Toru Muranishi wasn't always a porn mogul. He was a failing encyclopedia salesman. That's how The Naked Director Season 1 Episode 1 kicks off, and honestly, if you went into this expecting a standard biopic, the first twenty minutes probably threw you for a loop. It’s loud. It’s sweaty. It’s deeply uncomfortable in that specific way only 1980s Japan could manage.
The premiere, titled "The Upside of Adversity," doesn't start with cameras rolling on a film set. It starts with the grind. We see Muranishi—played by Takayuki Yamada with a frantic, wide-eyed energy—pacing the streets, trying to sell books to people who don't want them. It’s a masterclass in establishing a "loser" protagonist before the eventual meteoric rise.
You’ve probably heard the buzz about this show being "The Wolf of Wall Street" of the adult film industry. That’s a fair comparison, but it misses the cultural nuance. This episode is about the death of the "Salaryman" dream. In 1980, Japan was booming, but Muranishi was drowning.
The Breaking Point in The Naked Director Season 1 Episode 1
Most people watch the first episode and focus on the eventual pivot to the adult industry, but the real meat of the story is Muranishi’s total psychological collapse. He’s the top salesman, right? He’s got the trophies. He’s got the respect of his boss. Then, in a series of brutal sequences, his entire life vanishes. His company goes bankrupt overnight. He walks in on his wife having an affair.
It’s a lot.
The pacing here is frantic. Short scenes. Quick cuts. One minute he’s celebrating a sale; the next, he’s standing in a rainstorm realizing he has nothing left. This isn't just a plot point—it’s the foundational DNA of the character. Muranishi’s "nakedness" isn't just about the industry he enters; it’s about the fact that he was stripped of his dignity by the polite, corporate society he tried so hard to serve.
Yamada’s performance is legendary for a reason. He doesn't play Muranishi as a hero. He plays him as a man who is vibrating with a mix of desperation and untapped ego. When he meets Toshi, the small-time crook who introduces him to the world of "vinyl books" (basically pornographic magazines), you can see the gears shifting. It’s not a moral awakening. It’s a survival instinct.
Why the "Vinyl Book" Scene Matters
If you’re looking for the moment The Naked Director Season 1 Episode 1 sets the tone for the rest of the series, it’s the discovery of the Hokkaido market. Muranishi realizes that while everyone is trying to sell education and "proper" lifestyle items, there is a massive, untapped, and desperate hunger for desire.
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He applies his aggressive encyclopedia sales tactics to porn. It’s brilliant and gross at the same time.
The episode does a great job of showing the era's legal grey areas. At the time, Japanese censorship laws were—and still are—complex. This wasn't about making art; it was about finding a loophole. The "smut" industry of the early 80s was disorganized and run by back-alley types. Muranishi brought the professional discipline of a high-end salesman to a world that had none.
Breaking Down the Aesthetic
Director Hitoshi Ohne went all-in on the 80s palette. Think saturated neon, cigarette smoke you can almost smell through the screen, and those specific, boxy suits. The cinematography by Masashi Yamamoto makes Tokyo feel both claustrophobic and infinite.
There's a specific shot where Muranishi is standing on a bridge after losing his job. The city is glowing behind him, but he’s in total shadow. It’s classic visual storytelling, but it works because the show doesn't linger on it too long. It moves. It has to move, because Muranishi never stops moving.
The Introduction of the Supporting Cast
We can't talk about the first episode without mentioning Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Toshi. He’s the perfect foil. Where Muranishi is intense and rigid, Toshi is fluid and charismatic. Their chemistry is what carries the slower middle section of the episode.
Then there’s the glimpse of Megumi (who later becomes the iconic Kuroki). She’s still a student in this episode, living under the thumb of a repressive mother. The show intercuts her story with Muranishi’s, setting up the collision course that will eventually define the industry. It’s a slow burn compared to Muranishi’s frantic plot, but it provides the necessary emotional weight. Without her perspective, the show would just be about a loud guy selling magazines.
