Hana Haruna – Gekkan Hana Haruna
E-Net Frontier
Catalog # – JENF-1044 – Region 2 Disc – 16:9 Aspect
Running Time: 60 Minutes

If only the DVD was as good as the cover - but it isn't

The Skinny: Let’s start with the basics. As the DVD begins we see that Hana is working as a stage hand. She wears coveralls which pretty much cover her up. She also sports a baseball hat worn backwards – you know – the brim in the back, and eye -glasses. We see her above the stage, up on a ladder installing or working with a spotlight.

Hana-chan looking at herself in the mirror. She's reflecting on her life as a stage-hand. I'm guessing of course

She comes down and eventually gets a phone call. She’s goes into a dressing room for sexy female dancers. We don’t see any, but you can tell by the costumes.

The sole highlight of the DVD - Hana changes clothes in low light three times. Keep in mind, there are dark shadows, and when she removes her panties, the camera has sunk to knee level. In short there's nothing revealed at all.

Hana gets out of her stage hand clothing, actually removing everything including her bra and panties, and tries on 3 different outfits. The lighting is low but we can see that she is really undressing (her back is to us). Yeah, we know she’s undressing but forget about it. If she stood behind a screen, the results would have been the same as what we see with no screen.

A guy comes in and they speak. Hana acts all frightened about been seen in the exotic dancer costume. The guy leaves.

She climbs into a second dancer or strippers costume. The guy comes back, they speak again. Next we see the guy sitting on a milk carton in front of the darkened stage.

The dance sequence which runs almost 30 seconds but we see it over and over - practicing, training, takes, and retakes, and still more retakes - plus discussions and we even watch the trainers do the dance with Hana watching.

Hana comes out, in the exotic dancer’s costume, onto the stage, and she and this ‘guy’ dance for about 30 seconds. They speak. Then we get the big reveal. The guy is not really a guy. It is a girl. She will open her outer jacket, take Hana’s hand and press it to her chest, as if to prove she has breasts and is in fact a girl.

The Big Reveal: I'm not who you thought I was...

That’s it. This all took about 15 minutes. For the next 45 minutes we see the rehearsals and set ups for this brief sequence. Over and over. Hana occasionally talks directly to us. Most of the time she is saying “Hai,” in response to the director who has yelled “Cut-o” repeatedly. There is no English spoken at all.

Summary: The reality is that this new release of a Hana Haruna DVD does not in anyway at all look, feel, or act like a gravure video. And that’s because it isn’t. It is a documentary (a reality show) about Hana working in this one scene which might be part of a TV show. I’d know a lot more if my Japanese was better but it isn’t.

Aside from Hana undressing, which was done with her back to us and in low lighting ( the image provided was amped up for brightness by me) , there’s nothing even remotely interesting about Hana or this scene or this DVD. And if you are a fan of Hana Haruna, like I am, you must consider that before you spend your money, I think this was a waste of my time and my money.

As you can see, I am unable to even give you a decent image from the video. I will not rate this DVD as it doesn’t deserve a rating. You can take this article for what it is – a warning.