Is JAV loosing its edge?

[Motiman]

I understand, and I'm guilty of it too, but it's the truth.. I've downloaded many movies but I also try to buy when I can and I realize that not everyone is in the position to do that, that the movies are probably overpriced when they are just digital downloads and are the same price OR MORE as the the physical media if they were in Japan.. and that for most people outside of Japan paying for a digital download with DRM that has to be played in a proprietary player isn't very attractive to say the least..

Totally right. I too download the vast majority of JAV i watch. Probably 99% of the stuff i watch i pirate. The 1% that i do buy tend to be from my favourite genres or actresses, usually through R18. I don't know just how much of my payment goes to the actual studio and how much is DMM's share. I remember asking R18 over on the DMM thread and he replied that it all depended on which studio. The bigger studios get a bigger slice of the pie i guess.

To answer the OP, i would say no. I'm more than happy with how JAV is right now and like where it's going. I'm a big fan of movies which have a strong narrative, so studios like Nagae style, Fa pro or Jet Eizou are doing very well for my taste. The latter also brings me onto NTR movies which seem to be everywhere right now too.

I have also seen an increase in the 'danger sex' genre. Not physical danger mind you, but movies where a person is cheating on their partner while they are close by. The danger factor comes from the fact they could easily be caught at any time. Therefore, in terms of what i like and enjoy, things are looking good.

There are still a lot of r***, incest and loli movies being made. I actually think they are increasing, not decreasing, their output so i have to disagree with the OP's view but maybe it is only happening to certain types of movie that he enjoys. I don't really watch 'extreme' JAV so i'm not in the best place to talk about that. I guess bestiality is the only thing that has completely disappeared.

 

[Inertia]

Motiman: "I don't know just how much of my payment goes to the actual studio and how much is DMM's share."

If it's a studio DMM owns, then it's pretty much pure profit (after credit card processor's cut which is probably around 5-10%).

If it's NOT a studio DMM owns--like a smaller studio not owned by any big conglomerate--then it's really super low...like slap in the face low given the fact that they pretty much host the movies and don't do much else with them in terms of promotion. It's so low that some studios sometimes wait before putting new content up at DMM. Some studios don't even put their wares up there at all.

I still think that if one's option for legally acquiring a digital copy of a movie is either buy through R18 or pirate, then one should still buy. It's better than $0 going to the studio. However, the best way to support a studio is always buying directly if possible. It's just how some bands make more per sale off merchandise than they do off of albums sales when albums are sold on third party sites like Amazon*.

*fun fact: Amazon Japan also pushes porn really hard compared to Amazon USA's more puritanical approach.

 

[darksider59]

I agree that bonuses with physical media (ie, actual physical bonus like a Polaroid or just like a bonus scene on the disk) is always a nice plus and it's a sure-fire way to keep their sales viable. Not AV related at all, but 99% of the time I buy MP3 albums of bands I like. It's only when they offer something special like a signed CD would I plunk down extra + shipping for the physical product.

Before getting into Jmusic, the last album I bought was "St Anger" from Metallica. I think I bought it months later his release because I saw an MV on TV, so probably more 2004 or something like that. So, around 10 years without buying any album. But when I got into Jmusic, I decided to support artists I like. i buy albums, sometimes singles, and blurays. I still select the bands because I can't buy products of all, shipping costs are expensive as I live in Europe. But I'm always excited when I'm waiting for my packages to arrive. Most of time, there are bonus such as posters, photos and even T shirts for some limited editions.

For JAV, I only bought one from a third party service (LID-012). The fact that you can't use paypal for adult content is really annoying. I would have bought more if R18 (easier to use because many studios movies are listed in one place) acceptes this payment solution.

 

[blah13]

Some of the smaller western studios/ producers allow fans to create custom videos for a fee. I think that way the basic costs are usually taken care of plus content is created which can possibly create additional revenue while still being able to try new things. This is one aspect of western porn that I feel the smaller JAV makers should try to adopt, infact im sure that the reason certain people like Jodi west and Rachel Steele have story wise become more JAV like is purely because of this.

 

[Inertia]

darksider59: regarding Paypal, you can use it for digital adult if you process for Epoch. https://epoch.com/paypal/

We use it for our main site and they're totally legit. It's a service run through Epoch using Paypal (with their permission) and it's not attempting to run around Paypal's ToS. R18 could consider using it, but it'd require them to use Epoch as one of their billers which requires EU or USA business presence.


blah13: yes and it's such a great idea that some smaller studios are doing with this! Those custom shoots probably bring in some nice extra money. We're on and off talking with one right now actually about offering that for foreign fans. The big issues are cost (they charge approx $600-700USD for the custom shoot) and payment: bank wire only.

