Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls

2014 was a bit of a drought for me, so when I saw Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls, not only was it a surprise, it was probably my favorite anime of 2014.

The episodes are 10 minute each, about the classic Sega systems, the Mega Drive (Genesis in U.S.), Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast, imagined as girls attending "Sega highschool," where they enter old skool Sega games and interact with other Sega characters from Virtual Fighter, Sonic, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star, etc.

I think this show is particularly for the retro gamer. If the idea of knocking someone silly with a huge Dreamcast controller, or seeing the Sega systems ... dreading to enter an iPhone in realization of their impending obsolescence is funny to you, just this may be your show. It's all very lighthearted, with cute game references of a bygone era, and still entertaining by its own right.

The art designer for the series is Kei, who also designed the Vocaloids like Hastune Miku, which is a great plus. The Sega girls themselves have cute SD forms and normal-sized in-game forms, which would make excellent toy figures for nendoroid and figma lines (hint, hint).

At the end of the series, you'll be glad you kept your old Genesis. You kept it...right?

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread)

As we all know, anime is a medium filled with a vast amount of ideas. From romantic-comedies involving "eighth grade middle school syndrome" to swiping at poetry cards, there is no shortage of shows willing to try something new. Another medium is exactly the same way: video games. Manly third-person shooters, plumbers jumping from platform to platform, and even intergalactic adventures are a small sampling of what video games have to offer. Some are hit or miss, and some even go down as legends. But in order to play these games, a game console is often required. In ... Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls, a story of consoles, games, and medals is played out, and it's as awful as it sounds.

STORY

SeHa Girls stars Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, and Mega Drive, three anthropomorphized girls based on video game consoles of the same name. They attend Sehagaga Academy in the hopes of acquiring one-hundred medals in order to fully graduate.

Where does one begin? If anything, SeHa Girls tries something different. Taking on a slice-of-life format, the three girls are constantly thrown from game to game, giving the audience a chance to relive some past experiences. Pastimes such as House of the Dead or Sonic are either looked at or are used as the next situation for the students to participate in. At this point, the show moves towards the comedy it touts as being. And so starts its downfall.

As a comedy, SeHa Girls doesn't work. The predictability of the jokes, the same type of misinterpreted humor, and the repetitious nature of the scenarios the girls find themselves in makes the entire package quite unsavory. Sega Saturn always (always) getting the short end of the stick or Dreamcast usually taking things way too far are not funny after the first time it occurs. And it does so in the first episode. Meaning, what follows the beginning is the same, tired comedy from start to finish, with nary a laugh to be had because the show cannot produce enough hilarity given the context. This is mostly attributed to the characters being entirely one-dimensional; with weak characters, and a comedy relying on its characters for generating smiles, fun times are lost.

SeHa Girls does something rather interesting when it comes to the games that are played. The show has the girls delving rather far into the past. Fighting the men and women of Virtua Fighter or dancing within Space Channel Five makes sense, as these games are found on the consoles that the girls represent. However, as if somehow running out of ideas, the girls are sometimes placed within more modern settings. Games such as "Chain Chronicle" or "Phantasy Star Online 2" are provided for them to explore, but this completely goes against what the show is mostly about. And that is showcasing nostalgic games that have not only shaped the gaming industry but also shaped the lives of the people who played them. Completely disregarding these older games (and subsequently the consoles they are attached to) creates a feeling of disconnect in what makes the show special. If any game from any era is able to be incorporated, then the girls and setting involved serve no purpose whatsoever.

Now, the "twist" at the end is both morbid and laughable. The former because of what exactly happens and the latter because of the injected optimism despite what reality has demonstrated. That is to say, none of them (the Dreamcast, the Sega Saturn, or the Mega Drive) were as popular as what came during or after their creation. The show initiates the theme of togetherness, that despite what may come, true friendship stands the test of time and dimensions. But for the vast majority of the show, it focused entirely on comedy. Suddenly switching gears near the end and trying to shoehorn in deeper meaning behind what went on without prior pretext doesn't give the intended effect of making the viewer emotional. Instead, it comes off as rather insincere.

ANIMATION

As with the premise, SeHa Girls takes on quite the unique approach.

