Hot Gimmick 12

OMG YES.

Everyone got what they deserved.

The end.

Hot Gimmick 11

You know, this series is in my top three shoujo series of all time. This, Peach Girl, and Paradise Kiss all read like complete shoujo crack where I could not get enough. However, at this point, I think I’m ready for this one to be over. I’m glad things are wrapping up next volume.

This volume was extremely unpleasant for me to read because I just hate the Hatsumi/Shinogu pairing. HATE. I hate them interacting, I hate Shinogu talking about it, and I hate seeing other people discussing it. I particularly hated the last scene with them in the volume. *shivers*

Ryoki Tachibana, on the other hand, is still a total pimp. The end end to this volume was extremely pleasing for me, even if it was tainted with something else. Let’s see more of this type of thing, please.

Hot Gimmick 10

What I’ve come to realize is that, while this series is not perfect, Ryoki is. Ryoki is a GREAT fucking character. He’s extremely intense, and by far the best thing the story has going for it for me. Not to say I don’t enjoy the story too, because I do. I fucking do, and it tears me up to have to wait for this one too. But Aihara does great characters, and the events in this volume make me salivate when I think of how everything is going to be resolved. Well, really, they make me froth at the mouth because the development, while it built in a favorable way for me throughout the volume, went south quickly at the end. DAMN IT.

I realized I like her in some of the same ways I like Ai Yazawa… they both have the strongest characters of any story I read. Well, those and also One Piece.

I read the first chapter of this while waiting in line to check out at Borders (yeah, it was a LONG line). I finished it, then got out of line, picked up the first volume of Tokyo Boys and Girls, then got back into line and read Hot Gimmick. I checked out, then went next door to the McDonald’s to finish it, and it was not until then I went back to class after my supposedly fifteen minute break. Ha.

Hot Gimmick 9

I’ve been having a girly manga marathon this weekend, honestly.

On one hand, I’m not sure how I waited so long to consume the last two volumes of Hot Gimmick, I love that series so much it’s weird they sat around on the shelf for as long as they did. On the other hand, I have to wait until November for the next volume now. Grr.

I still hate the abundance of focus on the weirdass Shinogu situation, but I’m glad it’s getting somewhere now, and there might be more social ramifications than I first realized. That’s nice. On the other hand, while Shinogu is a nice guy, I hate his problems and I hate reading about them. Ryoki is right, it doesn’t have anything to do with him and Hatsumi, so everyone should just forget about it.

Going against that theme though was the kickass first chapter with Subaru and Akane. God, I love that pair now. Introducing teddy bears into the mix is just an added bonus for me.

There was less Ryoki in this volume than I would have liked, quite frankly. Let’s fix that for next time, hmm?

Hot Gimmick 8

I’m sick of this Shinogu shit. It’s just sort of… no. It’s weird, and it’s adding these uncomfortable plot complications, and it makes Hatsumi upset and angsty, and it takes away from her Ryoki time. I hate when we don’t get maximum Ryoki time.

Speaking of Ryoki, way to give that one bitch the cold shoulder! Easily the best scene in the volume for me, the buildup was amazing, it was a good effort on Mrs. Tachibana’s part, the girl was perfect for the role, the scene inside the room was amazing, and the payoff blew me away. So beautifully executed. Thank you, Hatsumi, for playing your part, and thank you Ryoki for being such a pimp.

The little prequel chapter at the end was nice, and I like how it affected both characters, but overall, it couldn’t hold a candle to that awesome cold shoulder scene. That alone was worth the price of admission here, and I STILL love this series so goddamn much. On to volume 9!

Hot Gimmick 7

And here again, Ryoki is the hero after making a few bold moves. Still my favorite character by far. There he goes, airing out some dirty laundry, exposing what needs to be exposed, and making all the right moves. God Ryoki, could you be any more of a pimp?

The plot’s starting to meander a bit, though, which is sad. There’s all this shit coming up that I don’t care about but everyone’s harping on… please, just stick to Hatsumi/Ryoki, Azusa, Akane/Subaru, Shinogu/SubaruSister, or whatever pairings this series does amazingly well… because the plot seems like it’s getting in the way of this. But maybe it’ll do something awesome and I’ll be rewarded in the end. God knows this series would never punish me.

