Midori No Hibi (Midori's Days) or, as the English version has it, Midori Days, started out as a shonen fantasy manga and became an animated series produced by Studio Pierrot. The story centers around seventeen-year-old high school delinquent, yet a good-at-heart kid named Seiji Sawamura who is renown in his town for being a hardcore fighter with his "Devil's Right Hand," which is his main tool for beating up his opponents. Even though he is more focused on shirking his studies and fighting after class, he actually is concerned about his future. Mainly, concerned about his future love life. He laments over not yet having a girlfriend, with many attempts to ask a girl out failing, and in quite a humorous foreboding futuristic daydream, we see how he fears his future love life will always be rife with disappointments with only his right hand as a companion.
Cue the beginning of the story's conflict.
It is at this high point of Seiji's emotional conflict that he hears a high pitched, girl's voice ask if he would take anyone as a girlfriend. When he discovers where the voice is coming from, we witness quite a funny freak out from him. And well he should freak out. It turns out that he has a cute, green-haired sixteen-year-old girl attached to his right arm in place of his hand. This is Midori. Midori, before becoming Seiji's right hand, was a wealthy high school student who fell in love with Seiji from afar after continually witnessing him at a train station that both of them used to get to their schools. Even though she had harbored feelings for him for three years, she was too shy and introverted to go up and talk to him. After becoming Seiji's right hand, she is finally able to gather up the courage to tell him about her love for him, which causes him surprise and embarrassment, since he never thought he would ever hear a girl confess her love for him.
But the problems arise in how she became Seiji's right hand, how he is going to deal with this new predicament, and how will Midori be able to get back to her real body, which is lying in a coma being mournfully looked after by her mother and childhood friend Kouta. These are the main conflicts the series gives us, as well as character interactions between Seiji and Midori with other classmates from Seiji's school.
The story is... well, pretty much what I've already said. This is is a fantasy, romantic comedy, so there isn't really any major life lessons learned, or big epiphanies dealt with. It's just about teens coming to terms with their feelings for one another, Midori coming out of her shell, and Seiji becoming more of a caring person. It's only the two main characters that could be called dynamic or round, with the supporting cast just being there for plot devices. In fact, let's look at the supporting cast now. I will note that since I am only talking about the anime, there are several characters that are featured only in the manga that I will not be talking about, even though sadly some of these manga characters do help resolve some of Seiji's and Midori's conflicts.
1) Ayase Takako, the class rep for Seiji's class. She originally can't stand Seiji because of his tendency to get into tons of fight and his carelessness towards his studies. But after he saves her from a gang and after witnessing his goal to defend the weaker from bullies, she begins to harbor a secret attraction for him becoming one of several people who begin to admire him. When she's featured in the show, it's usually her trying to conduct plans attempting to seduce Seiji by taking him out to movies, fixing him dinner, etc. These episodes are ... okay, but seem a bit like filler where we see Ayase struggling to put the move on Seiji with Seiji being oblivious, and Midori silently watching with contained jealousy. Yeah, these episodes are slower and predictable (you'll probably end up easily predicting how these episodes will turn out) but hey, it's a romantic comedy where people will try to gain another's affection, so I can't exactly judge the show for that.
2) Shiori Tsukishima, a ten-year-old who also has an affection for Seiji (seeing a pattern here, yet?) and has an obnoxious tendency to follow him around. She tries to girlishly attach herself to him, separating him and Ayase at one point out of jealousy, and even tries to flirt with him in a more adult way than should be fitting for a ten-year-old. To be blunt, I found this kid annoying. Thankfully, she doesn't appear in the show much, and Seiji doesn't take anything she does seriously, usually pissed off at her attempts to attach herself to him. Although, to the kid's defense, it could be said that her attachment to Seiji is due to the fact that she is reacting to her father's remarriage and her resentment towards her stepmother. She pretty much disappears after her conflict is resolved.
3) Osamu Miyahara is a fellow student of Seiji's whom he always has to end up rescuing from bullying. Before meeting Midori, it seems that he is the only friend Seiji has. He's kind, comedic and seems like a very good pal, for the most part. There seems to be more of him in the manga than in the anime.
4) Midori's mother and Midori's childhood friend Kouta are only featured in the anime a couple of instances. Kouta is only around for a couple of episodes to discuss with Seiji about Midori's coma. There isn't much to mention about either of them since they were featured more in the manga anyways.
5) Rin Sawamura is Seiji's older sister. Being a former leader of a gang, the best word to describe her is ballsy. Although she does genuinely care for her younger brother, the way she deals with him is ... less than conventional. The two are always fighting, usually with her coming out on top, and she almost seems like a bully towards Seiji. She is also the one who trained little Seiji in fighting so he could defeat bullies of his own, which led him to create the "Devil's Right Hand." She is one of the few people in the show that discover that Midori is connected to Seiji's hand, and takes it pretty well.
