Hotaru Akane

[11] Kuki's January 2006 release, Cutie Clips, gave the viewer the experience of having a "virtual love story" with several top AV actresses.

[15] Akane also had a role in director Toru Ichikawa's mainstream action film, Sekiryū no onna (赤龍の女), (The Legend of Red Dragon) which was released to theaters in October 2006.

[21] Love Splashing, released the following month, was a shiofuki-themed omnibus collection grouping Akane with such notable practitioners of the technique as Ai Kurosawa.

[22] In January 2007, Akane was chosen to be the actress in the inaugural entry of the new Ultimate Ecstasy series on the Real Works label.

[26] Akane has said that she takes pride in her career as an AV idol,[27] and her January 2007 video, Gals' Battle Royal ~Hotaru Kurenai X Chihiro Shina~, makes a theme of that professionalism.

for Cross with Chihiro Hara and Sakura Sakurada won First Place in the "Challenge Stage" section and also took the Lily Franky Honorary President Prize.

[34] In November 2008, Akane played the role of a pretentious celebrity in director Kazunori Kitasaki's mainstream action thriller Triangle Connection (トラ・コネ ~Triangle Connection~).

[38] In March 2008, Akane made her debut as a singer in a celebrity compilation CD titled Mero Raba (Melodic Lover) targeted at a female audience.

In December 2008 when the magazine's musical compilation album Koakuma Magic (小悪魔magic) was released, she was featured with her vocal track Mikazuki (lit.

[40] Unlike many other adult video actresses who carefully guard their private lives, Akane has kept a fairly high public profile.

[42] As a high-profile celebrity in the sex industry, Akane was invited to speak at a World AIDS Day event in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on 1 December 2007.

This made her feel that she had a responsibility to young people who looked up to her as an actress, and as a result, she started working in public awareness programs to promote safe sex and HIV screening.

[citation needed] In June 2012, the Taiwan online news service NowNews ran an article on the Top Ten Japanese AV Idols from a Taiwanese perspective.