The year is 1991, and arcade video games are the latest craze. Becoming a professional gamer is a far-fetched dream in an industry that has yet to spread its influence. Yet, that is the path sixth-grader Haruo Yaguchi wants to pursue. His aptitude for video games has earned him respect in local arcades and bestowed him with confidence and pride, both of which are shattered when fellow classmate Akira Oono easily defeats him in Street Fighter 2.
Akira is rich, pretty, and smart—as close as can be to a perfect girl. But Haruo had never cared about these things as, despite his multiple shortcomings as a person, his supremacy in video games was, in his mind, undisputed. So, now that someone has appeared who can rival him, part of Haruo cannot help but loathe her. Another part, however, itches for somebody who can compete with him on equal terms, and Akira is more than capable.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Syureria
Video games are games that use interaction with the user interface through images produced by video devices. Video games generally provide a reward system such as a score calculated based on the level of success achieved in completing tasks in the game. The word "video" in "video games" initially refers to a raster display device. But with the use of the term "video game", now the word video game can be used to refer to games on any display device. The electronic systems used to run video games are called platforms, for example personal computers and game consoles. taking the theme in the year one thousand ninehundred and ninety one in that year the video game is still experiencing its popularity, a child named "Haruo Yaguchi" spends his days playing video games regardless of how his future destiny is as if the world is just a link between himself and video games .
The manga composed by "Oshikiri Rensuke" has made JC Staff studios make this series as an anime series. JC Staff made this series feel good and have a big impact (to be honest this studio has adapted some good manga / light novels for example Shokugeki no Souma and of course Shakugan no Shana which was adapted by three seassons).
no part of the voice is like eating without a drink, it doesn't feel complete if an anime doesn't have a supportive voice. For this series of voice actors, "Suzushiro Sayumi" acts as Oono Akira (although Oono's character rarely speaks) "Hirose Yuuki" acts as Hidaka Koharu and "Amasaki Kouhei" act as Haruo Yaguchi.
from the song theme section, it might be quite fitting and well, the opening song "New stranger" which was sung by Sora Tob Sakana was so good even though I don't know who he was, but what made me like the series this time for the closing theme song could be a favorite " Houkago die strauction "which was sung by Etsuko Yakushimaru.
in this series maybe at the beginning of the episode Haruo Yaguchi was an academic fool and only liked video games after the meeting with Oono Akira Yaguchi began to regard him as a rival but after a while Oono left Japan for a reason. When Oono left we got or the appearance of playing the third character, Hidaka Koharu, acts as an encouragement even though she also has feelings with Yaguchi.
The series adapted by JC Staff this time is more prominent on the impression of romance and honesty, I as an audience are very enthusiastic about this series and can't wait for the story to continue where a child who often goes to the place of video games begins to have feelings for his rival and his meeting with Oono Akira grow the seeds of love are very good to watch for teenagers and adults.
in the end we as humans also have a sense where we want to relieve stress from our daily busyness with the existence of video game games which are now very sophisticated and this series reminds us that we do not fall into a world that is only temporary.
if you expect a happy life forever then fight from now on because of the future what we do today.
TakaCode
High Score Girl is one of the theses seasonal shows that quietly snuck up on me at the of the Summer 18 season. It was a manga series done by Oshikiri, Rensuke and until mid August where it Netflix announced they will be streaming the series in December 2018 the show least for a short while was hanging around in obscure vile and even after that Netflix announced the series is still pretty obscure compared to almost every other anime from this summer season. Fast forward to late September where I was done watching throwaway seasonal anime from this season like Angel Of Death, How toNot Summon a Demon Lord and Happy Sugar Life I decided to check out High Score Girl after leaving the show in my plan to watch list for so long. Then I watched it and after watching all 12 episodes of this I can defiantly say this. High Score Girl is not only the best anime from this season but it's also one of the best modern anime romcom to ever come period. I completely underestimated this show because at first, I thought this would be another forgetful romcom anime but this series completely blew me away in terms of writing, characters, music, romance and plot to a point where the series became a masterpiece
The story follows Haruo Yaguchi who is a gamer who spends he's all free time at the arcades playing various retro games such as Street Fighter II than take his daily life seriously, earning him the title Beastly Fingers Haruo. However, things would take a turn one day when he encounters honour student and rich girl Akira Oono dominating everyone else at his favourite game with Zangief. Having lost to her 7 times in a row and eager to break her 29-win streak, he resorts to underhanded tactics with his own favourite character Guile, an act which earns him a solid right hook from the otherwise quiet and aloof girl—and ultimately sparks their rocky relationship as she brazenly follows him from arcade to arcade after school.
The story of High Score Girl is brilliant and sweet.
Right from the gate, the show makes a great first impression where the show fantastically shows us the setting of the series with its early 90s gaming atmosphere where there are people standing up watching the players playing various arcade games. Not only that but it greatly introduces it's main two chararters in a form of a Street Fighter match where up to that point they have never interacted with each other.
It is series is effectively a coming of age tale of two people who meet up thanks to the hobby of gaming as well them understanding how the world really works outside of gaming.
At first this show may appear as your typical happy romcom anime however as the series progresses the show becomes more than just your typical romcom anime where the anime slowly dives into serious and relatable themes such as lack of free will, child abuse, letting go of your hobbies in favour of improving your studies and helping people get into the medium that you love and am glad that the show was able to handles theses theme with respect.
The romance in this show is very well handled. At first, Haruo and Oona don't have much chararter chemistry with each other but at the series progresses these two started to understand each other thank to video games to a point by the end of the series you feel like they are made for each other.
Even though this show a rom-com at heart it was still a great detail that adds more life to this show world.
The one thing that I loved about High Score Girl is how the show perfectly presents gaming in the 90s era. Before the days of Fortnite, Call Of Duty and League of Legends where people play these games online people would go to the arcades to play various games such as Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Vampire Hunter Darkstalkers Revenge etc. Not only that but compared to modern gamers today where they mostly spend the time talking to people online thanks to the power of the internet people around that time would ask face to face if they co-op/versus match with them.
Another thing that I liked about High Score Girl that was that the gaming industry develops alongside the characters for example in episode 1 people are playing the arcades as well SNES/Genesis however after episode 8 onwards people in the show started to talk about Virtual Boy, Sega Saturn and PlayStation 1 showing us how much the technology has evolved since episode 1. You would think that the attention of detail would be pointless in the overall narrative but it isn't as it perfectly tackles the themes of catching up, pride and getting left behind. In episode 10 when Harou lost to Koharu in both Street Fighter and Vampire Hunter Darkstalkers Revenge he didn't simply lose the fight but he's slowly losing his gaming pride as while all the new games and consoles were coming out Haruo was studying hard to get the high school that Oono is in and because of all that hard work Haruo literally started to struggle to play games for a while. This doesn't end there the social commentary in High Score Girl is extremely well handled. Throughout the show, characters would often commentate on a certain games/consoles as well as nongamers giving they views on the game industry. For example Haruo mother despite her being clueless about video games she doesn't mind Haruo playing video game even if his grades are at rock bottom. On the other side, we have Oono's private tutor who thinks that video games are a big waste of time and she doesn't’ want her to be part of the gaming crowd
Overall the story in High Score Girl was amazing as it’s not only a great throwback to 90s gaming but it’s the best modern love story I have ever seen.
10/10
Characters.
Now we have the charters and to be frankly honestly the characters are all awesome and enjoyable in they own ways.
First up have our main protagonist Haruo who is an anti-social boy who has a passion for video games. Haruo may start off as a generic romcom geek protagonist he quickly became one of the most relatable character I have ever seen in a long while.
