白桃郷
Hakutô Kyô
What if Nemoto Harumi was stuck in a Natsume Rio DVD? If you've ever asked yourself this question (and let's face it, who among us hasn't?), now you have your answer, or, at least, a close approximation: Takeuchi Nozomi's Hakutôkyô. It combines Nemo-chan's classical, feminine beauty and grace with the sensibilities and high energy of a Rio-chan release and it works surprisingly well.
Purely on the technical side of things, this a well produced and well executed DVD. The director and crew were on the ball when it was shot - the camera work is good, the lighting and colours are likewise sharp and easy on the eyes. Like wise, the wardrobe and makeup people all did a top notch job at making Nonami look strikingly gorgeous (not that she needs any help). The soundtrack does it's job as best it can in an idol DVD: it's not intrusive and enhances and greatly helps set the mood and energy level of different tracks.
And Nonami herself? She looks heartbreakingly beautiful throughout the DVD. To her great credit, Nonami avoids the bane of gravure idols everywhere: the deer-in-headlights syndrome. Her eye contact and facial expressions always seem natural and relaxed, never breaking the illusion which is being set up in the scenes. Of course, the tracks also take care to display the rest of Nonami's considerable assets and she doesn't really seem that shy about showing them off.
After all that gushing, was there anything bad about Hakutôkyô? Not a lot actually, but if you want to get nit picky, there are a few scenes which don't really work too well. The first involves Nonami-chan, a shower, and some soap. "Surely," you're thinking to yourself, "this sounds like a winning combination." Unfortunately, it isn't - she just washes her hair. While there is some attempt to spice things by having her rub some of the suds on her boobs it never really amounts to much. A different track has Nonami in a weird but quite alluring outfit. This is fine, but the background is quite distracting and noticeable when compared to the other tracks - she's posing in an old, burned out building which is oddly at contrast with the rest of the scenes which are all very bright and cheery. On its own, its okay, but it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the disc. Likewise, the penultimate track feels out of place with the rest of disc and moves at a snail's pace.
Finally, the required "behind-the-scenes" tracks are a little subdued - Nonami always appears pleasant in them, but she is not the chatterbox like some other idols, and, consequently, these scenes lack some of the energy needed to keep them engaging for the viewer.
But as I said: nitpicking. The overall disc us bursting with gravure idol goodness. Even the aforementioned tracks really aren't that bad, just not as good as the rest of the DVD. Not including the behind-the-scenes stuff and the bonus track, there are twelve different glamour scenes included on the disc. Each part of the disc has something to offer, so let's just review a few of the highlights.
The opening two tracks are a good indication of the quality of the rest of the disc. The first scene is quite understated - just Nonami, posing in a bedroom with tussled hair and apparently wearing only a white men's shirt. This one is sexy and playful without showing any great amount of skin - a tease for the rest of the disc, but it works particularly well. Then we get the second track - whereas Nonami's beautiful body was pretty much covered in the previous scene, here, the words "form fitting" doesn't really do her clothing justice. She poses, pouts and bounces near the doorway and on the porch of a house in a fantastically shot scene with excellent pacing.
Skipping a little farther ahead to track nine, we find Nonami back and frolicking on the bed in one of those outfits which make you wonder how her top stayed on - those buttons really strained to keep her tits in check. Again - excellent camera work and direction, giving the viewer wholly mouth-watering shots of her and the entire scene is just so well done and Nonami so sexy, charming and energetic, it can't help but make you feel good. Just to make sure that we have our quote of wet idols, track 13 gives us one more shower scene, this time indoors, but Nonami is not longer washing her hair, but concentrates on teasing the viewer to the best of her ability. Suffice it to say, there is a very good possibility that you may need a cold show after watching this one. Very sexy - she's in full vamp mode as her wet lingerie (what little of it there is) clings to her incredible curves.
Hakutôkyô is one of the most consistently entertaining, enjoyable DVDs I've had the pleasure of seeing in recently memory. The only people I can seeing disappointed by this one would be if you're after the more risque end of gravure idols in which case, I say this: go back to your lesser idols like Aoki Rin or Yinling: Takizawa Nonami doesn't have to engage in pseudo porn to be enticing, and this DVD more than proves that.
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