I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. This may have to do with her not being around the scene for two years but there it is. First her looks. I think she looks incredible. She has put on a tad weight but I think its a good thing. You can also tell (remember I am in the US so have not seen anything on her in two years) she looks a little older, which is also a plus. She still has the looks and the body of the goddess I have loved to watch. Second her outfits. I kind of feel that the outfits where chosen due to the fact of her slight increase in size (I know I keep saying this but I am not saying its bad…in the least bit). There are quite a bit of close ups of her great cleavage which is always welcomed…plus her black outfit brought back flashbacks of SHOCK! and Diva Black. I will agree that locations could have been better…at least one beach scene would have been nice. She does not run around and frolick around like she used to…and the biggest problem I had was that she didnt smile. I have had this problem since I got X-Body and Silky Collection. I was beginning to think she did not enjoy making those DVDs and kind of got the same impression here. But here not one single smile. As this may sound like its not that big of a deal it is with me. She used to be so playful and active now she just sits there and lets us admire her…which isnt a bad thing. I am wondering if she is trying to give off a more sexy and intimate look than just bouncing around and having fun. Regardless I enjoyed the dvd. Oh and the 16×9 aspect ratio was a plus since I have a widescreen HDTV. If this is her final dvd I can live with it. I lived with Ourei Harada’s With You so I can take this for sure (though if Ourei had ended with something like Carnival that would have been the best). I know gravure idols are younger but I have began to see some older idols around (like Yoko Matsugane) so I dont understand why we wont get any more DVD from Harumi…unless she is sick of the gravure scene. Anyways my two cents…or ramblings I guess. Thanks for the review as always.

PP

Your comments are very astute. I also thought Harumi looked a little fuller in the face. Her weight gain comes with aging (to a degree) and would also be dependent on lifestyle choices., like how much exercise, what foods, etc.

The pantheon of leading ladies in the gravure world circa 2003-2004-2005 had to Matsugane, Nemoto, and Natsume - and each of them had legions of fans. And each of them had some down time. I think it is all about money. The producers are always looking for newer and younger and the buying public - men - move on to more responsibilities in life - wives, children, mortgages, and jobs so they have less disposable income, as well as less free time - so they stop buying. The younger buyers see these ladies as older models, and they are younger men themselves - so they opt for younger models.

I too live in the US, so maybe we’ll have some readers based in Japan weigh in with additional comments.

JMM

Look back around 2002-2004, the golden age for Yellow Cab, one of the big talent agencies. They had Nemoto Harumi, Satô Eriko, Koike Eiko and MEGUMI. All started as gravure idols but moved on to toher careers in the entertainment industry.

Another thing is that these girls are a dime-a-dozen… the number of young women looking to break into the entertainment industry through the gravure route is staggering, and starting and a younger and younger age (hence the disturbing existance of Jr Idols, but that’s a different topic). The industry is always at a saturation point as far as I can tell. These girls are signed to do a DVD or photobook, but disappear just a squickly unless there is a really good response from the public or someone high up in the talent agency is pushing for them. For whatever reason. Not that I’m implying anything. You don’t see many thirty year old idols (Hoshino Aki with her freak DNA being the exception - doesn’t look a day over 19 IMHO) as they’ve either moved into a different part fo the entertainment industry or have moved on to a different career entirely. Nemo-chan has moved on to basically being talent and some acting bits.

Although idols like Yôko and Rio are popular among the idol worshippers overseas, here they really haven’t made much of an impact outside of the idol subculture. Someone once made a great observation: 99% of idols are akin to Playboy Bunnies in the West - well known in certain circles, but virtually unknown outside of that niche. Nemo, MEGUMI and the like are exceptions to the rule.

I think Hiroko Sato (one of my favorites) has garnered some roles.

And MEGUMI has become a TV personality.

We have lots of those in the US. They appear on celebrity game shows…and before long their entire existence as a celebrity is based on the fame of being on the game show circuit.

But these days in the US - Reality Television is the rage. That’s the same 15 minutes of fame that a one-time gravure idol gets.

One other point - and this seems to be true - the shelves have thousands of DVDs to choose from, so the production houses are constantly turning out new product which creates a new need for shelf space, so many end up in the reduced price remainder bins. How is it that the production outfits don’t do fewer DVDs, and how is it that these girls can’t get more work?

I think an interesting story is that of Yuriko Shiratori who did some gravure work while still in high school. The high school threw her out, and subsequently she sued the High School. Do you know how that case was decided?

JMM