I bought volumes 7 and 9 at the same time, but they didn’t have 8 at the store, and I can’t read 9 until I have 8 ;_;

Hot Gimmick 6

I was halfway through this volume before I decided I had to have the rest of the series as soon as possible. I don’t even remember what was so good about it. It probably had something to do with Ryoki, because I like him a lot now. He’s probably one of the few, if not the only, characters I started out hating and wound up being my favorite character.

I still don’t like Hatsumi very much, she is very much a doormat. She doesn’t stand up for herself at all, and Akane’s right… everyone does make too much fuss about her.

This may have also been the volume where Hatsumi’s first boyfriend resurfaced and he, Subaru, Hatsumi, and Hatsumi’s dad had a talk. That was really anticlimatic. Sort of like what the series had been going for had been all for naught. But I still like the relationships too much to give up.

Hot Gimmick 5

If last volume was all about Shinogu, this volume is all about Shinogu and Ryoki, who are my favorite characters in this series. And this series is the one I look forward to everytime I buy a batch of manga from the store. I think “yeah yeah… GetBackers 10, gotta catch up on that… Dolls 5, I hate Dolls but only one more volume left… Eyeshield 21’s pretty good, I’ll probably read #2 tonight… HOT DAMN THEY HAVE THE NEXT VOLUME OF HOT GIMMICK THAT GETS READ ON THE TRAIN.”

Not nearly enough Azusa for the Azusa fans, I imagine, and not nearly enough Akane/Subaru for those fans, but Jesus, was I ever satisfied. I don’t really like Hatsumi too much as a character (she reminds me very much of Amelia Sedely), but I think she works great all the same, and I can’t begrudge her that. Plus, I LOVE the father element, how he throws a wrench into and instills terror into the hearts and minds of all the characters. Thank you, Hatsumi’s dad, for being great.

Hot Gimmick 4

I had meant to write this review before I read volume five, because I was afraid I’d get the plots confused. But it’s hard for me to keep my hands off a new volume of Hot Gimmick, and I tore through volume 5 last night. It was good. It was very good. But so was volume 4.

Shinogu. It was all about Shinogu, and how awesome he was. On one hand, I do like the family element and this sort of sense of community that the housing complex provides (even if the romantic attachments outside the main character and her two beaus are a bit predictable). On the other hand, there’s just a TON of characters to deal with. Shinogu coming out prominently from nowhere was a bit of a surprise, but not as surprising as his attachment. Shinogu is a PIMP, and an awesome character. Also hot and bothered this time around was Hatsumi, and Ryoki for that matter. Hatsumi still wants to patch things up with Azusa the asshole. Of course, her alternative is Ryoki the asshole. Which asshole do you prefer, Hatsumi?

God, I love this series HARD.

Hot Gimmick 3

God, this series gets better and better with every volume. This is gonna be one of those times where I can’t remember specifically what went on because I read 3 and 4 together (three was so good I went out and got four shortly after), but goddamn, this is a good series.

One of the reasons I like it is because there’s such complicated problems. It reminds me a lot of Peach Girl, but Peach Girl had weirder problems, and also started repeating itself later in the series. I like that her family is what causes her the most grief, not necessarily because they’re mean to her, but they suffer because of mistakes that aren’t really her fault. And I LOVE the situation with the two guys, I love how it reverses in on itself, and I feel like it’s something new and fresh… I can’t describe it without spoiling it, but it’s definitely different.

While I hate Azusa at this point, and the main character really doesn’t fire me up (she’s got a bit of a miss perfect thing going on… she’s flawed, but everyone loves her who is not her enemy directly), I love Ryoki and what a bitch with a heart of gold he is. I also love her sister Akane, who seems to be the most worldly and have the most accurate and normal viewpoint on everything.

God, what a great series. I haven’t been this fired up about a romance since the early volumes of Peach Girl. I hope this one doesn’t let me stray like Peach Girl did, though.