RSSYuri Kobayashi – Revenge
13 Mar 2009 Comments Off
in Reviews
Yuri Kobayashi – Revenge (November 27, 2008)
Gravure Bank
Catalog # – GBDV-10012 – Region 2 Disc – 4:3 Aspect
Running Time: 50 Minutes of video + 10 minutes of Images
The Skinny: Wow! It’s been a long time, While this DVD was released toward the end of November 2008, Yuri’s previous DVD release was Yuri@Happy which hit the shelves of your video outlets in Japan on January 1st, 2007. Likely that video was produced in the fall of 2006 meaning that Yuri has been out of sight (at least as a gravure idol) for about two years, or so it seems.
As it turned out, I thoroughly panned that Yuri@Happy DVD. In fact I hated it, giving all the points to the model and even going so far to suggest that the producer and direct be taken out behind the woodshed for a thorough paddling. You can read that review if you like, but hopefully AFTER you’ve read this one.
The good news is that this video is good news for all of Yuri’s fans who likely have missed her for these past two years.
She’s terrific to look at although she’s not asked to do much in the Revenge DVD. I’m not sure what the real underlying motive was for calling this DVD Revenge – maybe pay-back of a kind, and maybe related to why she was out of sight for a few years.
There’s a distinct sameness to most of the scenes. Yuri is not particularly active, and the music is slow paced. Mind you this is not a bad thing if you like what is on-screen. But it can lead to impatience by the viewer.
From another angle – this DVD is all about artistry. The director and his editor have used some techniques that are not the usual for a gravure DVD. For example – when changing from one shot to the next, the usual transition technique is a straightforward cut. You see A then you see B.
Here they’ve employed a high number of dissolves and overlays. This means you begin to see the next shot before the current shot has completely left the screen. In short there’s a simultaneous going and coming of the two shots and this often produces a brief double image.
In my recent review of Miri Hanai’s Cara DVD, I said that for much of that DVD, Miri didn’t do much at all except to maintain eye contact with the camera as it moved all around her. I also stated that many of you might be bored with such a technique.
It’s done similarly here except that Yuri changes positions within the same scene often.
As I mentioned artistry above – there’s also the fact that in at least two sections of the DVD, we are told that the underlying music was by Yuri Kobayashi who is also the model. The music that she created was all synthesized, but there’s a lot of variation. Let’s give her credit for her creativity.
The last ten minutes of the video were a series of creatively displayed still photos that were shown with a good deal of zooms and pans. While I think a 10 minute slide show of any model is taking too much time for a gravure video, at least this gave you a sense of movement within the stills.
You will also appreciate the excellent composition of the shots. From the opening chapter which was shot in and around an old railroad train repair shop to the waterfall scene, a lot of this was breathtaking.
Summary: I’m not sure where this video was shot. Yuri said something about Hokkaido which is Japan’s large most northern island. But I couldn’t understand the context. Maybe she was telling us that the production was shot in Hokkaido, or maybe she was telling us that she is now living in Hokkaido.
The video was experimental in that it was innovative technically at times. And there was Yuri’s new world music.
But if you want to see a beautiful model who appears in a series of unusual locations, who doesn’t do much at all, but is displayed in a very new and creative style, then please do check out this DVD. Four point zero.
