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Saori Hara (原紗央莉, Hara Saori) is a Japanese AV idol, model and actress who has also used the name Mai Nanami (七海まい, Nanami Mai).

Life and career

Saori Hara was born in Hiroshima Prefecture to a Japanese mother and a father of mixed German-Japanese parentage (his father was German).

Mai Nanami

Hara started her career as a junior idol under the name Mai Nanami. As a teenager, she sang the theme song Spicy Days (スパイシーデイズ, Supaishiideizu) for the animated TV show The Marshmallow Times (マシュマロ通信, Mashumaro Tsūshin) on TV Osaka in 2004. She also had parts in two movies in 2005, the March TV drama The Dream of Delinquent Boys (不良少年の夢, Furyō Shōnen No Yume) for TBS, and the April theatrical release, horse-racing melodrama Lovely Fields (ハルウララ, Haru Urara), which was later released as a DVD.

She had also made a bikini-model photobook, Mai Nanami First Photobook, in May 2005 and a non-nude (gravure) DVD titled Mai Nanami: Yamagishi Shin Digital Movie Museum which was released in August 2005. As Nanami, she also played the female lead in another mainstream movie that was due to be released in Japan in 2006 but had its debut at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California in November 2005 as Deep Sea Monster Reigo. The film was eventually released in Japan as Reigo: The Deep Sea Monster vs the Battleship Yamato (深海獣レイゴー, Shinkaijū Reigō).

Saori Hara AV debut

After a long hiatus, she re-emerged as Saori Hara in August 2008 and appeared in a non-nude gravure video titled Clear Water. The next month, in September, she posed nude for the first time in the Japanese men's magazine Sabra, and it was announced that she was contracted to the Soft On Demand (SOD) adult video studio. She became the face of the group in its anti-STD campaign in November 2008, a role formerly played by long-time SOD AV actress Nana Natsume. Hara's her first adult video (AV) was released by SOD in January 2009 with the title Real Celebrity Saori Hara: Miraculous AV Debut and was reported to have sold 100,000 copies.

About the same time as her AV debut, Hara posed for a set of nude photos set in Tokyo public places by photographer Kishin Shinoyama which was published January 28, 2009 by Asahi Press as NO NUDE by KISHIN 1 20XX TOKYO. Shinoyama has said that he likes working with porn stars because they have no problems with nudity. However, both Shinoyama and Hara were charged by Tokyo authorities with public indecency.

Also in early 2009, Hara was in the TV Asahi movie Mission Section Chief Hitoshi Tadano: Season 4 Special (特命係長　只野仁　シーズン４突入スペシャル, Tokumei Kakarichō Tadano Hitoshi Shīzun 4 Totsunyuu Supesharu), a tie-in to the fourth season of the manga-based TV show.

Her May 2009 hamedori adult video for SOD, Real Celebrity Saori Hara: Brown Eyes, directed by Company Matsuo, had the quarter-German Hara traveling to Germany for six days to explore her roots. The SOD studio celebrated the end of Hara's first year with the company with the four hour cosplay video, Real Celebrity Saori Hara: 8 Changes and Sweet Sex, where she plays eight different characters.

Not long after her AV debut, Hara had a role in the Nikkatsu sex comedy about the porn industry, Lala Pipo: A Lot of People (ララピポ), written by Tetsuya Nakashima, which reached theatres in February 2009. In April of that same year, Hara had a featured part in the disaster-parody comedy Saikin-rettō and also sang the theme song for the movie.

Hara made a TV appearance with a major role in the late night 24-part manga-based J-dorama series Jōō Virgin (嬢王　Virgin) which was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October to December 2009. Also in the cast were fellow AV actresses Akiho Yoshizawa and Sora Aoi.

On December 11, 2009, Shueisha published Hara's autobiography titled My Real Name Is Mai Kato: Why I Became an AV Actress (本名、加藤まい　私がAV女優になった理由) (ISBN 4087805409). The 144 page book details Hara's upbringing and family life, her views on sex and her career as a teen idol and eventual AV idol. Her book is one of a number of autobiographical publications by actresses about the AV industry going back Ai Iijima's million-selling Platonic Sex and including Mihiro's partially fictional May 2009 work nude and Honoka's tell-all Biography of Honoka: Mama, I Love You published in January 2010, marking a trend in which the AV industry is losing its stigma and being assimilated into Japanese popular culture.

2010 activities

Hara continued her AV career with SOD in 2010 including the January release Real Celebrity Saori Hara: 22 Years Old - Awakening Sexual Desire to celebrate her twenty-second birthday and the August SOD Star x SOD Cinderella - Mega Gangbang where "veteran" SOD actresses were paired against newcomers.

She was the winner of Adult Broadcasting Award for Best Actress in March 2010 for her 2009 appearances on adult channel Midnight Blue.

