理緒のカーニバル
Rio no Carnival
I'm not sure what it is about Natsume Rio, but companies can't seem to release a single Rio disc at a time. This year alone, we've had the simultaneous releases of Cow Girl and Missionary in March, the Special-DVD Box (which contained three discs) in July, and now the twin releases of Rio no Carnival and Natsume no Kajitsu. Rio overkill, you say? Maybe, but what a way to go! Both of her newest releases are excellent additions to her already impressive body of work (pun intended), but Rio no Carnival is the stronger of the two current releases, if only for the fact it's a little more consistently entertaining than it's companion title.
Compared to many of her previous releases, Rio no Carnival seems somewhat more subdued - it still has that consistently high level of energy her fans have come to expect, but does not quite reach the level of manic. Part of this is due, no doubt, to a lack of bouncing. While this may disappoint those solely watching Rio videos for flopping mammaries, the result is quite pleasing; I would say an evolutionary step for Rio-chan in her gravure idol career.
Thankfully, Rio finally seems to be getting the hang of the sensual, come-hither look which seems to come naturally to some of the other top giganyuu idols like Nemoto Harumi. In the past, it's always been pretty hit-or-miss when Rio had to play the sexpot in her scenes: she often looked like a girl awkwardly pretending to be a woman. Here, however, she finally seems to be playing to the camera with a real sense of passion. The fifth and sixth tracks of the DVD are truly amazing. In the former, Rio is wearing a very sexy (although totally impractical) gold bathing suit. She poses and pouts on some stairs and damn if she doesn't radiate sexuality... truly graceful body language and an overpowering come-hither stare. Some excellent camera work here which gives the viewer some gorgeous shots of Rio, while still retaining the close up shots of her breasts you'd expect from a Rio DVD. The latter scene really shows are far she's come as far as playing to the camera goes: she almost totally covered throughout the scene in a yukata, with small flashes of cleavage and leg her and there (and on a side note, I never realised exactly how nice Rio's legs were!) but she really smoulders here with nary a sign of uber-cuteness she's known for.
Rio no Carnival runs for roughly an hour, with thirteen different scenes, including a preview of Natsume no Kajitsu, two short interviews and the required-by-law behind-the-scenes track. Without exception, Rio looks great in all of them, thanks in part to some excellent wardrobe choices and good work from the makeup department. Aside from the aforementioned scenes, a few other standouts include the opening scene which is probably closest to traditional Rio-chan (very cute with lots of jiggling breasts), and a scene from an onsen where Rio is wearing only a towel. This is one of those visual where you think to yourself "How did she not pop out of that?!?" One other great track is Rio wearing a Japanese school girl's bathing suit... the image of her boobs being squished out the sides of the uniform is mind boggling to behold. And for those of you who are still fans of the cute Rio, and who among us isn't, her cute image is still well represented here!
There are a few minor quibbles on the disc, though. A couple of scenes are very generic, and although Rio-chan looks spectacular and the camera work is competent, they never rise above the level of "pretty good". There is also a tendency to use a lens flare effect along with some very soft lighting, which does make a few of the scenes look a little washed out. Another technical issue is the camera angles will occasionally give some unflattering views of Rio's face... she has a little more baby fat on her face than most idols (which contributes to her cute look) but when shot from certain positions, it looks as if she has a double chin! My main beef with the disc is the music... not that any of it is bad or out of place (fairly typical pseudo-rock/country/dance stuff), but the songs cut out rather abruptly in the middle of a scene, with another, often non-complimentary, musical track starting immediately. Although not a deal breaker, it definitely detracts from the overall viewing experience.
Those minor negatives out of the way, Rio no Carnival is one of the strongest releases in Rio's already generally excellent library. Rio looks spectacular as would be expected, but her new, more sultry persona make this one more than worth the investment. Four point five out of five.
This review was originally written as a guest review for the 2005.09 issue of Research and Development. Many thanks to JMM for providing me with the opportunity to write for his column!
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