The way that he develops over the course of this series was as he went from being an anti-social kid who just sat down playing video games to a sociable person who starts caring more about the world as well Onna by trying his best to reduce his gaming addiction just so he can better person. It doesn't stop there the way he behaves and acts towards people was a nice portrayal of gamers from the 90s as whole were they so passionate toward video games that they either stay in the arcades playing games until closing time or pretending to be ill so they can play more games missing school in the progress. Overall brilliant chararter and he's by far my favourite chararter in the series.
Next, we have Akira Oona who is the silent rich daughter of the Onno family who sneaks away every so often to the gaming arcades to escape the harsh environment at home. Despite her being mostly silent in the anime I really enjoyed Oona. Instead of being another typical loud tsundere type she uses facial expressions that what she likes and what she hates. This alone makes Oono a complex chararter because the only way we relate communicate with Oono is by facial expressions. Unlike Haruo where he a great gaming life Oono gaming life is pretty sad as she has a strict private tutor that prevents her from going the hobbies that she enjoys doing like playing Video Games and while all that drama is going on she doesn't say a word as she show us her facial expression of what she's feeling. Overall great character.
Finally, we have Hidaka a girl who has no real hobbies. I really like her. At first, I thought she would just love triangle bait for the main two however as the series progresses she beings her own character where instead of interfering with the potential couple she actually supports Haruo by helping him get closer to Oono. Her character doesn't end there she actually starts getting interesting playing video games and by the 10th episode, she becomes a competent gamer for fighting games.
The rest of the characters were great for what they were as they are all fun and entertaining to watch especially Haruo's mom.
Overall the characters High Score Girl were amazing and it's easily the series biggest strength
10/10
Visuals.
While the story and chararters were amazing I sadly cannot say the same thing the visuals because this is easily the weakest part of High Score Girl. Okay the visuals aren't necessarily bad in fact I don't mind if a show goes for a different visual style but the problem with High Score Girl is how the show uses it's CGI. When the show it's at best visually the anime can look pretty good however a lot of the show can look rough especially the first half where the CGI was at it's worst. It eventually did get better in the second half as the show more constraint with its CGI but I honestly wish the show could have handled the CGI a bit better where it can attract the mainstream audience of anime fans. It's such a shame really because the show is outside its use of CGI is very good especially when the show uses actual footage of video games that are been played by real skilled people.
7/10
Sound.
The soundtrack in High Score Girl is an amazing throwback piece towards the 90s gaming as many of the tracks in the anime have that nice retro 16-bit mix to it along with a couple of modern tracks.
The opening theme New Stranger by sora tob sakana is a fantastic opening theme that perfectly captures the show tone and setting of the series with a nice blend of modern and 16-bit style. Not to mention it's very catchy.
The ending theme "Houkago Diestrauction by Etsuko Yakushimaru is a clam and relaxing theme that perfectly closes each episode of High Score Girl. While it's not as great as the opening theme it's still a good song that is memorable on its own right.
The voice acting in High Score Girl is incredible. The Seyiuss all did a fantastic job on the roles that they were given. Not only was the voice acting well acted but the characters react to the games based on voice acting alone was great as they all sound like actual gamers that either won or lose a game.
At this time of the review, High Score Girl hasn't got an English Dub, however, like with Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan the show will be dubbed sometime in the future by Netflix.
9/10
Final Thoughts.
High Score Girl is another modern anime masterpiece.
Sure the CGI in the show wasn't that great however the writing, romance, music, characters, and the great use of gaming references completely make up to a point where we can ignore the shows meh use of CGI. The show was truly a wonderful experience I will never forget and because of that, I thank the people who make High Score Girl for making this wonderful anime that perfectly shows that the story and characters come first before the production values.
Final Score 9.5/10
Karhu
I have been reading other opinions and positive praise around High Score Girl, but I still don't get why this is supposed to be so good and the savior of summer 2018 anime. It's just a generic love story where the main dude is an over exaggerated character whose behavior is the outcome of "anime" and not any personality traits. The main female is perfect gamer and student, beautiful and ideal girl with tragic past story AKA a textbook example of a Mary Sue. There is also another girl in the series who creates the fallacy of harem, but she only appears in few episodes andher entire purpose in the series is to have silent monologue inside her head where she praises the main dude for being so amazing and kind and perfect, and cucks herself for the "canon pairing".
The romance is build around retro gaming and that arguably offers some nostalgia and the only content that is really worth of anything in the series. The romance writing itself almost entirely relies on the Mary Sue traits of the female lead where we get cliches that commonly occur in shoujo romances, and the main dude acting like prince charming whose life resolves around the Mary Sue chick. Of course, the anime is just a fraction of the story and almost nothing outside sol happens in the romance, mainly because the girl is awkward and weird and the dude is dense above all else. In fact, at this point it's safe to say that the whole thing exists just to advertise the manga which is an obligatory read unless S02 gets confirmed.
The comedy is almost never funny. In the first half of the series, it relies on goofy animation tricks and similar over exaggerated situations as the main dude's behavior. This is best seen in scenes where the mc gets hit by a car and spin in the air for something like 20 times or gets kicked in the nuts by other characters. The 2nd half didn't even attempt to do any comedy anymore outside mc's mom and few reliefs.
The art is real nice and the retro gaming side of the story is entertaining to watch, but the romance writing is closer to pathetic than anything else and our characters are mediocre, average at best.
I already wrote a longer review earlier but it was buried under the praise so I will leave this as a short explanation on why I don't personally find this series to be amazing at all. Sure it was okay to watch, but I wouldn't personally go praising story or characters of this sort.
Stark700
There’s often times when I feel a bit of nostalgia in life. Who doesn’t really? The 1990s may not be technological advanced compared to our current modern times but it had great music, a more relaxing atmosphere, and moments that we’ll never forget. I remember the days when people actually went to places like Blockbuster to rent home videos rather than binge watching Netflix. People weren't on their phones half the day. Nowadays, everything is just too convenient and people operate at their homes through the digital web. Why do I mention this? It’s because High Score Girl made me feel a bit of that nostalgia.Don’t get me wrong though. I love the convenience of our current times and everything being so simple. However, watching High Score Girl gave me the impression of old school video gaming nostalgia. I was never too big about retro games or playing at the arcades. However, the contemporary times of this show made it feel like it’s both realistic and inspiring. As a series about video games, it takes an approach at decorating its story with a 1990s sensation.
We meet 6th grader Haruo Yaguchi from the start and he is not exactly someone I’d describe as popular at school. He’s a video game addict who spends his time playing games than studying or doing anything else. In many ways, Haruo doesn’t really have a goal in life other than to be the best gamer. His favorite genre seems to be fighting games such as Street Fighter II. He even earned a self-proclaimed title by calling himself “Beastly Fingers Haruo”. His life seems to be unchanging until meeting a rich girl named Akira Oono. After getting curb stomped by her at video gaming, it became obvious that he is no longer the best. This sets the main story as we see the relationship between the two and how they develop.
