JAV Gossips

[ding73ding]

Jan 10, 2017: Aimi Yoshikawa 吉川あいみ update, could uncensored vid be in the future?

[this is an old piece of news that's become very outdated, I'm translating the not-so-outdated part because I'm interested in her]

Aimi had stopped using Twitter and switched Instagram.

Aimi is no longer a contract girl with a top studio and her vid output having become quite infrequent recently, so the netizens (her fans) have started speculating if uncensored vids might be coming.

We don't know, but certainly it's a possibility. [by now we know that she was transitioning, now she is making many vids (and money) but as mostly uncredited "anonymous idol"]

Well it's also certainly an uncertainty. Miss Yoshikawa is not a predictable lady. She has always been doing whatever she wants. No one can't stop her, and no one can make her do things she doesn't like. Especially not even her agent can count on her performing any work that he arranged. [the clear implication is that most AV idols, actually most public media person are pretty obedient to his/her agent]

But also, Aimi is totally open about her bottomless desire for money, so if and when she finally takes off the mosaics and show the world her open pussy, it will be because someone "shows her the money".

 

[ding73ding]

Jun 1, 2017 : Haruna Aisaka 逢坂はるな AV career in crisis again

After a long "rest", Haruna came back to made a few vids for Wanz Factory [see earlier report]. It seems she's in need of a lot of promotional work to regain attention, but quite the contrary, a new crisis seems to be brewing: her name, headshot and a bunch of tweets were deleted from her Twitter account.

We have no idea what prompted this little earthquake, but thinking back, she had a rather unpleasant separation from SOD, it seemed more than just a lack of success and sales ranking. Apparently the studio crew were frequently complaining of her diva personality and un-professionalism.

Does that tell us anything about this latest situation, maybe, maybe not. It's just not a good sign. Even before now, she had very little influence and following. If not for her AKB48 history, the fact that her Twitter account had been messed up might not even be getting any attention.

Feb 23, 2017 : Ex AKB48 member Haruna Aisaka 逢坂はるな returns to AV

 

[ding73ding]

Jun 1, 2017: Want to be a Cosplay model? 200 girls forced into AV

On May 29, Japanese police arrested a 48 year old man named 金沢新一. He was suspected of forcing an 18 year old high school student from Osaka to film AV in 2014. Upon his arrest, further investigation revealed he had similarly forced at least 200 girls, many of them under-aged, into AV.

He operated as an agent for "Cosplay Photography" all over Japan. Tempting girls with the promised 50,000 Yens per day, 200,000 Yens per 3 days income, he would then take the girls to high end beauty salons [perhaps to pre-burden the girl with the fees of the beauty salon?] and then trick them into signing a contract and photographed their ID card.

[I'm going to skip some of his M.O., just suffice to say he used a combination of blackmail and scare tactics]

According to the police, the suspect had made 147 million Yens from these AV since 2012.

Obviously this case gives the Japanese government plenty of excuse [or pressure] to attack the AV industry. The problem is that a pattern is emerging that this is not one or two individual cases, but there are many bad apples in the industry.

The "Chaos of Fujiwara" [a case earlier this year of ex-AV idol accusing the studios of forcing her to shoot AV] had opened a pandora box, some 40 women had claimed similar situations and seek the help of lawyers [it seems consulting a lawyer is a big deal for Japan]. This might be why suddenly all this past, and almost buried, events are causing an upheaval now.

Things are sure to get worse before it gets better...

 

[Lim3lighT]

it's bad news for the industry but I'm glad it's happening, no girl should be forced to do porn. Might hurt the industry in a major way with all these crackdowns but it's preferable to letting these assholes keep doing what they're doing.

 

[Inertia]

Lim3lighT: just remember there's always three sides to these stories: her side (the actress), his side (the agency/studio/director), and somewhere in between is what really happened. Don't assume right away that so-and-so's guilty. Some of those who appear in AV may wish to 'erase' their adult industry past after they make enough money by crying wolf.

