I couldn’t think of a better way for this show to end than such an intense match between Mio and Arisa. The time really down to the wire, both players on their last speck of health—it’s obvious, quintessential hype, and there’s just no beating that. Watching matches like this in real life gets the crowd going in ways that I really wish could be better communicated through an anime, but still, it’s not to say that it didn’t get the point across. Both girls were pushed to their mental and physical limits, lost in the absolute bliss of a thrilling competition with a skilled player. Moments like these are what fighting game players—or anyone who plays anything competitively—live for.

What I particularly enjoyed about the way this is portrayed in the anime is that you really got a sense that as far as Arisa and Mio were concerned, there was no one else around but them. When you get into intense matches like that, it really does feel like a dance of sorts, and that kind of feeling can absolutely watch over you. Moreover, Aya knew it, and wanted so badly to have that feeling between them.

Anime and the portrayal of jealousy can be a messy thing. There was a long stretch of time—in particular, I tend to associate this with the 90s/early 00s—where in romance anime, especially, a character being jealous was supposed to be sweet and a bit romantic; As though to say “Look, they care so much that they’re jealous when anyone else is around the target of their affection!” This has, thankfully, largely fallen out of fashion. But what we’re seeing between Aya and Mio shouldn’t be confused for that. Aya isn’t jealous of Arisa for getting to be around Mio—she’s jealous that Arisa gets to experience this sort of competitor’s high alongside Mio, for whom she considered herself to be The Rival. Not to say there’s not a romantic tension underpinning this—there is—just that it’s not quite the same thing we’re used to seeing.

The spirit and love of competition has been alive and well throughout this whole anime, and that’s been one of the things I’ve appreciated about it most of all throughout its airing. As for other overall thoughts? Not quite anime of the season material (especially in such a stacked season—if you haven’t read it yet, I implore you to look at ANN’s best of Summer 2026 anime list!), but certainly a weekly highlight all the same. Also, by far the best opening theme of the year as far as I’m concerned—I absolutely love the spicy queens of HANABIE. Frankly, it’s about time we had an FGC anime—that it’s a girls’ love series is just icing on the cake.

In fact, the characters were the biggest part of what made this series so fun to watch. In addition to loving their explosive chemistry, Mio and Aya are both just such powerhouses in their own right. It’s tricky to pick a favorite between the two of them, but I’m inclined toward Mio if I must, if only because I still love her overly optimistic, “But we’ll have to stay at EVO all day Sunday because I’ll be playing in grand finals!”-attitude. But that’s not to say the other girls were slouches in all this—while their storylines weren’t explored nearly as much, Tamaki and Yuu definitely seem like they got something going on, and if we’re fortunate enough to get a second season, I’d be really curious to see more from them. Hopefully we can get another season of this at some point. And double hopefully, they’ll get HANABIE back to do the opening theme again.

Rating:

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.