Jumping into this series felt unusual at first. It felt like a coming of age story that mixes in drama, comedy, and even some romance. The last part isn’t noticeable at first so I’ll get to it later. Rather, the story chronicles about how Haruo’s character changes throughout the series. In the beginning, he is more of a brat who tends to get angry when things don’t go his way. You ever seen a kid rage at video games because he lost like a sore loser? That’s the sort of imagery you can imagine coming from Haruo. However, meeting Oono changes his character as he matures and becomes a more tolerable person. I think it’s rather ironic that he offers to be friends with Oono as the two are more like rivals in the beginning. However, the show makes it clear that there’s a skill difference between the two though so perhaps it isn’t really a close rivalry. I think it’s important to address the friendship between Haruo and Oono as it develops into perhaps something more than just a bond. In later episodes, Oono seems to show feelings towards Haruo while the boy remains oblivious. It’s more of an innocent affection than anything else since the series doesn’t truly commit to romance. Despite this, I think it goes to show how far these two bonded together. Because let’s face it, Oono is a character with a quiet nature. No one besides Haruo seems to be able to get close to her. Even with her popularity, she is shy and throughout the show, we never once hear her speak directly to a character. She is able to open herself more thanks to Haruo’s influence and we see her show more emotions rather than being aloof all the time. There seems to be even feelings of jealousy coming from the girl in later episodes.
We eventually meet a girl named Koharu Hidata. Unlike Oono, she is more outspoken and easily fits with the crowd. Despite not being a child prodigy, Hidata is a much more sociable person as she is able to converse with anyone. Hidata’s relationship with Haruo in the show is pretty typical that transforms from being normal friends to her developing a crush towards him. In terms of technical skills, she isn’t as talented as Haruo or Oono when it comes to video games. However, the creators establishes her as a determined girl who wants to prove herself, and most importantly to Haruo. I’d say that she is more of a tsundere after observing her behavior. You be the judge but Hidata does add a different side of the series. She fills the role of being a character that Haruo doesn’t feel inferior to and can get along normally. Still, the series doesn’t do a well job at building their relationship because as usual, Haruo is oblivious to romance like a stone cold rock.
There’s a lot of emphasis on these three characters so you’re probably asking yourself if there are any others to worth mention. Unfortunately, most of the side characters in the series can be easily forgettable. Characters like Miyao (the chick magnet) hardly influences the story. The adult characters also makes little impact such as Oono’s butler or Haruo’s parents. It feels like these characters are just there and nothing more. Nonetheless, this really shouldn’t sway your attention as the heart of the show is about how characters changes through common interests and how they understand each other. There’s a good amount of heartwarming moments and clever comedy if you're into that too.
It’s almost impossible to not talk about the art style of this series. When it comes down to it, the show feels like a mixture of old school aesthetic blending with video game graphics. Even the theme songs is crafted with its peculiar video game style. Thankfully, it’s very faithful to the manga especially in terms of character design. And on most parts, I think they did a phenomenal job at portraying Oono. Despite not speaking at all in the show, she is able to express herself with body language and facial expressions. It’s important to also realize Oono’s change in those expressions that represent her development. Meanwhile, I’m also grateful for the realistic 1990s setting the series takes place in with the arcade games. Retro games like Street Fighter is shown with clever creativity while the graphic style represents the old school ways of playing. However, I wish the series presented more variety. Besides Street Fighter, there’s hardly any other games that are worth mentioning.
The 1990s really was a time that I missed. Everything just felt so simple and while I’m not as dedicated to retro games as the characters in this show, it still made me want to play them. That is to say, they still exist in our modern times but playing them now just feels different. Nonetheless, this series isn’t just about gaming but also how characters change. The creators really wanted us to get attached to the main characters and it worked. High Score Girl is a show that I recommend to anyone even if you’re not a video game fanatic. It has enough of a story with themes and main characters that will get your attention.
Pipe
Summer 2018 will pass as one of the most mediocre seasons for me, but it was saved by High Score Girl. The video game story concept is one of the most popular but also one of the most difficult to create. It requires an unusual plot to satisfy a difficult and demanding audience. Gladly, High Score Girl does a marvelous job and delivers one of the most amusement stories in this field. The series mixes the historical video game developing (the 90s) with an amazing plot where the memories of any gamer will have some empathy. In this world, we are all experts but also weare ignorant, and sooner or later our talents will meet challengers as happens in this fascinating story. But what can I tell you about the 90s? This decade is one of the most important technologically speaking. The internet was born on 1990, the CPU (first Pentium) and GPU (shading and rendering) appeared as we know them today. The video games transcended thanks to those hardware advances, Google appeared in 1995 and many other tech stuff that we use day after day saw the light in the 90s. We need to thank the 90s for our actual technology, and this anime is a tribute to all those developers that shaped our world. High Score Girl is one of the best gaming anime representations that follow a real historical timeline.
The story is straightforward and very easy to follow. It creates relationships from usual clichés such as video game challenges. The plot occurs in a casual world filled with arcade machines and game centers; it creates a magnificent 90s ambiance where the main characters converge and interact refreshingly without the need of the average slice of life comedy story. The plot is hilarious, dramatical and romantic. However, the most amazing part is the characters' synergy with a well-elaborated plot. We have three main characters, the typical gaming freak, the challenger that never speaks but she is very expressive reminding me of the phrase “action speaks louder than words” and the converted. All the three characters in some way are rivals with certain personal interests but also friends. I like that idea of rivalry; it is not the typical garbage where the rival is awful, boring and pedantic. It is a rivalry where the main characters want to be noticed between them as rivals, friends and more.
Another great factor, the gaming references. The plot utilizes some games to boost the narrative. Perhaps the biggest reference is with the Street Fighter franchise. The series uses characters such as Guile to propel the narrative, and they do it very well. We can say this game character is an active part of the story. Additionally, all the arcade and classic game references are just amazing. I almost lost my breath after watching Bomberman and Elevator Action, and I am not that old. Furthermore, I am surprised that several companies agreed to allow the anime to use a massive group of references. It is not normal because the rights and licenses are a pain or ask the author because the manga was in a hiatus for a dispute with SNK.
On the other hand, the characters. In one word synergy. Perhaps the chemistry between the characters is the most important when you design a group of characters. As one of my old animation co-workers said: “First create a background, then figure the synergy between the characters, and if you can't do it, the story will be a fiasco.” We have three main characters, the freak, the challenger and the converted as I said before.
The freak is Harou Yaguchi. The typical gaming lover. He likes the challenges and wants to be the best. Also, he has a charming side, and he cares of his friends.
The challenger, Oono Akira. For me, she is the most amazing character because never talks, but the actions and expressions help us to understand how she is feeling. She is Harou’s main rival, very lonely and I think she suffers a lot. I want to add a parenthesis here; it is unrespectful mocking the seiyuu because she never talks. If you pay attention, she needs to recreate some particular sounds or minimal sound ambiance to add emotion and action to the scene, if you think that it is easy you do not value all the work of a voice actor.
The converted, Hidaka Koharu. I am not going to spoil about her. I consider her as the story breaking point.
About the art, it is good. The use of CGI is smooth. They combined some 3D and Live2D techniques creating a very appealing series that has a nice palette color, good lighting model and a very reasonable camera angle use. Furthermore, they add old video games references that improve the story flow and adds nostalgic feeling. The art, in general, is amazing, and I liked and enjoyed it
The sound and music are great. The ED for me is the best; I love those lyrics, no idea why :3. The VO is good, and the score and games sound is perfect. In general, the sound timing is good and does help the plot outcome and the main events.
As a negative aspect, we have the overuse of the CGI. The transition between CGI and 2DLive could be rough, but it is one of the small limitations between the techniques. I understand some spectators try to avoid the CGI shows. However, High Score Girl deserves a try no matter if you love video games or casual comedies.
loanonlife
There are two main things about this anime that make it deserving of the masterpiece rating, this anime is not groundbreaking, it's themes are not world-shattering, but it doesn't need to be, because it's set out to be a feel-good anime about adolescent romance and video games, and it achieved it's goal. The romance in this anime is fantastic, it's over the top and goofy, but it still feels real, Ono and Haruo are stupid kids and they act like stupid kids. They're abysmal at mature communication, made worse since Haruo just kind of has to intuit everything Ono is thinking, and they're both hot-headed nerdswho can't handle a loss. They stay consistently characterized, they don't break character to move the plot along, and they're both grounded in reality, they feel real, and they're easy to grow attached to. The ways they clash are hilarious and well thought out and when they actually get along it's wonderfully heartfelt.
Video games aren't just a cute set dressing here, High Score Girl would not work if the topic was movies or a sport or anything else. This is an anime <i>about</i> video games, it is not an anime that happens to have video games in it. All the references are fun, absolutely, it's really nostalgic, but that isn't what makes it so special. Video games are integral to who these characters are, they shape how they view and interact with the world. The writers of this show care about video games, they care about the way they're made, they care about the community surrounding them. This anime feels like a love letter to video games; arcades and Street Fighter especially.
KANLen09
It's rare to see series like this that is very niche: Covering nostalgia in the form of retro arcade games, to their home conversions and the like. However, this is certainly not an anime for everyone, and solely caters to the gaming audience of old times lore, whom for all intensive purposes, will love this overlooked anime. The story goes of the early gaming scenes in the early 90s (specifically 1991 and beyond), where Japanese retro arcades (at that time) had a massive following due to the big wave of top-tier games, and that accelerated with the release of Street Fighter II, that single-handedly revived oneof the best gaming periods ever in the history of gaming. So naturally, casual gamers flocked into the arcades to try out the hit sensational game, and that is no difference to 6th grader Yaguchi Haruo, who has been living his life off games. Unlike typical school children, he is neither every good thing nor entertaining at the greatest degree, his passion is just to be a crazy gaming fanboy cashing in on the video game craze. So one day, while tormenting rookies at Street Fighter II, he comes across an mysterious sight of fellow classmate Oono Akira, whom so happens to also play the game, and sadly got rekted embarrassingly badly by her. Determined by his flare to never concede defeat, amidst her quietness and shyness of following Haruo around to play arcade games, and finding himself conceivably getting "cucked" by Oono in EVERY game played, only once did he win over her with the reward being a punch in the face (ouch, Haruo). From there, the weirdness of both Oono and Haruo's love-comedic relationship ensues out of ridicule and resolution (for Haruo to defeat Oono, even once would be great to sing praises over himself).
The anime adaptation of the manga is perfectly synchronized and doesn't cut corners, explaining to us of the gaming backgrounds that perfectly set the charts of events that our male MC went through. Overtime, the gamer scenes backspaced into the core understanding of the characters, most notably, the struggles of Haruo with not wanting to let go of the gaming craze that set his heart ablaze, to Oono and rival Koharu Hidaka fighting for Haruo's love affection (which we all know he doesn't care, not even the slightest). From there the dignifying love rom-com aspect takes Numero Uno, first place to uncover what makes the characters tick their bones and define what they truly do.
Speaking of the characters, I'm sad that the one-dimensional aspect of the characters played a big part here (which can be boring), but what I'm assured about is the same aspect that would help define the characters here and play a massive part of their exposition:
Yaguchi Haruo, typical gamer, has nothing worthy of his self-worth to add into his name, but his love for retro games serve as the main catalyst of his life as a growing gamer, basically nothing stands in his way of the love of games, and will not hesitate to trample on anyone to reach his desires.
Oono Akira, the well-rounded character who is forced to be everything society demands of her: coming from a "big house" name and following in her parents' footsteps, she yearns for the outside life, and Haruo plays a major significance in her life, serving as her means of escape of everything that demands her attention and recognition.
Kohaku Hidaka, the 3rd wheel in the relationship between Haruo and Oono, she seems like the atypical crush-after-boy figure, chasing after our male MC in the world of gaming (which at first isn't very accustomed to), eventually learning his traits and catching up to him in order for Haruo to notice her (see the similarity of love rom-com)?
It's impressive that this series manages to compartmentalize the characters and their growth, which in turn sets the overall pacing which is great and doesn't feel like an incomplete set of events that just so happened to trail past us by.
The art and animation is one I'm actually caught by full surprise. Knowing how the manga actually try to incorporate the exact forms of the various amount of game aesthetics, the anime adaptation has to fulfill that core information, and it's very subjective. Having veterans J.C.Staff to do this adaptation is rest assured by all means (mostly for 2D background art), but that CGI animation, oh hell does it deliver despite its wonkiness and uncertainty that at anytime the production means will falter. The last time this actually happened is Fall 2017's Houseki no Kuni (which was a CGI masterpiece), and with High Score Girl, to be able to input this much effort with the perfect replication of retro games, it is something that you have to get used to it, with the overall quality up to your varying tastes for good CGI animation quality.
The music is one hardcore reference to the retro game vibes of the 90s. Both the OP and ED forebodes the 8-bit musical style that will be noticeable and reminiscent to old retro gamers, along with the lyrics (if you have time to analyze them), and is a perfect fit for the entire show itself. Personally I had fun listening to the OST, never skipped them, which was a blessing indeed.
Overall, why does the Summer 2018 season have so many noticeable-and-mediocre and underrated-and-overlooked shows, we will certainly not know. What I do know is that this anime falls into the "underrated-and-overlooked" category, and is certainly another sleeper hit. I would only recommend this show to avid retro and casual gamers if you want to know how is it like for another medium to condense the entire retro gaming structure. Besides, what's not to have fun when games are at the central of it all?
Kurgo
Sheer mediocrity hiding under clichéed nostalgia. I had decent enough expectations for this anime, since gaming is by far my biggest passion and this series has a relatively high score by MAL standards. The lesson, as always, is "have no expectations whatsoever". Let's get to it. [For the sake of it I'll be covering S1 along with the Extra Stage stuff. There's nothing to spoil as the story is phoned-in from the very first episode, go ahead without any fear.] -- I won't go on to rate every single aspect of the anime, since it's largely pointless: I'll focus instead on its two biggest failures: characters and "story".Characters first. Well, it's like the authors watched Hinamatsuri and Kaguya-sama and thought "oh, which are the least likable traits of the female protagonists? Yes, let's just join them together!". The "protagonist" (or co-protagonist) is Akira Oono (hereon referred to as just Oono), and she has 3 traits: she never talks, she has a difficult family situation and she likes videogames. I really struggle to call eye-rolling things such as these as "traits" but that's pretty much the whole of it (and add your usual "very violent" and "eats like a hippo" traits, the Japanese are nothing if not consistent with those two). And here lies the biggest problem. She's not a compelling character. Nor is she an interesting character. The fact that she never talks (not because she can't, just "cos muh artistic visiuuunnn") doesn't make her endearing in the slightest, to me. The fact that she has a very strict "home-teacher" and her parents don't care about her situation and BLAHBLAHBLAAAAHHHH yeah I'm sorry but can we get over this stupid "cute rich girl with meanie weanie parents"? As I mentioned before, somehow it was supposed to make Kaguya relatable when she just looked like a rich obnoxious brat with no common sense to speak of. Oono isn't as bad as Kaguya from that point of view, but the whole "wah rich girl sad background" is so sodding clichéed it's just unbearable. I'm supposed to feel sorry for this kid who never utters a single word and hey, I bloody don't. Give her an actual character next time because looking pretty and making various facial expressions isn't a sufficient replacement for one.
