History Manga / HighScoreGirl

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: The owner of the Cracked Skull arcade, which is why Haruo got "creepy vibes" from him.]]

* EldritchLocation: Cracked Skull Arcade is possibly one of these. [[spoiler: A bonus short from the Kajimest official fanbook temporarily spirits the main trio away to EVO 2019, maybe.]]

** Haruo's Shibuya misadventures bring all kinds of annoying baggage along with it, from him being accused by Miyao and Doi of becoming a Shibuya delinquent, to everyone assuming the [[YourCheatingHeart absolute worst]] when it becomes clear he [[spoiler , Akira and Koharu]] all took the same train home together.

* Shiptease: played for angst on Koharu's end, as most arcade passerby tend to assume out loud that she and Haruo are a couple.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Oono and Koharu end up grappling with this at the tail end of the story. Koharu plays this straight, unable to continue pursuing Haruo after her Super Turbo match with Akira and decides to step down from the love triangle. Akira herself zigzags this, as her ruthless playstyle during the aforementioned Super Turbo match suggests she's still having trouble having to let go of her relationship with Haruo. She ultimately decides to give Koharu her blessing to let her friendship with Haruo blossom naturally without her intervention once she moves back to the United States... That is until she accepts Haruo's marriage proposal at the airport.]]

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Haruo goes to congratulate Hidaka on a good match after [[spoiler: his]] victory over her [[BestHerToBedHer ultimatum match]] and expresses his wishes to grow stronger as a player. [[spoiler: He gets a slap in the face, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech a crying tirade]] and an implied gang beating from Hidaka's white knights for his trouble.]]

In late December of 2019, the spin-off/sequel ''High Score Girl DASH'' began serialization, focusing this time on Hidaka. Roughly ten years later, 29 year old Hidaka is a middle school teacher who loves video games but has remained single in the time since the original series.

* DidYouJustHaveSex: Averted in that Akira and Haruo didnt do anything more than play video games [[spoiler: in the hotel room Mrs. Yaguchi booked for them while Akira was running away from home,]] but [[spoiler: Makoto]] and likely Gouda-Sensei initially assume that Akira lost her virginity while she was out. Whether Akira [[TheSilentBob bothers to deny it]], or [[SureLetsGoWithThat prefers to leave them guessing]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation is left unsaid.]]

* EldritchLocation: Cracked Skull Arcade is possibly one of these. [[spoiler: A bonus short from the Kajimest official fanbook temporarily spirits the main trio away to EVO 2019, [[OrIsIt maybe.]]]]

** The scene where HandsomeLech [[CampStraight Doi]] is humiliated by three gyaru girls only to be saved by Haruo and their middle school teachers, was originally a bonus chapter of the manga made to explain why [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Doi]] started hanging out with Haruo and Miyao - the scene is added in the middle of the Shibuya arc in the anime.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Haruo and Akira may find each other annoying, but when push comes to shove they'll be there for each other.

* OrwellianRetcon: Out of necessity since [[{{Creator}}/SNK SNK Playmore]] threatened legal action over the use of their [=IPs=] through the manga. The ''Continue'' versions of volumes 1-5 reduce these refefences while rearranging the beats of some chapters. One example is in volume 2 when Koharu shows concern for Haruo over him playing with the arcade cabs in her parent's shop [[SkewedPriorities in the middle of a blizzard]].
** In the original version Haruo calls Koharu downstairs so that she can immortalize him fighting [[VideoGame/FatalFury]] Special's hidden boss Ryo Sakazaki with a disposable camera he hands her, to which Koharu spitefully empties the film roll by shooting at everything except Haruo and the cab.

* OrwellianRetcon: Out of necessity since UsefulNotes/SNKPlaymore threatened legal action over the use of their IPs through the manga. The ''Continue'' versions of volumes 1-5 reduce these refefences while rearranging the beats of some chapters. One example is in volume 2 when Koharu shows concern for Haruo over him playing with the arcade cabs in her parent's shop [[SkewedPriorities in the middle of a blizzard]].

** In ''Continue'' and the anime, Koharu takes the time to prepare a hot cocoa and pour it down Haruo's gullet while his hands are busy playing Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. He's not here to visit her but asks Koharu to call him whenever his high scores are dethroned so he can mosey over and remark the leaderboards. Koharu pulls the plug on the cabs for this.

