May 02, 2012
Mysterious Girlfriend X Ep. 04
Ever notice how it is with Superheroes that often it is the person without the powers who comes up with new and better ways for the hero to use them? Well we get that with Oka this episode.
(I'm going to switch back to last names, since nobody seems to use them in the show, and it might be confusing if you're following along.)
Oka was virtually a non-entity last time out, but she is totally the center of events this time. Remember that she is Tsubaki's best buddy Ueno's secret girlfriend. In spite of being a little slip of a thing, behind that big Fuku bow, she's got quite the figure. And the episode opens with Ueno and Tsubaki eating lunch, and Ueno's face twisted into a bizarre grin at the thought of the girls switching to their summer gym uniforms. (This might be an error, because I seem to recall in the first episode, when Tsubaki passed out, the girls were in shorts and t-shirts, but then, it has been several months, but on the other hand, winter has not been depicted. On the gripping hand, Ueno says that her development is a recent, er, development, hidden by her tracksuit.).
Notice the texture. Aside from the gradient highlights, this show also uses some fixed textures clipped by the outlines. While this technique was abused to the point of unwatchability in The Count of Monte Cristo, here it's generally very subtle, and adds to the texture.
Enter Oka, bearing her bento, wrapped in a furoshiki (the most overused word in my first few Japanese classes all those years ago). She commits the unpardonable sin of waking Urabe from her lunchtime face-down slumber, asking to eat lunch with her. The response is pure Urabe, no polite words, just "I don't eat lunch" and "Don't wake me up when I'm napping." It's just like when she blew off the welcoming committee in the first episode, but Oka will not be deterred for some reason, asking if she can still eat next to her if she promises not to wake her up. "Do whatever you want," is the response from Urabe as she puts her face back down. It's a trap, and the entire class stares at the bizarre tableau.
Oka, it turns out, is an excellent cook, and the smell of the food entices Urabe to allow Oka to give her a taste. In fact, Oka ends up giving her a taste of everything, and Ueno is flaming with jealousy. He wants his girlfriend to feed him like that. The rest of the class is simply shocked.
Continuity Win: At the first bite, Tsubaki and Ueno both dropped their food, and it's there on the desktop.
On the way home, Tsubaki asks if she and Oka are becoming friends, and Urabe fiercely denies this, although Tsubaki thinks it would be good for her to develop some female friends. She, however, does not care. "I don't need any friends. After all, I have you for my boyfriend." He has to admit to himself, he does like the sound of that.
A funny thing happens though with that day's daily dose, Tsubaki can taste a bit of lunch. As they part, the camera pulls back far enough to reveal that they're being watched.
That night, Tsubaki's dreams are filled with Urabe feeding him bits of Tamago, including mouth to mouth.... In fact, he can still kind of taste it in the morning.
This goes along with his regret that her serious nature will never have her smiling and telling him to "Say Ah" for her finger.
But now it's time for Gym, and much to Ueno's disappointment, the girls go outside to do Track, while the boys stay indoors to practice Judo.
Okay, Okay, I skipped the part where the girls are getting changed for gym (in one of the classrooms, must be a poor school), Urabe is shown disarming - so there's a panty shot there... and the other girls comment to Oka about how much she's filled out.
Running relays, it's briefly obvious that Urabe is very fast, but she gets tripped accidentally by one of the other girls (who feels just terrible about it), however, it turns out that Oka is the class Health Representative, and she volunteers to take Urabe to the nurse's office. When they get there, the Nurse is not in.
Ah, alone at last, the forbidden love between two girls can bloom! Ah... no.
Oka treats Urabe's knee (There are some interesting exchanges about the potential for a scar, in parallel with something happening between the boys.) then goes to the fridge where she gets a drink. Urabe asks her if it's okay for her to do that, and Oka explains that since she's there so much, she keeps soda in the fridge. She offers some to Urabe, who takes a swig, and then Oka takes it back.
You can guess what happens next, but you'd be wrong.
The first thing that happens is that Oka sits next to her and explains that she is very interested in becoming Urabe's friend. Urabe rebuffs her, but Oka persists, saying that she'll always want to be her friend. As she leaves the nurse's office though, THEN the big surprise happens.
