Hot Gimmick


Hot Gimmick is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Miki Aihara. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Betsucomi magazine from the December 2000 issue to the August 2005 issue. Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into 12 bound volumes under the Flower Comics imprint. Viz Media licensed the series for an English-language release in North America.
Hot Gimmick inspired two drama CDs and an alternate-ending light novel, the latter of which is licensed by Viz Media. A live-action film adaptation, titled and directed by Yūki Yamato, was released in Japan on June 28, 2019.

Plot

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 do not 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.

Characters

The Narita Family

;Hatsumi Narita
Portrayed by: Yui Horie/Tamaki Nakanishi, Miona Hori
;Akane Narita
Portrayed by: Akeno Watanabe, Hiyori Sakurada
;Shinogu Narita
Portrayed by: Shin-ichiro Miki/Yoshinori Ogino, Shotaro Mamiya
;Hikaru Narita
Portrayed by: Etsuko Kozakura/Noriko Shitaya
;Shihoko Narita
;Toru Narita

The Tachibana Family

;Ryoki Tachibana
Portrayed by: Kosuke Toriumi/Masazumi Ozo, Hiroya Shimizu
;Natsue Tachibana
;Shuichiro Tachibana

The Odagiri Family

;Azusa Odagiri
Portrayed by: Hiroyuki Yoshino/Taisuke Yamamoto, Mizuki Itagaki
;Minoru Odagiri
;Miho Odagiri

The Yagi Family

;Subaru Yagi
Portrayed by: Soichiro Hoshi, Kaisei Kamimura
;Asahi Yagi

Others

;Mariko Takato
;Rina Katsuragi
Portrayed by: Akiko Hiramatsu, Riho Yoshioka
;Shuji Kazama
;Ruri Saionji

Light novel

Hot Gimmick S is a light novel spin-off of the manga, published in Japan in November 2005. It was written by Megumi Nishizaki and illustrated by Miki Aihara. The story focuses on the relationship between Hatsumi and Shinogu, with Hatsumi narrating. Characters from the manga also make brief appearances and play small roles in the story. A few new characters are introduced, as well.
The novel also introduces new nicknames never used in the manga: Hatsumi calls Akane "Aka-chin" and Hikaru "Hii-kun". At the age of two, she refers to herself as "Hami-tan" as opposed to "Hami-chan," like in the manga.
At the very end of the novel, a scene from volume nine of the manga where Shinogu and Hatsumi recall childhood memories while trapped in an elevator is featured. This section was falsely advertised as being an entirely new manga chapter about the two.
Viz Media licensed the novel for an English-language release in North America, published on February 20, 2007.

New characters

;Wakana Nanami
;Satoko Shinoda
;Yuko Tanizaki
;Yuko's boyfriend
;Satoru Shionoya

Live-action film

On September 24, 2018, a live-action film adaptation was announced for release in the following year. The following day, Aihara posted about the film on her blog. On December 17, Toei Company, the film's distributor, confirmed the release date as June 28, 2019. On March 14, 2019, the film's full title was revealed to be . The same day, the first poster and teaser trailer were released.

Cast