Hot Gimmick S by Megumi Nishizaki, Sawaka Kawashima (Translator), John Werry (Translator)

Synopsis

Think you know everything about Hot Gimmick? Well, think again! Hot Gimmick S, an original novelization inspired by the super-popular shojo series Hot Gimmick, boasts an ending that is completely different than how the manga series concludes. Hatsumi Narita, a somewhat indecisive coed, must navigate the choppy waters of company housing life and try to keep her love life on track too. She starts dating her extremely bossy neighbor Ryoki, but how will her dreamy older brother Shinogu feel about this? It¿s the ending that manga fans are dying to read and are bound to be talking about for a long time to come! Plus, a bonus, heart-pounding manga episode that¿s all about Hatsumi and Shinogu!

Publishers Weekly

Teenage drinking, sexual coercion, romance between adopted siblings—all par for the course in this "alternate-ending novel" set in the world of Miki Aihara's convoluted and inexplicably popular teen manga. Hatsumi, the 16-year-old narrator, begins with a fast-paced introduction to the principal characters—Ryoki, who "enslaves" Hatsumi when he sees her with a home pregnancy kit; nice-guy Azusa; and Hatsumi's adopted brother, Shinogu. They live in Mrs. Tachibana's Housing Complex, where different floors create an ad hoc caste system for families. A brief backstory on how Shinogu came to live with Hatsumi's family gives way to an interminable game of "will they, won't they," all laced with a hint of incestuous taboo and made trickier by the arrival of a beautiful competitor for Shinogu's heart. A tiny bit of tension arrives late in the tale when Shinogu turns up missing, but by and large it is an uneventful story that spends most of its time in Hatsumi's head. Fans of the original manga are legion and passionate; the alternate-ending nature of this book (in the original, Hatsumi and Ryoki end up a couple) and the fact that it is written by someone other than Aihara, means it may have a tough time winning over the otaku. (Feb.)

Biography

Miki Aihara is the author/creator of several popular shôjo manga including SEITEN TAISEI, SO BAD!, SORA NI TAIYÔ GA ARUKAGIRI, and TOKYO SHÔNEN SHÔJO. HOT GIMMICK is her most recent title and is currently running in the shôjo anthology Betsucomi, which is published by Shogakukan. Although not a Tokyo native, she currently resides in the Setagaya ward, where most of HOT GIMMICK takes place.