Rui Kiriyama – Rui Rouge (September 18, 2009)
E-Net Frontier
Catalog # ENFD-5161 – Region 2 Disc – 16:9 Aspect
Running Time: 53 Minutes + 20 minutes of Extras
The Skinny: Even as my copy of this DVD was on the truck rolling towards my home, after departing Tokyo and making stops in Anchorage, Alaska, then Memphis, Tennessee, before arriving in my city, cdjapan had already put up a “Temporarily Out of Stock” notice on their page for this DVD. To me, this means that the pre-release orders for Rui Kiriyama’s newest video called Rui Rouge, had completely sold out and they had no stock left all within a day or so of its release.
Well right on schedule, the Fedex truck arrived shortly after 10:00 AM on Monday, September 21st. Wow. Move over Nonami, Yoko, and Rio. Roll out the red carpets. Let’s anoint Rui as the new Ichiban gravure idol. Why? Because I knew from the magnificent three and half minute montage that I might rate this DVD a Five point zero. And I think she’s a great model.
As the main chapters begin, we find a tentative Rui hesitantly entering what we would normally call an abandoned building. Why she’s there, I’ve no idea. But there’s a predator in that building and Rui goes from one empty room to another empty room attempting to ‘flee’ from whoever is chasing her. We know nothing will happen to her as this is only the 1st chapter, but Rui did effectively portray that she was frightened. This may be the 1st of her training as an actress that she might surely be when she retires from gravure.
In the second chapter, Rui wears a too small red bikini with white polka dots. The Saipan beach looks delicious and there’s plenty of sunshine and blue skies. There’s a lot of jiggle to watch in this playful and entertaining chapter.
Three begins with Rui looking scrumptious in a bandeau top and panties set with matching stockings.
She’s lying on a day-bed and we (the camera) are positioned above her and looking down.
She’ll remove the stockings and aside from that there’s not much action at all.
Rui has turned on the charm (read that as smoldering looks) and she looks great.
She’s on her back for the entire scene except for the last five seconds where she sits up, says something to us, and offers us her first and only smile of this scene.
A bath-tub scene follows. Rui is seated on the back edge of a tub. The window is behind her so we can say that the scene is back-lit. She’ll have the shower nozzle in her hand for about half the scene. She’s wearing a beige bra and panties, as you see on the DVD cover and the main menu (both above) and the bra part is too small (a recurring them throughout the entire video). Again there’s not a lot of action. Instead they let Rui’s beautiful body and the soft and sensuous way she looks at us to create the impact.
Five is outdoors under the sun. Rui is posed with a bright red Ford Mustang convertible. She’s wearing a lot of jewelry – large hoop earrings, a multi-strand necklace, wrist bracelet, and a waist bracelet which gives added luster to her black bikini.
For the 1st time in this video, Rui steps out of the gravure idol role she’s played so far, and treats us to this scene where she plays the hot chick in the convertible. I don’t mean to say that she acts trashy. This is not the case at all. But it is true that she has amped up the allure, and is actively using her body and her sexuality to attract us.
I mean her body is sexy to begin with, but in this chapter, the positioning and the posing are far more suggestive than we have seen in any of her earlier DVDs or even earlier in this DVD.
Our 6th chapter begins slowly in what looks like a hotel room. Rui is wearing a white leotard that offers us a lot of cleavage. She begins with a series of standing, slow full turns.
Later she’ll relax on the bed and offer us more astounding looks at her curves. This is handled very properly and discreetly.
How about a backless, side-less, cut to the navel, short cocktail dress. I doubt we will ever see Rui out in public with a jaw-dropping dress like this. Quite possibly, none of us will see any woman in a dress like this.
This dress was designed to show off a big-busted girl’s curves. As it is, despite the teased ribbon in her hair, and the ‘statement’ necklace, Rui remains in her hotel room to model this dress; and she doesn’t smile even once in this chapter.
