This Time For Africa: A Curious Time in JAV History

Ah, the good old days of JAV. When questionable content was almost like the rule, the peak of perverted Japanese creativity and ambiguous moral standards. While this era of the industry is certainly long gone, it's always a good idea to look back at some of its brightest moments. 

Back in the 2000s, JAV studios, like most big companies, were looking to "pay it forward" through charity and corporate social responsibility campaigns. After all, the industry is quite notorious for its "less than typical" products. 

Then some clever executive came up with an idea: what if we do the CSR thing while making some bucks? We thus enter the brief but glorious era of "Naked Continent" videos, where a crew of Japanese AV people fly to the world's exotic lands under the banner of cultural exchange and helping less privileged communities. 

The first attempt was OPEN-0654 by Natural High, a subsidiary of the SOD and known for making mostly wacky videos. The OG video was directed by Sakkun (サックン), a Natural High regular. It was called "Naked Continent", and it was Natural High's entry to the first AV Open in 2006. 

The video's concept is quite simple: a camera crew accompanies the actress Kaoruko Wakaba as she travels across Africa. It has a travelog format filled with shots of local scenery, wildlife, and culture. Within its 90-minute run are a few sex scenes between Kaoruko-chan and some actors, some of them African-looking, to make it seem that her "immersion" in the culture is legit. 

The video was a total success, and it bagged 1st place in the Challenge Stage for new directorial talent. It was also given a special award by the judges. It topped the sales in the same year.

Natural High was also able to do the charity bit after finding the Musona Self Help Group (MSHG) and giving them 1 million yen and a further 1,000 yen for each copy of the Naked Continent Charity Project.

Eager to ride on its success, Natural High released seven sequels and two compilations DVDs in the same format. A few of the videos were also able to receive acclaim (and good sales), such as Naked Continent 4 with the star Yuka Osawa. 

Of course, the series has not been immune to controversy and moral outrage. There was talk of the crew taking advantage of these people and romanticizing their culture as a gimmick. Some compliance issues hounded Natural High for years. 

One thing to note about the "Naked Continent" series is that it is far less sexual than the succeeding videos with the same format. It has a more or less serious and ethnographic feel, and the sex were not branded as freaky or exotic. In fact, most of the screen-time with sex involves the actress with the crew that she is travelling with. 

The DANDY spin-off

Younger JAV fans may be less familiar with the "Naked Continent" and may be more acquainted with the more recent DANDY spin-offs. In 2009, DANDY released DANDY-155 with the title "Naked Kingdom - Dandy Version Volume 1." 

Eventually, DANDY released another series with a different title, "Wild Kingdom." Unlike "Naked Continent," "Wild Kingdom" is more humurous and tongue-in-cheek. They also got to recruit bigger actresses such as Aika and Ai Uehara. Most importantly, it was more sex-oriented, and with far better video quality. 

DANDY-261 - Hitomi Fujiwara
November 2011

The petite lass Hitomi Fujiwara appears in DANDY-261. The video starts in Japan where our dear actress is asked about her thoughts on the African indigenous people. After the plane ride, she is welcomed in the host community by an amicable lady. She then does a little stroll in the sordid-looking town and shares her reflections. 

She has no time to rest, though. At night, she gets feeled by a black-looking person on POV. The use of POV is quite weird and I'm not sure what the hell they are trying to make out of it.

Anyway, she does a little safari tour, a bit of outdoor masturbation, the works. She then gets invited to an evening party. She gets fucked in a sort of make-shift tent. It's quite bizarre how they avoid to show the actor's face, probably to avoid breaking the illusion that she is fucking a local. 

The day after, Hitomi-chan is invited to a sort of ritual. Now they showed the actor's face, and the reason becomes clear. The guy is obviously an actor, most likely American. The two are clothed in colorful clothes, implying that they will be participating in a special mating ritual. The two fuck under the heat of the midday sun. 

