NNSSA-001: Cherry Blossom

Actress: Sakura Tsukishima (?)
Studio: Oldman Par

Release Date: 2023-05-28
Runtime: 90 Minutes

8/10

Introduction

Oldman Par is a new studio in the gravure game, although there appears to be some connection with it and previous studios/labels. On the same note, Sakura is a new face in gravure, however, she has several aliases across her career in AV, so I am unsure if there are gravure releases, photoshoots, or video, from prior years. That said, she hasn’t shot for this studio or any related labels, so I will take this as a debut release, not to mention this is the first release under this studio as well. Let’s see how she fares.
 

Production & Setting

The first scene starts off very strong in all aspects. We have a beautiful track composition that evokes summer exploration tones, something you could see used as background music for some live river stream. The setting is in a typical room, but the colour grading is on point, however, there is editing of the natural lighting to add a bit of a soft glow to the objects. This enhances the colours while adding shadows in the right places. Sakura herself is wearing lingerie that suits both her figure nicely but also the colour gradient of the room. Pacing is well done with Sakura being more adjusted to this type of material. Also, side note, the window in the panties that shows off Sakura’s pubic hair, great design. The room is filled with golds, reds, browns, blues, and various shades of greens and yellow trims. It is a well-done set and being consistent with the pacing and choosing the right music that never transitions to some out of place track. Props.
 
Moving to the second scene we are now venturing outdoors, and we have another solid set. We see Sakura out and about outside a villa with ample greenery, a beautifully graded blue pool, and her dress is a rainbow of colours with a vibrant contrast clash of blue and green flowers, and a reddish-brown base. The music as well, knocking it out of the park with the tempo, the instrumentation, and the pacing with Sakura’s motions, especially the timing of the notes with her undressing. The track does shift from a warmer softer string ensemble to a bit more of an upbeat treble percussion which isn’t quite my style, not to mention they moved from the pool to a gazebo for the nude bits, but at least they were consistent.

The third scene is a split affair, it starts in I guess an abandoned pool so there are plenty of blues and greens, even traffic driving by. Sakura moves to an indoor section for the nude shots. The scenery is still colourful, and the darks contrast with her shiny brown dress well. They have her sit on a red blanket of sorts for some ground shots and it looks good, but the hand positioning dulls the aesthetic of her bush in contrast to prior standing or laying down shots. The music is consistent but less exciting for this shoot. 

From there we are on to the mandatory bathroom scene. Apart from typical bathroom tile colours you expect, Sakura is wearing a colourful bikini that meshes well with the tub tiles. The music sounds like it’s pulled from an underwater level in a modern Mario game. Nothing to really mention in this first bit as Sakura is getting into the tub, but she does play with some lemons (she’s an H cup, so not that kind of lemon) so there is that unique set piece. Following that bit, it’s time to strip down and get the suds out. The music shifts here, and it works with the energy, and while I’m not huge on large breasts, Sakura’s do look nice covered in bubbles. Also, they go all in on the shot from below style once she is all lathered up. Her bush helps hide any banned bits and having that angle to see her breasts and quite large nipples. Great shots, but no butthole, because reasons. I will note that there appears to be some lighting issues on the camera side of things, flickering can be seen throughout this entire second half and I’m not sure why.

Moving along, another solid scene visually. Here we have Sakura in a gorgeous red dress and black lingerie, in a dimly lit room with brownish-orange curtains and a similar coloured bed. The colour grade is very well done, with close shots of Sakura and the shimmer off her hair being top tier. The shadows are well balanced as well. Often in dark shots such as these body aspects can be subdued and disappear into either darkness from shadows or swallowed by black tones. This is the opposite, and the vibrant red dress does well to push Sakura’s figure to the front (not that her bust needs any help in that regard). The music is good, the close-up panning shots are good, the poses are good, and if the second half vibrator portion was cut, I’d say overall the entire thing was a top three set, but alas.

The penultimate scene, personally, I’ll give it the honours of top set for the film, mainly due to an onsen bias. At first the scene starts with Sakura out at a marina in a beautiful Kimono that works well with the ocean shots and other nautical colours present in the area, on the boats, etc. Shortly after this scene Sakura then enters the onsen which is a very nice small intimate setup with an amazing view of the ocean (I am quite disappointed at the lack of such things here on the west coast of Canada because we have great ocean views as well). The instrumentation is a soft slower tempo guitar piece as Sakura scopes out the place and then strips down for her time in the pool. The track shifts once she is naked in the pool to another soft piece, this time with a piano. Overall, great scene, the colours are great, Sakura looking out over the beach dripping water is top tier. The colour grading along the water covered floor is well done, lighting is mostly well balanced, which is hard to do when you have a giant mirror for light to bounce from.

Lastly, we come to the final scene, an indoor lotion massage scene. I’ll get the negative out of the way and say the music is bad, but that can be expanded on in the music review section. The setting here is simple enough, basic room, lighting from behind, Sakura in a nice floral dress drinking some water before laying down and lathering herself up in lotion. Not too much to say about this one. The lighting and colour grading is done well. The gradient and palettes used mesh well, and the closeups of Sakura flopping around her breasts as she puts lotion on is nice. She even goes about rubbing herself which I have mixed opinions on mainly because they focus on her face instead of the target area and it’s not my preferred take, especially since the music cuts out as well for what I can only imagine are fake orgasm sounds.

Overall, a very solid first entry for this studio, it was dynamic in set pieces, music choices work most of the time, editing, colour grading and palettes, and lighting, were all handled well. There was no BTS section in this film, which is a bit of a letdown but otherwise, very good.

Score: 8.5/10 (Production), 8/10 (Setting)

Music

The music throughout the entire film, save for some instances where the music disappeared entirely, such as during the 5th scene where a vibrator masturbation session cuts any background audio, is quite good. As previously noted in the production section, the first track is very light-hearted, some great piano notes and with the added percussion elements it gives off this soothing exploration tone that you could pair with some nature background video. The second scene starts off with an even better more ethereal string composition, however, it shifts to a more upbeat bass driven track for the nude parts. It still works pacing wise, I just prefer the previous one. The third scene has two tracks, and they also work pacing and energy wise. This entire film has a more subdued and laid-back vibe across most of the scenes. This I think would be the weakest ensemble apart from the masturbation scene, just isn’t very interesting.

The bathroom scene as I mentioned, it feels like they just adapted the track from Jolly Roger Bay in SM64 (the same partially counts for the first track of the first scene as well). It’s a tried-and-true hollow sound that adds more depth and energy to the notes and I am certainly in favour of this sound for indoor water scenes. If it were shot at a beach, I’d want something with more energy and a faster tempo. The second track in the bathroom evokes tropish 90s sexy-time EDM beats, which is alright, not my preferred as objectively it’s just a lame composition, but this scene has other issues beyond the music that are more pressing. 

Moving through to the last three scenes. The red lingerie dark room has a nice jazzy track to it, and it suits the aesthetic well, but then it gets tossed for silence and vibrator sounds. The onsen scene has two tracks, the first being lighter EDM, making way for the water sounds. It as well follows an exploration relaxation tone throughout, which is perfect for onsens. The final scene is again, more of a jazzy affair, but it sounds like the second half of the first song used in the red lingerie scene. Light percussion, slightly more upbeat tempo, it works, but not particularly energetic or enthusiastic for a scene where Sakura lathers herself. Overall, a solid selection, despite some undesirable cuts for le sex scenes.

Score: 8/10

Aesthetics & Performance

Visually, this film did great on that end. The sets were varied and dynamic, Sakura’s outfits and general styling meshed well with every set, and Sakura herself is a nice visual treat. Her assets are great, she has a bush which lends to more varied poses, and while I’m not into her face visuals and her expressions are a bit one dimensional, she gets the job done and works well with the sets. The first scene in the bedroom with the light blue lingerie, the dark room red/black lingerie prior to the masturbation bit, and the onsen scene are easily the best shot of the film, with the bathroom scene pulling a fourth place, perhaps it would get a higher rank if not for some weird visual glitch that appears throughout the majority.

Performance is always a tricky one to rate. Since the editing and pacing of the film overall was well done on the production side of things, performance then rests on Sakura’s shoulders to convey the emotion through facial and body positioning. In this respect Sakura is a mixed bag that does manage to pull it off. Sakura’s body language is good, she’s smooth throughout any movements she does during the scenes and is faster and more energetic in short bursts when needed. However, her facial expressions are somewhat limited. They are kind of stuck on “smiling” and that’s about it. It could be alright if I was more into her visuals, but her smile is a bit off putting, especially with how overused it is. However, she managed to make it work with other tools at her disposal, which is more than I can say for many debuts.

Score: 8/10 (Aesthetics), 7.5/10 (Performance)

Summary

For the first film under this studio, and potentially Sakura’s first gravure release, this is a very solid release. The editing had some hiccups here and there, but overall, the styling, colour palettes, pacing, framing, and Sakura’s easy-going vibe with the camera did this debut many favours. I would highly recommend watching this as a gravure fan and keep an eye on this studio, they have a working formula here. Sakura isn’t quite my style visually (mainly her face, the rest of her body is good), and her expression range is a bit limited, but beyond that, I’ve got no major complaints.

Score: 8/10
Pros

– Dynamic visuals
– Good music selection
– Sakura boobs + bush

Cons

– Sakura is limited in her expressions/energy
– No BTS
– Some post visual issues and odd music transitions