(Translator's note: This post is a continuation of a previous entry.)

Step 4: Filming

With the previous three steps wrapped up, filming can commence. New ADs rarely have any time for rest after preparing for the shoot and the shoot itself. What's more, since the people in charge of makeup, the filming itself, and lighting are usually freelance, it's up to the ADs to ensure proper tsunagi (tsunagi is an industry buzzword referring to catering on set). Mainly it's the director who talks to the AV stars. ADs are not always tyrannized by the director, but they do need to make sure everything is prim and proper on set according to his specifications. However, there are some directors who go a bit too far with them.

Step 5: Editing

Be it an adult or mainstream film, this step is the most important. 8 hours of filming over a span of an entire day needs to be cut and cropped into a tidy 2 hours or so. This is another instance where nights without rest are commonplace—especially when the due date is fast approaching. With the director frequently instructing their editors almost nonstop, it's no wonder why they always appear exhausted. Editing in Japanese AV requires extreme fortitude.

Step 6: Mosaic Creation

Censorship editing—aka mosaic—in Japanese AV generally is carried out by independent companies rather than the Production Company that produced the title. The people who take these jobs generally are part-time workers who do nothing but hunt down private parts all day to blur. It's actually a pretty important job and those who can do it well without having a nervous breakdown are far and few.

Step 7: Mosaic Inspection

Once mosaic is added, it's up to an independent organization to judge whether or not it was accurately applied. Two well-known mosaic-checking organizations are the Visual Software Contents Industry Corporation and the Contents Soft Association. They do not only check for proper mosaic, but also to ensure filming ethics have not been violated. Production Companies that film chikan movies have had frequent bouts with these organizations and have parted ways.

Step 8: Package Design

It's now time to design the 'face' of the production. Once upon a time, design-work was the demesne of independent companies, but now many Production Companies do it in-house. Either the producer or director is in charge of the package design. It's a long road full of corrections and more editing to make the package desirable to consumers. I've heard of instances where the package art was redesigned over 20 times. Some designers have quite the ego which leads to heated quarrels.

Once design is wrapped up, the title is finally finished and pressed. These are the meandering steps that are all involved in producing a Japanese AV title. Even if a maker outsources some jobs, filming itself only takes up about 20% of the actual time needed to produce a title. The working conditions for those involved are nothing to write home about.

It's hard not to hold the people involved with the above steps in great esteem. What's more, they do it while receiving stink eyes from the general public. These companies are the creators of the truly unique and wonderful.

Written by Miyuki Nakagawara

Men's Cyzo recommends this title to readers of this article.

(Translator's note: The final steps of making a Japanese AV movie a reality are trying to say the least. You would think that since nowadays cameras often feature facial recognition technology that something can be implemented in their software to detect private parts and add some level of mosaic on the fly. It would make the lives of those tasked with blurring private parts slightly easier to cope with.)