Hot Gimmick: Girl Meets Boy - Japanese film
Hatsumi lives in an apartment complex. One of the tenants, Ryoki Tachibana, blackmails her after discovering something scandalous about her and her sister, Akane. Around the same time, her childhood crush, Azusa Odagiri, moves back in their neighborhood. Hatsumi's world will be shaken by these two boys. Her big brother Shinogu always tries to protect her even though he's too busy working. Warning: has mature themes.
The source material, Hot Gimmick manga, holds a special place in my heart. It's the first manga that I finished reading. I love Miki Aihara's distinct art style and colorful cover art. I was rooting for the second and third leads. I can barely remember the finer details now. In the live-action adaptation, it follows the general story but it's far from the Hot Gimmick that I've held dear.
I was waiting for it to pick up and by the middle part of the movie, I just wanted to get it over with. I remembered getting this cutesy, lovey-dovey dreamy feelings about the manga but the drama is too serious and heavily angsty. I would normally enjoy the artsy editing, cinematography, and lighting but it just irked me more due to disappointment.
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Looking back now, the manga version is problematic on its own. My choices sometimes are clearly questionable. I remembered getting Hana Yori Dango vibes from Hot Gimmick because of the bad guy turning into a good guy. It's only recently that I discovered the popularity of bully romance in reverse harem books. I am not a fan of bully romance but to each their own. When I first watched Meteor Garden it felt weird to see an evil person transform into a good guy but because Domyouji is handsome you just shrug it off and then accepted it as something normal. And this mindset continued with the succeeding adaptations. In Hot Gimmick, I didn't like the main guy and most probably because of the bullying. I can see the appeal of dark characters redeeming themselves into good guys in the end (I'm a fan of this) but seeing the characters bully the heroine is a different thing. In the latest Meteor Garden remake, they toned it down. But let's see, I'm still open to reading bully romance books. I'm just touching the tip of the iceberg. I think there are darker elements in bully reverse harem books. I'll let you know in the future. :)
In the movie, Tachibana is not that evil or my memories are playing tricks on me. And may I add much manlier in the manga. I think the cute character designs in the manga made me overlook and root for the other two but now it's just so messed up and cringeworthy. It's just so blatant when I see it literally in the flesh. All of them are messed up. It's easy to hate all the characters. The title never made sense to me but now I think it might be all the gimmicks they do to achieve their selfish ends.
I was waiting for it to pick up and by the middle part of the movie, I just wanted to get it over with. I remembered getting this cutesy, lovey-dovey dreamy feelings about the manga but the drama is too serious and heavily angsty. I would normally enjoy the artsy editing, cinematography, and lighting but it just irked me more due to disappointment.
Looking back now, the manga version is problematic on its own. My choices sometimes are clearly questionable. I remembered getting Hana Yori Dango vibes from Hot Gimmick because of the bad guy turning into a good guy. It's only recently that I discovered the popularity of bully romance in reverse harem books. I am not a fan of bully romance but to each their own. When I first watched Meteor Garden it felt weird to see an evil person transform into a good guy but because Domyouji is handsome you just shrug it off and then accepted it as something normal. And this mindset continued with the succeeding adaptations. In Hot Gimmick, I didn't like the main guy and most probably because of the bullying. I can see the appeal of dark characters redeeming themselves into good guys in the end (I'm a fan of this) but seeing the characters bully the heroine is a different thing. In the latest Meteor Garden remake, they toned it down. But let's see, I'm still open to reading bully romance books. I'm just touching the tip of the iceberg. I think there are darker elements in bully reverse harem books. I'll let you know in the future. :)
In the movie, Tachibana is not that evil or my memories are playing tricks on me. And may I add much manlier in the manga. I think the cute character designs in the manga made me overlook and root for the other two but now it's just so messed up and cringeworthy. It's just so blatant when I see it literally in the flesh. All of them are messed up. It's easy to hate all the characters. The title never made sense to me but now I think it might be all the gimmicks they do to achieve their selfish ends.
Maybe it was my youth back then and immaturity clinging on superficial looks. Being one of the first manga that I completed, also played a big factor just like in Fushigi Yugi. But I would still definitely include this in my top 10 reverse harem manga if I'll ever write one and I would still want to see this as reverse harem anime.
The line in the movie struck a chord in me: you think the world is about you. It encapsulates what youth is. Maybe that is the beauty of the movie. To show you the good, the bad and the ugly of growing up. The adaptation is not entertaining, but when you look deeper it does speak its ugly and uncomfortable truth. No, I'm not looking for the silver lining but I have to confess that I had to rewatch it (or more like skim it) or else I will just sum up my feelings in a sentence or two on how I hated the movie. Surprisingly, my negative feelings went down by a notch now that I knew what I was getting into and be more objective about it.
And for the kinda reverse harem connection, Keisuke Awaji (Shinogu) was also in Hana Kimi drama. Check out my Hot Gimmick manga and Hot Gimmick S reviews. It's funny that I mentioned in my review that I prefer to see drama over anime. I take it back.! lol I do recommend another of Aihira's manga turned live-action drama which is, From 5 to 9.
The line in the movie struck a chord in me: you think the world is about you. It encapsulates what youth is. Maybe that is the beauty of the movie. To show you the good, the bad and the ugly of growing up. The adaptation is not entertaining, but when you look deeper it does speak its ugly and uncomfortable truth. No, I'm not looking for the silver lining but I have to confess that I had to rewatch it (or more like skim it) or else I will just sum up my feelings in a sentence or two on how I hated the movie. Surprisingly, my negative feelings went down by a notch now that I knew what I was getting into and be more objective about it.
And for the kinda reverse harem connection, Keisuke Awaji (Shinogu) was also in Hana Kimi drama. Check out my Hot Gimmick manga and Hot Gimmick S reviews. It's funny that I mentioned in my review that I prefer to see drama over anime. I take it back.! lol I do recommend another of Aihira's manga turned live-action drama which is, From 5 to 9.
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Hot Gimmick, Vol. 1 https://amzn.to/2XvrqTN
Hot Gimmick S https://amzn.to/3ecxvKS
Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango), Vol. 1 https://amzn.to/2XtxewX
Hana-Kimi (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1: Includes vols. 1, 2 & 3 (1) https://amzn.to/2y1ufRT