Story: 8
Mysterious Girlfriend X has one of the weirdest plots I've ever seen. High school student Tsubaki tastes the drool of a weird transfer student named Urabe and ends up getting love sick of it. Because of this, Urabe and Tsubaki start dating and every day Tsubaki must taste her drool after school in order from not getting sick anymore. Again, its such an odd yet unique plot that ends up working really damn well.
The series starts off strong and only managed to get better for the most part. There isn't THAT much of an overarching plot, and for the most part these are pretty much episodic chapters that resolve their plot by the end of a single chapter. Despite only having 2 10+ chapter long arcs, I actually did end up loving all of these chapters, and this is coming from someone who usually complains about episodic and non arching plots. The reason for this is probably because every chapter is just really well written. The author somehow manages to take a tiny simple concept and turn it into an interesting 25 page long chapter. Something as simple as Urabe making curry, seeing the fireworks on the school rooftop, and having a mole on your body all turn out to be enjoyable chapters to read.
Although I've been praising it up until now I would like to point out 2 of its flaws. After the Idol Arc, the series steps back for about 10 chapters and goes back to its usual episodic based chapters. Chapters 62-70 is the Mysterious Movie Production Arc but is sadly the second and last major arc in the series. For the remaining 20 or so chapters, it's pretty much just the usual formula. Again, I do love these chapters and all, but I do feel as though the series suffered due to not having a third major arc. This also brings me to my second complaint: the ending. The last 2 chapters are titled, "Mysterious Sunset" and while they are still great chapters, they don't feel like an ending to the series. It just feels like a more satisfying chapter ending if anything. The ending definitely doesn't ruin the series for me, but I was disappointed with it. It's unclear whether or not the author decided to abruptly end the series or if it was cancelled. However the author, Riichi Ueshiba, did write about 20 chapters with not much of a plot progression so the likelihood of it getting cancelled is possible and understandable. Even if this was the case, the ending is still not satisfying, and without spoilers, there was just one change he could have made which would have made the ending be meh to bittersweet.
Art: 8
I really like the look of the manga. Like with most manga, the first few chapters don't like as good as the coming ones but still they're well drawn, nicely detailed, and pleasing to the eye. The style has a unique charm and that mostly comes from the character designs. I just enjoy the unique style of the eyes, hair, faces, etc. Where the art really shines would have to be in its expressions and single paged panels. I have to stop and enjoy some of these expressions longer than I expected to and some of these panels are just really interesting and impressive.
The only negative I have with the art would be in sudden drop in quality for a few chapters. This happened once the author switched form hand drawn to digital and it definitely showed for the first couple chapters around half through the series. The characters still looked good, but there were a lot of panels without backgrounds and this makes it harder to get emerged into the series. Luckily this was fixed so again this isn't really a big problem at all.
Characters: 9
The series' biggest strength would have to be its enjoyable cast of characters. Mikoto Urabe is by far best girl and continues to be in my top 20 favorite anime characters. She's so unique, interesting, and just fun to see interact with Tsubaki and the rest of the cast, although rare. Tsubaki isn't as great as Urabe, but he isn't a generic soulless character. Yes, he's a normal high school student but he's also perverted, has his own perks, and cares deeply for Urabe. There's a good amount of character development mostly with Urabe, but others such as Momoka and Suwano get their fair share of moments too. My only small complaint would be for Ueno and other side characters to get more time and development.
Enjoyment: 9
As mentioned, I love this series. I had a blast reading every chapter, and was hooked on the 2 big arcs. The manga is so fun and enjoyable to read, the chapters may not have flied by during my reading but I'm honestly happy about that. While only being 25 pages long, there's a perfect amount of time needed on a page and scene. None of the chapters dragged on and I was always left with a smile on my face after reading them.
Overall: 8
Mysterious Girlfriend X isn't for everyone. It may not be everyone's forte, maybe you find the story weird, the lack of over arching plot a nuisance, or something else entirely. But for me, I love it. I might be generous with my score but I can't help it. The ending might not be good and the story isn't perfect, but a lot of its upsides make up for it.
