SDMS-966 - The secret night life of an 18-year-old Maiko

I only saw low-rated reviews, but I watched it anyway and it was wonderful. If you're expecting specific camera angles or typical 'AV tropes' (as vague as that is), you might be disappointed, but as a documentary, it's a masterpiece. I enjoy Maiko-themed AVs for the realism, so this was top-tier for me. I love the white makeup look, so the first Geisha story was especially good. The texture and atmosphere are excellent. It's definitely a polarizing work, but I think that's a good thing.

Most people drawn to this title and cover art are likely expecting white makeup, traditional Japanese hairstyles, and intimate scenes with Kyoto dialect. Out of the three performers, only one fits that description, and contrary to the title, she’s a geisha. Furthermore, the sex scenes are terrible; the male actor is unattractive, talks too much, and the camera angles are awful—it’s bottom-tier. It was nice that the actress made an effort to use the Kyoto dialect relatively often, but just as things were getting good, the male actor finishes, leaving you feeling unsatisfied. The rest of the content features bare faces, standard Japanese, or almost no dialogue at all, so you’d be better off watching a regular AV. Also, Airi Hina appears in maiko attire on the cover and in samples, but she just gets touched a little before refusing and ending the scene. It’s a waste of such nice makeup. In the actual scenes, she’s bare-faced. Well, it’s a rare genre, so if you’re interested and have an unlimited rental plan, maybe it’s worth renting just for the geisha scenes.

*Unlike the sample images on the official website and the images on the DVD package, the images throughout the first part are low quality and dark. I'm also disappointed in the content, direction (including scenes with men), and camera angles. If you're going to feature a maiko or geiko, you'd want it to be well-produced in high quality, including the making-of scenes (scenes in which the woman transforms with white paint, Japanese clothes, wigs, etc.). I haven't been able to fully utilize the charm of maiko and geiko in my work.