JAV Sales Report - DMM - 2021 Yearly Edition

Hey everyone, welcome to the DMM yearly sales report. We're basically doing exactly what we did last year, examining the sales data published by DMM for the entirety of the year. Once again I don't see digital video data, which is a bit unfortunate. At least this time I know not to hold out for it so I can get this post out much earlier on in the year.

Right off the bat we've got some heavy hitters in our top three spots with all three being S1 actresses. I can't say that I'm surprised at those three being there, Yua and Rara are locks to do well each year and Saika has been killing it since she came back. S1's success doesn't stop there though, if we look further down the list we see they have a total of 16 actresses on the charts. That's around half of their roster which is very impressive to me. What's particularly impressive is that S1 manages to have veterans and newcomers alike on the list. By my count we've got two 2021 debuts, four 2020 debuts, and six veterans. That's a very healthy mix for them and it's nice to see that new actresses are able to compete with veteran talent.

Mei Washio, in 52nd place, is an actress that really doesn't get the time of day she deserves. She almost never makes the sales reports, in fact I can only count her making our top 25 lists two times since we started these posts. I think that happens because she works at S1 and she gets really overshadowed by other actresses. She's listed as 104 J cup which puts her in league with the super busty at S1. As it turns out, trying to compete with Rara (3rd), Aka (10th), Kaoru (39th), or any of the other busty actresses they've had lately is a challenge. It also kind of acts as this reminder about how deep S1's roster is, especially on these reports now that SOD is gone.

Another major thing I wanted to see were which actresses are no longer on our list in 2021. There are definitely a few big names that fell off the list that I don't think anyone would have expected.

AIKA strikes me immediately off the bat as she's always been extremely unique and very popular. When I look at the chart we also see Kaho Imai dropping a whopping 56 spots. On top of that there are no other gals on the list. It seems like a pretty clear indication that people just aren't that big into gals. I've always had the impression that one or two could do well, whether it was the well known AIKA or the gal-for-non-gal-fans Kaho Imai. We do still see AIKA on the list but I'll be damned if this isn't sending clear messages.

miru (formerly Miru Sakamichi) is another actress that strikes me as being quite odd for not being on the list. You look at just how many S1 actresses are on the list and then think, of all of them it's miru that isn't on the list? I think part of what surprises me so much is that when I read through it, it means that miru isn't even in the top 15 most popular actresses there. At a high level I can look at that and be genuinely surprised, but then at the same time when I start looking at the individual names, I realize just the kind of depth they have and also the new names that are likely to keep her off the list again.

There are also some really big veterans who missed the list in Hibiki Otsuki, Kurea Hasumi, and Tsubomi. These are actresses that just make the list all the time and we can see for the past five years they had been on the list. It's impossible to call yourself a fan of JAV and not know them and it's surprising to see them absent. I suppose someone has to get cut to make way for newer actresses on the list but never in a million years would I have guessed it would be them.

Chitose Saegusa is probably the most interesting addition to the list, in my opinion. We don't see BBW actresses doing well in Japan with Hana Haruna being the one exception to that rule. Sure, there are other busty actresses (like Rara Anzai), some thicc actresses (like Nao Jinguji) or even some with a bit of flab (like Maki Tomoda) but really there aren't any others I would really point out as being legitimate BBWs. I might put Ichika Seta as the next closest but she's really not at the Chitose level. I've always thought Chitose was extremely underrated given how wonderful of a performer she actually is and I'm quite happy to see her seeing some success. Especially with how good she has been since she's come back, it makes me feel good about her seeing success.

Speaking of comebacks and success, literally right next to her on the list is Asahi Mizuno, another one of our pandemic returnees. It's such an awkward feeling when an actress comes back and I'm never quite sure how to feel. On the one hand I'm happy to see more of them but on the other hand I feel bad they couldn't move on to other things. Unlike Chitose, Asahi hasn't been anything special since coming back, but Asahi was always super popular and it's not surprising that she still is. Let's face it, even 80% of where her body used to be before is still pretty amazing and I think a lot of people are like me, just admiring the view.

Another graphic? Did I accidentally put it there twice? Nope, this graphic is something I've added this year to help highlight a few names on the list (and I've got another couple doing similar things). The highlighted actresses are all 2021 debuts so this goes to show us which of them were super popular.

