Tsubaki Akira is in every way, your typical high-school boy. He's inexperienced, and awkward as hell, but he's also a nice average guy, with nice, average friends, and living a nice, average high-schooler's life.
Until that is, the day a new transfer student arrives in his class and turns his existence upside-down.
Urabe Mikoto is that transfer student, and her unorthodox appearance, and curt demeanor immediately set her apart from the rest of the class, a distance which only widens when she displays some of her quirky behaviors, such as sleeping at her desk through lunch, and laughing uproariously, seemingly at nothing during class.
And yet Tsubaki can't help but find her fascinating...
It's not too long after Urabe's arrival that the weird amps up and we're introduced to the concept on which the series is based, and the one that makes this series a little squirmy for a lot of people.
Yes, it's drool.
One day after class, Tsubaki realizes he's left something in class and, upon returning to pick it up, he finds Urabe still sleeping at her desk long after everyone else has gone home for the day.
Tsubaki can't help but notice the puddle of drool Urabe is lying in, and waking her up, sends her on her way, but then finds himself transfixed by the glistening pool of saliva she's left behind and...
tastes it.
This is probably the point where a lot of people make their decision on Mysterious Girlfriend X and choose either to move on to another show, or stick tight to see where this could possibly be heading. Those who choose the former are really doing themselves a disservice, because if you can get over the whole "ick" factor, what takes place from that point on is actually something pretty unique and special in the realm of anime rom-com.
Two weeks pass after the "drool episode" and life settles back into the familiar routine of teenage life. Tsubaki finds himself even more fascinated by the mysterious Urabe, but being your typical awkward high-schooler, nothing comes of it until one day he's mysteriously stricken with a fever and passes out during gym class. Several days pass and Tsubaki's condition continues to worsen, forcing him to miss classes and remain in bed suffering from all the symptoms of a terrible cold and fever.
But Urabe knows differently, and showing up at his home one afternoon, explains that what he's suffering from isn't a cold at all, but in fact is withdrawal. She's correctly deduced that on the day Tsubaki found her sleeping in class in a puddle of drool, he must have tasted it after she left, and, after two weeks without tasting it again, has developed a serious case of "love sickness".
Tsubaki tries to deny of course, but ultimately admits to his actions at which point Urabe calmly announces that his illness can be cured, and all he needs is another taste of her drool. Tsubaki freaks of course, but eventually relents, allowing Urabe to insert her drool covered finger into his mouth.
And sure enough, he's immediately cured.
This begins their ongoing relationship, and henceforth they meet on a daily basis after school and perform the daily ritual of Urabe providing Tsubaki with a drool covered finger to suck on in order to maintain his equilibrium.
Time passes and we see more of Urabe's eccentricities, such as her "panty-scissors" and uncanny skill with them. We're also introduced to some of the supporting cast that make the series so much fun, in the form of Tsubaki's best friend, Ueno Kouhei and his adorable, yet quirky girlfriend, Oka Ayuko.
Mysterious Girlfriend X is unusual in many ways. The character design is a bit of a throwback to decades past, being nowhere near as pretty as many current series such as Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai or Chuunibyou, but the characters and scenery are definitely attractive.
There's the whole "drool" factor of course, and the implied theme of dependence that comes with Tsubaki's withdrawal pains in the first episode.
But what I found the most unusual and seemingly contradictory was the comparatively high level of fanservice. Mysterious Girlfriend X is in so many ways a sweet and innocent story of first love, and the fanservice seemed almost diametrically opposed to that sweetness.
Yet somehow it worked.
There's no denying there's a lot of panty-shots (how could you have "Panty-scissors" be a recurring and important story element without them?), boob shots ( still can't figure out how anime high-school girls can look like skinny 14 year olds in their uniforms, and Playboy center-folds in a bathing suit! lol!), and more sexual allusion and innuendo than you can shake a stick at, yet it never felt gratuitous like it did in Haganai.
With very few exceptions, the fanservice was integral to the story-line and made sense being there, and let's face it, what 17 year old highschool boy isn't obsessed with sex?
For all the fanservice and innuendo, Girlfriend was never leering or lecherous.
Yeah, there's plenty there for those who appreciate fanservice, but really, this anime was incredibly sweet and endearing, and to be honest, gave a pretty accurate portrayal of just how awkward and inept most of us were at that age.
So all in all, I'd highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a sweet and innocent love story. Honestly, people might think I'm nuts comparing it to Clannad, but despite it's brevity (a mere 13 episodes) and admittedly racier aspects, this is still a wonderfully funny and innocent tale of two awkward teenagers falling in love and working through the issues that come with discovering and dealing with some pretty overwhelming new emotions, so man-up and deal with the drool.
You'll be glad you did! :)
