Konami 小波 Gravure DVD Review

Title: KONAMI 小波
Release Date: December 25th, 2015
Retail Price: 4,104 Yen
Run Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Where to Buy: Yahoo Shopping

It has been a long time since I took a look at a Joshi wrestler gravure video, while this is one of the more ‘tame’ ones I thought it would be a good place to start since Konami’s popularity has grown a lot in the last few months. Konami debuted in early 2015, she is the only wrestler trained by Kana. She joined up with REINA after Kana left for WWE to become Asuka, and continued her training there. Konami left REINA in the summer of 2016 and later signed with GPS. After a great match against Kairi Hojo in the fall, Konami has been wrestling in a variety of Joshi promotions since, including Pro Wrestling WAVE and Stardom. This gravure video was shot in 2015, when Konami was around 19 years old.

Before I review this DVD, I first wanted to explain quickly what a gravure video is for those that are not familiar.  These are basically modeling videos, where a model (or models) poses for the camera generally in a provocative way. In a way it is like a live-action photobook, there is little or no talking as typically music plays in the background. This is Konami’s first (and at the moment only) gravure video, following in the footsteps of her mentor Kana.

Like most wrestler gravure videos, the DVD is split up into multiple parts: the gravure itself, an interview, and a wrestling match. The gravure section is approximately 55 minutes, making it longer than other wrestler gravure videos. This is most likely because only one match is on the DVD, since Konami was a rookie when this came out she did not have a huge backlog of matches available to include.

For the gravure portion, Konami poses in six different outfits in different locations. All of her outfits are different styles of bathing suits, nothing too far out there as she doesn’t do some of the more erotic scenarios that we have seen from Kana, Misaki Ohata, Makoto, and Hikaru Shida. As always, there is simple and borderline awful music playing during the entire gravure, I understand the need to fill the audio with something but it is low level elevator music. Here is a quick look at each scene:

 
The Interview portion lasts for approximately seven minutes and takes place at the same locations the gravure was shot at. I can’t really comment on it one way or the other since I don’t understand Japanese, but for a new wrestler any type of interview is a good thing as it can be hard to get press when first starting off.

Finally, the DVD ends with a wrestling match. The match included is: Hikaru Shida and Syuri vs. Kana and Konami Takemoto in Kana Produce “Fukuyama Tournament” 2015 on 3/8/15. Having this match included was a bit disappointing for me personally since I already have the DVD with that match, so I’d already seen it. For many fans however this would be their first introduction to Konami in a big match, so it was a good one to include. I already reviewed the match, but here were my thoughts:

I don’t think there is anything about this match I didn’t love. You have to watch it to really appreciate it, the camera was at ringside so you could hear every kick and every slap, it was just brutal. All four looked good, forget that Konami is a rookie, she is already better than most at this striking/submission style. Kana has taught her well. No down time, lots of team work, no wasted moments, no wasted anything. Just awesomeness from start to finish, go watch this match. Highly Recommended

Against some high end opponents, Konami got to show off quite a bit and showed some of that early ability that makes her one of the top young wrestlers on the Joshi scene today. I actually already have the match uploaded to my DailyMotion account, you can watch it here:

Overall, a solid Gravure DVD debut for Konami. While I wouldn’t rank it high as Konami doesn’t exude sexuality like Kana and others that have made gravure videos, by switching up outfits/scenery they at least attempted to keep it from getting stale. The match included is a fantastic one, one I’d already seen but for any new fans the match alone may justify the purchase as it has three of the best Joshi wrestlers of 2015 plus a hungry young rookie looking to leave her mark. This DVD is very hard to track down now as I don’t think a lot were made, but it can still be located on some Japanese DVD shops.