When high school girl Hatsumi has to go buy a pregnancy test because her popular sister Akane is 'late,' who does she run into but her creepy bully neighbour Ryoki, and now he's blackmailing her to become his slave! How will mild-mannered Hatsumi get out of this mess? Will Hatsumi's childhood crush (and male model) Azusa be able to save her from Ryoki's clutches? In volume 3 of Hot Gimmick, things get really hairy for our hapless heroine Hatsumi as her too-good-to-be-true childhood-buddy-now-male-model boyfriend Azusa shows his true colours, and they're a lot worse than she thought! Will the unsuspecting Hatsumi wise up in time to escape Azusa's lizardly revenge plot? Or will she be saved by, of all people, her creepy 'master' Ryoki? With (boy)friends like these, who needs enemies?

2004-07-06 The best yet!

Well, I've loved Hot Gimmick since volume 1, but it seems to me that this is definately the best yet. Though it starts off with a few slightly predictable events (with Hatsumi, the main character, mostly looking confused and saying 'Wha..?')it's all fantastically portrayed, and the plot for the rest of the book twists so much that your heart's beating at the end as if you've been riding a 10-loop roller coaster.

By the end of the volume nothing has turned out as you expected. Characters you thought you knew are showing suprising sides .... and then even more sides .... and you might find you're rooting for a different bishounen!

Once again this is rated 'For Older Teens', but frankly I don't think that any normal 'younger teen' won't be able to cope. However, nobody with very high morals or a problem with strong language should be exposed to this manga! ^_^ (Especially not parents or teachers, OK?).

So, what are you waiting for? The art is still great, the laughs are still there, and HG still leads the pack of shojo manga in the UK!