Overview

Okay, where to start? Superficially, Koko wa Greenwood tells the story
of a certain unlucky high school sophomore by the name of Hasukawa
Kazuya. Hasukawa is your basic normal kid: he runs on the track team,
gets okay grades and is an all-around decent guy. Hasukawa also has
extraordinarily bad luck, especially when it comes to women. He
develops a serious crush on his tutor, but she decides to marry his older
brother and move into their house! Unable to live under the same roof as
his first love (who is now his sister-in-law) Hasukawa decides to move
to a boarding school. Once there, he has to deal with all of the weird
people he lives with -- most of whom seem to enjoy making his life as
difficult as possible. He has a roommate who looks exactly like a girl,
and two sempai whose idea of fun is tricking him into doing inane things
and then taking bets on his performance. To top things off, his annoying
older brother happens to be the school nurse. . .

Twisted and bizarre. . .

Koko wa Greenwood is basically a slice-of-life comedy, dealing with
everyday problems like sibling rivalry, crushes, and familial obligation,
but there's always a weird element that makes each situation fresh and
interesting. For example, there's the rivalry between Shinobu-sempai and
his sister, the maniacal Nagisa (whose idea of payback involves
kidnapping and undressing Shinobu's friends and their family members);
unrequited love involving cute ghosts who just *won't* go away; and a
family business which requires cross-dressing. No wonder Software
Sculptors put a "Not Mainstream" label on their tapes!

Yet wholesome and heartwarming. . .

Yet, even though weird things happen all the time at Greenwood, they
don't detract from the underlying themes of friendship, love and loyalty to
family. (Okay, okay, except Shinobu's family, but he was raised by
wolves or something, so it's understandable.) You really come to care
about the feelings and fates of the characters. The story of Hasukawa's
second love is one of anime's all-time best romances.

Koko wa Greenwood is not an anime that grabs people's attention right
away. There's very little violence and no fan service to speak of (not
counting a brief shot of Mitsuru in his underwear -- pun intended). The
characters don't instantly inspire worship the way, say, Dilandau Albatou
or Allen Schezar do, but there's something undeniably compelling and
recognizable about hapless Hasukawa, genki Shun, unflappable Shinobu
and gorgeous Mitsuru. More than any other anime characters I've seen,
they feel like *real* people, whose lives extend beyond the confines of the
screen or the manga page. And, as in all good buddy-flicks, the synergy
between the four very different personalities is magical -- not to mention
funny as Hell.

Nasu Yukie did an amazing job of creating people and a world that are
utterly believable, no matter how odd, and her offbeat sense of humor and
her obvious affection for her creations imbues them with a humanity not
often seen in the shoot-'em-up world of anime. If you're longing for a
screwball comedy that doesn't insult your intelligence, and a drama that
doesn't stoop to being melodramatic schlock, come to the world of the
No-Brand heroes. Kimi no ai wo matte'ru ze.