Midori Days: Complete Series
Sex/Nudity: several short scenes and flashbacks
Music:
Runtime Episodes: 13/24min
Overall Rating: B
Artwork: B
Story: B+
Comments:
Voice Acting English: B
Voice Acting Japanese: B
Genre: Comedy
Extras: Outtakes (short, but pretty funny), original audio dramas.
Date Reviewed: 7/7/09 Last Updated: 11/1/09
Basic Premise: Mad Dog Seiji Samamura who is known for his demon right hand and has a reputation as a delinquent is unable to get a girlfriend. One day he wakes up with a girl in place of his right hand named Midori. Midori has had a crush on Seiji for a long time, but has never had the courage to tell him.
Review: At first glance this is a very odd anime. I mean a story about a high school delinquent who wakes up with a girl for a right hand and how they cope? Well, if nothing else it has uniqueness going for it. One of the popular aspects of anime is the love of anime dolls. I have never found this type of collecting appealing. As a kid I considered GI Joe action figures to be nothing more than dolls for boys. I have never been interested in dolls by any other name either. To each their own i guess.
Seji has always been unmatched in fighting skills, but he has never once been able to win the affections of a girlfriend. He has been turned down repeatedly 20 times in a row now. Seiji feels that he will be single for the rest of his life and vows to accept anyone to which his right hand replies "really?" Seiji for the most part lives alone as his parents are both always gone on business. In fact they are never seen throughout the entire series.
Midori is a wealthy girl who is very shy and has never been able to confess her feelings to Seiji who goes to another school. She has always watched him at the train station on the way to school, but never able to get the courage to talk to him. Midori does not know how she came to replace to Seiji's right hand. This is the ideal situation for Midori who is now always at Seiji's side. Meanwhile there is Midori's real body which is virtually in a coma. This is hard for Midori to accept, but she prefers being a part of Seiji. It is not like she has a choice in the matter anyway.
This is definitely a comedy and as one it is actually pretty funny. My favorite scene is where Midori tries to cover for Seiji when he passes out. Midori is able to pull Seiji along and has a lot of strength for a right hand. I would say that she has about the same strength as Seiji's right hand had. The out takes were hilarious too. I was rather skeptical at first because I had seen out takes in another anime and it was a groaner to say the least.
The show does not rely just on comedy, but has a story that it wants to get across as well. First of all Seiji and Midori have to learn how to get along together. Some things are easier like Midori helps clean and cook and help Seiji study, but then other things are harder like keeping Midori a secret or going to the bathroom or showering or not being able to fight with his right hand.
Midori also has romantic competition from a classmate of Seiji named Ayase. Ayase is a really rather likable character and very soon I almost hoped that Ayase and Seiji would get together. Not that it matters much with Seiji being so clueless when it comes to girls and love.
The music is not bad. The opening theme is ok. Midori's flashbacks has this piano nursery tune that quickly gets annoying though. The ending theme is the most listenable. All in all the few melodies were not very notable. The animation was not breathtaking, but it doesn't need to be either. Still, it wasn't bad either. Nothing was ridiculous (a relative term, considering that this is a comedy). It didn't look like any shortcuts were taken. We don't ever see exactly where Midori ends and Seiji begins though, but that is really not that important either. I kinda wish that the fight scenes were done a little better though, like the first one. Ah, well.
The voice acting is harder to pin down. i found myself switching between the English and Japanese throughout the entire series. Ultimately it doesn't really matter which language you prefer to listen to it in. Sometimes it really does matter, but not in this one.
There is some brief nudity in this series just to warn you. No sex scenes; just a few accidental flashes.
Conclusion: A lighter anime with a unique storyline. Not a work of art or a classic, but well worth a look.
Publisher: Anime Works
Related Website: website
Where Found:
Copyright: 2004/2005
Author:
If you enjoyed this anime try: Azumanga Daioh
Screenshots