This show prompts the following question: is CG considered "anime?" For the entire anime is done in CG. It can be argued one way or the other; anime is normally considered two-dimensional drawings (with CG used sparingly), but CG is three-dimensional animation.

Assuming that it is, the art style is a mix of nostalgic settings and lackluster modern ones. The anime visits the locations of the different games included, providing familiar environments for those who remember them. When not in the games, though, the girls are confined to one or two rooms for the entirety of the season. These rooms contain some detail, but are neither given much focus nor are they appealing to look at. Lighting effects are nonexistent, and everything involved appears rather flat, making the show come off as less than modern.

The character designs for the girls are simple and uninspired, despite them literally being consoles incarnate. Dreamcast's pink hair, Sega Saturn's off-colored eyes, and Mega Drive's glasses are cute but offer no sense of detail outside of making the girls seem different.

Actual animation fares no better. Many times, the anime either reuses movements or refuses to show the girls onscreen at all. The show (seemingly) utilizes both body-capture and rendered animation, with the first one being more fluid than the often slow and awkward motions of the second.

CHARACTERS

The characters contained within SeHa are girls are minimal (obviously not counting cast members from the different video games investigated), and even then there isn't enough backing them to make them worthwhile.

As the least funny person among the three, Mega Drive is more brains than brawn. Her intelligence is apparent, with her often making the more tactical and strategic maneuvers during the show. To further perpetuate her stereotype, she is severely uncoordinated, being unable to skate or even dance properly. Before attending the academy, she was rather reserved, refusing to relish in the rambunctious behavior of the other two. After a while, though, she realizes that the time she spent with the girls was a time she would never forget...but she had to, considering what happened.

Sega Saturn is technically the most "normal" of the group. Well-rounded in all aspects, she more often than not is thrown under the bus. Wishing to find her one true love somewhere in the world, she is sometimes distracted by the prospect of a potential suitor. Usually taking events way too seriously, she learns through the other girls that it's best to just have fun from time to time. Always going about everyday life worrying about nothing but the issues one has, instead of enjoying what's around you, isn't the best way to live...if she actually "lived" in the first place.

The best character -- though, that isn't saying much -- is Dreamcast. Cheerful, hopeful, and downright playful, her affable personality makes her very easy to like. Her ditsy behavior creates situations that jeopardize not only herself but the other girls and the mission at hand. Despite her immense ease when it comes to making friends, she has the hardest time letting go. And that's true for a lot of people; it's always tough to say goodbye, not knowing when or if they will see each other sometime in the future. People may come and go, but friendship is more than just a simple relationship...between non-inanimate objects.

My constant use of ellipses was done to make a point: hard as it might, the SeHa girls cannot deliver their "heartfelt" messages to the audience for one reason. And that is that the girls are technically plastic products. There just isn't enough time or personification given to them to make their "human" representations meaningful. While they may look like everyday women, they're nothing more than game consoles to play games on, and the ending solidifies this notion.

SOUND

The OP is okay, at least in the beginning. Its fast tempo, trailing effects, and constant "Hi!"s actually fit with the overall atmosphere the show gives off.

Again, the ED starts off well enough with the catchy clapping beat. The middle section contains the girls singing to drums, guitar, and bells, but it's never as nice as what the beginning part has to offer.

The soundtrack mostly uses 8-bit sounding tracks, and the music of the games that they visit. Familiar sound-effects can be found as well, adding to the nostalgia that permeates much of the show. There is nothing worthwhile, but it is nice to hear some of the original pieces from back in the day.

Voice-acting sees about average performances from all the cast members. As a side note, I very much couldn't stand Center-sensei's evil doppelgänger's voice. The less he was talking, the better.

ENJOYMENT

The only appeal that comes out of watching a show like this is in the nostalgia. Growing up on Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Banjo-Kazooie make my reminiscent levels nearly zero with this one. I don't believe there was a single game they showcased that I played as a kid. Watching the girls play Puyo-Puyo or even Sonic: The Hedgehog never made me think back to my childhood, simply because those games were never a part of it.

