Although there are thousands, even tens of thousands, of actresses, they can be broadly divided into two types: exclusive actresses protected by production companies, and project actresses who move around and release films in large quantities.
In terms of income, the highest-level exclusive actresses (such as Yua Mikami) can earn more than ten times the salary of project actresses for a single film. However, the advantage of project actresses is that as long as they are physically strong and can endure a lot of work, they can earn more by releasing films than exclusive actresses. For example, Aya Sasami once earned 8 million yen (2 million NT dollars) per month at her peak, which is quite astonishing…
But in terms of rank, exclusive actresses earn much more!
Because they are at the very top of the pyramid, bound by exclusive contracts with production companies. Although there are many production companies in the market, only a few offer exclusive contracts to actresses. Therefore, these exclusive actresses are not only treasures of their agencies, but they are also extremely proud. For example, Shiina Sora (椎名空) demanded that she be upgraded to a gold card at the TRE Taipei International Adult Exhibition because of this. Some actresses refuse to become project actresses, even saying they would retire if they couldn't be exclusive actresses anymore.
Who is it? Previously, it was Minami Kojima, and her conditions were extremely demanding. She not only had to maintain her exclusive actress position, but she also couldn't accept any production companies outside of S1—a very difficult task. We all know that an actress's appeal declines with seniority. If the production company doesn't develop new series and the actress can't continuously provide fans with something fresh, she's easily eliminated. Therefore, staying with the same company, especially a top-tier company like S1, is really difficult. Either you have to be like Akiho Yoshizawa, consistently enjoying high sales, or you have to make concessions during contract negotiations.
How do you make concessions? For example, lowering fees: the average fee for an exclusive actress is around 1 million yen (250,000 NTD) per film. Some agencies will offer lower fees to keep actresses; another option is like Iori Furukawa, who releases a film every two months. Although this makes fans wait longer, at least it keeps her on the SOD Star team...
Are there any actresses who refuse to work exclusively for an agency?
Yes, there is. Miru (formerly Sakamichi Miru), who recently entered a dry season and just surpassed 400,000 Twitter followers, has changed agencies. She says this year is the best year of her AV career, but she's also very aware of the risks. During a live stream, she stated that if she can't find an exclusive actress, she'll retire immediately.
So how did she manage to stay at S1 until now?
Some might say she's good at spraying water, others might think it's her deadly riding position, and still others might attribute it to the halo of winning the Newcomer Award at the FANZA Adult Awards. However, Miru's perspective is simple:
Luck.
It means she's lucky, not arrogantly saying "Your great-grandmother is just lucky," but humbly saying she's very lucky to still be at S1. However, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, exclusive actresses have their pride. While Miru's words are polite, she doesn't allow herself to fall out of the lineup of rotating production companies—but it's okay, she's doing very well since changing agencies and is already considered a potential future top star. It's impossible for her to lose her exclusive actress status.
