Oppaira's Top 10 JAV Directors Part 2
Hey guys, Oppaira here. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I'm back with my second part of my top directors, without further ado I hope you enjoy!
#5 - Jo Asagiri
Jo is someone who does a lot of plot driven videos and has made a name for himself doing that. It might only be as simple as a wife cheating on her husband or a husband cheating on his wife but there is pretty much always a plot going on in his videos.
Jo is surprisingly good at finding the best way to utilize an actress whether that’s her being dominant or passionate. You can see that especially when looking at my two favourite videos on the left in the first image above from him as they are vastly different in terms of styles (the dominant Kurea vs the kindhearted Aika) and yet they both are fantastic videos. Or better yet, you can really see that with Ichika Seta being the volleyball player in an upcoming release this month. The fact that she towers over everyone really drives home that style of utilizing the actress well even thematically.
I've always found with Jo that he doesn't really have a signature series that stands out to me. He's done a lot of stuff and entries here and there are great but nothing that feels like it's super unique and very easily identifiable as his. That being said, I think that's part of what makes him good as a director. The fact that he can do multiple different styles and have entries succeed is a huge indicator of his raw talent. It feels like he always knows what he should be doing and a lot of the results come down to the actress themselves stepping up. And of course, the fact that there are these series that I can attribute to him act as a reminder that he isn't just doing what people ask of him and that he does have good ideas.
Since Jo is great at finding the right actresses for his films he ends up just doing a ton of variety. While yes some of the more assertive things stand out, you can find him doing submissive things, NTR, you name it. That does mean a decent portion of his videos might not be for you but at the same time it’s only a matter of time for him to deliver the stuff you really wanted to see.
#4 - Mametaro Mamezawa
When I think about Mametaro as a director there are a lot of things that come to mind. Firstly he just works a lot and finds himself doing a lot of debut/redebut/transfer videos as a result. I also think of Mametaro as someone who does whatever studios ask him to so his variety is just extremely high.
The thing in my mind that makes Mametaro so good is simply how well he can do in a variety of styles. He can put a heavy plot and make it work, a very simple plot, use multiple actresses, just all sorts of things. While many directors develop a signature style Mametaro’s flexibility really is the selling point. The fact that he just seems to be everywhere means I’m constantly watching his videos, and Mametaro is my second most reviewed director as a result.
If there’s one thing I’ve come to expect from Mamezawa it’s him finding a way to use swimwear in his videos. He quite often finds a way for an actress to wear a bikini even if that means he has to go to a literal beach to do it. Hell, he even has a debut film coming out next month that is filmed at the beach. That does also mean he tends to film with actresses who are naturally a bit bustier and can fill out a bikini better, especially if they have nice slim figures. If he somehow can’t use a bikini then it’s an equally hot panties and bra for the same effect, though honestly he’ll slap a bikini on anyone at any time.
As I mentioned before, Mametaro is another one of those directors who just films a lot of content. He’s got nine releases slated for this month already across Moodyz, Kawaii, Premium, and Madonna, with both veterans and newcomers alike. It’s hard getting a grasp on whether Mametaro is at the top of his game as a result of how much he films. He’s had multiple entries in my top 25 videos of the year for the last two years, is poised to do the same again this year, and yet as a percentage of his overall releases I would say most of them aren’t anything special.
#3 - Kawaguchi Kitorune
Kawaguchi is a director that films a lot of drama stuff. He’s typically working for studios like Madonna or Attackers that are much heavier on the drama side but you do still often see him doing dramas across the board with Moodyz, Fitch, Honnaka, SOD, and more. Many of his dramas tend to be the NTR style or something that feels like it even if it isn’t (though to be fair I think a lot of dramas are like that).
I find Kawaguchi is great at bringing out more assertive performances from actresses, especially when doing dramas. He tends to be capable of getting them to rise to more slutty levels that some actresses have difficulties with. I think one of the big things is Kawaguchi just finding narratives that make the assertiveness right at the forefront like the jailbreak series.
