Should JAV Directors Star in Their Own Films?

Hey guys, Oppaira here. I’ve been wondering, should directors star in their own films? We all know it happens, we’ve seen it, but is it even right? Let’s go take a look and let me share my thoughts.

Everyone knows director Rizu from her famous Slut Wagon series. She’s always on camera with her friends, hitting the town and chatting up the guys too. Rizu isn’t exactly a stranger to the scene, she’s done some mature things before outside of her directing, but I wouldn’t call her an actress, and her videos are mostly just her being there sometimes and chatting up the guys.

Rena Aoi is a fairly new director, dabbling in it since her retirement from mainstream porn. She basically did the same thing Rizu was doing for a bit, even with some actresses Rizu had on the Slut Wagon, though Rena hasn’t done any cameos herself in over two years now.

Nao Masaki is probably the one most of you were expecting to see. She’s been starring in videos here and there for a while now and I’m sure you’ve probably come across it. She does all sorts of things like be the girl wearing a dildo or helping her friend get deepthroated.

Then there’s stuff like this where man, she gets down and dirty, making out, swapping cum, I’ve even seen her using a strap-on to have sex with an actress. She’s a no holds barred director who does whatever they want.

To be fair, Nao Masaki is no stranger to this world, having been an actress herself back in the day. So it’s not like this is completely out of character for her.

Uncle Sam here seems to love starring in his videos even if it’s just for a single scene. He tries to trick us sometimes with some unusual camera angles that hide his face and all, but we all know what’s actually going on. You really have to pay attention because you might miss the couple of shots of his face if you blink but it’s definitely him in some of those videos. It’s usually only for a short scene at the end when he does it but he certainly does do it.

I find I look at this and go “hmm, should the director do it?”. There’s the obvious angle of “oh you just want to get in the pants of some hot Japanese woman” and sure, absolutely I can’t imagine people who don’t. Whether it’s the actor, the camera guy, you the reader, me, or the director, I’m sure we all want it. I mean duh, these women are hot and good at sex. But the question isn’t whether we want to, it’s whether the director should.

At some level I look at it and go hmm, it feels wrong, like we shouldn't be doing it. I mean, they have power over the actress, what’s she going to do, say no? I know Kaho Shibuya wrote about one such director in her book and yeah, it can be kind of sleazy when you do it. So I fully get that, I mean that would always be my first impression too. I’ve written quite a few blog posts about my musings as a potential director and let me tell you, fantasizing about the actress fucking me the director is WAYYYYY up there. But I have dignity and standards and I would never (okay maybe never say never because some actresses would be the highlight of my existence). But either way it just kind of inherently feels wrong.

And yet, I look at what Rizu does and go “you know what, this is kind of okay”. I mean, she’s putting herself on camera but not involved in any funny business. I mean half the time she's just having fun with her friends, taking them out to fun places or just having coffee. That much has to be okay, right? So then where’s the line exactly?

It gets real interesting when I look at Nao Masaki. To start, and the obvious one, Nao is hot. I’ll just outright say it, Nao is attractive and man, sometimes I think she’s hotter than the actual actress. And when I see them next to her I go damn, if I was there and could just bone the director instead. Maybe the story is I’m supposed to fuck the actress but then I go for the director instead, and she’s like hey you’re terrible at this let me show you how a real actress fucks. Not gonna lie that would be hot as hell. But I mean is that even fair? Does Nao get a pass just because she’s hot? What if the director was a 50 year old woman with wrinkles? Maybe we wouldn’t be saying this.

The second thing about Nao, and the one that makes the most sense - she was an actress. It’s hard to deny when she actually has experience. And sure, it was a long time ago, she was never really that successful, so maybe there’s a bit of desire there for her to fulfill some lost fantasy or reclaim some youth or something. Is that okay? I must admit watching her deepthroat an actress or take them from behind is certainly quite hot.

