This year has certainly proved to be an interesting year. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say that, but it has also been an interesting year for JAV. I anticipated the industry struggling a bit this year, especially earlier on when they had a temporary shutdown, but the industry has actually been faring quite well. While some of my favourites have taken this as an opportunity to take a break, other retired actresses have seen it as an opportunity to earn a consistent salary.

That leads us to a discussion about debut actresses this year. I had a feeling that we wouldn't see anything close to last year's set of actresses due to everything going on. In fact, I was suspecting we just wouldn't see many debuts in general. I am happy to report I have been proven wrong.

Today marks the first entry in this year's set of debut actress entries. For those that haven't seen this column before, I'll be taking a look at seven debut actresses from 2020 and providing my initial thoughts about them having reviewed a single video of theirs. As I have been watching actresses throughout the year I also provide a revised rating/opinion based on how I currently feel about them. This is also part one of three; I will be releasing part two in another two weeks and part three two weeks after that. In part three I will also be picking out my favourites in different categories as well. I've been touting this post in some of my other posts, especially my sales posts, so it's kind of a relief to finally be here. With that out of the way, let's jump into the first set of  actresses.

June Lovejoy

June Lovejoy is pretty unique in that she’s a white girl who seems to speak fluent Japanese. It sets her pretty far apart from other white girls that have been in JAV, and there are plenty of established names that have done single videos such as Angela White or Siri. June isn’t exactly someone I was hyped to watch, and honestly I may have skipped her if it wasn’t for her lesbian video with Mako Oda. The video was enticing enough that I knew I had to watch it given that I’m a fan of Mako.

Physically June had some good qualities and some mediocre qualities. Facially I found I wasn’t a huge fan. I’m not sure what it was but I just didn’t find myself as attracted as I expected myself to. I must note that she certainly does look a bit different from how she typically looks on covers. Her breasts were small for my tastes and seemed awkward on her sizable frame. Her nipples were quite big and nice though, I did enjoy those. Her ass was also quite nice although there weren’t very many opportunities to enjoy it so it’s hard to grasp exactly how nice. I didn’t mind her body and enjoyed some thiccness, but again I felt like her breasts didn’t fit her frame that well.

From a performance standpoint I felt like she was still very junior. She was obviously pretty shy and embarrassed doing a lesbian video and you could tell the entire time. It certainly prevented the video from being as wild as I would have liked to see but some people prefer that sort of shy actress. June had done just over half a dozen JAV prior to this so it wasn’t exactly surprising she came off that way, especially given it was a lesbian video with a veteran performer. I suppose to a degree also the fact that Mako isn't known for lesbian or as skilled at it contributed as well.

Overall - C

I think it’s pretty unlikely I watch June again. She’s unique and had enough redeeming qualities that I won’t say I’ll never watch her, but I do feel like I don’t want to. Given that she has videos like this there’s probably a reasonable chance she’ll star in something else I’ll be interested in.

Current Rating - B

I think as the year has gone on I've been more and more interested in watching June. I think the uniqueness of her as well as her career continuing to be successful is a big reason why. Seeing her star in all sorts of stuff and really overcome the whole "white girl in Japanese porn" has made me much more interested even if those American tutor plots are rather unique and probably would be enjoyable. I think on top of that some content I've seen from her highlights just how juicy her ass and thighs are. To be completely fair to June, seeing her in a lesbian with Mako Oda didn't give her ass the opportunities to shine that it needed, and definitely in the next video I would take care to watch something that does. I'm not convinced the right video to get me interested has come out yet but I would be shocked if by this time next year I hadn't seen her again. The jury is still out on whether she becomes a favourite of mine, though I do still think it's unlikely. As a side note, June is very active on Twitter and considering she speaks English there's a ton of great stuff to see there for any interested fans.

Nene Tanaka

Nene debuted back in April and has been whipping up a frenzy since then starring in more videos than I can keep track of. That's a really good aspect for a debut, that she can get steady work. While the majority of videos haven't been for the more popular studios she did manage to work for some notable ones like Hon Naka, Moodyz, and Madonna. Nene ended up being a choice for a multitude of reasons but definitely the size of her catalogue made it easy.

