Lemon-T
You can never accuse Air Control of being a company that doesn’t give you quantity: in 2005, they released two Natsume Rio disc sets simultaneously (Cow Girl and Missionary), both of which clocked in at around 90 minutes a piece for the main discs. Going to the well again, they have now released two more Rio discs at the same time, also with running times of an hour and a half: Lemon-T and Milk-T. Further, they have a 90-minute Matsugane Yôko disc in the pipeline for next month as well. That’s a lot of airtime for our lovely ladies.
So how do Rio’s new ones fair? Considering the excessively long run time, surprisingly well, actually. No matter how much you like them, gravure idol DVDs are a pretty limited genre, so when things run long, they have a tendency to collapse under their own weight in a mass of repeated themes, interchangeable scenes and boring camera work. While there are places where both discs drag, they do an admirable job of keeping things moving and interesting. Obviously shot exactly at the same time as her recent photobook J&J, both discs feature Rio in some of the costumes from that book, which means that things are a little bit racier than the average Rio release. Of the two discs, Lemon-T is the slightly weaker of the two releases due to less variety and some unimaginative tracks but, nonetheless, is still a damned good disc.
The producers were quite smart when they produced the disc: rather than having wall-to-wall glamour scenes, they break things up with small interviews every two or three tracks. Rio is always wearing something extremely eye-catching and skimpy during these segments, so if you can’t understand Japanese, simply stare in awe at some of the best cleavage ever. In particular, track 10 is perhaps the closest we’ve ever been to seeing the true shape of Rio’s lovely, gigantic boobs. Plus, if you can understand Japanese, Rio’s pretty charming in the interview portions – bonus.
There is far too much material to cover in its entirety, so let’s look at some of the highlights and rough spots on Lemon-T. I’m going to skip to my favourite track on the disc (track 16), if only for the fact that it’s probably the most risqué thing I’ve ever seen Rio do: Rio starts off in a very small bikini, playing around in a large tub filled with bubbles. If you have any familiarity with the idol genre, I’m sure you know what’s going to happen – the bikini comes off while she’s under the bubbles. However, what makes this a lot more interesting is that she stands up there are absolutely no bubbles on her chest, leaving Rio to try to contain her massive breasts with her small hands. The camera zooms in, out and all around Rio, but always staying focus on her chest. Rio massages her chest with her soapy hands, moves slowly around the tub and teases like she’s never teased before, all the while with an absolutely adorable smile on her face. Easily the best Rio scene I’ve witnessed in a long time and could very well be something I remember on my deathbed. Well, maybe not, but it’s an incredible scene which makes me feel all funny just thinking about it.
Some other notable highlights include track 7, which has Rio in the same bikini as mentioned above. This time she’s slinking around in a well-lit hallway, rubbing oil all over her incredible body. Although the camera is maybe a bit too active from time to time (some of the swoops and pans are a little disorienting), overall this track is Rio at her sexiest – very graceful, sensual movements, very good eye contact and facial expressions from Rio. That, along with the brevity of her bikini and the some very nice camera work between the hyperactive swoops and pans makes this another one to watch. Track 4 takes place the on a beautiful beach with our goddess in a one-piece swimsuit which is obviously too small for her impressive frame – Rio’s nearly popping out the sides of the suit (like Kitamura Hitomi in her recent discs). Although a fairly standard track as far as the genre goes, the costuming makes this one worth taking more than one gander at.
Likewise, track 11 also has Rio starting out in a way to small, very revealing red dress, walking along the beach. Shortly after the beginning of the track, Rio strips out of the dress to reveal what can only be described as… well, let’s put it this way: if her bikini top were any smaller, there would definitely be some areola showing. Despite the amount of flesh on display here, the overall feeling on this one was very relaxed and chilled out and the paradox worked pretty well… the camera was not shy about shooting Rio from various angles to make sure the viewer gets a good long look at some of the most perfect boobs around. Track 15 has Rio in a remarkably… er… uplifting bustier, rolling around on a bed, vamping for all she’s worth. This is notable simply for two reasons – 1) Rio looks utterly incredible here, 2) the track is played straight as erotica, no evidence of the cuteness which generally accompanies most of Rio’s works.
So, what problems are in evidence with Lemon-T? Well, not a heck of a lot really… it’s a damned fine piece of gravure idol viewing. The problems not really track specific, but apply to the disc as a whole. First and foremost is the length – some of the tracks run far too long and with little to do, the poses and movements repeat themselves. Further, if you are familiar with gravure idol videos at all, there is very little new or original here – you’ve seen Rio in all these scenes before in her previous DVDs. Because of this, some of the scenes simply blend together and do not really contribute to the overall cohesiveness of the disc, and it comes of as more than a little generic. The only track which really didn’t come off very well is track 8, which has Rio in a leather/PVC bustier – not that Rio didn’t look gorgeous (she does), but the camera work was very poor, using way too many close ups of inexplicable things like Rio’s ankle or a parrot. The producers got a little too artsy here for their own good. Track 9 was a little puzzling as well… they spend a lot of time on Rio doing her nails for some reason… interesting if you work in aesthetics maybe, but not so much for others.
Don’t let any of that worry you though if you’re a Rio fan: despite these minor issues, Lemon-T is an excellent Rio disc which is enjoyable from start to finish. Each track is well done and very watchable. Rio is showing more of her new sexy persona in a lot of the tracks, and she’s getting rather good at presenting that facet of her personality – it doesn’t seem forced here like on many tracks on Erotica. She’s amicable and charming in the interview segments, and the crew working with her was generally on the ball: there we not any major technical problems on the disc. Grab this one and its companion Rio fans, and treat yourselves to three hours of Rio goodness.
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