Mikie Hara – (Japanese title) (2007)
Liverpool Productions

The Skinny: A departure, or rather a new direction in gravure idol DVDs. Gorgeous Mikie appears in lots of bikinis, and other sports/workout clothes, and she participates in one kind of athletic feat after another. To put it succinctly – there’s a little less of glamor, and with no loss of beauty, there’s a lot more of action.

This DVD actually has a Japanese title, but the box cover displays this title in Japanese script so I’m at a loss. Maybe someone who can read the script will provide a title and a translation for us. So, while we wait let’s have a look at Mikie in motion.

As the DVD begins, the setting is an Okinawan city. Actually it is Naha City – Okinawa’s biggest city, which I determined later in the DVD, by seeing the cast and crew walking out of the Palm Royal Hotel. Mikie is wearing a red bikini with the legend Just Go on it, and she’s riding a bike. And this sets the tone for most of video.

This is followed by Mikie jogging in a city park. She wears a brief bikini, a baseball cap, and running shoes. This is followed by a leisurely hike up a hillside trail. In this scene it is really less about the hiking and more about will she or won’t she unzip that yellow terrycloth top. We are happy for this long, nice look at this beauty – and she is no doubt happy about having a respite from further exertions at the hilltop.

But she’ll be back at it in the next scene which is shot on a playing field in front of a big gymnasium – we’ll visit this gym soon enough. For now we get to watch Mikie in a basic gym class get up – tee shirt and shorts. Mikie does a series of stretching and limbering up exercises. As she should because she shows up in the gym immediately.

The shorts and tee have become a bikini top and red shorts. What we get here is a round of Skip rope, Hula hoop, and a new-fangled instrument best compared to a pogo stick only it’s a pogo ball. We’ll give Mikie an A+ in skip rope, and barely passing marks in the others.

We next find Mikie dressed in overalls over a pale green bikini bikini in town where she finds a waterfront park with caves, slides, and even a way of crossing the water without a bridge and without getting wet. Check it out.

A quick trip to the beach and Mikie will write her name in the sand with a bit of flair.

Back at the hotel, a tired Mikie rests on the sofa. She’s not too tired to flirt with us for a while. Then she’ll take off the overall to treat us to the view of an exuberant young woman, clad in just a brief bikini, jumping up and down of the sofa.

Back at the gym, Mikie does floor exercises with a pink ball, yellow batons, and a lengthy streamer. She looks great, has good balance but I don’t see a career path for Mikie in gymnastics. She’ll do much better in gravure DVDs.

Time for a bikini and beach scene. Mikie sports a pink bikini and her job at the beach is to play catch, not with one ball as you might expect – no, some demented fellow thought it might be cute to ask Mike to try to catch a pair of balls tossed her way in succession.

She’s pretty good at it and does have good hands – but the person tossing was less than accurate and poor Mikie had to spend some time chasing the errant throws. You’ll enjoy watching her scampering about on the beach.

Tennis anyone? Sure enough Mikie can swat a tennis ball and look good doing it. She’s got a strong right hand ground stroke, and a very good backhand. Our girl has been on a tennis court before and it shows. Watch her footwork, This is not a first time experience like we once saw in a Rio Natsume DVD. Mikie definitely has a tennis game! And to top it off they ask her to change clothes right there on the tennis court!

By now our girl has done plenty. The producers break down and treat Mikie to a massage, and we get to watch. This time the message is not meant to excite the viewers. No, this is a serious massage, and even though this give us some wonderful views of Mikie’s body – they play it as a straight up massage.

Mikie had a rough day – our next view of her is in bed. She wears a gorgeous silk pajama top and panties. We get to look down the front of her pj top and can glimpse some cleavage. And even without that bit of a bonus – this is a wonderful scene, played for fun, and we get a smashing look at a beautiful Mikie.

Still indoors we are treated to a short fashion show. Mikie has a suite and while we sit in the living room, she will model two bikinis, and a lovely one piece swim suit.

Once again they offer us a few don’t-blink-because-you-might-miss-them cleavage shots. Fortunately, due to the wonders of frame-by-frame advance, you won’t miss a thing.

Soon enough we are back in the gymnasium. Mikie wears a black rig that strictly speaking is not a bikini – but looks almost like a bikini despite the connections between top and bottom. This time it is more floor exercises, and then, and then…an unseen hand swoops in first with a pair of feathery things on sticks. This hand proceeds to lightly touch her body and even includes her boobs. I guess the intent is to tickle…you’d have to ask the producers, as I’m not really sure.

But wait – there’s more. The feather-like sticks are discarded and replaced by a brush, and yes, this brush does some tidying up (dusting?) even in Mikie’s cleavage. The pictures will show I’m not making this up.

Guess what? After all this working out, ball playing, running, biking, etc – Mikie deserves a party. So they throw a party for her, Candy, cake, fruits, and all sorts of sweets just for her.

Mikie gets a little carried away with the strawberry shortcake and in addition to having some of this tasty confection to eat – she ends up wearing some of the whipped cream. This will require a shower. Lucky us.

And that’s the end of the main chapters. A lengthy behind the scenes segment follows, and we discover that Mikie is a cheerful and chatty young women. She’s got vitality and energy, and is easy to laugh. In short a completely desirable woman.

Summary: I’ve never watched Mikie Hara in a DVD that I didn’t like. I think she’s one of the best. Though her career as a bikini idol is relatively short, there’s a distinct likelihood that her career will have continued success. I’d bet on it if I could. I also would bet that you’re going to like this DVD just like I did. Four point zero is the rating. There’s plenty to like about Mikie and this production, while having a few too many ‘events’, still manages to keep the pace quick. They might have given us a bit more glamor, but there’s plenty of Mikie on display.

The DVD has a nice ending, as Mikie walks away from us on the beach. The meaning is clear – it’s not Sayonara, but more like – see you later.

This is a Region 2 Disc. You’ll need a Region 2 Player or an All Region Player to watch this on your Television