We've got a total of nine of them on the list, not too bad. Of the nine on the list, I reviewed seven of them, and one of them (Mio Ishikawa) was too late of a debut to watch. That just basically means that we've managed to review a majority of the really popular debuts. Interestingly enough, I was not particularly big on any of these debuts, a B rating being the highest among the bunch. This is actually down from last year where was saw 15 debuts make the list, so by at least that measure 2020 debuts seem like they're a bit better than 2021 debuts.

Among these the standout actress is definitely Mina Kitano. Her career has exploded and she's been a force to be reckoned with lately. Panking recently reviewed a video of hers and gave it a 10/10 rating, so we know some people think really highly of her. As much as I may not be a fan of her due to her enhancements, the industry is responding quite well to her. I actually expect her to increase quite a lot next year, and ranking in the top 10 doesn't even seem out of the question to me.

Our number one debut from last year is definitely Karen Yuzuriha. That actually doesn't surprise me all that much considering where her career has been. Shared exclusive (in her case between Premium and Oppai) is a great place to be. I actually think it's a really underrated career option and we've seen some others do it to great success. The fact of the matter is, Oppai can be a bit lazy at times with their variety, and they seem compelled with Karen to keep it interesting. It just seems to be working out extremely well and I hope she spends a lot more time keeping this up.

Kaoru Yasui definitely seems way overrated to me. We've already seen in some other sales reports that she's falling lower and lower down the charts and I'd be very surprised to see her continue to have popularity. Her initial success came only from her being a Muteki debut and she just doesn't seem to have the staying power, especially on the start-studded S1 roster. Her more recent figures are much worse than the list right now and I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't make the list next year. That being said, I also wouldn't be surprised if she did still make it, only because S1 is S1. They have so many actresses on these lists that you can just never count anyone out.

Up and Comers

Next year I anticipate seeing a few more debuts on the list. Here are five debuts from 2021 that I think will make the charts next year.

Ria Yamate has done as well as any debut I can think of. Seriously, she's been topping charts like crazy. I've reviewed her and noted just how fantastic her breasts really are. To me she feels like the top S1 debut from the year and I think she'll outperform both Kaoru Yasui and Uta Hayano who were on this list. Kaoru is a bit of an exception from her Muteki release so Uta is a much better comparison at mid 40s. That's actually in line with what we saw from Aka Asuka and Riri Nanatsumori last year, interestingly enough. I feel like Ria has a higher ceiling with how she's done so far but it's also rather early to be projecting that much. Both Aka and Riri actually performed much better this year, Aka a whopping 31 spots higher!

Speaking of major S1 debuts, Konan Koyoi seems to be doing quite well for herself as well, better than I first thought. While she didn't explode onto the industry like Ria did, I find I enjoy her more than Ria. Even if her breasts aren't as immaculate, her more endearing performing is definitely welcome. I find her to be very similar to Mei Washio in a lot of regards but particularly in two areas: big breasts and a more natural style of performing. That natural performing style is quite underrated, and too many actresses tend to take the job too seriously as opposed to just relaxing and being themselves. That's a huge reason why debuts (and especially the actual debut videos) are so popular: the performance is extremely natural. Actresses that can improve and still retain some of that nature seem really nice to me. I think she has a lot of potential and I'm excited to see how her career goes especially as she gets into more of the drama videos.

Misono Mizuhara is someone I had very mixed opinions of when I first watched her. Obviously her large breasts stood out but I personally found she wasn't all that attractive otherwise. There's definitely been a bit of a resurgence among busty actresses recently and we've seen a lot of them working together. I've always been a bit sad some of the more iconic busty actresses never really worked with others, like Hitomi and Anri, but seeing the rest of the crowd get around has been wonderful. Misono starring with everyone under the sun makes it so much easier to get into her, I think. It's so easy to watch her with one of your favourites and she's starred with so many of them already that it's hard not to find the right video. What also seems great is seeing her star with plenty of newer busty actresses as well, and getting a two-for-one special on debuts with something like her Kira Kira entry alongside Momo Minami, the options are truly endless. Considering Chitose Saegusa is 71st place, I expect Misono to be able to do as well as her if not better.

Rino Yuki seems to be selling like hotcakes right now. Everyone I know who has been watching her has been loving her, myself included, and I expect things to catch up to that eventually. I think the one thing holding her back a bit is being reluctant to do a few things but I would be surprised if she doesn't come around and star in a lesbian or BBC video sometime this year. It feels like it's what she needs to truly elevate herself, but honestly even without that she can make it work. She's getting enough work with other actresses or just having content that looks solid.