6) Lastly is Shuichi Takamizawa. This guy is... strange. He's a complete nerd. A doll otaku, to be exact. Since he has an obsession with a fictional character and even has a hand puppet of her, he immediately is curious about Seiji and his right hand predicament. When he discovers Midori, he becomes an outright fan boy, going so far as making clothing for her, and even a website with photos of her in costumes and bathing suits. Seriously, this guy could make it in the toy business, he's that good at making doll clothing. I could see a perpetual future for him that would be successful, if he wasn't such a recluse and an introvert, not to mention an outright creep. Seiji and Midori get involved with him on more than one occasion, like when Seiji helps him at a convention in selling Midori dolls, or when both Seiji and Midori try to help him woo a girl that looks just like the fictional character he's obsessed with. Whether any of these endeavors are successful or not is for you to see for yourself.
Like I've said, none of these characters really get as much development as Midori and Seiji. Although the caracters of Rin and Takamizawa are more interesting than the other secondary characters, and make for a good watch, they still are just foils to further the relationship between Midori and Seiji. Fortunately, both of the main characters are interesting and sympathetic enough that this is okay and seeing how they begin to bond isn't a chore as one would think it would be. Midori's selfless devotion to Seiji is touching and seeing him slowly come around makes for a satisfying ending. Oh, um, spoilers, I guess... Aw, c'mon. You know it was going there anyway. This is a slice of life, romantic anime, after all! It's not like there is anything outright new here, just a new way to tell a rather predictable love story.
When it comes to the more technical side of things, the animation is not bad, but not amazing. It's pretty standard for a romantic, slice of life show. It doesn't have the amazing artwork and animation that Ouran High School Host Club has and it isn't a horror to look at either. The opening and ending theme songs aren't anything outstanding, but they do their job of being the usual things you'd hear: a bouncy, happy opening with a cutesy woman's voice singing, followed by a calming, still happy ending song. The show's opening and closing animations are standard as well, with the usual images of a romantic comedy anime showing the main couple running together, a montage of them spending time together accompanied with glimpses of the secondary characters.
The acting is pretty well done. I haven't heard the Japanese dub but the English voice cast isn't half bad. Midori's voice actress is high pitched, but not too chimpmunk-like to be annoying. Most notable is Drew Aaron who does the voice for Seiji. He's like a mix between Jerry Jewell's Kyo Sohma and Chris Patton's Sato. He does a good job in sounding like a normal teen guy who is tough yet sympathetic. The other characters' English voice actors do a good job as well, but aren't too memorable. As with everything else this anime's got going, the main word is standard.
Lastly is the content of the show. Since it is a high school romance flick, it can be a bit ... adult at times. Sexual innuendos abound and there are some shots of breasts here and there, some for humor, and some just for ... well, fanservice. But these instances are few and far between, and only occur in one or two episodes out of thirteen. There is also some language. Nothing too extreme, but the usual cursing you'd hear in a teen flick. There are also awkward moments, which is expected, especially concerning the fact that the show consists of an obsessed doll otaku and Seiji himself, who acts like a normal hormonal teenage boy that "can appreciate the female body" (as Onizuka would say) albeit being green around the gills, yet who also has good intentions in the end.
All in all, Midori Days is a funny, heart-warming series with likable characters. Even though the premise of the show is a bit out of left field, what with the fact that Midori is attached to Seiji's arm, it does make for an enjoyable show with very funny moments and mishaps. The themes and motifs of learning to accept who you are and to stand up for yourself are the usual life lessons for a high school show, and though they are good things to aim for, may not compensate for some of the content that the show is rife with. That being said, I did enjoy this show, but I would not recommend younger kids or even preteens to watch it.
Final Verdict:
1) Funny, and cute show. A good, unique teen romantic flick that is worth a watch if you want to watch something new in the shonen genre.
2) Not for younger kids or preteens. Language aside, the showing of bare breasts may not be quite suitable for younger, impressionable minds. But again, that's ultimately for the parents to decide.
3) The whole idea of otaku and the obsession with the anime characters and their doll counterparts may seem a bit odd for people over here in the West, but it is a pastime for some in Japan, which may take a while to get accustomed to for western viewers. This is just a sidenote, though, and nothing really to worry about.
4) In the end, even though this is an enjoyable show, don't expect anything to pop out at you and scream originality. Yes, the premise of the story is different, but compared with other romantic comedy animes out there, or really any other strange anime, this isn't anything really bizarre. Like I said before, everything here is mainly standard, and though you may not experience anything new from this, it's still a nice little thing to watch when you just want to sit back and pass the time.
4) In the end, even though this is an enjoyable show, don't expect anything to pop out at you and scream originality. Yes, the premise of the story is different, but compared with other romantic comedy animes out there, or really any other strange anime, this isn't anything really bizarre. Like I said before, everything here is mainly standard, and though you may not experience anything new from this, it's still a nice little thing to watch when you just want to sit back and pass the time.
See you around next review!