 

[Supmop]

SOD president interviewed.. some interesting stuff here:

https://www.mydearestdesire.com/cat...-with-ganari-takashi-whats-next-for-av-part-1
https://www.mydearestdesire.com/cat...-with-ganari-takashi-whats-next-for-av-part-2
https://www.mydearestdesire.com/cat...-with-ganari-takashi-whats-next-for-av-part-3

SOD was so good in the past, but now they not very attractive anymore

hope they will change their strategy, and make interesting videos anymore

with this ethic problems, many studios like Deeps are forced to change their creativities

 

[Motiman]

SOD president interviewed.. some interesting stuff here:

https://www.mydearestdesire.com/cat...-with-ganari-takashi-whats-next-for-av-part-1
https://www.mydearestdesire.com/cat...-with-ganari-takashi-whats-next-for-av-part-2
https://www.mydearestdesire.com/cat...-with-ganari-takashi-whats-next-for-av-part-3

WP: Do you think those free sites will conquer AV?

GT: Go ahead and watch all the free porn you want. You'll see happens to our industry in a few years from now.

This last line was pretty damning. You can't say he's wrong and his whole thoughts on the AV industry right now are pretty negative.

He's not wrong about the company either. SOD used to be great at doing crazy ideas, and now they only have their Senz label producing movies i like.

 

[Inertia]

Thanks for posting the interview I translated.

Ganari Takahashi is a living legend. I'd love to meet him sometime.

My only bit of criticism is how SOD has not really tried that hard at pushing their products internationally like DMM does with R18. They're really missing the bandwagon at the moment. (and yes, they do sell on R18, but that's like B&N selling Nooks on Amazon)

PS, We're temporarily going to be easing off on My Dearest Desire updates as we need to focus more on the main site. If any A-O members possesses a decent Japanese knowledge and want to translate interviews or provide detailed reviews for any JAV or anything of this nature, please contact us using the contact forms on either site.

 

[kharo88]

I don't know about this whole piracy is killing JAV thing. Haven't they been saying that piracy is killing the music industry, the film industry, the video game industry etc. for years if not almost a decade now, yet those are still going strong? I mean, I bet it sucks for smaller studios, but as far as my opinion goes, JAV is going to stay, piracy or not.

As for the actual topic, I voted "Only in some areas/genres". Not the genres that others have mentioned, but I do see a decline in stuff that I like, both in quantity and quality.

 

[blah13]

I don't know about this whole piracy is killing JAV thing. Haven't they been saying that piracy is killing the music industry, the film industry, the video game industry etc. for years if not almost a decade now, yet those are still going strong? I mean, I bet it sucks for smaller studios, but as far as my opinion goes, JAV is going to stay, piracy or not.

As for the actual topic, I voted "Only in some areas/genres". Not the genres that others have mentioned, but I do see a decline in stuff that I like, both in quantity and quality.

The music industry has been hit the hardest in some ways. A lot of bands can only survive by constantly hitting the road. The gaming industry which makes the most money has also had to adapt in some ways, the rise of f2p games is an example of this. Films for the most part arent hit as bad because people still go to the cinema, but their dvd sales have taken a hit as well. At the very least piracy has forced people to adapt, which in many cases isnt always a bad thing.

I feel like in a lot of ways the JAV industry and to generalize a bit more the Japanese are slow to change their ways. I say this based on an anime director I once had the privilege of meeting, I was surprised to see how set in their ways that team was as there are quicker more efficient ways to go about doing certain things if newer methods/ tech are adopted. When I asked him about this he basically told me that by the time he became a director he only knew to do things in that one way, so to be able to supervise all aspects of the process under him he continued to train his staff in the 'old ways' of doing things. I found it very interesting that most Anime studios essentially use the same traditional process that has always been used. The studio he had setup still used lightboxes instead of tablets, which in this day and age not only requires a much larger staff complete a project but also adds a lot of steps to the process. What Im essentially trying to say is maybe the it is time some of the JAV makers started to learn how to adapt as some of the smaller western studios have been forced to.

 

[Inertia]

Totally agreed with blah13 regarding music and games current state. Look at how many albums sold now makes an album chart compared to a decade or two ago. Games nowadays are much more F2P oriented. AAA gaming is starting to be seen as an outlier.

