Midori no Hibi ep.3

April 18, 2004 | 3 Comments

The writers chose to focus on Seiji and his childhood life for this particular episode. This is a good thing because I always think of Midori no Hibi as the story of both Seiji and Midori and not just either one of those two. So I'm glad that Seiji does not become a second fiddle to Midori unlike other anime male characters in this genre. Anyway, as expected, the anime ended up reshuffling some of the manga episodes while making them compact at the same time. This time, it's chapter/day 6 and 14 of the manga which are compressed into one single anime episode. I think at the end of the day, this works to the anime's advantage because chapter 6 on its own is too short to be made into an interesting half hour anime. Having said that, the changes obviously creates a few minor alterations in the anime but rest assured it's nothing that will upset the fans of the manga.

The episode starts with Midori cooking a Hamburger for Seiji. Seiji at first is reluctant to try it but after taking a bite of it, he admits that he likes Midori's cooking. Midori is obviously happy with the praise and starts to imagine things that she likes to do for/with Seiji. But her imagination is cut short because Seiji suddenly gets an unexpected visitor: his older sister, Rin. Seiji immediately panics and wonders how he can keep his secret from his older sister. Well, he doesn't have to wonder that long because Rin immediately suspect that there is a girl living in the house. However, her attention is soon focused on the envelope full of money which Seiji's just received. As the two struggle over the envelope, Rin manages to knock Seiji out with a few well-placed punches and proceeds to twist Seiji's right arm, revealing Midori.

After the obligatory screaming shot, Rin manages to calm herself down. She promises to keep Seiji's secret but never the less wonders what on Earth does Midori sees in Seiji. Midori, of course, honestly answers that she thinks Seiji is strong, dependable, and kind, much to Seiji's embarrassment. Not long after this, the three of them hear noises coming from outside the house. It turns out Rin's gang members have arrived to greet Rin. Rin thinks that they all should go to Onsen together and by 'they', Rin also meant Seiji and Midori. Despite his refusal, Seiji ends up getting taken into the Onsen to fix his 'condition'. Well, this is where the anime differs from the manga. In chapter 14 of the manga, Rin takes Seiji to an Onsen but the gang members don't come together with them. Seiji's encounter with Rin's gang member happens earlier in chapter 6 of the manga.

Anyway, once they arrived on the Onsen, poor Seiji ends up eating on his own with Midori in his small table while Rin and her drunken posse have their own small party. Midori tells Seiji that she thinks Seiji is lucky to have such a kind older sister and in fact, she envies him a bit because she's the only child in her family. Seiji, however, tells her not to be ridiculous because Rin often causes more problems for him than helps him. Well, these words end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy because after Rin got bored seeing her gang members doing silly tricks to entertain her, she decides to sprung the weirdness that are Seiji and Midori attached to one another. This, of course, freaks everyone out, especially Midori and Seiji. Thankfully, the stupid gang members think that Midori is only a doll, albeit one that looks quite real.

Because of this, Midori continues pretending to look like a doll. However, this causes the guys to start poking at her body, including her breast. Seiji is touched by Midori's attempt to hide their secret but at the same time he's also aware that Midori feels sad for being treated like a doll by those guys. Because of this, he proceeds to tell the gang members to get their hands off Midori because she's important to him, much to Midori's surprise. Of course, this doesn't sit well with the gang members and Seiji ends up getting into a brawl with the gang members while Rin sits in the corner, laughing at the chaos that she's just created. Anyway, after the fight is over, Seiji decides to retreat to the Onsen and here we get the 'body scrubbing' scene from chapter 14 of the manga. Anyway, I won't say more because it's funnier when you see it yourself.

Because this particular Onsen is a mixed gender type, the two is soon joined by Rin, much to Seiji's shock and embarrassment. Midori, however, thinks that this is a good opportunity to know about Seiji's childhood life. Unfortunately for Seiji, Rin is only happy to blab it all to Midori. We soon find out that Seiji hasn't always been the juvenile guy that he is now. In fact, when he was a kid, he's very quiet and always plays alone in the park. He was also the sort of kid who tries to avoid a conflict. Therefore, even though he often got bullied by the other kids, he never fought back and only smiles even though he clearly was sad. Rin, however, realised that this is not healthy for Seiji. She thinks that nothing will ever get solved if you always avoid conflict. Because of this, she ended up teaching Seiji how to defend himself and become a good fighter.

The training does wonder for Seiji. After one week, he ended up facing the kids who bullied him. Unfortunately for him, this time there were four of them, so he still couldn't beat all of them and ended up losing again. However, he never got pick on again ever since that day and he got better and better at fighting to the point that people actually fear him now. Having said that, even after he becomes stronger, Seiji never picks on the weak and Rin thinks that's a good quality to have. Midori agrees with Rin and says that if anything, this story makes her likes Seiji even more. Anyway, the next day, Seiji wakes up a bit late and finds out that everyone except him and Midori have left the Onsen. He ends up having to foot the bill for all of the damage and expenses that Rin's gang member has created.

Elsewhere, Rin is seen with the rest of the gang members as they drive their motorbike. Rin thinks that even if he encounters problems, Seiji should be okay now that he has Midori by his side. Meanwhile, Seiji finally returns to his house and as he takes a bath, he laments that going to the Onsen didn't change anything. Midori, however, disagrees and says that she changed because she gets to know the side of Seiji that she didn't know before. Seiji, who's embarrassed by Midori's praise decides to get out of the bad in a hurry and in the process, dropping the towel that covers his lower body. Midori immediately screams that is the part of Seiji that she doesn't want to know. Anyway, the episode ends as usual with Midori writing in her diary as Seiji drifts into his sleep.

All in all, this is another enjoyable episode in the series. I like the fact that the series does a good job of showing why Seiji likes to defend those who are weak. And it's simply because he was once one of those kids who get bullied by others. I think this is one quality that makes Seiji a much more sympathetic character in comparison to other characters with similar personality. Seiji's childhood sadness ends up making him a better person who wants to help other weak people. I like the fact that Rin and her gang are used well as a device to show Seiji's protective nature and his childhood story. Animation-wise, I didn't see anything outstanding in this episode especially since many static shots and cuts are employed to suggest movement/active situation in this episode. Having said that, I still enjoyed the episode immensely and the change of setting from Seiji's house to the Onsen was a pleasant one.

© memento 2003