In company-owned rabbit-hutch apartments live tenants who can't afford to live anywhere else, and the apartment complex in which high-school girl Hatsumi Narita lives is ruled over by the rumour mongering, self-righteous Mrs. Tachibana. Get on Tachibana's bad side, and life becomes hell. When Hatsumi has to buy a pregnancy test because her popular sister Akane is late, Mrs. Tachibana's son, Ryoki, who used to bully Hatsumi as a kid, promises not to tell the world about Hatsumi's secret if she becomes his slave. Suddenly Azusa, Hatsumi's protector in their youth, reappears to save her again! He's moving back into the neighbourhood! Despite the budding romance between Hatsumi and Azusa, Ryoki has control over her through the secret that could ruin the lives of everyone in Hatsumi's family, and he hasn't forgotten who his slave is!

ISBN13: 9781591162148

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Average Customer Review: ( 39 customer reviews )
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So why am I...so...addicted...to it??

The answer lies within the characters. They are down-to-earth, real people with down-to-earth real problems, complicated and yet sensible at the same time. (Well...sensible most of the time, at least.) I know you've probably heard that statement said a hundred times over before, but I really believe it. I personally can relate to Hatsumi and some of her problems, and therefore the overall tone of the manga gives you a sense of...reality, even though you are just reading a manga.

Then again, I've never really become a slave to my neighbor bully. Nor has one of my childhood friends returned as a very handsome model and practically comes to live next door.

That is just a preview into the life of the mild Hatsumi, who very much indeed finds herself being blackmailed by her neighbor Ryoki, and has to be at his beck and call. It's a good thing that Azusa's come back to protect Hastumi from Ryoki's "bullying", and look pretty while doing it. So is this a romance in the making between Hatsumi and model Azusa? Hmm. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I can't stress how addicting this premise itself can be. This, combined with humor throughout, makes for a greatly interesting read. The artwork is very clean and not sketchy at all, and I found it very appealing. Hot Gimmick is suited for the 16+ range, mostly just because of the open discussions of sex and whatnot.

In any case, I'm really enjoying this series. And I believe that anyone who finds this type of manga interesting should at least give Hot Gimmick a look.

17 of 18 found the following review helpful:

I am a blasphemerMar 26, 2006
By Bickazer "MapleStory"
I do not like Hot Gimmick even though I believe I am in its intended audience. Perhaps it's just because I've always preferred more intellectual science fiction over gushy shoujo, who knows. But even I can bring myself to enjoy some forms of gushy shoujo.

I just don't enjoy Hot Gimmick.

The art is nice, original, and simplistic, and that's about all that Hot Gimmick has going for it. Maybe I'm biased; the storyline is okay and the characterizations are good--I just don't LIKE the characters. It's all good but I myself as a person, non-objectively, cannot bring myself to love any of the characters. Reading Hot Gimmick makes me sick. Reading it makes my stomach turn.

Frankly, it's probably because of the pseudo-abusive pseudo-bondage themes that permeate the book. Hot Gimmick almost seems to endorse abuse against women, because of course Ryouki's so "hoooottt". Unfortunately, I don't think so. Ryouki is an annoying, heartless chauvinist who needs to be locked up in jail for a couple of years to set himself straight. Hatsumi is a doormat who is far too considerate for her own good and needs to take self-esteem therapy. If she had any sense she'd have callen the cops on Ryouki ten thousand years ago. In fact, I think all of the characters' problems, deceptions, and hypocrisies could be solved if only they decided to visit a shrink.

Some people think that abusive, possessive boyfriends are "hot". I don't. It's abuse, in every way shape and form. Women all over the world are trapped in abusive relationships with men because they've deceived themselves into thinking their boyfriends/hubsands "loooooove" them. In a world like ours, we don't need something like Hot Gimmick to just endorse that view.

Why did I, then, if I hated Hot Gimmick so much, give it three stars? Because I understand that I'm not part of the intended audience (same age group and gender, but let's say I think Isaac Asimov is godlier than say, Yu Watase), and that for teenage girls who DO like this sort of thing, they will eat it all up. Plus the art. Objectively Hot Gimmick gets three stars but viewed non-objectively by my feminist self, it receives zero.

14 of 15 found the following review helpful:

Good Shoujo for Older TeensAug 09, 2006
By Rixatrix
Let me start off by saying that I'm writing this review because I feel that Hot Gimmick has been done a big injustice by reviewers who seem to be saying it's bland.

It's not! What got me into Hot Gimmick was its *originality.*

Hatsumi is a 16-year-old girl living with her mom, little sister, older brother, and younger brother in company housing. The floors are parallel to the company hierarchy--with the CEO and his family living at the top and the less-important employees and their families living in descending order. Hatsumi and her family live somewhere in the middle, and their position in the complex is very dependent on the words of Mrs. Tachibana, the CEO's wife.