Physically Nene is fairly nice. I find her face is a little touched up on all the covers and she's a lot more plain looking in the actual videos. I wouldn't say her face is bad but it's rather unremarkable in actuality. I think it provides a bit of an interesting look because she seems both mature and young at the same time; I could easily see her playing a wide range of roles from schoolgirl to housewife (which she has done). Her tits are fairly nice at G cup and her ass is not bad either. I think her best quality is actually her thighs which are very meaty and super nice. I would say as a whole she's definitely a step below top tier. She gave me strong vibes of Sachiko, someone who similarly seemed like she was decent physically but not quite someone you'd go crazy for.

From a performance standpoint she was pretty whatever. I was hoping that with the amount of videos she'd be a bit better by now but I guess time is just as relevant as the number of videos. While it's true the video wasn't the greatest opportunity for her to display her performing skills she just didn't really do anything that would set her apart. I think the biggest thing was that she never really looked like she was enjoying herself and instead took a much more submissive approach, even as she sought to dictate the action.

Overall - C

As much as there are reasons to enjoy Nene there are also reasons to not enjoy her. Having a large catalogue is a good thing but only working for low tier studios isn't great. It wouldn't surprise me if fans just skipped over a lot of her content because the studio it was for doesn't make good content. That being said, she is working for better studios more recently so there's a chance she breaks out a bit more. Physically I thought her face had both good and bad qualities and while I know some people may not like this opinion, I think a bit of a touch up could do her wonders. I didn't see enough to make me want to go crazy over her but considering the sheer number of releases she's had in just four months (it's around 10 per month) she's certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Current Rating - B

Nene has been killing it this year with a steady stream of videos and work for a wide range of studios. In fact, she has too many to count which is very surprising for a debut actress. While I certainly didn't find her as attractive as I had hoped I would I'm not convinced a single video gives me enough of an indication, and I really would like to watch a second one to be sure. Nene's also been getting more adventurous as the year goes on, doing lesbian and even BBC next month. I can't deny her success and how well the industry seems to be receiving her. I must admit that I haven't been fully keeping up with all of her stuff but, like June, I think it would be very likely I'll have seen another video or two by this time next year.

Shion Sato

This is the first Shion Sato video I've seen. She popped up on my radar this year because she lactates. Lactation is a theme I enjoy but it's so hard to find good quality actresses when the pool is this small. Definitely worth at least seeing what Shion had to offer.

Physically Shion was only so-so. I didn't find her all that attractive facially and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it was because her face was kind of plain. I wouldn't call her unattractive or anything mean but she definitely didn't do much for me. I liked her boobs, big and milky was nice, and especially on her slim body they looked nice. Her ass was quite bad though, nothing nice to say about it.

From a performance standpoint she was awful. Not new person awful (this is her fourth video) but actually just had no idea what to do. She had a deflated expression and enthusiasm the entire time, clearly disinterested entirely. Sure, I get that this person might not be aligned with her boss advancing on her as he did but she could have done so much more. Watching her ask him to stop was so painful to watch, it was the least convincing I think I've ever seen / heard.

Overall - D

I think ultimately I'm unlikely to watch her again. I would need to see an insane amount of improvement from her that I think is unlikely. She strikes me as someone who needed cash and got to sell her milky tits. Yes, lactation is rare, but if the video/actress isn't enjoyable I'm not going to sit through something bad just for that. Especially when Miharu Izawa came back out of retirement this year and was lactating there are better lactation videos to watch.

Current Rating - D

Shion hasn't had a release since September, and skipping two cycles as a debut actress is generally not a good sign. I would wager that she probably decided to retire which is part of the unfortunate events that happen when you pick debut actresses earlier on in the year. It was clear from the video I saw that she wasn't comfortable doing it and probably only joined to make a quick buck. I'm not here to pass judgement on why someone decides to do porn and if it's not for her then it's not for her. Given that she has seemingly retired this early on I would say count me out of an future videos. Even if lactation is a small nice that I wish there was more of, I think I would stick more to other actresses in that space like Minori Kuwata or Nozomi Hazuki that are active.  

