High Score Girl

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]

Oono, Akira Main

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Hidaka, Koharu Main

Hirose, Yuuki Japanese

Yaguchi, Haruo Main

Amasaki, Kouhei Japanese

Yaguchi, Namie Supporting

Arai, Satomi Japanese

Oono, Makoto Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu Japanese

Jiiya Supporting

Cho Japanese

Miyao, Koutarou Supporting

Okitsu, Kazuyuki Japanese

Guile Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Doi, Genta Supporting

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Onizuka, Chihiro Supporting

Midou, Daria Japanese

Maeda, Toshihiro Producer

Abe, Michihisa Producer

Kimura, Yasutaka Producer

Miyagi, Souji Producer

Reviews

Dec 28, 2024

frxgi

Recommended

I simply love this anime, the romance is so pure and innocent which is just so refreshing. There isn't any oversexualization and its one of my favorite shows that i have ever watched. I can't put a nail on why but I simply keep going back to it and rewatching it over and over. The show isn't perfect and has some corny and frustrating moments but I still love it with all my heart. I deeply recommend this show even if you don't care for arcade games at all. It is simply such a beautiful show that fills me with joy every time i watch ... it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Feb 3, 2025

Cynthesia

Mixed Feelings

What a frustrating show. It's one of those experiences where its potential is constantly floating right in front of my eyes but remains just barely out of grasp. I can tell it has the capacity to be great but it's constantly being held back.

The first two and a half episodes leave a bad first impression. I'm not someone who sees CG and immediately discredits the entire show as being bad, but in this case it ends up being fairly unexpressive and awkward to look at. Maybe this was a choice made to fit more in line with the video game aesthetic, since CG in ... anime is generally compared to older video game models, but it ends up working more to its detriment than anything else. This especially works against them because they decided to make Ono completely mute which when paired with the inexpressiveness of the models leads to a much less compelling character. Anime in general is subject to the issue of same facing, which is where the artist will fall into a routine when designing characters so they all end up having nearly identical facial construction, but these models are some of the worst examples of it I've seen. Every character is built on the same blobbish form and the facial features look like they were attached on rather than a natural form of expression. They shift nearly instantly and it feels like each model is a predesigned sticker which is swapped when needed. Aside from the eyes, every character is made up of the same construction which doesn't make any one character stand out.

The main characters Haruo and Ono are not likeable or endearing in their relationship. Neither of them have a substantive personality and feel incredibly incomplete. Haruo is a gamer through and through, the only things he ever talks about are either the current gaming market or monologues while playing games. Unlike the kind of technical prowess or opinions that you might expect from someone who is obsessive to the degree that Haruo is, he merely serves as a kind of timeline device which exposits the current releases. The commentary he offers in game isn't substantive either, especially for someone who is supposedly of his skill level. Every now and then he'll comment on certain techniques or playstyles, episode one goes the most in depth about this with explanations about Guile Turtling and arcade play Faux Pas, but these are the exception not the norm. Haruo is described by his friend Koutarou as being someone who possesses a kind of charisma despite his below averageness, but this is yet to be translated properly through his behavior.

His opposite, Ono, isn't much better. As mentioned before she's a complete mute, she doesn't speak one line during the entire runtime and lacks expressive capabilities. While this could be chalked up to her extremely sheltered lifestyle, it severely contrasts her extremely violent nature towards Haruo. Ono is a tsundere, but lacks all the charm that comes with a tsundere character. Pretty much every interaction they have boils down to Haruo and her playing games, Haruo being impressed by her skills and then her beating him up in real life. There's exactly two scenes in which we learn more about Ono's home life and even then they end up being roughly the same thing. Every other piece of information we learn about her comes from second hand observations by other characters which amalgamate into a blob of "she's quiet but perfect." She's simply not an interesting character and her relationship with Haruo fails to compel me because of the overwhelming quantity of both of their faults.

One of the strongest aspects of the show is its substantial progression of time. After episode 3 we're shot forward to the end of Haruo's second year at middle school and after episode 9 we're shot forward again to the beginning of his High School years. A lot of slice of life anime become stuck in an infinite loop of single school year snapshots and rarely ever show the characters age or progress through life. And while High Score Girl does push the characters forward through life, it fails to adequately develop the characters with age as well. Haruo remains Haruo, maintaining his gaming obsession and only becoming slightly quieter with every year. Ono remains Ono, she apparently cares about Haruo but doesn't reach any new levels of expression or unlock the ability to speak. However the major upside to this progression of time is the introduction of the third main character: Hidaka.

Haruo's exposition falls mostly on deaf ears because he's preaching to a choir. Ono is a gamer, she knows all of these things, and the audience is likely to be either gamers or at least more familiar with them than the average person every would be. However Hidaka is a normal girl. She spends her days going to school, helping around the house, and studying. She doesn't have many hobbies and certainly nothing to do with the world of video games. However it's through her interactions with Haruo, her polar opposite, that her eyes become opened to a world she didn't know existed. She becomes attracted to Haruo because of his level of obsession with games, something which she has never once experienced in her life. Suddenly all the monologues about the current releases and the superficial knowledge about gaming takes a new light. At first she prefers to watch him play from behind but as the series progresses she takes a much more active approach in getting Haruo to notice her. She's the only character in the show to receive this amount of development and is my personal favorite aspect of it.

Despite all of my complaints and my best efforts to dislike this show I have to admit something. There are quiet moments when Haruo and Ono are alone and simply enjoying each others company, not playing any games or yelling or even talking, and these moments work perfectly. The final two episodes in particular are incredibly strong and this is where my frustration lies. Because every so often the show will hit me with these scenes that still manage to work perfectly and then I look back at all the underdeveloped, and frankly kind of annoying, moments which precede it and all I can think about is the wasted potential. If Ono or Haruo compelled me more or had real development than I'm certain that the payoff would have left me thinking this is a masterpiece. Unfortunately this isn't the case, and I'm left with bittersweet and confusing feelings about the show itself. Certainly not bad, but pales in comparison to what it could have been.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 12, 2023

AmineBee

Not Recommended

Funny

I still don't know what force of nature compelled me to watch this entire thing because it was an absolute waste of time. This show falls flat in basically every way and I was just in disbelief from how bad this show was.

The characters, dialogue, animation, art style, and story were just so poorly made and boring. There is nothing compelling about any characters, some being annoying and others painfully cringey. The main character we follow around is a total loser and not the kind that is funny or relatable but instead obnoxious and stupid. He constantly talks about how video games are all ... he’s good for and has like no character development whatsoever other than the fact he’s like “Wait a minute! I like girls!” and even then he doesn't grow as a person at all.

The main love interest Oono is not much better as she has no actual character traits and despite having a voice actress never speaks. It's not like she is mute or has social anxiety, she just doesn't talk for some reason.

Still don't know why I subjected myself to this but yeah it's just painfully boring.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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