Oka's knee is suddenly sporting the exact same wound as Urabe's. (And for those of you keeping score of the visual metaphors, Urabe is suddenly showing an eye. Oh, and did you notice the dripping water in the sink?). Even Urabe is shocked.
I'd like to point out that in several spots it seems that Urabe is experimenting with her powers. She even referred to Ogata as "an independent variable". I speculate that this power of hers is at the root of why she self-isolates so much, but even more interesting is the idea that it might even be the reason for her school transfer. In any case, sympathetic injury is something she has never encountered before, so what's a mildly sociopathic girl to do? Confirm the hypothesis. She cuts her palm, and induces Oka to taste her saliva, and again, the same wound appears on her.
With that confirmation, she begins to explain what's happening to Oka, what she knows happens with her saliva, and how it works with people connected to her in some way. Oka seizes on this connection to try to get Urabe to agree to her friendship, but Urabe says no, she's already got someone she shares that bond with. Oka says "You mean Tsubaki?" It was Oka on the bridge, and she explains how she saw them and became curious, and has been watching them for a while. She's kind of interested in the both of them, but decided to approach Urabe because she's a girl, as going after her boyfriend would be problematic since she's seeing Ueno. She asks if the same kind of thing happens with Tsubaki, and Urabe explains that things that happen with her body, and her feelings are communicated this way, and that she can get across her feelings without needing words. But as she leaves the office, she says, "...I'm fulfilled by having just one person like that in my life. You can be as interested in me as you like, but I don't need your friendship." (I get this by averaging the two translations.) Then for an extra twist of the knife, she throws Oka's own words about women needing to avoid scarring at her with regard to her knee.
"You made me bleed, are we friends now?"
That evening, on the way home, She gives Tsubaki his taste, and she suddenly realizes... "Are you hurt?" and Tsubaki is suddenly spontaneously injured on his hand and knee. She apologizes for forgetting. (Am I a bad person for wondering what effect she has on him during her period?)
The next day, Oka is shown preparing another delicious bento. Ueno meets Tsubaki on the way to school and swears that he will get Oka to meet him outside for lunch so she can feed him. Tsubaki reminds him that he's keeping their relationship secret, so he swears he will do it with telepathy. Of course, this fails, but to add to his heartbreak, Oka follows Urabe out of the classroom. Urabe has suddenly had lunchtime hunger pangs and left for the vending machines.
"Why are you making that face at me? Don't you know Telepathy is a myth?"
Oka confronts Urabe at the drinks machine. She concentrates for a minute, and then SHE offers Urabe a wet finger, saying that this will tell her something about her relationship with Tsubaki. (Metaphor warning: watch the drops of condensation on Urabe's drink). Urabe is shocked by what she gets from the pheromones, it's sweeter than anything she's ever tasted. Oka explains that she concentrated on the memory of her first kiss, and so she knows that Urabe and Tsubaki haven't gotten that far yet. (Quite the little detective, isn't she?)
"Turnabout is fair play!"
THEN she offers to share lunch. Urabe admits that eating her lunch the day before seems to have altered her body's rhythms, and Oka offers that even if they can't be friends, at least they can have a lunch-sharing relationship.
The boys go to get drinks, with Ueno bemoaning the failure of his "Connection" to Oka, and wondering where she went, when as they go through the breezeway, they spot Oka and Urabe sharing lunch on one of the benches.
Looks like next week is an infamous "Beach" episode, but Urabe looks pretty good with a tan and a bikini. Bonus De-panned shots below the cut (Click to embiggen). But to be evil, I'm going to throw in the rather disturbing interstitial pic from this episode too. Muahaha!
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(I'm going to switch back to last names, since nobody seems to use them in the show, and it might be confusing if you're following along.)
Oka was virtually a non-entity last time out, but she is totally the center of events this time. Remember that she is Tsubaki's best buddy Ueno's secret girlfriend. In spite of being a little slip of a thing, behind that big Fuku bow, she's got quite the figure. And the episode opens with Ueno and Tsubaki eating lunch, and Ueno's face twisted into a bizarre grin at the thought of the girls switching to their summer gym uniforms. (This might be an error, because I seem to recall in the first episode, when Tsubaki passed out, the girls were in shorts and t-shirts, but then, it has been several months, but on the other hand, winter has not been depicted. On the gripping hand, Ueno says that her development is a recent, er, development, hidden by her tracksuit.).
