Hi Score Girl

If, after watching the first few episodes of this anime series, someone had told me that it would end up for me being the most successful romantic comedy anime series of the anime season Summer 2018, and probably even of the last few years, I would have laughed in their face. This is because at first, this anime series seems like nothing more than a very obvious advertisement for some old and maybe even new computer games. Please believe me, it is true... For anyone who was born in the eighties and therefore actually lived through the computer game boom that came in the nineties, this is going to take you back, and you are going to be riding that wave of nostalgia and start reminiscing about your first experiences with both arcade machines and game consoles. So if it was just about the video games and the gaming rivalry, I would not have awarded less than three stars, because this show is incredibly close to my heart, and it brought back a lot of great memories. This is because the producers really know how to portray the passion of playing video games, to show the enthusiasm not only for the games themselves but also for the gameplay. It also helps the audience find the character Yaguchi more believable! However, it is that strong romantic undercurrent that makes Hi Score Girl something much more interesting, powerful, and unforgettable. I have not seen such a good, effortless and heartwarming romantic comedy in a long time, and there are at least two episodes (the one with Oono's departure, and the one where Oono is running away from home) that are worth a solid five stars in my book and could easily warm up my otherwise very cynical and cold heart. In general, I personally find Oono an incredibly charming girl. This is probably the first time that I actually feel that the description of the character as "silent and mysterious with a strangely sublime aura" really fits how I perceive the character. Oono is not a character that needs to talk, she expresses her feelings very clearly just by the way she looks, gestures, or by the way she acts... The problem is that there is the other girl in the show Hidaka, who is not too bad either, in fact, she is very nice and supportive... So now you have to choose, dear audience! I managed it, and I believe Yaguchi could do it too, even though we are only going to find out the answer to the riddle of this love triangle in the follow-up in 2019. I simply cannot wait for the next season now after watching the last episode of this one, which has the most anticipated and also the worst cliffhanger ever. I thought that Hi Score Girl was the biggest surprise out of all of the anime season Simmer 2018 releases and shows how an anime series can be on the right side of heart-warming, romantic, and nostalgic. It also shows how it can promote old computer games, new video games, and the eventual second season without being extremely irritating. In addition, this show features peculiar and atypical animation that really grows on you. 7.8/10.  ----------- EDIT 17.05.2019 -  I thought, unsurprisingly, that the three-part OVA continues the high standard set by the original anime series. Once again, it is really heart-warming, and, in my opinion, the perfect romantic comedy - oh, and there is more gameplay too... The characters are still the same, Oono is amazing even when she is not speaking, and she has those big sad eyes and a tragic backstory that makes you feel for her and take her to your heart even if you are not fully aware of it (just like the main male protagonist). Hidaka’s character is a close second for me, a remarkably personable fighter, and I was rooting for her too. Oh, and Haruo is still just as entertainingly tragic and knows nothing except gaming - probably like Jon Snow. In my opinion, this is still one of the best, funniest, and most heartwarming romantic comedies, hidden away where you perhaps would not necessarily expect to find it. It succeeded in making me quite emotional and it made me smile. Admittedly, I could easily criticize how much everyone here is now pushing Haruo to understand, because he is very dumb, what is really going on. I could also be dissatisfied with the fact that after the massive climax at the end of the first season, everything was dug up again to be intensely dealt with in the OVA (although I was actually satisfied). This is despite the fact that in the end, nothing was really resolved (although I can actually understand that), and so I feel like we are back to where we were before the big admission. We are therefore just now waiting to see what is going to happen in season two. Yes, there will be a second season this fall, and I am looking forward to it. After the three-part OVA, I am going for 8.2/10, because perhaps like a good RPG game (which at least maintains the plot to a certain extent throughout), the more you play (watch) it, the more you enjoy it and the visible flaws and mistakes fade away - at least that is what Todd Howard supposedly said... EDIT 23.12.2019 - The second season started off a little less dramatic and interesting than I expected. I did not find Haruo and his rebellious period or the fights between the video game gangs all that entertaining. However, there is the conclusion, when the love triangle is finally dealt with. Everything builds up dramatically in a very suspenseful way towards the ending which I had expected, and I guess the only thing that I found a bit irritating was that they used the same storyline again, meaning the journey to the airport… However, what the hell, since everything is beautifully evocative, just like the first time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the last few episodes as intensely as my mother enjoys watching the conclusion of a storyline in her favorite soap opera. I mean, it managed to move me, shake me and it also warmed my heart - the ending was a truly five-star experience and I enjoyed everything and fully understood why I love this anime series and its characters so much. So, riding on the wave of these emotions and satisfied with what I saw and how it was presented, I am raising my rating for the last time and going to look for that damn ninja who was slicing onions in my room somewhere during the last episode... The second season gets 9/10 - overall the entire anime series gets 8.6/10. (29.09.2018) (menos) (más)