Anime: Koko wa Green Wood

To be honest, I've never before ran into an anime, set in an all-boys high-school that didn't have yaoi-undertones. Do the anime-creators seem to think that in absence of females, the males will start to go after each other? Anyway, luckily this OVA from 1994 shows us another viewpoint on this setting, when it provides quite an interesting combination between comedy, drama, and in the later episodes, romance.

There's one reason to watch this: the characters. Each of them, even with the side-characters, has at least one quirk that makes him or her special. Some of them have also got a really interesting and sadistic sense of humour, which works perfectly with the main character, who I way too uptight and serious about everything. The first couple of episodes, which deal with the characters having fun and trying to tease each other turned out really well because of this. They also spend a bit of time fleshing out their characters for the romance-subplot that gets introduced in the final two episodes, which because of this didn't actually turn out as bad as I suspected. Romance is often tricky to do in anime, but Here is Greenwood showed a fine attempt at it, especially considering the time it has been given.

Still, the OVA has continuity errors. It's another one of these mangas that got animated, with the manga being larger than the time that was given to the animators. Ultimately, this OVA became a collection of the best stories of the manga. Apart from episode five and six, the stories of the different episodes just don't connect to each other. One particular case even has one of the characters claiming that a plot-hole was explained in volume X of the manga. While you could say that you just need to read the manga for this, I like my anime to be complete.

Also, you don't have to count too much on the aesthetics. The soundtrack consists of typical tunes from the early nineties. The character-designs also look a tad too much like each other, and most feel like they're all the same body with different eyes and hair-colors. This is especially noticeable when they start taking baths. One character also seems to switch randomly between long and short hair, without any explanation.

Overall, even though the graphics are mediocre, the sounds aren't anything special, the story isn't something to rave about and this OVA would have been better if it were longer, the characters are a delight to watch. While this OVA can't match the great anime out there, I definitely don't regret watching it.

What to say about Here is Greenwood? It is a charming little OVA series that has a nice feel to it but also one that suffers from being too short. It is a nice overview of what the manga has to offer (in fact it makes a point of that itself at a few places) but does not really offer anything deep for the time spent.

The artwork and animation are things of their time. Being made in the early 90s, it has character designs that are similar to Ranma 1/2, Kumagure Orange Road and Sailor Moon (without the strong fantasy aspect). These designs are not unappealing but do leave you with a sense of deja vu, especially since the occurences could take place in both Ranma 1/2 and Kumagure.
The background artwork is rather successful as sceneries are pleasing and eye catching when need be, and they do not clash with the character design. It looks like one of the well made Ranma episodes from early in the series.

Mentioning Ranma, one should also be aware that it does have another similarity to it - and that is the comedy. The practical joke that is played on the main character in the first episode, and the comedy about the strong androgyny of some characters are similar to what is found in Ranma. It is however within the drama that Here is Greenwood differenciates itself from Ranma. The original plot of Kazuya Hasukawa moving in to the school dorm to be away from his sister-in-law (who he is in love with) turns into a great little story about camaraderie and growing pains.

This is done through the characters, as many of them will show you different sides of humanity without resorting to too many cliches (but just enough to know where they are coming from). The sub story about Mitsuru and his sister was the funniest passage of the anime because the sibling rivalry, not matter how far fetched rang true in the sentiments that were depicted. Other characters like Shinobu and Shun are also well rounded, though not completely fleshed out. The intimacy between the main cast more then makes up for that as it feels like watching a group of teenage friends on the street.

The seiyuus do a great job in bringing the characters to life and although this is a Shoujo title, they do well in delivering their lines in the masculine style that fit their characters and extend their audience. The soundtrack of Here is Greenwood itself has some nice tunes and background music, though nothing that really stands out. The ending song is a pleasant nostalgic ballad which gave the series a great feel (especially since so much of a timeframe is covered within the 6 episodes).

This anime is throughly enjoyable, though probably not a favourite because of its length. For an OVA, it certainly delivers. See it if you are after fairly realistic character dynamics and drama, or after slightly black humour, or even if you just want a satire of other shows - as Here is Greenwood does that really well too!