Every once in a while, an anime series comes along that has a really strange premise. Midori Days is one such show, a comedy with a very bizarre story. I was initially put off, thinking that the program would be too odd to suspend my disbelief. As I watched the disc though, the show started to grow on me, and I ended up really liking this weird program.

Seiji is the most fearsome kid in his class. Known as 'Mad Dog' Sawamura, he never loses a fight due to his terrifying "demon" right hand. All of the boys at his school tremble at his name, but the girls do too. Because of that Seiji can't get a date to save his life. He's very lonely, and really wishes that he had a girlfriend.

One day he gets his wish, though not in the way he had hoped for. When he wakes up in the morning, he has a little girl in place of his demon right hand. Yes, there is a small girl, named Midori, grafted to the end of his arm. Midori has loved Seiji from afar for years, and is terribly happy to be part of him. Seiji on the other hand (no pun intended) isn't sure what to make of his admiring right hand. Of course this means that he can't fight any more. He still has a lot of enemies of course, and fighting without using his right hand is difficult. Not nearly as difficult as keeping Midori a secret though.

This is a strange but funny show filled with slapstick and humor. Midori can pull Seiji around, and even pick him up if she needs to which leads to a lot outrageous situations. In one episode, a thirsty Seiji grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and drinks deeply, only to discover that it's his sister's Tequila. He passes out on the floor, just as a string of people come to the door and helpfully let themselves in. Its up to Midori to make it look like Seiji's still awake, but a pale boy who scoots around the floor with no visible means of locomotion is fairly terrifying.

My favorite episode was the fourth one. Seiji accidently ruins Midori's only shirt, so he takes her to a store that sells anime costumes for dolls and lets her pick something out. Unfortunately a kid from his class, Takamizawa, sees him there and assumes that Seiji collects female action figures. Things get worse when he catches a glimpse of Midori, and jumps to the conclusion that Seiji is a fellow puppets fancier! Things get more complicated as Takamizawa comes up with schemes to discover just what brand of puppet he has.

This show is obviously not grounded in reality, but if you can get past that, it's a lot of fun. It's an outrageous show, and every episode has some laugh out loud moments. There is even some continuity between the episodes, with a plot about just where Midori came from. There is a full sized version of her at her real home, but the real Midori has fallen into a deep sleep and won't wake up.

This show is rated 13+, and I think that's a little low. There is a fair amount of swearing, and several frontal nudity shots.

This DVD has the first five episodes on a single sided DVD that comes in a white keepcase.

Audio:

This disc has the original Japanese stereo soundtrack as well as an English dub, also in stereo. I alternated tracks as I watched the show and enjoyed both tracks equally. I especially liked Rin's voice in the English dub. Both tracks were clean and clear and reproduced the dialog very well.

Video:

The full screen video image was nice too. The lines were tights and the colors were bright. There wasn't much in the way of digital defects either, even aliasing was barely noticeable. A good looking transfer.

Extras:

This disc also comes with a clean opening and closing, a promo reel, and some outakes from the English dub sessions. There is also something I haven't seen before, an original audio drama. Only available in Japanese with subtitles, this is a story involving Midori and Seiji that isn't animated. For visuals they just have background scenes from the anime. I really enjoyed this, it's a great idea. The expensive part on any cartoon show is the animation, and since this had none, the cost of producing it must have been minimal. I hope we see more of these turning up on anime DVDs.

Final Thoughts:

Midori Days sounds odd and strange, and it is. It's also a very funny show. The slapstick humor and odd situations that Seiji finds himself in work very well. If you are looking for an anime series to tickle your funny bone, this is it. A high Recommendation.