 

[ding73ding]

Jun 2, 2017: National Idol AV debut Miko Matsuda 松田美子 (NMB48's Risako Okada 岡田梨紗子)

[Shoko Takahashi and Yua Mikami have been stubbornly holding the top two spots in sales for a long time, there's only one minor interruption, for 2 weeks one vid was able to push Shoko off the top spot: that's the debut (TEK-092) of mainstream actress Miu Nakamura 仲村みう, so the market's message is pretty clear, mainstream celebrity is the license to print money]

Studio Muteki bring another J-pop idol to AV with the tag "(Japanese) People's idol". That tag is a nudge and a wink to how to discover Miko Matsuda 松田美子's identity, look into the AKB48 franchise. So, very soon after Miko's photosets were released, the netizens exposed that she was a "research student" of the associated idol group NMB48, Risako Okada 岡田梨紗子.

How well she will do in AV, is she likely to repeat the stellar careers of Muteki graduates Yua and Shoko? Well NMB48 is a bit less prestigious than AKB48 and Risako was only a "research student" member for under a year, and it was a long time ago (2012). So her celeb status isn't exactly so stellar. And her gravue works also wasn't hugely successful, partly due to her somewhat average face and figure (only C-cup tits).

For licensing (legal) issues, obviously AV studio can't use the names "NMB48" or Risako Okada 岡田梨紗子. But So Muteki doesn't count on face recognition to generate interest for her (more precisely her DVD cover), to make sure the customers knows her backstory, Muteki takes NMB48 and invented a marketing gimmick "NuMBer 01" for Miko.

And it seems to have worked, on the first day of pre-ordering, NuMBer01 captured the number 2 spot for the daily sales ranking, losing only to Shoko Takahashi.

But day 1 sales ranking is only one data point, can she truly develop an AV career and become Number 1? Many AV fans are a little doubtful.

As for the debut vid itself, we can only see the trailer for now. It does look like Miss Miko did let the stud's penis poked her pussy. [in the past Muteki vids, especially for the more famous/prestigious celebs, there had been cases that body doubles were used or even no penetrating sex scenes were made] So any AV fans want to see real celebs getting fucked, check out TEK-094 in July.

 

[Supmop]

Muteki are notorious selling fake hardcore vids, lets wait and see they will do it again or not

 

[periph]

Jun 2, 2017: National Idol AV debut Miko Matsuda 松田美子 (NMB48's Risako Okada 岡田梨紗子)

Studio Muteki bring another J-pop idol to AV with the tag "(Japanese) People's idol". That tag is a nudge and a wink to how to discover Miko Matsuda 松田美子's identity, look into the AKB48 franchise. So, very soon after Miko's photosets were released, the netizens exposed that she was a "research student" of the associated idol group NMB48, Risako Okada 岡田梨紗子.

How well she will do in AV, is she likely to repeat the stellar careers of Muteki graduates Yua and Shoko? Well NMB48 is a bit less prestigious than AKB48 and Risako was only a "research student" member for under a year, and it was a long time ago (2012). So her celeb status isn't exactly so stellar.

For comparison, can somebody give some background on Yua and Shoko's careers and popularity prior to starting AV?

 

[Lim3lighT]

For comparison, can somebody give some background on Yua and Shoko's careers and popularity prior to starting AV?

Can't speak for Shoko but Yua was not that popular in SKE. Best known for gravure and wasn't completely an unknown but not a top member of the group by any means.

Lim3lighT: just remember there's always three sides to these stories: her side (the actress), his side (the agency/studio/director), and somewhere in between is what really happened. Don't assume right away that so-and-so's guilty. Some of those who appear in AV may wish to 'erase' their adult industry past after they make enough money by crying wolf.

I'm not saying they're all guilty but at this point it's undeniable that this is a thing that happens. You could have a similar debate about r*** but just as with r*** I'd rather err on the side of the victim than the accused. It's a shame that it happens, but just because there are some assholes who would do something as terrible as to lie about coercion doesn't mean we should immediately treat every case that comes out as false either.

 

[ding73ding]

For comparison, can somebody give some background on Yua and Shoko's careers and popularity prior to starting AV?

First, what is the Japanese definition of a "celebrity" or in Yua's case an J-pop idol?

Japanese sense of "celebrity" is more closer to Western's "15 minutes of fame". A recent case was that a studio (can't remember if it was Muteki again) promoted another "celeb" to AV debut, turns out the girl's ONLY claim to fame is to play a shrimp in a TV ad. Japanese TV especially like having actors (generously speaking) put on silly costume and perform crazy skid for an ad. And this girl was, literally and figuratively a little shrimp, and that was not even her 15 minutes, more like 45 seconds of fame. Nevertheless that's her ticket to a better-than-deserved DVD sales result for her AV debut.

Yua, if she were in the US, definitely would not catch much headline for starting an AV career. SKE48 is half a notch below AKB48, and AKB48 is quite a big step below a regular teen pop band. And a teen pop band isn't even guaranteed a position on top-40 radio. And Yua was only a sort of understudy at SKE48. So... I would put her in the category like a second round or third round loser in America got Talent, or Britain got Talent or Canada got Talent.

Or ... like, if a 1+ year weather girl for Trenton, New Jersey went and shot a nasty photo set for Penthouse.

In another word, a regular J-pop fan, unless he's already obsessed with AKB, SKE etc, could be perfectly understandable for not knowing Yua's SKE48 name (can't remember for now) and for not being able to recognize her face.

Shoko's case is harder for me to say with clarity. Gravue model just doesn't have a equivalent in the West nor in Chinese communities. My impression is that many girls can make a living as a pure gravue model (no need to combine with say a singing or acting career) so it's a bit of sensation (artificial?) when a gravue model cross over to AV. But in reality, many girls transition from non-nude gravue to nude gravue to nude IV to AV even to uncensored AV. So it seems odd to make a big deal about Shoko.

My guess is, before she cross to AV, Shoko was famous but only in the gravue fandom. But for a common Japanese, who might be into one or two otaku hobbies like games or anime or AV (excluding gravue), would not automatically recognize Shoko's face or name. So where does it put her in term of "legit celeb" status? Sorry I still can't say.

A problem is that Japanese media and Wikipedia are on the side of the media company by withhold useful info. Yua's SKE48 background is open, but you can't find "SKE48" nor her pre-AV stage name on her wiki page. Nor can you find her or a number of former AKB/SKE member crossing to AV from the group's wiki page nor the individual idol's page (for the minority of individuals who have pages).

Ah... I found this curious case:高崎聖子's wiki page and Shoko 高橋しょう子's wiki page. Both are one and the same person, but the first page list only her pre-AV info, and the later only list her AV info. Both pages mention the other stage name, but neither links to the other page. There's a conscious effort to isolate each identity, each persona because of course they are not humans, but commercial products.

What's for sure is that "celeb" status can boost a girl's AV debut but the effect can not last. Both Yua and Shoko did well with the first couple vids, and so did (and will) many other 15-minute-famers-turned-AV. What both have done since debut is much much more than just coasting on their celeb status. I truly enjoy both girls' performance, despite (1) I had always been skeptical of their celeb legitimacy, (2) Yua's face ranks somewhere at 6th to 10th in current AV idols, (3) Shoko's tits are fake.

AV is in a bad patch right now with legal troubles, PR disasters, several big studios in very poor conditions, no outdoor vids, no proper big budget orgy vids, ... But Shoko, Rion, Yua, and Julia (about in that order) are my all-star team for 2017.

 

[DrZaius]

For comparison, can somebody give some background on Yua and Shoko's careers and popularity prior to starting AV?

As mentioned, Shoko was a gravure idol who had some success. She appeared in magazines around the times her DVDs/books came out, and did promotional modelling work like when a big hollywood movie came out, she would stand next to the movie poster and be pretty. She was also an idol in a small idol group but that only had a few hundred fans. She quit that to go full-time in gravure but then disappeared after being caught selling sex (after a customer leaked a video of it). Basically, as said, she wasn't a big celebrity at all. I guess the change in career has given her a chance to be famous and she has jumped at it.

 

[thuleviolenta]

i read somewhere she has offically denied this "selling sex" accusations.....is this just a "rumor" ...or is there 100%truth/proof to it... ?
also i wonder how popular were(are?) her gravure´s...as i rather recently found out about her...
edit: i got the feeling this "sex scandal" (if true?...) wasnt to good for her "gravure" contract...perhaps got fired....i recall a case of big boobs gravure idol mizuki horii when some (unconfirmed?)"SM pics" were found..she completely dissapeared...actually i never found out if this pics were really her...

 

[ding73ding]

She quit that to go full-time in gravure but then disappeared after being caught selling sex (after a customer leaked a video of it).

Right! I became a big fan of hers and even I could forget such details.

Similarly Yua Mikami (as whatever her name was in SKE48) also was forced out after a "dating scandal", a code word for selling sex.

i read somewhere she has offically denied this "selling sex" accusations.....is this just a "rumor" ...or is there 100%truth/proof to it... ?
also i wonder how popular were(are?) her gravure´s...as i rather recently found out about her...
edit: i got the feeling this "sex scandal" (if true?...) wasnt to good for her "gravure" contract...perhaps got fired....i recall a case of big boobs gravure idol mizuki horii when some (unconfirmed?)"SM pics" were found..she completely dissapeared...actually i never found out if this pics were really her...

What we should get used to, is that facts don't matter. "100% truth/proof" is nothing of nothing in the court of internet anonymous mob groupthink opinion.

Also it is open secret that many girls in the gravue and minor idol (i.e. all of AKB/SKE/NMB etc) are making money on some "side business", many are forced into it by the studio/agency.

I am pretty convinced that "selling sex" was NOT the real reason Yua and Shoko were fired. The real reason is "selling sex on their own".

I re-remembered Yua's name at SKE48: 鬼頭桃菜, and what did I discovered? At the second audition (early 2009) of SKE48 when Yua made the cut, 高崎聖子, the previous stage name of Shoko, was one of the failed candidates. Could it be that the two met each other at that time?? Could it be that shortly after Yua entered AV via Muteki was a trigger for Shoko to repeat the same path?

OMG... they need to join hands and make a 3P AV soon!!

 

[Lim3lighT]

Right! I became a big fan of hers and even I could forget such details.

Similarly Yua Mikami (as whatever her name was in SKE48) also was forced out after a "dating scandal", a code word for selling sex.

I am pretty convinced that "selling sex" was NOT the real reason Yua and Shoko were fired. The real reason is "selling sex on their own".

Actually pretty sure Yua's case was actually dating. Pics of her and her bf lying on a bed together, but also on dates at restaurants and shit. The guy wasn't famous and wasn't connected at all, and even if you believe that all/most idols have sex for benefits they're definitely not having sex with randoms; too easy for shit to get leaked. That's not escorting. It was that compounded with the fact that it wasn't the first time she got caught or her first scandal ever (a previous one is where she got a social media account discovered and she was badmouthing the group) that got her kicked out.

Not even just selling sex on their own but just getting caught, even if it was on an agency date. As for the extent it's hard to tell; definitely some but maybe not all and definitely not just regular prostituting (too easy for fans to find out and bust them). More like sexual favors for magazine editors, heads/marketing heads of companies to get sponsorship deals, etc.). There's also like, almost no proof that it happens except for minor instances (Matsumura Sayuri getting caught on a "date" with a magazine editor, for instance), so anyone saying that they're forced into it is speculation; it's equally as likely that they're presented with those deals and told that if they don't do it they don't get the sponsorship/ad deal/magazine appearance or won't be "pushed"-show up on group tv shows, appear in singles, etc.

 

[ding73ding]

Well certainly no one is suggesting that Yua or Shoko or "many" celebs are/were selling sex in the open. There were a few isolated cases, what I heard about was one quite famous AV idol (whose name escaped me for now) who were advertised on an escort service website for some weeks. But it's clear that those are exception which prove the exceptions.