The other co-protagonist is Yaguchi, another pile of clichées. His thing is that he's obsessed with videogames. I thought I'd find him at the very least relatable, since I've been gaming well over half my life but christ almighty, there's a very fine difference between "normal" obsession and whatever this kid has. Games are the only thing on his mind and I'm not even being facetious here, he can't think of anything else, it's genuinely mind-boggling. I've known many people who were really obsessed with games but even the worst hikikomori would look at this brat and be like "woah mate, give gaming a rest for a while". Everything he does, it's for gaming. You don't have to wonder about his motivations, he always does something "cos vidyas". Other than that he's the usual braindead Japanese teen who couldn't find his own arsehole if someone else stuck his head in it, the classic "oh, is that love" "oh, are these feelings" BS that's been done ad nauseam in much subtler and better ways.
While I get to the third character I might as well talk about the story. There really isn't one. This anime was clearly made thinking "we must make something about games and that sweet nostalgia, shoe-in some characters and a semblance of a plot and we got game guys" and boy, does it show. Within the first two episodes, without knowing anything of the anime itself I was already wondering where the third wheel was at. And there she comes, spurned love aka third wheel aka best girl who's as dumb as a stump, Koharu Hidaka. I feel sorry for her character, she's not really much more developed than any of the others but falling in love with a complete useless nobody like Yaguchi must really royally suck. There, I've told you all about her already, she's the needed impediment between the Oono-Yaguchi """"love"""" story, she's there to fulfill her role and does so admirably too, but that's that.
There's a smattering of other minor mostly useless people, like the old kind driver (and his incredibly hilarious running gag of running over Yaguchi with his car LOLOL), supporting character and unsurprising nobody Miyao, arrogant comic relief Doi, sympathetic do-it-all perfect mother Yaguchi-san, irritating perverted twat Onizuka and mischievous laissez-faire Oono onee-sama.
I'd talk more about the story but there really isn't one. It's just various boring "conflicts" that pace what otherwise would be a full-on gaming commercial for the 80s and 90s. No doubt people who lived in that era will appreciate it because somehow recognising something that made us happy ("oh hey, I DID THAT TOO BRUH") equals to the thing mentioning it as being good, too. But yes, the story. Yaguchi meets Oono at an arcade, she's better than him (he never beats her) and he gets obsessed with showing her her place while she clearly wants to show him something else entirely. There are various pauses in this...relationship, such as when she's sent to Europe for what, two years as a primary school student (who doesn't do that after all, ah these rich peeps, I swear) at which point the third wheel, Hidaka, gets to know Yaguchi and obviously falls in love with someone who not only hasn't yet discovered what his wee-wee does, since it's not gaming-related, but has barely any care for any other person other than himself. Who wouldn't fall in love with such a compelling person, AMIRITEGUYS?!? After that, just insert various problems of poor rich kid Oono who's come back from Europe (or wherever she'd been sent to in order to advance the plot) which end up with her running away from home (yes, I know, shocking development) and eventually her tyrannical home-teacher changing her mind without any reason to (literally nothing new had happened, the plot decided that the same reasons she'd refused for years were now good enough to accept because the season had to end) and everyone getting their happy little ending because that's really how life works.
I'm honestly surprised myself at how pathetically poor this anime is. There really isn't much else to prop it up either; art and animation are borderline dreadful, among the worst (and laziest) I've watched in a while. Not the worst because crapfests like Asura and Kemurikusa exist but that's not really saying much. Voice acting is fine for the most part, other than Yaguchi being miscast horribly because not only they told Amasaki to give his most irritating voice possible, but a primary school kid should always sound like an over-30 something who's smoking a packet a day. Obviously. I won't even talk of the crime of using Suzushiro, who was a wonderful Uruka Takemoto, just in order to have her mumble some sounds here and there in 16 episodes. Music's fine and the ED is decent too, so I guess there's that.
Oh, final point on how sodding blunt this thing is. In fact, it's about as subtle as a bull in a china shop, with its highest moment coming when whoever (maybe it was the onee-sama) says "videogames are so nice, they bring people together and help everyone" or some **** like that. Like, what kind of ****ing writing is that? What's next? "Breathing is good, stealing is bad"? Christ, none of the writers of this anime ever heard the sentence "show don't tell", or they heard it and applied it in the worst ways imaginable.
And that's it. If you lived in those gaming years and you spent your life in the arcades (as if anyone who did that wouldn't be living under a bridge now) and/or if you're one of those all-knowing hipsters who natter on how gaming was better in the olden days then, hey, you'll probably love this. Anyone else though, unless you really want some cheap *everything* with a videogames theme and aren't allergic to clichées, I'd stay away from this one without a second thought.
Cruiseship
(No Spoilers) Look this is the first review that I will be putting effort into so it may not be amazing. Story 9/10 High Score Girl is a unique show that takes on multiple genres the reason I decided to make my first review on High Score Girl is that I found it very special how it was able to change in just a single episode which isn't a bad thing The first two episodes made it seem as if it would be a comedy about a girl and boy playing arcade games but as the show develops you see how it can change from a comedy toa drama and then into a romance in the matter of a few episodes you start to become invested not only into the characters but the world this show just makes you feel like a kid again Yaguchi reminds me of when I was a selfish little kid who was too into video games to care about the world around me Yaguchi is a well-built character his character is quite literally built of video games he starts as a selfish kid who only cares for video games but as the show progress he starts to grow up and care for the people around him he starts putting more effort into things that aren't video games
Art 6/10
Not a big fan of the animation style that was used but it wasn't horrible or unwatchable
Sound 8/10
I love the opening and the ending
The opening is just a bop
And the ending feels like a sweet and beautiful lullaby
Characters 9/10
Yaguchi is a relatable character for anyone who has played video games while growing up his development is shown well during the progression of the show
Oono is a cute silent girl as she appears but her character is a lot deeper than that she has her life decided by others and the only way she escapes is by playing video games
Hidaka is a hard character to describe I think its easier to understand her character if you were to watch the show
Enjoyment 10/10
I got invested quickly I love everything about it the characters the video games this is definitely something you should check out
Overall 9/10
kevindasian
In life there are things people randomly hate. For instance, stuff like "minecraft youtubers" and competitive eaters. There are things we randomly hate with a passion even when it doesn't harm anyone or anything in anyway shape or form. However, after watching this anime the opposite may be true as well. I remember the first time I set sight on this anime while browsing through Netflix. It seemed out of place, a childish cartoon shape figure set between the beautifully drawn art of Violet Evergarden and critically esteemed Kimiuso. I disregarded it, I never was a gamer or into arcade life so why would I beinto a poorly drawn "Gamers"?
Then came a day when I, still using my friends Netflix, got bored of the 15 anime Netflix had and decided to give High Score Girl a go. I was taken away.
The story falls in line with most anime cliches: useless guy "falls in love" with rich shelter girl, but twisted it elegantly. Set in the 90's during the arcade boom, the anime follows the 6th grader Haruo journey to become the greatest street fight gamer in the world. However, along the way he meets an unlikely acquaintance: Akira Oono. The direction and goal of Haruo changed.
Slowly, Oono drifted into Haruo's life. A bond is quickly formed and slowly it seems that the characters were made for each other.
I give this story 9/10: Though slow the story is nothing short of extraordinary.
This only thing that's particularly under-average for this anime is its art; there is a hell ton of CGI used poorly in the beginning few episodes. However, it was soon fixed. The art may be childish and seem like a cartoon but you'll grow into it as the show progresses.
Art: 7.5/10 rounded to 8
The sound is done cleanly. There's nothing exceptional about it but there's nothing bad about it. This is one of the rare shows where I actually liked the ending more than the opening.
