Hot Gimmick [12 Volumes]
So I thought of a livening up this tiny LJ with a few reviews rants. And what better way than to start with Hot Gimmick.
The summary from Wikipedia:
The story revolves around Hatsumi Narita, a passive sixteen-year-old girl who lives in a company housing complex that is ruled by the tyrannical Mrs. Tachibana, the wife of the company's vice president. How a family behaves in the housing complex can affect an employee's status in the company. When her promiscuous younger sister Akane thinks she might be pregnant, Hatsumi gets talked into buying her a pregnancy test. Unfortunately, things don't go exactly as planned and Hatsumi is blackmailed by Ryoki Tachibana, the arrogant teenage son of the powerful Tachibana family who bullied her as a kid, into being his slave.
I started collecting this series a couple years ago, and I loved shoujo back then. But the type of shoujo I particularly loved, had a heroine who was strong, cute, and could stand up for herself. So I when I bought Hot Gimmick and after reading the summary, I was put off by the Hatsumi's description as 'passive' but at the same time interested. I couldn't wait until she told Ryoki off.
Or so I thought.
Hot Gimmick spans 12 volumes and a reader would normally expect character development to accompany the plot. Now the main plot isn't special and the characters started out as cookie cutter archetypes of the genre. The only character I was remotely interested in was Azusa, and he was complicit in almost-rape. So yeah...
Anywho, the series progresses and Ryoki continues to treat Hatsumi like a slave. They have short moments, and I mean short one page moments where he's actually decent to her. But it doesn't last, because the majority of the time they're together, he treats her as a possession.
I continued reading on because of the, 'Who had an affair with Azusa's mom' subplot. And I thought that by the end, Hatsumi would be able to tell Ryoki off, Azusa would come out as a better person and the other characters would actually hold my attention for a bit. Well yes, it happened!
Two of the above happened. But the one that didn't was FAIL.
Azusa became a sort of decent person? Check.
Other characters became a little worthwhile? Check.
Hatsumi told Ryoki off? NO. EPIC FAIL.
Hatsumi and Ryoki missed the character development train, and are still a doormat and a sadomasochistic jackass, respectively.
Oh Hot Gimmick...it could've been so great. But it all went so wrong. Now I don't even know if I'll continue to collect the series. I'm missing four volumes, however, I'm not sure if it's worth it now. I felt like this reading the beginning of Paradise Kiss, but that ending redeemed the whole series.
The only redeeming thing about Hot Gimmick was Azusa, the art, and oh Azusa.
The summary from Wikipedia:
The story revolves around Hatsumi Narita, a passive sixteen-year-old girl who lives in a company housing complex that is ruled by the tyrannical Mrs. Tachibana, the wife of the company's vice president. How a family behaves in the housing complex can affect an employee's status in the company. When her promiscuous younger sister Akane thinks she might be pregnant, Hatsumi gets talked into buying her a pregnancy test. Unfortunately, things don't go exactly as planned and Hatsumi is blackmailed by Ryoki Tachibana, the arrogant teenage son of the powerful Tachibana family who bullied her as a kid, into being his slave.
I started collecting this series a couple years ago, and I loved shoujo back then. But the type of shoujo I particularly loved, had a heroine who was strong, cute, and could stand up for herself. So I when I bought Hot Gimmick and after reading the summary, I was put off by the Hatsumi's description as 'passive' but at the same time interested. I couldn't wait until she told Ryoki off.
Or so I thought.
Hot Gimmick spans 12 volumes and a reader would normally expect character development to accompany the plot. Now the main plot isn't special and the characters started out as cookie cutter archetypes of the genre. The only character I was remotely interested in was Azusa, and he was complicit in almost-rape. So yeah...
Anywho, the series progresses and Ryoki continues to treat Hatsumi like a slave. They have short moments, and I mean short one page moments where he's actually decent to her. But it doesn't last, because the majority of the time they're together, he treats her as a possession.
I continued reading on because of the, 'Who had an affair with Azusa's mom' subplot. And I thought that by the end, Hatsumi would be able to tell Ryoki off, Azusa would come out as a better person and the other characters would actually hold my attention for a bit. Well yes, it happened!
Two of the above happened. But the one that didn't was FAIL.
Azusa became a sort of decent person? Check.
Other characters became a little worthwhile? Check.
Hatsumi told Ryoki off? NO. EPIC FAIL.
Hatsumi and Ryoki missed the character development train, and are still a doormat and a sadomasochistic jackass, respectively.
Oh Hot Gimmick...it could've been so great. But it all went so wrong. Now I don't even know if I'll continue to collect the series. I'm missing four volumes, however, I'm not sure if it's worth it now. I felt like this reading the beginning of Paradise Kiss, but that ending redeemed the whole series.
The only redeeming thing about Hot Gimmick was Azusa, the art, and oh Azusa.