High Score Girl is a 2010 comedy manga series by Oshikiri Rensuke.
Known as a "1990s arcade romantic comedy", the series revolves around the life of gamer Yaguchi Haruo, the coin-op gaming scene, and the changes that develop within both over time. The series is notable for it's unique retro artstyle and thoroughly accurate depictions of the multitude of video game software, hardware, and even culture from that era. The title of the manga is a pun on the term "High School Girl".
On August 5, 2014, Osaka District Police searched the offices of Square Enix, the publishers of the manga, acting on an IP violation claim by SNK Playmore stating that the comic allegedly features over 100 instances of characters from The King of Fighters, Samurai Spirits, and other fighting games. In response, Square Enix voluntarily recalled all printed volumes and temporarily suspended publication of future volumes and digital sales (and put the anime on hold). However, the manga continued its run in Monthly Big Gangan only.
In August 2015 it was reported that Square Enix and SNK Playmore had finally reached a settlement, cancelling the lawsuit and enabling the manga to be sold everywhere (and the anime produced) once again.
The weekly official anime adaptation was finally released in 2018 with twelve 24 min. episodes. In 2019, Extra Stage OVA and season 2 were released. All 24 episodes were made by Studio J.C.Staff and available on Netflix.
The original manga series ended in 2018. In 2019 it was followed by High Score Girl Dash, a spinoff sequel that focuses on Hidaka Koharu, now a middle school teacher.