Sound: 8/10
I don't even know how to describe the characters. Summed up in one word I would have to say: phenomenal. Our MC does all of the talking, much like any middle-highschooler of today. However, unrealistically the MC can read emotions. The Main Heroine, Oono, is a women of few words. In fact I firmly believe she didn't say a single word throughout both seasons. However, with her melodramatically facial expressions we get the jist of what she's saying. At the same thing we also got our competitor heroine Hidaka who is just too nice of a character. Other than that the side-characters play minor support roles but still fit into the story nicely.
Characters: 9/10
Overall I believe both seasons of HSG are gems. They're cleanly polished and some of J.C Staff's best work. For such a minimalist show it sure struck a chord in my heart.
Final rating: 9/10
iamthebestzhu
this is definitely a diamond in the rough. mostly due to its jarring art style which can throw some people off. if you can get past this its definitely one the greats of all time. shows similar to this would be like one piece and ore imo because each have their own little thing that could rub people the wrong way. one piece with its art style and ore imo with its topic in the title. High score girl is so empowering and fulfilling to watch it literally takes all the good aspects of a good shounen as well as complementing it with superb comedy fromthe rom com aspect. every episode is a treat and really is a pleasure to watch. i would actually just like get amnesia so i can experience it again in its novelty.
the inclusion of the greats from voice acting means you already know youre in for a good time. hell they even put the voice actor of kirito as one of the SUPER SIDE CHARACTERS THAT NEVER SHOWS UP BASICALLY. if a studio can afford that you know its going to be good.
definitely storytelling from this anime is so good its definitely a must watch for anyone who wants a good time. let the anime tell the story and not my review. great coming of age story. best romance of the century. cheers.
Zanoillord123
(WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SEVERAL MINOR SPOILERS) In an anime that takes place in the retro 1900's where arcade video games and early generation consoles were most commonly played and at large, everyone's on their feet and anxiously waiting for the new Street Fighter games. Who knew that two talented aspiring young players met in the same arcade and began to gradually fall for each other as the anime progresses, all of which contains many references to classic arcade games that will truly bring you fond memories of the golden age of video games. One of the most unique aspects about Hi Score Girl that I findto be noticeably unique is the music or overall sound, the soundtracks are beautiful and rich in emotions that it will tug at your heat strings. You generally won't find a lot of animes that give out references to classic arcade video games or genuinely the 1900's, which adds to the fact that this anime is special in it's own way, all the more to watch it.
Story (8): Hi Score Girl takes a similar approach to the classic romantic relationships you would find in animes these days, consisting of a tsundere girl falling in love with the average male protagonist whom is a video game attic.
Art (8): The art in the anime isn't anything really special but it is still visually appealing and very good, it's sort of nostalgic and fits in with the 1900's feel.
Sound (10): The most memorable parts about the anime was it's soundtracks as I said before, it had the ability to display so much emotions into it that it made me cry multiple times throughout the anime.
Character (8): The main characters in the anime I found to be very cute considering that it was a video game romantic anime. Going on wild adventures while enjoying life as kids, it also had a great support cast as well. In multiple scenes you could see the two main male and female characters expressing their love for each other, although it wasn't clearly visible, it was very adorable.
Enjoyment (10): I enjoyed every episode of Hi Score Girl, binge-watching every episode but unfortunately was sad for it to end, desperately waiting for season three of the anime.
Overall (9): Of course this anime isn't for everyone but for those who was born in the mid to late 1900's and have played arcade and also early generation consoles games all their lives, then this is for you!
huntersushil
art: 8 background score: 10 character: 10 enjoyment:10 overall: 10 high score girl is a good anime now after finishing all the episodes its my favorite anime of the year aside from the animation every thing is awesome. even though the story seems to be moving slowly but you never want it to end. the sweet budding romance between oono and yaguchi totally wants you to root for them. also the background score is good and the ending song is cute as hell. and it gets very emotional at the moment you least expect which pulls your Heart Strings.what makes this so enjoyable is the heartwarming interaction betweenthese two which makes you wish that can they increase the anime length another 20 minutes or more
*****
spoilers
the protagonist is one who is not popular & not good in studies but he is a very good gamer in the arcade nobody could beat him . which nobody in the class knows. on the other hand we have oono she is beautiful popular every one in the class have fantasy about her being what she does in home ranging from reading books in the library to playing piano. but to his surprise oono comes to the arcade & she destroys him in the only thing he is good at and after many tries he beat her.then she hits him from then on they become rivals and gradually friends.
winterrxseowo
Please go through the full review for a better understanding! Might include some light spoilers, so I'll give a spoiler warning! Note: I know I am giving almost all a 10/10 but it's for a reason! And also please remember that this is my opinion and I respect others' opinions as well. Genre of High Score Girl- Romantic Comedy 1) Story- 9/10 The plot of this anime is sooo unique! It's not like your usual high school romance at all!! (a bit of a light spoiler)And the ending.. Oml I loved it soo much! aackklike the animation and the art but for me, it's really unique. The animation is really smooth and they FINALLY look like REAL ASIANS! lol as an asian myself, I'm not disturbed or bothered at all. The Art is absolutely amazing, so yeah.
3) Sound- 9/10
The sound is also really good, the openings are also catchy.
4) Character- 10/10
(Okay now.. Spoilers will be there but it isn't much so you can read them or just skip to no.5) Oono was really well-written, it's okay that she's mute but her feelings and expressions.. oh my god.. loved it!! and Haruo, amazing as well. And Hidaka!? I felt that I related to her soo much, cause we had a lot in common! (including crushes lol) and Oono's sister.. The bestt!! <33 and Haruo's mom.. You know what!?? the list never ends!
5) Enjoyment- 9/10
You'll surely enjoy this anime, but please make sure to watch both the seasons or you''ll miss out! And all ends well so yeah :)
6) Overall- 9/10
Loved this soo much, soo underrated but definitely worth a watch!
Totally recommending it! ^^
Thank you for reading, have a great day/night! :3
PixEFit
I don’t think it was made for me, but I resonated with it all the same. High score girl. Whatever I write here probably won’t put everything I love about this show on paper. This show takes place in the early 90’s with our protagonist, a 6th grader named Yugichi Haruo. He’s not very kind, and his grades aren’t the best, to be honest he’s kind of a shithead. But he is good at one thing, his passion, video games. He spends a majority of his time just dicking around at various arcades around town. On one faithful day, Haruo encounters a beautiful, smart, richgirl from his class named Ono. Who absolutely decimates him in street fighter 2. After 30 consecutive wins against him, Ono follows him around various arcades playing various different games. From then on, the two create a strange bond with each other.
High score girl is a small slice of life comedy that takes place over Haruo’s life. From his elementary school years, until his first year in high school. The story describes his growth and how Ono along with the various other characters in his life, help Haruo grows and improve. This, by itself, sets itself off of a lot of other slice of life shows. Where they don’t go through long periods of someone’s life. The only example I can think of off the top of my head is Clannad, which is in my top ten and is considered one of the greatest anime of all time. Main difference is, aside from the smaller eyes, is that the characters are a bit more one dimensional then Clannad is. It's not that they’re bad, it's safer and uninspired. They fit into normal protagonist and -dere stereotypes, but they are handled in a wonderful way where you don’t mind. I must say, Ono is the only main character I’ve seen who never says a word over the course of the entire show. She only communicates by facial expressions, actions, and the occasional grunt. She’s cute though. Its heartwarming.
