AV actors are generally sought after due to their good looks.

“Silk Labo is production company known for showcasing actor's with above-good looks. Ittetsu is one such actor who has gained much traction as of late. Silk Labo in general creates adult video for a female audience and Ittetsu ups the ante by personifying the perfect lover straight out of a romance manga.” (AV writer Katsutomo Kochi)

Perhaps we're now in some sort of Japanese AV hunk boom?

“It's more of the other way around. We've got Akinori with their 'Make An Ugly Guy Cum' series and S-1 just launched their first title in the 'We Love Ugly' series. Not everyone involved in this productions are that fond of them. They're actually as confused as anyone else as to why they are so popular.”

I wonder why...
 

Extremely ugly Japanese men swarm around a half naked AV Star

“I think it deals with fans simply being blown away by the premise. They also feel confident seeing some truly ogrish men make love with beautiful adult video stars. It makes them feel like anything is achievable and this goes double for the male virgins over 30 who watch these titles.”

Even the ugly actors have their fans.

“There's even the bizarro world Ittetsu named Kodamaito who shares a passing resemblance to Shoko Asahina, the former leader of Aum Shinrikyo (the domestic cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attacks). Within his 'ugly man' posse, there's a grotesque cast of characters who usually are shown swarming around a very attractive and naked woman.”

If anything, the Ugly Man boom is riding on the curtails of the Old Man boom which started a few years earlier and continues even today with the continued popularity of the now 80+ year-old Shigeo Tokuda (whom albeit having starred in thousands of titles, still has managed to keep his alter-ego secret from his wife!).

(Translator's note: Booms and busts have always dominated Japanese AV. Expect this ugly man boom to expand even more with zanier and zanier themes such as huge bukkake parties and more before it implodes. Who knows what the next big trend will be? I'm putting my money on a return to gaudier women in the form of gyaru whom have been out of the loop for a few years.)