Hi Score Girl
Image: J.C.Staff / Netflix

Anime and video gaming have gone hand in hand for decades, so it's no surprise to see real-world consoles and games make their way into totally unrelated shows and series. Once upon a time, whenever video games were referenced in anime, it would normally be Nintendo's Famicom, mainly because that system utterly dominated the market in the '80s and early '90s.

However, in more recent years, it's Nintendo's former rival Sega that finds itself beloved by anime creators, which is quite surprising when you consider that the Master System / Mark III barely made an impact in that region, the Mega Drive was third place behind the Super Famicom and PC Engine, and the Saturn was beaten comprehensively by the original PlayStation.

Even so, whenever an anime show has a character playing a classic game, you can bet that nine times out of ten, it's a Sega console. Shows like Uncle From Another World, Love Life, Hi-score Girl, Jashin Chan Dropkick and Pop Team Epic all feature Sega hardware and often make it integral to the story, and there's even an anime devoted to Sega systems called Sega Hard Girls.

In his latest video, YouTuber St1ka takes an exhaustive look at Sega's incredible impact on the world of Japanese animation. It's well worth a look.

[source youtube.com]