As you can guess, the show’s main driving point initially was that it has to do with being a kid in the 90’s and an obsession with video games. This describes its audience pretty well. It was appealing to mid to late 30’s Japanese men who grew up to playing these games. To them, it's a nice nostalgia trip tied up with a protagonist that they could easily imprint themselves on. I understood this from the beginning of the show, and I didn’t think I would particularly enjoy it due to how I couldn't relate to growing up in the 90’s. But, I was wrong, and ending up being very invested in these characters and how they’re relationship grows. I loved their character dynamic, and what they did together as friends. Just friends playing video games, Harou treating her as a rival and Ono just following him around.
Video games is the backbone of this entire show. If video games were involved I doubt this show would have gotten any traction at all for reasons I will explain later. This show was made/sponsored by square enix themselves. Therefore, they had enough to get entire clips of game footage where the characters explain and react to what's happening on screen. The very first episode they explained how some cheap strategies worked in Street Fighter 2. It's not just Street Fighter they reference and directly mention a bunch of big time games that were popular or hyped at the time. There was an entire scene talking about how hype they were for the new virtual boy coming out, which if you know you’re gaming history, didn’t do very well. High Score Girl really put you in the place of a kid that’s hyped for the newest games in the 90’s. I’m not even a fan of arcade games and I feel like I’m that kid being excited.
The main problem, which is pretty major when watching this show, is the animation. High Score Girl is an entirely CG show, but do not take that away from the experience this show can give you. But man, it does look pretty garbage. I loved the soundtrack for this show, especially with the OP “New Stranger” and ED “Houkago Di(e)stra(u)ction”. I mostly compare this show to Dagashi Kashi. Mostly where 1) its 2 people being brought together by the same passion, and 2) it's a show made to sell things. Yeah High Score Girl is an advertising show, it displays games coming out now in the transition periods between in the middle of the show where ad breaks would role. It’s sort of off putting, but it's neatly and clearly separated from what's happening in the actual show, so it doesn’t really matter. I give this show a 10 out of 10, with the recommendation for everyone and anyone to watch if they don’t mind some CG that isn't really disruptive to the type of show. This was truly the best show of the Summer anime season. This has been PixEFit’s spoiler free but not really review of High Score Girl.
Timz0r
The '90's sure were revolutionary for gamers around the world and it gets protrayed pretty well in High School Girl. As someone that has is from the end '80's myself, I sure do remember it very slghty back then while I was still wetting the bed. Story: 6/10 (Fine) The story sets off in 1991 when Street Fighter 2 gets released. But this animle is not really about games. It's more your generic love romance triangle story if you really have to boil it down with a lot of references with classic games like Street Fighter 2 back in the '90's. Since I never really played StreetFighter 2 myself since I was too young back in the day and I'm also not quite familiair with the whole francise. The closest of the series I had played for a bit was Street Fighter 3D Edition for the Nintendo 3DS. I'm more of a Tekken guy myself.
Art: 6/10 (Fine)
The art-style is one of my biggest turn-off for this show for a show that's been made in the current year of 2018. When I saw the first episode, it was hard to decide I would contineu the series or not and to be honest; I don't really like to drop an anime just after one episode. But I somehow got used to it. It still doesn't mean I adore it. It feels so cartoony and blocky to me.
Sound: 8 (Very Good)
If you want to feel nogalistic about the '90's and you have played games from that era, this show got you covered. It's pretty much it's main selling point if you ask me. All those gaming sounds surely makes you long for the '90's a bit again.
Character: 6/10 (Fine)
The charaters are however quite like-able, but what bothered really me the most is that Oono (one of our main carathers) havent said a single word in the entire show. Is she shy? Is she mute? It never got explained why in the anime and it feels you're pretty much forced to perhaps read the manga to get more answers.
Enjoyment 5/10 (Average)
Over time I started to enjoy this show however, even with all the neatives I told you before. But that's maybe because I'm a romantic type of guy. Don't judge me. I also got a chuckle every now and then with our MC the video game addict. Another big turn-off for me was they have putted every now and then a commercial in the middle of the episode about the latest games that are coming out or are already out for on the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 and such and I really feel the need to adress this, because this is a turn-off to me. I'm here to watch anime, not to be a consumer.
Overall: 6/10 (Fine)
Despite with all it's negatieves, it was a good watch I guess. This show has it's flaws for sure, but if you're into arcade games and old-school gaming from the '90's and like a bit of (triangle) romance, this would be your anime to watch. High Score Girl gets from me an overal score of 6/10.
Akira-domo
Highscore Girl, I never thought that an anime about videogame could so well engage the genres of Romance and Drama from the making of the universe to its protagonists and Secondary Characters. I'm crying. Story: We know the story of Haruo Yakult, I mean, Yaguchi, an Otaku-type Videogame, fascinated in arcade and especially fighting games. Until one day, he is beaten by a girl from his room, Akira Oona, the only problem was that she was his counterpart: Rich, Intelligent and educated. From this, history is advancing in the 90's, with their rivalry. When we think of an anime of this genre some (like me) will think of the Animeof 2017, Gamers !, which ended up taking the sub genre of Romance a bit seriously and transformed the anime into a Romance Comedy, somewhat forgetting the initial plot, the video game and the relationship it can bring.
The Anime was totally faithful to the behavior of the protagonist and to their lifestyle, it is as if you were watching a history lesson about the explosion of video games in the early 90's.
In some moments the anime impresses with the plot, in others they end up sinning, but this comes from the manga and the own conception of the Yaguchi and the Oona, as for example the behaviors.
Art: This is an area to be debated, the anime was mounted in CGI, which ended up combining in some comic situations of the work. However from time to time the CGI seems a bit different in some scenes, but it does not compromise the rest of the anime.
Sound: The opening fit correctly with the story, but something that caught my attention was definitely Ending, because it shows the essence of the 90's, especially in the beats, of course taking a little of the new of our time from now.
Characters: Haruo Yaguchi, Akira Oona and Koharu Hidaka, each of them has a depth set throughout the anime, not to mention much of the story, Haruo ends up discovering that life is more than just Video Games, even though sometimes it ends up being a asshole with your friends and colleagues.
However we have the girls of the story, Akira and Koharu, they have a gigantic change during the years of the anime, especially Koharu. One of the most shocking scenes of the anime is that of Akira, but I will not say in which episode, being his criterion to discover;)
The secondary characters are unique as well, each one has a characteristic that differentiates them from the others around them, such as Onizuka's look, Doi's player way, Yaguchi's Mother's novels vice plus her wrestling skills, her attentive eyes of the Miyao.
Overall: It's an anime to have fun, it still uses a lot of the sentimental appeal of the one who is watching, I've watched a lot over the course of my life but it was the first time I was sad, I even cry in some scenes, tried to understand the side of the character in question.
It's a faithful anime for people who love classic video game, romance and school life, remembering what happens in the 90's, it's rare to see an anime that decided to focus on the past instead of the future. But Warn, Watch with a clean mind.
Note 9/10!
angelsreview
What happens when you mix retro games with anime school children? Well, in some ways, you show someone’s ideal childhood back when they were kids. Just kidding, this show isn’t really very ideal (not sure if anyone would really want to be in our main characters shoes most of the time), but it’s interesting to have that little nostalgia while also seeing a bit of a romance bloom. Now for those who don’t know, I have a passion for video games but not really a strong one in playing them. I’m a very casual gamer. The love I have for them is their graphics andstory rather then play. Old games awe me in their pixel art, newer games awe me in their high detailed designs, and indie games always seem to have a place in my heart with how deep their stories go and how they break the mold of what everyone on the outside thinks about video games. This show has that and a little more added for your normal anime style trope.