The other big one, and I guess it is a big thing, is that she’s good friends with lots of actresses. Maybe the perks of being female and a former actress herself but you see her hanging out with them on her own time all the time. It turns what would be a strictly professional thing into more of a thing between friends. Now maybe that’s what gets you sent at HR for work, I think it’s probably difficult to go to HR in a world where people are walking around naked but I mean, it can feel slimy depending on how it goes. Part of me is assuming that someone like Nao is straight up asking them about wanting to do it before they decide to, so it’s more like friends getting paid to fuck. Like I imagine Nao bounces random video ideas off actresses while having brunch.

The thing I’ve been tiptoeing around is Samoari because his is the one that feels like, if any, are sketchy. Because let’s face it, a middle aged dude who is out of shape and covered in tattoos isn’t exactly the spitting image of a porn actor. Maybe that’s where Samoari feels bad? Maybe it’s because Samoari is conventionally unattractive so it feels a little slimy? But like, is it really fair or right for us to say that attractiveness is where we draw the line? Nao Masaki is hot so it’s OK but Samoari isn’t so it’s wrong? Attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder, who knows maybe someone finds him attractive.

I think if anything the thing that feels off is that he does it for just a single scene. I don’t look at his videos and go “wow you know what, there’s a good reason for Samoari to be here”. When Nao Masaki does it you kind of know for sure she’s supposed to be there because she’s really heavily integrated into the scenes, perhaps even treating it like a documentary of sorts the way Rizu does. Samoari? If I drop replaced him with another actor I don’t think anyone would notice, and maybe the scene would even be better. I think that’s really the thing that gets me, that I want the director being in the video to be meaningful, not just “because we could”. Which leads me to…

The way I look at it, if you’re going to have the director in the film then you want something where they make sense. You want something where the director starring in the film is an important part of the film.

We see some times where “extras” become part of films. I’ve seen it in a recent Rei Kamiki film where she was in a box and the guy helping her transport had some fun. I’ve also seen Kurea do it where she banged the camera guy, interestingly enough in a Nao Masaki film. These are not quite the director just some adjacent staff on set (and probably still actors) so it’s getting there but not quite the same.

I do think it highlights where it makes sense though, which is when it feels more spontaneous and in the moment. The thing that would make a director being involved feel right to me is when the plot just sort of veered in that direction the way it was going. Not the director casually being in the film because they needed someone but because that’s what the narrative planned for. And really, I can only see a more spontaneous style working out because other styles would share the same awful feeling I’ve been trying to avoid.

I alluded to it above but one would be to have the director need to step in. Hey look, you’re terrible at this so step aside and let me show you how it’s done. Or maybe the actor/actress didn’t show up so the director steps in. You can manage it any way to make sure it comes out right but the thought process is there. Hell, even have the actress fuck the director like in Nao Masaki’s The Moment I Met This Pornstar She Demanded Raw Creampie Sex where the actress would run out of guys and go to the director instead. That’s the kind of thing where the director really being involved would make it feel right. Maybe you could use a prop actor but with the number of actors being as small as it is, I think I’d be OK with the director.

Maybe there’s a world where directors start putting a clause like this in contracts because of the new AV law. As much as I harp on Samoari for what he does, it honestly might be the case that Samoari lists himself just in case someone calls out sick. As weird as it sounds, the new law sucks and Samoari starring in the film is probably better than the alternative of cancelling the film.

At the end of the day I think, for me at least, it boils down to this: if the director is going to be in the film there had better be a good reason. Most of the time that reason is going to be “because the narrative was interesting” and honestly I’m OK with that. I don’t need much, just something to make it work.

Hell, I’d be a bit happier with Samoari doing it if he did the 3 minutes of build up to the scene he should. Show him hanging out with Ichika at the bar and partying until she says let’s get out of here. Maybe she pulls him over to kiss him randomly on their way to a love hotel. You know exactly the kind of scene I’m talking about and it would just make the whole thing feel a bit better.

I think I might cry foul a bit if they did it all the time, but doing it here and there with a handful of directors only, I think I can live with. I’m not sure I’ll ever be happy about Samoari doing it but then again I don’t think he’ll ever try to have even a normal scene of them having sex let alone something interesting.

But what do you think? Do you share my opinion that it can be fine as long as the narrative is worthwhile? Is it just always wrong? Do you even care? Let me know in the comments. Until next time!