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「謎の流行風邪」 (Nazo no Hayarikaze)
“Mysterious Flu”
If you haven’t already noticed, I am experimenting again. For those of you who won’t put up with my antics…the post has been reformed below. The rest of you: start off by clicking on image one or two and use the left and right arrow keys to navigate. The text will appear below the pictures as you progress.
To begin, it’s interesting to see the episode develop the aspect of ‘ownership’. Normally, it can be a VERY problematic thing, as it leads to becoming too clingy, restricting freedoms, and loss of individuality. However, it doesn’t seem to apply here, as Urabe seems to have dedicated herself to Tsubaki and desires no one else. Ironic, since Tsubaki’s number of hugs STILL counts at zero. Strangely enough, this concept of ownership works for the following reasons:
One: Urabe and Tsubaki both lead very conservative social lives. From what we’ve seen, no other friends challenge their time together. The fact that Tsubaki desires her to come to him only doesn’t bother her; she has nothing else to do besides be with Tsubaki anyways.
Two: both, at this point, desire to be the other’s ‘only’. Tsubaki explicitly tells us so, but from Urabe’s perspective we can guess the same. The promises and declarations from episode one hint at that strongly; it’s only a matter of time before it’s said explicitly.
Three: There doesn’t exist many signs of attachment. Sure, they share spit, but they still are VERY far from feeling close to one another without it spiking all over the place. Thus, this attitude the two adopt actually serves to strengthen their current bond. Yes, this is arguable, but even though it might not work in other cases, let us remember this is a VERY atypical bond these two share.
However, despite the benefits of this almost ‘clinging’ attitude, there are some subtleties to notice. For one: Tsubaki’s looking out for Urabe. The episode does point out his half-heartedness in his altruistic words: an honest observation. However, this isn’t a bad thing: it’s only natural. As the seasons roll by, it’s expected or Tsubaki to look out for his mysterious girlfriend. After all, a lingering part of him still sees having some ‘normal’ as being beneficial to their relationship. Tsubaki sees the opportunity for Urabe to succeed and have friends, but that may challenge their relationship, and tears him between two sides.
One side truly desires for Urabe to lead what he thinks is a ‘better’ life, because her success and happiness are directly linked to him. The other side, the one many of us don’t want to admit ourselves, is a desire for Urabe to reject those opportunities and stay ‘his’. Hell, we might lie about it (like to Oka) and say that we 100% want the very best for our partners, but when given a choice, we want them to come home to us and say that we are more important than all of those activities, which ultimately brings us a smile 🙂. Of course there are exceptions to this, such as excessive self-sacrifice, but in my experience, I feel that this is a real conflict that the show illustrates well.
It’ll be interesting to see how this changes as the season progresses, which is now in it’s second half; to see how their lives begin to develop from here on out, to see whether it’s away from each other or even closer. Oka for instance could be a prime player for changing the field on Urabe’s side. She’s managed to become a unique friend for Urabe and is quite devious and cunning: enough to even fool and outmaneuver her mysterious friend.
I also think that this will not be the first time Urabe gets an opportunity to progress in life. This episode was perhaps a test run to start the gears running inside each other’s heads on the concept of ownership, something Tsubaki’s ogling classmates have started to challenge ^_^. Urabe’s parents, while still mysterious and unknown, could possibly be a driving force in pushing her in new directions, whether that’s beneficial to the relationship or not.
However, for now, let us rejoice at all the wonderful full-screens that this episode has brought us! Next episode looks to be quite the kinky one, however, from what we’ve seen so far, pure fanservice is the last thing we should expect.
Full-length images: 9, 13, 18, 25, 26, 28, 34.
Preview
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I actually really liked the way you did this, with text within the images.
It makes it easier and more enjoyable to follow along with your written commentary. (=
I definitely wouldn’t mind this in the future!
And, it looks like next episode is gonna be a little more heated. C: Can’t wait!
Thank you Ahmy, Bookkid900, Xin, and all you lurking thumbers for your comments! I’m glad it has mostly positive reception ^^.
I really like this different setup of the posts! The alt-text takes what may seem to be a wall of text and splits it up into blocks that are not only easy to read but incorporates the images into the post a whole lot more than just clicking the blue text.
On a related note, this anime is proving to be really good and this is coming from someone who enjoyed the manga and was wondering how in the world that they would be able to adapt it… I am wondering though, when and if the original story line will come into play. (I remember reading that this would be an original story line but so far it has been adapting the manga.)
