20https://bestanimations.com/SignsShapes/Arrows/Right/rightarrow29.gif https://anilist.co/review/4983 With the number of anime that air per season even with the large amount of anime fans its a given that some shows will simply fall through the cracks. I feel that High Score Girl is one of those shows. Because of this I found High Score Girl a hidden gem of this anime season. Not a diamond mind you but gem nonetheless think topaz. High Score Girl tells the story of Haruo Yagauichi a crude slacker and Akira Oono the academically talented heiress to a wealthy family. What ties these seemingly incongruent characters together is their mutual love for video games. And if you the viewer love classic video games youll love High Score Girl which is a love letter to 90s gaming. Both the arcade and console scenes are given love. If you played the games of this time or simply are tied to decade youll be hit with a blast of nostalgia. I personally adore video games so even though unlike Haruo Im not big on fighting games I still got to geek out. It was also nice seeing time progress and seeing Haruo gush over new releases. The anime does move forward in time going from upperelementary to the first year of Japanese highschool sophomore year in America and the anime utilizes this passage of time well. The main characters are written surprisingly well with Haruo not being quite as dense as youd expect for an MC of his personality. Oono is handsdown one of the cutest characters Ive ever had the pleasure of viewing. Her violent tendencies while annoying at times dont really detract from her character. Unlike some peoplehttps://ranma.wikia.com/wiki/AkaneTendo it doesnt make her insufferable and somehow makes her even more cute. Her biggest shtick is that she doesnt speak ever. While this can prove frustrating for some viewers I think the show worked around it well. If I had more money Id get her nendoroid. 520http://images.goodsmile.info/cgm/images/product/20150710/5129/34590/large/7a94717b5ba737314924f0f893c96f96.jpg ...then theres Hidaka. The animes a romance which comes into play very soon. Its a cute romance and the couple is one of the best Ive seen. While the anime doesnt pussyfoot the relationship in the beginning it quickly loses steam as you guessed it a third player joins the game. Enter Hidaka a member of Haruos class who quickly develops a crush on him as he introduces her to the wonderful world of gaming. While it could be seen as a spoiler that theres a love triangle I think its only fair to inform you all. Love triangles generally bog down a show and High Score Girl isnt spared...kind of. As a main character Hidaka is quite fleshed out and shes sure to have her fans. However the show makes it painfully obvious that Oono is the endgame yet a large portion is dedicated to Hidaka and Haruo. While shes not a bad character her inclusion seems to just take away from Oonos. In my opinion the love triangle doesnt really add a new dimension to the plot. It doesnt detract from it either but that just makes it seem kind of unnecessary. That said the shows still good. The main thing High Score has going against it is that there isnt much more to it. What you see is what you get. If you like video games and romance youll probably love this show. If you like one or the other it might be a bit of slog. If you like neither there wont be much for you. Even if you do like both the show still seems to be missing something. The side characters are inoffensive at best. Midway through the show I simply had the feeling that High Score Girl was adequate. It wasnt bad no but it wasnt great either. I didnt find myself compelled to watch episodes right away. Still it picked up again. The music is pretty great but the art might prove a sticking point. The show is completely CGI which is sure to be a turnoff for some viewers. Watching it can feel off at times. If you like the story youll learn to get used to it. For what its worth its pretty harmless. I cant comment on the ending because it ends on a cliffhanger with the final episodes premiering in march of next year. While the show is far from perfect as a video game and romance fan High Score Girl scratched an itch I never knew I had and Ill be sure to watch the shows conclusion. 220https://i.ur.com/gdr2YWD.png 520https://i.ur.com/l1zlwB9.png
71 /100
24 out of 30 users liked this review