RSSSayonara
30 Sep 2006 3 Comments
in Reviews
We’ve not presented her on our pages in quite some time as she doesn’t do Gravure Idol videos any more. She’s tall for a busty Japanese Idol measuring 5 – 5 1/2; no doubt creating a perfect balance for her awesome 40 1/2 I cup bust. So who is she?
You shouldn’t be surprised to see that I have chosen this time to offer up a final look at one of my all-time favorites – Harumi Nemoto. This won’t be just a collection of photos with some breathless and gushing text.
Instead we’ll have a look at some of Harumi’s DVD’s that I’ve collected over the last few years. We’ll give you some quantity instead of a single in depth review. So if it seems like we are rushing through these reviews, it will be true, because we are.
Typhoon was Harumi-chan’s 2nd DVD. The release date was November 7, 2002. This might have been a more interesting video if I spoke enough Japanese to understand the interview segments. You will probably have the same problems if your Nihongo (Japanese) is lacking or non-existent.
Harumi looks great in the indoor segments, but most of the outdoor scenes have lighting problems. Overly bright backgrounds, either intentionally or unintentionally, will detract from your viewing pleasure.
Nemo, Nemo was originally released on January 22, 2003 so it was shot in 2002. At cdjapan they point out that this DVD title is out of print, but you can order a VHS if you like. At two minutes into the video – Harumi is in the shower. This is what I call a dynamite opening. This is a youthful and exuberant Harumi. Her busty figure looks sensational, and her personality bubbles happily throughout.
Strictly speaking, this isn’t a series of bikini shoots. There’s a variety of settings – like a bedroom, a shower, a walk deep in the woods, at a bar, on a hammock, etc. And there’s a concerted effort to focus on Harumi as a person instead of her just her physical attributes. According to cdjapan, this was only her third DVD, and in my view, it is one of her best.
From 2003, and also out of print (I think) is the one entitled Special – Harumi Nemoto in Okinawa. This is a wonderful DVD with lots of variation. There’s even a thin story line – Harumi is off to model in Okinawa. While she’s on the job, she is being stalked. However the stalking isn’t the main thrust of the DVD – the modeling is, as these dozen images will attest.
We’ve got glamous evening gowns, sexy & naughty, pool, bike riding, hitchhiking, even a scene of a budding romance. Well made, intriguing shotmaking, and for once, the DVD never seems to go in the directions you expect. A winner.
The last DVD we’ll look at is called X-Body. This DVD was released in the early spring of 2005. It is one of the last three that she made, before moving on to other pursuits. The life of a bikini idol is short and sweet. If we use Harumi as an example, we can assume a run of parts of four years (2002-2005) is about the maximum.
It’s all driven by sales, and as the public itself ages; so do the age of the buyers. As they grow older and pusue things like career and raising a family, they are are replaced by newer and younger buyers who crave new models. The consequence is that the models must be youthful. Of course this means, as they age, they will be replaced. That is the overall schematic as viewed by the production houses. Every so often, a model like Harumi comes along, and the public can’t get enough and can’t stop buying – ka ching!; so they rewrite the rules for these special models. Still you can state that there’s a measurable career life span for most of the models.
X-Body is part glamour, part bikini, part directorial conceit, and also an experiment in that the emotional range of the model is intentionally shortened. More on that after we show off some of the best images.
They’ve made the most of Harumi’s superb body in this one. They said don’t smile, we’re going to be pointing the lens at your tits much of the time, and, oh yeah, you’re supposed to be either almost angry, or slightly afraid in some of the scenes.
That’s was the plan and they pretty much got what they asked for. Me? I think Harumi looks great – I’ve always thought so – so her mood wasn’t that big a deal for me. So I say thumbs up. Sayonara Harumi.
Harumi Nemoto
X-Body
Harumi Nemoto in Okinawa
Nemo, Nemo
Typhoon
One More Last Look at The Goddess Called Harumi Nemoto -
Oct 01, 2006 @ 12:04:13
Yes, Harumi will most definitely be missed. She’s a gravure legend in my eyes.
Oct 02, 2006 @ 08:36:07
My dear, sweet Nemo-chan. At least I can occasionally glimpse your overwhelming beauty on TV from time to time even if you have left the modelling world….
One of the things I love about Harumi is how chatty she is in her DVDs… a lot of directors never let their subjects speak in gravure idol DVDs, but Harumi was not shy about speaking up. It just gave her some much more personality than the average idol who looks pouty or cute for the camera and does little else. This is one of the reasons both Takeuchi Nozomi and Hanai Miri are possible successors to Nemo’s throne as Queen of the Gravure Idols.
Just FYI X-Body was the last original DVD which Nemo starred in. There were two subsequent releases (the excellent HaruMIX and the Nemoto Harumi Box in the middle of and end of 2005 respectively). If you’re looking for a great overview of Harumi, HaruMIX is excellent. Just don’t get both the box set AND HaruMIX… way too much overlap in material.
Nice tribute JMM!
Oct 09, 2006 @ 15:32:47
Thanks for the comments:
I’ll always adore Harumi. She along with MEGUMI were the 1st idols that I bought over the internet from cdjapan. She’s one of the best.
JMM