"This comic hooked my little sister and me faster than we could say, "Oh no she didn't!" --Becky Cloonan, artist of Demo, AmericanVirgin, and the creator of East Coast Rising Miki Aihara turned the manga world upside down with her salacious, outrageous, and funny hit series. If you think being a teenager is hard, wait until you read Hot Gimmick. Hatsumi's troubles with school, life, and love are so full of twists and turns, it'll make your head spin. With more (love) triangles than you can throw a geometry book at, these Tokyo boys and girls are really messed up! -- VIZ Media

Neighbors in Love! In company-owned rabbit-hutch apartments live tenants who can't afford to live anywhere else, and the apartment complex in which high-school girl Hatsumi Narita lives is ruled over by the rumor mongering, self-righteous Mrs. Tachibana. Get on Tachibana's bad side, and life becomes hell. When Hatsumi has to buy a pregnancy test because her popular sister Akane is late, Mrs. Tachibana's son, Ryoki, who used to bully Hatsumi as a kid, promises not to tell the world about Hatsumi's secret only if she becomes his slave. Suddenly Azusa, Hatsumi's protector in their youth, reappears to save her again! He's moving back into the neighborhood! Despite the budding romance between Hatsumi and Azusa, Ryoki has control over her through the secret that could ruin the lives of everyone in Hatsumi's family, and he hasn't forgotten who his slave is! Our heroine Hatsumi is on Cloud 9 when male model and childhood buddy Azusa asks her to be his girlfriend! But all is not as well as it seems: Hatsumi still has to get out from under the creepy clutches of her "master" Ryoki, who insists on continuing to blackmail her. And on the night of her first date with Azusa, her dad intervenes and grounds her! But that may not be the worst of it for poor Hatsumi, 'cause something's brewing with Azusa, and her knight in shining armor may not be what he seems...All this in drama-packed second volume of Hot Gimmick, one of the most talked-about new manga titles coming out of Japan!

Neighbors in Love! Miki Aihara turned the manga world upside down with her salacious, outrageous, and funny hit series. If you think being a teenager in America is hard, wait until you read Hot Gimmick. These Tokyo boys and girls are really messed up! A Collection of Volumes 4 - 6! "This comic hooked my little sister and me faster than we could say, "Oh no she didn't!" --Becky Cloonan, artist of Demo, AmericanVirgin, and the creator of East Coast Rising Miki Aihara turned the manga world upside down with her salacious, outrageous, and funny hit series. If you think being a teenager is hard, wait until you read Hot Gimmick. Hatsumi's troubles with school, life, and love are so full of twists and turns, it'll make your head spin. With more (love) triangles than you can throw a geometry book at, these Tokyo boys and girls are really messed up!

A girl is black-mailed into being a 'slave' by one of her neighbours.

A girl is black-mailed into being a 'slave' by one of her neighbours.

Once upon a time, one had to read Japanese in order to enjoy manga. Today manga has become a global phenomenon, attracting audiences in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. The style has become so popular, in fact, that in the US and UK publishers are appropriating the manga style in a variety of print material, resulting in the birth of harlequin mangas which combine popular romance fiction titles with manga aesthetics. Comic publishers such as Dark Horse and DC Comics are translating Japanese "classics", like Akira, into English. And of course it wasn't long before Shakespeare received the manga treatment. So what is manga? Manga roughly translates as "whimsical pictures" and its long history can be traced all the way back to picture books of eighteenth century Japan. Today, it comes in two basic forms: anthology magazines (such as Shukan Shonen Jampu) that contain several serials and manga 'books' (tankobon) that collect long-running serials from the anthologies and reprint them in one volume. The anthologies contain several serials, generally appear weekly and are so thick, up to 800 pages, that they are colloquially known as phone books. Sold at newspaper stands and in convenience stores, they often attract crowds of people who gather to read their favorite magazine. Containing sections addressing the manga industry on an international scale, the different genres, formats and artists, as well the fans themselves, Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives is an important collection of essays by an international cast of scholars, experts, and fans, and provides a one-stop resource for all those who want to learn more about manga, as well as for anybody teaching a course on the subject.

• As of Volume 8 of the Japanese version, there are 300,000 copies of Gimmick! in print (in Japan). • Detailed information and insight on movie makeup and special effects. • Will appeal to fans of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation genre. • Gimmick! is licensed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. Kohei Nagase, a genius when it comes to makeup and special effects. He uses his skills to expertly disguise people from the press, criminals, or anyone wanting to do them harm. Never one to let a minor inconvenience like a bullet wound get him down--he caught a little lead while trying to prevent a jewel heist--Kohei doggedly pursues a group of thieves who've been using one of his creations for illicit purposes. Can he spring his buddy Shingo from jail and track down the burglars before more blood--both real and costume--is shed? Later, a major Hollywood star contacts Kohei to help him deal with a fanatical female fan, but with a crooked agent thrown into the mix, Studio Gimmick might also have to foil a blackmail plot.