Is this the End for the Era of JAV Freelancers?
Goodbye Freelance Era,
Hello Again Exclusive Era
The Era of the Freelancers in JAV seems to be at an end, or at least that is what some are saying. We have seen quite a number of high profile Freelance actresses in JAV make the move to exclusivity. Over the past few years, we have seen the likes of Ichika Matsumoto, Ai Mukai, Sumire Mizukawa, Non Ohana, Mary Tachibana, Waka Misono, Akari Niimura, Ruisa Totsuki, Hinako Mori, and many more take on exclusive contracts.
MIDA-133 Matsumoto Ichika becomes MOODYZ exclusive Director Masaki's fan appreciation Icchan to the house of the lover
Many of these names either started as a Freelancer or worked their popularity up while on the Freelance circuit. Moodyz even ran a little teaser event where they nabbed up 5 pretty well-known Freelancers under exclusive deals. And this is a trend that’s becoming acknowledged from the industry figures themselves. Mina Kitano noted it in her message as she announced her return to freelancing. Infamous Director Samoari noted the trend in his one exclusive announcement as he becomes exclusive for WAAP. We are seeing a shift in movement in JAV, so what does it all mean and what does it say about the state of the industry? We’ll look into it next.
Tantai and Kikatan: What do they mean?
What are Exclusives and Freelancers, anyway? Also known as Tantai and Kikatan, respectively, it just points out their contract status. Actresses under exclusive contracts only work for one studio and typically release one video a month. Meanwhile, Kikatan or Freelance actresses can work with as many studios and for as many titles as possible. A Freelance actress can, and usually does, in more diverse and harder genres too. You can expect more lesbian, group sex, rough sex, IR, BDSM, and strange porn with a Freelancer vs an Exclusive. For those reasons, there are a lot of fans of Freelancers as they are seen as less restrictive and buttoned up compared to the other side. Freelancers do the wild, hard, and crazy things that the Exclusive can't or won’t.
JUQ-816 The moment our eyes met, I fell in love in a split second. Dengeki (Shocking) Transfer exclusive Mary Tachibana, full of adult sex appeal, in a serious French kiss and creampie 3-shot
Muddied Waters
Now, there is another trend developing alongside this shift with multi-Exclusives. A contradictory term, but JAV is all about the contradictions. The labels Exclusive and Freelance are being muddied as we are seeing a number of actresses under the ever changing multi-Exclusive label, as they solely work for many studios. Someone like Sumire Kuramoto, who was exclusive to Muku, Das, and Honnaka for a time, then shot with bibian and Rookie as a freelancer. Julia has 5 studios who she mainly works with. The status of multi-exclusives change quickly and with little notice. The labels seem to be losing their meaning as the changing contract status and loan outs happen.
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The Golden Age of Freelancers
Now the Era of Freelancers might be over, but it might’ve been a blip in the history of JAV as a whole. The Era of Freelancers only started thanks to the Golden Age of Freelancers in the 2010s. This was a time when names like Yui Hatano, Hibiki Otsuki, Ai Uehara, Yuu Shinoda, Kaho Shibuya, Anri Okita, Aki Sasaki, and more. These ladies tore up the status quo with their racy and envelope pushing content while piling on the videos in heaps.
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Many of these ladies did the mentioned genres above, and some even worked in uncensored content. They really started this trend where actresses can become a big star on the freelance circuit opposed to the actresses backed up by big studios. We would see names like Eimi Fukada, Mio Kimijima, and Ichika Matsumoto follow their path afterwards. It was a different time during that era in the 2010s, and Freelancers were a big part of it.
Why the Shift?
So why are we seeing this shift, why are more Freelancers opting for Exclusivity? I think it has to do with the economy and difficulties of making AV in this day and age with the new AV laws. Things are getting tough for a lot of people in the industry, not just actresses. Moving to exclusive contracts brings about some job security and higher profile, which they can use outside of AV.
Nowadays you don’t just do porn. You run fan events, sing, model, work as a hostess, become an online influencer, streamer, or make your own porn on sites like Only Fans or Fantia. Today, like a lot of working-class people, you have to find side gigs and hustles to supplement your income. Shunning Freelancing means giving up more potential income for a more stable income and also the benefit for having more time for other activities.
The Future of Freelancing
The near future doesn’t bold well for career Freelancers in the current market as jobs become scarcer and more competitive. I reckon we’ll see more of your Eimi Fukada’s and Ichika Matsumoto’s. Someone who hits the Freelance circuit and drops a ton of videos for a time before slowing down and signing an exclusive contract. Basically, build up your name and then capitalize on it later. Which makes sense because demand for actresses usually dies down the longer they have worked. That and it’s hard to keep up that pace.
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Like the famous quote from Futurama,“The spirit is willing but the flesh is spongy and bruised”. Releasing dozens of videos a month requires a lot of sausages in clams. Actresses like Yui Hatano and Hibiki Otsuki, who are career Freelancers, seem more like the outlier than the template today.
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While the boom of the Era of Freelancers might be over, I don’t think Freelancers are done by any means. Many popular actresses today owe their popularity to their freelance days. We should still see actresses go that route to revitalize their careers. It won’t last long or be as big as in the past, and it will be harder, but Freelancers are the type to survive through difficult times. It’s all about the hustle and grind.
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