Last month, we reported on the controversy over a new gravure idol who was supposedly AI-generated but seemed to be just a slightly different version of a flesh-and-blood gradol. The publisher eventually withdrew its much-hyped photo book featuring Ai Satsuki. As we noted in a follow-up post, artificial intelligence has major implications for gravure, making it possible to churn out cheap photo books with almost now overheads (no expensive photo shoots, no model fees, etc.). It has meant the market is currently flooded with cheap or even free photo books. The issue of AI and gravure has ...

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It sparked both hype and controversy, and then just as quickly vanished. When publisher Shueisha released a digital photo book featuring a fully AI-generated gravure model on May 29, it felt like the tipping point of something. But then netizens were quick to point out that the "model" Ai Satsuki was uncannily similar to a real-life gravure idol, Hikari Kabashima (previously known as Yui Asakura), suggesting the AI was simply recycling images of Kabashima/Asakura from the Weekly Playboy shoot she did (Shueisha publishes the magazine). Shueisha responded to the controversy by withdrawing ...

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Back in 2011, AKB48 briefly seemed to be on the cusp of some sort of technological tipping point when it played with a fully digital member of the group. Sadly, or not, Aimi Eguchi was created just for an ad campaign and this "digital idol" trend didn't continue. Instead, we got dribs and drabs of sensational digitally created idols like Saya, the ultra-realistic schoolgirl who wasn't real, and were teased with an all-digital supergroup. The VR boom in the 2010s also seemed to be a major new chapter in the relationship between sex and technology (not least, its implications for watching ...

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It seems that everyone is using AI these days to make art, photos, and even essays. The results are often very impressive. Perhaps even worrying. But here's some AI that's really worth getting excited about. Kanyon Industries, which seems to be based in Hong Kong, posts examples of AI art featuring sexy cosplayers -- all digitally rendered, of course. Heavily influenced by Japanese sources, it was inevitable that the results would strike big among Japanese netizens (as in, almost 31 million views and counting for this one tweet). People say that AI still struggles with hands but ...

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Splatoon streaming and virtual YouTubers are both big in Japan. What happens when they get together? A whole lot of craziness, it seems. Some streamers are facing a backlash from players worried that Nintendo might ban all Splatoon livestreams after VTuber Kikaze Kimiko and others modded their games to show an adult video while they played. They chroma keyed the enemy ink to make it transparent and play over it a live-action cosplay porn featuring DeepWebUnderground, a popular virtual YouTuber who has already inspired her own adult toys. The results looked like Splatoon 3 with porn playing ...

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It is sometimes tempting to discard music idols as cookie-cutter enterprises whose ranks are filled with identical-looking young women. But at least they are flesh and blood. The models of the future may well not be. Digitally created models or even androids might be the faces of major commercial brands one day. After all, they don't age, nor is there the risk of your brand ambassador landing herself in hot water with a clumsily worded tweet or drugs arrest. The cosmetics brand Kate has released a 30-second commercial with an innovative lineup of talent: two virtual models (imma and Ria) ...

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The Futanari VTuber Tsukasa Futatama ASMR Onahole is a new release from Tama Toys. Like the DeepWebUnderground series of toys, this is based on a virtual YouTuber -- in this case, busty Tsukasa Futamata (弐珠司) -- only this time, she's hermaphrodite. If you are into futanari, you will love that this onahole has a vagina for penetrating as well as a large, erect cock (and balls) for touching and stroking, along with Tsukasa's stunning breasts on the front. Since Tsukasa Futamata specializes in ASMR videos, Tama Toys smartly included with her onahole toy a 10-minute downloadable ASMR ...

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Sexually provocative VTuber DeepWebUnderground has already released her own range of tie-in adult toys with top brand Tama Toys. But now DWU and Tama Toys have given us another -- and rewarded us for our patience with a breasts toy. Oh, and it's super inventive, too. The DWU Inverted Nipple Fuck Onahole is not just a replica of DeepWebUnderground's breasts. It's more than yet another paizuri bust toy, which are pretty familiar by now. No, this toy lets you penetrate the nipples -- and they are inverted. It's a tittyfuck or titjob taken to the next level. We saw a similar ...

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While there are plenty of adult toys endorsed by and made in collaboration with Japanese porn stars, various others kind of idols also exist out there. And not all of them are real. Top Japanese adult brand Tama Toys was quick to see an opportunity when the virtual YouTuber DeepWebUnderground (aka DWU) started to attract fans. The cute character has amassed tens of thousands of subscribers to her YouTube channel since it launched in 2018, helped by her moe looks and willingness to talk about sexy topics. And now those fans can get closer to DWU's videos than ever before with this series ...

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It was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way of linking maid cafes and hostess bars with digital idols and adult virtual reality. Behold the VR hostess cafe. Yumenographia is not a physical space, but exists purely in a digital realm: it's waiting for your patronage whenever and wherever you put on a VR headset. It is staffed by hostesses/maids who are, of course, entirely "fake" -- in the sense that they are digital avatars. But, and this is a big "but," the hostesses are real in the sense that they are the avatars of genuine people, rather than characters. At some remote ...

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