* IdiotHero: If Haruo were any more distracted by games than he already is he'd have a hard time feeding himself, dressing himself and navigating his way out of his room. Though in his defense, he slowly starts growing out of it, and not even Hidaka and Akira are immune to experiencing their own occasional bouts of game brain induced idiocy.

Written and illustrated by Main/{{Seinen}} mangaka Rensuke Oshikiri, ''High Score Girl'' is a [[ComingOfAgeStory coming-of-age]] romantic {{dramedy}} manga that chronicles the OddFriendship between the under-performing delinquent Haruo and LonelyRichKid Akira as they slowly bond through their shared enthusiasm for video games. It was first published in Creator/SquareEnix's ''Big Gangan Monthly'' magazine in 2010, with the final chapter having been released on October 2018 after a lengthy delay (see below).

* AdaptationDistillation: The anime adaptation focuses almost exclusively on the love triangle between Akira, Hidaka and Haruo with various scenes shortened and some subplots and events being introduced in one episode, finished in the next one unlike the manga where they were given more time to develop and have more notable consequences.
** The scene where HandsomeLech [[CampStraight Doi]] is humiliated by three gyaru girls only to be saved by Haruo and their middle school teachers, was originally a bonus chapter of the manga made to explain why [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Doi]] started hanging out with Haruo and Miya - the scene is added in the middle of a story arc in the anime.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Akira and Makoto's parents, who are the main obstacle that prevents Haruo and Akira's relationship to flourish by forcing Akira to move to the United States when she is 12 years old. While they allow Akira to return to Japan two years later, [[spoiler:they eventually force Akira to move permanently to the US before finishing High School to "reaclimate her back" to the American lifestyle and to prepare her for the Californian college they already chose for her, with her having no choice in the matter and eventually leaving Japan and Haruo for good.]]

* KillingIntent: Koharu says she can feel a [[{{Franchise}}/StreetFighter Surge of Murderous Intent]] radiating from Akira as the two head to Mizonokuchi Arcade for a serious match between the two.

** Haruo mocks an in progress ragequitter about playing as [[VideoGame/SamuraiShowdown Nakoruru]] without keeping in mind her strengths and weaknesses as a FragileSpeedster, scoffing that he's probably playing as her to fulfill a crush he probably has. On the other side of the versus cabinets, the rage quitter is feverishly praying to Nakoruru to lend him her strength and to become his bride.

** Haruo mocks an in progress ragequitter about playing as [[SamuraiShowdown Nakoruru]] without keeping in mind her strengths and weaknesses as a FragileSpeedster. On the other side of the versus cabinets, the rage quitter is feverishly praying to Nakoruru to lend him her strength and to become his bride.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Haruo's mom mistakes the sound of his struggling to wrestle the PCEngine controls away from Akira for [[DateRapeAverted an attempt to force himself upon Akira]], prompting her to burst into the room and suplex her son. While she says she raised Haruo to be more gentlemanly, in reality she's [[ShipperOnDeck giddily excited at the idea that her son is more girl crazy than he lets on.]]

* TetrisEffect: Milked for all its worth. It's mostly played straight for the main trio, Hidaka begrudgingly so once she takes it as a sign that she's ''helplessly'' in love with Haruo. Its effects on Haruo is both a detriment and a benefit, as the game characters ''do'' have sagely advice, but often interfere when he's actually trying to take his studies seriously. Why Namie Yaguchi, who rarely if ever plays video can belt out [[VideoGame/FinalFight Guy's infinite combo]] on Haruo as corporal punishment is never explained, however. [[spoiler: Makoto Oono]] tries making this work for Haruo in his relationship with Akira by having him play VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial, with unfruitful results.

** While neither of them verbally invoke the trope by name, Koharu is clearly trying to bruise Haruo's ego through an assortment of fighting gsmes in as coy and as girlishly a manner as she can get away with at the start of the second time skip, capitalizing on the fact that playing his UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn at home away from the arcade since graduating from middle school has made him soft.

* AdaptationDistillation: The anime adaptation focuses almost exclusively on the love triangle between Akira, Hidaka and Haruo with various scenes shortened and some subplots and events are introduced in one episode, finished in the next one unlike the manga where they were given more time to develop and have more notable consequences. Also, the scene where HandsomeLech [[CampStraight Doi]] is humiliated by three gyaru girls, only to be saved by Haruo and their middle school teachers, was originally a bonus chapter of the manga made to explain why [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Doi]] started hanging out with Haruo and Miyao, was shoehorned in the middle of a story arc.