Reona Tomiyasu is also someone I have some very mixed opinions about. She's a fantastic performer but her somewhat unnatural appearance doesn't sit well with me. I feel like people look at physical qualities first and Reona might be a bit divisive and detract a few viewers. That being said, as time goes on people will learn more about her and come around. And when they do, they'll see there's a lot more than meets the eye, especially if they start combing through her releases. I definitely think she's underrated here and can make an appearance but I'd also caution myself a bit and say if someone like Hibiki can't make the list, not much will surprise me.

I also thought it would be fun to look back one year and see what happened, especially since we started this column in 2020 and looked at 2020 debuts in our yearly sales post last year. There are a whopping 22 actresses here and considering we had 15 on the list last time around that means there are definitely some changes. At the very minimum though, it means that we've got more 2020 debuts doing well, which is interesting to see. popularity increase from last year. I actually find looking back at actresses a year later is quite interesting because you can get a much better sense of them after they've settled. Some of them will retire, some of them will become freelancers, etc. so you really get a sense of what they intend to do and what their potential is.

Hana Himesaki, Mei Satsuki, Hana Shirato, Ririko Kinoshita, Kasumi Tsukino, Rina Takase, Asuka Momose, Ai Kano, and Tsubaki Sannomiya were not on the list last time around. The actresses that fell off the list were Urara Kanon, Erina Oka, and June Lovejoy.

Of our 2020 debuts we have Hana Himesaki right up top in 5th place. She didn't make the list last year and I'm really not surprised to see her go 0-100 like this. We've seen that all year as her output started with a bang in January and kept full steam all year long. It's also not surprising if we look back to her debut to see why she did poorly last year, as she was a pretty mediocre debut. Giving her a B rating was pretty generous considering how things were going, though rightfully so she does have a fantastic body. She's definitely turned her career around and become one of the premier actresses in the industry and I couldn't be happier about it.

Of the actresses not on the list this time I think June Lovejoy stands out the most. I've always followed her career with great interest because white actresses in JAV are so rare. June sets herself so far apart from the crowd though because she speaks Japanese fluently. She's doing such a great job of being an ambassador for JAV to the western crowd, particularly with her translated interviews on YouTube (which I highly recommend if you haven't seen them before). At any rate, I wasn't really sure what would happen with June, whether the industry would be accepting of her or whether she would fall off the list. I can't say I'm that surprised, actresses with her body type tend to not do well historically and I feel like the industry isn't quite ready to fully embrace a Caucasian actress who works as much as she does (and we're seeing even more of them now with others like Lilly Hart). I know she's not far behind on the charts as some earlier data DMM had available actually had her on the list, so it seems like she's perhaps in the top 125 or 150. She's still doing well for herself and I'm happy to see her having some success in a market that isn't particularly well suited for her.

Kudos to ZENRA himself for the idea of a graphic showing how veterans are doing. For the purposes here, a veteran is anyone who debuted prior to 2017, meaning they've been in the industry at least five years. A third of the list was veterans, so clearly veterans can still do well. I think what's great to see is that some of them have been in the game for what feels like forever, and it's great seeing so many actresses get to insane thresholds, such as Mana Sakura reaching 100 videos. There are a ton of actresses that have short careers so when we get some in the double digits like Julia or Yui, or Yumi who's closing in on 25 years, it's great to see. It's really sad when actresses retire so early on and you're left high and dry, so the Yumi Kazamas and Maki Tomodas of the world who stick around for 20 years are great.

On top of that there are a lot of actresses who I think have plenty to give in their careers. Nao Jinguji, Aika Yamagishi, Akari Mitani, and Eimi Fukada stand out as some names who are not quite veterans yet but I see sticking around for many years to come. Personally, I find I'm much more likely to get into an actress if I see them having a lengthy, prosperous career. Even if they might not be as attractive as someone else, I simply find myself investing my time in a way that makes me way more interested if I think I won't be wasting it. To that point, I've seen 29/33 of the veterans and more than half of them are among my favourites. Even for some of the veterans I've more recently watched, like Airi Kijima, Nanami Kawakami, and Luna Tsukino, I'm not even that unhappy knowing there's a lot of good content out there if I go in for more. I think this also perfectly highlights why I wait until the end of the year to review debuts, hoping to make sure I select actresses who are likely to stick around for a while.

