Yuri Kobayashi – Mosaic Nude (September 1st, 2010)
Muteki
Catalog # – TEK-027 – All Regions Disc – 16:9 Aspect
Runing Time: 80 Minutes

The Skinny: When I first read the news that Yuri Kobayashi would do an all nude video for Muteki - it was like, “Oh – that’s interesting.” I’d reviewed a number of Yuri’s gravure videos. My overall feelings about her look and style as a gravure idol were favorable. On the other hand – making the quantum leap from the gentler and more conventional gravure over to nudity with Muteki leads one to believe that the next level (AV) isn’t that far off or an impossible dream. But rather than ponder Yuri’s future plans let’s just do a review of this DVD.

Straightaway we begin with a montage only its not what you expected. Instead of it being a mini-preview of what will follow in the video, it is a look back (via still photo images) of when Yuri was a notable gravure idol and this is cross cut with some looks at Yuri  in the present, in fact, this will serve to introduce  her in this Video. This  footage does bring to mind a younger and decidedly more innocent looking Yuri Kobayashi,. The cross cutting of the old and the current was thematically new and interesting if not visually creative .

A short 4 minute interview follows. You’ll immediately notice how animated and lively Yuri is. The questions appear in Japanese text on the right side of the screen. What’s makes this special is that Yuri seems so very sincere and very likeable. You’ll also notice how even this interview was done stylishly with varied angles.

At about 6:50 Yuri will show off her bare breasts for the first time. She’ll basically be still and she lets the camera provide most of the motion. She’s dressed in shoes and socks, a white skirt and a see through lacy top which she simply holds up exposing her bust.

Two minutes and 15 seconds or so later, there’s a brief fade out. The same music continues and when the scene re-opens, Yuri has brought the top down but has removed her skirt leaving her lower half fully nude. She poses upright for almost a minute then there’s another brief fade out.

When the scene returns again, Yuri is on the floor – on elbows and knees. The camera pans around including some shots of her fully exposed bottom. Sorry there’s a small bit of censoring mosaic concealing the details. So far, that’s both top and bottom each nude, but not yet has Yuri been all nude. But after one more brief fade out we do get Yuri nude and standing. So in three stages of one scene, Yuri went from dressed to fully nude.

At 14:00 Minutes there’s an interlude with Yuri fully dressed in some sort of eclectic setting. Might be an antique store, or it might be one of those boutique stores selling hard to find  items from western culture. Yes, that’s probably an old Wurlitzer Juke Box behind her. You can’t see it clearly in the image I provided , but I needed to show you Yuri standing rather than seated. Sorry no product placements in this review. Because of the fact that Yuri is covered from head to to toe, and the low level of the lighting, this scene is little more than atmospheric. It seemingly doesn’t fit at all with the rest of the video. It runs a little more than a minute and can be classified as filler. Which is simply a longer way of saying that they could have left this out and no one would have cared.

At about 15:20, we have a blindfolded Yuri seated in a chair. She’s fully naked and is seated in a legs spread wide posture. She remains in this exact position throughout. We hear her breathing. She says nothing. Nothing happens, The camera zooms in for some closeups. That’s it – no action by Yuri at all.

At 19:40 we find Yuri on a huge round bed. She’s wearing a pink see through nightgown with panties beneath. This is the first playful and upbeat scene. Yuri does get naked and doesn’t do much more than roll about on the bed – but she looks so good, and in my view this is the best scene in the DVD.

At 26:15 a new scene begins. Yuri is naked once more. She wears nothing except for high heels, perfume, and costume jewelry. She is posed in a bright sun room. Eventually she goes from standing to reclining.

At 32:05, a shower scene begins. You’ve never seen a shower like this, or for that matter – a bath room like this before. First the water falls from about 10 to 12 feet above Yuri. The room is huge. It has direct lighting, and even a statue of a dragon overlooking the bath tub which looks like it is big enough for two or possibly three people. You won’t see any soaping. For the most part, this isn’t a functional shower for cleanliness. Instead think of it as Yuri gets wet artistically.

After a little more than 7 minutes, we get a new scene. Once again it is Yuri wearing costume jewelry, gloves above the elbows, and sexy mid-thigh length boots. and nothing else. This time we are located on a staircase. This scene is notable for some angles looking up at Yuri who stands with her legs spread apart. Now you know why this was done on the stairs.

That scene runs almost 7 minutes, before the next chapter begins. We are still indoors but it is now night. This scene marks a distinct change in attitude and temperature. This is the first scene that has some overtones to it. This time Yuri is dressed in black. She takes off her clothes to reveal some black rope knotted about her body. While her hands and legs are completely free, and she has full mobility, I think they were making a statement of sorts here. There is an implication about bondage here. However light it may be, it still implies more than what we see.

As proof -the above picture shows you her facial expression . I decided to show that from a bit of a distance rather than show your the closeup at 51:01 which is the last thing we see before the scene ends.

At 51:07 a new chapter begins. In all of the prior scenes, Yuri’s hair has been beautifully combed, and neat, and made her look so beautiful. Here they changed her look. Her hair has been wildly teased out. This is a complete change of tone in both Yuri’s look, in her expressions, as well as the in the music. At this point in time, the video has turned to a much ‘harder and edgier’style. Here, in this chapter, Yuri displays a wantonness not even hinted at earlier. She does some humping with a standing floor lamp, and there’s some shots with some solid wood furniture which also have a distinct sexual ‘flavor’ to them.

At around 56 minutes, the next to last chapter begins. Yuri walks into a bathroom which seemingly contains only a toilet and a bidet. After tugging down her panties, she sits on the toilet. This scene has Yuri wearing a bustier. This scene has no music. so we can easily hear Yuri breathing. Most simply, this scene is a masturbatory fantasy. Not only for you viewers, but also for Yuri.

I say fantasy because, despite some closeups of Yuri’s hand between her legs, you will not see any digital insertions. It is more like her hand is touching her privates, but she’s not really masturbating. However, you as the viewer are supposed to think or imagine that she is. Nine minutes later the scene ends. We heard Yuri’s breathing accelarate, and we’ve seen her open the bustier so she can fondle her breasts. The implied ending of the scene is that she has satisfied her self.

The last scene starts at about 1 hour and five minutes. We follow Yuri up the stairs. She looks decidedly like a tart, or maybe a streetwalker. She heads up to a small bedroom alone. She wears boots, a skirt and a turtle necked jersey top. In the simplest terms, Yuri is portraying a hooker and she’s going to have sex in this hotel room. We don’t see anyone else at all. But Yuri takes off her clothes and goes through the motions.

We’ve seen Yoko Matsugane do this in all of her videos for the last three or four years. Only she keeps her clothes on. Yuri takes off all of her clothes.

This scene isn’t visually striking at all, After all it is a cheap hotel room, and the lighting is so-so. But what does get your attention is Yuri. Yes, she’s faking a sexual encounter, but you wouldn’t know it. This is really what you call ACTING. A bravura performance.

Sumary: I loved the first 50 or so minutes. Yuri looked beautiful in all of her natural splendor. You can almost fall in love with her. The style of the video during these first 50 minutes went through romantic, sensual, and sexy, all with a very stylish and artistic look and feel to it.

But they scrapped that and went for a more exotic and edgier look in the last third of the video. It’s not that it was bad it wasn’t, and its not that it wasn’t done well because it was. But it is distinctly different.

I guess an artistic nude video does need a progression toward a more overtly sexual nature even if you aren’t going to have any real sex in it.

I’ll recommend this one, at at the same time give praise to Yuri Kobayashi for her performance. I’ll also praise the director and editor for their work in most of the video. My only real gripe is with the Art director and director who chose to have Yuri doing a pseudo sex scene in what can definitely called a tawdry setting and unflattering lighting. it wasn’t the fake sex that was the turn off – instead it was the setting. Four point zero.