Without wanting to belabour the point, Hi Score Girl really deserves better, you know? This is a series which really has a lot of ingredients necessary to be a hit, and it almost is in manga form – the series has always sold quite well. Yes, Oshikiri Rensuke demands a lot of commitment from his audience with complex characters and storylines, and his characters have a distinctly goofy and un-moe look to them. But the story is so relatable, so universal and addictive – it speaks a language that crosses many demographic barriers.
But sadly, it’s been a string of almost unbelievably bad luck for the franchise, over and over, leading us to the point where we are now. Producing the anime in full CGI is really a sort of pre-emptive surrender in the disc sales market, and Netflix Japan’s sabotage kills whatever chance it had for an overseas audience. The last straw, I suppose, will be a reveal that it’s only one cour – we don’t know that yet, but given the series’ cursed history it’s almost impossible to believe otherwise. It’s been screwed every way possible from here till next week anyway – why not kill any chance the anime has to tell the story properly?
What I hope is coming across to the six or so of you that are watching it is the sheer authenticity of the work. I know I used that word last week, but it really fits. I’m hard-pressed to remember another series that captures the experience of being a kid as well as Hi Score does – the sheer depravity of it. The unfairness, the moments of exuberance, the randomness, the long stretches of boredom broken by occasional bursts of terror. FLCL (I used that word last week too) captures it in a metaphorical sense, but HSG does so in a much more literal way.
The theme park trip shows how much the story (and protagonist) has already progressed in a short period of time (9 chapters, 3 episodes). It’s not supposed to be a theme park trip of course – poor Doi-kun has it in mind to be a flower-viewing trip, and his strategy is to surround himself with losers (as Doi sees them) to make himself look better in Oono’s eyes. Haruo and Oono have accepted for one reason, really, though perhaps neither would admit it (certainly not Haruo). And it’s Haruo who soon suggests that the party move from the flower park to the neighboring amusement park – though it’s not rides that he has in mind to amuse himself with.
Doi thinks he can turn this to advantage, but there’s irony thick in the air here, which will assert itself eventually. Both Haruo and Oono independently escape (he has extra motivation – the bone girl) to the arcade hall, and he’s already thinking of it as “our kind of place”. Just like that, Oono has slid into his narrow worldview – at home in his life as much as the game consoles and change machines. Eventually the two of them end up outside, in the park itself – riding the rides, wandering the mirror hall, almost riding the ferris wheel (can any guy honestly look back and not know exactly what Haruo was talking about with “nervous” and relief”?). It ends up being a date, though Haruo certainly never planned it that way (only Doi did).
The shocking news in the aftermath is that Oono is moving away (another intrinsic part of the unfairness of childhood) – all the way to Los Angeles, in fact. Her sister and her loyal butler Jiiya (the wonderful Chou) are staying behind (he can’t leave Japan due to his pachinko addiction). This unsettles Haruo in ways he can’t yet understand – he can’t figure out how to spend the ¥1000 his mom gives her for a farewell gift, and he’s cold to Oono at her farewell party. His aim to spend it all on games comes a cropper when his “spirit guides” (voiced by the likes of Yamaguchi Kappei, Sugita Tomokazu – who also plays the freaky teacher – Tsuda Kenjirou, Itou Shizuka and Yasumoto Hiroki) scold him into heading to Haneda to see Oono off in person.
It’s interesting to hear Oono express herself so strongly here, a big change from the manga experience – I mean, in the airport scene she does it there too, but one doesn’t imagine Oono being so vocal. The moment with the ring… It’s a small thing, but for a kid like Haruo, it’s an almost unheard of statement of intent. This is what being 12 is like – the world can change utterly in the blink of an eye, and nothing is ever the same. Just as quickly as she blew into Haruo’s life like a typhoon, she’s gone (jut like a typhoon) and he has to figure out how to pick up the pieces.
karma
July 29, 2018 at 5:37 amI expected something more or less in vein of the first season of Dagashi Kashi, but High Score Girl went pretty quickly for a heartbreak, didn’t it? It’s pretty much an example of “3 episode rule” working (one of my friends dismissed this show just after first episode, because both main characters were too unlikable for him) – one or two aren’t enough to see all facets of this anime.
Guardian Enzo
July 29, 2018 at 6:03 amNo, they’re not – though I did warn you! I actually liked the story and Haruo right away, but you have to look a little harder to see what becomes more obvious in subsequent chapters.
Haruo, especially, is a tremendous protagonist. Stay with the series and you’ll see.
justfun
July 29, 2018 at 7:02 amThanks to your recommendations here I had some expectations, but the show quickly surpassed them and I was sold from the first episode. It is great what the series achieved in just three episodes – other shows fail to give us that much development in a whole season (looking at you, Takagi-san).
Jennifer
July 29, 2018 at 12:15 pmThe first episode didn’t really sell me since “Hit the MC” was annoying, but after the 2nd and now this episode, it’s my top pick of the season. It really was like how Haruo relationship went from dislike to now liking as a good friend. Their farewell scene was very sad and I could really feel the passion from these kids as they bonded over their games that can no longer do that (for now).
Honestly bless Yoko Shimomura but now this show is going to be stuck in my head for a while. I’ll try to resist the manga (Until the series ends. I hope for a second course but the hope is probably in vain.)
Guardian Enzo
July 29, 2018 at 3:15 pmOn the off chance the anime gets two cours, it will probably try and adapt the entire manga (which ends in the winter). Two cours for 10 volumes isn’t ideal but that’s where we’d likely be headed. If it’s 12 episodes, who the F knows what they’ll do.
The wild guesser
July 29, 2018 at 4:42 pmConsidering this is the age of the seasonal anime and short term attention spans, i kinda figured the second you mentioned the patience and attention that this show requires off its audience, that the show would be a financial bust.
While I don’t want that to be the case, at least there’s a new manga for me to put on my “to read” list.
Mike
July 30, 2018 at 3:18 pmIs this the ugliest anime ever made? It’s not just cgi but really terrible cgi. Ajin looked a hundred times better. The movements are so awkward and jerky it keeps taking me out of the show. Such a shame because it does deserve better.
Mike
July 30, 2018 at 3:21 pmOh and it’s doubly annoying when something as pointless as Sirius the Jaeger gets the production values of a movie
Ko
July 30, 2018 at 3:41 pmI’m really happy that I learned about this show from here because I haven’t heard much talk of it elsewhere and this deserves more attention for sure. Going into this show the CGI took my by surprise, but honestly I really like it. I think it suits the style fairly well. I haven’t read the manga yet, but just from what we’ve seen so far I’ll be really bummed if this only gets a single cour.
I’ve enjoyed each episode so far, but this one showed me more of what I needed to see in order to really fall for it. Some of the vibes I got from it gave me a similar response to what I had watching the beginning of Cross Game. Just something about kids not understanding/accepting the feelings they have when life is unfair really gets to me. I’m really curious how the series will move forward from this point and can’t wait for more.
Guardian Enzo
July 30, 2018 at 3:49 pmGreat to hear, thanks. You won’t be disappointed I don’t think.
Rui Carvalho
July 31, 2018 at 4:30 pmIt’s been quite a journey from the first episode till now. I wasn’t really a fan of Ono in the first episode (with the whole violence thing), but that certainly has turned around in these last two episodes. They really managed to build a good chemistry there, and despite Ono never saying a world, her feelings came across quite clearly. I’m quite engrossed now, and due to the art style being what it is, the CGI isn’t bothering me very much. So, judging from your comments we’re up for a time skip soon…. let’s see what that brings. Kinda curious how that blonde girl will fit into this.
Oh, and I feel so stupid to only notice now that haruo is in a uniform during the OP, and that during elementary he didn’t have one, so of course we’d be moving forward to middle school at some point…
Tombeet
August 1, 2018 at 9:00 pm“Her sister and her loyal butler Jiiya (the wonderful Chou) are staying behind (he can’t leave Japan due to his pachinko addiction).”
That girl there isn’t Oono’s sister but her tutor. God I love Hidaka so much I hope the show does justice to her character. We’ll see about that next episode