Another month another sales report. This time I'd like to start off a little differently though...

General News

One thing I found this month is that I had some news I felt fit this post but also was general and didn't fall into any category specifically. So, keeping that in mind, I'm putting this general news section. I may not always include it but for this one it felt like I needed to talk about a couple of things.

Last month I mentioned that there was some confusion about where Asuna Kawai's career was heading. Some people were convinced she was calling it quits (and buying up her stuff) while others didn't agree. I'm happy to say that Asuna is back to shooting, as she mentioned in her tweet (昨日は撮影でした means she had a shoot yesterday)

おはよう????
昨日は撮影でしたっ(終わったあとに撮ったから髪がボサボサしてます笑)今回はね前髪ありとなしのヘアスタイルができてすごくテン上げだった☝????????みなさん作品楽しみに待っててくださいね！2日目も頑張るぞ✊????えいえいおー pic.twitter.com/0ynqyLAini

— 河合あすな (@kawai_asuna) February 16, 2021

Assuming that's her first video since coming back we'll get this probably around the beginning of summer. I would expect her to show up on the DMM physical charts in May when they preview a June release, assuming my math is correct. Either way I'm happy to see Asuna is back in business and look forward to her return.

Speaking of which though, it's probably worth also talking about what's going on with Prestige. Prestige is a big player in the AV industry and the current home for Asuna. They've been home to some major names over the years including Mion Sonoda and Shunka Ayami. Recently they announced that they're completely leaving DMM/R18. Not just abandoning them for newer content but flat out removing all of their existing content off the platform. For those that don't know, not every studio releases on DMM, and even for those that do some of them distribute on other platforms. The major one I've mentioned before is Faleno because of their release schedule (being earlier on their website). Well, I guess this is even worse, only releasing on Prestige's site MGStage. If I had to hazard a guess it would be that DMM takes too much of a slice of the pie and considering Prestige already has their own site the profit margins would be much better. I don't know how good the sales are on MGStage relative to DMM but I would guess they've done their homework here. Sadly we probably won't be seeing Asuna on the charts when she comes back as a result, but if I can remember I'll remind you guys when her video drops.

If you're looking at grabbing some stuff before Prestige is gone from R18 now would be the time. They've got sales on all month so best to take advantage of them.

Anyway with that out of the way let's get on with sales data from this month.

Top Actresses

First off I want to talk about Rara Anzai in second place. You might be asking: what happened to Rara? Why is she going from unranked to second? Rara left the scene abruptly last year, no word just silently stopped filming. This isn't even the first time she's done it either, many fans will still remember that the same debacle that happened when she went by RION. This month she's back at it again, her release set for the 19th of this month. I wouldn't be surprised to see her trickle down to digital sales or R18 next month. Fans went nuts over it, I know the bluray sold out by the next day (in perhaps the fastest a video has ever sold out) and they eventually had to restock it. One might question her meteoric rise to the top was due to her coming back but honestly she was just as popular when she left. Perhaps it was because of the sweet polaroids that came along with it. If you don't know, sometimes physical releases in Japan come with extra goodies, photos being the most common. A lot of fans love them especially because they make a good item to get signed at an event. Even though we can only see small thumbnail images I can only imagine how nice they would actually be knowing just how pretty and busty Rara is. I really don't blame anyone for splurging on them especially with the video being a redebut video. This just feels like a video you want in your collection, though if Rara keeps leaving and coming back maybe fans will stop caring... who am I kidding, she's so mesmerizing that people will let her do whatever the hell she wants.

More surprisingly I think is Momo Sakura being at the top of the list, especially knowing Rara's bluray sold out. How did she outsell Rara? Why, none other than her lifting her creampie ban. She's been in the game since 2017 and hasn't done a creampie video yet, and now that she has one coming up people are evidently quite excited. I expect her to do more creampie after this as well so I wouldn't be surprised to see her on the list a few more times in future months either. It's one of those things that once you jump the hurdle you can do it more regularly, and I would think she would make good on that. As a side note about creampies, I expect all of hers to be faked, as is common in the industry. It always makes you wonder why they even put a ban on it in the first place, I guess maybe so they can lift it like this and have fans go crazy. Anyway, I don't expect Momo to be up at the top like this frequently but knowing she was top 50 last month even without such an eventful video makes me think fans will pay a lot more attention to her and we'll see her at the top a little more often.

