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Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games #4
Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games Vol. 4
ROUND ONE, FIGHT!
Aya, Mio, Yuu, and Tamaki are all students at a prim-and-proper academy for young ladies, one where video games are outright banned. That hasn’t stopped them from following their fighting game passions all the way to EX Japan, one of the biggest e-sports championships in the world! But to have a spot in the main event, you’ve got to prove your worth in the preliminary qualifiers. Each young lady will have to prevail in a do-or-die battle in the qualifying pools, against a whole set of oddball fighting game aficionados.
Aya, Mio, Yuu, and Tamaki are all students at a prim-and-proper academy for young ladies, one where video games are outright banned. That hasn’t stopped them from following their fighting game passions all the way to EX Japan, one of the biggest e-sports championships in the world! But to have a spot in the main event, you’ve got to prove your worth in the preliminary qualifiers. Each young lady will have to prevail in a do-or-die battle in the qualifying pools, against a whole set of oddball fighting game aficionados.
180 pages, Paperback
First published February 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 4, 2022
Conflict continues both on and off the tournament stage, as Mio pokes the bear that is the snotty Arisa, Aya fights the intimidating Gekido, Inui also tangles with Arisa (and some, uh, tangles too), while Tamaki keeps it all in the family…
Ah, the general insanity that is this series continues. My incredible enjoyment of this story is pretty much drawn from the same space that lets me enjoy Can’t Stop Cursing You, which is that of savouring a very specific type of localized insanity, focused here on fighting games.
I wouldn’t exactly call them non-sequiturs, but odd choices are constantly made throughout, like Inui wearing a plate of yakisoba for a good portion of a chapter and Aya’s hastily abandoned digression into the devices of early light novels.
This whole thing is very, very silly, but by treating it deadly seriously, it achieves a kind of immaculate balance that you’d be hard pressed to match in any given manga (much like the other title I mentioned). Yeah, the yuri content got tossed aside ages ago, minus four panels, but I don’t even care when the rest is this good.
And it’s really well written! The juggling act of giving all four of these girls something interesting to do and having nobody feel especially short-shrifted is not easy, but we get it here, plus the equally balanced info dump of this phoney fighting game that is obviously such a labour of love.
The blatant sexism of the average male gamer is thrown into sharp relief as well; I love the running commentary during Aya’s match with Gekido because it definitely feels like immature boys run riot as they immediately begin discussing her looks more than her ability. This is also well contrasted with the… violent… recognizance that the goofily named Café au Lait has during his bout with Mio.
Everything else is the back and forth of the fighting matches, which I also love because they are crazy and very shonen-adjacent. However, a fighting game, even an imaginary one, is bound by a set of rules that is far less inflexible than the ‘powers out of my butt’ nature of shonen escalation.
There’s just so much energy to this series that it’s very easy to get swept away with the silliness and enjoy it. Is Mio a prodigy who won’t perform because she’s also incredibly stuck on trying to reinvent the wheel? Maybe? Can Aya hang with the big leagues? Will Arisa get her traumatized but miserable butt handed to her like she so richly deserves? I need to know!
5 stars - yeah, fine, it’s not exactly food for thought, but it is way up there in the old ‘bread and circuses’ department for keeping my eyeballs thoroughly entertained throughout and that’s pretty stellar for my money. One of the most reliable series in my list right now.
Ah, the general insanity that is this series continues. My incredible enjoyment of this story is pretty much drawn from the same space that lets me enjoy Can’t Stop Cursing You, which is that of savouring a very specific type of localized insanity, focused here on fighting games.
I wouldn’t exactly call them non-sequiturs, but odd choices are constantly made throughout, like Inui wearing a plate of yakisoba for a good portion of a chapter and Aya’s hastily abandoned digression into the devices of early light novels.
This whole thing is very, very silly, but by treating it deadly seriously, it achieves a kind of immaculate balance that you’d be hard pressed to match in any given manga (much like the other title I mentioned). Yeah, the yuri content got tossed aside ages ago, minus four panels, but I don’t even care when the rest is this good.
And it’s really well written! The juggling act of giving all four of these girls something interesting to do and having nobody feel especially short-shrifted is not easy, but we get it here, plus the equally balanced info dump of this phoney fighting game that is obviously such a labour of love.
The blatant sexism of the average male gamer is thrown into sharp relief as well; I love the running commentary during Aya’s match with Gekido because it definitely feels like immature boys run riot as they immediately begin discussing her looks more than her ability. This is also well contrasted with the… violent… recognizance that the goofily named Café au Lait has during his bout with Mio.
Everything else is the back and forth of the fighting matches, which I also love because they are crazy and very shonen-adjacent. However, a fighting game, even an imaginary one, is bound by a set of rules that is far less inflexible than the ‘powers out of my butt’ nature of shonen escalation.
There’s just so much energy to this series that it’s very easy to get swept away with the silliness and enjoy it. Is Mio a prodigy who won’t perform because she’s also incredibly stuck on trying to reinvent the wheel? Maybe? Can Aya hang with the big leagues? Will Arisa get her traumatized but miserable butt handed to her like she so richly deserves? I need to know!
5 stars - yeah, fine, it’s not exactly food for thought, but it is way up there in the old ‘bread and circuses’ department for keeping my eyeballs thoroughly entertained throughout and that’s pretty stellar for my money. One of the most reliable series in my list right now.
March 31, 2023
This has gotten really good! This volume really gets the fighting game action to click in the exciting battle manga way it should. There's a lot of overtime and explanation, but it's done in a very colorful way I enjoy. The characters all shine and I love the new villains. Sad to say there's no yuri tension here at all really in this one. Still a great read though.
February 28, 2023
Well here I am, at the last volume I own.
Am I going to get more? Not sure, maybe?
Was it good so far? Yes it was, I'm just not clicking completly with it, like I still want to read it but im not in a hurry, so I may continue eventually or if I need a volume for a 3 for 2 deal then sure I'll get it.
Am I going to get more? Not sure, maybe?
Was it good so far? Yes it was, I'm just not clicking completly with it, like I still want to read it but im not in a hurry, so I may continue eventually or if I need a volume for a 3 for 2 deal then sure I'll get it.
June 19, 2024
i LOVED the in depth descriptions of how their second pool games were going in this one 🤭 also…arisa?? she’s so adorable?? please give her more page time next volume‼️‼️
im gonna have to order the next two 🥲🥲🥲 more money 🥲🥲🥲 but its totally worth it!!
im gonna have to order the next two 🥲🥲🥲 more money 🥲🥲🥲 but its totally worth it!!
April 20, 2025
Fun but way too much fighting game terminology for those that know nothing and do not care about fighting games. I do enjoy how intense all the girls are. There are also plenty of light comedic moments.
September 18, 2025
The plot is finally picking up a bit more. I liked that while the girls are shown to be good at the game and able to take on experienced gamers, they aren't just winning easily.
I especially liked that we're looking at the relationships with other gamers.
I especially liked that we're looking at the relationships with other gamers.
January 1, 2026
Review on Okazu shortly!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews