Nazo no Kanojo X - 05 - Lost in Anime

Great anime romance comes in many different flavors, but none stranger than MGX.

I thought Nazo no Kanojo X was just slightly off its game last week. It was still a very good episode, but the first one that didn’t quite “wow” me. Well, not so this week as things were back in high gear all-around. In a way this might have been the most “normal” episode of the series thus far, but MGX actually does normal quite well when it sets about it. That’s what makes all the bizarre and gross stuff so effective – there are a few shows that are going the contrast route this season (Sankarea comes to mind) but in this series, rather than discordant the contrast seems quite natural and seamless.

Fundamentally I think the real genius of this show is giving us a genuinely innocent teen romance, featuring two inexperienced protagonists, and packaging it with some of the oddest fetishes (you can add sweat-licking to the list of bodily-fluid tasting) in anime. In a sense MGX is all about teens doing totally normal stuff in completely abnormal ways, and that makes for a fascinating viewing experience. And as we’re getting to know these characters, I’m learning a couple of things about them that stand out in my mind.

First revelation: Tsubaki seems totally normal, but is actually weirder than he lets on. And Urabe seems unbelievably (insert adverb of your choice) weird to say the least, but she’s actually a lot more normal than you think. I feel as if the mangaka is slowly peeling the layers away from each of them, showing us something quirky about Tsubaki and something refreshingly ordinary about Urabe every week. And this has the impact of making them more interesting and more sympathetic characters. Let’s be honest – it was Tsubaki who started this crazy train in the first place by tasting Urabe’s drool. How many guys would do that?

Urabe’s normalcy is showing itself in many ways, like her obvious penchant for speed (she runs fast, she bikes fast, she swims fast). And this ties into the other revelation, which is that when push comes to shove, I don’t think Urabe really understands the impact her physicality has on Tsubaki. Sure, she’s a high schooler and she knows Tsubaki thinks she’s hot – neither she or I are that naïve. But despite the air of control she projects, seeming to be the directive one in the relationship, I think she’s genuinely surprised to find Tsubaki staring at her when she wears a bikini, or by the strength of his desire for more closeness between them. She understands that her physicality has a power, but she doesn’t really understand the power itself – how it works, and the extent of the way Tsubaki is buffeted by it. That’s where the innocence in their relationship comes from, and why it feels so genuine.

Of course all this ties into the notion that the symbolism of the drool is the power that girls have over boys, and how it’s a natural and sometimes wonderful thing but also causes problems between couples, as well as a manifestation of how a girl’s emotions are a tangible force in a boy’s life. And it seems that Urabe is learning how this power works, slowly, and she’s quite deliberately keeping Tsuabki on a limited diet. She understands that Tsubaki’s desires are perfectly natural, but also the dangers to their relationship if she lets him in on all her secrets. It’s a kind of dance these two are engaged in, superficially weird but actually not so much as you’d think.

There’s certainly no doubt that Urabe is as beautiful as she is strange, and it’s no wonder that Tsubaki is as obsessed with her as he is. I’ve never seen any fanservice quite like the panty-scissor tan lines, but I’m with Tsubaki on this one – tanned Urabe and panty-scissor tan lines are nosebleed city. It might be significant that the tables were turned this week, and Urabe got a taste (literally and figuratively) of exactly what Tsubaki feels when his ardor for her is inspired. I think her surprise when her nose bled was quite genuine – like I said, she knows he’s attracted to her – but knowing it a actually feeling what he feels are very different things. Perhaps this bit of fancifully realized empathy (if only it were so easy in real life to understand our partner’s feelings) will giver her some added sensitivity when it comes to their relationship, and Tsubaki’s needs.

One last thing I want to comment on, and that’s the music. It’s obviously excellent but what stands out to me is the sheer variety – it seems that every episode brings at least a couple of new BGM tracks – and how perfectly it fits the mood of the scene. There’s quite a bit of BGM here as opposed to some anime, and that can be intrusive if not done well – but it’s done well here, and veteran Hasegawa Tomoki has certainly earned his paycheck with this soundtrack. The overall sound is retro – as befits the look of the series – but Hasegawa uses a wide range of musical styles to match the mood of the moment. Usually when I notice BGM it’s not a good thing, but here, it just adds to the experience.

