PREFACE
How
would you like to become the slave of the person you feared and
hated most in the world to protect your family?
Hatsumi Narita is a regular sixteen-year-old girl living within
company housing. This means that she and her family must always
treat the head of the companies family, the Tachibana’s, like
royalty to keep living there. When her younger sister has a
pregnancy scare Hatsumi goes to buy a test for her, only to
encounter Ryoki Tachibana on her way back!
Ryoki blackmails the shy Hatsumi into becoming his slave to save
her family’s reputation. With her childhood crush, Azusa also
moving back into the company housing complex, will Hatsumi’s life
ever be stress free again?
MANGA VISION TEST
ARTWORK: The
artwork of Hot Gimmick is wonderful. Miki Aihara pays an amazing
amount of detail to facial expressions, gestures, tones, and
shading. Each frame is not overly cluttered with detail, making it
very clear and easy to understand.
SOUND EFFECTS: All
the Japanese sound effects have been translated into English.
EDITS:
Nothing has been edited out between the Japanese and English
versions.
EXTRAS: At the end of volume one, Miki Aihara takes the readers on a
neighborhood tour through Setagaya. In addition, there is an extra
section, which introduces the Narita family, providing readers with
little facts on each family member.
BOOK REPORT
STORY:
"Hot Gimmick" depicts the trials that the mild-mannered
Hatsumi faces in her everyday life, as she tries to find her own
voice and help those around her. Miki
Aihara splendidly portrays her characters, making it easy for
readers to relate to the individual characters, while also taking
the audience through many curious and interesting plot twists.
TRANSLATION: Overall, the translation was done very well,
with correct and readable grammar throughout the manga. Most of the
dialogue was translated to be the equivalent of American teenage
slang, which makes the characters more real and believable.
CHARACTERS:
Hatsumi is the perfect girl that every guy wants. She is
mild-mannered, nice, and pretty much does anything asked of her. In
contrast, her neighbor and “master” Ryoki is bossy, crude, and
thinks females are only good for sex. He constantly picks on Hatsumi,
much like a little boy would, taunting and picking on her as a means
of displaying affection.
Other frequent main characters include two of
Hatsumi’s siblings: her older brother Shinogu and younger sister
Akane. In addition to Hatsumi’s siblings, there is also Subaru,
their neighbor and friend from the housing complex, and Azusa, a
childhood friend that moves back into the complex.
FAN SERVICE: Being a shoujo comic, there is not much in the way of fan
service for the males. However, for the females, there are several
bishonen to drool over. Volume one contains a fair amount of talk,
attempts at sex, and one quick kiss scene.
FOOTNOTES:
While
initially the bright pink cover can be a turn-off for readers, the
story is quiet humorous, while adding just the right amount of angst
to keep readers interested. The way Miki Aihara portrays the
character’s emotions, in facial and body language as well as
dialogue, is chalked full of drama and complexity that readers will
enjoy.
The manga is about the discovery of feelings and the depths of
love in all its different forms. The central plot is revealed within
the first chapter, but new twists and turns still manage to surprise
the reader throughout the remainder of the volume. If you are
looking for a typical love triangle story where the girl must sort
through her feelings, then this is the manga for you. However, if
you are looking for something with lots of action, philosophy, and
magical powers, keep looking.
The art is amazing, the characters amusing and deep, which makes
you want to read it repeatedly until you get your fill of laughter
and angst for the day.
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