I live in Osaka about a 10 minute walk from where the movie was filmed. The owner sold the club after this movie came out so now it`s called something else, "Prince Club Shion" I think.
Very few of them earn $30,000 per month. That`s probably what the owner of the club was making, and maybe the top 5 hosts in the country make that much, but that`s very rare. Most earn something closer to $5000, maybe $10,000 when they`re doing really well. And they`re all fucking morons so they blow every yen they earn on booze, clothes that cost way too much, eat out 100% of the time and never cook, pay triple what they need to for an apartment, take taxis everywhere, etc. These guys will be working at 7-11 when they`re 50.
With that said, they get laid by hot girls (much hotter than any of the ones shown in the documentary - I couldn`t believe how ugly the girls in the documentary were - not representative of their customers at all) and guys are always trying to break down what they do so they can get laid too.
Partly it`s just the fantasy context that gets all the girls chasing them. Most of their customers are hostesses (the female version of these guys - they have existed a lot longer than hosts), massage girls, and prostitutes.
These girls have customers constantly trying to win their affection, so to these girls being a host/hostess automatically means you are in demand and have people trying to win your affection. That`s their reality. So when they go to a host club, their default assumption is that the guy is getting chased just as much as they do. Women are not turned on by men that chase them, they are turned on by men they have to chase (even if that`s just in an emotional sense) so they go to these hosts to live out their feminine fantasies of chasing and winning over a guy - as an escape from being chased by their customers all the time. So the mindfuck is that just by being a host, you automatically get the "in demand" status that makes hot girls want to chase you - even if you are a loser outside the host club. So I don`t think what they`re doing is any real special kind of god-like shit.
Beyond that initial default attraction they get, they basically just defer sex and/or a relationship as long as possible while making it seem like it will someday happen. I think in the beginning the customers have low expectations and just want to win the guy over by fucking him, but the guys defer sex initially. And then the girls keep coming and get hooked on the guys through constant chasing, and then they might start having sex with them but defer a relationship indefinitely by making excuses. And if she`s a big customer they`ll often never sleep with her because that could jeopardize the money. But if they get indications she will stop coming if they don`t fuck her, then they might fuck her intermittently to keep her coming.
They`re really good at banter though and constantly bust on girls in a way that`s pretty amazing. A girl can make one dumb comment and these guys can ride it and bust on her for like 10 minutes attacking every little nuance of that one dumb comment and what it says about her personality. I often hang out in the same area as them when I pick up girls and I listen to these guys and learn. I`ve also competed for the same girls with them a lot on the street, and these guys are master cockblockers but also cool as ice and don`t give a shit about any particular girl and if they`re losing they just walk away and find a different girl, with no anger towards me. What really makes them different from a lot of Western "PUAs" is that these guys don`t spend a lot of time with a girl that isn`t clearly into them and quickly committing to going with them. Certain types of girls will come and put themselves in a position to be approached by these guys, so they will just approach those girls and if she`s receptive he`ll continue. But it`s only the noob host who will follow a girl for like 10 minutes without any real indication she`s coming to the club.
Interesting guys. I have some friends who have been hosts. One guy quit after a year because he just couldn`t take it anymore. Girls were turning to prostitution to be able to pay for his manipulative entertainment. And he would have to drink a hideous amount of alcohol, intentionally throwing up every hour or so to be able to keep drinking. Most of them quit within a year, if not sooner.
