Good morning everyone,
Welcome back to There She Grows! This review will examine Kaho-chan’s Lover – かほちゃんの恋人. (FULL TITLE: かほちゃんの恋人 小さくなっちゃった僕と大きい彼女) Based on that full title, “There She Grows” will be “There He Shrinks” today.
CONTENT WARNING: Kaho-chan’s Lover includes scenes which many readers may find unpleasant. It has sequences portraying non-consensual touching and rape. Reader discretion is advised.
Kaho-chan’s Lover is a 130-minute long film produced by Soft On Demand (SOD) and starring かすみ果穂 Kaho Kasumi. (SIDE NOTE: Click here for Wikipedia’s Japanese language entry on Kaho Kasumi which includes a filmography.) Kaho-chan’s Lover was first released in late November 2007. Of interest, it is a sequel of sorts following Yui-chan’s Lover, shown below, which came out in June 2007.
Kaho Kasumi starred in a number of adult films from 2005 until 2016. According to the brief biography on her web site, she was born on October 14th, 1984, and is 153 cm (about 5 feet) tall. (SIDE NOTE: Kaho Kasumi’s offical web site is now off-line, but that profile can be read via the Wayback Machine.) Based on that reported birthday, she was 23-years old when this was released.
Kaho worked for several pornographic production companies including, but not limited to, IdeaPocket, MAXING, and SOD. Furthermore, she made multiple appearances on television dramas and variety shows, worked on radio shows and for video games, etc.
Regarding the plot of Kaho-chan’s Lover, it begins with Kaho as the only female in a small classroom mostly populated with males. The teacher was never shown, only heard. We just see her classmate Minami staring at her longingly during the middle of some instruction.
Following the opening in the classroom, Kaho and Minami talk while at a swing set. At this point, I want to point out that in general the sound design was good. However, this outdoor segment could have been done better. My aged ears had difficulty hearing their dialogue over the constant sound of cicadas! Presumably, the only microphone was on the camera and that’s why the bugs “singing” nearly overwhelmed the people speaking.
(SIDE NOTE: Solo is not looking forward to warmer weather. It means cicadas will once again dive-bomb while he takes trash to the neighborhood collection point in the early morning 😥 )
However, the shrunken man (SM) action didn’t take long to get started. Minami became tiny around the three and a half minute mark. Then there were a number of scenes showing the now-tiny man running through the tall grass around the playground, sneaking into and around Kaho’s home, engaging in various sexual activities, etc.
The method of Kaho’s shrinking was rather novel. He was hit by a car and woke up only 10cm tall. That was a unexpected result of irresponsible vehicle operation. One might reasonably expect serious bodily harm instead of dramatic height reduction. There’s no cause to fear though. Your very own Solo is capable of understanding the process by which a hit-and-run causes a person to shrink!
However, the science behind this startling shrinkage is highly technical. The method of turning big into small via car collision involves the breaking of the Coulomb barrier, the reversal of neutron flow polarity, realigning a deflector dish or two and … um, probably a few logarithms. Thus, probably best not to delve into those esoteric subjects here 😉
All that was to say, I have no idea how a speeding sedan made him tiny! Nonetheless, we as the viewers must merely accept it and keep moving forward. What follows are several scenes of 10cm tall Minami walking around and then having sex with Kaho. The bulk of the special effects (SFX) consisted of chroma-key compositing (a.k.a. “green screen“). They were executed fairly well, but there was some pixelating along the edges.
In addition to chroma-keying and close-in camera angles, a few practical effects were utilized. The props included an action figure or doll representing Minami in some shots, plus a giant cotton swab.
Kaho later ditches the cotton swab and resorts to her own two hands, more specifically just two fingers, to stimulate her lover.
