I came into Hi Score Girl expecting a classic fighting game experience. Two people pushing each other to improve at a competitive format all about putting in the time and effort to overcome those better than you. Maybe a dash of romance in there too. Unfortunately it had the opposite balance. Hi Score Girl is certainly not in the vein of sports series about improving and competing at its core its a love triangle romcom. A painfully bland one. What does the fighting game backdrop add then? Certainly not an indepth look at the skills and mindset one develops to improve at competitive games. Its mostly nostalgia. If youre invested in FGC culture or classic gaming from the late 80s and early 90s theres a lot you may get out of it. You see the main characters excitement as new consoles and iconic games are released and within the games he competes at there are plenty of references to specific combos or strategies that Im sure are completely accurate to the time and the games. The authors own nostalgia failed to inspire me to feel the same but he shows a genuine appreciation for the culture of the time. Thats as far as it goes however. The plot only occasionally delves into the characters having a desire to practice and overcome each other and when it does its mostly offscreen. Its circumstantial driven by whatever stage their romance drama is currently in. And oh the romance drama. If youre looking for the kind of series with realistic relationship progression then stay away. This is a pure love triangle about people too cowardly to realize their feelings. Love triangles honestly are not always bad but the first half of the manga is all about people who are incapable of acknowledging that theyre in love. It fails to give that ignorance a youthful charm it just feels like nothing significant is actually happening. It is technically a romcom not just a romance but I didnt find much real comedy to speak of. If the main character saying something stupid because he doesnt realize the girl likes him and the girl enacting some over the top physical violence on him is enough to make you laugh youll have a blast. Dont expect much humor beyond that. Why do the two main girls love the main character Yaguchi? Hes an immature gamingobsessed child far more focused on whatevers coming out than remotely understanding either girls feelings. Yet Ill admit with Oono it honestly works. She doesnt speak a word of dialogue throughout the entire manga too shy to ever properly express herself and the art does an acceptable job of characterizing her and showing her emotions despite that. It makes for an easy excuse for her to never confess her feelings but it does help make her believable as a shy person who found a genuine connection with someone who had the same interest as her. It doesnt work as well with Hidaka the love rival. She falls in love with Yaguchi because shes enamored by his passion and drive to openly care about fighting games. Shes shy too so I can at least understand that she wasnt constantly finding better people but the reasons the story gives just honestly dont feel believable enough. In the first volume before Hidaka was introduced Yaguchi and Oonos relationship feels somewhat charming and special. Hidaka turns it into a the most beautiful popular girls are both in love with this unappealing nerd fantasy. In the second half of the manga Hidaka does start to be legitimately open about her feelings with Yaguchi matching him in fighting games and asking him out multiple times. It doesnt matter because unless this is the first romance youve ever read its absurdly obvious its not going to happen and hes going to end up with Oono in the end. The drama is a hodgepodge of standard tropes. Tropes that are not inherently awful but I was bored by the usage. Oono has an oppressive home life and is forbidden from going out and playing except for the multiple times she runs away to spend time with Yaguchi. Expect multiple nights together in hotels where obviously they arent going to fool around together or have any romantic progress as its just bait for the readers. And the finale uses one of my least favorite romance tropes Ive seen way too many times. I wont spoil the specifics but its one of the cheapest ways to force a confession. The finale is the only time the art grabbed me. Theres finally some interesting compositions and perspectives as it realizes it can use art to convey emotion. Before that well lets talk about the elephant in the room. The art is ugly. Art styles are subjective so you can disagree with me on this but this has one of the most unappealing aesthetics Ive seen in a professionally serialized manga. Its not that theyre chibi although the faces and the head shapes are unpleasant. Its the awful anatomy which leads to character designs with no consistency that constantly feel offmodel deformed and warped. If you like the art please enjoy it. But few other manga make me HATE their art this much. Not dislike or be bored by but feel genuine disgust and loathing. With how negative Im being even Im surprised Im rating it a 4/10 and not lower. Honestly for everything bad Im saying about it deep down there is some level of charm. Maybe its in the characters who do feel like the author put some heart into. Their relationships bored me but as people theres something to them. The main three arent generic or shallow but have fleshed out personalities and desires. Its not who they are thats the problem but what happens with them. Something did keep me reading instead of dropping it and I dont think it was just my persistence to not leave stories unfinished. The author had a vision. I saw it through but I wouldnt recommend you do the same. Not unless you personally think the art looks fine feel nostalgia for that era of fighting games or dont mind drawnout love triangles.