The show tries to make the girls fun to watch, usually having Dreamcast act cute, Sega Saturn show some skin, and Mega Drive be unintentionally precious. None of them are attractive, hilarious, or even memorable, causing the entire trip to be a slog. Even the final episode omits material in favor of overlaid narration, removing any sort of struggle or hardship that the girls had to face to reach their ultimate goal. That seems harsh to point out, but it really came off as being too lazy to show anything pertaining to the final push.

I don't believe Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls could have done anything more with what it was given. Bland design, boring characters, and repetitive humor make it unworthy to watch. In all honesty, it's probably for the best to hit that off switch.

SUMMARY

Story: Terrible, predictable humor, inconsistent era, shoehorned theme

Animation: Bad, art is both sentimental and bland, character designs are weak, actual animation is lackluster

Characters: Terrible, one-dimensional despite three-dimensional nature, not human enough

Sound: Fine, okay OP, bad ED, okay soundtrack, average VA work

Enjoyment: Terrible, the nostalgia, and the laughs, is non-existent

Final Score: 1/10

One of the great things about anime is that the story could be about absolutely anything! Unfortunately, this means that some anime choose some REALLY stupid subject matter. Sega Hard Girls is an anime about the different generations of Sega hardware undergoing anthropomorphism into little moe girls. The Sega systems must graduate from Sega High School in order to enter the real world as consoles. Yep! This is going to be an odd one. I think Sega rediscovered the same bag of drugs they used to make Toejam and Earl!

The main characters are Mega Drive, Saturn, and Dreamcast. However, virtually every piece of hardware that ... Sega has ever made gets at least a cameo appearance. The girls play classic Sega games in order to receive points and graduate upon winning 100 points. This means that each episode will spoof a different Sega game and the art style will change to match the game in question. Unfortunately for non-Japanese audiences, a lot of the games spoofed in the show were either Japanese exclusive releases or games that were released internationally, but were only really popular in Japan. In other words, non-Japanese gamers are going to miss a LOT of the jokes and references. I will give the show credit for including dozens of different Sega characters and games, but I would have personally enjoyed it much more if I actually knew more than 1/5th of the games being referenced! I grew up with a Sega Genesis and I recognized: Dynamite Cop, Altered Beast, Sonic, Virtua Fighter, and Puyo Puyo (which was released in the US as Mean Bean Machine). The best spoof in the show by far is the Virtua Fighter episode in which they make fun of the horrible camera angles, ridiculous looking sprites, and terrible voice acting. That was actually funny for people who have played the first few Virtua Fighter games.

Since Sega underwent a massive collapse and no longer makes hardware, the show predictably is ripe with self depreciating humor. Saturn is always getting screwed, Dreamcast is a nerd who always wants to show off her internet feature, but only has dial up. Gamegear has anemia and collapses from exhaustion every 5 seconds. Megadrive is constantly feuding with her self obsessed American clone Genesis, who is a redneck that only likes sports and beating people up as opposed to games featuring a plot. The greatest feature of Dreamcast is that her clunky, giant controller is basically indestructible. Some of the jokes are actually sort of funny, but "misses" are far more frequent with this show. That is of course assuming that you grew up as a Sega kid. If you weren't a Sega kid than ZERO of the jokes are funny.

Overall, this was an unusual idea that could have perhaps worked with better direction and a bigger budget for the CGI effects. People who grew up with these old video games will appreciate some of the references and laugh at a few of Sega's little jabs at its own failures. However, I couldn't actually say that this show was excellent and you should try find it online immediately. Just watch Wreck-It Ralph instead. You'll be glad that you did.

Nekoyaki here. I watched this absurd anime, then looking for this anime database in MAL, I typed "sega", this anime is linked immediately. Wow. The only SEGA anime!

Don't look to comparative-based score, I'm trying to compare the quality there. Let's talk about how the anime seeps into my "soul", There ya go, SeHaGa Review!

This is comedy 3D CG anime featuring old consoles of SEGA as main character (MegaDrive, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast). They're so old-skool, using dial-up modem to go online, AIWA cassette player, and other old things (which I find it really funny). If you want to kill some time, If you want to ... see old skool things as joke, this anime is good choice. Let's cut the descript-bable-bablin..

