Hot Gimmick is one of the best produced manga series I’ve seen so far. I say this because in some mangas, it’s difficult to tell which is the family name and which is the given name. This is caused by the cultural differences between Japan and America. Love Hina, with the exception of Keitaro Urashima, is a good example of this. Is Kaolla Su’s given name Kaolla or Su? Everyone calls her Su. It’s just hard to tell if, in the translation, they’ve actually inverted all the names or not. In addition to that, Miki Aihara has drawn the characters beautifully. This manga shows the most reccent turn in manga styles. (It's not like the styles of DragonBall or similar anime.) The covers are all very stylish and unique.
I’m still trying to figure out where the name for this series came from. Hot Gimmick is about the interactions of the children of a company’s housing complex. The story mainly follows Hatsumi Narita who has never had a boyfriend and is very self-conscious of herself although at times absent minded. Her younger sister Akane is almost the opposite. Still in junior high, she’s had many boyfriends and *knows* she’s beautiful. Akane will change boyfriends on a whim and hasn’t been known to be completely loyal. Also in the Narita family is Shinogu who is their adopted older brother (but only he and their parents know that) and their younger brother Hikairu who hasn’t started school yet.
The story really starts when Akane thinks she might be pregnant. She cons Hatsumi into going to the store to get her a pregnancy test, but when she returns to the complex, she runs into Ryoki Tachibana, the bully son of the company’s vice president. Ryoki’s mother, however, is regarded as the “Queen of the Housing Complex”, and she is more feared than any other woman. At first Ryoki thinks the test belongs to Hatsumi, but she lets it slip that she bought it for her sister.
Hatsumi runs after Ryoki to ask him not to tell his mother. He agrees, but only if she agrees to be his slave. She sees no other choice so she agrees to it, and just as Ryoki is about to come onto her, Azusa Odagari shows up and saves her. Azusa had once lived at the housing complex but had moved away years ago. Hatsumi is thrilled (although a little shocked 'cause she ran into him while buying the pregnancy test) and feels that this is just what she needs to stay out of Ryoki's grasp.
Even with Azusa there, Hatsumi is mistreated by Ryoki (and he’s not the only one either... but I don’t want to give that much away), and she goes through many misunderstandings. She tries to protect her sister and the rest of her family, but she also doesn’t want them to know about the situation with Ryoki.