I think one thing I'll be very interested in paying attention to is what percentage of our top actresses have lengthy careers year over year. What I mean by this is that we should check back next year and see if we're still at a third of the actresses on the list being veterans, and if not seeing if it went up or down.There's obviously a lot of turnover in this industry but we do see a lot of actresses getting to significant milestones. While there are plenty of actresses not on the list at major milestones there are also plenty of popular newer actresses, as we'll see. It feels like it's very easy to get into someone like Yui Hatano or Julia who have been around for quite some time, but perhaps some people might be daunted by years and years of releases. Newer actresses are a gamble, the upside of following them from the start can be pretty high but the downside of watching them fade quite quickly can be pretty devastating.

One thing that's frustrating about the data is that DMM changed it after some time. I don't know why they always get the data wrong early on, they had the same problem last year too. It's super frustrating that I grab it, start writing, and then I have to rewrite it. At any rate, because I even generated the inforgraphic you can see what the earlier data looked like by clicking on this graphic.

Another very interesting thing on this list is that there are no compilations and no blu-ray videos listed. I triple checked it myself because I was so surprised but it's definitely correct. On one hand it seems like they consolidated data here by showing a dropdown for the different options for videos, but then the monthly data still shows separate blu-ray and standard DVD when they equally sell well. Regardless, it's very interesting to me that no compilations were in the top 100. We saw 7 last year and I'm hard pressed to think that not a single compilation did well all year long.

In perhaps the least surprising thing of all we have Kaoru Yasui's debut in first place. I've spoken in the past about Kaoru Yasui and how big of a deal working for Muteki has been. We already saw that she was 29th last year, which shows that she peaked at her debut. That's not surprising knowing what her debut was but the point still stands that debuting for Muteki when we thought it was a dead studio was such a huge deal.

Something that probably jumps out to a lot of people is how well Saika Kawakita did. She's got three entries in the top 10, a very impressive feat if I do say so. That's not that surprising given how often she's at the top of the charts but it's still quite impressive nonetheless. Saika has been a really good sight to see for the industry, I think, because it shows that people really can make comebacks and be quite popular. We've seen a lot of returning actresses fail to return to their former glory, for example Minori Hatsune. It's nice to see Saika really dominate the charts like this and hopefully some more actresses decide to give JAV a second chance, especially if they retire very quickly. Saika is almost certainly an anomaly at this point but I hope that it's not the norm.

Speaking of S1 we have a lot of different S1 actresses on the list at 11 different actresses. Most of them, however, are not actually that popular. We see four of them towering above the rest in Aka, Rara, Saika, and Yua. This should be unsurprising to everyone who looked at the first graphic and saw those four were all in the top 10. This is, essentially, showing exactly why they were there. I'll also spare you some math and mention that there are 39 S1 entries on the list (40 if you count Kaoru's Muteki release, since she is at S1 but didn't debut there). That's actually a slightly improvement from last year where they had 33. If anything, I would attribute that to SOD and Prestige leaving DMM last year. Having a few months with less competition definitely played out well for S1.

If we look closer at our top 10 videos we'll notice something on the 4th and 9th place video covers: 中田し解禁. This is pronounced nakadashi kaikin, the first half meaning creampie and the second half meaning ban lifting (in a literal sense). 解禁 is a term used when an actress does something for the first time, in this case creampie. We saw both Shoko and Momo lift their creampie bans this year and it did insanely well. Those videos all end up being garbage in my opinion but I think it highlights how much the industry really follows the actresses. It's just one of those videos you'd love for your collection, especially for very popular actresses who've been around for a long time.

Once again, checking how many videos on the list I've seen it's actually only at a dozen this year. That's actually about as much as last year, which means I was pretty bad in terms of changing my habits. I know I mentioned last year checking out more popular releases but I guess not. I think a lot of that comes down to the major trend in domestic JAV viewership which is that new actresses are a big deal. I tend to avoid watching new actresses early on in their careers because I'd rather watch a more interesting concept when they can perform better. If I look at the list, there are names like Kaoru Yasui, Himari Asada, Ruu Yumemi, Rin Natsuki, Miu Shiromine, and Fuua Kaede with their debut entries in the top 25. I've seen each of them but not the debut release, so there's just a lot of content from actresses I would watch but not that specific title.

I hope you've all enjoyed looking back at last year's results. I always find the yearly reports to be the most interesting one cause we can more easily observe actual trends. It can be fun to look at individual months but I always prefer looking at the bigger picture. 

Be on the lookout for an R18 sales report as well.