Although Hot Gimmick is widely referred to as the manga of feminist shame among some blogs, I still hold some fondness for the series despite not liking the way it ended very much. Miki Aihara is a master at writing gripping soap operas about downtrodden heroines. So I was excited when I saw the latest issue of Shojo Beat on the newsstand with the first chapter of Honey Hunt.
The downtrodden heroine in this manga is Yura, who has the misfortune to be the child of celebrities. Her mother is a famous actress and her father is a successful composer. Her teachers at school always hold up her parents as an example to her, but Yura isn’t particularly talented. One of her few friends is Shin, the boy next door who tutors her.
The first chapter packs more soap opera plot twists in a few pages than you’d expect to see in a collected volume of manga. There’s the drudgery of Yura’s life in high school. Her parents decide to get divorced. Shin betrays Yura in a spectacular fashion. Yura’s mother is a raging bitch. Yura bumps into a cute musician who wrote the theme song to her mother’s TV show. Her father sends his manager Keiichi to Japan to look after Yura during the divorce. Yura has to move into a hotel to escape the media frenzy. She has a meltdown on TV, and it is pretty clear that both Keiichi and the composer dude are interested in her. What will she do now that she’s been abandoned by both her parents?!
The tough thing about a new series being serialized in Shojo Beat is that it takes forever for the collected volume to come out. I’m excited about this series, it looks like it will be full of over the top drama. I’m just sad I have to wait until April 2009! There’s an online preview of the series at the Shojo Beat web site.
10:33 am on August 20th, 2008 1
Ooh, I’m curious about it now. //goes to read it online//
3:58 pm on August 20th, 2008 2
The chapter in Shojo Beat is much longer than the online preview
4:33 pm on August 20th, 2008 3
Ohmygosh, I just finish reading up to chapter 9! //cough//Scanlation site//cough//
It is pretty good! Like Hot Gimmick, I don’t really understand the meaning behind the title. But thank goodness it is only 3 volumes long.
2:27 pm on August 22nd, 2008 4
I like Yura’s character design, or what I saw of it in the brief preview, at any rate. I still need to get around to reading Hot Gimmick. And Tokyo Boys and Girls, too.
3:00 pm on August 22nd, 2008 5
I’m psyched about this series, if you couldn’t tell
Tokyo Boys and Girls seemed like a much earlier work, I think I only read the first couple volumes. I read all of Hot Gimmick though.
6:07 am on August 25th, 2008 6
[...] else’s, so go, read! She also reviews the one-shot yuri manga Angel/Dust. Tangognat enjoys the first chapter of Honey Hunt, by Hot Gimmick creator Miki Ahara, which she found in the latest Shojo Beat. Kethylia posts a brief [...]
12:24 am on September 2nd, 2008 7
I really didn’t like Hot Gimmick and I’m glad Honey Hunt’s protagonist isn’t as cringe-worthy - she actually has a little self-esteem! I recently started reading Honey Hunt only to find that the scanlation site (I know, I’m terrible) discounted it at chapter 9 because of it being licensed ): Glad to know an American magazine is serializing it! I can’t wait till next year for the first volume - the suspense is killing me.
11:53 pm on September 3rd, 2008 8
okay…
they can’t continue this series but others can contine one peice bleach d.greyman and naruto… which are all licensed and in ciculation….
i find that wrong in so many ways >_>
as for the series from what i’ve read so far i’ll deffinitly buy it as i’m a mangaholic
just hope it doesn’t turn out like an ending like hot gimmick T_T
3:54 am on October 5th, 2008 9
i just bought the issue today, it was the 1st 1 i read and i just got addicted x3 im reading the other chap. at onemanga.com ryt now hehe xD