She is the daughter of Admiral Takaya, captain of the Earth Empire Space Force's Lucsion.

In order to search for her father, who went missing after being attacked by a space monster while exploring the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy, she enrolls in Okinawa Girls' Space High School (Okijo) to become a pilot. Initially, she is a timid, crybaby girl who is a dropout and unable to properly operate mechanical weapons, which leads to feelings of inferiority and resignation. Being the daughter of a space admiral leaves her peers feeling uneasy, and she is isolated and subjected to insidious bullying out of jealousy for being scouted by the top unit. However, after Oota Koichiro recognizes her talent, she works hard and improves her skills, gaining recognition from the other students and being selected for the top unit alongside Amano Kazumi.

She then boards the Excelion and is incorporated into the top unit as Japan's representative. However, Kazumi, concerned that Noriko's skills were not yet ready for actual combat, disbanded the pair. Furthermore, during her first battle, she was too timid to do anything, and then her new partner, her male friend Smith Toren, was killed in action. Disappointed and traumatized, she developed an immense fear of going to battle. Before she could dwell on her grief, the Battle of Mars, which began with the invasion of a space monster into the solar system, worsened and her teammates were in danger. She overcame her weakness and piloted the Gunbuster into battle. Despite the severe operational limit of just 10 minutes due to its incompleteness, she used its overwhelming power to defeat the space monster and successfully save her Excelion comrades. Together with Kazumi, she became an official Gunbuster pilot. During the Excelion suicide mission, Ota encouraged Kazumi, who had lost her will to fight after being unable to bear the reality that she only had a few months to live, and they worked together to lead the mission to success.