Ranked #461

Midori no Hibi (Manga)

I have to admit to having a soft spot for good romantic comedies, in particular those that try to be creative in their approach (as opposed to the standard boy-meets-girl affairs that are rife in manga and anime), and in this sense, Midori no Hibi hit almost all the right notes for me.

Midori no Hibi (or Midori Days), is the most well known work of Inoue Kazurou, who is also responsible for Ai Kora and Aoi Destruction. He trained under Fujita Kazuhiro (Ushio and Tora, Karakuri Circus, etc), after winning the 40th Rookie Comic Awards, and the influence of Fujita is readily apparent in Inoue's work's so far.

The story is about 17 year old Sawamura Seiji, the strongest high school delinquent in the area, and his seemingly endless quest to find a girlfriend. Because of his notorious reputation, and his fearsome "Devil's Right Hand", the girls he meets tend to be afraid of him, and because of this, he longs to meet a girl who won't be afraid of him. In short, he's much maligned and misunderstood, and thus, rather lonely.

This seems like a pretty run-of-the-mill set up for a romantic series, but Inoue added a twist in Midori no Hibi. Sawamura does have a girl who's liked him for a long time, although he doesn't know it as she has always been too shy to talk to him. This girl is Kasugano Midori, and it's the meeting of the two which is where the twist in the story is. Seiji, for one reason or another (it's never really explained), awakens one morning to find that his infamous "Devil's Right Hand" has been replaced by a miniature version of Midori, the girl who has secretly been in love with him. Where his wrist ends, her waist begins.

I have to admit that I like the idea of Midori no Hibi as it seems like Inoue suddenly thought "What if your right hand really was you girlfriend - and was actually a girl as well?" It's a simple concept, but it's a great premise for some hilarious gags from basic toilet usage to house cleaning and making food.

The artwork in the manga isn't anything to really write home about. There's some great parody images of delinquents scattered throughout the series, but on the whole the series is drawn in a very simple, and somewhat basic, manner. What gives the series part of it's charm though, is the fact that Inoue has tried to alter the specific stereotypes of some of the characters, something that more mangaka should try (something which he continued in Aoi Destruction).

Characters are a plus for Midori no Hibi, as they're almost overblown enough to be satirical. Seiji is a good lead character, and it was nice to see how his character changed through the course of the manga. Likewise, Midori also changed during the course of the series, but not to the same extent as Seiji. None of the other characters received the same amount of development as Seiji either, but the series doesn't really suffer from this as each of the characters do develop in some way.

Inoue isn't afraid to play with his characters either, and because of this, the series is a lot more fun to read than most. Part of the appeal of the characters stems from Inoue's ability to alter stereotypes, and more importantly, switch gender roles. This becomes more and more apparent as the series progresses, and actually improves the story on the whole.

I enjoyed Midori no Hibi as it was fun to read, and didn't really require me to engage in any deep thought about the story. The only real question I had at the end of the series wasregarding how Midori ended up on the end of Seiji's arm in the first place.

This is a nice series though, and it's enjoyable enough so one or two questions can be overlooked. There are some great characters in the manga, and some great jokes too. I would readily recommend this to any fan of romantic comedies, or anyone who likes to see old jokes done in unusual ways.

It's nice to see that there are mangakas out there who are willing to let their imagination run wild :) read more

If your a fan of romance comedies with a touch of drama you will love this one. This manga can leave you laughing in almost every chapter and near the end it can even make you cry. The artwork is fantastic, plot-line is great to. I loved this manga for its romance and because it wasn't serious the entire time nor was it way to comedic. But,you don't take my word for it, try it out yourself, you will surely agree(or at least love it).

STORY:
It's about a boy who everyone labels as a delinquent. What nobody knows is the fact that all he really wants is a girlfriend. He wakes up one day and gets exactly what he wants, except for some reason she's attached to his arm ?!

I have never heard of anything like this, so of course I had to give it a 9.
It's a very unique story.
I would say its much more of a comedy than anything, but i won't deny the fact that there's romance. It's just that there's something that will make you laugh in every chapter, so the comedy is always there.
The romance only pops up once in awhile, but the times that it does is what makes this story complete. The love in this story develops a little slow, so if you don't mind a bit of a wait you will not be disappointed at all ;D

It had closure, which is great because I think every story should have that at least. The reason why I only gave it a 9 was because it was too long.
There were quite a few chapters that weren't really necessary. They were hilarious of course, but they were also what made me feel like this story is mainly a comedy.


ART:
For this type of story it was good.
What stood out to me the most was Sawamura's "thug" face, and I believe the last girl version of Kouta ? lol


CHARACTER:
Out of everyone in Midori no Hibi, only four characters developed. Everyone else just stayed the same. I would have given it a lower score for this section, but the four characters that did develop changed a lot.


I enjoyed Midori no Hibi, and it's actually one of my favorites now.
Overall I think its something that everyone would enjoy reading.
The chapter I liked the most was the last because I loved how it ended.
I wont spoil it for you,
so you gotta go read it yourself ! :D

read more

Ah, Midori Days (or Midori no Hibi if you want to be authentic.) This manga was one of my favorites - As a matter of fact, it's one of the few that I bothered collecting every volume of.

Along with a very cute story, this manga is freakin' hilarious. There are quite a few bits of innuendo (but what manga doesn't have a little these days?) and there are quite a few references to other manga (there's a Demon's Spellbook from Konjiki no Gash Bell!!/Zatch Bell! in one of the chapters.)

Like a lot of teen manga these days, Midori has its share of nudity. Although Midori is tiny and had no chest to begin with, it's nothing that you should freak over. Breasts never killed anyone before (as far as I know.) Most of the nudity isn't detailed (no nipples, etc.) so it's nothing major, it's all in fun.

Wanna know how amazing this is? I knew a girl that thought manga was just for nerds and would never dream of touching a single thing related to it - When I told her about Midori, she was fascinated by the plot and wanted to borrow the first volume. It wasn't long before she was long past 1 and was reading 6 - It was her new guilty pleasure. If this manga can get someone into manga who never gave it a second thought, doesn't that say that you should try it too?

Midori Days can make you laugh, make you wipe a tear from your eye, and in my case, convert people to the manga side. I highly suggest it to anyone, manga lovers or just someone curious about it overall. read more

Una muy linda comedia romantica con adorables personajes. El echo de tener a una chica en tu mano derecha desata mil y unas especulaciones como por ejemplo: que pasaría cuando Seiji vas al baño a orinar? Esta y más ocurrencias se encuentran abordadas en este gracioso manga.

Pero no todo es comedia y también hay espacio para las relaciones amorosas entre los personajes. Rechazos, arreglos, partidas y un final bastante emotivo redondean una obra interesante.

La única contra que le veo es que a mi entender, el manga se extiende demasiado con varios capítulos que no aportan nada.

Recomendada para pasar un rato divertido y emocionarse un poco sobre el final.

Por cierto, me matan las caritas que pone Midori. read more