***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
The newest class at Sehagaga Academy is about to begin.
To graduate, students must earn a total of one hundred metals. They do so by completing a wide variety of challenges. Each challenge taking place in classic Sega video game. While straightforward, there are twists at every point.
This year, there are three hopeful students.
The first is Dreamcast (voiced by Mao Ichimichi). A hyper and energetic girl, Dreamcast hopes to make friends with everyone. Though a bit of an airhead, she's happy to take on anything. With the help of her classmates, Dreamcast hopes to be worthy of the Sega label.
The second is Sega Saturn (voiced by Minami Takahashi). Unlike Dreamcast, Saturn is much more serious. Her aspirations high; she has big plans for her future. That said, she always manages to find herself in a disadvantaged situation.
The third is Mega Drive (voiced Shiori Izawa). The most studious of the three, Mega Drive is often calm and collected. Possessing a wide knowledge of everything Sega, she's a dependable source of information. Mega Drive is more than prepared to guide and inspire her friends.
These three have a rough year ahead of them. But if they manage to succeed, they will be at the heart of many gamers the world over.
Series Positives
 |
| Dreamcast |
So…this was a thing that happened. A full decade after Sega left the counsel market, this show makes all the sense in the world. I mean, yeah, it’s something that could be done. Yet, is this something that should be done?
 |
| Sega Saturn |
Hi-sCoool SeHa Girls is the definition of pointless. Thought that may be, it got done nonetheless. And…I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this one. Maybe for all the wrong reasons, but God damn it, I had a lot of fun with this show.
 |
| Mega Drive |
Would SeHa Girls have worked as a standard series? No, not in the slightest. If there were any more I’d have lost my mind. Then again, had it been any shorter, this show would’ve been bland and meaningless. To be fair, that still applies to how the show turned out to be. The difference, SeHa Girls was the perfect length to establish a special kind of charm. And not overuse it. Thus, it’s not forgettable.
To get anything out of this series, you’ll need to shut off your brain and find two hours to kill. If you can manage both, then you might find something to like about SeHa Girls.
The Premise
What if three of Sega’s most influential consoles were cute anime girls. And they go on adventures through some the company’s classic games?
That was the synopsis I read before starting. And you know what? Why the hell not? It’s not the most out-there idea I’ve come across. So, enlighten me show, what are you going do? Whatever it is, you’d better make the most of it.
And would you believe it, SeHa Girls delivered exactly what it promised. Sure it was an absurd setup. I knew that going in. But by golly, this show stuck with until the end. It never wavered in its execution. It never tried to be anything it knew it wasn’t.
For you Sega fanatics out there, did you ever want Jeffry McWild from Virtua Fighter dance alongside Ulala from Space Channel 5? And then have the dwarf from Golden Axe hit on the anthropomorphic female representation of the Sega Saturn? For those who did, guess what?
Oh, in case you were wondering, the answer’s yes. You better believe a certain blue hedgehog made an appearance. And this wasn’t the worst thing he’s been in lately.
In all seriousness, I did enjoy the premise of SeHa Girls. Sega was a huge part of the lives of many gamers back in the 90s. There were plenty of Easter eggs sprinkled throughout this series. For those who grew up with these games and consoles, there’s enough here to at least crack a smile.
The Consoles
I thought they were cute. If I were to find figures of their chibi forms, I might pick them up. There’s not that much else for me to say about them. They were amusing. Remember how I said this show a charm to it? Well here’s the reason.
The three consoles were fun. Not deep. Not complex. Nor all that original. But fun. They were never annoying. But I do see how people may not feel the same about Dreamcast.
I'll admit, though, it was a little strange to follow Sega Saturn around. I understand all three consoles were financial successes in Japan. But it was the Mega Drive (the Sega Genesis in North America) and the Dreamcast which were global hits. Saturn didn’t do all that well in the States. Despite having a few notable gems on the system.
My familiarity with Mega Drive and Dreamcast offered an instant connection. That wasn’t true for Saturn. Yet, this was sort of reflected in her personality. So, in the end, it was fine.
Also, huge props to the voice actress of the consoles. If anything, they seemed like they were having fun with the material.
Series Negatives
I’m happy to say how much I enjoyed this show. But I won't sit here and pretend that SeHa Girls was good. This was a guilty pleasure in its purest form. The fact that this series was nonsensical was the exact reasons why I had such a good time with it.
This idea has gone well past its expiration date. Any kind of nostalgic banking it had was laughable. If you’re well versed in gaming’s history then you may get a kick of this show. Otherwise, you’ll need to have been a diehard Sega fan during the 90s.
The animation was charming in how awful it looked. Now, this could be two things. One, it was a legitimate attempted that had little effort behind it. Or two, this series was meant to be made this way. If the latter was the case, well then congratulations. It looked terrible.
Yes, Sonic was in this show. And yes, I joked about his more recent games. But he looked liked ass here. Sega, this is your flagship character. Your mascot. A few extra dollars could've have gone into making him look decent.
Then there was the pacing. An episode either dragged or moved so fast it was impossible to tell what was happening. For instance, when the consoles went into Virtue Fighter, the usage of the same God damn joke got old. We get it, Dreamcast’s head’s unbeatable. Can we move on?
I should've found this series insufferable. There were many things which annoyed me. I couldn't take much more of it. But there was just something about SeHa Girls that put a smile on my face.
Final Thoughts
If you have an old, outdated idea, might as well make the most out of it. What can you lose, right? Perhaps not the greatest mindset. But then again, we also have Hi-sChoool SeHa Girls.
It’s short, it’s dumb. That’s what it comes down to. Except, it's for these exact reasons why I’m recommending it. I've found my newest guilty pleasure. SeHa Girls was corny but in all the right way. Its charm was nonsensical. And it knew it the whole way through.
Me liking this show, even as a joke, was an impressive feat. Even more so when you consider this. I was team Nintendo back then. I’m team Nintendo now. And I’ll be team Nintendo forever. But I’ll give this one to you Sega.
 |
| Google+ Facebook Twitter |
No comments:
Post a Comment