Best of JAV 2016

As the year wraps up and we celebrate our 6 month anniversary of this blog, I thought it would be a great opportunity to look back at the year 2016 in JAV.  This year has certainly had it mixes of highs and lows, from standout debuts to shocking retirements; from amazing films to failures with missed potential.  For this article, I decided to focus on the positive and take a look at the best of JAV in 2016. 

In full disclosure, this is not meant to be an objective list of what most JAV fans think.  Nor is it meant to capture the industry's opinion, since they already have their own awards, which, in my opinion, are probably rigged and therefore fake bullshit. Instead, think of this like a personal list, the way movie critics give their own top 10 films of the year.  That being said, while it is biased to my tastes, I did try to think about not just what I like, but what really had impact in bringing something great to the world of JAV.

In deciding what awards to give out, I selected six categories, explained below: Best Studio, Best Newcomer or Rookie, Best Veteran Performer, Best Film, and the Legacy Award for outstanding contributions to the JAV industry.

Best Studio

Oppai

This was a pretty easy choice for me.  Oppai aren't the only ones to put out great big tits films, but they are the best at it.  They have big names in big tits like Julia, Mizuno Asahi, Hitomi, and Aika just to name a few.  But why I chose them sepcifically for 2016 is that they have been by far the most consistent for me.  Their cheating-focused "Girlfriend's Busty Older Sister" series is my favorite in all of JAV.  That series alone would be enough to win them the title this year, including an excellent entry starring Anri Okita right before she retired.

While other studios I love have been inconsistent this year, Oppai continued to deliver in impressive fashion.  I can only hope they keep it up, and have an eye on attracting new talent when existing ones retire.  For example, I would love to see Shibuya Kaho perform more regularly for them.  For me Oppai films range from perfect, to excellent, to pretty great with only a very rare example of mediocrity.  This was very apparent in 2016 so for me they clearly win out.

Best Debut or Rookie

Yua Mikami

Another easy choice for me.  Debuting with a single film in late 2015, which was intended as a one-off, she returned in 2016 with a regular slate of films for Muteki, and now has started with S No. 1 STYLE.  It's rare to see a rookie make such a huge impact in sales and popularity so quickly.  Yua Mikami has taken the industry by storm with her innocent cute looks and killer body.

One reason that she stands out to me is because she is not the typical style of JAV girl I like, and yet I still became a big fan.  Her performances have been very consistent and her charisma is top-notch.  I'm excited to see her work in the many excellent series that S No.1 have.  Her move to a stronger label already makes her a contender for the best of 2017. 

Best Veteran

Mizuno Asahi

This one was much harder for me, because the veteran stars of the industry have put out some real quality this year.  But when I thought deeply on it, I knew that the most important factor was finding an actress who consistently delivered great performances.  Once I thought about it that way, there was one name that came up: Mizuno Asahi. 

Her work has been oustanding this year, with quality across many different labels and genres.  She is the ultimate seductress, and her sexual power just explodes on camera.  She knows how to be sexy in the purest sense of the word.  Whether through dialogue, expression, or simply her eyes, she is a true succubus.  Her dynamite body is her ultimate tool, and I've come to the conclusion that her ass may just be the most spectacular in JAV, it just begs for a pounding.  Mizuno Asahi knows how to get it done on camera, and she does it pretty much every time.  I'm always truly excited to see her next film. That's why she rises above the rest in 2016. 

Best Film

PPPD-439: Etch Busty That Secretly Nettle A Boyfriend From A Close Friend Of Slut Sister JULIA

This award was the hardest to decide.  It's actually easier to recognize greatness over a longer period of time, so when I selected the top actresses and studio, I had a full year to consider.  But to choose the best film, I am very narrowly focused.  Of all the great releases, it was very hard to choose the best.  I was able to come up with a personal shortlist and then take it from there.  While I have to recognize some standout films this year from Mikami Yua, some superb performances from Hitomi Tanaka, and really great entry from Mizuno Asahi which almost made best film for me, there was another that really stood out.