Its.....really bring back memories of my childhood days. I went to arcade, play some virtua fighter with random strangers, gone to my friend's place and playing sonic.. Bring back memories.. In a funny way, in-game graphic into anime.. lol..

SEGA. Of course, the very impression of this anime!
Please support me if you find this anime helpful!
Also you can check my other review, or leave a comment on my personal profile page!

Are you a SEGA fan? As in, a die-hard sega fan that knows a lot about the company's history and has played a lot of its excellent first party titles?

If so, keep reading.

Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls is a CG series based on the character designs of the antropomorphized versions of sega consoles released throughout the years (hence sega hard[ware] girls) made by KEI, of Vocaloid fame.

While the artworks were done for the entirety of the hardware lineup, SeHa follows only the antics of mega drive, saturn and dreamcast, the flagship consoles for 4th, 5th and 6th generation respectively (while it does acknowledge the other girls' existence).
Characterizing ... a piece of hardware may have been a daunting task but with the memorable designs behind them and some inside jokes about each girl's technical capabilities, this series manages to do so fairly well.
Their characters are done quite decently and succeed in what they must do: they're cute, cheerful, naive at times and fun to look at, but unfortunately don't come off as too memorable or particularly likeable: they all seem quite stale and could have used a little bit more color in their personalities, but given the scope/budget of this project they're acceptable and manage to do their job fairly well.

Environments are all taken from real games where they spend a few episodes in, same as the music, for the most part.The few actual academy shots are quite simplistic but nice to look at, and make for a good backdrop for events to unfold. The plot while episodic has a larger scope and manages a very heartfelt conclusion for anyone who is a fan of everything SEGA has done over the years.

Some episodes are quite blatant advertising for other current SEGA videogames for modern platforms, but they're few in number and manage not to stick out like a sore thumb amid the countless references to old school software. It's a necessary "evil" given, again, what the actual budget was for something made clearly from fans, to fans.

It's not a long series: it lasts little over an hour and possibly less than this review, so I'll jump straight to the point: is SeHa worth watching? It depends. Are you a SEGA fan?

If you answered 'yes' to that question, my answer to yours is 'absolutely'

If not, you will definitely not understand the appeal for this series, and honestly, there's nothing wrong with that. It's an extremely lighthearted series that is just pure and sweet fanservice for anyone in love, like many, with the memories collected during the years with one's own hardware. But for anyone else, it's just a mediocre title made with miku miku dance.

Yes, I gave it a 6: it's mostly an objective score and speaks of the overall quality of the series that is not up to par to larger scale productions and has some issues related to its aformented small budget. It is however very enjoyable: it manages to make you smile, have some bittersweet nostalgia and get a little sad when it's over.

It's not a life changing experience, but ever since i saw this, whenever i booted up my dreamcast to play, I found myself smiling.

A weird anime and commercial combo, Sega Hard Girls's is all about Sega and its franchises. Even the show's characters get in on the act, each embodying one of Sega's systems (or HARDware) through the ages. To graduate from university, Dreamcast, Saturn and Megadrive enter various Sega games, including Virtual Fighter 1 and Space Channel 5.

Sure Sega Hard Girls's plot won't win any awards, but its an excuse to get the girls into games where the comedy and nostalgia can take the reins. Style-wise, Hard Girls's shiny CG works given the show's light and cute comedy tone and its focus on old ... games. And although its squeaky characters can get annoying, I found the show's funny in-jokes and game nostalgia enjoyable. Occasional guest appearances, like the dwarf from Golden Axe, spice things up and help to quell the main characters' quirks. Longtime sega fans should find Sega Hard Girls's nostalgic walk down memory lane enjoyable, but if you're not a Sega fan, Sega Hard Girls isn't worth your time.

