Mysterious Girlfriend X

For me this has been a long time coming, or at least it's felt that way. Like a lot of people, I only began to read the MGX manga after watching the anime; I needed more of the very sweet and honest relationship I'd become obsessed with in the day it took me to marathon the series. I've never cried before while reading or watching anything until I read MGX. I have never been as emotionally invested as I have in a piece of media before. I picked it up at a weird time. The second (and final) major arc had just ended, allowing me to steamthrough this and the other arc without the mental and emotional anguish involved in waiting YEARS for plot points to conclude. Everything that occurs right up to the first major arc is basically perfect. We have the mysterious and fully three-dimensional girlfriend Mikoto Urabe's adventures with main protagonist Akira Tsubaki as they explore their unique relationship, subverting a lot of usual Japanese media tropes. Their relationship advances at a steady pace, confronting their feelings and dealing with them. This is aided by the special bond they share via drool. She licks her finger, he sucks it. It's a definite hurdle to get over for any reader, but after the first few chapters it's very much downplayed. They can use it to share feelings, a great communication tool as the two are generally unable to open up to each other. It's all very sweet, lovely and most of all it's honest. The only real mystery is a teenage boy trying to figure out the feelings and desires of his slightly odd teenage girlfriend. She's a human being with her own wants and needs and insecurities, and by the first third of the manga we begin to understand her just that little bit more. Then the first arc happens and a lot of her character and development is changed or just thrown out the window. A preposterous beginning that suspends all disbelief results in an ill-advised plot which changes the dynamic and nature of the relationship almost irreversibly. It took a long time for the manga to recover (it seems like the release of the anime kicked the author Riichi into gear), and even the return of the single chapter storys had changed in the process. The relationship felt more like a battle between the two than a shared experience, save for a few genuinely excellent chapters that captured the feel of the pre-arc series. Pushing through this down period is in some ways worth it though - having re-read the entire run so I could finish it properly, it seems like Riichi had been thinking about wrapping up the story for about two years before it ended. Switching from weird fetish of the week back to actual relationship development began to save it towards the end, with the last six months building up to a fairly monumental moment. Unfortunately, in a lot of ways the finale doesn't deliver. It seems a little rushed, especially after how much it seemed Riichi had been milking the series at one point. Perhaps there were outside forces beyond his control on the series' cancellation but at the very least he left it in a way that implied their relationship would go on past what the reader was aware of. It does leave a sense of lack of closure though, wistful and a bit sad, which aren't really the right emotions to have when leaving a wonderful romance story behind. I've given it a high score but I feel it's... difficult to recommend. First of all there's the whole drool aspect. It does take a bit of getting used to. If you manage to get past that hurdle, there's the problem that it's only up to chapter 36 that I truly recommend reading to. Unfortunately, by that point you'll probably have the urge to read more. The anime does a good job of taking the very best parts of these 36 chapters, changing a couple small things for the better and leaving out some of the less interesting plot points, so watching that may be a better idea, as it also has an 'ending' to stop at as well. Now I have to go and try and forget about this series so I can go back to living a normal life.

My god! I finally got a chance to sit down and read the final chapter of this wonderful manga. I was nearly in tears as I read this I could not believe this was the end. It a nice conclusion to this but I want more, I guess I really fell in love with the characters especially Tsubaki and Urabe. The artwork was great I enjoyed how wonderfully drawn they were the color pages from time time were color just right. I really immersed myself in the story every chapter I was left wanting more and got it in the next. This was the firstromance manga I have ever read and was blown off my feet by I dont think I could commit to another one. I was hoping that we could see them leave high school and leave it from that but hey Its still great!

A few years ago I discovered a small anime titled Mysterious Girlfriend X which apparently wasn't received that well according to MAL. However, despite its low rating, I ended up loving nearly the entirety of its short run. Like most animes that only get 1 or 2 seasons, Mysterious Girlfriend X suffered from never getting an ending due to the manga not being finished at the time of its premiere and because Studio Hoods still hasn't bothered making a second season. Out of interest, I of course read the manga and unsurprisingly still loved it despite some of its flaws. Story: 8 Mysterious Girlfriend X hasone 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.

(First time so deal with it) I really liked this one... Plot: 9/10 When you think about it, the plot has nothing crazy and thats why I like it. Its interesting, well written and overall good. Its unique enough and just has quality. It knows what its doing and when a plot just knows what it is its a good plot in my book. Characters: 10/10 I am gonna keep it real. I liked the characters and they were good but that was kinda where it ended. They are not too complex or anything when you look at it. So why did I gave them a 10? Because I lovethem. Thats it. Art: 9/10 I really liked the art. And thats it. I just liked it. I think it had a good style and everything was clear enough for reader to understand what they are looking at. So why did I gave this a 9/10? Because it ended. I don't know the reason but I kinda believe it was either mangaka wanted it to end or it wasn't famous enough. Which I kinda half remember seeing someone tell that it ended early because it wasn't popular. Yet I still like the ending so its a win I guess....