When we were young, we probably all heard the threatening persuasion of "if you don't study hard, you will...". As for what follows "not studying hard," some say "you won't get into a good university," others say "you won't find a good job," in short, there are various opinions.
But no matter what, before watching Bilibili uploader "Liang Jingtao"'s interview video with "Teitei" Yuki Yuzuru, I never would have thought that one consequence of "not studying hard" in this world is "having to... with young ladies every day...".
I know you might want to ask—WTF, who is this guy with a virgin face? How can he shamelessly say these things?
Although it sounds a bit outrageous, what Yuki Yuzuru said in this interview is indeed the truth—since his debut over a decade ago (Yuki Yuzuru himself claims to have debuted 14 years ago this year, though I think this number might not be accurate), he has always been active on the front lines of the industry.
As for how "active" he specifically is... let's put it this way: searching for "Yuki Yuzuru" on JAVDB yields over 2,000 results. However, since this website's collection is incomplete, it is generally believed that there are at least 3,000 works featuring Yuki Yuzuru. A few days ago, in a collaboration video by another Bilibili uploader, "Matsuura Fumiya - SPWZ President -", Yuki Yuzuru personally stated that the number of films he has shot since his debut has reached nearly 4,000.
Although Yuki Yuzuru's work schedule definitely includes rest days, considering that he mentioned in various Q&A videos on domestic platforms that "working several times a day" is very common, on average, his statement of "doing it every day..." is not exaggerated at all.
Of course, I know it's a bit abstract to ignore all the famous teachers and rising stars, and instead specifically search for a male actor whose looks are almost plain. But honestly, if you have extensive experience in "life corruption and decadence," you'll know: if you want to watch a high-quality work, searching for Teitei's name is more useful than searching for anything else.
Just as netizens summarize: "Teitei only plays high-end matches" and "Teitei productions are guaranteed to be masterpieces."
Actually, just looking at the data of "nearly 4,000 works" mentioned earlier gives us a glimpse—after all, in the Japanese industry, it's hard to be a female actress, but it's even harder to be a male actor.
Contrary to most people's imagination of "perfectly combining hobby and work," being a good male actor is very difficult: First, you need to endure twisting your body into various awkward positions to avoid the camera during filming; second, you must ensure that you can maintain a good working state under such premises; finally, you need to perfectly control the timing, just like playing "Black MYTH - Steam Edition: Wukong," whether it's "charging up beans" or "full-bar release" (and sometimes you might have to continuously "charge" during a single boss fight).
Only by achieving these points can one be considered to have reached the industry average. It can be said that whether it's the traditional "energy issue" or the modern difficulty of getting paid according to labor, male actors earn their money through blood and sweat. Moreover, even under such high-difficulty work arrangements, male actors remain a profession with supply exceeding demand.
Being able to shoot nearly 4,000 works in 14 years under such conditions, mostly appearing as the lead role at the top of the "industry pyramid," demonstrates that Yuki Yuzuru has excellent physical fitness and professional qualities—to some extent, these two are actually the same thing. It is precisely because of this that he receives numerous invitations to "high-end team-ups," becoming a golden standard for searching for high-quality works in the future.
However, the reason Yuki Yuzuru can thrive in the industry, besides his solid professional skills, is his vastly different appearance compared to other peers. Unlike the muscular Shimizu Ken, the sleazy Sugiura Ikki, or the handsome Hayashi Taichi, Yuki Yuzuru looks quite ordinary, even lacking any sexual appeal—if you only look at his appearance, it's easy to misjudge him.
However, "misfortune may be an opportunity in disguise." Yuki Yuzuru's seemingly sexless appearance opened up an alternative path for him to play roles like "male classmate," "high school graduate," and "son's friend," essentially the "Xiao Chunan" archetype. Moreover, Yuki Yuzuru has maintained his youthful appearance for 14 years since his debut, so he gradually became the industry's professional "Xiao Virgin" and earned the nickname "Teitei" (Child Emperor), a pun on "Doutei" (Virgin).
On the Chinese internet, due to the unusual combination of Teitei's ordinary "virgin-like" appearance and his astonishing strength of having filmed thousands of movies, akin to an "industry emperor," the name "Teitei" has acquired a meaning beyond the original pun in the Chinese context, creating a sense of contrast and humor.
Plus, Yuki Yuzuru's "Xiao Virgin" identity in his works fits a wide range of scenarios, from "female classmates" to "friends' mothers." This extremely broad "employment scope" means that viewers of any preference will likely find scenes featuring Yuki Yuzuru. Over time, he has become the man whom all movie enthusiasts envy, jealousy, and hate.
With such an identity, whenever related topics are mentioned, the name "Teitei" is likely to appear in the comments section—and thus, Yuki Yuzuru gained significant popularity on the Chinese internet.
And because everyone is already familiar with Yuki Yuzuru's astonishing record of filming thousands of movies, when he appears as "Xiao Chunan" in the latest works, viewers who have watched them can't help but roast the difference between his on-screen and off-screen identities, saying, "You're humblebragging again."