Okay, straight up: I love Sega, and I have done so since I was literally five years old. So, naturally, one day when I was playing "Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax" for PS3 for like the umpteenth billionth time, I realized that during story mode, the "Denshin" had assumed the form of a girl wearing Sega Dreamcast-themed clothing, complete with a controller strapped to her forehead. I was actually very intrigued. Who is this person? However, at the time, I had just shrugged her off as being a completely new character specifically for that game. So, after looking up the words Dengeki Bunko on the Steam ... application for PC one other day, I came across a DLC item called the Dengeki Bracelet, for a game titled, "Superdimension Neptune Vs. Sega Hard Girls". Upon investigating the actual game, one could imagine my shock when I found out that half the playable characters in the roster were physical embodiments of Sega. I was later in that same week compelled to see if there was an anime of these girls, similiar to that of Virtua Fighter's anime or Valkyria Chronicles' anime. And I was actually slightly taken aback when I found out there was. I won't lie, I had slight doubts about it at first, but the fact that the people who did certain art for Hatsune Miku also worked on the art for this series had me convinced the second I heard about it. This show was going to be good, and I hoped it would be fantastic. But I was vastly unprepared for the full truth.
Hi Scool! SeHa girls is an anime following the school adventures (and sometimes misadventures) of three out of four main playable Sega Hard Girls in the previously mentioned video game, being Dreamcast, Saturn, and Mega Drive. I was at first a little disappointed that they had apparently forgotten about the existence of the vast numbers of the other Sega Hard girls, especially in the case of Game Gear, but later on, one of the episodes drops a F***ton of cameos and references to all the other Sega Hard Girls who, as it turns out, are all attending the exact same school as the three main ones, which completely amazed me, all things considered. And the fact that this show had SOOOO many other damn cameos and references galore to the rest of the Sega multiverse helped add to the overall charm of the show. This show, for a comedy anime, was actually as amazing as I was hoping it to be before I started watching it. And don't even get me STARTED on that amazing ending, despite this show only being 13 episodes long.
I think the only major fault of this show, at least for me, was the characters mainly staying in their chibi forms for what felt like most of the show's run. I personally have never really had much love for Chibi forms, but I also have never really hated them either. I think it's just because of how often the tiny versions of characters in anime are associated with comedy and/or comedic jokes. That being said, the chibi versions actually didn't take away from the humor of the show almost at all, at least for me. However, one other issue with the show is pretty minor to me personally, but I still believe it should be said. I am an adequate judge of 2D and 2D/3D blended animation at best, but enter 3D animation exclusively such as with this show, and I am a terrible, terrible judge when it comes to judging it. I couldn't tell you if the animation quality is good or bad for sh**.
In summary, this show is perfect for someone who actually cares deeply about Sega and/or someone who likes the Dengeki Bunko multiverse and likes checking other things out.

"It seems like it wasn't that long at all." ~ Sega Saturn-chan, Episode 13.
(NO duh Saturn-chan, the total runtime of the series is only about 3 hours)
I guess this is what you call pandering to the most niche audience possible.

Let us Break this Down.

Story: 3/10
Story is often one of, if not the, most important thing in any media. So with that in mind, one of the most damaging things for Hi*sChool SeHa Girls is the overall lack of an interesting story. While a story that can be simply summed up is a good thing in some cases (See: Lyrical Nanoha's first series, Highschool of the ... Dead), it actually hurts this series in a worse way.
The story is summed up as such: SEGA consoles inside of Anthromorphic bodies go to this Sega Academy to graduate and do something with their lives. School is run by a dickish rabbit. To graduate, they must be transported into a SEGA game and do XYZ to earn gold coins. 100 gold coins = Graduation. (And inflation is apparently a thing in this series, anyone with a basic understanding of economics and education will likely find this hilarious.)
Of course, this being a Slice-of-Life comedy series, a simplistic and weak story is, sadly, expected.

