Nazo no Kanojo X

Mysterious Girlfriend X is weird; there's no denying that. It's known less by its title and more by the moniker of "The Spit Fetish Anime." It's an anime I absolutely cannot recommend to anyone.

But I'm going to try anyways.

For a moment, let's put a pin in the spit stuff, because it's actually a relatively small part of the anime when you look at the bigger picture. What Mysterious Girlfriend X really is is a rather honest and true-to-life depiction of coming-of-age and growing into your own sexuality with your equally interested peers who are undergoing all of the same discovery that you are.

If ... anyone is interested in this show but is reserved because of the drool in the room, I recommend you watch the OP, because *that* is what can give you an accurate impression of the show's overall vibe, not word of mouth. Despite being about a strange weirdo girl, the romantic montage depicted in the OP is incredibly sweet, and that's also what the show is. Despite how she puts off her classmates, our main character so honestly and genuinely likes her, and that's not only refreshing but extremely charming for a romance anime.

A lot anime set in high school is only set there by happenstance and the characters could be aged up without consequence. Something I like about Mysterious Girlfriend X is that that's not the case. MGX is a coming-of-age show in the truest sense of the word, and despite centering an absolute freak (supernatural) of a girl who has something supernatural about her, it's an incredibly realistic depiction of what it means to discover relationships and sexuality in your hormonal teenage years. Even better, it's about discovering your sexuality in a safe, sane, and consensual environment with someone who likes you back. The male characters in this show are nothing short of horny, but it is specifically in regards to the girls they are in committed relationships with who they want to experiment and go further with, because this is new to all of them.

For such a bizarre, gross concept, its one of the most realistic teen romances I have ever seen.

The presentation is also great. The art style is extremely charming and unique, and the soundtrack is different from most romance anime to fit the supernatural, sometimes spooky vibes. Also, I watched it in English, and though it does do that weird early 2010s dub thing of leaving in some honorifics, it's a very well dubbed show. I'm not the biggest an of Greg Ayres and Brittany Karbowski, but they did a really great job here as the supporting couple and friends of the leads, who have a fun little relationship in their own right, being the more experienced couple our leads can fall back on. Karbowski's character was actually my favorite; what a silly bisexual freak (kinky) of a girl. And though I had never heard Urabe's voice actress before this, I too was impressed by her work. Though, the real winner of the dub is JJ Grelle as the lead, who delivered their lines in an incredibly natural way that really made the lead a charming and likable guy.

"But what about the spit stuff???" I hear you cry. Yes, what *about* the spit stuff?

Well...it's certainly...spit stuff. I.E: it's gross and weird. However, I cannot imagine MGX without it. You'll just have to take my word on this one, and I know it's a big ask, but it really does add a compelling driving for to the show, and it bizarrely fits right in with the coming-of-age and sexuality discovery. It's freaky. It's supernatural. It's about psychic powers and soul bonds. It's a disgusting bodily fluid. It's *weird,* I know, but you have to at least hear me out when I say MGX makes it work. Somehow, these scenes of swapping spit in a certifiably unsexy way are some of the most heartfelt I have ever seen. I mean, what encompasses discovering your sexuality more than sharing your emotions through bodily fluids?

Mysterious Girlfriend X isn't good in spite of the spit stuff. No, it's good *because* of the spit stuff (at least in part). And I know that I will not be able to sell this to most people, but I implore you to at least think about this show with an open mind.

It's not perfect. It occasionally falls into tired romance cliches, the male lead is still rather generic, and it's certainly a hard sell, but it's also one of the most creative, realistic, and refreshing romance anime I have ever seen, and even more than that, it is elevated by its bizarre premise.

Mysterious Girlfriend X - what an odd show. A very strange series which clearly appeals to people with spit kinks. That's the main story - the main couple are bonded via drool.

Story 6/10 - Typical romance story for the most part to be honest, awkward, slow-burn couple with a huge twist - the pair share their drool, this show is full of rather "unique" scenes for lack of a better word in which the only things I have to say are - that was gross. That aside, it's got your typical romance drama along with it and several points in the relationship that seem a ... tad bit rocky.

Characters 7/10 - Honestly the characters are pretty good, the main guy however is a bit of your average moron in love and doesn't seem to quite grasp what should clearly be seen as a ***DON'T DO*** in a relationship. Otherwise the main girl is fine (again, overlooking the drool fest) and the side characters are pretty decent.

OST 5/10 - To be honest there really isn't anything that jumped out at me in this soundtrack, the ending and opening were alright at best, but certainly not playlist worthy. The rest of the audio/bgm was fine and sets the mood it tries to create relatively well.

Final Thoughts - It's an okay romance to try out if you're either into being grossed out, or you're bored and merely felt like trying out a show. Again the spit fetish heavily downplays the variety of people to which one could recommend this too.

TL;DR: The anime is weird and not in a good way. If focuses far too heavily on a saliva based kink (which involves 0 kissing) and if you aren't interested in that kink it can be hard to watch. The story and characters themselves seem interesting enough however if you aren't interested in the kink I would recommend just staying clear of it because the anime traps you in to thinking there is growth but there never comes any.

So let's get in to it, I stumbled upon this anime through the random function of a site and the first episode is fairly interesting and leads ... you wondering what exactly is going on. At some point we see the fetish rear its ugly head as the main character who's alone at school decides to lick the drool of a fellow classmates desk.

This show then takes a weird turn as the female classmate knows he licked her drool because he's sick, and the reason he's been sick? Because he's in love and hasn't tasted her spit in 2 weeks. Wait, what? So this must have some type of mythical aspects to it, interesting. Each others spit also allows each other to feel/see each others memories, dreams, feelings. She then starts swapping spit with another female in their class. When they first swap spit the female gains the same injuries of the other. Very mysterious indeed.... the problem is that the anime never actually elaborates on this, everyone else is normal, there is nothing mysterious at all going on other some very weird things that are never explained and have no reason to be in the anime other than just being there.

The main character in this anime ends up just being very creepy; he essentially stalked his middle school crush, he saves her hair, he licked drool off of a desk, and essentially se*ually assaults his girlfriend. He's controlling and jealous and doesn't actually show any real redeeming qualities.

On the other side his girlfriend also makes no sense. She doesnt allow him to touch her; no hand holding, hugging, kissing, hand around shoulders, etc... but she openly allows him to grab her breast in an episode no big deal. Early on she tells him she had a dream about how they will have sex and they start dating, but soon after they start dating a guy in their class asks her out and they start swapping spit, no big deal.

In general, the entire show is a complete mess that makes absolutely no sense and even though the anime could have been good, the amount of spit swapping and talking of drool largely holds back this anime for anyone who doesn't have this fetish, the ridiculous situations that aren't explained at all, and the fact there's essentially no character growth hold this back from being good.