I still don't buy the Yua's "dating" story. I think it's common enough that some idols (except for those still so young and new to industry that they have to allow their private life be TOTALLY managed) do have a private life including BF and/or co-habitation. Of course they have to make some careful arrangement so the private life and public life doesn't cross each other. Just recently Tia exposed (??) she is a mother and another idol tells that she has a BF, and not only that, their disclosure suggest it's in reality a common thing. So idols (AV or mainstream) having BF, husband or kids are perhaps not uncommon, only that the industry and idols cooperate to keep secret and maintain the fantasy.

So maybe it's possible that Yua really had a BF and caught. More likely I think it's entirely possible to hide the BF and the studio/agency boss can just come out and "officially" deny it and that's that. No matter how many photos leaked if she and studio deny it, it's possible to wait it out. More believable is the studio/agency CHOSE not to support her, either her market value (freshness) was almost used up, or she's being uncooperative (she has that reputation before). I could even believe that her agent or some crew member, under suggestion by the boss, opened her phone (maybe stole her passcode) and stole some private photos to leak in order to get rid of her.

Or it's also believable is that she's getting some compensation (anywhere between big wad of cash to more "subtle" gifts like jewelry and handbags). In the Asian (at least in TW/HK/CN) celeb world, the line between BF and client can be very blurry. But if she received BF/client outside of agency arrangement surely the boss would be mad. Further, seeing how she's made an extremely successful career in AV, it's not like she was a sweet innocent girl with a normal (non-client) BF who would not sell her body and suddenly become a top star known to every fapper in Japan.

 

[Supmop]

I'm not saying they're all guilty but at this point it's undeniable that this is a thing that happens. You could have a similar debate about r*** but just as with r*** I'd rather err on the side of the victim than the accused. It's a shame that it happens, but just because there are some assholes who would do something as terrible as to lie about coercion doesn't mean we should immediately treat every case that comes out as false either.

in porn its not easy to tell who is the victim

from many cases so far only few who can bring solid strong evidence, lets wait and see who else can bring strong evidence to support their accussation

 

[thuleviolenta]

well in the prostitution case of melo imai..some rather "clear" pics were made..(so i doubt it makes much sense to deny it?) ..in the case of shoko i didnt even see <any< pics so it seems kinda "foggy"...though i guess the rumor might be true but she denies it to "save face".. .i just wouldnt mind to see some "harder evidence" than a ..well "somebody claimed...."

 

[Lim3lighT]

Well certainly no one is suggesting that Yua or Shoko or "many" celebs are/were selling sex in the open. There were a few isolated cases, what I heard about was one quite famous AV idol (whose name escaped me for now) who were advertised on an escort service website for some weeks. But it's clear that those are exception which prove the exceptions.

I still don't buy the Yua's "dating" story. I think it's common enough that some idols (except for those still so young and new to industry that they have to allow their private life be TOTALLY managed) do have a private life including BF and/or co-habitation. Of course they have to make some careful arrangement so the private life and public life doesn't cross each other. Just recently Tia exposed (??) she is a mother and another idol tells that she has a BF, and not only that, their disclosure suggest it's in reality a common thing. So idols (AV or mainstream) having BF, husband or kids are perhaps not uncommon, only that the industry and idols cooperate to keep secret and maintain the fantasy.

So maybe it's possible that Yua really had a BF and caught. More likely I think it's entirely possible to hide the BF and the studio/agency boss can just come out and "officially" deny it and that's that. No matter how many photos leaked if she and studio deny it, it's possible to wait it out. More believable is the studio/agency CHOSE not to support her, either her market value (freshness) was almost used up, or she's being uncooperative (she has that reputation before). I could even believe that her agent or some crew member, under suggestion by the boss, opened her phone (maybe stole her passcode) and stole some private photos to leak in order to get rid of her.

Or it's also believable is that she's getting some compensation (anywhere between big wad of cash to more "subtle" gifts like jewelry and handbags). In the Asian (at least in TW/HK/CN) celeb world, the line between BF and client can be very blurry. But if she received BF/client outside of agency arrangement surely the boss would be mad. Further, seeing how she's made an extremely successful career in AV, it's not like she was a sweet innocent girl with a normal (non-client) BF who would not sell her body and suddenly become a top star known to every fapper in Japan.

