8manpro has made a name for themselves as the agency that have signed the biggest names in the AV industry. Recently a number of their actresses became inactive for various reasons. Recently some of 8manpro's talents are announcing their return to AV and I thought it would be interesting to look into what they are up to in this article. For each actress I'll be going over their last AV appearance, what they are currently doing and my guess as to how likely they are to return to acting.

Hikaru Nagi (凪ひかる)

Last AV appearance: SIVR-240 (as Shiose), SSIS-641 (as Nagi Hikaru)

Nagi Hikaru's new March release was what gave me the idea to this article. 8manpro announced Hikaru's signing all the way back in November but it took until this February until we had information as to her return to AV. During that period, we didn't have any news on her except for a gravure photo shoot that went along with the transfer announcement (this is gonna be a recurring theme for this article). She comes back to her old studio S1 with SSIS-641. Personally I found it quite disappointing as I would have loved to see Hikaru perform under different genres outside of what S1 usually does. This is also Hikaru's second name change in her short career which I can't help but think hurt her popularity.

Maria Hoshi (星まりあ)

Last AV appearance: SIVR-239 (as Mahina Amane 天音まひな), SSIS-658 (as Maria Hoshi)

At the end of July last year Mahina Amane changed her agency from Fourty Four Management to 8manpro as well as changing her name to Maria Hoshi. The announcement of her transfer seemed to have been premature as she still had films to be released under her old name, the last of which was released in November 2022. This led to confusing social media posts where her social media accounts named Maria Hoshi was promoting the AVs which were released under the Mahina Amane name. I saw her posting on social media from time to time but like Nagi Hikaru there were no news about her new AV release. I feared for the worst when she deleted both her Twitter and Instagram accounts this January, but thankfully she seems to have came back to performing under S1 again with SSIS-658.

Rara Anzai (安齋らら)

Last AV appearance: SSIS-357

Arguably 8manpro's biggest star, Rara Anzai, has been missing in action for almost a year now. Her last AV was released in March last year, after not releasing any films in January and February. Her last public appearance was her gravure photo shoot for Weekly Post last June. Since then it has been radio silence as even 8manpro's social media stopped posting pictures of her. There is speculation she has already retired, a long period of inactivity combined with the fact that the agency's website silently deleted her profile from the website. However I still have hope for her return to AV, as Rara's last period of inactivity lasted for over a year when stopped using the RION name. 

Ranran Fujii (藤井 蘭々)

Last AV appearance: ADN-432 (as An Mitsumi 蜜美杏)

An Mitsumi came to AV as an exclusive actress for Prestige in 2020. She remained exclusive to the studio until January 2022, where she decided to become freelance. As a freelance actress she really ramped up her AV production, with most of her films coming from this period. However just 3 months into 2022 she made a shocking announcement that she will be retiring from AV, even if there she still has scheduled releases for the following months. This seemed to be caused by her transfer to 8manpro, as the agency picked her up and announced that she will now be performing as Ranran. Unlike Maria and Hikaru, Ranran has been vigorous in updating her social media which had me quite excited for her comeback with FALENO this March.

Lemon Tanaka (田中レモン)

Last AV appearance: IPX-867 (as Karen Kaede)

Karen Kaede was a main star for Ideapocket since she debuted for them in late 2018. Karen became a very popular actress with her stunning appearance and incredible acting. Fans started to worry though as some of her last films showed that she was uncomfortably skinny. She also deleted all social media posts around March last year, until near the end of that month she made an retirement announcement. The retirement felt real as she went radio silent throughout the rest of 2022. That was until 8manpro posted just a day after New Years that Karen Kaede was their newest actress and will be performing as Lemon Tanaka. Lemon has had the typical 8manpro initiation with a gravure photo book released with the announcement. There was also no information on her AV return at all, until late this month when it was announced that she will debut for FALENO.
 

Tina Nanami (七海ティナ)

Last AV appearance: DLDSS-050

Tina Nanami has been a main actress of FALENO/DAHLIA since she transferred to the studio after she left SOD. Around late 2021 to early 2022, fans have noticed that Tina has been dangerously skinny which led to speculation about her possibly suffering from an eating disorder. This was followed by her disappearing from the public after the release of January 2022 film for DAHLIA. She confirmed the suspicions when she revived her YouTube channel around 6 months ago. In a video she revealed that she has been suffering from eating disorders and panic attacks due to anxiety that compelled her to take a break. In the meantime, Tina has been focusing on YouTube and bodybuilding as she recovers her physical and mental health. She also reassured the public that she still plans to return to AV. Tina stated in this tweet that she wouldn't be using the Tina Nanami name if she didn't plan to return to AV. Hopefully she is able to overcome this issues and see her perform again soon.

Ruru Amakuni (天国るる)

Last AV appearance: RBK-061

Formerly known as Nina Amin, Ruru Amakuni became a part of 8manpro in July 2021. She released her first AV under the new name as a FALENO exclusive in September 2021 and it stayed that way for almost a year. With no announcement whatsoever, she was mysteriously gone from FALENO and was now releasing films for Attackers by September 2022. This did not last long however as after doing her second Attackers film, Ruru has not released any AVs since. Her social media also become mostly inactive, only posting when it is related to the idol group "REVGENCY GAMiNGdolS" that she is a member of. Ruru's membership in the gaming idol group is pretty weird for me as she is the only member that doesn't play games, unlike their other member Aiga Mizuki who has been playing Valorant a lot, and is mostly involved in public event appearances. As of now I can't really say if she'll return to making AV because I can't imagine REVGENCY being successful. There might be other factors why Ruru isn't doing AV that I don't have any insights into.

Minami Yasu (安みなみ)

Last AV appearance: JUQ-156

Madonna exclusive Minami Yasu was one of my favorite debuts of 2021. She had a pale complexion which I love and she has intense and passionate performances. You could really Minami's enthusiasm and eroticism in her films. She kinda reminds of me of my favorite western pornstar Elena Koshka. Minami has unfortunately stopped producing AV since November 2022. She has also disappeared from social media after the first wave of AV actress Twitter bans last May. The only hope of her comeback that I'm holding on to is the fact that 8manpro still has her listed on their website.

Chisato Mori (森千里)

Last AV appearance: MIDV-182

Chisato Mori might be the outlier in this list of actresses. Unlike other 8manpro actresses, her announcement and gravure release was just one month before her actual AV debut as a MOODYZ exclusive. Billed as a sensitive and beautiful girl, I wasn't really impressed with her debut when it went on sale on June 2022. Her face looks way better in the cover, her body was mediocre and her performance was nothing special. Chisato has been inactive from AV after September 2022. My guess is that she was dropped by MOODYZ after her four films to trim the studios bloated exclusive actress roster. I have a feeling that Chisato wants to be an exclusive actress and no studio has picked her up yet after her stint in MOODYZ. She could have easily gone freelance but it has been 6 months now and Chisato still doesn't have new films. In the meantime, she has been trying to drum up hype via social media posts to meager success.