When selecting best film, there were a few criteria that I considered.  The most important was simply whether or not there were any bad or mediocre scenes in the movie.  In order to be the absolute best of an entire year, competing with thousands of films, it needed to be perfect.  Getting into the technical aspects, it needed to have lots of hot sex, great camerawork, and a stellar performance from the actress.  Additionally, it needed to have that "x-factor". something that really set it apart from the competition.  When considering these criteria, I selected this entry from Oppai.

It's only natural that the film of the year comes from the studio of the year, but in this case it did not come from the actress of the year.  It came from Julia.  But before I get into detail about why I chose it, I think I need to share with you two very close runners-up.  I want to highlight why I found both of them great, but also why I found this Julia film to be just a little bit greater.

Runner-Up: 

PPPD-481: Her Older Sister Tempts Me With Big Tits and Creampie OK Mizuno Asahi

In my recent review, I gave this one a perfect score.  It really is an amazing film and I won't say a lot more about it here, as my review really covers it fully.  However, the reason why I selected the Julia film instead of this one was the fact that the Julia film had an intensity that this one lacked.  In my film of the year, I think Julia gives one of her most passionate and aggressive performances ever.

PPPD-511: Super Tits Boobs Face Sitting Close Contact Pressure Hitomi

This is a very recent release, but most Hitomi and big tit lovers rank it very highly, perhaps among Hitomi's best work ever.  Certainly, she gives one of her top 5 performances of her career.  As you might guess from the cover, she uses her boobs in a fantastically aggressive way, smothering her male counterparts.  In many ways, it is a must-own film.  Alas, it suffers from an Achilles heel that has been the downfall of many otherwise perfect films: too many handjob scenes.  I don't mind a handjob scene here and there, but there's a definite lack of penetrative sex in this movie, just not enough to meet my requirements.  I'm totally happy to have blowjob or paizuri or handjob-only scenes in a movie, but there needs to be enough penetrative sex as well, and this one just didn't have quite the amount I like to see.  A great film nonetheless, which is why it's on my shortlist, but not film of the year.

Now that I've looked at two very excellent JAV films that came close but did not quite make the cut, let me tell you about my film of the year.  The theme is classic: the hotter busty older sister who steals her younger sister's boyfriend.  The very concept demands lots of seduction, aggression, and all around slutty behavior and it is a delight.

Why this film specifically excels above others is due to Julia's performance and the top-notch sex scenes.  When I consider top-tier JAV films, the most basic criterion is whether I enjoyed every sex scene.  In this case, I did, which is rare because usually you get at least one or two duds.  We get all the great classic positions as well as plenty of usage of Julia's mouth and tits.  She also performs what I consider to be her best ever rimjob scene, which in general is an act you don't really see her engage in very much.

Furthermore, what pushed this film over the line and into greatness was the intensity of Julia's performance.  Every scene has the fire of passion which will leave you utterly drained.  It really is a pure joy to see this kind of performance from her.  In these types of films, the seduction aspects are always great but the sex, while hot, can be too much on the submissive side.  That's not the case in this movie, as Julia both seduces and fucks like an absolute professional, which is why it ranks as the best film I've seen in 2016.

The JAV Legacy Award

Anri Okita

This is perhaps the most obvious selection.  With apologies to Ai Uehara fans, there's no question that the biggest retirement this year was Anri Okita.  That's why she earns the Legacy Award, for her impact on the industry.  Not only was her retirement the biggest in 2016, I'd say it was the biggest in the last few years.  I also need to honor her for an excellent run of films leading up to her retirement.  She literally and figuratively went out with a bang.

I'm ever hopeful Anri Okita will come back or even engage in some uncensored productions, but I'm very thankful for the superb body of work she gave us.  Always sexy, always alluring, and not afraid to get nasty but in an appealling way, she was one of the giants of the industry.  She always seemed to look like she really enjoyed her job, and that she wasn't acting.  It's unfortunate that she retired around the time ths blog started as I would've loved to review her new films.  Anri Okita leaves behind a wonderful and lasting legacy to the world of JAV.