Customer Reviews

Hot Gimmick S (Shojo Beat Fiction)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First thing you should know before spending money on this book:
1. It was NOT written by Aihara Miki. It reads and feels like a fanfic. The writing style is choppy and scattered. The huge font even makes it feel like you're back in grade school reading a chapter book.
2. It is NOT a manga. It's a graphic novel, with random recylced pictures of Hatsumi and Shinogu snatched from the REAL series.
This whole effort feels lazy. Don't waste your money. If you must read it, sit down in Barnes and Noble for an hour- if it even takes you that long to walk away from this garbage.
For a longtime Hot Gimmick fan like myself, it was a major letdown.

While I knew it wasn't written by Miki Aihara, I was really hoping for something better than this. As the other reviewer mentioned, it reads like a lame grade school book, rather than something that should be at least high school level. I'm pretty sure I'd read it in less than an hour, and most of it's like flashbacks and recaps from the manga, which I felt was really unnecessary. I mean, you're only gonna buy this book if you've read the manga! I do have to say that I liked reading the detailed account of Shinogu's childhood--I wish the author spent as much time with the actual relationship part. Well yeah, so I'm a sucker and I bought it because I'm such a HG fan (and a Shinogu fan), so the fact that a really subpar effort like this got the original author's endorsement's a big letdown. The only bright note is the cover, which is all about the Miki Aihara goodness.

Ok first off I am one of the biggest ShinoguXHatsumi fans you will ever meet... so the reason I didn't like this book isn't because of the pairing. one third of the book is recapping what happened in the manga (up to where Hatsumi sees Ryoki and Ruri together... but shes done with Ryoki after that) some of the information isn't accurate either which was extremely frustrating. I finished this book in about 30 minuetes for one it's really short, which disappointed me, and 2nd it was written at about a third grade level. The plot was very weak, and Shinogu's history just isn't that realistic... I mean I can see it happening, but I mean my god the author could have done so much more (not to mention it's not even Miki Aihara who's writing this). Another thing that really irked me is yeah they get together but they don't GET together... they don't hug, kiss, nothing... the whole book is about Hatsumi finding her feelings for Shinogu. That's all fine and dandy but I more so would like to see Shinogu's side in all of this as well... and what happens after the alternate ending haha... so overall I rated this a two because it just disappointed me so much though some parts are ok and even brought tears to my eyes... it really could have been much better

I recieved this last night, and I finished it in about an hour and a half.

The writing style is a bit choppy at the beginning; the first quarter to half of the book is a rehash of the manga, up to the end of the series. Instead of meeting Ryoki at their "special place" she does not go to say goodbye to him, and that's where the "alternate ending" goes in to effect. The alternate ending however isn't even clearly spelled out - it leaves a lot to your imagination. Normally with a book that's a good thing but when this promises to be an alternate, it should go all the way.

One disappointment is that the "heart-pounding manga episode" promised on the back is a copy of a part of one of the mangas - Vol. 9 I believe. I was hoping for something new.

I don't understand all the hate for this book - buy it knowing what you're getting into, enjoy it for what it is, and use it to complete your series.

I have to say that when I discovered the alternate pairing of this novel I was dissapointed. I liked the Hatsumi/Ryoki pairing mostly due to the fact that it was the main relationship pushed in the manga, but I will admit that the pairing wasn't the best one out of the book. When I'd heard that this novella would be set in an alternate storyline, I was hoping that Hatsumi would be paired with Azusa. Out of all the characters, he had the most compelling character & his interest in Hatsumi appeared to be out of genuine attraction to her & not to fulfill some sort of "need" within himself. (Shinogu's attraction appears to be more of an attempt to fill a void in his life, not because he's overly attracted to Hatsumi herself. The relationship between the two of them just didn't seem all that convincing to me.) Still, the Shinogu/Hatsumi pairing seemed interesting enough for a novel & there's a ton of unexplored territory, so this novel should have been a cakewalk, right?

WRONG! First off, the novel wasn't written by the original manga artist. It's more of a puff piece than anything else. There's no depth to the storyline & anything that could be a true obstacle is woefully under used. There's no true resolution to the relationship between the pair like there was in the manga & it's frankly hard to believe that Ryoki would give up so easily in the novel when in the manga he'd repeatedly made a point of never giving up (even after he claimed that he was). One of the other reviewers claimed that this novel was little better than mediocre fanfiction & I'd be hard pressed to prove them wrong. The only halfway interesting characters in the story are the ones who aren't meant to be the main characters. To add onto that, the bonus manga is just an excerpt from the series & isn't anything new. That wouldn't be a problem, except that the bonus manga has been built up to appear like it was something original to the novel.

Would I recommend this to someone? Not unless they had already read the entire Hot Gimmick series & only then if they wanted to complete the set (or are a huge Shinogu fan). Personally I feel that the money would be better spent investing in some of the more satisfying manga novelizations out on the market currently.

