| Midori Days | |
 Midori Days volume 1 from Viz Media | |
| Genre | Romatic comedy, Drama, Shounen |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Kazurou Inoue |
| Published by |  Shougakukan VIZ Media Chuang Yi |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Tsuneo Kobayashi |
| Studio | Studio Pierrot |
Midori Days, known in Japan as Midori no Hibi (美鳥の日々, Days of Midori or Midori's Days) is an 85-chapter manga and 13-episode anime series created by Kazurou Inoue (井上和郎).
The manga was published in the magazine Shonen Sunday until July 2004, while the anime series aired on Japanese television from April to June 2004. Studio Pierrot was the animation studio for the TV series. Media Blasters holds the North American license for the TV series, and VIZ Media licensed the manga in English in North America. Chuang Yi publishes the manga in Singapore in English.
Plot
The story is about Seiji Sawamura, a chivalrous though delinquent high school student, who is idolized by a few classmates (such as Osamu Miyahara). However, thanks to his poor reputation, he is loathed by his peers and unable to find a girlfriend. His isolated life is completely turned upside down when a miniature girl appears in place of his right hand.
The girl's name is Midori Kasugano. She is very shy and has secretly been in love with Seiji for a long time. Faced with this sudden and forced closeness, she quickly becomes Seiji's self-established "right hand girlfriend" and refers to Seiji and herself as 'lovers'.
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Characters
- Please Note that all names are in western order (given name first, surname last). The English versions render the names in Western order, while the Japanese version of the anime renders the names in Japanese order even when the names are rendered in Roman characters.
Seiji Sawamura
Seiji Sawamura (沢村正治 Sawamura Seiji) - a 17-year-old delinquent student who is feared for his fighting skills.
He isn't exactly a gangster as he fights to protect the weak using his powerful fighting technique, The Devil's Right Hand. Fighting people has a price however: everyone, including the girls, is scared of him. He has gone 17 years without a girlfriend, but wants one badly. Every girl he asks has declined him. One day when he is daydreaming about having one, he finds a girl on his right hand. It appears that she is Midori Kasugano and has had a crush on him for three years. He feels very excited about it, then realizes that this is his right hand saying this. So he declines the first girl that ever said she loved him, spends the rest of the show trying to get other girls, and getting rid of Midori.
Seiji mostly starts off as a rude monstrous man towards Midori but as times progresses, he becomes a little bit more attached to her. Seiji is still unaware of all the people that like him. Shown several times, he is completely oblivious to the people who like him and looks at the people who aren't. His personality seems a little bit more oblivious than most first impressions from the series. Soom redeeming qualities about him is his determination, his willingness to help some people, and his kindness towards Midori. He also is obsessed with the actor "Sho Aikawa".
At the end of the series he finds Midori's diary, when she is off his hand, and reads it. He realizes how much she loves him, and meets her outside in her real body. She expresses her love for him, without any memory of being on his hand. He tells her that he has been looking at her too. After that it is obvious that they become a couple.
In the manga however, Seiji admits that he likes Midori, besides looking at all. And the manga ends with them becoming a couple, with buying a new diary for Midori.
Midori Kasugano
Midori Kasugano (春日野美鳥 Kasugano Midori) - the 16 year old girl who ends up as Seiji's right hand. She's had a crush on him for three years. One day she wishes to be with him so much that she ends up on his right hand. Which causes problems for him, since it is his "Devil's right-hand". The bad news for Midori is that her real body is in a coma, and her mother tries everything to bring her back. As soon as Midori finds out that she is on Seiji's hand, she gets the courage to admit her love, even though it isn't requited. During the series she finds different ways to admit her love, and gets jealous of other girls, then tries to compete with them. This even includes making scarves for him, and showing off her chest. But over time she gets to like about all of the characters. Her personality is shy at first, but when she gets to know people she really lightens up. During the course of her days with Seiji she wakes up in her normal body a few times but however is overrun with a feeling of loneliness and returns to a coma state. This is most notable during her second time waking up when she looks at her picture of Seiji sitting on her night stand and starts thinking about why she suddenly feels lonely. When her mother returns, she is holding a note that states "sorry mom". Although it is unknown if she actually knew how to go back as Seiji's hand, she returned.
Midori comes off as a fun, happy girl with no cares, but as time progresses it is shown that she is actually a little bit more shy than she lets on (she mostly doesn't show it because she has been spending so much time with Seiji). Some emotions she hides well is her jealousness towards the other girls Seiji comes in contact with and her determination. Apparently according to the manga where she rips the surgery table (Seiji is tied to) off the ground, she seems to have herculean strength when she is angry or determined. Also she seems to be able to drag Seiji with ease as long as he isn't resisting (although as shown sometimes he has no choice). Another part of her personality that is shown several times is even though she is relatively passive on most of Seiji's actions, she is extremely against pornography and will make every possible effort to keep Seiji from being in the presence of it (much to Seiji's dismay).
