やるじゃん！
Yarujan!
Remember Hanai Miri before all her DVDs turned really arty? When she was the fun, sexy idol who pushed things just a little farther than her contemporaries in terms of near nudity? When there were no plots to her DVDs, just gravure idol glamour sections, giving you spectacular views of one the world’s sexiest women? Just when I feared that old school Miri was lost to the world, she turns up again in Yarujan!, and I, for one, could not be happier.
That’s not to say the disc doesn’t have its problems. While of most the issues are minor, scene specific things that don’t detract from the overall product very much, there are two major problems which pervade the disc. The first is technical - this has some of the worst compression I’ve seen on an idol DVD which really detracts from the viewing experience, considering some of the mouth-watering images of Miri you get on the disc, you want the picture as sharp and clear as you can get it! The second issue is something which may or may not bother you, but deserves to be mentioned: serious lack of motion throughout all the tracks on the DVD. Now, on occasion this is understandable, as any kind of major movement on Miri’s part would cause her ample bosoms to break free of their constraints (or fake nipples), but to solely have Miri posing in every scene with no real action is perplexing to say the least.
It’s fortunate then, that the director and camera crew are really on the ball here as far as framing, pans, and lighting goes - the behind the camera people did a stellar job, so despite the lack of motion on Miri’s part, it’s not a big of a drawback as it could be. As for Miri herself… well, we all know Miri is gorgeous, but she looks unbelievable in almost every single track on the DVD. Kudos to the make up and wardrobe departments. And kudos to Miri herself, as she brings a surprising amount emotion and expressiveness to the scenes, which is made all the more remarkable because of the lack of motion. Just by looking into her eyes (yes, pry your eyes away from her other distracting body parts once in a while) she seems to convey some deep emotions. That being said, Miri does occasionally get the deer-in-headlights syndrome, but it’s not often. Even the music on the DVD is nice and varied, never really getting stuck in one genre and matching the pacing of the scenes. A minor pet peeve is that I’ve heard a lot of these tracks before from other idol DVDs… if you’re new to the gravure idol scene this won’t bother you, but I think it might be time to go and record some new stock music.
There are ten main glamour scenes in Yarujan!, eleven if you want to count the opener, interspersed with short interview segments and the “making of” track. Because of the minimal movement, there is a certain sense of ennui which does creep in to the overall viewing, but generally speaking, each track is quite enjoyable to watch. The big news for a lot of Miri’s fans are two scenes where Miri is almost completely topless, wearing only some fake nipples. While she’s done this numerous times in various photo shoots, this is the first time she has appeared on video displaying her huge breasts and leaving very little to the imagination. Still, the scenes never really feel that sleazy - in fact, she even seems a little shy when she first reveals her boobs… it’s a very cute moment as opposed to sexy.
For Miri-fans this is a no-brainer - it’s a fun and light viewing experience, two things which have been missing in most of her recent releases. However, remember that Yarujan! is basically Miri posing for the length of the DVD, so if you’re looking for any really high-energy scenes or a lot of bouncing, you’ll be disappointed. On the other hand, you get to see Miri’s boobs. Almost.
Click image to enlarge
Check out JMM's review of 