The woman you see in the image above is Mana Izumi, a 23-year-old Japanese adult video (AV) actress. Izumi made her AV debut in 2009 and has since made a name for herself as one of the most sought-after actresses sporting the gyaru style, a Japanese street fashion characterized by, among other things, bleached hair, a dark tan, and of course, lots of makeup.

You could say that Izumi has secured a stable position in the industry— a feat not easily accomplished, mind you—because of everything she wears. So it’s understandable that the only thing fans would want her to take off are her clothes, and that her reputation may have taken a hit when photos of Mana Izumi without any makeup was leaked on the internet earlier this week.

Take one more good look at the photo above, for what is once seen cannot be unseen.

First, let’s look a photo of Izumi and a friend taken during what appears to be a live chat in one of the girls’ own bedroom.

Lavish makeup? Check. Long blonde wig? Check. Fake eyelashes and nails? Check. Izumi is looking as gyaru as ever. As we’ve discussed before, special attention should be given to the dark eyeliner acceuntuating those big, almond-shaped eyes.

And now for the no-makeup image:

Before you accuse us of trying to crush your dreams with forged images and malice-filled lies, we ask you take note of two things.

The first is the room the two girls are sitting in. The Lady Gaga poster on the wall, the zebra print sheets on the bed—everything visible in the second image can be accounted for in the first.

The second is the tattoo on Izumi’s right wrist, visible in the second image but not in the first. A quick scan through the images posted by Izumi to her official blog (NSFW) and Twitter reveal that she does indeed have such a tattoo in that very location. Japanese net users have also reluctantly confirmed that Izumi is known for being one of a few AV actresses who wears ink on their body:

Convinced? I, for one, think it’s safe to say the second image is legit and, as such, that there are two conclusions that can be drawn from it: one, the Japanese know how to doll up
their women better than any country in the world; and two, just like any other AV actress, hidden underneath the styled wig, fake eyelashes and whatever digital effects the image has been filtered through, Mana Izumi is a normal Japanese girl, just like you and me.

Source: Vippers, Twitter

■ At least her body is real (or is it?)