Hara's presence in mainstream films was maintained in 2010 with her role as an aromatherapy client in Yumiko no Aroma (ユリ子のアロマ), which debuted at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February and was released theatrically in May. According to an article in Shukan Post, Hara and Maria Ozawa are the two most downloaded AV actresses in China and in August 2010, it was announced that Hara was cast with fellow SOD actress Yukiko Suo (周防ゆきこ, Suō Yukiko) for the USD$3.2 million 3-D Hong Kong erotic film 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy produced by Stephen Shiu who was the executive producer of the Category III classic film Sex and Zen.

Selected filmography

Photobooks

• Mai Nanami First Photobook (七海まいファースト写真集), May 4, 2005 (Eichi Publishing) (ISBN 4754215958)
• NO NUDE by KISHIN 1 20XX TOKYO, January 28, 2009 (Asahi Press) (ISBN 4255004560)

References

1. "原紗央莉 PROFILE" (in Japanese). www.harasaori.com. Retrieved 2010-08-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
2. ^ "原紗央莉DVD『Clear water』発売記念イベント" (in Japanese). www.scramble-egg.com. Retrieved 2010-08-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
3. ^ "Saori Hara is former gravure idol Mai Nanami". Japan Sugoi. September 17, 2008. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
4. ^ "Mai Nanami". girl.japanjpop.com. Retrieved 2010-08-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
5. ^ Aiken, Keith (September 30, 2010). "Former Daikaiju Actress Now Top Adult Film Star". www.scifijapan.com. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
6. "マシュマロ通信 サントラ" (in Japanese). DMM. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
7. "Tabidachi no toki - furyô shônen no yume". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
8. "Haru Urara". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
9. "ハルウララ(2005)" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
10. "ハルウララ" (in Japanese). DMM. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
11. ^ "山岸伸 デジタルムービーミュージアム 七海ま" (in Japanese). DMM. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
12. "Reigo, the Deep-Sea Monster vs. the Battleship Yamato". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
13. "深海獣レイゴー" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
14. ^ "原紗央莉 Clear water" (in Japanese). www.amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
15. "渋谷にて！でっかく広告PR ガール" (in Japanese). Saori Hara Official Blog. Retrieved 2010-08-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
16. "REAL IDOL SAORI HARA: MIRACULOUS PORN DEBUT". AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
17. ^ "本名、加藤まい ~私がAV女優になった理由~ [単行本（ソフトカバー）]" (in Japanese). www.amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
18. ^ "アイドルからＡＶ女優へなった理由とは？『本名、加藤まい～私がAV女優になった理由～』著者・原紗央莉さんインタビュー" (in Japanese). sinkan.jp. December 25, 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
19. Matsuyama, Naoki (August 11, 2010). "KISHIN SHINOYAMA JUST WASN'T MADE FOR THESE TIMES". Viceland Today. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
20. "特命係長　只野仁　シーズン４突入スペシャル" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
21. "REAL IDOL SAORI HARA: brown eyes". AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
22. "芸能人 原紗央莉　8人の原紗央莉と甘く濃厚なセックスを。". AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
23. "Lala Pipo: A Lot of People". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
24. "Saikin rettô". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
25. "細菌列島(2009)" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
26. "嬢王　Virgin" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
27. Kuroda, Akihiko (August 26, 2009). "キャバクラで戦う" (in Japanese). All About. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
28. "本名、加藤まい　私がAV女優になった理由" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved 2010-08-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
29. Takahashi, Amy (March 20, 2010). "Porn actresses pen salacious memoirs in chasing legacy of Ai Iijima". Tokyo Reporter. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
30. "芸能人 原紗央莉　22歳、性欲、覚醒". AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
31. "SODstar×SODCinderella　濃厚なる大乱交". AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
32. "Saori Hara takes Best Actress at 2010 porn awards". Tokyo Reporter. March 25, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-01. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
33. "Adult Award 2010" (in Japanese). www.adult-awards2010.com. Retrieved 2010-08-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
34. "Yuriko no aroma". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
35. "ユリ子のアロマ" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
36. "3D redux of 'Sex and Zen' starts shooting". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
37. "Hong Kong film hopes to break new ground with 3-D porn". Reuters. 2010-08-16. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
38. "Saori Hara in 3D Zen". www.japansugoi.com. August 27, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
39. Filmography from "Saori Hara". AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-03. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help), "原紗央莉 (はらさおり)" (in Japanese). AV Idol Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-03. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help) and "原紗央莉 (はらさおり)" (in Japanese). DMM. Retrieved 2010-11-03}. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
40. "七海まいファースト写真集" (in Japanese). JBook. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)

External links

• Saori Hara at The Internet Movie Database
• Saori Hara (原紗央莉) at Soft On Demand website
• Saori Hara at Hong Kong Cinemagic

• Living people
• 1988 births
• Japanese actors
• Japanese gravure idols
• Japanese female adult models
• Japanese pornographic film actors
• Japanese people of German descent
• People from Hiroshima