Japanese Title: Midori no Hibi
Similar: Please Teacher
Hand Maid May
Watched in: Japanese & English
Length: 13 episodes
Positives:
- The premise of a girlfriend as a right hand is hilarious.
- Both voice tracks bring a good level of cute energy and hot-headedness to the narrative.
Negatives:
- Structure is as generic as possible for the genre.
- Attempts at drama fail miserably – another trait in common with other anime of this type.
- Introduces the obligatory third wheel love interest of the genre, who does nothing but annoy, and is frankly creepy.
Imagine if you woke up one day and a miniaturised girl replaced your right hand. Well, that’s what happened to seventeen-year-old Seiji, a regular school tough guy, who now has to deal with a girlfriend of the overly attached variety. Seiji never had a girlfriend, for despite being the toughest guy in school, he’s too scary for the girls and keeps striking out. (I guess girls don’t love a bad boy in this world.) She is Midori, a girl who had a secret crush on him and one day wished that she could be his girlfriend. Treguna mekoides trecorum satis dee and swoosh, she’s now his right hand.
Of course, he rebels at first, desperate to undo the change, panicking at what this will do to his gangster rep if others find out. He resorts to bandaging her up and feigning injury. She isn’t powerless however, capable of pulling him by the hand wherever she pleases. After much protest, he accepts his hand’s fate, and they start to work together as hand and host. She does her best to help around the house, cooking and knitting for him, which leads to much hilarity, especially when going out with friends and shopping. Midori Days will make you laugh.
It’s a shame that the drama subplot interferes with the humour. The main drama thread is Midori’s real body; she’s in coma back at her family estate where her mother weeps over her body. This leads to nothing of importance and feels as though it was included to have something there to explain her side of the story, which is passable at least. On the other hand (heh heh), the rest of the drama is just rubbish. There’s a throwaway sub-plot about why he’s a tough guy and how it affects his friends. Worst of all is the drama involving a ten-year-old girl from the neighbourhood. This is where Midori Days enters into creepy territory and not because of the girlfriend for a hand, as I am sure everyone imagines upon hearing the premise. Despite a dozen or so moments of nudity, the core relationship never gets weird, focusing on the comedy rather than the ‘sex’ factor. This ten-year-old however, wants nothing more than to get into pants while she whines endlessly about her stepmother. Shut. Up!
If you enjoyed the likes of Please Teacher then Midori Days is for you. Yes, you will notice the same narrative beats found everywhere in this anime type (sudden appearance; adaptation; little girl crush; high school crush; separation; reconciliation) and it suffers from the same forced drama, but it does have a good amount of humour. Not for kids, of course.
Art – Medium
Standard visuals and animation with nothing terribly bad, and that’s okay for anime of this type.
Sound – Medium
Like the art, the audio is stock standard, except for the protagonists’ voice work. Midori’s voice enhances her cuteness, delivered equally well in both English and Japanese. Seiji’s voice actors are also good, bringing the right energy and hot-tempered attitude to the character. The rest of the cast is adequate (the little girl is an annoying $%&#).
Story – Medium
While the premise is unique and filled with laughs, the rubbish drama can’t help but wrap its hideous tendrils around the narrative.
Overall Quality – Medium
Recommendation: Watch Midori Days if you are looking for an enjoyable romantic comedy with an interesting premise. Don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed.
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