Please note

This review is all subjective and my own personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, nor am I asking you to. I hope that this just helps you get an idea of what the manga I am talking about is like and form a basic and general consensus on it. The ratings I give anime is mostly my personal overall enjoyment. I have not watched the anime adaptation. This review will be spoiler free, however I will be discussing the ending in a later segment of the review. It will first be discussed in broad terms, then I will go into more explicit details of the ending, which will be hidden with a spoiler tag. If you do not wish for any spoilers whatsoever, please skip to the ending segment of this review. TL;DR will be at the bottom.

Introduction

High Score Girl is a romantic comedy, but with a unique twist. A gaming twist I should say. This entire manga revolves around not only the character's love for gaming, but the relationships that blossom from this wonderful hobby. High Score Girl centres around the life of Haruo Yaguchi, and his love for video games. However, a new challenger approaches, in the name of Akira Oono. She possesses immense skill in her gaming, and beats Haruo at every match. Just what will unfold between between these two characters...?

Plot

As expected of a manga with a title such as this, the plot mainly revolves around gaming. It is certainly a breath of fresh air, to have a romance centred around video games. I think this was a good direction for the manga, as it made it unique from every other romance, as well as making more interesting. Even though I am not exactly a fan of many of the games showcased in the manga, I still found myself intrigued in what was being displayed. The manga went into detail as to what was going on in the game, explaining the special moves being used and how to perform them as well. Games are not the sole focus of the manga though, another major focus of the manga is the relationships that blossom from a common love of video games. The plot overall is simple and easy to follow, making High Score Girl an easy to understand read. The plot does suffer in the beginning however, getting off with a slow start. In the start of the manga, the overall story is not that gripping, and can sometimes leave one to get disinterested. However, as the manga goes on, the plot starts to become more and more fascinating, it certainly led me hooked into reading more and more. One of the later arcs, the high school arc, is my favourite. The romance aspect of the manga was executed well, the plot and character development were done well and certainly made for an entertaining read. The first volume or two can be a little bit of a drag, however with a little commitment, you can find yourself not wanting to put the manga down.

Characters

Somewhat similar to the plot, the characters also suffer from a bit of a slow start. At the beginning, most of the characters are illustrated as annoying and a bit unlikable. But this only emphasises the major development all of the characters undergo throughout the entirety of the manga, starting out as tiresome, but later blooming into lovable and charming characters. It is safe to say for me, that the characters and the relationships that they hold are the highlight of High Score Girl. Watching the relationships unfold and mature was the one thing that kept me going back to High Score Girl to read more. In fact, I was so immersed in reading High Score Girl, I finished it in three days. Haruo is the main character of the manga. At the beginning, his only redeeming factor is being good at video games. He starts of as a brat with a massive ego. As he develops throughout the manga however, you just find yourself rooting for him until the very end. Oono is the main heroine of the manga, silent, mysterious and yet she excels in pretty much anything. The stark opposites Haruo and Oono meet on a fateful day in the arcade, and from there their lives are intertwined. Other notable characters include Koharu, Miyao and Haruo's mother, Namie. Koharu is the third main character, and focused on in the second arc of the manga. She herself is a good character, watching her and her gaming skills develop over the course of the manga was good to read. However, in some segments of the manga she can feel left out and pushed to the side. Miyao deserves special recognition for how much he is a great friend. He supports Haruo throughout the entire story, without him I doubt Haruo would have been able to make it to the end. As for Namie, my first impressions of her were not positive, however that quickly changed over the course of the story. She is one of the more comedic characters of the story. Of course, there are many more characters present in High Score Girl, and they help build the world High Score Girl takes place in.

Art

The art present in this manga is certainly a little unique, different from many other romances. The charming art style compliments the nature of both the story and the characters, conveying the emotions of the characters more thoroughly and supporting comedic moments. The art style is certainly memorable, I will not find myself forgetting about it anytime soon.

The ending

If you do not want any spoilers whatsoever regarding the ending, please skip ahead to the conclusion of the review. The ending is also another gripe I have with this manga. It suffers from a problem many other romances (at least, the ones I have read) incur, a sudden ending. The sudden ending just makes finishing a romance that much worse, leaving me, the reader, ever so desperately desiring for more, only for no more to ever come. This manga probably had one of the most sudden endings for me that I have personally experienced. The manga reached its gripping climax (which was pretty good in my opinion, albeit a bit cliché), only for it to end right there and have no proper resolution. This led me very dissatisfied, desiring for much more. But who knows, maybe there will be a follow up one day. I certainly look forward to it. Now into more detail of the ending:

Spoiler, click to view

The ending as I said earlier, is a bit cliché, and follows the trope of a romance of ending the story in the main character chasing their loved one, in this case to an airport. Haruo rushes to the airport to catch Oono just before she leaves to go abroad to say his goodbyes. Throughout his rush to get there, many video game characters appear to assist Haruo to support him to get there, and they manage to turn back the airplane that Oono was on, allowing Haruo to say his farewells to her. They exchange some romantic words, saying they will marry when she comes back and whatnot. But then... it just ends there. Right there. Quite the cliff hanger. It felt so abrupt, and I was felt a little shocked. Given the manga author has moved onto making a spin-off series focusing on Koharu's adult life, it does not seem like a follow up to that ending will be coming anytime soon, alas.

Conclusion and TL;DR

Overall, this manga is easy for me to recommend to someone to wants to read a new romance, with a unique twist. I read this manga after picking up volume one at a manga store, and I am quite glad that I did. This was an entertaining read and I found myself immersed in the story and characters. To summarise this review:

• The plot is engaging, and different from most romances as it also revolves around video games.
• This manga has a wonderful cast of characters, most if not all of them being memorable.
• The relationship between the main two characters are what makes this manga shine, and makes for an delightful read.
• The art compliments the story and characters.
• This manga mostly suffers from having a slow beginning, but with a little commitment, it gets better from there.
• Spoiler, click to view

  The ending is quite abrupt and leaves much more to be desired.

Thank you to those who took the time to read this review. I hope you were able to get a better idea of what High Score Girl is like, and just maybe, you will enjoy it too. If you did not like this review, then I apologise for wasting your time.