“we shouldn’t compare ratings between models” – yeah I wrote that. What I didn’t write is that with a large body of work for one model (I’ve seen 10 Miri DVDs) and a single sample for another model (Yuna Kawase); a model to model comparison wouldn’t really be balanced.

I understand and agree with your points about Megumi meaning the 4.5 is or might be a false positive if taken on a broader scale.

But the reader can or must take my opinions, or yours, for what they are – opinions. It is impossible for me or you to be considered the ultimate authority. Just visit imdb.com or rottentomatoes.com and read a number of reviews written by professional critics, and commentaries supplied by regular folks about mainstream movies. There’s always a variance. Even the picture that wins an Oscar as Best Film of the Year usually has detractors.

So I really don’t mind the disagreement. In fact, I hope we hear from other people who are free to disagree with me – or you.

JMM

I’m intrigued by the “we shouldn’t compare” idols comment: why? If you don’t compare a work to others in the same genre, how can one develop a sense of what’s good and what isn’t? If you turn a blind eye to other works, then reviews become more insular than they already are. For example: I have yet to see Kagurazaki Megumi exhibit anything more that a prefunctory level of charisma for an idol. Now, let’s say I see a Megumi DVD which I think is pretty good, not great, but a solidly entertaining DVD. How should I rate it? Only against her other DVDs? That would artifically inflate the score – it’s a 4.5 on the Megumi scale, but 3.75 when compared to similar material on the market. To the die hard Megumi fans it’s not going to make a difference, but it might to others.

Ok – I too have to collect thoughts and offer something to your comment. Reviews are of course subjective. I like what I like – sometimes there’s valid reasons why I like something or valid reasons why I dislike something. I like Kirin Beer, and you prefer Sapporo or Asahi beer as an example. It’s just a matter of taste.

I may not always express myself properly (after all, writing a review and writing a coherent as well as sensible review may be two different things altogether). Or I might not put all of my thoughts about a video into the review.

Any way – your commentary states that a person’s enjoyment of an idol DVD is two fold – the purely technical and the second is your opinion of the model and do you buy into the onscreen persona. Well I believe there is a third or rather a subset of the second. What if Miri Hanai is not conveying any of her personal enjoyment in a scene or throughout an entire video. It’s not just lack of motion, its also lack of feeling. Lack of heart. You’ve got to have wa. Wa being a Japanese term that doesn;t translate well. I guess I am saying I didn’t feel Miri was enjoying herself so it was hard for me to enjoy her in this DVD.

“I’m bored. This turkey director has no imagination. He just wants me to sit here and do nothing.” Is Miri thinking this – what is on her mind? I can;t figure her out in this one.

The other aspect is that we shouldn’t compare ratings between models. Rather you should compare ratings between various DVD’s of a model. I gave Yuna Kawase a 3.5 and I gave this video a 3.0. That doesn’t mean I like Yuna Kawase better than I like Miri Hanai. The reality is I have seen ONLY one Yuna Kawase DVD so far, and have seen 10 DVDs with Miri Hanai.

I gave Yarujan a 3.0 because Miri was lifeless, uninvolved, and bored. But in Shake! Shake! I gave Miri a 4.0 as she was exuberant.

We’ve both seen a crateful of Idol DVDs – and some are better than others, and some of Miri’s are better than other’s. Yarujan would not make my highlight reel.

But Miri Hanai does make it to the pantheon of Bikini goddesses; just not for this particular DVD.

JMM

The former… I’m gonna call on this one Mike: you reviewed Yôko’s Shutaisei Densetsu I and Ôrei’s Orei Mugendai recently, both of which had minimal movement, yet they garnered 4.0+ scores. What the difference? Yarujan! (in general) had a far camera better crew working that either of those DVDs – if you look at the way the lense moves and pans around each scene comparitively speaking, Yarujan! is more interesting and had sexier shot of the idol in question. You even gave that horrid Kawase Yuna DVD a 3.5, and she didn’t move much or exhibit the level of charisma that Miri has.

I think this is the factor it comes down to though, isn’t it? A person’s enjoyment of an idol DVD is two fold – first is the technical side of things (camera work, sound, lighting, location). The second is how much you like the idol and how much you buy into their onscreen persona. For my money, Miri is one of the best working today in regard to onscreen presence – at the moment, only Takeuchi Nozomi is better – she can be convincing play sexy, sweet, classy or whatever in her videos. She does it here even with with the minimal movement, mostly eye contact and facial expressions. That being said, when she’s off, she’s really off though.

Okay, to wrap this up: I think 4.0 or 4.25 would be more accurate. Yup. All that rambling for a basic: “Sorry Mike, I disagree”

JMM