She also provides a gigantic blow job to the lucky fellow:
Those scenes should be of high interest to SM fans and thus endear this film to them. However, as mentioned in the content warning, there was some distasteful material. For one, before the two engage in sex, Minami crawled over Kaho’s body and under her clothes while she slept. That made for interesting and titillating content, but it ignored the issue of consent. That’s to say, was she okay with someone fondling the skin under her bra and panties while unconscious? He didn’t ask beforehand.
However, the worse bit was an extended sequence in which bullies discover that Kaho has smuggled Minami into the classroom. The two tormentors harass the tiny guy and eventually bind him with tape.
Afterward, the bullies rape Kaho in the classroom while Minami lies nearby, helpless to stop them. This was very long and unpleasant. Making things worse, the rapists do not suffer any consequences afterward. (NOTE: None of the screenshots in this review were taken from that scene.)
Surprisingly, the sexual assault had no significant bearing on the plot. There was no attempt to seek counseling. Zero effort was made to find an authority figure at the school or contact law enforcement to seek justice and prevent the bullies from attacking other girls in the future. Nor did Minami saw off their testicles while they slept, more’s the pity.
In fact, the film ends on an upbeat note. Diminutive Minami was given an appropriately-sized desk on top of Kaho’s desk. (NOTE: It wasn’t part of the main film, but there was additional content, available through the DVD menu, featuring Minami regaining his original size and then fucking Kaho old-school style.)
Overall, Kaho-chan’s Lover is not recommended. The multiple SM scenes were executed well, but the senseless rape made this an easy pass.
That’s it for now folks. The next review will showcase a never-ending woman. Until then, keep growing!
This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.
All Rights Reserved.
There She Grows 
I gotta say I’m disappointed that you chose to review Kaho-chan’s Lover rather than the preceding title, Yui-chan’s Lover. The plots both start the same way, with an automotive mishap inexplicably causing the male lead to shrink followed by unaware tiny intrusion and body exploration. In Yui-chan, however, there is no gratuitous and traumatizing rape of the female lead. It’s just F/m sexytimes.
The only thing I would keep from Kaho-chan is part of the classroom sequence. Minami preventing Kaho from concentrating by being between her legs under her skirt while she’s at her desk is a classic set-up and well-done. Instead of male classmates bullying Kaho, they could have had female classmates who grab Minami and talk about doing things to him but Kaho succeeds in retrieving Minami before anything traumatic happens.
I speak zero Japanese, so I’ve always let myself believe the dialogue is smarter and sexier than it probably actually is. It’s been fifteen years since these two films came out, and the US size-fetish niche porn industry has only recently surpassed it in terms of special effects. Of course, the US productions aren’t subject to that ridiculous pixelation inflicted by Japanese censors.
Personally, I also prefer the film with Yui Matsuno because I find her smile to be both more mischievous and more joyous, but YMMV.
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I wasn’t even aware of Yui-chan’s Lover until researching this review. There She Grows will cover it at some point.
Also, to be clear, objectionable content like rape and violence should be fair game for artists and writers. Obviously, those crimes happen in real life and people can discuss them. Rather, it was the gratuitous way rape was used that made this a non-recommend. At the end, Kaho is back in the classroom, happy as can be, while presumably sitting next to her two rapists!
The classroom scene reminded me of 1990’s “Getting Lucky”! Additionally, the bit where Kaho gives Minami a hand job with just her fingertips was fairly unique. Can’t say that I’ve seen that very often.
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I concur that rape shouldn’t be off-limits. It should, however, serve a narrative purpose. Here, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that it was included to titillate the audience, which is dismaying.
Make an effort to see Yui-chan. I’m curious how you compare them.
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This one was pretty legendary for me. I could only find clips of it on Kazaa, grabbing portions of it and trying to figure out how they worked together as a story. While the SPFX weren’t superior, they were still imaginative with some incredibly gratifying closeups and action.
I wasn’t aware of the rape scene until this post. It absolutely makes sense to me that the Japanese would include a rape scene, free of context, devoid of consequence, for purposes of getting men off. I’m very disappointed and not surprised and very disappointed.