DANDY-261 still has the trappings of its predecessors in the "Naked Continent." It's quite serious, and even Hitomi-chan sheds a tear at the end of the video during the plane ride home. Moreover, the sex scenes are not too exciting. The highlight, of course, is Hitomi-chan's cute face. It appears that even she is confused about the whole thing. Nonetheless, we're sure that it was an unforgettable experience for her. 

DANDY-368 - Ai Uehara
February 2014

Now this one has promise. After all, everything that Uehara Ai-chan touches into gold. 

As usual, the video starts with some orientation on the series. After the plane ride, Ai-chan and the crew immediately go on a jovial safari tour, a posh candle light dinner, and a bit of tent games in POV. The first scene is with some Japanese cock. 

The day after, they continue their tour inside the safari, taking pictures of giraffes and the beautiful landscapes. They eventually arrive at a small community where Ai-chan is treated to a fun dance. She even joins them briefly in solidarity. 

While walking around, Ai-chan meets a halk-naked guy chopping some firewood. A bit of flirting, and off they go for some beastly fucking in the bushes. 

It's always a treat to see Ai-chan's cute and smiling face turn into slut mode at the sight of a man's cock, regardless of shape or color. Fortunately, the actor is as perverted as she is. The scene is quite something to watch. 

Ai-chan and the gang spends another night and they shoot another scene in the bushes, probably not far from the first area. This time they didn't show the guy's face. 

DANDY-368 is quite different from the previous iterations of the series. Here, they scrapped the poverty aspect and focused on the wildlife, culture, and wild animalistic sex. It doesn't have any pretensions of a sobbering social commentary. Ai-chan is simply having fun in an overseas vacation. I think this makes the video a lot more enjoyable to watch. 

AVOP-062 - Aika
August 2014

We end with one of the best releases in the genre, with no other than Aika, our bombshell of a gal. 

It begins on a high note, with Aika in a zoo in Japan, watching some wild African animals from a touring car. While she observes the animals, a Japanese guy greedily touches her body. It's hot to see Aika ignoring the guy while she enjoys the view of the animals. Other cars are also passing by their car, so it adds a little bit of "public" aspect to the scene. 

The editing is also hilarious. It quickly switches between Aika and some close-ups of the animals' faces. 

Aika eventually relents and gives the guy a blowjob and an orgasm in her mouth. Great start. 

After showing some posh-looking motion graphics and information about the country Tanzania, Aika eventually lands in the foreign soil. She goes into an immersive tour of the country, with some great panoramic shots and amusing interactions with locals. She goes into action with another Japanese guy in the evening.

She eventually meets some locals. After the awkward introduction, she browses through some trinkets, tries the locale cuisine, while the locals try their best to avoid looking at her divine and scantily-clad body. It feels like watching a finely-made travel vlog peppered with some smut. 

She then enters a small hut made of mud and sticks to masturbate. One of the guys enter her hut, and there goes the first sexual encounter with a "local." The lucky gets to creampie her. 

A scene with the black American actor, Isiah Maxwell

The morning after, Aika and her new-found lover look for some outdoors fun. The lucky guy gives her another creampie, seemingly eager to leave some sticky souvenirs inside her hot guest. From afar, we can even see cars rolling by. 

To end the video on a good note, Aika communes with the village people and gives them some clothes. She cries a bit after saying goodbye to their host village, reflecting on her experience. 

Aika's naturally confident attitude and fun-loving vibe is perfect for a video such as AVOP-602. Not mention that she was at the physical prime of her career during this shoot. 

With an actresses as big as Aika, you'd expect the guys at DANDY to take it up a notch. They truly did and delivered one of the best videos in the genre. In fact, it was so good that it won third place in the heavyweight class of the 2014 AV Open. AVOP-062 is a masterfully done video that is totally sexy, with or without its gimmick. 

Now, regardless of how you perceive these kinds of videos, there's no denying that these are valuable time capsules are a very specific time in JAV history. 

What do you think of this series? How do you think a series like this would fare in contemporary JAV? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!