As usual we have some new debuts on the list, Himari Asada, and Uta Hayano. It's too early to say much about them, Himari is an SOD debut, and Uta is an S1 debut. Both are at big studios, especially Uta, so the sky is the limit for them. Only time will tell if I wind up reviewing them later on in the year but I'll certainly keep my eye out. Remember that I'll be posting reviews about 2021 debuts near the end of the year, so we've still got around eight months before that happens. A lot can change by then and actresses can (and often do) retire by then. Anyway, I'll come revisit that topic when we get there.

We also see quite a number of other debuts from recent months up on the top like Aka Asuka, Yume Nikaido, and Hana Himesaki, three names that should be quite familiar if you've been following these posts. Yume Nikaido had her first VR last month, 10 months after her debut. I think it's safe to say she's doing quite well for herself over at Faleno and will likely stay one of their main stars for some time. Her VR isn't the reason why she's up on this list (and keep in mind there's no physical release for VR) but I'll discuss that a bit later. I've spoken a lot about Hana Himesaki in previous posts so I'd rather spend this time talking about Aka instead. While I was somewhat critical of her breast shape in my review of her this month's video looks to be the perfect candidate for her. Clothed sex is a concept I have a love hate relationship with; one the one hand it's hot seeing their outline in the clothes and the tease it presents, while on the other hand I just want to see them flat out. I find this to be particularly good for her because it mitigates how much the shape of the matters. You won't notice as much with a shirt concealing them, only able to really grasp their incredible size. I reckon everyone else agrees with her rising quite a few spots.

Over on the digital side we see Kaoru making an appearance, dropping off the physical charts. It baffles me just how popular she has been considering Muteki has been a ghost town in recent years. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised given the talent Muteki has produced over the years, like Yua Mikami or Yuri Oshikawa (who I recently did a spotlight for). Kaoru took a long time to settle into her next video and we see her joining the ranks of S1 with a release in April. Muteki doesn't have anything else coming up so I would hazard a guess things just fell into their laps here. I'm still hopeful they can come back just because they have insane scouting but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Waka Misono is also a name jumping up quite a few spots. If I were a betting man I would say it's because of her duo with Yu Shinoda. Yu is quite popular, evidenced by her retaining her 5th place spot this month. I've seen the video and while it's not amazing it's still good. That in itself still describes what's going on: that the video looks enticing enough to grab. I don't think anyone would second guess pairing Waka with someone better than herself, of course it would sell well. I think especially someone like Yu who also has a great ass. Not only that but I think their body types compliment each other quite nicely given that Yu is very much a twig these days whereas Waka has got some meat on her bones. Something for everyone in that video and maybe Waka's made a few new fans.

Looking at R18 we have what appears to be one of the most stable months on record if not the most stable month. The most anyone moved was 14 spots and only two of the listed actresses, Arina Hashimoto and Aika Yumeno, joined the fold, booting off Kaho Imai and Ichika Matsumoto. As I mentioned last time we were supposed to expect more stable results and it looks like we are. I'll be very interested to see if we continue to see this stability or if we see a few more surprises at the top.

Despite the stop being quite stable I do want to point out one name, Asahi Mizuno. As everyone knows by now Asahi recently came back from hiatus, this month marking her third release. Unsurprisingly we are also seeing her climb up the charts again. Asahi is no surprise to the top of the charts having spent tons of time on the top 100 throughout her career. What's interesting to me is that despite her being at Madonna, a studio I'm not too big on these days, she's still selling. That's even amidst her body not being what it once was (although still plenty enjoyable). Will Asahi rise all the way to the top? I would guess yes once they give her some decent stuff but who knows what we'll see. Especially seeing some recent comments by her that she doesn't seem to be all that happy with life right now, I wish nothing but the best for her, both in and out of JAV.

Top Videos

I've already spoken at length about some of these so the first I'll start with is Yume Nikaido's video. What's interesting is that her standard release did so well this month while she had a VR release. For the record, her VR did come in at 43rd place, but certainly there's no competing with her release selling this well. Especially considering it sold better than Momo Sakura's BD it's kind of shocking that such an inconspicuous release could do so well. I do think she's nice and am not surprised but then this release is also just a generic soapland video. I guess perhaps at some point people can't get enough of that body. 

