hya-chan tripped and fell. Makoto tried to go back for his wife, but he gets scared by the Woman in Red and Hisayo Isobe. Eventually, Hya-chan became a player in the game. She made a deal with the Woman in Red and ended up using her body. Her soul managed to escape by leaving her body and Artemis ended up dragging her far away. Since then, Hya-chan fell into the same cycle.

## Storyline History

### Waking Up in Wonderland

Noriko appears to be having nightmares again. Her guardian, Yuki, tries to figure out why, but she pushes her away annoyed while making her lunch. Noriko also attended therapy begrudgingly. It is implied that the disappearance of her two previous therapists and the murder of the boss who ran the place might be connected to her.

### Distorted Wonderland

Noriko's dreams begin to get more real around her. She is annoyed when Shimamoto-sensei starts asking about Yuki's whereabouts. She clearly didn't care what happened to her guardian and left without giving him anything to work with on where Yuki disappeared to.

### Wonderland Carnival

Junko Nakahara calls Noriko to her office to talk about why some information was missing from her file. The girl denied that anything was missing. The nurse leaned down and whispered something in her ear, causing her to freeze and break down.

Noriko and her friends meet Ringo. The freshman girl seems too eager to latch onto the group. Eventually, the girls befriend Ringo. They even go to her house for tea and sweets after school. Later, things took a darkened turn when Ringo took them to the hospital to meet her younger brother. Noriko, Anri, and Chiharu stood horrified as a caterpillar clown-faced monster sprung up from the bed and bit off Ringo's head.

Later, Noriko's dreams keep pulling into reality she finds herself first seeing a carousal and then the blackened schoolgirl trying to grab her. She tried to get back to her room but found herself in an old-time carnival, seeing the blackened schoolgirl, and her in an operating room. In the season finale, Noriko sees the so-called widow.

### Happy Wonderland

Noriko and her friends all received an e-mail from an unknown address. The message read "April is the cruellest month, breeding". She called Mikado and he did a quick Google search to find T.S. Eliot's *The Waste Land*. Days later, Noriko found an old razor blade hiding in her bathroom. She began remembering cutting herself and trying to commit suicide. During which, Mikado called her and calmed her down. Suddenly, he asked her if she had eaten. Junko kept pressing Noriko about her dreams and trying to get her to remember older memories.

Later on, Noriko's friends begin to worry about her after watching video clips on memory sticks they received in a big box. She overheard Mikado and Masaomi talking about her slowly breaking down. They cause her to wonder and remember all of the scars on her arms. It doesn't help that Izaya asked her the same questions that Junko did under the pretense of looking for his lost phone. During dinner five days before Christmas thanks to Etsuko's Mnemosyne, Noriko remembers her scars on her body, starving herself thin, and getting to kill herself. However, she also began to remember find memories of a man smelling like oranges and seeing the fireflies with him in a shallow river.

### Deep Blue Wonderland

Noriko, Anri, and Chiharu all get invited to Mikado's apartment by Masaomi to have a little impromptu Christmas party. Earlier after smelling some jasmine scented perfume from a girl dressed up as Santa handing out flyers, due to Mnemosyne, Noriko remembers a woman in Chou Mori sitting on her bed, staring at the wall. A doctor walks into the room and shows her an article about a woman killing her three children before committing suicide. He asks her why her God didn't save those children in attempt to "kill her god". The patient doesn't take the bait, leaving her therapist more frustrated than before. In her room was jasmine incense to calm her down.

Chiharu snaps Noriko back into reality and drags into the electronic shop.

Mikado sees a shadow around Noriko's shoulders whispering, "Murderer" as if chanting. He reaches out to touch it, but it disappears. Noriko asks him what he wanted and Mikado lies and said there was something on her, but said it was gone.

In "Tetsu", she is seen with the girls talking to Emily Akimoto. It is revealed later on that Noriko is starting to have memories of having a husband and son. She says herself carrying the dead child as well as herself during various break downs in the past. Desperate with nowhere else to turn, Noriko demands that Mikado give her Izaya's phone number. Despite Masaomi's objections, Mikado gives her the number anyway. That evening, Noriko calls Izaya and starts asking questions. He tells her that he doesn't have real information about her and tries to make her remember her true past. While the information broker talks to her, she starts having flashes of more memories. Noriko ends up feeling sick and ending the call. Izaya tells her that he will talk with her later.

### Wonderland Chaos

Noriko is seen heading to school with Mikado, Masaomi, Anri, and Chiharu. The girls don't what's going on with Mikado. Later on, Noriko gets into a car late at night and talks to an unknown person. Her personality changes in the middle of the conversation and says "Noriko" isn't her real name.

### Caged Wonderland

Noriko, Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri are waiting in the hospital to visit Chiharu. She is the only one kept out of the loop about Tandeki's work. Mikado hopes to keep it that way.

