Midori no Hibi is a light romance school comedy featuring a ‘girlfriendless’ protagonist who has his right hand turned into… a girl. At first you might be fooled by its “right hand girlfriend” motive, but this show is your run off the mill romantic school comedy with little innovation apart from that hand thing. Nonetheless, while romance itself might be a little bit bland, it’s plenty funny and rarely boring. Give it a chance if you are into the genre… Or forget about it you’re not.

A… love confession. I’ve been cofessed to… for the first time in my life! No wait, I’m not happy… Bein’ confessed to by my right hand doesn’t make me happy one bit!!!

Originally written as manga by Inoue Kazurou and directed by Kobayashi Tsuneo (Twelve Kingdoms, Kurokami) Midori no Hibi is a light romance school comedy featuring a ‘girlfriendless’ protagonist who has his right hand turned into… a girl. So, the guy, Seiji, tries to, well, figure out what’s going on and also find a way to cure himself of this.. errr, peculiar condition. Or that’s, at least, how it looks from the beginning, as it doesn’t take too long for the show to degrade into your usual light humor and platonic affection galore with “peculiar condition” left as the only fresh thing. That being said, the show does offer some laughs and also romance which though easily forgettable at least has a direction and end. This show might not be something you will remember for long, but it’s going to be fun if you’re into the thing.

The first episode is titled “Right Hand Girlfriend”… Let me say that again “Right Hand Girlfriend”. Now, I might be a victim of warped sexual over-generalizations, but that title does sound a little bit disturbing. I wonder if there is some hidden significance in Midori becoming the right hand of a sexually deprived lone teenager… …..On a second thought, I’d rather not delve too deep into that. Either way, if asked if I liked Midori no Hibi I’d have to say, well, yes, to an extent. Some jokes, only achievable by Midori becoming protagonist’s hand, are indeed funny and fresh. Protagonist happens to have a personality and even romance moves to the very end for a change (though, damn, is it weak). At the same time however, Midori no Hibi offers very little originality and its lineup of female characters ranges from boring to annoying. In other words, though I did have some good laughs with Midori no Hibi and liked its bright colors I also had many yawns with its bland romance and boring heroines. It’s not a bad show, but it’s not particularly good either.

Animation: 3

Animation done by Studio Pierrot (Hikaru no Go, Naruto) is average for the most part. Backgrounds don’t particularly stand out. There is a moderate amount of detail put in to not make them look awkward, but you certainly wont notice any picturesque sights here, though I must say vivid color palette makes them look quite lively. Character designs, on the other hand, lack detail in a quite an unsettling way. Particularly the side cast has some awkward facial designs, like over-sized eyes and very round faces which mess all the facial proportions; Ayase was at times hard to take seriously. Not to mention the ugliness Seiji calls sister. Seiji himself might be the only one (apart from some generic male thugs) who looks okay; though there are some scenes where his face deforms to side cast-level ugliness. The fact that original designs aren’t particularly attractive doesn’t help the show either. Well, at least everyone are as bright as their backgrounds and have some well-done hilarious facial superdeformations.

The few scarce scenes of action are surprisingly well animated; there is little to no awkwardness in movements which is quite a feat in a romantic comedy genre. Inbetweens, however, are few and not particularly high tech. There are also some nice instances where emotional impacts are conveyed through some hilarious “metaphoric” skits; like Seiji scoring a bowling shot or even having his hand cut in a parody of The Saw movies. Those might have worked the best in setting the mood for the show.

Sound: 2

Background music composed by Hirano Yoshihisa (Ouran Koukou Host Club) is unfortunately quite lacking. There are some nice tracks at the beginning, particularly during action scenes; however, the quality soon goes down with the following episodes. Once the show hits its romantic comedy part the music… well, almost ceases. There are a few slightly romantic slow tunes and also a few of those generic “carefree” melodies, but sequences of silence are stretched far too long. OP/ED are the generic songs you always hear in average school comedies; the type you simply can’t remember.

Voice-acting doesn’t stand out either; the best sounding role might be that of delinquent Seiji done by Taniyama Kishou (Tengen Toppa as Kittan). Also, this show might offer the worst performance by Nakahara Mai ever; it’s the first time I have actually thought her voice could be annoying.

Story: 3

Midori no Hibi spans for thirteen episodes and has a relatively original premise (I mean, it’s the first time I see somebody having a romantic affair with his talking hand), unfortunately, it offers less originality than you’d originally expect and ends up being just another romantic school comedy you will soon forget. Though the comedy part of the show is well done (particularly the scene when Seiji loses his consciousness and Midori “imitates” him is damn funny), the romance part is seriously lacking; probably mostly to blame are Midori’s boring characteristics. There are some “twists” like some other girls trying to seduce Seiji, but rather than angsty or even romantic they end up being more funny. It’s nice the show has an ending, but you kinda see it coming from the very beginning and frankly none of this show particularly satisfied my romantic needs. Nonetheless, I certainly was amused by some of the hilarious situations Seiji was put in and was never exactly bored with this show.

Characters: 2

Seiji is about the only character in Midori no Hibi worth caring about. He is a kind-hearted, not so smart, hungry for woman’s love delinquent who ends up being both easy to relate to and interesting to observe (especially when he is going crazy having his hand turned weird). The guy is not particularly deep and you already know where his developments will lead, but you keep an eye on him nonetheless, maybe because he can really be funny sometimes. Unfortunately, the girl who turned into his hand, Midori, is at the same time one of the most boring romantic interests I have ever seen. She has this squeaky voice and all she does with it is repeating the same thing (how she likes Seiji) over and over again (it’s a saving grace she doesn’t really open her mouth that much). She is from this silent, docile type which exceeds at doing chores and makes good wives, but is as exciting as a sleeping cow. If I had been Seiji I would have considered amputation.

I found side-cast much better than Midori in the sense that the guys, if not deep or anything, are at least funny in one way or another. I would have patted Seiji on the back if he had chosen the stuck-up class representative Ayase and ditched Midori into the nearest trash bin. Her tsundere’ish approach to seduce Seiji is one of the main highlights of the show. There is also this hilarious figure collecting otaku who offers quite a few good laughs through his attempts to identify Midori’s “maker”. Especially if you are into collecting figures you are bound to laugh, heh. And also let’s not forget a damn grade schooler who tries to seduce Seiji with loli charms. Oh yeah, and Seiji’s oafish sister is about the only character I’d like to boil alive from the side cast, but thank the gods she doesn’t have that many appearances.

Conlusion: Midori no Hibi is your usual run off the mill romantic school comedy show with a girl-hand motive for extra spices. It’s more funny than it is romantic and it’s not as funny as the shows which concentrate on only being like that (like FMP?Fumoffu!). It’s still not a bad show and if you either lack experience in anime realm as a whole or are a big fan of romantic school comedies you might not be disappointed trying Midori no Hibi out. Don’t watch it, however, if you expect innovation, it starts and ends with the girl-hand motive. If you are into the genre I’d recommend checking Toradora! which is so far the best light romance school comedy I’ve ever seen.