Notice the texture. Aside from the gradient highlights, this show also uses some fixed textures clipped by the outlines. While this technique was abused to the point of unwatchability in The Count of Monte Cristo, here it's generally very subtle, and adds to the texture.
Oka, it turns out, is an excellent cook, and the smell of the food entices Urabe to allow Oka to give her a taste. In fact, Oka ends up giving her a taste of everything, and Ueno is flaming with jealousy. He wants his girlfriend to feed him like that. The rest of the class is simply shocked.
Continuity Win: At the first bite, Tsubaki and Ueno both dropped their food, and it's there on the desktop.
On the way home, Tsubaki asks if she and Oka are becoming friends, and Urabe fiercely denies this, although Tsubaki thinks it would be good for her to develop some female friends. She, however, does not care. "I don't need any friends. After all, I have you for my boyfriend." He has to admit to himself, he does like the sound of that.
A funny thing happens though with that day's daily dose, Tsubaki can taste a bit of lunch. As they part, the camera pulls back far enough to reveal that they're being watched.
That night, Tsubaki's dreams are filled with Urabe feeding him bits of Tamago, including mouth to mouth.... In fact, he can still kind of taste it in the morning.
This goes along with his regret that her serious nature will never have her smiling and telling him to "Say Ah" for her finger.
But now it's time for Gym, and much to Ueno's disappointment, the girls go outside to do Track, while the boys stay indoors to practice Judo.
Okay, Okay, I skipped the part where the girls are getting changed for gym (in one of the classrooms, must be a poor school), Urabe is shown disarming - so there's a panty shot there... and the other girls comment to Oka about how much she's filled out.
Running relays, it's briefly obvious that Urabe is very fast, but she gets tripped accidentally by one of the other girls (who feels just terrible about it), however, it turns out that Oka is the class Health Representative, and she volunteers to take Urabe to the nurse's office. When they get there, the Nurse is not in.
Ah, alone at last, the forbidden love between two girls can bloom! Ah... no.
Oka treats Urabe's knee (There are some interesting exchanges about the potential for a scar, in parallel with something happening between the boys.) then goes to the fridge where she gets a drink. Urabe asks her if it's okay for her to do that, and Oka explains that since she's there so much, she keeps soda in the fridge. She offers some to Urabe, who takes a swig, and then Oka takes it back.
You can guess what happens next, but you'd be wrong.
The first thing that happens is that Oka sits next to her and explains that she is very interested in becoming Urabe's friend. Urabe rebuffs her, but Oka persists, saying that she'll always want to be her friend. As she leaves the nurse's office though, THEN the big surprise happens.
Oka's knee is suddenly sporting the exact same wound as Urabe's. (And for those of you keeping score of the visual metaphors, Urabe is suddenly showing an eye. Oh, and did you notice the dripping water in the sink?). Even Urabe is shocked.
I'd like to point out that in several spots it seems that Urabe is experimenting with her powers. She even referred to Ogata as "an independent variable". I speculate that this power of hers is at the root of why she self-isolates so much, but even more interesting is the idea that it might even be the reason for her school transfer. In any case, sympathetic injury is something she has never encountered before, so what's a mildly sociopathic girl to do? Confirm the hypothesis. She cuts her palm, and induces Oka to taste her saliva, and again, the same wound appears on her.
With that confirmation, she begins to explain what's happening to Oka, what she knows happens with her saliva, and how it works with people connected to her in some way. Oka seizes on this connection to try to get Urabe to agree to her friendship, but Urabe says no, she's already got someone she shares that bond with. Oka says "You mean Tsubaki?" It was Oka on the bridge, and she explains how she saw them and became curious, and has been watching them for a while. She's kind of interested in the both of them, but decided to approach Urabe because she's a girl, as going after her boyfriend would be problematic since she's seeing Ueno. She asks if the same kind of thing happens with Tsubaki, and Urabe explains that things that happen with her body, and her feelings are communicated this way, and that she can get across her feelings without needing words. But as she leaves the office, she says, "...I'm fulfilled by having just one person like that in my life. You can be as interested in me as you like, but I don't need your friendship." (I get this by averaging the two translations.) Then for an extra twist of the knife, she throws Oka's own words about women needing to avoid scarring at her with regard to her knee.
"You made me bleed, are we friends now?"