### Devil's Wonderland

Noriko learns along with everyone else that Mikado is a tadpole. Then she helps her friends take Chiharu home. Later, a mysterious diary is delivered to Noriko. Thanks to this diary, she starts to get back more strange memories. First, she notices that the handwriting in the book is a match to her own. She isn't sure if this is possible or not because the entries date back to 1981. A strange man calls her on the phone, calling her "Hya-chan". Noriko is confused by him saying they will get to know each other again real soon. It is revealed that Junko sent Noriko the diary when she calls her up. Things get weirder when Noriko goes out to buy dinner. She runs into Makoto and Evie on the street. She runs over to Makoto saying that he looks pale and needs to eat. Noriko comments on how he shouldn't be starving himself for her and the baby. Evie tells her off and the girl doesn't know why she said those things. In an alley, Noriko meets up with Michiko.

Michiko confirms that they know each other and that Noriko knows Makoto. She doesn't want to drag the girl back into the game but realizes that she has no choice when Noriko remembers that she had a son. Now, she feels that she has to see Makoto again. Fleeting memories draw Noriko towards Raira Academy. En route, she runs into the widow. Noriko finally says her name, Asuka Isobe. She is there to witness the final gate being opened.

### Black Swan Wonderland

Noriko's sanity started to slip. More memories are coming back. She's been keeping it all to herself. Noriko debates on telling her friends. When she goes into the bathroom, Noriko starts to remember cutting herself. Her hand reaches for the drawer but then she paused. She debates on cutting herself again before coming back to her senses. Noriko tries to remember her parents and childhood. But then the thought in her head tells her those are false memories. Her bathroom mirror scares her when more memories fill her head and throws up. Noriko decides to cover up all of the mirrors in her apartment.

Noriko wakes up to the smell of flowers some time later. She looks at her phone and notices that she has many missed calls. Some of them are from her friends but she doesn't want to answer them. Noriko goes through the calls, ignoring most of them. Her therapist tries to call her to come back to therapy. Noriko doesn't want to go back to therapy. But then, she comes across a call with a woman singing to a crying baby. The familiar voice makes more memories fill her head. She isn't sure that she had a son in the first place. Noriko's phone rings and she hears a voice repeating "Hello" going faster and faster along with a baby crying on the other line. She throws the phone across the room. Noriko looks out the front door and everything goes quiet. She tries to pull herself together and get something to eat. Noriko has too many memories flooding her head. Trying to stay normal falls to pieces when Kitano calls her. He asks her how much she remembers. The therapist says a last name that she hadn't heard in years. Noriko ends up running out the door. She doesn't want to go home. Noriko ends up on a playground. She's in the middle of another breakdown. Sounds made her head hurt. She notices red streaks on her body. Noriko feels that she is safer in the playground and decides to stay.

Hours later, Mikado finds Noriko. He asks if she is Ishikawa. He notices that she is only wearing a white nightgown and has fresh cuts on her arms. The tadpole asks if she is cutting herself again. She addresses him in a monotone voice. The whole night, she tells him horror riddles as he tries to get her home. At first, Noriko is acting strangely like sitting on the ground and running off at random. Mikado begrudgingly answers her riddles. After he find her at Higurashi Ikebukuro Central Park, Noriko wants food. She and Mikado go to Russia Sushi. After lunch, he carries her home. When they get home, Noriko tells him a strange story about a man and woman and the loss of their baby. She says the woman is her. Noriko has been trying to keep Mikado safe all night. She asks him if he noticed the fog. Noriko says this is punishment for letting her son die. When she looks up, she has tears in her eyes. Mikado asks if she is herself.

Sometime later, Michiko and Makoto track down Mikado and Noriko at the latter's apartment. Michiko tries to tell everyone what's going on. In the season finale, Noriko is with Michiko and Makoto. She says that she doesn't want to die. Her words stir something inside Makoto.

### Edge of Wonderland

Noriko starts to question her reality when she keeps having dreams about ending up in strangely familiar places. She wakes up so early in the morning and goes to the kitchen for some water. Noriko wonders if she will disappear into another strange place before laughing to herself. She confides her problems to Masaomi. He jokes about walking out into the hall and disappearing. Masaomi walks out, making Noriko upset. He tells that he and the others will keep her grounded.

In the Halloween special, Noriko is trapped in a long dreamscape and can't get out alone. A voice starts guiding her out. During her escape, she starts to remember little things. It started with the Western and Eastern churches. The voice urges her to keep going. Her journey ends up at a giant pool. She has to dive into the "water" in order to escape. When Noriko jumps in, it's the not water but gel that seems to choke her as she sinks deeper. By the end, she wakes up back in her bed. Later, Mikado calls her over to his apartment to listen to a message that left as an audio file on the Dollars chatroom. She gets the full message and sinks to her knees in tears.

