Nanami Kawakami Tribute: Part 2

Kawakami stated that "it is difficult for AV actresses to work in the mainstream [media], even if the name is mentioned during casting." She wants to get rid of the stigma, but it is much more difficult as an active AV actress; thus she is hanging up not only her skillset as both a stripper and AV actress, but is also changing her name.

While the pronunciation is still the same, the kanji has been changed to give the name a new meaning and new life. In a sense, this name change symbolizes her rebirth as an actress who can be accepted by mainstream media.  

川上奈々美 to 川上なな実

Even though the pronunciation is the same, the kanji 奈々美, contains the radical for big, 奈大, and the kanji 美, meaning beautiful. The kanji 実 can refer to fruit or truth; however, Kawakami states that "the idea is to round out the sharp things inside her to bear fruit". While this may not make sense to most foreigners, an equivalent saying would be that Nanami is currently a rough diamond who needs to be carefully taken care of by cutting, polishing, and (whatever else they do make diamonds nice). In a sense, however, both interpretations do make sense: Nanami bearing the fruits or finding the truth for herself. 

Nanami did create her own agency called “boa fruit”, which translates into English as “bore fruit”, and this move was due to several reasons, one being that there is a large stigma against AV actresses if trying to go mainstream, which will obviously give her leverage and control. 

Asides from these changes, Nanami has announced that she is publishing an autobiography in conjunction with her final photobook as an AV actress, although I am under the impression there will be no translations as of this point. Here's the Amazon link. I will probably read it sometime later this year when things get less busy and write about it, but no promises on it. 

Now, because Nanami believes that AV acting has helped prepare her for acting in mainstream works, I've decided to highlight some of her AV works that exhibit this. This isn't a top 10, but a list of rather interesting works that I feel highlights the growth in her capabilities. I encourage people to watch the listed videos to see what I mean by progression, rather than take my word for it, and offer your own opinion.

First off, Nanami debuted for Alice Japan, and had this aura of someone trying to make way, be successful, and projected innocence, but determination as well, in order to succeed. While to most people it may not be clear on the latter part of this, I think that Nanami's view and interview, as indicated by the previous article, can justify this sentiment, as people can see her try to appeal to both the camera and the viewers. 

Nanami stayed with Alice Japan (AJ) as an exclusive until 2015, and it wasn't until Nanami's change in 2015 to work with Attackers that she had second thoughts about retirement. Although Nanami says this, Alice Japan did transition towards different themes (DV-1648, DV-1681) however, and I don't deny that the drama-feel that Attackers had might have been much more appealing for Nanami, especially considering that she had stayed with the same studio for so long. Have a look at SHKD-631, for reference.

Check out the trailer of DV-1345 here!

Nanami continued to grow as an actress, both finding interest in herself, and the characters she set out to play, giving a new lease on her career so to say. With all the experiences from working with Attackers, Nanami had proven to herself to be a great actress, and although I can't really point out a specific video that highlights her growth, I think that it's clear in some of the works such as RBD-756, DVAJ-179, and DVAJ-349 that she was really coming into her own, in terms of acting. 

It was around the same time that these were released, that Kawakami started to participate more in making pink films, and the Netflix Series "The Naked Director" as well. This propelled her onto the world stage, and get not only a wider reception but also allowed her to network and figure out what she wanted to do next. The main issue, however, was the fact that Nanami was not only shooting a lot of works, but she was also doing music and TV gigs with Ebisu Muscats on the side.

Coming from that experience, Nanami was able to make masterful performances in works such as MEYD-632, DVAJ-433, and DVAJ-516 to just name a few. As Nanami had announced retirement a year in advance, it meant an opportunity to work with more studios and give fans an opportunity to see her in different styles and productions. So I'll talk a little bit about that, as well as the pink film works she has done, and give a list of movies to watch in the final article (don't worry, it will be released next month - my apologies for the wait) - as well as some final words on her retirement and her future. 

You can check out the first part of this tribute here.

Mangochin