A walk down memory lane to the second Golden Age of Arcades-High Score Girl review in progress

Ahoy Me Mateys Captain Cats here! The 90’s were a magical time for not just gamers but also for the Arcade scene all over the world, unlike today where its almost dead all over; except in Japan of course. For many of us who grew up doing the era saw the rise and fall of the arcade scene and the rise of the home console. Those who missed out on a wonderful time, but thanks to a new anime you can see it in its heydays in High Score Girl.

The series started as a manga in 2010 but sadly will end its run in January of next year. Rensuke Oshikiri created the series and the story is a 90’s arcade romantic comedy or rom-com for short. The series follows the arcade scene, the companies, technology, the games that came out during that era and the life of a gamer Haruo Yaguchi and how everything changes over the course of the 90’s. During the series, Haruo meets his rival while playing Street Fighter 2, and his rival is a girl named Akira Oono. Oono never talks and used only gestures and her facial expression to show how she feels. During their many encounters, they form a bond for the mutual love for gaming.

As of now, there has only been three episodes shown and so far its great with a few things to talk about. The animation is in 3D and its ok, not the best I have seen. It looks choppy at times, but I can let it pass for now if later episodes can fix this. I was delighted to see a lot of the original arcade cabinets for the games to play and other types as well give it a real 90’s feel to the show. The characters have this unique look in the manga, they still do in the series but can be a bit off depending on the scene. The sounds of the arcade games are still the same, and you’ll be surprised which companies made the show’s list. The locations and environment look great and have that 90’s feels to it, even tho I never grew up in Japan in the 90’s, I have talked to people who did, and it seems to be right. Lastly the music, during the episodes the music has been on par, they play the right tune for the right moment, and that’s fine. The opening music to me doesn’t fit the series, it has this J POP vibe to it and don’t get me wrong its a nice song, but doesn’t seem to fit the fantastic opening animation. The ending music on the other hand fits it perfectly, it has this late 80’s early 90’s feel and with the wonderful ending animation to match it.

So as for now, this is worth watching if you want to know what the 90’s arcade scene was all about and why the 90’s were called the Second Golden Age of arcades. If your not a gamer and want to see a good rom-com with good pace and fun story give this a shot. As of now its only being broadcast in Japan on Tokyo MX, BS11, and MBS, no word yet on when it will be available in the US.