Influenced by factors such as high popularity and sharp roasting, these memes about Yuki Yuzuru's starring films made a round trip from export to domestic sales, spreading back to Japan and even reaching Yuki Yuzuru himself. This development led Yuki Yuzuru to post a timeless quote on X earlier this year: "I've been turned into an internet toy by Chinese people again."
Although the phrase "being treated as an internet toy" doesn't sound very good, Yuki Yuzuru himself isn't troubled by it; in fact, he quite enjoys it. Actually, if you browse Yuki Yuzuru's X homepage, you'll find that his "composition" is quite complex.
Recently, he just finished watching the latest work of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series, "Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX," bought a Ghost in the Shell T-shirt, shared his views on the AI girlfriend developed by Musk, and occasionally plays with Ginmeme jokes—such a person, of course, wouldn't mind "being treated as an internet toy."
Furthermore, in response to tweets from Chinese users roasting him for claiming to be "Xiao Chunan" in movies despite having experience with thousands of people, he quoted the line from Bilibili ghost animal superstar Zhuge Liang, "I have never seen anyone so shameless," to mock himself.
The key to this matter is that Yuki Yuzuru could post this Zhuge Liang meme expression, which is only familiar to Chinese people, not because he had "Han people guiding him from behind" like foreign bloggers who became popular after the "China-US Xiaohongshu reconciliation" last year, but because Yuki Yuzuru himself is interested in Chinese internet culture, including ghost animal videos—he even posts tweets on X to personally comment on various fan creations about himself on the Chinese internet.
Under these circumstances, and given that various social platforms on the Chinese internet already had precedents of female teachers like Uehara Ai, Momonogi Kana, and Fukada Eimi joining, Yuki Yuzuru, after collaborating with some Bilibili uploaders, simply registered accounts on Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and other platforms, becoming the first male actor to pioneer a Chinese fan base.
Unlike the strong team operation style in the accounts of female teachers in the industry, Yuki Yuzuru's accounts show obvious signs of being operated by himself. Moreover, judging from the published content, he has clearly done some research on these domestic social platforms.
Yuki Yuzuru's Bilibili account features long videos mainly focused on interviews and Q&A; his Xiaohongshu account shares graphic notes about his daily life; and his Douyin account is used for fun antics—not only is his name directly "Xiao Chunan," but his first video post was also a plot-twist short drama similar to the "Freljord" skits (unfortunately, this video can no longer be found because the lines related to "three thousand people" were too direct).
Moreover, unlike those female teacher accounts that mainly publish Vlogs, some of the content Yuki Yuzuru posts on his domestic accounts is real industry insider information. Although there is certainly a certain degree of gender factor involved, strictly speaking, Yuki Yuzuru is indeed the first industry insider to discuss the industry situation on the Chinese internet with the most meticulous attitude—this attribute almost determines that Teitei's domestic social media accounts will continue to be popular for some time to come.
Watch carefully and learn well
Moreover, from the supplements he usually uses to the average income level in the industry, except for the "charging stick technique" which wasn't disclosed due to platform censorship reasons, Yuki Yuzuru basically shared Everythinggj he could. To the extent that Hong Kong and Taiwanese news websites, which are usually quick to report on such gossip, had to come to Yuki Yuzuru's Bilibili account to learn from him this time.
However, having said that, compared to "how to supplement nutrition," the industry treatment mentioned by Yuki Yuzuru in the interview is what impressed me the most. Although often mocked, being an adult video actor in Japan is indeed not a good job. In previous columns discussing the "Fukada Eimi tax evasion incident" and the "DJ Soda removal incident," I mentioned some examples of how practitioners in this industry are marginalized in Japanese society. After reading Yuki Yuzuru's interview, whether it was "working continuously until dawn" or "losing your job immediately upon getting sick due to lack of social security," it further deepened my dark impression of this industry.
It can be said that unless one has no other skills or is forced by life circumstances, almost no normal person in Japan would choose to enter this industry. The sentiment expressed by Yuki Yuzuru at the beginning, "if I had studied hard, I wouldn't have to... every day...," might seem like humblebragging to us ordinary people, but it is probably his genuine thought.
In comparison, although working overtime until dawn is common for me as a game media editor, at least it's mental labor in an office, and labor protections are relatively in place. Saying "I envy Teitei" is usually just a joke, but if you really ask me "would you swap places with him," the answer would definitely be "no."
This isn't forced sentimental positivity—honestly, I used to have some anxiety about my own life. But after watching Teitei's interview video recently, I suddenly realized: what other profession in this world sounds less promising than a male actor who started halfway through life and earns money by consuming his physical energy every day?
Looking back, even with such a life, "Teitei" still lives it with zest—always thinking of bringing souvenirs for the crew before work, and happily interacting with his various fans on social media...
For us mortals, learning tutorials on how to supplement nutrition, how to exercise, and how to wield the stick might be a bit difficult. But regardless, we can always remember the sentence Teitei said in the interview—
"Let's do something interesting with this game of life first."
