Veronica and I enjoy exploring some bondage play occasionally.  We have a few items that help with that, wrist cuffs, some bondage tape, an under-the-bed restraint set, but I’m not a terribly creative guy, but fortunately Eden Fantasys offered to send me Midori’s Expert Guide to Sensual Bondage DVD to review.  Hey, if I’m going to review something, might as well expand my horizons a little bit in the process, right?  Veronica: I am also not so creative.   I also gave up scouting after the Brownies so I never got to learn all that  interesting knot tying they teach in the Girl Scouts.

The DVD was written and hosted by Midori and directed by none other than Tristan Taormino, who I’ve been a fan of for a long time, so I figured it would be good.  The performers include Adrianna Nicole and Mark Davis in a scene together, followed by Madison Young and Danny Wilde in a second scene.  The DVD starts with a narrative by Midori, which includes some really good advice, such as not springing the idea of bondage on your partner during sex, the importance of good communication regarding concerns and boundaries, and safety (safe words and safe signals, taking care not to fasten restraints too tightly, etc).  She talks about everyday items around the house that can be used for bondage, such as neckties, stockings, and bathrobe belts, in addition to items that can be purchased for bondage play.

Veronica: I really liked Midori’s explanations about bondage play, especially how she stresses the importance of good communication between the partners at all aspects of play.  I also liked her suggestions for non-verbal cues in case your mouth was full.  And I also really liked Midori (I would totally do her).  I was a little thrown by her inflection.  She is obviously not a native English speaker and they way she hit certain words and phrases just seemed a little off to me, but nothing to interfere with the lesson.

The first time I watched the video I wondered about how I could get a still of her hair color to my next appointment as we have similar coloring, and wanted to ask her where she got the eyeglasses as they are really cute.  [Yeah, I am such a girl].

I also really appreciated how she was insistent about the partners being comfortable, both emotionally and physically.  I have always been a little resistant to the idea of hardcore bondage or BDSM because I do not like pain or discomfort.   I like a little hair pulling, but not hard and a light slap on the ass, but nothing much more than that.

The DVD then moves to the bedroom, where Midori uses Adrianna and Mark to demonstrate some simple bondage techniques.  Midori then goes away and Mark and Adrianna have a scene using a variety of restraints and positions.  And some of them were quite inspiring

Veronica: I enjoyed the part where Midori was in the video, showing the couple how to use scarves, bungee cords, blindfolds and other restraints. The instructional part was excellent and Hubman and  I were both taking mental notes on incorporating the ideas into play. However, once she left the video rapidly descended into typical cheesy porn, complete with the obligatory cumming on the chick scene.  Yawn.

The second scene, with Danny and Madison starts off by showing how you can use just your hands for some effective bondage- a firm grasp at the base of your partners neck, grabbing a handful of hair to control her, you get the idea.  They move on to using some over-the-door restraints (and she shows off her impressive deep throat skills!) followed by a slightly boring segment that is just fucking while standing, no real bondage element to it.  But then the scene changes and she takes charge, blindfolding him, restraining his hands and going for a ride on his cock.  This was a good chance, because up until this point the entire DVD fell along typical gender roles with the man as the top/Dom and the woman as the bottom/sub.

Veronica: I did like the fact that both members of the couple were cute and did not have the typical porn look.  However as Hubman mentioned the video did not have a lot of actual instruction, just fucking.  I was also annoyed at the state of the girl’s shoes that she was wearing for the scene.  I kept on waiting for her to puncture her ass on the heels, which were totally trashed, with the spike exposed.  If you are going to put shoes so prominently in a scene, go to Target and spend the $14.99 on a new pair.  The fact that I got to focus and think so clearly about the state of her shoes should be an indication of the excitement of the sex scene.

However the video is great for instruction, and you can always fast forward through the cheesy porn.  There are many great ideas to be had from the video.  I also liked how there was not much of a sell throughout the video for any other products or a particular brand of product, which would have been so very easy to do.

I think that Midori’s Expert Guide to Sensual Bondage would be a good choice for anyone looking to explore some bondage play.  I’ve been inspired to use some of the restraints we already have in new ways and am looking at some items found around the house in new ways

Thanks to Eden Fantasys for sending us this DVD, we enjoying watching it and learned a few tricks in the process! Please visit them for all of your sex toy needs!