Let’s start with the main characters, and just like a character select screen, I’ll let you pick who’s first… (Just kidding, I seriously wish that could actually work though.) Our main character is Haruo Yaguchi. This show follows his life through elementary school through high school so it’s hard to pin point his exact personality. As people grow so to does their personality and the way they react to different things. There are some constants though, he loves video games, he is good at them, and he likes a good challenge in video games. Normally I wouldn’t like a character like him much, but there is a very strange amount of charm that seems to come from him that I like. It’s his passion I think that draws me in. It’s the same for anyone really, the spark that shows up when someone has fallen in love with something else, I am always interested in that spark.
At the same time that I like Haruo, I kind of don’t fully like Akira Ono who is our second character. She is a very rich and popular girl who all the boys seem to fall for even when they were elementary school students when boys would normally be trying to space themselves from girls. She gets good grades, attends after school studies at home including flower arranging, piano, and all the other lessons a typical rich kid in Japan is supposed to learn, but her greatest passion seems to be sneaking away from all that just to play video games at an arcade. She feels a lot like a typical Tsundere character as she always seems to beat up on poor Haruo except for one thing, she is mute throughout the whole show. When I say I don’t fully like her, it’s the Tsundere part of her that I’m not to big on as I see that time and time again in anime, but what I find fascinating with this show is the fact they did leave her mute. You only know what she is thinking from her gestures and facial expressions (and sometimes her feelings show through her game play) so a lot of time your left guessing what she is thinking.
The next person I would like to talk about is Koharu Hidaka. She becomes a classmate of Haruo’s in his junior year… basically in the 4th episode so it’s not spoilers really. From the first moment that she came on screen, I knew she was going to become a ‘option 2’ for our main characters affections just from how she sort of starts to interact with him. She’s a lot like me in a way where I would call her a beginner or casual player. Someone who likes to watch others play instead of playing themselves for the most part. While she does get a small interest in games near the end of the 4th episode, she seems to only get into it because of Haruo. I like her but at the same time don’t like her which is a very odd thing to say. I think that because she feels so much like me in a way, I feel like she doesn’t really fit in with the story line that they were trying to get to. It’s like they put her in just to say ‘here is your love triangle everybody, will the new girl get the guy or will it be the childhood friend?’ If they had integrated her more into the story line somehow, I think there would be more of a reason to have her there but with the 12 episode limit, they didn’t have enough time to flesh her out or show how close she could get to Haruo to give her a fighting chance really.
I love the fact that they start the show with them in elementary school and work their way up. The different little breaks of years gone by is filled in with a very basic low down of the advancement of video games within Japan and just how advanced they got though the years that we are missing in the jumps. It also shows just how dedicated the characters are to their love of the games. What got me really excited was that Haruo’s first console he talked about was the Turbographic-16 which was part of some of my earliest gaming memories. My family and I would sit around and play Dungeon Explorer together when I was in elementary school so the show really brought back some fond memories. I think that was the biggest reason why I actually got interested in where this show was going.
The English voice acting is interesting, especially since Ono doesn’t actually talk. Christine Cabanos is the ‘sound’ actor for Ono and she does an ok job for her but sadly it doesn’t show her talent. Haruo’s voice actor kind of made me a bit annoyed at first but then started to grow on me a bit as he got older. I think it was because Johnny Yong Bosch was his voice actor and throughout the whole time I watched the show up until I looked it up on wiki, I had no clue it was him. There have been a couple new voice actors that sound similar to him that the familiarity of his voice had me racking my head trying to figure it out. Also, when Johnny plays a kid, his voice can get a bit annoying it seems… (Sorry Johnny, still love most of your voice acting.)
The animation is a little odd in my opinion, reminding me a little like the Korean style of art I have seen before. It’s not a style I’m normally drawn to but it does have its own charms. I do like some of the consistency’s they did with how children grow up as its sometimes hard to make a character look older without losing what they looked like when they were younger. They had to do that for at least three separate time frames and in all of them, the children do still have the same air about them as when they were younger in their design. The odd thing about the art style is that they do sometimes randomly have this strange shading on the characters that shows they were 3D models which sort of breaks the show for me. I’m detail oriented so if it first looks hand drawn and then that strange 3D thing, I end up losing my immersion.
Overall, I do love the nostalgia the show brought to me and the interesting story that came with it. It’s not high on my list but it is one I probably will end up watching again. Just one warning, I would watch the first 5 episodes before you say you don’t want to watch anymore. The show kind of changes around then which will make you know if you like this show or not.
vitriolcocktail
High Score Girl is a romantic drama (with a little bit of comedy) about a young guy who's obsessed with arcade games who meets a quiet girl and forms an unlikely friendship with her. The story takes place in the 90's and gives a history lesson on the arcade scene and video games of the era. It's also an interesting era for the anime to be situated in. It's a simpler time without smart phones and other stuff like that. (Some spoilers) In terms of plot, there isn't much of one aside from the progression of the relationship between Haruo, Oono and Koharu. Early in the series,Haruo and Oono form a bond but Oono is suddenly forced to move to America for 2 years. She returns and their bond becomes stronger and eventually becomes love. Meanwhile Koharu decides to compete for Haruo's love and becomes better at videogames to impress him.
The characters are what make this anime shine. I especially like how Oono is basically nonverbal. She doesn't talk to anyone, the only time you hear her is when she bawls her eyes out in the dramatic flight scene and a couple other times where she squeaks at Haruo to get his attention. Her being totally mute really helps amplify the emotion when she cries. You rely more on reading her facial expressions to figure out what she's thinking. I'm kind of a sucker for the victim girl trope (you know, the rich girl with strict parents who neglect her or don't let her have a normal childhood life) so I guess that's partially why I thought Oono was a well written character. She comes from an overbearing family and as a result she's not a normal girl, which makes for interesting drama and plot progression.
I feel like Haruo's character is a tad inconsistent. Haruo knows that he loves Oono. There are many scenes where his internal monologue (carried out by video game characters in his head) reveals what he thinks of Oono. Compare this to how he approaches Koharu and it's disappointing. He acts like he's totally romantically inept around Koharu. He's incapable of picking up that she's attracted to him. Why is it that he is so perceptive with Oono and admits to himself that he loves her but stone cold stupid when it comes to Koharu? The only conclusion you can really draw is that he has no feelings for Koharu.
I also think that the ending of the anime felt a bit rushed. Oono basically disappears from the plot for the final 2 episodes and it kind of creates a cliff hanger ending. There's another 3 episodes that came out a year later so I guess I can't complain, but if you viewed this anime in 2018 when it came out then I can see how some viewers would be annoyed with the ending.
The extra 3 episodes basically cement that Oono is the main love interest and Koharu is the third wheel. I felt bad for her after she got beaten by Haruo and basically got discarded as a character from that point forward. But i guess that's what happens when a love triangle gets broken, one person has to be left out. The extra 3 episodes end with Haruo and Oono becoming much closer which i guess is a good way to end it. I am curious as to what they'll do with the show now that they are working on a second season.
The animation for this show is a mix of CGI, normally drawn art and some retro pixel art mixed in. Despite the CGI feeling a bit clunky, I feel that they put a lot of effort into making the characters expressive. Ultimately some viewers might find it a bit ugly, it depends on personal taste. The music and sound are fine in my opinion.
High Score Girl mixes 90's retro gaming with romance, drama and a bit of comedy and the end result is a wholesome love story with an interesting setting. I found the comedy to be a bit sparse but the love story and 90's setting with plenty of video game lore more than makes up for that. I give it a solid 9 out of 10.
