Mysterious Girlfriend X

Mysterious Girlfriend X
謎の彼女X (Nazo no Kanojo X)
Genre	Romantic comedy, School story, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Manga
Written by	Riichi Ueshiba
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Afternoon
Original run	2006 – ongoing
Volumes	7
TV anime
Directed by	Ayumu Watanabe
Written by	Deko Akao
Studio	Hoods Entertainment
Original run	April 2012 – ongoing

Mysterious Girlfriend X (謎の彼女X, Nazo no Kanojo X) is an ongoing Japanese manga written and illustrated by Riichi Ueshiba. The series has been confirmed for an anime in Kodansha's February release of Afternoon.

Plot

The series follows the relationship of Akira Tsubaki and Mikoto Urabe. Urabe is a transfer student who recently came to Tsubaki's school. After a series of strange events, Tsubaki finds himself addicted to Urabe's drool. Once she claims the addiction as love sickness, the relationship slowly progresses, focusing on the odd bond that comes out of the drool attachment...

Characters

Akira Tsubaki (椿明, Tsubaki Akira)

Voiced by: Miyu Irino

The main male protagonist, Tsubaki is an average boy by most standards. He lives with his sister and his father. His mother having since passed away, his sister fills the motherly role instead. When Urabe transfers into his class, he is initially intrigued by her, particularly after one outburst of her hysterically laughing. After school one day, he wakes Urabe up from her desk, only to find a puddle of drool left behind. Absent-mindedly, he takes some on his finger and tastes it. Shortly afterwards, he falls ill. When Urabe visits him, she claims that he is suffering from love-sickness, which he most likely got from tasting her drool. From there, the relationship begins, and Tsubaki quickly asks Urabe to be his girlfriend. Although she accepts, he continually feels that there is too much distance between them. Although they rarely have any physical contact, the two begin a ritual where Tsubaki tastes a bit of Urabe's drool each day. The drool can transmit feelings, among other things, between the two of them.

Tsubaki is not very aggressive in his pursuit of furthering his relationship with Urabe, slightly due to his fear of Urabe's scissors. He constantly compares his relationship to Ueno's and Oka's, and will occasionally try to emulate them. He develops a taste for girls who look like Urabe, as evidenced by his collection of Urabe look-alike Japanese idol Momoka Imai's photos.

Mikoto Urabe (卜部美琴, Urabe Mikoto)

Voiced by: Ayako Yoshitani

Urabe is the titular Mysterious Girlfriend of this series. Very little is known about her, as Tsubaki's occasional visits to her apartments have never shown her parents to be around. She initially transfers to Tsubaki's school and gives off an unsocial air, refusing to eat lunch with her classmates in order to sleep. One day, she breaks out in hysterical laughter during class, falling to the ground. When later telling Tsubaki about it, she reveals to him that she heard a voice saying that he would be her very first intimate partner.

Urabe is very knowledgeable about the bond of drool that she and Tsubaki share. She displays her feeling through her drool, as her face is generally hidden behind her bangs. She has been shown to see Tsubaki's dreams through his drool, as well as use her own drool to cause him to have certain dreams. As the series progresses, she makes friends with Ayuko Oka, who also happens to share a drool bond with Urabe. Although she generally keeps quiet about her private life, she has been shown to be very sincere to her boyfriend, Tsubaki.

Among her many other quirks, Urabe is notable for her skill with scissors. The scissors, which she keeps tucked in her underwear, can be used to dextrously cut objects at high speed, like making a nearby hedge resemble Tsubaki. The scissors are used as threats, displays of anger, and as a defensive measure. This is but one of the factors that keeps Tsubaki from being more forward and aggressive with their relationship, although he seems to be generally fine with following Urabe's pace.

Ayuko Oka (丘歩子, Oka Ayuko)

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi

Oka is Ueno's girlfriend and Urabe's eventual friend. She was first introduced when Tsubaki walked in on her and Ueno kissing and a classroom. She is rather short, which she seems to enjoy on occasion. After she sees the drool-tasting ritual between Tsubaki and Urabe, she befriends Urabe, and it's revealed that they share a drool bond as well. Oka is portrayed as slightly lecherous, given by her positive reaction to peeking down Urabe's blouse. She views her relationship with Ueno almost as a competition with Urabe and Tsubaki.

Kouhei Ueno (上野康平, Ueno Kouhei)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

Ueno is Tsubaki's friend and Oka's boyfriend. When Tsubaki first walked in on him and Oka kissing, Ueno asked him to keep their relationship a secret, as he is rather shy about it. Ueno is shown to be very jealous of Oka, and doesn't like the idea of taking her to the beach.

External Links

• Mysterious Girlfriend X (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia