Irritatingly (but not coincidentally) I always seem to be traveling at the end of anime seasons. I never like to rush through posts, but that especially applies to series reviews, and especially of shows I love. But I have to make concessions to reality sometimes so this is going to be a lot shorter than it should be. All I can offer in penitence is that in the event something gives me a reason to talk about Hi Score Girl again in a few days (oh, who am I kidding – we both know I will be) I can make up a bit of the difference then.
All that really matters in the end is that I love Hi Score Girl, and I loved this adaptation. I loved the manga from the first chapter I read, I suffered through an agonizing five years of purgatory after Square Enix’ laziness put the anime on-hold. None of that holds a candle to what Oshikiri Rensuke went through of course, having the foundation of his career effectively ripped away from him through no fault of his own. But all’s well that ends well I suppose, and HSG did at least get the adaptation it deserved.
This season was very much the continuation of the first, there’s no question about that. The themes that were set up early in the story played themselves out to their logical conclusion. That means, among other things, that Koharu was effectively a distraction (albeit a fabulous one) – and it’s kind of heartbreaking to see her acknowledge that here. It also means that Haru has to see his promise to himself through, even if it is a relic of childhood. In the end he never could beat Oono in a real match – but I would argue he never really wanted to. Her mystique was something he loved about her.
The business with returning the ring was interesting. I can very much see Akira doing it for exactly the reason Koharu says, but I kind of don’t blame Haruo for not getting that – I don’t think I would have when I was sixteen. The truth is though that for Akira, Haruo is always her knight in shining armor, and knights in shining armor should always appear on their noble steed at the last moment to save the princess. It’s fitting that it’s Koharu who finally breaks through the fog of indecision for Haruo.
The way Oshikiri-sensei staged this, with the pantheon of game characters (led by Guile of course) that Haruo loved repaying that love by making his final meeting with Akira possible, was exactly how I would have wanted to see that play out. That said, there is a measure of uncertainty to this, which is fitting because these are still kids beholden to the whims of their parents. What’s not uncertain now are Haruo and Akira’s feelings for each other – though I’m not sure they ever really were. Perhaps we might get a clue as to what actually happens next when the first chapter of Hi Score Girl DASH comes out on Christmas Day – though that won’t be the focus of the manga (Koharu at age 29 will be) so I won’t be shocked if we don’t get much detail.
It’s such a great (and rare) thing when manga we love get the anime they should. So despite all the agony that went along with it, in the end I think Hi Score Girl fans should feel lucky – and maybe appreciate the fact that this is even sweeter than it would have been without the series’ travails. Heck, even the CG totally ended up working for me – it fit, just as the voices and the music and the overall tone of the anime did. Sometimes, even in a medium as crass and capricious as anime, justice really is served. And for HSG fans, that dish tastes all the better because we damn well earned it.
ED Sequence:
Nadavu
December 23, 2019 at 6:08 amWhat was that? Hi Score Girl DASH?? Koharu at age 29?? Thank you, Santa, for not discriminating against good Jewish boys!
Guardian Enzo
December 23, 2019 at 7:35 amA gift from Hanukkah Harry.
Nadavu
December 25, 2019 at 10:54 pmAny chance you’ll be blogging it?
Guardian Enzo
December 25, 2019 at 11:08 pmA chance, but I’d need to see if play out for a while before I decide.
Yukie
December 24, 2019 at 1:24 amIt’s amazing how much I’ve come to care for these characters, especially Akira, who barely spoke at all. Twice she’s cried in the finale, and twice I teared up with her.
Yann
December 24, 2019 at 4:39 amWow! That was way more intense than I thought possible going into this anime. I really cared for those guys and wanted to kill Haru for a minute there… Come on! Be honest with yourself and stop being so afraid… Even though I totally get it cause I did the exact same kinda things when I was his age.
I thought Koharu telling him to go get her was one of the most touching moments in this episode. I really felt he pain there.
I gotta agree to the CGI. I’m usually 100% against it, but in that one specific case, it actually works.
I’ve played video games maybe a couple hours TOTAL in my life and I still enjoyed everything about this anime. That’s some good story telling right there…
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2019 at 7:58 amThat’s the gist of it for me. I’m not a gamer, any more than I’m a karuta player or a koto player. But it totally works.
Nadavu
December 24, 2019 at 8:22 pmI agree that (good) anime has the uncanny ability to make us care about things completely outside of our own experience. Go, bicycling, karuta, baseball, sufuteni, mahjong — yeah, I found myself caring about things I didn’t even know exist. But with HSG I got to experience something new and powerful: a show glorifying something I actually did know and care about. Not that I was ever a huge gamer, but I grew up in the sticks and whenever I had a chance to visit the city, I’d always go to the arcades and spend hours just wondering around and just watch other (and older) kids play. Final Fight, STFII, Mortal Kombar, Darkstalkers — they are all iconically burned into my mental retina. To see them all come back to life in glorious CGI (who would have thought CGI could ever be glorious?) was an incredibly powerful experience for me. It’s that extra addition of spice that made the show more than just great on its own merit, but also intensly personal and doubly relatable.
I know I’m biased to the core, but the early 90s seem to make the best time frame for stories. The last years of technological innocence, before the Internet, cellphones and later smartphones made it so that if your train got bogged down in a blizzard there’d be no surprise to find that your friend who you haven’t seen in a year and have only exchanged letters with has waited for you for hours in the train station.
dc22
December 27, 2019 at 9:00 amWhat is it about this show that just melts my cold heart? Can’t help but love it.
Guardian Enzo
December 27, 2019 at 12:19 pmYou and me both.
kiwi
July 14, 2020 at 2:15 pmHi, I know i’m seven months late but I finally finished this show!! i’ll be damned if I didn’t need a little bit of wholesome happiness right now and if the ending didnt make me tear up a little. This show was just so earnest and sweet and kind-hearted; it’s really something special. I’m not really a manga reader but I think I’ll have to check this out someday (and the sequel series..) just to check in on these lovely characters.
Guardian Enzo
July 14, 2020 at 3:07 pmYou won’t regret it. The anime is pretty faithful but there are enough subtle differences that the manga is a meaningfully distinct experience.