Well, just as my title says, I have to say I was disappointed with the book. Yes, it's pretty much a fanfic (an alternate story written by a fan) with maybe a total of five images taken from the actual manga inserted here and there throughout the book. The first half of the story is a recap of the whole Hot Gimmick original plot, which I felt is pretty unnecessary because the book even points out that it is a continuation of a manga series that you should read in order to know what's going on. The grammar and spelling...immature. I understand that the author (well, the translators, too) are trying to make it seem as though a high school student is telling the story, but it's a little too much. The book is also a very quick read--I finished it in less than an hour. And like another reviewer mentioned, NOTHING EXCITING HAPPENS. We get the recap, Shinogu's history (which is pretty far-fetched), an "OMG" here and an "OMG" there, and Hatsumi's late realization of mmmmmmmmmmmaybe feeling a little something for her former brother.

All in all, it was short and boring. How sad...and I was so excited about this alternate ending, too. It's best left to your imagination for the ideal couple (which even after reading the book is what it boils down to anyway).

It's been a while since I read Hot Gimmick. I'd heard this wasn't very good, and I'd always liked Hatsumi with Ryoki, anyway, so I never picked it up. Then a friend, knowing I like manga, bought this for me, and besides, I didn't really like the original ending much, anyway. Much as I liked Hatsumi/Ryoki, neither character changed much, and the relationship was still kind of abusive. I feel like a bad feminist for liking that pairing... Well, anyway, I thought that despite my preferences, Shinogu was probably better for Hatsumi. So I went ahead and read this.

How was it? Not terrible. I mean, it wasn't good, but it was readable. I thought the author did a good job of getting into Hatsumi's head, empty though it may be. She sounded just like she did in the manga. The recap was a bit annoying, but I had forgotten a few details, so it was kind of good to be refreshed. Either way, it didn't take long to get through. Still, it took up too much of this short book. I did enjoy the story about Shinogu's adoption. Some have complained that it was too unrealistic, but come on. This is "Hot Gimmick." The whole series reads like a trashy soap opera (and I've come to believe this was Aihara's intention all along). A little more drama fits right in.

The rest of the story's pretty boring, though. Nothing much happens. Hatsumi is as wishy-washy as ever, unable to figure out how she feels about Shinogu. She's always criticizing herself, always putting others' needs ahead of her own (not that it's bad to think of others, but when you think you're bad if you ever put yourself first... that's kind of a problem). Hatsumi Narita is a feminist nightmare. She can't think for herself, goes out of her way to maintain abusive relationships, and when she gets out of the relationship with Ryoki, she needs Shinogu to take care of her. The whole series is like that. I'm not the kind of girl who'll complain about the focus on romance in shojo; I think romance is a wonderful thing that both women and men should seek. But the relationships here... Shinogu's better for Hatsumi than Ryoki, but it still didn't seem quite healthy to me. Hatsumi thinks her problems will be solved if she's with Shinogu, and that's not right.

In fact, I wasn't convinced that she even liked Shinogu that way in the end. Throughout the book, other characters keep telling her that she ought to go for Shinogu. They tell her how much he loves her, and though they're trying to be helpful, I felt like they pressured her too much. I could believe that maybe her feelings changed a little bit, but it seemed like she may have forced them to. In any case, they still felt like brother and sister to me at the end. And the thing is, they don't really even end up together in the traditional sense. Hatsumi accepts Shinogu's feelings, then talks about how she's sure her feelings will change over time. It ends just before she's going to confess. Not exactly a satsifying ending for Hatsumi/Shinogu fans.

Overall, this book was... kind of bad, but not terrible. It did capture the spirit of the manga, and everyone was in character. It inherited the problems of the manga, too, but that's probably a necessity for it to stay in keeping with the manga. I say that if you're a big fan of the manga, you'll probably enjoy the part about Shinogu's past. You can just skim the rest if you want to know how it goes.

I have been a big fan of Hot Gimmick for a long time now and it is still my #1. I am particularly a big fan of Hatsumi and Shinogu and you can imagine how disappointed I was with the ending of the original work. When I first heard that there will be an alternate ending, I was ecstatic but I cannot say that this work is all that great. It did satisfy a part of me that Hatsumi and Shinogu will be together but for some reason, it didn't feel real. The ending of the original work kept haunting me that I kept seeing Ryoki instead of Shinogu. Oh, how I hate how things ended in the manga. Hatsumi was so stupid for choosing Ryoki over Shinogu.

Anyway, this novel was not the best and I cannot say I overly enjoyed it but I gave it 4 stars because I have always been a fan of this awesome series and I felt like I need to support any work that brings Hatsumi and Shinogu together.

I love all of the Hot Gimmick books. I can't wait till they come out on dvds