Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Yukimaru01
I watched the series long time ago but it still takes me back, but what i can remember clearly is that the time period of the series is around elementary to middle school focused on love, school, and gaming, basically drama with comedy. I may exaggerate it but the series is actually great with a bit of slow pace but fun too.
I would also recommend specifically if you are someone of nostalgia who wants to look back to your younger days and the thing you used to do to have fun, and ofc especially if there was someone in particular that you used to like. Because I lowkey like the series cause it reminds me of my past life, such is nostalgia.
Read at the sourceFunseemly
High Score Girl is unfortunately average.
I’d initially come into it with a lot of interest, I found the art direction to be quite unique and genuinely endearing despite what many anime fans have to say about CG animation, I think that it overall lends itself well to the aesthetics of the show, it may look a little rough around the edges but I found myself drawn to the personality that it provided.
A topic such as video games getting such a central focus is something you don’t see very often in the medium and that had made me curious.
Upon watching the first few episodes I found myself intrigued with how it seemingly strayed from the traditional story structure that most romance anime utilize, It left a relatively notable first impression with Oono making a departure so early on, making r…
Read at the sourceAshParth
As someone who does play games, unlike certain folks on the internet, how could I not include this anime on Netflix? I'd seen this a few years ago when I lived in Virginia and thought it was fine. Having seen this again in the present day, this was an interesting series. An anime that gamers would relate to. Relate to anyone with a sense of nostalgia since this series centers around the 80s to 90s aspect with arcade games to early gaming consoles like the SEGA Genesis, the Super Famicon, plenty of consoles that some folks would recognize. That would say the same for the games.
The story takes place in the late 80s with our main character named Haruo Yaguchi playing his video games, minding his own business until he'd met his match with a young lady around his age named Akira Ono in Street…
Read at the source---Hyouka---
Alright, let’s get straight to it for the impatient ones out there:
You’re either gonna love or hate this anime.
It’s got a simple, fun premise—but with a slow burn kind of progression.
Let’s start with the basics:
Animation: 7 – It’s smooth, but I hate 3D.
Comedy: 7 – It’s decent.
Romance: 6 or 9 – I honestly can’t decide. So much potential, but so much unnecessary stalling.
Plot: 8 – I loved the premise and how it explores the evolution of gaming. Soundtrack: 8
Now, like Jack the Ripper said—let’s go piece by piece.
Let’s start with the positives.
I love how they used real games and their actual names. I hate it when anime tackle real-life topics and then change the names to make some generic knock-off. For someone like me—who’s been gaming since way back and kind of followed all th…
Read at the sourceCynthesia
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 inexp…
Read at the sourcefrxgi
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.
Read at the sourceTwo0ld4this
(This review contains mild spoilers.) I went into this series having little in the way of expectations. The MAL rating at the time of writing is 7.75, which is kinda mid, so I had my doubts about the quality of the show. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the first 2-3 episodes, which were really charming, and hinted at an unusual love story between the protagonists, Haruo and Akira. I was very much looking forward to the next episode, thinking that I had found a severely underrated series. Sadly, the love story eventually turned into a love triangle, which is one of the most annoying tropes in anime (at least, if you've gone through several of them in your anime journey). As the story develops, Akira loses her charm and becomes cold, distant, and a Mary Sue: she's great at everything,…
Read at the sourceLonlyMatt
The story in general is sweet, funny, and becomes more captivating as it progresses. You get to see two young kids fascinated by arcade games turn into rivals, and from that build an unexpected friendship. A relationship with plenty of turbulence. They both strive to keep pace with the ever growing gaming industry, but most importantly, to keep pace with one another.
The romance, which is simple and very linked to video games, only becomes a more prominant theme further into the show. The characters fit well in the plot, though there might be some generic personality tropes and you might get mad at the MC at times (though you'll get to like him later on).
The artstyle is something quite uncommon. Using 3D assets for the characters and some other elements (expect one unfortunate teacher w…
Read at the sourceLongnines
A middle school boy spends his afternoons and allowance of yen on the 90s arcade game scene, where enthusiastic kids and work-weary adults go to play the hottest new fighting games and classic retro ones. Having no ambitions to be successful in school, inattentive as ever to classwork, what the boy lacks for in passion concerning his education he makes up for doubly in his knowledge about and passion for games and gaming and does not lack skill at it either. One afternoon, however, he encounters an unlikely opponent at the arcade and forms a mysteriously quiet gaming rivalry for the ages.
High Score Girl is a love letter to retro gaming, each episode containing a plethora of references to and gameplay from some of the most iconic titles and series of the 90s. You need not be a game aficio…
Read at the sourceAmineBee
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 Oo…
Read at the sourceandylaode
The fact that Akira Oono is never say anything really put me off. Why would a highly intelligent girl such as Akira never say anything at all from episode 1 until the last episode? What is the-- author of this story-- need to make the character this way? What is the reason? Dramatic effect? It only make things superficial and one sided. Even a single word such as “hi” or “arigatou” never heard from her. It always facial expression and all the character near him say tremendously long sentence and long phrase, and sometimes it just represents her.
