The Naked Director (2019)

It's a given fact that some people will be put off by this drama due to its explicit content. It has to be the most sexually provocative Japanese drama ever, but given its plot and what seems this drama is trying to achieve, I think it's clear that the show needs the amount of nudity and the shock value of those sex scenes for the drama to leave a strong mark. Some supporters of women's movement might also be triggered by how they treat women in this show, and the people behind this drama might have already anticipated that as they tried to address that concern in the beginning of the first episode.

In the opening shot, we see a woman whom will be an integral character later in the show, advocating for a woman’s right to openly express her sexuality within Japan cultural mores, shamelessly flaunts her armpit hair to people while saying love means accepting nature, to her it's an expression of feminity and identity. The drama depicts her as a symbol of strong female representation. But even with that, people might still be put off by the show's handling of sexuality at points. It would be too taboo and misogynistic to a different culture, but this drama is not trying to be morally correct, it only depicts a story as what happened, to watch this drama you don't have to agree to enjoy it.

Naked director is an 8 episode drama based on Japanese legend, Toru Muranishi aka "The Emperor of Porn", a controversial figure but considered by many as the most innovative director of Japanese adult videos. He has a fascinating life, went from a Japanese struggling salary man to a legendary director that soon will trigger the Japan's pornographic revolution. It's a fictionalize biography of him, not everything happen is accurate, and some events have been overly dramatized for the sake of entertainment.

Although it's a semi biography about Toru Muranishi, it also shows Japan's economic and cultural expansion, the movement in the porn industry as people move from magazine to video/media age. Rules are changing, everything is changing but not Muranishi's strong resolve. Well paced drama, doesn't felt too slow or fast. It's also has nice balance of slapstick comedy to the underworld dark side of porn. What I especially love about this drama is it doesn't shy away from the bad actions of this main character. They didn't try to portray him as a hero or justified his actions, but also didn't try villainize the character.

It's clearly aims towards international audience. It promotes Japanese culture from food, hustling bustling Tokyo to the infamous Japanese sex industry. The drama also felt inspired by American television, not as thematic and preachy like most Japanese dramas. The music is a blend between electronic and rock. On the technical side, cinematography was the strongest. It clearly depicts 80's vibe, from colors, landmarks and the way they shot famous 80's establishment like disco scenes.

Wonderfully acted all around, these talented casts brought their best in this drama. Yamada Takayuki captivates as ever, brilliantly portray Muranishi, from facial expression to the way he speaks he nailed it. But what's amazing about his performance is how he balances the humor and seriousness given the situation. Biopics needs strong lead actor and Yamada Takayuki delivers. I've seen almost all of his dramas and movies and I think this is one of his best performance and definitely his most daring ever. The one the surprise me the most is the actress who played Kaoru Kuroki, Misato Morita. Talking about a career defining performance, the actress gave it all like literally, that scene alone with Takayuki deserves an award. She's one of the strongest female character in a drama for me, feisty, and she don't give a damn what others will think. Her character is that interesting that they could make a drama out of her. Not just the leads but the supporting cast is a bunch of interesting characters as well, all of them have their own quirks, but don't just serve as comic relief characters, and if there's a standout among them it's Shinnosuke Mitsushima, the one who played that goofy character Toshi, he is the gangster, the do it all of the group. With strong leads and eccentric set of character forms this dynamic group that is fun to watch.

If you're a fan of biopics and you want to learn more about Japan and its fascinating porn history then you should watch this drama. Even if it's considered as the dark side it is still part of its culture. Not for everyone obviously, it's too explicit, and I think even late night Jdrama slot would not show this drama. If there's no Netflix this drama won't get a green light unless they made this into movie. And before someone say it's glorifying porn, it doesn't mean they make this drama that they already glorifying the act, it's just simply telling a story. It's best to separate your morals and reasoning from a story and try to see it through neutral eyes.

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The look on porn industry development in Japan in the 80s is interesting, but as an underdog story about how an ordinary salesman overtakes the industry, the show lacks pathos. Muranishi is quite easy to root for in the beginning when he was this down on his luck everyman estranged from his family but as he gained more footing as filmmaker he seems to stop growing as a character and there's hardly any intimate, personal struggle left for viewers to root him on except that he’s the main guy. Why is making AV in HIS way so important for him? What is at stakes for him (besides his livelihood)?

The production of each Muranishi's films could be seen as milestones in his journey to 'revolutionise' porn as we see the making-process and the impact of his movies to the industry, but in most of them the 'star' is really the porn actresses themselves as they're the ones who were given anything resembling character arc throughout, complete with personal stakes and all, and whose lives are affected the most by the production they starred in. On the contrary hardly any of Muranishi's works relates to him on personal level. He has these passionate speeches about what he believes AV should stand for and how they should be made and viewed, and while they’re challenging to both the mindset of people in the 80s and even today’s viewer, there's a clear lack of build up to them and I don’t see where this belief comes from. They ended up coming across as random sentences writers put in just because the real Muranishi mentioned them in some interview instead of the iconic quotes that define him. Again, Megumi instead seems to be the one carrying out this role of exploring sexuality more impactfully, as we follow her growth in finding her passion and her struggle and sacrifices she makes to follow her ideal. Meanwhile how easy it looks for Muranishi and co to recover from every setbacks they encounter also leads to lack of emotional investment from my part because I don’t see the characters struggling in emotionally evocative way. I'm not saying it's devoid of entertainment watching him coming up with over the top ways to raise to the challenges, but while it's not always sunshine and rainbows it also seems to aim for chic and cool Hollywood-esque style of direction which is refreshing compares to how bleak Jdrama tackles topic of sex industry usually but at the same time it sucks out the soul from the story.

The kingpin of porn industry is the villain of the story in this season as he hold onto the 'old ways' of making AVs and monopolize the industry. They're the source of every Muranishi and co's setbacks and the 'new ways vs old ways’ angle could've been real intriguing if we also know where the villains are coming from instead of them simply seeing Muranishi and co as pest for not following their rules. Still, I'll most likely watch the sequel because I do think this is a well-acted, well-directed show with rarely portrayed subject matter and charismatic characters. I do hope that the sequel will either humanise Muranishi more or develop him in more interesting course, but I'm not holding my breath, and as an entertainment it's been adequate even without it.

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