After two straight indoor scenes, we next have Rui out by the pool under the mid-day sun. We have the natural local ambient sounds, and when the sounds of a power drill become distracting, Rui ‘wakes up’, sits up and says, Ehhh? That’s the signal to cue in a music track, and for Rui to take an outdoor poolside shower before actually heading into the pool. Again, her two-tone turquoise bikini bra is too small, and it is this chapter where the sedate Rui is exchanged for the Rui that smiles and laughs continuously.
The 9th Chapter is actually a second part of the pool chapter. This time Rui is not just posing but is interacting with the camera. At least three times, she will makes sure that her huge boobs actually make contact with the camera. There’s a lot of laughter, splashing, and underwater shots as well. It was a fun scene and it was done superbly.
In 10, we have Rui as a pole dancer. She’s not going impress you with her dance moves. But she does look like a dancer working with a pole. Of course the ever changing strobe lighting which reflects off the spinning multi-mirrored glass sphere helps. As does the fact that this scene was shot in a real gentlemen’s club, the famous King’s Club in Saipan.
Eleven is a bedroom scene. Rui isn’t wearing much besides a skimpy bikini. This looks like it was shot in the afternoon, as the room is sunlit. They’ve done a great job in this chapter in showing us Rui’s remarkable body.
The last main chapter starts with the walk-on-the-beach-at-sunset.
This should be a mandatory staple of all gravure idols videos. Or at least those that are shot at a tropical beach resort.
Rui wears a small yellow sun-dress which shows us a lot of cleavage.
The credits roll by, a short fade out, and then we are back at the King’s Club. Rui talks to us.
My Japanese is improving but I still have a long way to go.
I’m pretty sure that Rui thanked the crew for their hard work (Otsukaresimas-deshita).
Then encouraged us to buy her DVD…
… and then went on to tell us that pole dancing is hard work.
The first Extra chapter finds Rui in her hotel room. This is where the 11th Chapter was shot. Here she’s handling her own video camera and she will talk directly to us. Sort of a one-on-one: Rui and us.
Naturally we don’t say a word. I’ll give her a lot of credit for speaking without any written dialogue or notes to help for 15 minutes. She talks about her body. She tells us that she’s bigger than an H-Cup but not quite an I-Cup. She says that an H-Cup bra has to work hard (ganbatte) to support her almost I-Cup breasts.
She talks about Saipan being sugoi (amazing) and more about the pole dancer scene. If you have no understanding at all of Japanese, you probably need to fast forward through this. But if you can figure out some of what she’s taking about – the scene will have more value. But just from the visuals, you get a very good look at her personality and substance.
The second Extra Chapter is five and half minutes of behind the scenes.
Summary: Okay, I’m going to back off the perfecto rating. This is not quite a five point zero video. But I am willing to state that Rui has ‘FUTURE MAJOR STAR’ written all over her. Her sumptuous figure, her personality, and her good looks are going to take her straight to the top.
As for this video – the main chapters were all about five minutes in length, or a little longer. We didn’t get a sense of any of them being too long. The weather was great, and Rui sure can fill out and even overflow a bikini.
I’m downgrading to a four point seven five because they went to a less than five star resort. Rui’s room was plain, and the pool area was tired looking. The camera work, pacing, editing, and music were all fine, but just short of being excellent.
So, we love Rui, we loved the video, and we think that while there were no major or serious problems at all – this DVD should be rated just below perfect. But having said all that – I will say that this is a Must-Have Don’t Miss It DVD.
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I agree Mike, she seems a ready made replacement for Rio/Yoko/Miri/Nonami (at least 3 of these are mid 20′s or over now). She does look alot like Nonami, though a little less pretty.
But can she retain her popularity once Ai Shinozaki and Saaya Irie turn 18 ??
Both of those girls are arguably prettier and their boobs less ‘dubious’.
Hi Malau – thanks for the comments all the way from China.