Aka Asuka

Aka is someone that I immediately knew I wanted to watch after the teaser from S1. With Rara basically disappearing Aka looked to be the replacement for her, and I was excited to see that. I think a lot of people felt that way and Aka has certainly already garnered a lot of attention.

Physically Aka was solid but definitely no Rara. I'll say that again, Aka isn't Rara, Rara is a lot nicer physically. Despite Rara's shortcomings as a performer she's one of the most attractive actresses out there with one of the best pairs of tits. Aka's face was kind of whatever, nothing bad but nothing special as well. As one person put it, she could use some of the typical plastic surgery S1 actresses go through. I certainly don't think she's bad but I think she could be nicer, and that little bit of touch up would likely be very good. With her tits they also were big but they didn't have the best shape, they were a little bit wide and I found myself not enjoying that nearly as much. Don't take that as me meaning I didn't like them at all because they did look great in many positions (especially on her back with her arms squishing them together) and they jiggled very nicely. I found her body was nice and slim, which was expected of an S1 actress, but I found her ass was pretty mediocre. It is quite rare you get someone with tits this nice having a great ass so I'm not surprised, but her ass really wasn't good. I think as a whole I would say I enjoyed her physically but for anyone expecting her to be a Rara replacement she just isn't quite that.

From a performance standpoint nothing much to say. She's new and newcomers, especially in debut videos, tend to be forgettable. It wasn't the worst debut I've ever seen but I don't think she was impressive by any stretch. Again, I expect nothing so it's hard to be disappointed by her.

Overall - A

Despite some shortcomings I think that there's a good amount of potential. Actresses with breasts that size and a slimness like hers just don't come along that often. Being able to enjoy her, all things considered, makes me interested in seeing her again. Now, I'm not necessarily sure I will watch her next release but as soon as a good enough release comes out I'll be happy to watch.

Current Rating - A

We're only two months into Aka being a JAV actress and I'm not convinced her November release is interesting. As I've mentioned in other posts, debut actresses tend to take a few releases to get out of the "new girl" phase. As long as Aka makes it past that phase I'm sure I'll be watching her, but until then I'll just keep checking back every month to see if her release is worth watching or not.

Hana Himesaki

Hana Himesaki was definitely someone I wanted to watch after that first cover dropped. Sure, those tits were pressed up and shopped but if they were anywhere close to as good as they looked I would enjoy them.

Physically Hana was pretty decent. Her tits certainly were big, definitely not quite as big as the first cover but this one wasn't really shopped at all. They were quite full and evenly distributed, something that you don't see all that often. I found it made them look like they were being pressed together most of the time, which I'm not quite sure I was a fan of. As for her face I would say it was forgettable, although I didn't really hate it. The rest of her body was kind of meaty which I found myself enjoying. I think the thiccness really fit her especially with the shape of her tits.

Hana's performance was quite underwhelming. The video had very little dialogue and just some of  her moaning instead. It felt like a lot of the time she just wasn't doing anything, like she was too nervous to really show any emotion. I found I really disliked that, any emotion is usually better than no emotion. Instead we just got some muted expressions with light moaning, which honestly is about the worst emotion you can get.

Overall - B

I think Hana's body actually sets herself enough apart from the competition that I'd give her a second chance. That general thiccness with the shape of her breasts is something I could get behind. I definitely want to wait for at least a video with some sort of plot because she definitely didn't do anything in this one.

Current Rating - B

Hana continues to have very generic releases that don't interest me. Unsurprising when she's only releasing once a month but I have a feeling I might take a while waiting on something interesting. Do I think I'll get to her next year? That really remains to be seen, I think I'm not as excited about her as I am others aforementioned like June or Nene, even if they had lesser initial ratings. I actually did an in-depth analysis of my New To Me column (which you can find here) that supports career status being one of the most important factors in how much I like an actress. June and Nene both have been doing better than Hana by a country mile so I think Hana has a bit of an uphill battle to climb. Still, I am hopeful that eventually there will be something interesting.