Hatsumi is out buying a pregnancy test for her younger sister (scandalous, I know!!) when she runs into Ryoki Tachibana (the gossip queen's son), who finds her with it and threatens to tell his mother unless she becomes his slave. To protect her sister's reputation and her family's standing in the complex, she agrees to his conditions. To complicate things, Azusa (Hatsumi's childhood friend) returns, with a modeling career and a mysterious past, and seems intent on wooing Hatsumi. However, we soon come to realize that his flirting is more calculated than it is playful.

Ryoki's true feelings for his "slave" are revealed gradually, and we learn that he isn't cruel and perverted, but rather naive and inexperienced in love and the idea of "family." While he is learning about these things through Hatsumi, the situation gets even more complicated when Hatsumi's mother discourages her from seeing Ryoki for the sake of their family (because Mrs. Tachibana is strongly against it).

When Hatsumi's father returns from working abroad, we begin to understand why Azusa is playing Hatsumi (while she still blindly cares for him), and this arc reveals itself even more gracefully than Azusa vs. Ryoki.

Hatsumi's younger sister, being far more experienced sexually than Hatsumi, starts to fall for Hatsumi's friend, much to her surprise. We see a slow-but-steady turnaround from her looseness towards innocence.

*Warning: Slight spoiler ahead.*
Shinogu, Hatsumi's brother, is very protective of Hatsumi throughout the series, and then he suddenly moves away. The reason for this is deep and has a strong emotional effect on Hatsumi.
*Spoiler End*

It is true that Hatsumi is more of a passive character than an assertive one, but that is true of a lot of manga and manwha heroines. Is it so shocking to think that perhaps Miki Aihara isn't copying other manga-kas, but is actually creating a story based on a prevalent personality trait of schoolgirls in Japan? Is it even more shocking to believe that perhaps Japanese schoolgirls aren't the only ones who are tense about revealing their desires? I don't think so.

Hatsumi isn't difficult to relate to; after all, we all have moments when we really want to say something, but don't because we are nervous or shy. The more profound aspects of Hot Gimmick, like learning what "love" is, discovering what "family" means, trascending social structure, discerning between sibling love and romantic love, and making peace with the past, all make this series worth reading. If that doesn't get you, then the love triagle between Hatsumi, Azusa, Ryoki, and Shinogu ("Love Square"?) will.

If it helps you to know, I have 11 of the 12 volumes, and I've already pre-ordered the 12th. Some other manga I have enjoyed reading include: Mars, Her Majesty's Dog, Kare First Love, Peach Girl, Tokyo Boys & Girls, MeruPuri, Paradise Kiss, and Absolute Boyfriend, to name a few.

Do yourself a favor, and pick up the first 2 or 3 volumes of Hot Gimmick ASAP!

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:

IrresistibleMar 31, 2004

From it's very first few pages in Volume 1, Hot Gimmick never ceases to keep you from being fervently interested and wanting more.

The artwork, for the most part, is pretty and chic: the characters are stylish and unique looking. However, Aihara sometimes hits or misses in the panels where a character's face is turned at a 45 degree angle; in these cases, the eyes closest to the 'camera' appear unnaturally larger than is typically drawn by other "manga-ka" (comic artists) of the same field. After seeing many of these sort of panels, it can get mildly irritating.

Story-wise, it's highly engaging and even sinfully indulgent; it's reminiscent of a trashy romance novel that's so good, that you just don't care what others might say! Even though it uses some cliches of many shoujo manga series, it manages to deliver a sassy, fun story in a very refreshing way. I would highly recommend it to any manga fan who enjoys a spicy romance.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:

frustratedMay 01, 2008
By elfdart
this manga sickened me. don't get me wrong, i read the whole thing and thought it had the potential to be kind of romantic, but it ended up being a story about unhealthy obsesstion and relationship abuse. i understand that love is a passionate affair of swirling emotions and non-sensical actions and what not, but there is a fine line between a healthy realtionship and an unhealthy relationship, and HG is an example of the latter. Hatsumi was treated with no repect by ryoki and was refered to, and considered a slave (which has the potential to be interesting, but was just exploitation in this instance), a dog, and a piece of luggage. she was also admitedly afraid of ryoki throughout the entire story and because of his insistance, began believing that she was stupid and worthless. this is not love. and i understand that ryoki's childhood was in some way deficient and may be the cause of his actions and thoughts, but its not ok just to accept that as an excuse for his behaviour. one of the cool things about stories is watching the characters develop into new people by learning some life lesson. Hatsumi did not grow, and neither did ryoki. this was an example of an emotionally abusive (and sometimes physically abusive) relationship that was applaued by friends and family. They show movies in high school warning kids about this kind of thing because it is wrong and all people, no matter their gender, should be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve as a human being. i shudder to think that this is socially acceptable and hope that no young girl gets a hold of it.

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