Comments on: Hot Gimmick Book 12

By: FoX

FoX — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:00:49 +0000

agreed, reading this I felt sad.(spoiler obviously)

- At first I liked Asuzi(sp?) than he became an asshole but with reason(even thought he did take it too far.)

- Than during the attempted-rape scene, I began to become more attached to Ryoki, I assumed this was her story telling technique and I loved where it was going and the next couple of volumes were great, but than it went down hill.

As I said(and stated in the article several times) Ryoki’s an asshole, if a guy who almost let his childhood friend get raped by his friends has more redeeming qualities than the main male-lead. Something is odd here.

- Ryoki and Hatsumi learned absolutely nothing in these past 12 volumes, if anything they turned into stereotypical divorce family you see on channel 5.

The only characters that improved or shown improvement were Asuzi, Akane, akane’s boyfriend(name escapes me), Shinogu(? sorta…The monk thing uhh..), and even Ryoki’s mother sort of’ish. All the side characters gain development but not the lead!?

Also what about the hierarchy, that is mentioned and shown many times(the ignore everybody in the family arc) and it has been proven to be very evil, large, and powerful. However almost no detail go into it.

Anyways, sorry to anyone who reads this is and it seems random and I just needed to rant, thanks for letting me use your blog as a venting point, and I whole heartedly agree with you.

By: Synh

Synh — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:01:24 +0000

This was a good storyline…I kind of wish she got a better man than Ryoki or at least RYOKI COULD’VE CHANGED TO A BETTER PERSON or something….I really liked her brother though…I feel very sad for him he has to like watch his sister [ whom he loves ] fall in love with someone else…and he knows he cant have her….

By: Charlie C

Charlie C — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:43:12 +0000

I would liked it better if she stood up for herself and ended by herself happy or flipped out on Ryoki and he would change watever…
To me it jus shows thats its ok to be needy and weak and its ok to have a boyfriend that slaps you in public
~another thing the fact that he knew about the Azusa’s mom situation but didn’t say anything til she found that picture wat the hell,”yea thanks for hiding that secret from me even tho you knew that i was worried bout this and it was hurting my family to the point where i almost got gang raped oh don’t worry i still love you” just ridiculous

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:46:32 +0000

I think that comment sums up why I came to loathe this series. :)

By: Kaleigh

Kaleigh — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:27:40 +0000

hey! Ryoki never wanted to rape her. Azusa did.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 02 May 2009 11:30:23 +0000

I use the term “character driven” only when the characters demonstrate that they have learned something or changed. None of that happened here. 12 books, and we wind up in exactly the same place. That’s a waste of my time, I feel.

Not to mention that Hatsumi winding up with an abusive boyfriend who’s willing to date-rape her is an AWFUL conclusion and not something to be celebrated for any reason.

By: alice

alice — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:42:21 +0000

to be honest i really didn’t think that badly of the ending. the things that you pointed out make a great deal of sense, but given the structure of the story and the way it progresses. even if Ryoki and Hatsumi did manage to change, i felt it would have been rushed. the story is very plot and character driven, to me hot gimmick is still one of the better examples of shojo manga. most shojo’s I’ve read are too fluffy in my opinion, having little to no realisim in terms of relationships. the lack of character growth is a disappointment, but i’m also slightly relieved that they didn’t grow. like someone else mentioned in another review i read. what hot gimmick is to me as a story, feels more like a little portion of the character’s lives. so if Ryoki and hatsumi do grow, it won’t happen in what we have seen. the whole story’s focus, is finding a concrete boyfriend girlfriend relationship, and conviction to maintain one for decent amount time anyways. the story didn’t really end up with a happily ever after because there is likely a whole lot hell that the main duo has to work through. really i think thats one of the reasons i enjoyed the story, that not everything got solved as soon as you got together with the guy you liked (thats just bull). Now Hatsumi is still on the hopeless side thinking that things are now magically better, but as readers we can see that it’s not. something that i feel that the manga artist conveyed pretty well with Asuza and shinogu. this kind of approach to an ending for a shojo is much better then most of what i’ve seen. it may not have been the most satisfactory, but not all endings are, thats part of life too.

By: I HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED: Same Concept, New Take– HOT GIMMICK - Unseen Governance Press

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:13:55 +0000

[...] And damned if I didn’t draw Hot Gimmick, which Comics Worth Reading assures me ends as badly as I thought.1 [...]

By: Honey Hunt Book 1 » Comics Worth Reading

Honey Hunt Book 1 » Comics Worth Reading — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:37:35 +0000

[...] do I dare trust you again? Hot Gimmick started with such promise — and then ended with crashing disappointment. Tokyo Boys & Girls, an earlier project, didn’t even end. Now, Honey Hunt features yet [...]

By: Stella

Stella — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:01:44 +0000

I’m not done reading the manga, but I wanted to know if I’d be wasting my time or not so I looked for spoilers to see if it’ll have the ending I want. I’m glad Hatsumi ended up with Ryoki, if only because his personality better than Azusa’s, and being with Shinogu after living as brother and sister for all her life is just too ‘EWWWWW!’.

By: Edleen

Edleen — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:49:14 +0000

I liked the manga but I kept telling myself what the heck is wrong with Hatsumi. First she is with Ryoki then with Asuza, and then Shinogu. I just wanted her to pick a guy already. I did like the ending because if Hatsumi had not picked Ryoki then in the future she would have died just like Miho, Asuza’s mother.

