RSSYuika Hotta – Yuika Hotta in Fiji
12 Oct 2008 Comments Off
in Reviews
Yuika Hotta – Mabayui Natsu aka Yuika Hotta in Fiji (10/26/2007)
For-side.com
Catalog # FDGD-201 – Region 2 – 16:9 Aspect – MPEG 2
Running Time: 70 minutes
The Skinny: I always wanted to visit Fiji. I guess accompanying Yuika Hotta as she visits Fiji, via a DVD playing in my own living room is as close I am going to get for now. Yuika is a playful model and this DVD is less about Directors’ egos which are always an anaethama for us viewers, and is really more about the model. You can say that they can fly a model anywhere and she can look good. While this is true, that fact doesn’t always translate into an enjoyable video experience. Ok, that’s about enough jabberwocky. Get on with it man!
I don’t know about you but Yuika seems to remind me of the American actress Sandra Bullock. Is there a resemblances or is my imagination overheated? I guess I am just mimicking the DVD which also takes a long time to start. We first see a bored woman (Yuika) repeatedly pressing the remote to find something she likes on TV. Then she finds a different remote. When she presses it, we see a video beginning about a trip to Fiji. Unfortunately, this is not the real beginning either. as Yuika has to work through a Q&A entailing 5 separate questions. All of the above is entirely in Japanese. Basically the first five minutes is a waste of time.
Well all good things do require either an investment of time, assets, or energy. Or all of the above. But Yuika does come forth for a sparkling series all of which was shot underneath a lengthy jetty projecting seaward. The combination of the late afternoon sun which was filtered by the overhead jetty, the highlights in Yuika’s hair, and her gorgeous skin tones do make this a very memorable scene. It is a scene like this, with the model looking just so, that garners a fan for life. Well done!
But soon enough enough we are back to some more dreaded downtime. This time Yuika plays a dual role. She’s both the interviewer as well as the interviewee. The fast forward button your remote was built for just this kind of time-waster.
But soon she reappears on a sunny Fiji beach. I’ll have to guess on this as most of the set-ups seems to come down to tight head shots. There’s an occasional backing off, and some cleavage tossed in, and even a few seconds when the model appears to come between the camera op and the sea. But you really can’t say that this scene was about a model on a beach. More likely it was about a model under the sun.
Sadly, the Yuika/Yuika interview begins again. Zap! When I checked back, it was just ending. Please, oh please. If it says The End, then let it be The End!
The next scene is a winner. Yuika wears a white bikini. We begin under a tree, and end up on a polished wooden floor. WE are happy to see Yuila marvelous come hither smiles. She smiles and looks mysterious…as in ehat is thisd woman thinking? Either way, or whatever she’s got on her mind, the results are very pleasing for this viewer.
In the next scene we can assume that the crew, or the resort was short-staffed as Yuika had to cook her own meal. At least she’s far better looking than Julia Childs. Way younger as well.
Then we see a placard which I guess is telling us that Yuila will next participate in some action on the water.
There she is on the tube being towed. That’s a camera between or legs and she did take footage of herself while skimming on the water. But it is too close of a shot – her ams werent long enough, not to mention the bounce effect during this high speed run. You can see by the size of the boats wake that they really are going fast.
After this there is series of quick scenes ranging from Yuika in the shower,to bedecking one of the production crew with oodles of the string stuff that comes out of an aerolsol can, to posing somewhere, and a scene where she struggles to explain something to hotel’s man about an issue with her bathroom in English but she doesn’t do it too well, and he is not picking up on any of it. Eventually they shake hands and move on to simpler tasks. Bula, Bula!
Next she tries again with another hotel man. I picked up her saying she wanted to borrow something. She says, “Can you lend me?” Again no luck.
Finally we get another beach scene. It is marred somewhat by the lack of sun and blue skies but it is still enjoyable. And in an odd twist, the music playing is all about a fabulous vacation where the participants had, “The times of our lives in Cal-i-forn-ia”. And you thought we were in Fiji. Even if it didn’t quite match the location, it was a nice bouncy tune, I must say.
Meanwhile we next see Yuika in the hotel lobby discussing the problem yet again. This time the lady does understand, and so do we. Yuika is asking for a pump – the toilet doesn’t work. Bummer! The desk clerk promises to send someone around to have a look.
Next on your screen will be a brief posing sessions. Yuika wears a light, flowing yellow top. She looks good. Wish it lasted a wee bit longer. But before the songs ends we see Yuika in a brief bikini. At least now we know what was under the yellow top.
Yuika takes to the skies in the next segment. Yes, it’s parasailing. Yuika is rigged up in a parachute harness, and they let out the line and soon she’s aloft being towed by the spped boat below. They gave her a camera but she was all over the place with it, and she didn’t produce many useable shots. But there she is back on the speed boat so all’s well that ends well.
There’s more – Yuika walking out and back on the same jetty that opened the video only we were below it. Yuika sings along to a song as if it was MTV, and some catch as catch can with Yuika in front of a small rose bush. Plus a self narrated voice over for some behind the scene footage. End then its over.
Summary: Yuika is a very nice looking woman. She’s perky, and energetic, and likes to smile and laugh. She’s quite relaxed and comfortable despite many of the camera sets ups being in so very close. The music tracks are very eclectic including rock, hip hop, and even bhangra which could be a mix of Indian, reggae, hip hop, Middle eastern, and even trance. All in all it was a fun DVD – a bit scattershot at times, and it lacked that slick polished look that comes with a good production team. But Yuika is a very accomplished model – she looks good, even ‘hot’ when she’s just hanging out with the crew. Three point seven five is your rating.