Art: 5/10
And now for the hardest part of the review, simply because it is complicated.
SeHa Girls' Art style of Art alternates between being cramped to being empty, showcased between the two types of settings in the series. The Highschool setting, and the Game-world settings. Both have significant strengths and weaknesses, and it's really hard to explain such weaknesses without the viewer having already watched some of the series, or at least have decent knowledge of old SEGA games.
Cramming excess amounts of outdated product placements (aka, the Nostalgia for SEGA fanatics) into the first of the two setting types, the Highschool setting itself, is a massive issue. The Highschool environment always looks small and cramped, because of excessive STUFF. This issue is slightly averted by having the girls be in 'chibi form' while in this setting. But, it is still crowded. Granted, for the hardcore SEGA fan, this is beautiful. It becomes a game of 'How many references can I get before the scene changes!?' (I was quite guilty of playing that game while watching this).
On the other hand, uninspired world copies and Windows Movie Maker level effects cloud the second of the two setting types. Every time the girls would go into a game world, it was a literal rip off of the game world's setting. While I'm sure this is GREAT for those looking for a taste of SEGA nostalgia, it worn on me quickly. We already know what Jet Grind/Set Radio's location looks like, same with Virtua Fighters' arenas, and Space Channel 5's space port. Borderline nothing has changed. This really isn't too much of an issue considering that something is almost always going on in the foreground, but...
(Yet, maybe this is to grab the Nostalgia of hardcore SEGA fans?)
As for the characters, they really aren't anything amazing. The psychotic teacher who runs it all is a pixelated rabbit (I'm sure this is a massive reference, but I'm not getting it...), and the three girls are decently done, especially in their 'game forms'. But outside of the giant ass Dreamcast controller on Dreamcast's head (and other controller symbols on the other girls), none of them feel very inspired, or even connectable to the consoles. Whenever a game character appears, it is either ripped right from the game's models (Primarily if they came from a Saturn or Dreamcast game), or have a basic 3-D model built from their old 2-d one (Primarily if they came from Genesis/Mega-Drive games).
Somewhat overlooked in my entire diatribe of the art here (Which is something I rarely, if ever, bother taking note of), is the type of art used. CG/CGI. Virtually everything not lifted from a game is done in CG. And this is...ok. At many times it feels uncoordinated and sloppy, but when comparing the animation of many of these older games to that of today's games, they also feel uncoordinated and sloppy. It all kind of balances out in the end...which is actually sad when one thinks about it.

Sound: 4/10
At no point did the sound in the game catch me. The voices were uninspiring, the sounds were either generic tunes or ripped straight from the games with no change attempted. At least Pokemon Origins, another short series which was based on some level of pandering, attempted to spice up the music. I saw nothing here. It wasn't egregious. It was just...there. A pointless detail that was only added because anime is an audiovisual broadcast. Again though, maybe I'd love it more if I was of the Nostalgic SEGA fanboy type.

Character: 4/10
Most characters that came from the games stick with their original purposes in the game, save for the exceptions of two suitors (Some baseball player and a dwarven axe-wielder) from other games who only have the personality of 'Being there to chase/annoy Saturn-chan' or 'Be used by Dreamcast/Mega-Drive to taunt Saturn-chan'. If a character was memorable from a game, you will still only recall that character for what they did in that game, and not from this anime.
The rabbit that runs the school has two personalities. 1 is: 'Be dickish to the girls and torment them with technicalities (Especially Saturn-chan)' or 2: 'Be video game exposition dumper, in case you don't recall this game'.
The girls are mostly uninteresting. Dreamcast is the genki-girl stereotype with no attempt of making her anymore. Mega-Drive/Genesis is the shy bookworm stereotype with only minimal attempt of making her anything more. Saturn-chan is the most interesting, but only by nature of being the butt-monkey of the series (And being abnormally eager to be fan-service girl...)

Enjoyment: 6/10
This was the show's only strong point. It was funny at numerous points, but for every hilarious moment, there was a roughly equal number of flat-on-your-face-this-is-dull moments (And then the entirety of episode 13, which tries to be emotional but just feels flat and forced). When the humor shined, it SHINED. Everything is funny about the 2nd episode, and it rolls like the perfect joke stacked ontop of a joke. On the other hand, episode 6 feels like a very bland Sonic fanfiction.
When the show tried actually doing something other then comedy, it failed. Bad. A sense of adventure never went anywhere, a sense of emotional drama was stupidly flat. Comedy was the only area it shined, and yet so many jokes were either so Meta or so forced that it deadened it's effect.
There were subtle references here and there. (Saturn-chan not knowing who Sonic was, Dreamcast being slow as all f* on the internet, the girls' aversion to Smartphones, etc). These were cute little nods to anyone worth their salt in SEGA console/game knowledge.
But cute nods and the occasional good joke does not salvage a show.