By: Much Viz Backlist No Longer Available Through Diamond » Comics Worth Reading

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:46:54 +0000

[...] Aishiteruze Baby and Sensual Phrase), but mostly, I see books that never clicked with me (getting Hot Gimmick off shelves is a blessing) or I lost interest [...]

By: justme

justme — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:37:05 +0000

Well,I thought the ending was perfect(I know,I would want it be a lot more but,…) She did choose Ryoki(yayy!!). I am very contented and finding the relationship between Hatsumi and Shinogu is soooo incest-ness. So EWWW!! Whenever I see them having their moments I would cringe. I would like to disagree with the OP because,first of all…yes,if anyone did notice Hatsumi did stands up for what she believes in. She stands up for her love feelings towards Ryoki and for one time she is actualy doing a favor for herself and I’m really happy that she hasn’t change from this shy and lack of self-confidence to a complete opposite because that would make it suck more. Well,Ryoki hasn’t changed much but if you realized,he is learning what is “love” from Hatsumi despite he has none from his parents. So,that is how I see his character development. I did not attempt to read Hot Gimmick S because I thought it would be very disgusiting. Imagine,falling in love with a guy that we look up to as big brother for a whole 16 years. NO WAY!

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:55:37 +0000

That’s one reason you should support the real print translations. You may not be getting the story accurately. Check the book out at your local bookstore or library and you’ll see it.

By: Morgan

Morgan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:33:08 +0000

Just a question, I was reading this online and I didn’t see the sex scene where she said “No…Stop” The whole time.

By: Molly

Molly — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:14:58 +0000

Thank god I stopped reading at around volume 4. I just got this horrible “Rape is romantic!” vibe, and I was right. This is just bad for girls everywhere.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:27:42 +0000

That, and… I really liked Azusa’s character, despite his blinding wrath.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:25:19 +0000

I agree with the majority that Ryoki and Hatsumi hardly evolved at all in the series. I mean, yes, some people don’t change… but that’s why opposites attract- they cause people to expand horizons and such. And since, well, Hatsumi and Ryoki are obvious, (and oblivious) opposites, I would’ve expected some epiphanies, at least, about how they both influence each other to change, or something like that.

You see, I kind of liked Ryoki sometimes… only some. And Hatsumi, when in the beginning, making some defense for herself was great, it just gradually… dissolved? I mean, what happened?

To some people, S/M, psychologically speaking, is consensual… but Hatsumi obviously rejects him, so I sort of see her love for him as genuinely masochistic. It’s sad, but I agree with the fact that Hatsumi can’t help the way she feels, however, only to the extent that some people are just motivated by false hope. It’s something, to say the least.

Overall, volumes 1-4: good, volumes 5-12: dissapointing, disturbing, and all around a waste of energy and suspense.

By: Lyric

Lyric — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:44:16 +0000

I just got the 12th book, and after reading the first two pages, the suspense was driving me up the wall so I decided to look for spoilers. And from what I’ve read, the ending sucks. Ryoki is a big ass baby and Asshole, and Hatsumi is dumb and indecisive to the 10th degree. It sucks though, because the story had good potential. Reading through all the volumes was like lighting a huge fire cracker, and it turns out to be a dud.

By: Astromaxis

Astromaxis — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:36:42 +0000

I look at it both ways

I do agree with the fact that Ryoki’s genuine feelings make him worthy of Hatsumi but HE NEEDS TO CLEAN HIS ACT.

I do agree with Karin’s (10th poster’s) knowledge on how people don’t always change. And I did want Ryoki to be the one for Hatsumi, only, he must change to some extent nor else as Tennesse Williams depicted in “A Streetcar named Desire” (which HG has allusions to) Ryoki may lose interest in Hatsumi one day. AS D.H. Lawrence hypothetized there’s a need for change in humans (at times) in relationships and if that doesn’t happen you just become deceased and that’s what’s going to happen to Hatsumi and Ryoki.

In fact what Sirena-Lune (23rd Poster) said was accurate. Her friend’s ASS BOYFRIEND (He’s Non-human where I’m concerned) is a prototype of Ryoki-like men and WOMEN. As Laura (21st Poster) says it is almost at times, unfortunately, uncurable, the desires a twisted mind has and Ryoki, though I could understand his selfishness, turned out a creep. The beautiful, genuine man stayed within never to blossom.

I give HG 7/10 always for realism and designs but the flawed-ness at the end really BOTHERED ME AND DISTURBED ME. I’m not saying it for its a girl but if it were a boy going after a girl like Ryoki I’d tell that guy to bitch-slap her once (I’m saying this as an expression really, no one should really hit anyone) for her DISGUSTING CONTROLLING NATURE.

So Ryoki and Hatsumi can work only with changes but Hatsumi may wanna not go after any of these boys. Though Ryoki does love her he’s stupid and so is Hatsumi in their expressions. Because realistic situations like these – they mostly don’t have good endings as Sirena-Lune posted.

Secondly, the only relationship that bode well to some extent was Akane’s though she was kind of rough on her guy (I forgot his name was it Subaru?) at times (which made me wanna pull her hair because she was being really stupid those times)

HG had loads of potential. Maybe Miss Aihara didn’t change things in character to avoid stereotypical patterns (where changes are done) but in this case I think she thought her own series had several possibilities – nor else she wouldn’t allow HGS to come out and draw for it.