Rating: **
Review Date: 12/1/00
Cast: Megumi Asakura, Saya Mochizuki, Yumi Kurusu
Oh... my... god...
Well, curiosity finally got the best of me and I managed to track down a "Minisuka Police" video. While I still don't fully understand the concept, at least I've got a feeling for it now. The entire premise is fetish voyeurism, focusing primarily on "up-skirt" camera angles and tight cleavage shots. The Minisuka Police themselves are a trio of lovely young ladies in cute vinyl police outfits, specially designed to take advantage of the aforementioned camera techniques. Ahem. The format of the show (and presumably the entire series) is just a collection of short set pieces accompanied by cheezy background music - it's basically late night T&A fluff with an odd twist (those wacky Japanese). We get to see the girls modelling swimwear, swimming in the ocean, riding ATVs, bodyboarding, shooting pistols at a firing range, shopping at the mall, preparing a barbecue, and my personal favorite - miniskirt skydiving. That's right, these brave young women jump out of an airplane wearing their cute little miniskirt uniforms while the cameraman focuses on the resulting panty flashing during their free-fall. The sheer absurdity and perversity of it all is mind-boggling...
After the shock and the silliness of the whole thing wore off, I was left with two words - Megumi Asakura. She was already one of my favorite Japanese swimsuit models, but seeing her in action raised my admiration of her to an entirely different level. Her combination of coy and sexy seems so natural and effortless, and she's overflowing with charm and charisma. She also really understands how to use the camera to her best advantage, and it's unusual to see a model work so well with both still photography and motion video. Her execution is both casual and professional, wrapped in a veil of detached apathy that just seems to say "I'm so sexy, it hurts." She is a very dangerous woman... While both of her co-stars are fun to watch and much more enthusiastic about their work, they seem to lack Megumi's exceptional comfort and confidence with themselves and the medium. While it's something I'll probably never watch again, at least I can say that I've been enlightened.