Mikie Hara – Love Assort (January 20th, 2012)

I-One (Line Communications)

Catalog # – LCDV-40501) – All regions Disc – 16:9 Aspect

Running Time: 72 Minutes

The Skinny: Wow! Mikie Hara‘s career as a gravure idol stretches all the way back to 2006 when her DVD for Nihon Broadcasting‘s Nettelegenic Series was released in June that year. That means we’ve been watching her for nearly five years. While the quality of the her DVDs has sometimes been great and other times not so great – you regularly come away thinking that Mikie always looks good even when the video doesn’t. To the best of my knowledge Mikie has appeared in at least 22 gravure DVDs not counting those I didn’t see and not counting Box Sets. That’s quite a body of work

This DVD has a montage, which the Japanese always count as a chapter. Anyway you count it – it works quite well.

Folllowing  that, in Chapter Two, we meet Mikie at the local high school’s swimming pool. We’ve been to this pool many times with a lengthy list of gravure models who appeared there. No bikini for Mikie this time. Instead she wears a black and blue mono-kini – that’s when the top is attached to the bottom but with plenty of bare flesh showing in between. While the scene is nicely done – good color, nice lighting, and it shows off Mikie’s curves to good advantage, I would have preferred something other than just a plain unadorned piano solo as the sound track.

Three has Mikie in a small-ish silver bikini in what appears to be in an empty warehouse or garage. The chapter opens with Mikie walking towards us – as if she was a runway model. You know: walk to the end, turn, pivot and return. Then, she’s set up on a sofa for some serious posing. The camera moves particularly slowly as does Mikie. It is kind of a dull scene made watchable only because it is Mikie Hara that we are gazing at.

Four has Mikie as a school teacher. We meet her on the way to a classroom. She wears a skirt and blouse with just-over-the-knees black stockings. There’s a brief bit of going over the lesson with us. But without much time going by – Mikie decides to take off her clothes. Not all of them, but we weren’t expecting that, were we? Conveniently, there was a sheet which served as a drop cloth for Mikie to pose on. And that’s it. Besides Mikie, there’s nothing special about this scene.

Five has Mikie as a bunny-eared bartender (playmate style) in a nice and attractive bar. After Mikie shakes a mixed drink for quite some time, she’s going to settle in for some glamour posing – first on a bar stool, then behind the bar, and finally she’ll be lying on top of the bar. While not particularly exciting, the scene has excellent lighting – which helps make Mikie look beautiful.

Six takes place in bed with Mikie wearing some heavenly satin and lace sleepwear.

The scene plays at first without any music benath the visuals, but eventually we will hear a solo piano.

In this chapter, a good amount of attention is paid to Mikie’s boobs. Watch for the scene when she’s on her back.

While I liked what I was seeing, the music is extremely slow paced. This matches Mikie’s moves but you do wish she would be more lively. Then again that silk and lace ensemble was scintillating.

Seven starts with Mikie in the schools gym running a dust mop across the wooden floor. Then she will work (successfully) with a hula-hoop. This chapter is not only up-tempo, but it also allows Mikie to have plenty of movement and motion, and as such she seems to be really enjoying the activity.

Eight begins with Mikie as a bargirl or hostess in a gentlemen’s club. She’ll begin by pouring us a drink and chatting.

Before long she’s up on the stage dancing (a strip down to a bra and panties). This is another high energy chapter – at least Mikie seems to really like chatting with us.

She’s almost exuberant. In the dance segment, she’s a bit more restrained – but maybe it is all just a dream? I’ll answer that question for you. It is a dream sequence.

Nine:  She’s actually portraying a beautiful girl who will give us a massage. has Mikie posing on a living room sofa in a white outfit.

It is delightful to be laying on our back with Mikie working on us as we look up at her. Then she’s going to apply body lotion cream to her own body.

Ten has Mikie in a long flowing red robe. Beneath the yukata is a pink and black bikini with a floral pattern. The room is Japanese style with sliding shoji screen doors and tatami mats. Like a few other chapters in this DVD the action is slow and precise, and the music is another dull piano solo.

Eleven is a shower scene. This is a rather well done soap and suds chapter. The camera angles are good, the bath has a hint of luxury to it – and Mikie is into it. However it is rather short running a bit more than just five minutes.

Twelve is set in an office. Mikie looks great in a dress she could easily wear in the street. As expected, and possibly to help ‘close the sale’, Mikie is going to do an impromptu strip down to her bright red undies and white stockings. Why are we not surprised? Don’t answer – that’s a rhetorical question.

The last two segments are the obligatory tee shirt signing and the bonus film which is about three minutes of outtakes where Mikie has either blown her scripted lines, or missed her mark thereby requiring another ‘take’. This brief footage was enjoyable to see Mikie smiling so often ( which is a reward in itself) which makes up for the fact that this special film wasn’t visually dynamic.

Summary – I’ve always liked Mikie Hara. She’s a beautiful woman and in the DVD’s she appears to be taller than her actual height. She has a great body, she’s poised, and her smiles come easily and often. In this particular DVD she looks just wonderful. The video has nice shots and angles to go with superb lighting. If there’s one flaw to this DVD it is simply that the scenes are too much alike, and some are especially slow. I think we could have done nicely with more upbeat action and camera movements, and more uptempo music. The piano solos were getting a bit tired deeper into the video.

But we won’t hold that against Mikie Hara. Four point zero is the rating, and I’ll recommend this one to not only Mikie’s legion of fans, but to all gravure video fans.