Forum - View topicMysterious Girlfriend X (TV).
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Melanchthon
Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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First, this is relevant.
Second, a few thoughts. Drool. I hate the word drool. It's so inelegant. I read a study once, that took people unfamiliar with various languages and read them assorted words. Even without understanding the language, most people attributed negative connotations to negative words. In short, negative words just sound bad. Drool just sounds bad. The 'dr' sound has a harshness to it, and there are no good words with a double 'o' in them. The very sound has sort of a primal trait to it, a throwback to barbarianism. I would prefer the term 'saliva', because it sounds better, and I used to listen to a band called 'Saliva' in high school, until I lost the CD. (For any kids out there, a 'CD' is a shiny disc that people used to use to listen to music. You would put the disc into a large box called a 'CD player', that would then play back the music. You had to take care while moving, since the slightest shock to the CD player would cause the disc to skip several seconds of the song. And I've gone way too far afield.) Also, there is the bond. The best romance shows are the one that don't have an artificial bond between the characters. So why do so many shows have these then? Well, let us journey into the brain of the otaku. Your garden-variety otaku is completely lacking in self-confidence when it comes to the fairer sex. So characters based otaku have to have some sort of non-romantic bond that ties them together, so the romance can bloom. This is especially pronounced in incest and lolicon shows, where there bonds are family or dependence. This is very prevalent in male-oriented shows, as female romances tend to show more realistic romances. The former emphasizes dominance, the latter a meeting of equals. This show is a little weird in that the bond is in the opposite direction—the dude is totally dependent on the girl. But it still weakens the show. And finally, this is a high risk, low reward show. Even if show manages to transcend the tangled thorns implied by its premise, it will always be held down by just how nasty that premise is. And the odds of that happening are very low. This is Astarotte's Law: No matter how much a show seems to improve over its premise, it is still devised by the same guy that made the premise, and as such, will regress to those levels before the end. In other words, this is show about drinking a girl's drool, and it will return to what you would expect of a show about drinking a girl's drool by the end of the run. But you know what? I'm still going to watch it. There's just something about this show I like, despite its best efforts to repulse me. |
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walw6pK4Alo
Posts: 9322 |
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The spit-sharing is less intense in manga, probably because you don't have the SFX accompaniment. But it really is cute seeing people freaked out over it, you swap spit when you french kiss, this only adds a digit to the mixture. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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I haven't got a chance to watch the adaptation, but Ueshiba could use seven volumes of tankōbun to tell a story that happens in just seven hours. And that made him one of my favorite mangaka. I wouldn't bother worrying about those "premises" as long as the adaptation sticks to the original.
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yamata no orochi
Posts: 137 |
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I think they established in the first episode that there isn't actually anything supernatural about the main character's spit? Akira becomes addicted mainly because he abruptly begins crushing on Urabe in the same way that high school boys all over the world start crushing on other girls out of the blue. It's about as metaphorical as Naota growing a horn from his head upon "entering puberty"/being inseminated by Haruka in FLCL. Also, Astarrote's Law isn't in effect because I can tell you right now that the manga this is based on is actually pretty great, and if the director and co. stick to the source material (which they have been doing) this show is definitely going to be worth watching. Nazo no Kanojo X is a cult classic, believe it or not! Not to mention that Riichi Ueshiba's probably one of the most distinctive mangakas I've read, for good or ill. Think Rumiko Takahashi crossed with Junji Ito and you're halfway there. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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As the owner of every volume of Discommunication, Yume Tsukai, and Nazo no Kanojo X, I fully agree with you, but (unfortunately) don't expect most anime watchers here capable to understand your analogy. |
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dirkusbirkus
Posts: 699 Location: Manchester, UK |
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Exactly! It might be the aforementioned SFX that are creeping people out, but the actual act itself isn't revolting. When he initially sampled the 'drool pool', it wasn't like he got right down and licked it or anything. A teen boy in the prime of his sexual development, it's not that big a stretch to imagine him dipping his finger in there out of curiosity. Saliva exchange is a daily occurrence for a lot of people. The whole premise is based on the bond forged by that exchange. Is that so weird? |
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yamata no orochi
Posts: 137 |
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Well, then think of this crossed with this and you're halfway there. Maybe even add a bit of this. I was debating whether or not to throw Mitsuru Adachi into the mix, but I guess that Ueshiba doesn't do sports so that's right out. Mysterious Girlfriend X is a lot more down to earth than his other stuff, if that helps. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Posts: 24064 |
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Wait, wait, wait, wait...this show is mondo freaky. I mean, check this out:
a guy spoiler[fell in love with a girl, confessed to her and was accepted] ... ... ALL IN THE FIRST EPISODE??? That has got to be the WEIRDEST thing I've ever seen in anime! Oh and yeah the drool thing was kinda icky. |
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TheSwedishElf
Posts: 300 |
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I find it cute that people are actually comparing this freaky premise to the minimal amount of saliva shared in a kiss. Like they're seriously trying to rationalize it and make it seem totally normal. That and when people use "Oh, they're at that experimental age, it's normal for them!" as an excuse. Oh yeah, I know tons of guys who would've sampled some of a chick's drool at that age and then started wanting to drink it every day, it's totally common!
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dirkusbirkus
Posts: 699 Location: Manchester, UK |
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Isn't there some other thread on misogyny or abuse of women you could be cluttering up?
At what point does he drink saliva? Because when I 'drink' something, it's generally more than just a finger's coating If you've ever kissed anyone (and opened your mouth whilst doing so) then you've exchanged more saliva doing than that this guy has each time she does the finger thing. Get over it, or don't watch it. Simples. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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In the original plot, the female protagonist was spoiler[a decedent of some mystic race recorded in Kojiki, the earliest history/folklore of Japan.] However, Ueshiba's editor was against the idea, saying "Must you have such a complex setting for the heroine? Any teenage girl is mysterious enough for any teenage boy!" Thus Mikoto Urabe was born. BTW, Urabe's character design had already appeared spoiler[at the end of the second arc of Yume Tsukai.] |
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walw6pK4Alo
Posts: 9322 |
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It could also be that I'm used to it from the manga; more like completely desensitized because it's become routine and perfunctory, like taking an allergy medication. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Posts: 24064 |
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I think that's about that one millionth time I've seen you use that dorky, "I find it cute...etc, etc" line. Dude, if you can't actually get a life, how about a new schtick at least? |
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TheSwedishElf
Posts: 300 |
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I've barely used it much at all, and I used it because someone else did a few posts up. And I do have a life, thank you, note that I haven't posted in quite some time until recently. But hey, guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're on my ass just for tossing in my two cents.
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15550 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I actually made the mistake of of thinking of the fact of how full of bacteria it was while it was on the desk, and the fact he was putting an excrement from the dirtiest part of the human bodey that he found lieing around, and put it in his mouth. I would have had no problem with a kiss that is the connection of two people, but aliva out of its usual context becomes a bit gag inducing.
Perhaps it didn't help that I was think of a xenomorph. |
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