Overall: 5/10
In all honestly, I'd say the numerical rating should be closer to a 4.5 or so, but 5 will do. This project never went anywhere, but it would be silly to expect it to actually do something. The concept is pretty niche, and that alone alienates alot of potential fans. The execution was...off to say the least. There was nothing to save the show, but it almost doesn't need to be save as the possible rock bottom SeHa girls could have even hit is only slightly less then the best it could have been.
By being marketed to a niche audience, and by trying to do not enough of too much (Only 15 or so SEGA game franchises were touched upon of the hundreds), and having such a short runtime, it never went anywhere, partially because it never got the chance to go anywhere.
With that said, I fully believe that your enjoyment of the show will be directly influenced by the viewer's familiarity and enjoyment with SEGA's franchises. I love my Dreamcast and my modest collection of DC games to death, but I only ever got the chance to start playing games in the last 4 or 5 years of my life. I did not grow up with SEGA consoles, as by the time I even started caring the DC was out the door, the Saturn was forgotten, and the Mega-Drive/Genesis was already considered 'ancient'. I never got emotionally attached to the consoles and their games as a child, so the excessive Nostalgia bating in the show never pulled me in.
And here in is the biggest issue of the show, worse then the inconsistent comedy and the lack of anything else: By being so niche, it alienated not only fans, but possibilities. Expanding the concept would have been out of the question, expanding the length would have likely dragged the show down even more, and constricting it downward the same would have happened. It was a concept that never could go anywhere to begin with.
Outside of the likes of Adam Koralik, there is no one I would recommend this too, because there is nothing there for the majority of anime viewers.
(That said, even if you were emotionally attached to the consoles as a child, I do not see representation of the consoles in these girls. At all.)

...Why did I go through this entire review, only using honorifics for Saturn's name?

I first found this anime through a gorgeous figure of Sega Saturn. It was a big shock on the first episode when I saw the art style, very unique x) I wouldn't say that there is much of a story to this, it's basically about three girls who need to achieve 100 medals by going into games in order to graduate. Their names and style are based from Sega consoles. You have, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast and Mega Drive. Despite this anime only having 11 minutes per episode, it is surely going to keep you entertained! Especially if you're a Sega fan.

Sega Saturn is more of ... a tsundere type, however you don't see that side of her much since there isn't that many main characters. I think she shows more different emotions then the other characters, one minute she can be really happy and the next minute embarrassed or sad.

Dreamcast is a very confident character, who you would think is the clumsy "sakura" type of character from the Naruto series. But she isn't, she helps out a lot in each of the games they characters go into and play but of course she has those moments where she just needs a rest. And she always pushes her friends to go further x)

Mega Drive, is more of a smart kind of character, she's not very good in the fighting or dancing type of games, however, that's because she's a healer. She has high expectations in her life when she graduates and that's one of the things I like about her. She's rather emotionless until she has to do something she doesn't want to do which makes her embarrassed.

Overall I think everyone should check out this show at least once, its very long and the games they play are pretty fun. However it might not be for everyone

I don't know which is weirder: the fact that someone thought this was a good idea or the fact that Sega gave the go ahead to do it. Sega must be on drugs. However, this is Japan, and one of the first laws in anime based on real things is "if it's an inanimate object or an animal, it must be turned into a cute high school girl." I really want to actually see what that meeting was like when this was pitched. The creators come to Sega and are just like "Hi, we wanna do an anime based on your consoles. We were thinking ... it would be about a high school where kids play different Sega games in order to graduate." Then we just have the president of Sega stroking his chin knowingly and nodding, and then responds with "Yes, that's great, but you know what this really needs? Cute high school girls who look suspiciously like Vocaloids." I guarantee you that's how it happened. Anyway, I've wasted enough of your time. On to the review.

This series is bad. If I start with that, you might be wondering to yourself: "Flare, if it's bad, why are you giving it such a high rating?"

In a nutshell, this series is bad in all the right ways.

First, let's start with the actual art style. It's pretty easy to tell right off the bat that this series is low budget, and the series itself tends to make comments on that fact, nullifying any doubt you might have on the series' budget. Now, I will concede and say that the animation is VERY awkward most of the time. It's good for the most part when the characters are in Chibi Mode, as I call them, but when it comes time to transform Magical Girl-style, it starts to look very awkward with the lip flaps and movements.

