Genre Fantasy Illustrated by Kei Demographic Male | Written by Tōru Shiwasu Published by ASCII Media Works Magazine Dengeki Bunko Magazine | |
Sega Hard Girls (Japanese: セガ・ハード・ガールズ, Hepburn: Sega Hādo Gāruzu) is a Japanese multimedia project produced as a collaboration between ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint and video game company Sega. The project re-imagines various Sega video game consoles as anthropomorphized goddesses who appear all over modern Japan. The project has inspired a light novel series written by Tōru Shiwasu with illustrations by Kei, which began serialization in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko Magazine in June 2013, and an anime television series adaptation titled Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls (Hi☆sCoool! セハガール, Hai Sukūru SeHa Gāru) by TMS Entertainment, which aired in Japan between October and December 2014. A crossover video game with Idea Factory's Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise, Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls, was released for the PlayStation Vita in Japan in November 2015, and in North America and Europe in October 2016.
Contents
Premise
The project focuses on various anthropomorphised Sega consoles, known as "Sega Hard Girls" or "SeHa Girls" for short, each with their own unique personalities. The anime series follows three such girls; Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, and Mega Drive, who must graduate from Sehagaga Academy, a special school located in Haneda, Tokyo, by venturing into the worlds of various Sega games and earning medals.
Characters
Light novels
A light novel series, titled Gendai Nihon ni Yatte Kita Sega no Megami ni Arigachi na Koto (現代日本にやってきたセガの女神にありがちなこと, Sega Goddesses Tend to Appear in Modern Japan), is written by Tōru Shiwasu, with illustrations by Kei. It began serialization in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko Magazine on June 10, 2013. ASCII Media Works published the first volume on December 10, 2013 under Dengeki Bunko imprint. The second volume followed on June 10, 2014.
Video game
The Sega Hard Girls version of Dreamcast makes a cameo appearance in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax; the game's updated release, Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition, adds an additional stage based on Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls. A crossover game with Compile Heart's Hyperdimension Neptunia series, titled Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls (超次元大戦 ネプテューヌVSセガハードガールズ 夢の合体スペシャル, Hyperdimensional War: Neptune's Platoon vs. Sega Hard Girls: Dream Combination Special), was released for PlayStation Vita in Japan on November 26, 2015 and later on released in North America on October 18, 2016 as well as Europe on October 21, 2016.
Anime
An anime adaptation titled Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls, which was produced by TMS Entertainment using the MikuMikuDance animation software and directed by Sōta Sugawara, aired in Japan between October 8 and December 24, 2014 on Animax and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. A bonus episode was released with the DVD box set on November 3, 2016. Sugawara also co-wrote the anime's screenplay with Masayuki Kibe. The CG character designs used in the anime were co-designed by Sugawara and Kio, who based the designs on Kei's original concepts. Shigeyuki Watanabe handled the CG direction. The opening theme is "Sehagaga Ganbacchau!!" (セハガガがんばっちゃう!!) sung by Dreamcast (Mao Ichimichi), Sega Saturn (Minami Takahashi) and Mega Drive (Shiori Izawa). The ending theme is "Wakai Chikara (Sega Hard Girls Mix)" (若い力-SEGA HARD GIRLS MIX-), based on the Sega company song "Wakai Chikara", sung by SC-3000 (Mai Aizawa), SG-1000 (Yū Serizawa), SG-1000 II (Naomi Ōzora), Game Gear (Minami Tanaka) and Robo Pitcher (Haruna Momono). The anime has been licensed in North America by Discotek Media for a Blu-ray and DVD box set release on May 30, 2017.