Top 5 Worst JAV Trends That Need to Stay in 2023
Embracing innovation has always been part of a creative industry like JAV and 2023 has brought a lot of great things to JAV. From the introduction of 8K VR, to new labels and the use of AI. Pushing the envelope has always kept JAV interesting but like all trends not all of them really work out. With that in mind, here are five trends that, in my opinion, is better left in 2023.
1) Distributors delisting Parody JAVs
It seems not everyone finds it flattering when their work is parodied. 2023 had two instances of parody JAVs being dropped by distributors due to the subjects threatenig legal action. The first is a parody of the Colabo drama, which has been extensively covered by trapstar here on ZENRA, in which the usual distributors. The JAV was dropped by distributors FANZA and U-NEXT after Yumeno Nito, head of the Colabo non-profit organisation, the subject of the parody threatened legal action. It also caused some twitter drama when Yumeno accused the director of the film of demeaning feminism. Faced with mounting pressure, the usual distributors delisted the film, but thankfully ZENRA has managed to obtain the JAV and you can watch the film right here.
Another JAV that was delsited by distributors was the parody of the BREAKING DOWN martial arts event, TEKOKING DOWN. BREAKING DOWN is a martial arts event that grew its popularity by having fighters with unique background and having outrageous pre-fight antics. It even attracted some AV stars to audition such as Chanyota, retired actress Shirahana Kou and Ayaka Mochizuki. The AV parody TEKKOKING DOWN was delisted after the founder of BREAKING DOWN replied to the director that the JAV violates their intellectual property rights. Unfortunately unlike the Colabo parody JAV, I haven't seen anyone else selling the two TEKOKING DOWN films and I have only seen pirate sites hosting digital videos of it, which I assume they managed to get a copy of while it was still in circulation. The thing that irks me about this trend of subjects trying to take down their parody JAVs is that they are invoking the Streisand effect and is giving more attention to things that they supposedly do not want people to know.
2) "AI" Actresses
AI was one of the most talked about topic in 2023 so It was not a shock to see JAV studios jumping on this hype train. September had S1 announcing that one of their VR films will be the debut of their "AI" actress Reimi Saito. New label Meta Princess followed suit and released their own "AI" actress debut with Airi Tsugumoto. Checking out these "AI" VR films however and you will find that is just some good old 3DCG animation. I can't even say that these are any different from an VR Hentai game on the market today. It was also hilarious to find out Miu Arioka that spilled the beans and posted that she was the one who provided the motion capture footage for Airi Tsugumoto and any use of AI on these films were superficial.
While h.m.p. foray into AI with their actress Ai Kihana (get it?) actually used the proper technology, it still without a doubt takes the cake for worst "AI" JAV of the year. It was just a normal JAV footage that they ran through an AI filter. What's worse is that the shots are very static because the machine still couldn't handle camera movement. You can even see the footage going awry when the actress makes even the slightest movement. And the cherry on top of this horrible JAV was that in only lasts 34 minutes yet they are charging the same price as a proper JAV. I frankly don't understand the eagerness of studios to jump on the AI bandwagon when clearly the technology isn't there yet. Hopefully studios put more effort into making better films rather than chasing the next LinkedIn buzzword.
3) 2023 debuts inconsistent releases
In 2023 I made an effort to watch more debuts and follow more newcomers into the scene. This diligence has led me to discovering new girls that I like faster than how I usually consume JAV content. It was also fun for me to follow the careers of these debutantes but unfortunately 2023 proved this to be difficult. It feels like this is the consequence of the long terms effects of the new AV law as studios and new actress have difficulty finding a comfortable schedule.
SODstar new actress Yuko Haruno still hasn't released her 3rd film
An example of this is Haru Shinonome who debuted in May 2023. I kept an eye on her due to being intrigued with her J-cup breasts but months flew by until I realized that her followup film was released just this December. Major studios also found it hard to maintain a proper release schedule for their newbies, case in point: SOD's Yuko Haruno who debuted in July and only had one other release in September. Even S1, the studio whose debuts had constant releases, found themselves with Ren Gojo only releasing her debut film in 2023. She even did a livestream just to inform fans that her second film has finished shooting this late December. I still wish that this situation will improve but I don't see things changing anytime soon.
4) Self-indulgent JAV
Against better judgement and I watched to JAVs in 2023 that I can only describe as ego driven. The first being Samoari's birthday special. Even though I find his directing style kinda stale, I do still like some of his films. I can even put my mind past the nipple licking and pegging in his works if the film features actresses I like. That said I think HONNAKA giving him free reign to direct a film for his birthday was a horrible mistake. Although it featured retirees Aoi Rena and Nao Masaki in some scenes, the resulting JAV was still horrible. It featured a combination of Samoari's favorite fetishes which resulted in a mess of a film. Not gonna lie but I even tapped out on certain parts like during the end of the first orgy scene they were dumping cum on his face. The focus was entirely on him and nothing exemplifies it more than the cover of the JAV itself, they somehow forgot Nia when they shot the photo so they just added her portrait on the side.
The second ego driven JAV was Taku Yoshimura's "How to Sex" two-part series. I was actually kind of excited for this films not only because it featured actresses that I like, but I also find Taku as a fun actor to watch. It made it so much more disappointing when the film itself featured the most clinical and robotic sex I have ever seen in JAV. I also found it amazing that even with the premise of a veteran actor giving tips, it was still not enjoyable the watch. Taku felt more like a guy in a multi-level marketing video trying to convince you that this was a good buy and he isn't scamming you at all. I could only hope that studios veer away from producing more JAVs this self-indulgent.
5) Fan events social media restrictions
As a JAV fan one of my personal goals is to attend my favourite actresses in their fan events. While I'm still working on that goal, I found it shocking when Mine'S agency announced new guidelines for these fans events. The new guidelines concerns social media posts needing approval by the agency before being allowed to be shared publicly. While the agency did take back the announcement, they still emphasised that they can still ask for removal of content of the actresses with little to no explanation. I can understand that this is to prote The thing that has me worried about this is the precedent it sets.
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