That evening, on the way home, She gives Tsubaki his taste, and she suddenly realizes... "Are you hurt?" and Tsubaki is suddenly spontaneously injured on his hand and knee. She apologizes for forgetting. (Am I a bad person for wondering what effect she has on him during her period?)
The next day, Oka is shown preparing another delicious bento. Ueno meets Tsubaki on the way to school and swears that he will get Oka to meet him outside for lunch so she can feed him. Tsubaki reminds him that he's keeping their relationship secret, so he swears he will do it with telepathy. Of course, this fails, but to add to his heartbreak, Oka follows Urabe out of the classroom. Urabe has suddenly had lunchtime hunger pangs and left for the vending machines.
"Why are you making that face at me? Don't you know Telepathy is a myth?"
Oka confronts Urabe at the drinks machine. She concentrates for a minute, and then SHE offers Urabe a wet finger, saying that this will tell her something about her relationship with Tsubaki. (Metaphor warning: watch the drops of condensation on Urabe's drink). Urabe is shocked by what she gets from the pheromones, it's sweeter than anything she's ever tasted. Oka explains that she concentrated on the memory of her first kiss, and so she knows that Urabe and Tsubaki haven't gotten that far yet. (Quite the little detective, isn't she?)
"Turnabout is fair play!"
THEN she offers to share lunch. Urabe admits that eating her lunch the day before seems to have altered her body's rhythms, and Oka offers that even if they can't be friends, at least they can have a lunch-sharing relationship.
The boys go to get drinks, with Ueno bemoaning the failure of his "Connection" to Oka, and wondering where she went, when as they go through the breezeway, they spot Oka and Urabe sharing lunch on one of the benches.
Looks like next week is an infamous "Beach" episode, but Urabe looks pretty good with a tan and a bikini. Bonus De-panned shots below the cut (Click to embiggen). But to be evil, I'm going to throw in the rather disturbing interstitial pic from this episode too. Muahaha!
Posted by: Mauser at
01:43 AM
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Post contains 1638 words, total size 11 kb.
1
...disturbing interstitial pic...
Uhm... er... I haven't watched this ep yet. I can only hope there's context involved.
How small is her mouth that a single regular-sized band-aid can keep it shut???
Uhm... er... I haven't watched this ep yet. I can only hope there's context involved.
How small is her mouth that a single regular-sized band-aid can keep it shut???
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 03, 2012 05:36 AM (6CHh4)
2
No idea. It's just the art for the commercial break. (Interstitial, did I use the wrong word?)
Technically, the band aid could be 3/4" x 3", so in theory that could work. But were I to gag someone I'd probably use something much sturdier.
I'd rather look at the swimsuit pictures.
Technically, the band aid could be 3/4" x 3", so in theory that could work. But were I to gag someone I'd probably use something much sturdier.
I'd rather look at the swimsuit pictures.
Posted by: Mauser at May 03, 2012 11:17 PM (cZPoz)
3
Saw your question about smilies - if you just blank out your smilies template, they'll go away.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 05, 2012 06:52 AM (PiXy!)
4
Delete it, or just empty the contents?
And suddenly I just got curious if it could be used for other text-> graphic substitutions.
And suddenly I just got curious if it could be used for other text-> graphic substitutions.
Posted by: Mauser at May 05, 2012 12:53 PM (cZPoz)
5
What you're referring to as an "interstitial" is usually known as an "eye catch". In the comedy series Geroro Gunsou, the eye catches actually say "Eye Catch".
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 05, 2012 02:37 PM (+rSRq)
6
Mauser, just empty the contents, otherwise it might pick up the default settings in its place.
And yep, it can be used for any text substitution you might want.
And yep, it can be used for any text substitution you might want.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 05, 2012 07:38 PM (PiXy!)
7
Thanks, Steven, I'd forgotten the term Eye Catch.
And Thanks Pixy, I'll get right on that. I'm old school: My smilies should be text. On some systems I have to resort to typed emotes just to avoid them. (And they tend to foul up URLs on badly-designed systems.)
And Thanks Pixy, I'll get right on that. I'm old school: My smilies should be text. On some systems I have to resort to typed emotes just to avoid them. (And they tend to foul up URLs on badly-designed systems.)
Posted by: Mauser at May 05, 2012 08:05 PM (cZPoz)
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