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I think most people are in agreement about the exploitative rape scene. At the very least myself, Aborigen, and Olo are on the same page.
That said, it’s important to point out that English-language movies also include questionable content. To give an example from a mainstream success, in 1982’s “Blade Runner” the main character Deckard (seemingly a heroic though certainly flawed figure) rapes a female character named Rachael. Rachael tells Deckard “No” and she attempts to leave the room. In response, he slams the door, throws her against a wall, and tells her to kiss him. Then they have sex.
Blade Runner was rated “R” so there were no fully nude scenes or depictions of penetration. So, Kaho-chan’s Lover was certainly more explicit. Regardless, the fact that Rachael was raped is unambiguous.
Most reviews of Blade Runner, at least the ones recorded on Rotten Tomatoes, were favorable. So, a foreign observer could use Blade Runner as evidence that English-speaking creators and audiences are amenable to rape in their movies. At least, they don’t let it keep them from buying movie tickets or copies of the film on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming, etc. I do not know how many people have watched Kaho-chan’s Lover, but I would be shocked if it had even 1% of the audience which Blade Runner did.
The director, Ridley Scott, is a Brit while the two screenwriters, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, are Americans. After watching Blade Runner, someone could claim “It’s not surprising that the audience is okay with rape in this movie. That’s just how Americans are.” As an American, I would strongly disagree, but I can see how a foreign observer might make such an assertion.
There are clearly differences between American and Japanese porn. However, I feel it’s important to point out that a lot of American porn is also arguably bad. I for one dislike the fact that so many creators make pseudo-incest content in videos about “step-sisters,” “step-mothers,” “step-aunts,” etc. To me, that’s just pandering to fans who want incest. Many of those videos are made by Americans. Furthermore, I am certain that more examples of rape in English-language movies could be given. To give just one more, James Bond forced himself on blonde nurse Patricia Fearing in 1965’s “Thunderball.”
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Sure, there are lots of American films with rape scenes, like the famous one in Revenge of the Nerds that we were supposed to find rewarding. And the Coke-bottle rape in Paris Trout, with the gross twist of the protagonist admitting he found it arousing when the victim described her experience to him.
There’s a lot of whattaboutism we can play along this line, but I wouldn’t necessarily place Kaho-chan’s Lover on the shelf with these movies.
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My point is arguing against making broad claims about groups of people. For example, the following sentence appears to be a generalized statement about Japanese people.
“It absolutely makes sense to me that the Japanese would include a rape scene, free of context, devoid of consequence, for purposes of getting men off.”
That looks like a claim that “the Japanese” are significantly more likely to include rape scenes. Presumably, it makes sense that a rape scene was included in a Japanese movie because they (the Japanese) like that content. Did I misinterpret the sentence? Could we also make a similar statement about other nationalities?
“It absolutely makes sense to me that the Americans would include a rape scene, free of context, devoid of consequence, for purposes of getting men off.”
Is it correct to make that claim about the Japanese, but not Americans? If so, why?
Anyone making the statement about Americans could cite films like Blade Runner, Paris Trout, Revenge of the Nerds, etc. as evidence. I wouldn’t put Kaho-chan’s Lover on the same shelf as those movies. For one thing, Kaho-chan’s Lover on my shelf would lead to awkward discussions with visitors. For another thing, I would argue that those American movies are WORSE because they were more “mainstream,” seen by a lot more Americans, than Kaho-chan’s Lover, which wasn’t seen by many Japanese people. Those American films were screened in theaters or broadcasted on TV and thus intended for a wide audience, but Kaho-chan’s Lover was an adult film intended for a much narrower audience. Kaho-chan’s Lover wasn’t in Japanese theaters or on Japanese TV.
Bottomline, I was arguing against generalizing other nationalities because similar objectionable content could be found in our own media. Does that make sense?
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