I finished watching the thirteen episode Nazo no Kanojo X anime today (Mysterious Girlfriend X on Crunchyroll) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, the series ended up being a great deal more interesting than I had initially anticipated. It first caught my attention in the new season lineups before CR announced their streaming, at which time I found it notable for its artwork. The characters are ...
I finished watching the thirteen episode Nazo no Kanojo X anime today (Mysterious Girlfriend X on Crunchyroll) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, the series ended up being a great deal more interesting than I had initially anticipated. It first caught my attention in the new season lineups before CR announced their streaming, at which time I found it notable for its artwork. The characters are drawn to look just a little bit 90s, with a slightly shorter appearance due to a larger head-to-body ratio and beautifully highlighted hair. In addition, there is the really nice heavy pencil shading (reminiscent of the eye shading in Madoka Magica) which makes the series look quite a bit different from the rest of the shows of the season.
I watched the first episode and was immediately caught off guard by the drool-heavy action (for the none of you reading this who have not heard, the series focuses on saliva exchange); in fact it seemed to me at the time that not only was it making me uncomfortable, it was actively pushing me out of its niche audience. I decided to persevere and found myself three episodes in a few weeks later, when I finally decided that I was enjoying the show.
Why drool? Was it just a fetishistic thing? A creepy element for an otherwise unremarkable drama? No, it was more than that. For me, the focus on drool made me unable to look away: first I was disturbed, then furtively interested, and finally just comfortable with it. At some point the drool became a legitimate means of communication for Urabe and Tsubaki instead of a fetish object.
The reason for this is precisely because it makes the viewer uncomfortably aware of the physicality of their interaction, the very thing that Tsubaki and Urabe struggle with through the whole thirteen episode series. Tsubaki wants very much to understand what Urabe is thinking even as he is desperate to hold her; Urabe has these same desires and is herself always using drool to figure out what Tsubaki is feeling. Drool becomes a brilliantly uncomfortable means of communication and affection, electrifying Tsubaki and Urabe even as it allows each to better understand the other.
I’ve had my own doki doki high school romance, so I know precisely what it feels like to be stupidly attracted to someone, manage to date them, and yet feel every day that you know nothing of what they are thinking. Tsubaki’s relationship with Urabe struck me so forcibly as honest and emotional that I was captivated. It was like opening a little window into my own emotional memory.
Each time Tsubaki looks at Urabe, he is wondering what she wants. Urabe is mysterious to him, but is herself very much physically attracted to Tsubaki. By restricting much of their interaction to drool, the audience is both spared unnecessary dialogue and held at one remove: we see Urabe and Tsubaki blush, but their blushing is something private, between each other. It’s an unexpectedly touching way to handle their awkward high school courtship, one that gets across something of the silence and halting speech that characterizes the early stages of a successful relationship.
I loved every one of the thirteen episodes of Nazo no Kanojo X. I love the characters, the scissors, the pantsu, the drool, and the tortured expression of Tsubaki’s face as he struggles to understand the girl he likes. It’s a great series. I can’t wait to watch it again!
>> crossposted from my blog at
http://www.yeshallbeasgods.net/2fuyu/