The characters themselves aren't much to write home about, given this is an 11-per-episode series, so you can't expect some kind of tragic backstory that'll bring the main characters even closer as friends. Despite these facts though, I at least thought they were pretty good (though this may be me acting relieved at the fact that none of the characters were like Toradora!'s Ami in terms of personality). Going over each one, Dreamcast is kinda ditzy and kind of a Cloudcuckoolander (I hope I spelled that right), Sega Saturn is kinda the butt of the joke (which I'm sure is done on purpose due to the Saturn's commercial failure as a console), so she tends to be the unluckiest one of the three, and then Mega Drive, who is the intelligent bookworm who takes the logical approach at things.

The music itself can range anywhere from catchy to annoyingly catchy, but what's really cool are all the callbacks to classic Sega games. Not much else to talk about here.

The story is decent at best. You have Dreamcast, Mega Drive, and Sega Saturn all in a high school called SeHaGaga Academy, where they must play games in order to earn medals. After they've earned 100 medals, they graduate. Ultimately, it's a lot of fun seeing the characters go inside different games and participating, but the major complaints I have with it stems from the awkwardness. Only twice do their appearance change to match the game's graphics themselves, and it would've worked to their advantage if they did that for all games.

All in all, this series is bad, but it's so bad that it's surprisingly fun and charming. It's got a really campy feel to it and I just can't bring myself to hate that. I can completely understand why people would hate on this series, but if you're someone who enjoys the campy stuff, you're more likely than not to find enjoyment within this series.

Real quick before I end this review though, I feel the need to point something out. This series came out back in 2014, two years prior to this review. This series is obviously product placement, but it's product placement for extremely outdated consoles that are ranging anywhere from 20-30 years old. Weird but hilarious business practice there, Sega.

Its an anime about sega consoles turned into humanoid anime girls. If that doesnt draw you in, then I dont know what will. My only major complaint is that the show only focuses on 3 main characters instead of having each sega hard girl get their own turn in the spotlight, as I was excited to see what type of anime girl obscure sega systems such as the master system, VMU, and 32X would be. Unfortunately, besides some cameos in one episode, Dreamcast, Saturn, and Mega Drive are all you get. But eh, the animation is OK, gillius thunderhead is a total pervert in love ... with ulala, Saturn gets in a bikini, and Dreamcast goes for the ol' one-two titty grab on mega drive at one point, and theres a sonic episode where sonic uncomfortably doesn't talk. 8/10

Sega Hard Girls is a very weird thing and the fact that they made a whole anime around it is just as weird.

The story is about Sega consoles "Graduating" by going inside random Sega games and completing objectives.
From the very first minute watching this show you can tell the budget is incredibly small, the show was animated in MMD and used artwork made by KEI (The guy who drew Hatsune Miku and most of her official art). Because of that every characters kinda look like Hatsune Miku in a weird way.

The characters themselves barely have a personality, Mega Drive is the smart one and I ... genuinely cannot differentiate the other 2 character's personalities.

The music and sound effects themselves are almost entirely from Sega games, which isn't an issue since they have phenomenal soundtracks, but because of that the show itself kinda lacked its own identity. It kinda just feel like you're watching a sponsored Youtube animation half the time where they just have a few Sega models in an empty map, but thankfully the jokes are funny and the fan service is really good.

Also since the show is entirely animated in MMD, almost every games you will see are 3D ones with only a few scenes being edits of 2D gameplay footage of older games like Sonic, which btw, they have Sonic in the show, but they didn't have his voice actor, so you have modern Sonic in the game, but he's acting like classic Sonic which caught me off guard and felt very awkward.

I genuinely don't know if I would recommend this anime to anyone, it has really good episodes such as the Space Channel 5 and the Virtua Fighter episodes, but they also have games like Border Break which was never localized outside of Asia and some Mobile game I've never heard of which they seem to have put a lot of effort in. And then there's just a lot of really boring episodes where the girls just talking about their future as a set-up for the next big episode.

Watch it if you're interested, but don't feel pressured to finish it, its not that good.