14 comments

piratedan

May 6, 2012 at 7:23 am

maybe this one was so sneaky because it involved most of the elements of traditional romance anime. As usual it was a lot more frank about it in regards to guys and the feminine form. Loved the skirt/wrap with the usual nod to the bad cat merchandizing and Urabe's tanned look. We finally get a bit more personal info but its left tantalizingly unexplained. I do enjoy how the answers to the questions simply invoke more questions (just like in real life!)

so far, so good and ty again Enzo for covering this series…..

elianthos

May 6, 2012 at 12:02 pm

That tan line! Even I find it hot, tissue please.
Good analysis of the themes as usual. And good observation in reminding us that Tsubaki was the one starting it all.
I don't really find the sweat licking odd, be it anime or otherwise in the end is the most 'harmless' amongst bodily fluids along with saliva… while it still fulfills the passional urge to eat&taste your partner without actually hurting him/her. I can recall one of the most passionate movie scenes I've watched involved this… it was in Don't Look Now http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995/ .
( I'm grossed out by the 'vampire kiss' seen as a romantic desirable thing instead… your blood being sucked out ? I can get behind the deflowering metaphor and 'wild' approach and some people like a bit – or a lot – of pain with their pleasure, but with vampires is like being romanced by a giant mosquito. Do not want XD. It doesn't help that me and mosquitos are perpetually at war with each other either).
Back on track with 'harmless' bodily fluids. Maybe reading this http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=663 – ignore the synopsis, it's misleading to the max – and some other Yoshihara titles (Darling Wa and Itadakimasu are works by her I'd recommend if you fall in love with her style and wish to go further XD. Some of her recent stuff instead is subpar, avoid anything post Butterflies Flowers ) has just helped me being pretty comfortable with this saliva & sweat idea and… else :p.

admin

May 6, 2012 at 4:03 pm

I certainly find sweat-licking less gross-out than the drool drinking, that's for sure.

elianthos

May 6, 2012 at 7:34 pm

If she were handing him a glass of her own sweat it would feel as odd as her saliva diet though, wouldn't it?
Exchanging saliva through a kiss is a perfectly normal thing after all, yet what Yuki did made the viewers uneasy about the act itself (desk surfaces in public places being very much the realm of germs festival notwithstanding). That unexpected fluid all alone, once warm inside her a known and dear person, now cold and glinting in the sunset XD…
Urabe's method sort of disembodies something that's so intimately connected with the body. It reaffirmes yet negates intimacy. Familiar yet alien. It's a clever way to convey the… ambivalence of love and things at large I think.
Well, see you next week on these drolicious shores. And I hope this comment of time won't cause you to sweat. Much.

admin

May 7, 2012 at 2:12 am

Ah, but I said sweat-licking, didn't I? And he wouldn't be licking her sweat if she saved it in a glass!

elianthos

May 7, 2012 at 8:35 am

And that's why I shouldn't comment in a foreign language at 2 a.m. ever. Sorry. I totally misread those as sweat-drinking and drool-licking *facepalm*
But the rest of the post still makes sense… I hope. Doesn't it? *makes puppy Apo eyes*

elianthos

May 6, 2012 at 7:36 pm

*argh, Tsubaki, not Yuki.

dv

May 7, 2012 at 4:22 am

Testing Chrome

Chrome works!!

Anonymous

May 7, 2012 at 1:20 pm

What's the reason for the stuck in time? Author out of ideas or author giving up

admin

May 7, 2012 at 11:24 pm

I've removed several comments with manga spoilers. Please be considerate – those of us who have not read it yet don't want to know what happens in the manga. General or specific, spoilers are spoilers. I'd hate to have people think they needed to avoid the comments here because they're not safe for new viewers.

Beckett

May 9, 2012 at 6:15 am

I am perpetually on the fence with this show. On the one hand, I like a good romance anime. On the other hand, I find all of these fetishes in the show to be borderline creepy. I keep picturing an old creeper, going "Hey little girl, I want to taste your sweat." And what the hell, Oka? Admiring Urabe's armpits of all things? What the hell. All I can say about this is what the hell. I've done my fair share of fetishizing various portions of the female anatomy but it honestly never occurred to me that the armpits were a viable choice there.

admin

May 9, 2012 at 6:31 am

This stuff is a bit icky, no doubt, but I've come to accept it as servant to a larger purpose – and I'm definitely not on the fence, myself. I'm fully on-board.

Beckett

May 9, 2012 at 6:47 am

Well I keep watching it episode after episode, so take my criticism for what it's worth. I think the thing that really drives it over the edge for me is the way they anime it, her saliva doesn't look like normal saliva, instead it looks like some kind of thick, disgusting slime. If not for that this would be a lot more tolerable to me I think.

Beckett

May 9, 2012 at 6:47 am

Animate it. That should say animate it, not anime it. This is what happens when I type fast and don't proofread.

Nazo no Kanojo X – 05

Guardian Enzo

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Lost in Anime

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