No. I don’t need movie like this. Koharu Hidaka is much better as a MC than Akira Oono. At least we can hear her thought, we can hear her day to day conversation at class. She is human, unlike Akira who is mere a doll with human expression and ver…
Read at the sourceloanonlife
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 nerds who 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 eas…
Read at the sourceAKim714
"Hi Score Girl" scores high appraise for its portrayal of society's long forgotten and most oppressed group: gamers. For viewers who can connect to this work on a personal level, the nostalgia that comes with abandoning responsibility just to fit in one more round of a gatcha, arcade, or console game is unparalleled as they become fond experiences from childhood to look back unto. This anime highlights the best parts of being enamored by the bevy of video games titles to invest in, all in the name of good fun. Additionally, the way "Hi Score Girl" pays homage to classical video game series and integrates the legendary history of game mechanics in retrospect and applies them the show's characters is excellently done. Unbeknownst to the main character, Haruo Yaguchi, this can also mean begin…
Read at the sourceJPSoraSan
If there is one thing to be said about this anime it would be as stated. Pandering to people who grew up in arcades in the 80's to 90's, not that there is exactly a problem with that, in fact if makes it enjoyable, but everything past that is just okay. The characters are rather one note to start off but begin to develop as the series goes on. I just don't think the initial first episode is a good hook for what is to come later, with its janky 3D animation and it's not so compelling characters. The characters are your typical anime fair with extremely execrated one note characters who are defined by one character trait or hobby. The story is kind of forgettable when taken in stride. The sound design and soundtrack though can be hit or miss, it's either a medley of the OP, or original music…
Read at the sourcezorochii
Started watching this series out of a whim, because someone mentioned there was an episode with RPG Maker (an one-liner, that's it). Yes, that was my motivation. If it was only videogames, I do love videogame history and all that, but I wouldn't have watched it, there are lots of series with heavy use of videogame references and I know they're not my cup of tea.
Still, I stuck with it till the end, probably because it's a short series.
Characters are there, and I don't specially like any of them. I didn't feel like learning the names of some of them, so bear with me. I know I can reference the main page but I don't want to, just for some dumb useless authenticity I guess.
Haruo has a very poor introduction, it's presented as the incarnation of the gamer stereotype, I know this series is…
Read at the sourcelamaraptor
I just spent a whole ton of time praising Jaku-chara Tomozaki for it's realistic portrayal of Smash Bros, a game I actually play and like a whole lot. That anime had a trash-tier plot with cookie-cutter characters all of whom I hated. So what do I think of a show that heavily features Street Fighter and other 90's arcade fighting games, none of which I've ever really played? Well what makes this an actually great show isn't just the homage it pays to arcade gaming, but a whole bunch of interesting characters and a plot I can actually get behind.
The main story between the High Score Girl and the Guile-main is really sweet, how he becomes an escape for her otherwise hard lifestyle forced onto her by the typical anime rich family, and how slowly realizes his feelings for her. The part right…
Read at the sourceSeeker27
This anime brings back memories to when arcade games were popular.
Themes:
Beauty and the Beast - Yaguchi is a slacker at school and spends all his spare time playing videogames. He plays for the thrill of winning and enjoyment and would be considered a Trihard in gaming community.
Oono - Ideal student, wealthy parents, and is idolized by rest of class. Is a prodigy of games and even gets an impressive win streak at the arcade. She posseses the knowledge, skill, and dexterity to beat any opponent.
Hidaka - Second love interest for Yaguchi. Learns the ropes of fighting games by watching him. Father is a storeowner and at first she is a button masher. Towards end of season, she proves her skills by defeating Yaguchi.
Some of the amusement comes from Yaguchi hearing/imagining advice f…
Read at the sourceVixtris
I will give credit to this show first saying that it is geniunely enjoyable, it's just another romance between unexperienced teenagers who struggle to express their emotions to each other. Nothing special about it, but you get to see 90's gamers developing feelings between them and it can be quite refreshing seeing this instead of your classic high school art club shit or whatever.
Now, on the other side: the main character is your average twatless, low grade, video game enthusiast who cares about nothing but games and doesn't even seem to be competent socially. Really, he is barely shown having normal conversations with classmates or other people, everything is about videogames but the part that makes it dumb, is that is always about HIM playing videogames, just Haruo in his own world. N…
Read at the sourceLionzero
Gaming in the 90s. Arcades were booming and fighting games were taking off. In this midst of this boom, Haruo was on a gaming high in Street Fighter 2 when he sees someone on a win streak. He confronts the gamer in 1v1 and loses to the player's Zangief. He resorts to turtling and throw Jank with Guile and manages a win. Only to meet Akira, a girl gamer his age.
The story takes place from Elementary School to High School and follows the gaming boom along the way as these two compete in all of the new releases.
As the Story of Gamers progress, love comes into play I guess...
But you aren't here for that! Oh no, sir! You are here for the nostalgia trip of a life time! Street Fighter, Dark Stalkers, Tekken, Virtual Fighter, King of Fighters and Fatal Fury, and even Fighting Vipers! Does an…
Read at the sourceZero1One0
First time to write a review on an anime that I have watched.
This is an anime that will be most appreciated by those who lived and played the arcade games and saw the rise of of home consoles in that era.
What compiled me to write a short review is that the nostalgia factor is so great.
For someone who has been playing arcade games since the time of Galaga, 1942, etc, the arcade golden years for me was when SF2 World Warrior was released in 1991 and it was the best and the king of fighting games at that time.
I like the character emotional development of the 3 main characters and also how all the supporting character helped the main character grow.
Haruo's emotional character development is very good. From someone, who just loves games and aims to be the best at what he loves (playing…
Read at the source