Other Characters
Template:Border-notinlineTakako Ayase (綾瀬貴子 Ayase Takako) - Class representative for Seiji's class. She originally detests him, but after Seiji saves her from a gang, she begins to harbour a secret admiration for him. Unfortunately for her, all her plans to confess her feelings fail, as Sawamura seems completely oblivious to her approaches. Midori is intensely protective of her relation to Sawamura, and always makes covert attempts to sabotage any romance between the two.
Ayase shows off little emotions of her true self in public. Although after seeing Seiji save his friend peacefully, she still is slightly curt to him in public. Mostly seen by the viewer/reader and not anyone in the series is the fact that she is deeply in love with Seiji and actually goes to extremely far lengths to have him seduced (which is comedically shown in the manga when Seiji drops the pornography tape, she picks it up, and later that night she is taking notes on it). Unfortuantely for Ayase, it seems no matter how hard she tries, Seiji is just way too aloof to see her for what's she trying to show him.
Template:Border-notinlineRin Sawamura (沢村凛 Sawamura Rin) - Seiji's older sister. The former leader of a powerful street gang, her favorite hobby is beating up her little brother, and taking his allowance. She was the one who taught him to fight when he was younger. At the end of the manga version, Rin leaves for South America to join her boyfriend.
Rin is protective of her brother like any sibling, but she enjoys making him writhe in embarassment and pain much more. Throughout the series, Rin is seen not only hitting Seiji, and humiliating him, but repetitively showing off Midori. Rin also loves her boyfriend but shows that much less than in public.
Template:Border-notinlineKota Shingyoji (真行寺耕太 Shingyōji Kōta) - A childhood friend of Midori's and also a fellow first year at Ogurabashi High School. He was always in love with Midori, yet now he has a new found 'respect' for Sawamura.
To keep from saying anything offensive, Kota is just not preferred to women as he seems to be to men. During the course of the series, he repeatedly thinks of Seiji (in some odd ways) and tries changing his mind by thinking of Midori or thinking "No no it's Midori you want!". One of the more comedic scenes of this is in the manga where Kota has come to Seiji's house and ends up staying the night. Before going to sleep, he gets of his hands and knees and says to Seiji "It's my first time, be gentle." Both are silent for a second, then Seiji burst out laughing "Oh that was a good one! You had me going for a second!". The narrating caption says "Poor Kota, he wasn't joking." Midori sees this almost every time she sees Kota and seems to be uneasy. Kota has also become slightly attached to a gang led by Miku Mekobe, a girl who just loves seeing Kota in a dress.
Template:Border-notinlineOsamu Miyahara (宮原オサム Miyahara Osamu) - A year-younger student at Seiji's school and subordinate of Seiji. He idolizes Seiji for his fighting skills, but seemingly can not keep himself out of trouble, constantly getting caught by rival gangs and eventually having to be saved by Sawamura.
Miyahara is very comedic and seems to not worry about what other people think of him. He looks up to Seiji as a best friend and idol. Behind Siji's back however, he does talk about Seiji poorly (not on purpose but just because it slips out). Again a show of this is when in the manga Miyahara has a date and starts talking about Seiji (who is in the bushes). Just like Seiji, he is very obsessed with an actor called "Sho Aikawa".
Template:Border-notinlineShuichi Takamizawa (高見沢修一 Takamizawa Shūichi) - A classmate of Sawamura's and a doll otaku. He always carries around a doll of a fictional anime character named Ultra-Marin, and seems to have a creepy obsession with the character. He is also good at making clothes for dolls.
Takamizawa is a go-getter and is not afraid to completely make a fool of himself to get what he needs. Don't be confused though, he's not rude, or mean, he's just very easy to excite. For a while he obsesses about seeing Seiji's hand puppet (Midori) and when he finally does see he can't stop thinking about her. Takamizawa is sortof (for a lack of a better word) stupid. He doesn't know when to stop and will attempt some of the most ridiculous attempts to have fun or have fun with Midori (such as a Midori site which Seiji and Midori finds out about, and Midori freaks out when she finds a picture of herself in a bathing suit on the site).
Template:Border-notinlineShiori Tsukishima (月島栞 Tsukishima Shiori) - A 10-year-old neighbor of Seiji who also has a crush on him. She tries a variety of ways to gain his attention, even asking Rin the kind of woman Seiji likes, but he never takes her advances seriously, still treating her like a child.
Like most of the characters in this series, Shiori is very obsessed with Seiji. However the difference is she doesn't have nearly as much time to seduce him. Even harder for her is the fact that because she is so young, Seiji does not take her seriously. This is shown in the chapter/episode where Rin helps Shiori by dressing her up in seversal different sexy (according to Rin) outfits which only serve to irritate Seiji. Obviously it is known Seiji has no attraction to her but she tries anyway. Towards the beginning of the series, Shiori states that her real mother is dead. Shiori has troubles with her adopted mom and when her mother finds her after looking around the city, tells her off for being an adopted mom and all her mom wants "is to live alone with dad!". She yells at her and finishes by saying "I've only got one mom and it's not you!" Her mother slaps her and cries about Shiori's attitude. After that it is shown, over the next week they patch up a good relationship and Shiori does accept her adopted mother.