I do think JAV studios need to start adapting not necessarily to a worldwide user base at first, but at least to Japan's youth who isn't going into DVD stores to buy their titles anymore. They aren't be paid as much as their parents (for reasons that go way beyond the topic of this thread) so they need something affordable. Fortunately it's not all doom-and-gloom: DMM/R18 has their channels and other companies also have similar all-you-can-watch streaming deals where 5000,6000,10000 yen a month you can watch whatever you want. Some studios now are also tinkering with their own paysites where you can watch 'selected' full titles or scenes from full titles. 'Selected' = they'll shuffle the selection of works each month.

At the end of the day though, JAV for the world masses is a bit too weird at times: you've got the censorship, the foreign language, and some themes which actually offend some people. Having all the studios go uncensored just won't happen and having them subtitle every single title at the time of initial release is also far-fetched.

So yes, things are changing in the industry--at a slow pace mind you, but we'll definitely still be seeing JAV produced indefinitely.

 

[Supmop]

I guess this article works into the current topic here, at least better than any other thread: Prostitution not priority in busts of bathhouses featuring porn stars..

Kind of sad that the actresses have to take side jobs at bathhouses because the industry is slowing down a bit, although I'm sure this has always happened. I suppose either way they're getting paid for sex, but I can only assume they're treated better on a JAV set than with a random stranger. Though one can't help but wonder if any of their favorite actresses are working at one of these places. Anyways, lucky bastards.

thanks for the links, the article have many links to other news

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2016/1...-for-sending-actresses-to-outdoor-porn-shoot/
http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2016/0...2-persons-prosecuted-over-outdoor-porn-shoot/

don't know if the pic in that link is random or related, but if its true means the production that get busted by the police was Moodyz's Bako Bako Spin Off, so maybe thats the reason why they discontinue the series

 

[darksider59]

I have to wonder about the guy though, unless it was one of those femdom titles where the guy get kicked in the balls and emasculated how bad could that really be? Being forced to fuck hot JAV idols? What a terrible fate to befall this poor man .

Same thing for me. Or maybe scat things (I would be sick for sure if it was me lol). But fucking JAV idols, even if the girl isn't your type, it's still not a bad situation at all.

 

[Motiman]

Well they say that every year there are 10,000 women who perform in AV productions, and surely the majority of these will be in low budget or amateur productions so it does not surprise me that there will be cases where sadly women have been taken advantage of and pressured into doing something they don't want. Personally, i don't think this is a problem with AV, but the world in general.

Sexual harassment and r*** are a common problem for women in real life, and often the fact that most of these situations are not reported will only make these things worse. My guess is that that these guys who are coercing these women into making these movies rely solely on the fact that they feel they can get away with it as the women may feel too afraid to report them or say no in the first place.

 

[hairy_bush]

Back to the original point....jav rules and will rule because....no other Asian country has such an extensive and varied AV industry....

Don't like big butts, u can easily jump to Loli vids, don't like loli's, go to milfs, don't like girls on men, watch new-halves banging girls

If I get bored I switch to different genres

now if only Korea and China would grow their AV industry...,,

About porn's and society...not all girls are forced or tricked....the pay difference between men and women here is one of the largest of the G7 countries....single mothers have it even worse....Abe's plan for diversity in Japan's workforce only means more underpaid part-timers.,,.,if you don't get a job during the defacto recruiting periods.....you're shut out of full employment .......faced with that no wonder women turn to AV, hostessing, delivery health, prostitution,

Yes some are tricked with false modeling contracts.....

And when Japan lowers the age of adulthood to 18.....there will be even more problems

 

[needs more loli]

Massive fail on the Korea's and China's part with making porn illegal... it's a huge industry and by doing so gave Japan "exclusive rights" to Asian porn along with all that $$$$$.

 

[pikuseru]

There are some brutal r*** JAVs available online too. But maybe they are not popular enough outside Japan to be shared more. Maybe even in Japan that is not the most popular type of JAV.

 

[needs more loli]

Speaking of which, are there any good Loli titles that you know of or are willing to share? Also, what are the movies called when (I think) 12 year olds model but don't actually get nude? Are those even allowed online, or are those classified as CP?

Join us over at the loli thread where we discuss and share loli JAV.

For "12 year olds that dont get nude" that is called Junior idol.

 

[princeali692]

I am very curious. Can someone give me an example of these brutal javs that are only sold in Japan? How brutal are they? Are they as brutal or nasty as Toyohiko makes? Are they nastier than dogma? Or are they similar?

I just have to know what I am missing out on!

 

[Inertia]

I don't know for sure of any really video-only brutal JAVs nowadays. There's studios that don't sell on DMM, but are still available for sale on other online sites so that's why some posters may think they're not available online.