We also have Minami Aziawa up in a top spot. She's always all over the place, especially with being inactive part of last year, but I think it's safe to say she's back to steady work with releases in seven straight months. That video in particular looks extra nice and I think the theme really suits her. The idea of a panty fetish with some clothed sex works out well for someone who sells an innocent yet naughty vibe. And, I think it's probably very likely that some great photos in the physical copy go a long way here.

In the digital section we have Mahina Amane's first VR in 4th place. VR has really changed the game in porn giving you new ways to enjoy actresses. I would think that the first VR an actress does would sell well because people want to see these actresses in different angles and view points. I've found myself feeling differently about actresses after having seen them in VR so I would imagine many other want to see VR for the same reasons.

Another entry here is Rara's SSNI-700, an older title of hers from last year. I went back and looked to see how this video did before and it placed on a couple lists in September (as is to be expected from Rara). One can only imagine this resurgence is due to Rara's comeback and how fans don't want to wait to see something. It makes you wonder if Rara taking extended breaks is good for sales but when you're reminded she always makes the top of the charts you're reminded that it's a silly notion. Plus, SSNI-700 is on sale right now for as low as $2 for a week rental so I can't imagine they're making a ton of money off of it. I say just gie the people more of what they want, Rara is easily one of the most attractive around and everyone, myself included, just wants to see more of her.

The lone video returning on the list this month is Kaede Hiiragi's video, and despite her video dropping in sales she's up 7 spots in the ranking. It's an interesting proposition that she theoretically sold less copies and found herself more popular. One might conclude various things from this, such as total sale figures being different month to month, or perhaps this month being filled with a few huge hitters at the top. I'm more inclined to believe the former, that Momo and Rara stole the show and so these less popular actresses could share in the spotlight.

Another name on the list to point out is the 9th place Momo Honda. Faleno has had a pretty good track record with debuts, particularly for being such a new player. I think that gives some rise for fans to be interested in her just off the basis that Faleno wouldn't steer them wrong. She doesn't strike me as being as beautiful as someone like Yume Nikaido but who am I to judge what other people like.

A VR best-of from S1 would of course make the top of the list. S1 has always been known for having a deep talent pool and putting names we commonly see on the top of lists like Tsukasa Aoi, Arina Hashimoto, and Yua Mikami together in one package is going to sell. The video contains multiple videos from each and clocks in at a whopping 16 hours so I'm sure people couldn't help themselves. That being said, Yua's 6th place VR was also a part of the compilation so it's rather telling that it sold well on its own. As much as I like other actresses at S1 like Aika Yumeno (also featured in this release) it's hard to deny Yua is the face of S1. Considering she's in a whopping three titles in the top 10 it's not really a contested statement.

Speaking of S1, in 9th place we have a video featuring two S1 actresses together, Tsukasa Aoi and Sayaka Otsuhiro. Veteran and newcomer, older and younger, however you want to describe the pair I think it works. Even though they play roommates and not some sort of mum/daughter combination I think the dichotomy sells. It perhaps also sells just on the basis that S1 rarely releases duo videos; it happens only a handful of times a year and I think fans really buy into it when it does.

Lastly we've got a Hana Haruna video in 10th. Starring in Moodyz's Mankitsu label, this release is based of a hentai manga by writer Black Cat Smith (黒猫スミス). Interestingly this is the third collaboration with Black Cat Smith but more notably the second part of this particular work. The first, MIMK-052, also starred Hana Haruna. I find it quite nice to see them continue a story and even use the same actress. I think it's such an underutilized option and manga adaptations make the most sense to get a feel for this approach. Let's also not forget that Hana has a hentai in real life body to her. It's not often you see actresses this plump and juicy, or even the domestic sales appreciating such an actress. It's still crazy to me that Hana continues to be as popular as she is. Anyway, as a foreigner I find manga adaptations to be a bit awkward to watch. If you can find a translation and read the manga beforehand then the video would make much more sense to you while watching. On the flip side, if you don't know the story it's often difficult to enjoy because the story is too complex.

Anyway, that's it for this month's post. I'd like to take this time to point out what's going on with the DMM yearly sales post. While I wanted to wait for the digital sales to come out it seems like DMM is really not keen on publishing them. Two months into the year and we have everything but that information. I'll likely be posting the yearly sales post in the near future with just the physical stuff so stay tuned for that. Until next time!