A lot harder to hide the BF when there's pics of the two of them hanging out on her bed together, when her social media account included old posts that said stuff like "it's about time I get a boyfriend again" etc. Yea they could have ignored it if she was more popular (they have done so for other idols), but like I said it's not like she was ever popular, it's better to kick her out and pretend like they strictly enforce their rules. And like I said, it's a lot easier to believe that it was compensated dating if the guy was famous/rich, but he was just some random dude. Very hard to believe that a random guy off the street would be able to pay for sex with an idol.

I'm not arguing she was innocent either lol. The thing to remember is that she didn't turn to AV immediately, and apparently she was paid so much money to do so that she's now pretty rich (on a tv show talked about having enough money that she lives in a really nice district of Tokyo)

well in the prostitution case of melo imai..some rather "clear" pics were made..(so i doubt it makes much sense to deny it?) ..in the case of shoko i didnt even see <any< pics so it seems kinda "foggy"...though i guess the rumor might be true but she denies it to "save face".. .i just wouldnt mind to see some "harder evidence" than a ..well "somebody claimed...."

There was supposedly a leaked video. I haven't searched enough to find it but I did find a comparison pic where some dude went through and proved that the "Shoko" in the video was wearing a dress Shoko had worn before, same phone case, same bag, and the girl looked quite similar.

 

[thuleviolenta]

it would be interesting to see (supposedly leaked?) full video, the picture comparison shows just that shoko wears "the same dress" ..oh well not to impressive..i guess it can be boiled down to "believe it..or not.."

 

[ding73ding]

June 3, 2017: Fighting for Retired Idols, Agencies sue Studios

It's common knowledge that AV industry consists of different companies working together. Studios make the vids, agencies manage and provide the actresses for the film making.

On the surface it may seems the studios holds the cards, they own the production and the recent forced-AV-idols scandals seem to hit at the reputation of the agencies. Also for the contract girls, the agency may in theory represent the girl but if she's signed an exclusive contract with a studio then the studio is in the dominant position vs. the agency. Take an example of Chinami Ito (伊東ちなみ) who's represented by Cruse Group and contract girl with Moodyz, when inviting her for promotional events it's necessary to get the approval of the studio Moodyz and they even demand to check the detailed programme of the event.

But the submissive position of the agencies may be changing. The scandals have trigger a tidal shift in the AV ecology and the agencies are launching a counter action. How is that possible, the scandals initiated from several agencies, including a major one. How are they in position to make wave now?

Well in fact the studios weren't innocent of the sins of the agencies. If the agencies let out all the inside dirt, the studios will be in hot water too. So it's not in their interest to squeeze the agencies any harder. Recently the agencies have come together to form a trade organization 「プロダクション协会」 Productions Association to address problems faced by the industry. [amazingly it seems the agencies haven't been talking to each other until now??] At the first meetings, it become apparent that the studios have been ruthlessly squeezing the agencies. So some of the bigger agencies are starting to make wave.

The top complaint by the agencies is the profit sharing. For example, the studios pocket all the sales from releasing compilation vids. The agencies [and actresses] get not a single yen from those sales. Another issues that drives the agencies crazy is the release of compilation vids or never-before-released scenes of retired actresses. Many of the retirees have since been married and/or don't wish to have any more exposure in porn shops and online. In the past, the studios feel no obligation to anyone else except to make profit with whatever films or scenes on hand. Now there have been cases of agencies suing the studio or banning the studios [by refusing to provide actresses to that studio in the future] who don't respect the wishes of retired actresses.

So the buzz is that studios have become much more cooperative recently. As the agencies are trying to spin a positive story out of a bad situation: the scandals have now encouraged a more friendly cooperation environment between agencies and studios. One concrete measure is that a filming session would be halted unless a declaration by the actresses agreeing to an AV production [I assume it means each filming session require a separate, freshly signed declaration] is properly signed. Without the paperworks in order, even if the girl personally shows up at the filming location, production would not proceed. So the chaotic ways may be giving way to more fair and square practices.