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 (released in November) to the August 2005 issue (released in July). 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 Hot Gimmick: Girl Meets Boy 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 Akané thinks she might be pregnant, Hatsumi gets talked into buying her a pregnancy test. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned and Hatsumi is blackmailed by Ryōki Tachibana, the arrogant teenage son of the powerful Tachibana family who bullied her as a child, into being his slave. Characters The Narita Family Portrayed by: Yui Horie/Tamaki Nakanishi (drama CDs), Miona Hori (film) The main character of the series. At the beginning of the series she is a second-year student at Takazono High School, a public school. When her younger sister Akané's fear of being pregnant leads Hatsumi into purchasing a pregnancy test for her, Ryōki Tachibana sees her with it and, in exchange for keeping this secret, Hatsumi becomes Ryōki's personal slave. However, when Hatsumi's childhood friend, Azusa Odagiri, moves back into the complex, she finds she has feelings for him. These feelings do not waver even after certain events rise up that would ordinarily cause her to sever ties with Azusa. Near the middle of the series however an absence of Azusa causes Hatsumi to shift attention and rationalize her now developing feelings for Ryōki, which she later concludes is love, with the hope Ryōki's actions will become less domineering. Hatsumi is good-hearted but gullible. She does not form her own opinions and, despite talking herself up and reassuring herself that she will be assertive, has extreme difficulty standing up to people who misuse her. She is almost incapable of making