Yuka Hirata - Mai Malu
Yuka Hirata - Mai Malu (2007)
Liverpool Productions
Catalogue # LPFD-79 - Region 2 Disc
The Skinny: Gorgeous Yuka Hirata seemingly fits into the MEGUMI mode of gravure idols.
Maybe its her hairstyle and size. In any event we are off to Medewi Beach in West Bali. Mai Malu is a resort location long favored by surfing addicts. A few days in the sun with Yuka will do positive things for anyone whose heart is beating. Until you can personally hang ten with Yuka, this DVD will have to do.
So you fire up the DVD in your player. When the menu appears, click the All Play. You will next see a pretty girl at a computer. This is the star of the DVD, Yuka Hirata. I really doubt she is editing her own DVD, but still, this is an intriguing way to get us started as she serves to introduce herself and then launch the montage.
The First Chapter is called Good Morning Bali. Yuka appears on the balcony of her fabulous Bali villa seemingly just awakened. She wears a snug fitting little pajama set. She tastes a little orange juice, sits on chair, stretches, and looks around. Nothing much happened except that I kept noticing a smudge on the camera’s lens which impeded how well we could see the fair Yuka.
Two is set on the beach. Yuka wears a deeply cut pink bikini. Things are looking better. No sign of the smudge on the lens. And both the sea and air looks so clear and clean. Just a marvelous setting. And with some tight closeups we can see how full bosomed Yuka is.
Three is called A Garden of Bali. This place looks very familiar. I think we have been here with Fuko, as well as other idols. Yuka will examine some flowers, play a xylophone, sit inside a tree trunk carved into very big chair, and generally relax.
She will have to pay the piper in the next chapter called Car Wash. Eventually she will climb onto a parked Vespa scooter. Then they will begin to spritz her with the water hose. Most enjoyable.
Next we have what should have been a playful scene out in the gardens. Yuka has changed into a one piece bathing suit. The point was that she was running from the cameraman - hiding, as it were, behind this tree, that shrub, and the next big set of big leaves or tree trunks. So the cameraman was on the move as well. This virtually killed the scene as no one was in place or still for any thing more than an instant. Playful? Yes? Visually exciting? Not in the least!. Until finally she is trapped by a doorway.
Then we get a few good poses and shots of the now still Yuka.
An interlude back at the studio follows with Yuka still be “working” on the DVD at the computer. She seems much more at ease during these ‘at home’ sequences than some of those in Bali.
Back to work. Yuka is now at the pool in Bali. She never really goes into the pool. It is all poolside. A few of the poses are good, but only just a few.
In the next chapter, Yuka comes out in a dress.
What’s most interesting here is that she will pose amid the lush plants in the lights and shadows.
So the images both conceal and display her, her dress is virtually backless.
This may have been more suited for a photo book than a DVD. What do you think?
Next we follow Yuka down the path to her villa, the same one where welcomed the Balinese morning with her.
We enter the villa. Wow! Get a look at that great bed!!! And while we are looking around, how about those shoes?
Well Yuka first spends some time on the bed, then on the couch on the veranda. She wears a beautiful bikini. Initially while she is in the bed, she talks but the chatter is not what we see - on screen she is silent, but the voice over is filled with talk. Sort of a mismatch - as her expression on screen is definitely indifferent or even cold.
At this point we are 42 minutes in and we have about five minutes left. Fade out. Not a single smile throughout this last sequence of path to bedroom to verandah. I have a problem with this.
Where and when did they begin to believe that we would like the girls better when they have an attitude. That smiling wasn’t something we wanted to see. Not so. I want to see them smile. That is the whole point of an idyllic trip to Bali with a beautiful model. I can see all the inexpressive faces I need on my way to to the office each day.
Back in Japan, we again meet Yuka at the studio, or maybe this is the apartment of her producer. Now she is in a bright red dress which makes a statement of its own. But check out her smile. This is what we pay money for. Show us the smile, and let the smile of the model make the money.
Soon, in this same scene we do meet the producer or the director at the computer doing some real editing. But this runs only about a minute.
We are next back in Bali - check out these wonderful shots. Yuka’s little private villa has its own splash pool overlooking the Bali countryside.
This is actually the very same Villa Jatayu that we’ve seen multiple times in our video travels. It is located in the Canggu region of Bali.It is definitely upcountry, and when we see the beach scenes, they have driven to the beach.
Summary: Actually following the wonderful pool shots the DVD ends. There is a 10 minute bonus track, and this is all behind the scenes and making of. It is here that the attitude melts away and we see more of the inner beauty and joy of the models.
Not surprisingly, I enjoyed this section more than most of the main body of the DVD. I like Yuka Hirata but I must deduct points from Liverpool Productions because for the most part, much of the happiness of the model has been expressly denied in the main chapters. Its like she’s not really having fun.
But when you see the bonus track you get a completely opposite perspective.
Hello!!
Mr Director and Mr. Producer - let the model have fun. Ask her to smile more.
Pay less attention to having your cameras on the move, and more attention to showing us the smiles. She’s in Bali - let her relax and most of all let’s not ask the girls to have attitude.
Leave that for the runway models. Please let the gravure idols enjoy themselves. Three point five.
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=LPFD-79
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-ag-49-jp-70-24vw.html