Yume Nikaido

Yume Nikaido is someone I've been keeping tabs on all year. She seems exactly like the kind of S1/Faleno actress that does well and I thought she'd be worth watching down the road.

Physically I thought Yume was decent but I think I had a bit higher expectations. She's plenty cute but I found myself not vibing with that appearance as much as I thought I would. I did find her being clean shaven fit her appearance well. I found her boobs were okay, they emphasize them a lot on covers and make them look bigger than they are. In fact, covers shy away from saying the size, probably because they can convince people like me they're bigger than they are. I would have guessed G from covers but they're actually F. Anyway, I think that kind of tells the story about her curves in general, not quite as much as you thought but still okay. That's also kind of how I felt about her as a whole, fine but I was hoping for better.

Performance wise she was actually fairly good. She was upbeat and cheerful and I thought it fit the theme nicely. I found her being quiet when she needed to be and smartly using her hand to muffle her voice. I generally thought she did a pretty good job of the whole thing, especially given she has only had a handful of videos thus far. I'm sure I've seen better with a first video from a debut but this was certainly one of the better performances.

Overall - B

Despite not quite fully being into her I think she has some good potential. Even today I think she shows a level of skill that I would be willing to watch her again. I would definitely want to wait for another good theme though, see something that really resonates with me. Faleno is a studio that I've wanted to watch more of and they just keep having mediocre videos. The only active actress on their roster I'm a proper fan of is Ayaka Tomoda, so I just haven't had gotten around to watching much Faleno. Yume in the right video would certainly be worth the watch, though I would say the half dozen prior to this don't strike me as interesting enough.

Current Rating - B

Not much has changed since I saw Yume. I think it really is a matter of the right video coming along, and I think it could take some time. Faleno is a studio I that keeps producing generic releases so who knows when something interesting will come out. I think that I would perhaps watch a less exciting release of Yume just as a way to see more of Faleno, especially considering I'm not much of a fan of most of their roster. As a quick side note to anyone watching her, she cut her hair fairly short early on in her career but had long hair on her debut.

Yuria Kanae

Yuria was one of the many actresses I considered watching this year. I've been following just about anyone who has been doing well or looked remotely interesting to me. With this cover and plot it pretty much instantly sealed the deal for me.

Physically Yuria was solid. I would say her curves seem a bit lesser than the cover would indicate, not that I'm surprised given that covers always embellish a little bit. I thought she was pretty enough, no real complaints about it. Her boobs were still nice though and will open a lot of doors for her. I still found myself enjoying her physically enough to not be concerned about anything.

As a performance Yuria was mostly uneventful. I generally don't find myself surprised when newer actresses don't perform well, especially ones that have a very small number of releases. Yuria did surprise me with her ability to deepthroat though, especially given that it was her casually doing it. That's the kind of skill that makes me very hopeful for the future and can really set a new actress apart from the crowd. Casually doing it in videos really elevates videos and it's one of the reasons I quite like Aki Sasaki. It also potentially gives her the opportunity to do deepthroat themed videos if she goes down a more hardcore route, something also open to her given she's freelancing.

Overall - B

I do intend to watch her again, but like usual I want to see something a little more entertaining. She's still in the new actress phase and I think a bit of time could do her well. It seems like she has some potential, largely due to her deepthroating skills, and I think just some more experience will make a big difference. I am quite hopeful that something good will come out sooner rather than later but only time will tell. Yuria did take off a few months in between leaving E-Body and going freelance so really I think I just want to see where she ends up before watching more of her.

Current Rating - A

Yuria has a November release for Oppai that makes me more excited about her career. Getting into some better studios is really going to make or break how soon I watch her and that teacher series for Oppai is a good series. I don't expect that release from her to be good but again it gives me hope. Maybe she'll star in my favourite series for Oppai? That's definitely on the table now. Again, with her having some deepthroating skills there are opportunities for her even when she's not working at top studios.

I'm glad to finally start releasing these posts. As I mentioned before, this is part one of three, so check back in another two weeks as I write up the next one. If anyone has any comments about these fine ladies or any other 2020 debuts be sure to let me know in the comments. Until next time!