For the first time in my life I watched anime, and surprisingly enjoyed it. Having no prior experience with the genre, I was able to watch Hi-Score Girl from a perspective that was free from expectations. But this did not mean I entered the viewing without having preconceptions about the genre, stemming from past history with Western animations which I initially though were quite similar, hence my prior avoidance of the genre.

“Autoethnography…seeks to describe and systematically analyse personal experience in order to understand cultural experience”
– Ellis et. al 2011

In reflecting on the way we experience culture, prior understanding, preconceptions and past history must be analysed to understand why we have such an experience. So when I was first told we’d be watching an anime that had many references to gaming I was quite unenthusiastic about watching such a show for the next few hours. I have never…