If I had to pick something Kawaguchi was known for it would be his hentai adaptations. It’s pretty typical to see him do one or two per month which is kind of crazy considering there aren’t all that many. There are certainly other directors that do a fair few, especially Dragon Nishikawa, but I’ve always been impressed by Kawaguchi. Those types of adaptations go over very well for me and as you can see two of them are among my top three videos from him.
These days you can still see Kawaguchi doing much of the same, especially NTR films. Even when doing hentai adaptations it feels like it’s always NTR things. I feel like I’d enjoy seeing him spread his wings a little, so to speak, and find more interesting NTR films. Just because the actress is getting cuckolded doesn’t mean that’s how the story has to stay, and maybe dialing it back to explore different endings would make him feel a bit more varied.
#2 - Tadanori Usami
If I had to describe Tadanori’s style it would be simplicity. Tadanori was never out there directing these heavy dramas that some of the other directors would, it was always lighthearted and simple. Rather than put a ton of stock in the narrative he could take a simple theme like teacher or your new wife and just make things work.
I’ve often lamented at how directors ruin videos by abandoning the main point of their videos but Tadanori always did a great job of sticking to it and delivering exactly what you expected. Like even if the video was just a giant creampie gangbang he could find ways to keep the scenes interesting and not bore you even as the video reached three or even four hours long.
It goes without saying but Tadanori is the director behind the critically acclaimed MIRD-150, the duo starring Hitomi and Anri. Part of me is a bit reluctant to give him the credit for being the lucky guy to film this since most of the credit goes to the ladies and their chemistry. That being said, it’s hard to ignore my favourite film and to not give him credit for it. Even though he does have some fun series he has directed, my all time favourite video overshadows a lot of his other fantastic work.
Tadanori retired as a director quite a few years ago. It’s really quite telling to see that Tadanori is still one of my favourite directors and makes me wonder if he could have competed for the top spot. There were just so many quality releases from him and I don’t doubt he would have thrived in the current state of the industry where productions were scaled back as that would have suited his simplicity mantra.
#1 - Nao Masaki
Nao Masaki is known for being a wild director. From her humble beginnings as an actress herself, Nao Masaki has made a point to bring out the slutty side of every actress she works with. If I want to see not only a dominant actress but in a fun situation where the actress is given tons of room to be dominant, Nao Masaki is the one to watch.
Nao Masaki is without a doubt my favourite director. When doing this post it wasn’t even close who would be the number one, hell I could do a top 50 Nao Masaki videos list. For me the biggest thing has always been how well she can capture the assertive side of an actress (which seems to stem from her being a former actress herself). The performances are always just a little bit better and the videos are also always just a little bit wilder. On top of that Nao Masaki is known to get into her videos sometimes in ways that are extremely hot.
Nao Masaki’s signature series has always and will always be The Moment I Met This Pornstar She Demanded Raw Creampie Sex. The premise is extremely simple (an actress shows up out of nowhere and starts having sex with the guy literally in seconds) and yet it’s insanely hot. It’s iconic for how hot it is but also how great of a performance it brings out of actresses. I think the situations she brings out often just encourage those better performances from actresses and that has always been her greatest strength.
I feel like these days the industry as a whole has dialed it back a bit to the point that Nao is a bit hampered. Her favourite series hasn’t had an entry in years to which I have no idea why. Personally it feels like studios want her to be just a bit more mainstream which is still good but also not what excites me most about Nao Masaki. I mean sure, get a couple of good actresses, let them be assertive, and the rest of the video will take care of itself, but I find that Nao Masaki simply does better when she has more flexibility to own the video. I find that she's still able to produce a lot of interesting films but I just think scaling the efforts back a lot like she often has somewhat diminishes her strengths as a director.
I hope you've all enjoyed reading about my top directors. It goes without saying but directors have a ton of impact on videos and I feel like many people can benefit from paying attention to directors and watching the ones they enjoy a lot. I hope you've learned a thing or two about some of them. As always, feel free to share who are your favourite directors in the comments. Until next time!
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