Since then, Noriko is starting to get her memories back. She doesn't know what is real. Mikado tried to take away Hya-chan's diary, but she fought it out. Noriko ended up walking off. While she's on the ground wandering off, she finds herself floating in the sky. Artemis talks to her and tries to get her to remember her old memories. The whole process keeps causing Noriko pain. She starts to remember that she had a son and a husband. The girl starts to hear a baby crying and wants to run to him. Artemis tells her that the baby is gone and she can't help him. Noriko wonders why it hurts to remember all of this. The Greek goddess says that she has to go through the painful memories in order to get to the happy ones. The girl asks why she is doing this, but Artemis says that she's not. When Noriko comes back to her body, she finds herself standing in front of Michiko's apartment. She didn't know how she got there, but she knew that she had to be there. Michiko greets her at the door. Noriko asks for Makoto and pushes her way in. She asks him if she was his wife. He says no. Noriko says that he is lying as tears run down her cheeks.

In the season finale, Noriko talks to Artemis again as more memories started to come back. The goddess is there to support her through the whole thing. She decides to talk to Makoto to learn the truth. The girl asks him many questions and he has no choice but to tell the truth. They talk as her memories come back. Makoto and Noriko promise not to kill each other this time.

### Dark Alice in a Dark Wonderland

Noriko and the others tell Mizuho about Chiharu. She and her friends all stay at Michiko's apartment. She can't stand everyone asking about her well-being. Noriko has a breakdown as she remembers more of her past. Artemis is the one to ground her again. The goddess led her to Mikado's apartment. In the season finale, she senses something coming. This causes her to have a mini panic attack. Artemis gets her to calm down long enough for her to talk. Noriko is able to tell her friends that something is coming.

## Relationships

### Chiharu Hashimoto

*Main Article: Chiharu Hashimoto*

Chiharu is Noriko's best friend. She is fiercely protective of her gentle friend. Chiharu will do everything in her power to keep her away from Izaya, Junko, and Kitano. However, there are secrets she won't tell Noriko for her own safety.

### Mikado Ryugamine

*Main Article: Mikado Ryuugamine*

Mikado and Noriko are good friends. Just like Chiharu, he too is very protective of her. However, it might be hinted that he might have known her from somewhere before...

In the Christmas special in *Black Swan Wonderland*, Mikado tried to get her to go home. But she wouldn't go so easily. During the struggle of a trip, Mikado suspected that something was wrong with her. Noriko admitted to trying to protect him when he was trying to get her home. From there, he suspects that something is off about her.

### Masaomi Kida

*Main Article: Masaomi Kida*

Masaomi is another good friend of Noriko's. Like Mikado and Chiharu, he too is concerned about her mental state. She even overheard him and Mikado talking about her.

### Anri Sonohara

*Main Article: Anri Sonohara*

Anri is another good friend of Noriko's. She too is concerned about her friend's fading sanity. In fact, Anri was the one who alerted Mikado to the problems in *Happy Wonderland*.

### Makoto Hino

*Main Article: Makoto Hino*

There seems to be a connection between them. When they first met, Noriko started to talk to Makoto about not eating and it wasn't good for him. She didn't know why she was saying that. However once she gets her memories back, Noriko remembers that she was Makoto's wife in a past life. He tried to deny it, but she kept pressing. He finally had to admit to everything once she figured it out.

### Artemis

*Main Article: Artemis*

The goddess was in love with Noriko when she was Hya-chan. Now, Artemis is trying to get her to remember her old life to end the Apocalypse game. She won't show Noriko her face yet.

### Ringo

*Main Article: Ringo*

Noriko, Chiharu, and Anri grow close to the young freshman girl despite initially being put off by her. Ringo invited them over for tea and treats every day after school. However, this friendship with her wouldn't last long after she took them to meet her younger brother. Anri, Noriko, and Chiharu watched in horror as a clown-like caterpillar monster bit off Ringo's head.

### Junko Nakahara

*Main Article: Junko Nakahara*

Junko is the school nurse at Raira Academy. She seems to have a twisted interest in Noriko and keeps trying to ask her questions that she knows that will upset the girl. Because of this, Chiharu and the others try to keep their friend away from Junko.

### Yuki

Yuki was Noriko's guardian. Noriko hates Yuki because she thinks she was too controlling and tried to make her take so much mediciation. She didn't even like when her guardian went snooping in her room. Noriko had to decorate her room with cats because Yuki is afraid of them. She doesn't even notice when her guardian goes missing.

## Trivia

* Noriko's inspiration comes from Noriko Shimabara from the movie *Noriko's Dinner Table* directed by Sion Sono and Noriko Nakagawa from the novel/manga/movie *Battle Royale*. The novel and manga from the latter was written by Koushun Takami while the movie was directed by Kinji Fukasaku.