Factual Context: The Real Toru Muranishi
While the show is "based on a true story," it’s worth noting where the drama takes over. The real Toru Muranishi was indeed a legendary salesman. He did work for English-language teaching materials companies. He did revolutionize the industry by being one of the first to step in front of the camera and interact with the actors, breaking the "fourth wall" of adult content.
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However, The Naked Director Season 1 Episode 1 compresses time quite a bit. The transition from salesman to pornographer took more than a single bad afternoon. But for the sake of prestige TV, the "all-at-once" collapse of his life makes for a better hook. It creates a "nothing to lose" mentality that explains his later reckless behavior, like his infamous attempts to film in Hawaii or his constant battles with the police.
The show is based on the non-fiction book Zenka 1-han Zensekai 1-i by Nobuhiro Motohashi. If you want the raw, less stylized version of these events, that’s your source. But the Netflix adaptation captures the vibe of the era better than any dry historical account could.
Common Misconceptions About the Premiere
Some viewers go into this thinking it’s a comedy because of the over-the-top acting. It isn't. Or at least, it’s a very dark one.
The biggest misconception is that Muranishi is a "rebel with a cause." In this first episode, he has no cause. He just wants to not starve. He’s a capitalist. He’s a guy who realized that the "honest" path led to a dead end, so he decided to pave his own path through the mud.
Another thing people get wrong? Thinking the show is purely about the adult film industry. It’s actually a business drama. If you swap out the porn magazines for tech software or real estate, the mechanics of the first episode remain the same:
- Identify a market gap.
- Disrupt the current gatekeepers.
- Scale at all costs.
- Deal with the personal fallout of obsession.
Why This Episode Still Ranks So High for Fans
Even after two full seasons, the pilot remains a favorite. It’s because of the ending.
The final moments of the episode, where Muranishi finally finds his "groove" in the world of illicit magazines, feels like a victory, even though you know he's heading down a dark path. It taps into that universal human desire to see someone who has been stepped on finally stand up and punch back at the world.
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It’s infectious. You find yourself rooting for a guy who is, by all accounts, becoming a degenerate. That’s the "prestige TV" magic at work.
Actionable Insights for Viewers
If you're sitting down to watch or re-watch this, keep these things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
Watch the Subtitles, Not the Dub
The vocal performance of Takayuki Yamada is 50% of the character. The way he uses formal Japanese (keigo) while talking about incredibly graphic subjects is a huge part of the irony and humor. You lose that in the English dub.
Research the "Economic Bubble"
The show makes way more sense if you understand that 1980s Japan was drowning in money. The decadence isn't just for show; it was a period of extreme excess where people felt invincible. Muranishi is a product of that specific environment.
Pay Attention to the Background Characters
The "extras" in the office and on the streets represent the society Muranishi is leaving behind. Look at their stiff postures and muted colors compared to the vibrant, chaotic world of the "vinyl book" shops. The visual contrast tells the story better than the dialogue does.
Check Out the Soundtrack
The music choices are deliberate. They use upbeat, synth-heavy tracks to mask the underlying sadness of the characters' lives. It’s a classic "happy music, sad scene" trope that the series uses effectively throughout its run.
The Naked Director Season 1 Episode 1 isn't just an introduction to a show; it’s an introduction to a shift in Japanese media. It was one of the first times a major global platform like Netflix put a massive budget behind a story that domestic Japanese TV wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. It broke taboos, not just because of the nudity, but because it dared to show the "dark side" of the Japanese economic miracle.
Take a look at how the episode handles the concept of "shame." In Japanese culture, shame is a powerful social tool. Muranishi’s journey in this first hour is essentially the process of him losing his capacity for shame. Once he doesn't care what his neighbors, his ex-wife, or his former colleagues think, he becomes dangerous. He becomes powerful.
That transition is the core of the series, and it starts right here.