One handheld camcorder, a consumer tripod, a sheet of white cardboard for a reflector. A love hotel rented for 9,000 yen a day, a performer recruited from social-media followers, free DaVinci Resolve for editing, distribution through FANZA Doujin and DLsite. Without the production committee, scouts, and studio of commercial AV, the shooter runs directing, camera, editing, and sales alone. The finished video sells for 980 to 3,980 yen and generates anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of yen a month. This is the typical shape of the present kojin AV market.

Kojin AV is the umbrella term for adult video planned, shot, edited, and sold end to end by an individual or small team, without a commercial AV studio. Where personal recording refers to the act of shooting, kojin AV refers to a distribution form: self-produced content independent of commercial channels. Bound to FANZA Doujin, DLsite, MGS’s doujin section, and direct circle sales, it has formed an independent market since the 2010s.

Difference from commercial AV

Commercial AV runs on a division of labour among studio, production, scout, and distribution: agency-affiliated performers, commercial studios, post-production editing, and a multi-layered distribution through wholesale rental, sale, and streaming platforms. Kojin AV instead takes a near-vertically-integrated form: a direct contract between shooter and performer, shooting at home, a hotel, or a rented space, editing by the shooter, and direct upload to distribution platforms.

Production cost is therefore far lower and the break-even point low. Where a commercial AV title costs two to five million yen to produce, a kojin AV is finished for tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand. In exchange, it is weaker on sales, promotion, and performer sourcing, and so depends on social-media marketing and the performer’s own follower base.

History

The origins lie in the late-1990s “underground AV” and the early-2000s start of internet distribution. At first the field was dominated by uncensored material leaked from overseas servers, and the line between personal recording and underground video was blurred. Around 2010, FANZA (then DMM) expanded its handling of adult doujin works and DLsite formally introduced an adult-video section, building a distribution channel through which individual producers could distribute legally and with modification.

From 2014 to 2018, so-called POV (hamedori) personal circles flourished. A workflow of recruiting performers on Twitter, shooting at a hotel, and distributing on FANZA Doujin took hold. Some top circles reached annual sales in the tens of millions to over a hundred million yen, and some shooters and performers were “reverse-scouted” by commercial studios. After the 2022 AV Act, commercial AV’s shooting volume briefly collapsed under tighter contract procedures, while kojin AV, curbing shoots that meet the Act’s “specified acts” definition, in some respects saw increased inflow through the gaps in the rules. The platforms (FANZA Doujin, DLsite) also tightened self-regulation, mandating age verification, model releases, and cooling-off notices.

Distribution platforms

There are three main sales channels. FANZA Doujin (DMM group) is the largest, with overwhelming share as a platform for modified video. DLsite is second, strong in its adjacency to doujin audio and games. The “amateur video” sections of MGS, Mgstage, and the xCity group are also major channels. Added to these is direct distribution to circle-run membership sites (Fantia, FANBOX, OnlyFans, myfans).

Single-download sales are the base, but subscription (monthly membership) has been growing. This counters commercial AV’s all-you-can-watch monthly plans and shifts the shooter-buyer relationship from per-work transaction to continuing support.

Legal position

Producing and selling kojin AV can be run legally, like commercial AV, if modification is applied to avoid Article 175 obscene-material distribution rules and performers’ ages are verified. The AV Act was designed around commercial AV, but certain provisions (written appearance contracts, a deliberation period before and after disclosure) are said to reach kojin AV as well.

Risk remains high. Because the producer contracts directly with the performer, later trouble (withdrawal of consent, leaks, identity exposure) falls directly on the individual. Without the agency and legal-department shield of the commercial side, the producer must handle trouble alone.

See also

• Personal recording (kojin satsuei)
• Hamedori (POV)
• AV Act
• myfans
• OnlyFans
• Amateur (shirouto)