BOMB: AZM MyStar Stardom Photobook Review

Starting in late 2018, Stardom began a new photobook series called MyStar with their top wrestlers getting their own smaller photobook all to themselves. AZM was the 13th to be featured in the series, following Mayu Iwatani, Starlight Kid, Hazuki, Jungle Kyona, Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, Arisa Hoshiki, Saki Kashima, Hana Kimura, Yurie Kozakai, Tam Nakano, and Tokyo Cyber Squad. BOMB: AZM was released in October, 2019. You can read reviews for all the MyStar Series photobooks released so far on the Joshi Photobook Reviews page.

Full Photobook Details

Title: BOMB: AZM from the Stardom MyStar Series
Release: October 2019
Pages: 30
Cost: ¥2,000 (or for $20.00)
Where to Buy: Third Party Vendors

As mentioned above, these are smaller (and cheaper) photobooks than Stardom usually puts out, however that does not mean the quality of the photobook is negatively impacted. Stardom at this point has become almost as good at producing photobooks as they are at producing wrestling shows, and the effort put into this photobook shows this. Even though the photobook features a single wrestler, there are still multiple scenes/scenarios presented that fit the personality of the wrestler so its not just random scenes chosen at the whim of the photographer.

To start, I am going to address the elephant in the room. When this photobook was shot, AZM was likely 16 years old. There is a portion of fans that think it is inappropriate for someone her age to be doing photobooks, which is absolutely their right to think, however worldwide there are underage models that do photoshoots so this is not a concept that Stardom invented. This photobook is pretty tasteful with no swimsuit or lingerie-style pictures, so even those that would prefer not to view it themselves can feel a little better that the photos aren’t sexual in nature. As for the photos, like the other MyStar photobooks there are a variety of set and attire changes, ranging from in-ring attire to formal wear. This was not shot ‘on location’ like Tam and Utami’s photobook but appears to be completely done in-studio. Here is a sample of pictures from the photobook: