Diary
I quipped in my Rio no Carnival review that Rio-chan can't release a single DVD at a time, but always has to release two simultaneously. That theory continues to prove itself, as Rio releases another pair of DVDs - Diary and Waterdrop. However, unlike her previous releases, the aforementioned Rio no Carnival and Natsume no Kajitsu, these two are not really that enjoyable. Of the two, Diary is definitely the stronger release, but given the quality of Waterdrop, that's hardly high praise.
There is a very loose narrative about Rio keeping a diary one summer which ties all the gravure scenes together. There is nothing really extraordinary about these little vignettes - the directory is obviously trying to go in a sort of arty direction, with the use of text, soft light filters, non-non-sequitur images and their low key presentation. However, they just end up being quite boring.
Once the initial title sequence rolls, which is actually quite slick and gives a sort of esoteric vibe, and the first interlude completes, we get to our first gravure scene: Rio, doing sort of a construction work cosplay on a beach - she even shovels sand and plays around on a piece of construction equipment. This scene has some of the catchiest music I've heard on an idol DVD in a long time - a sort of rock tune. Unfortunately, the director seems to take a cur from this, and cuts this scene like are rock video - we never get a really good look at Rio because the director is too busy making quick cuts to different cameras and using different special effects. The DVD is supposed to be about Rio, not how many different film editing techniques you can fit in a single scene!
The next scene suffers from the same music video editing as the first, Rio in a traditional Japanese room with her kimono falling off her incredible body to reveal a sequinned blue bikini. Much slower paced here, with lots of pouty looks from Rio. The framing in this scene is also mind bogglingly bizarre, with lots of shots of the cords that tie the kimono together, various parts of Rio body in close up. When the director does manage to give the viewer a good shot of Rio, she does look incredible, but those shots are few and far between.
Next up we have Rio in what seems to be the hall way of the same house. She's wearing a very sexy one piece leopard print bathing suit and moving her body in a very sensuous manner that would have been unimaginable for Rio just a few months ago... she really has come a long way when it comes to her facial expressions and body motions. However, the entire experience is ruined by either having the camera zoomed too far out or zoomed in too close.
Rio's back on the beach after this. Well, I use beach in the loosest of terms... there's a shore, but no sand, just small rocks. Rocks... and the director has Rio rolling around on them in a bikini! That couldn't have been comfortable. We get a little bit of Rio jogging in slow motion at the beginning of scene, but after that, it's all posing long the beach. The camera work is slightly better here than in previous scenes, but that's not saying much.
We get a little break from the modelling scenes after that, we watch as Rio learns how to kayak. With all the vaguely new age music and arty camera work, this scene is something of a shock to the system. This basically feels like a behind the scenes track, but feels really out of place where it's placed on the disc. Once Rio successfully learns her new skill, we go back the wannabe high art film style. Rio is wandering in a field in front of a building with some trees in the background wearing a light dress... a very conservative white dress. The director pulls out all kinds of fancy fade ins and fade outs, overlapping images and light filters here - all of which can't save this scene from being really boring.
Rio's back indoors next, wearing one of those bikinis where you think to yourself "How did she not pop out of that?" Her top really strains to contain her huge boobs. The slow pacing continues here with Rio walking around the interior of a dimly lit building. This might have been passable, but director has again chosen to focus on lighting tricks and different kinds of transition techniques from one shot to another - you never get a really good shot of gorgeous Rio in this entire scene.
The last sequence in the main feature has Rio in two different costumes in two different locations. First, she's in a dark room with a bunch of white string strung up, criss-crossing the room, wearing black leather straps and a chain running from her neck to her left wrist. The second costume looks like a bunch of white rubber or latex straps, and she's in well light tiled room. Rio writhes and wriggles in both rooms, but you bare notice due to the excessive number of cuts which the camera makes, and the quick zoom ins and zoom outs. It almost gets to the point there you'll get motion sickness from watching this scene.
Aside from the main feature, you also get a behind the scenes track, as well as a little section featuring the cartoon characters from Sanagi-san, a manga. The making of scenes are typically what you'd come to expect, and the Sanagi-san section just has two characters having short, occasionally funny dialogs (if you can read Japanese) about different scenes from the disc.
The costuming is actually quite good thoughout, the makeup artist does an excellent job and Rio always looks incredible. Unfortunately, all that means nothing, as the director is too worried about displaying fancy camera, lighting and editing tricks. Somehow, he seems to have forgotten that Diary is supposed to be about Rio, not about his skill as a director.
Click image to enlarge
