April 28, 2012

Mysterious Girlfriend X Ep. 03

They cover a surprising amount of ground in this episode.  Before the opening credits, Akira, in the course of his duties as that week's Nicchoku (Student who takes care of attendence etc - a subtitle note nicely provided by SubDesu, and merely translated as "Class Monitor" by HorribleSubs.  They also differ as to whether it's a one week or one day assignment.) catches his friend Ueno in a classroom after school kissing a girl.  This is the guy who previously told him he had no girlfriend, but it turns out he's been seeing this little slip of a megane-ko since first year, and wants to keep it a secret.


Kind of an odd pose IMHO.  But they're in the same class and Ueno is taller than everyone else.

I really can't get over the whole translation differences thing, when the same line comes out so differently:

"Ueno, you're going out with Oka?" - HorribleSubs vs.
"Ueno, were... were you dating Oka all this time?" - SubDesu.

"Ueno mae, Oka to tsukiatta da no?" - My pitiful attempt at romanizing the line.  Even slowing it down didn't make it easier, and it doesn't seem right even to what little Japanese I remember from college, and I can't find that one proper word for dating at Nihongodict.  I suppose I should appreciate the difficulty of the translation process more.  HorribleSubs tends to be more dramatic and less literal, and SubDesu sometimes more awkward, but by being more literal, a little more subtle information comes through.

Anyway, story wise, this moment gets Akira thinking the next day about a) how his buddy kept that relationship a secret for so long, b) that they're at the kissing stage, c) how his relationship with Urabe is also secret, and d) how he'd like to be kissing.  She seems to notice his musings.

(I suppose he might get further along if he started thinking of her as Mikoto instead of Urabe.  How long do Japanese kids have to be dating before they get on a "first" name basis?)

On the way home, she diverts them to the park just off their route, ostensibly to do their short homework assignment on the bench, and he mentions this scene to Mikoto.  At first, she has no reaction.  Akira might not have noticed this, but I have - She often takes time to think through her reactions, and often comes up with odd, but very thoughtful responses, and this is no exception.  After a moment she asks if he wants to kiss her, and in typical anime boy fashion, his surprise at hearing what he wants to hear sends him stammering until he can finally grunt out the affirmative.  But instead of a kiss, she calmly pulls out a test tube from her bookbag and hands it to him (I don't question the kinds of preparations a girl who holsters scissors in her panties makes), steps away from the bench, and assuming a martial arts stance begins to twirl, and once she stops, she takes the test tube, lets her saliva into it, and tells him to taste it before bed.  The subject then is closed.




Akira goes to bed early, and he has a dream where he and Mikoto are walking back from school, and she pops a piece of candy into her mouth (as she has done before).  She asks if he wants one, he says yes, and she goes mouth to mouth with him to transfer her candy, before putting the second piece in her mouth.  He's a bit put off by this, saying that that was their first kiss, but he wanted it to be something more special.

The next day she leads him into the woods, and asks him again if he wants to kiss her.  He shows that he has learned the lesson, replying that he wants to wait.  She smiles.


He chose wisely.  If this were an adventure game, he'd be headed towards the good ending.


"I feel the same way too," she says, as if it were his idea.

What she has done is communicate her thoughts and feelings through the pheromones in her saliva, and Akira has translated them into his own viewpoint in the dream.  The reason for the twirling is that apparently she needs to be in a more excited state than normal in order to make them more potent and to carry a more specific message.  Previously she stripped naked in that abandoned house in order to demonstrate to Akira how intense their chemical bond was.  Her fear and excitement (she was afraid he'd break his promise to keep his eyes closed, and ruin everything) was strong enough that Akira ended up with a pounding heart and a bloody nose just from the taste.

This plays a strong part in the next bit.  It turns out that the class handsome Jock has also had his eye on Mikoto, although one might have doubts about his motivations when he makes his pitch.  After class, as the students are cleaning up the classroom, Mikoto leaves to take a load of trash to the incinerator, and he follows her out.  Akira has noticed this, but he hasn't connected the dots yet.  Ogata, the Jock in question, catches up with her in the breezeway and offers to carry it for her.  After he takes it, she turns around and walks back towards the classroom.  I Love this about her.  She's not oblivious about what's going on, she just goes her own way.  (One could say her perceptions are unfiltered by culture.)

He catches her and tells her he wants to talk to her, and by the bike racks, he makes his pitch. "Urabe, well, you're kind of unusual.  Very different from the other girls.  You're "Mystical" I think.  And actually, ever since you transferred here, I've been attracted to you." She looks down "Don't freak out - I'm not asking for a serious relationship.  Just that we start out slow, like walking home from school together.  And once we get to know each other after a while... is what I'm thinking.  What do you say?" (Subdesu).  HorribleSubs makes it sound even worse: "You're a little strange.  You're not like the other girls.  There's something mysterious about you.  To be honest, I've been watching you since you transferred to our school.  I'm not asking you to get in a serious relationship.  We can start by just walking home from school together.  Once we get to know each other better, then maybe... What do you think?"  Creeeee-pyyyyy.


"Do you feel a breeze?"
(Notice the gradient in her hair highlight.)

On the way home, just as Akira is about to ask her about it, she stops him and tells him first that Ogata has asked her out.  And when he asks what she told him, she says she told him to wait a day for her answer.  He is ready to go tell Ogata to back off, but no, unlike a woman, she isn't wanting him to fight over her.  She tells him it's her issue to deal with.  Akira has some angst over this.

The next morning, Mikoto is preparing for school (And unless they re-animate, the shower scene is not BD bait).  She gets dressed, but after some thought, decides to not put on any panties.  The why of this becomes clear later.  Unfortunately it's a windy day, which gives her some difficulties with her skirt.  Akira gets no chance to talk to her before she slips out of class at lunchtime and Ogata follows her.  Outside, he asks her for her answer.  She asks him to close his eyes, and gives him the oral wet-willie.  Then she asks him if he feels any different.  When he replies no, she tells him that he has no chance of ever being her boyfriend.  On the way home, Akira asks what happened, and she says she turned Ogata down.  Akira confesses his worries, and Mikoto answers him in her own unique way.  Her daily dose of moistened finger is special today, causing Akira a nosebleed. 


You can see her eyes, you can tell they're connecting.

You see, Mikoto left her panties off that day to give herself a bit of a thrill, which would have been very evident if it had worked on Ogata.  She explains this after handing Akira the panties from her pocket (at least they're clean...).  To her, this proves that her bond with Akira is special.  It means their emotions are in sync.  That phrase has been associated with the desire for a kiss, so Akira gets a bit excited and tries to hug her (grab her is more like it), which she evades with a superhuman leap.  This is the second time he's made this dumb move.  The last time, last episode, she went at him with the scissors and the stack of boxes behind him paid the price, being instantly reduced to an outline of his body.  This time he's a little luckier, with no panties, no scissors.  She catches herself before inadvertently giving him a show, then pulls her scissors from her bookbag and gently reminds him not to do that without her permission.


Makes me think of Leeloo from The Fifth Element. "Never without my permission."

But he has made SOME progress, as she takes his hand for the walk home.

(Hmmm, I notice I picked mostly pictures that show her eyes, which is actually pretty rare, but on the other hand, they show during significant moments in the story, so it's only natural.)

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