PyPyraXadon
December 29, 2019
Mixed Feelings
You know I would've at least liked some upgraded aesthetics and not an awkward length of 9 episodes, J.C. Staff, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Story: Acting as a follow-up to Season 1 (and the three OVA episodes I think are actually important), High Score Girl II acts as the finale arc to the story of Yaguchi Haruo and his unconditional love for fighting games. Now starting their first year of high school, things like growing up and past rivalries flare up in this era of adolescence in order to finally put a cap on his long-standing rivalry with the girl that he's known from hisyouth, Akira Oono.
High Score Girl is a series I describe as being several parts video game history, several parts character growth, one part romance, and a scarily large part physical abuse for comedic effect. The brunt of the story really is a focus on Haruo and his feelings on both life and the people around him now that he's in high school with more things to think about aside from just games. It's because of this that I find his sections of the story to be both rewarding and enjoyable to watch, as it's time dedicated to detailing and showing the audience the maturity and growth he's had over the course of his life, while sticking true to his roots as a Guile main.
However the main selling point of High Score Girl is (apparently) its romantic story which unfortunately is a part of the series that misses a few beats with me. The story is good at building romantic tension. The rivalry between the two girls had motivations that felt like it had weight with Koharu especially feeling like she had something genuine to gain or lose by 'winning the guy'. While I'm not particularly a fan of these kinds of setups outside of generic harems, there were enough stakes for that subplot to come to fruition. Haruo also having agency in his decisions also make the romance a bit sweeter, especially after about a season and a half's worth of indecision (though that one's not really through any fault of his own.) Despite those positives, the romance is still not as great as I think a lot of people believe.
For one thing, the season spends only the last third focused on the idea of Haruo having agency over his love life, whereas prior, both girls sent numerous mixed messages that really made me question whether or not this was supposed to be 'romantic'. With the punchline of the series being "Everyone beat up Haruo every time he does something stupid", that problem was only exacerbated with time. This problem is furthered by the show sporting a plot mcguffin at the end to achieve a kind of 'satisfying' conclusion that feels neither earned nor necessary. It feels like the creators wanted to add something to make the ending more dramatic, but really it just feels like a detail that comes out of nowhere in order to build tension that wasn't there to begin with.
Regardless, the story of High Score Girl remains as a time capsule for a time long gone for veterans of the fighting game genre with a splash of romance added to the series for color. While I'm still of the opinion that the romance could've been way better than how it was portrayed, I'm at least still satisfied with the growth of (most) of its main cast and glad that Haruo is no longer that snot-nosed brat from the beginning of the series.
Characters:
I've praised Haruo's improvement as a character due to his agency in the latter halves of the season as well as the overall growth of his character from an annoying kid who finds everyone else around him just as annoying. His demeanor and attitude towards the rest of the cast is what sells him for me as a character, since his love of video games remains as a core part of his character, but mostly as a stool to step off of and slowly branch off into other avenues and interests as other things in his life start to become more important to him. It's nice, and I'm glad he developed the way he did.
Oono though is a different story. So much of her character is aided by the use of side characters and Haruo that she almost feels like a non-factor to the series. Most of her interactions with the rest of the cast rely heavily on everyone else acknowledging her presence, and (towards Haruo only) physical violence. It gets to a point that the ending feels unearned because it makes it seem like, without saying a word, she gets everything she wanted and doesn't nearly do so much as struggle when comparatively, Haruo does whatever he can to better himself and defiantly decides what he wants out of life and who is the one that fulfills him in the end. Things just happen around Akira, and it irks me how this is considered 'romance' when at the end of the day, only one party is speaking.
And then there's Koharu, the unfortunate heroine of the main trio who unceremoniously gets booted out of the series and barely shows her face in the last third of the season. Inverse to Akira, Koharu's presence and actions in the series are driven by her own desires and agency to get the things that she wants. Her struggle with coming to terms with her own feelings and the change that went along with it is one of the best arcs the series has made. And it's a shame that the show ends up doing her dirty the way it did. It feels like a slap in the face because the series basically asserts its authority by saying "You are not the ending" and cuts out what little significance she had left by not giving her so much as a consolation prize for her impact to the series.
Side characters are surprisingly common this time around with a majority of the side cast having prominent roles in the lives of the main trio, and unnecessary characters were cut out to the series's benefit. Mainstays like the Oono family driver and Haruo's mom keep up prominent appearances while newer characters like Akira's older sister REALLY make a splash to make up for any lost time when they weren't in the series prior. My favorite supporting character however is Guile, Haruo's SF main, who acts as his spiritual advisor for all situations. Which is kind of amusing, since it makes it seem like Haruo's losing his mind from playing too many games.
Aesthetics:
As much as I had hoped, the aesthetics for High Score Girl have not changed, and J.C. Staff still sticking with the low budget 3-D model animation for the series still leaves something to be desired. Granted while it does reflect Oshikiri Rensuke's artstyle, the movement and overall budget of High Score Girl aren't really anything to note. It doesn't take away from the experience all that much, but I would've hoped they could've at least made some improvements from to make help the characters not move so...unnatural.
The video game graphics are still good, and really help push for that nostalgic factor since the series is littered with pixel sprites and various fighting games from the 1990's that eventually bleed into the real world as Guile and similar characters make more and more cameos in the real world around Haruo.
The OST was never something that I paid much attention to when I was watching the first season, which unfortunately spells for a similar story for Season 2. Flash sung by sora tob sakana is remarkably similar to the OP of Season 1 that I did a double take to make sure that they were two completely different songs. Personally I don't find it that memorable, but the retro sounds throughout the piece are at least a nice detail that I want mention.
Yakushimaru Etsuko's "Unknown World Map" by comparison is better than its OP counterpart, sporting a quieter singer and a calmer, steady tempo that I personally find to be more pleasant. I still don't find this song to be all that memorable, but it's at least a nice song to listen to.
Personal Enjoyment:
I may have forgotten to watch the three OVA episodes before writing this review, but surprisingly enough, I don't think it's all that necessary? Yeah you miss on Makoto's introduction to the series, but she makes enough of a splash in S2 to negate needing to know who she is prior.
High Score Girl is a series that I've seen being praised for being a great series with a great romance story that deserves all of the praise that it's gotten. Honestly...it's not. Maybe most of it, but in my opinion, it's a series that succeeds in some aspects, but falters in others. The history and progression of arcade cabinets and fighting games posing as the series's backdrop is one of the more interesting aspects of the series that I found myself weirdly engrossed in despite never delving into that genre of games. This, combined with Haruo and Koharu's characters being given time to develop made for the blueprints of a show with a lot of potential. Unfortunately due to some questionable plot choices and committing to the trope of the 'first girl', the High Score Girl ends up shooting itself in the foot as it stumbles to the end with a well executed, but unearned ending that feels satisfying, but hollow.
High Score Girl still has my recommendation of being something that's worth watching. But that recommendation comes with the caveat with sections that I feel should've been different and/or the plot wasn't allowed to change from the rigid structure that it set itself in. Oono not saying anything up till the end is a narrative choice that I feel hurt the series more than helped, and I would've liked to see at least something, anything to make her more than just this mysterious, silent girl who just so happens to be an incredible Zangief main.
