In the long list of fansubs I’ve been exposing myself to lately, Green Green stands out as a remarkably unremarkable one. It has individual qualities that would make any other anime rather memorable. It has the reasonably stalwart male protagonist, a variety of unappealing male supporting cast (including the longhaired guy that thinks he’s God’s gift to the ladies, a truely pathetic compulsive masturbator, etc.), and a variety of female leads.

The execution is lacking something I just can’t indentify. I’ve read other reviews criticizing the animation quality, but for a television series it’s really rather good. The character designs, though a trifle heavy on the fanservice, are well-conceived. For each, the appearance matches the voiceacting which matches the general idiom of the character. The tough & cool girl looks appropriately iconoclastic without looking goofy, the Genki girl is appropriately bouncy, the Reserved girl is appropriately delicate, and so forth.

There is some intangible quality about how the characters come together with the premise of the first episode (quickly summarized: an all-boys school hosts a busload of students from an all-girls school in preparation for both schools eventually going co-ed). That intangible quality sucks the life out of an otherwise silly, fanservicey romp. After one episode, I’m giving this one a pessimistic C-. It has quite a ways to go to redeem itself for me.