Hi Score Girl II
Fighting games and romance are two things I've always found absolutely impenetrable. Whenever I've dabbled with one or the other, I've always ended up confused, frustrated and feeling like I've wasted my time and/or money.
In Hi Score Girl, love clashes with games like Super Street Fighter II Turbo, much like how one of those flaming uppercuts Ryu does makes contact with Sagat's jaw. I didn't always understand what was happening (with the gaming or the feelings), but I liked it anyway.
Obviously, this is the second season (the clue is in the "II" in the name) - if you've seen the first season (and the OVAs), you'll know what to expect. The characters are the same, the basic story is the same, the games being played might be the same but they might be different but TBH I don't really know because they're all fighting games and fighting games all have about 17 different versions so yeah.
Haruo (who only really cares about games and absolutely nothing else) still only really cares about games, but is also still in the middle of a love triangle with two girls fighting over him, like Chun Li fighting Cammy to see who gets to go on a date with Blanka.
His choices: A) a sweet down-to-earth girl who actually seems to like him and is generally nice to him or; B) a rich gremlin who physically abuses him at every opportunity.
I think the choice should be obvious, but like I said - similar to Jon Snow (the guy with the sword, not the TV newsreader), I know nothing about all this stuff. So there's a love triangle with this awful gremlin in it.
Anyway - the story is nice. There's loads of humour, a lot of talk about fighting games (if you're a fan, I'm sure you'll appreciate the references and cameos), plenty of emotional stuff and I think it looks pretty nice too. When I started watching the original series, I found the character designs kinda grotesque, but I grew to really like the style. Everyone has squashed heads and weird shaped eyes and really fluffy eyelashes, but it all just works.
The supporting case is pretty great. Haruo's mother is funny, I fell a little bit in love with the gremlin's big sister, there's a quirky butler - really, I like all the characters in the show apart from the gremlin.
Overall, it's a really nice series. The gremlin is probably one of my least favourite anime characters ever, but I still liked the show a lot - 8/10