I think like you do – that Rui and Nonami look alot alike, only I think Rui is the prettier one.
As for Ai Shinozaki and Saaya Irie – I know of them, and I’ve read about them, but I’ve not seen any of their DVDs. I’ll wait until they’re 18.
There is one thought – rankings may be based on sales, but just as Rio, Yoko, Nonami, and Miri all shared the status as the best gravure idols, and all have had long running careers. So when Ai and Saaya graduate from being jr idols to full fledged stars of the gravure world, it won’t mean that Rui will be ignored and forgotten.
You wait and see; I’m sure there’s enough room for all three to be successful simultaneously. If release schedules are properly managed, that will be the way to maximize all three. of their careers.
jmm
Actually, to me, Rui looks as Ai’s and Saaya’s love child =p, or the product of the “fusion dance” if you will, Rui has a babyfaceish vibe to her, but not quite as Ai and is lean but not to Saaya’s type… I think Ai Shinozaki is already a full fledged gravure star (arguably, the top one for this year) but their ages don’t overslap, considering that the younger girls have been at the top for 3-4 years, it will be much harder for them to hold up there than for Rui, who is still a fresh face in the industry.
I think Yuka Shirozaki (a year older than Saaya) might be the next gravure superstar, but her chances will probably be crushed by Rui, Ai and Saaya… but we’ll see (Yuka is not as polished yet).
Rui has come a long way, though, at first, I dismissed her as a pseudo porn girl – in the vein of Megu Fujiura (I love Megu, but it was pretty obvious she was not in there to do gravure) – but after seeing a couple of pics, realized she was much more into traditional gravure than most idols these days and saw her superstar aura right away… as far as 18-20 year idols go, I’d say Rui leads the pack, even over girls like Erika Yazawa or Risa Narita who have much more exposure having a Jpop-TV background.
For the IV itself, well, I see how it was not shot in a five stars resort, but it’s bound to happen, with the economy not doing that well all over the world, I guess the producers will search a way to save a few 100,000s yen, I bet we’ll see more indoors videos this year and in the future, so being in a beach in this one was still nice.
I like Rui’s “Damsel in distress” look, and the “stalking” scene was fine but I’m glad it was not the recurring theme. Since Rui seems to be naturally all smiles and giggles, the no-smile scenes and even the sleepy one looked as if they were trying to prove she can keep a straight face if required (possibly to help an acting career appeal)… and I don’t really have much to say about the rest, it’s Rui+bikinis = Bullseye imo.
Even though I think Rui might move on to acting, I think she’ll still produce gravure for years to come, but I bet paychecks are fatter for girls who are seen as movie stars than purely gravure idols. She has a bright future ahead of her…
And of course, thanks for the review!!! The tidbits about what was she saying are pretty handy as well… I cup? She’s almost there in terms of being a Nonami (95I vs Rui’s 98H-almost-but-not-quite-I) =p
Very cool comments Xater. Thanks.
As I said above – I know of but have not watched any videos of any of the other girls you mentioned.
So Ai Shinozaki is 18? To me in photos, she still looks like a youngster (face-wise). I’ll see if I can verify her age before looking at any of her vids.
Be sure and tell me when Saaya reaches 18. Seems like she was in the news along time ago for being somewhat FAR FAR beyond the norms and standards for her age 5 years ago.
jmm
Ai is 17, but it seems the Japanese media makes no distinction, although that is probably changing, she and Saaya work for any of the big name producers just like their O18 peers and they have more photo shoots in mainstream magazines than the likes of Hana Haruna or even Rui herself, but the later are still building their names.
Saaya will turn 18 by November 15 (14 over here) 2011, so it is still a far way to go.
I’m not in Japan and while the Japanese have what they’re calling Junior Idols, I’ve been careful about not including such models on my site. I’m not saying that you as a reader should not mention them, I’m only clarifying that I won’t be reviewing the DVDs that they’ve released as Jr. Idols.