Template:Border-notinlineHaruka Kasugano (春日野遥 Kasugano Haruka) - Midori's mother, who is worried about her. Haruka is willing to do anything to cure Midori of her illness.
She is very sad about Midori's coma and tries several times to bring her back. The medicine man she confers to tells her she does not want to come back, so most of what she does is spend time watching Midori's body and keeping anyone from hurting her. Her husband is mentioned several times, but never seen.
Manga-only characters
Compared to the short run of the anime, the manga covered a lot more ground in terms of character background and added new stories. As a result there are several characters introduced in the manga who never appear in the anime.
Template:Border-notinlineLucy Winrad (ルーシィ・ウィンラッド) - She is an American that recently transferred into Seiji's high school to study abroad. She loves Japanese culture, and admires Seiji because she sees him as an ideal Japanese man. Naturally, she becomes another obstacle to Midori's love.
Lucy is not the one to hide anything. She's willing to shout her love to Seiji. It really is hard to tell if she is truly in love with Seiji or if she only likes him because his actions resemble that of Samurai's, her idols. It is shown in the manga that she is athletic (which is noticed during the big race and she is going faster than Ayase while doing backflips). She also has a childhood friend named Daniel McBain who she does not like due to his conceitedness.
Template:Border-notinlineNao Makinoha (槙葉奈緒 Makinoha Nao) - A silent, mysterious girl in Seiji's class. She loves strange phenomena, and thus takes an interest in Seiji's transformed right hand. She seemingly appears at the strangest times, which gives Seiji quite a scare.
There is several ways you can interpret the way Nao likes Midori. One is the one above, yet another is the fact of Midori herself since she gets jealous when Midori says she likes Seiji (and tries to bite Seiji's arm off). Also she draws a picture of herself giving food to Midori so she could be in fact in love with Midori.
Nao herself is strange. Her ability to be seemingly everywhere at once is odd (although it's more for comedic purpose than for reality's sake). Seiji has also picked up that besides Nao's hammer, she knows martial arts. Nao doesn't talk much, and from the looks of her bag, there was a teddy bear with needle's in it saying she's either into acupuncture, or voodoo. She constantly disrupts her father's chances at separating Seiji and Midori.
Template:Border-notinlineShirou Makinoha (槙葉史郎 Makinoha Shirō) - Nao's father and a doctor, he initially tried to look at how Seiji and Midori became connected. Amazed by their connection, he later plots to capture Seiji so he can show Midori to the medical community and gain fame from his findings. However, his attempts to capture them are often foiled by Nao.
Dr. Makinoha is definitely a little crazier than his first impression. He's not only crazy, but he's also very strategic. He's the kind of guy who never makes the same mistake twice. He cares for Nao but has also seen her as an obstacle (which was shown druing the fight between Nao and Robo-Nao).
Template:Border-notinlineHisashi Sakisaka - Rin's boyfriend, he is a treasure hunter and loves to travel the world. However, his constant disappearnces annoy Rin to no end. At the end of the manga, he is in South America with Rin joining him there.
Sakisaka is definitely in love with Rin, he's willing to go to great lengths to win her over. He even offers to stop treasure hunting for Rin, which Rin tells him not to. She just wants him to come home every now and then. Sakisaka is definitely a softie and is not all that strong emtionally. He's extremely courageous however and just loves the thrill of treasure hunting.
Template:Border-notinline Miku Nekobe - She is the leader of the Crimson Angels, an all-female gang who constantly harasses and embarrasses Kota (most notably by dressing him up in girl's clothing). Despite this, she has a soft spot for the boy, later helping him out when he tries to separate Seiji and Midori.
At first Miku just wants to get back at Kota for denying him a date (the date was just for the fact that Kota was rich), but she seemingly can't bring herself to let her gang hurt him. After a little bit she just decides to dress him up in a dress (complete with makeup and a wig). After a while, Kota grows on her and even thoughs she still acts pretty much the same all the time, Kota becomes more of a friend than just a fetish for her (although she remains vigilant in picking clothing out for him and follows him around). Her boyfriend named Slasher Midoh attempted to kill Kota but in the end Miku got Seiji and saved him.
List of episodes
- The Right-Hand Girlfriend
- Two People's Feelings
- The Day of Discoveries
- Discovery of the Secret!?
- The Power of Love
- Shiori's Love-Love Battle!
- First Date
- Right-hand Seiji
- Takki no Hibi
- Distance of the Hearts
- Fated Reunion
- Sudden Parting
- The Days of the Couple
Music
Sentimental
- Original Opening Song
- Lyrics : Rino
- Composition : Masaya Suzuki
- Performed by : CooRie
Mou Sukoshi... Mou Sukoshi...
- Original Ending Song
- Lyrics : Atsumi Saori
- Composition : Atsumi Saori
- Vocal : Atsumi Saori