Hot Gimmick: Stupid Sexy Shame

[sprunkle]

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON HOT GIMMICK.

Forgive me, goddesses of feminism, for I have sinned. Again. The latest way in which I've fallen off the wagon doesn't involve my job, but the sweet, sexy allure of girly manga. I should really learn to look a gift bag in the mouth, as it were. See, before I left the bookstore for my current writing gig, I was given the chance of picking through a box of free manga Viz had sent over. Since I'm not exactly a Manga fan, but I can't say no to free books, I pretty much picked them for the lolz. Incest? In the bag! Magic words and white rabbits? Sure! A blend of bloody battles and romantic comedy set in Edo Japan? Er... okay. And one where a chick goes out to buy a pregnancy test for her sister and is blackmailed into being some boy's slave? Why, I think I remember a soap opera story line just like that.

Basically, that's the worst way to pick out Manga because you'll end up with unreadable bullshit like Angel Sanctuary. And completely addictive bullshit like Hot Gimmick. Between the normalization of abusive relationships and the hideous street fashion, this series offends me on many levels as a feminist and a woman with eyes. Our main character's name is Hatsumi, and the rivals for her favours are:

• Akane: Her childhood friend, and the stereotypical boy with a heart of gold and lashes by Maybelline... until we find out he's out for revenge on Hatsumi's father. Which he tries to achieve by getting his model buddies to rape her.
• Ryoki: The boy who was blackmailing her about the pregnancy test, who constantly belittles her intelligence and tries to enslave her into banging him. Oh, and he likes to whack her upside the head when he's displeased.
• Shinogu: Her brother. But, hey, turns out he's adopted so it's all okaa... wait no, that's still max creepy.

Basically, I'm reading a book where the least problematic is the quasi-incestuous one. And it's going down like strawberry-flavored Pocky, as I scroll through the scanlation I found online. I keep on trying to justify my consumption by saying that at time it shows a surprisingly realistic and gentle handling of teenaged sex at time between the Code: Fuchsia levels of drama. And that the author still keeps a critical distance of Ryoki. But honestly, I'm just hooked because it's absolutely batshit crazy. Every 2 pages there's some sort of dramatic development. I feel like only a few days have gone by and Hatsumi's already gotten drugged, sexually harassed, changed boyfriends, had her brother mysteriously move out and been shunned in the apartment. It makes All My Children look like Bergman.

And maybe there's something oddly charming at this strange but relatively staid juncture in my life about running around Tokyo in outfits of ever-increasing ugliness, gazing goggle-eyed at one of the 3-plus pretty guys in my life, screaming "I choose love!" and generally being a person who doesn't have to worry about taxes, loan repayments and being alone. Or maybe I should just stop eating so many Japanese snacks with dubious ingredients.