I think Oka is going for girlfriend of the year here.
The bikini was unexpected… crawling on top of him after that? Wow.
Agreed. Oka fanservice is seriously off the chain. And Urabe with the thigh name tag O.O I don’t know what was more delicious, all that or the shrimp tempura they were eating.
Not tempura. Bacon wrapped deep fried breaded shrimp. That’s like cheating. Bacon, that is.
O gawd i love oka so much. She is such a temptress and that really gets me going. Plus her tits are huge.
Show Spoiler ▼
Who has the bigger breasts oka or urabe?
Seriously its really hard to tell. One minute you think oka has the biggest tits in the show then, BAM urabe comes out with what seems to be Double D’s then out of no where oka is back on with watermelons on her chest.
Frankly i say oka since her breasts are emphasized ALOT more. Partly because the only two things that make her standout is her huge tits and hot seductive attitude. But you can’t count urabe out for long:
https://randomc.net/image/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
I think it’s being suggested to be Oka.
One more question is Oka a secret lesbian. Because im getting some serious yuri vibes from her whenever shes with Urabe.
It could be the fact that she enjoys touching urabe in intimate places or maybe its the fact that she’s always sticking her finger in Urabe’s mouth to get some of her spit but hey it could just be me whos thinking this?
physical contact between friends is more common than you’d think. most of it is with merely playful intentions anyway. that and Oka is kind of crazy to begin with!!
Oka is manipulative, that’s just one of the ways she can get to Urabe since there’s not much else that phases her. She uses sexual power on her bf too. She’s sort of exploring that and using it to amuse her at the same time. I have met plenty of women that use sex as a tool without being geniune in their feelings so i wouldn’t read too much into that especially from a teenager. I definitely did a double take when they swapped spit though lol. I was like “wherrrre is this show going with that!?” lol great fun.
Oka = still an ubercreeper
Love how the the females’ bodies automatically get all curvy and luscious in close-ups or mizugi shots. Can we have that in real life too?
https://randomc.net/image/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
^ Those are some dangerous curves. Drive safely. XD
https://randomc.net/image/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
^ TIRO…FINALE!!!
Oka the mischevious bi-curious temptress ftw!
other than that those 2 last Urabe shots made me feel like I’m totally understand Tsubaki in his last shot!
It seems to me that Oka has become a far more dynamic character than she was in the manga. Its a tweak to the anime thats working very well.
When I first encountered this series YEARS ago I thought it was so weird. The whole drool thing was gross but the story interesting then it faded away in the depths of my memories.
Then they animate it and I just get floored by nostalgia and start loving this series all over again. I still thing the whole drool this is gross though.
This is so bizarrely sexy! Love it.
Have you ever been ‘marked‘ by a girl? It’s a pretty cool thing to have happen
and it’s quite different than when a girl is marked by a guy. What’s that?
It’s a nick-name that she begins to call you or taking something of yours and
making it hers and displaying it privately for you; it can be anything or action
but it’s her choice. So, when Urabe took his locker ID and put it on her leg,
that’s what I thought of – she want to be a part of him and his life.
Urabe wants to be cherished by him.
Although I think this was a significant move on Urabe’s part in their relationship,
this episode almost flew by me. I didn’t get why she wouldn’t open her jacket. He
had already seen her in a bathing suit and her pantsu already (she even commented
that she didn’t mind only him seeing them). So, what did I miss?
I think that Oka really stripped for her boyfriend (though not shown in the ep 🙁 – I
haven’t read the Manga) – remember “hands off or we break up”? Urabe said later that
she wouldn’t do a bathing suit striptease. To me, it’s the only sane explaination
for Urabe’s behaviour. Oka is very provocative; Urabe is still very inexperienced.
I loved the – look is that a cat?! troll she pulled on Urabe…
First I must say that I enjoy your comments a lot and reflect some of my own feelings too.
About Urabe not wanting to show herself to Tsubaki, I think that is because of the setting: at the beach you’re expected to show up in swimwear and everyone else also is but put that in a private setting (his bedroom) and the act becomes much more intimate, almost sexual. I also think that Urabe’s inexperience has a hand into it too.
Another aspect that amazes me is how Urabe seems to be in full control of the relationship but she can become so selfless whenever she tries to make Tsubaki happy.
About the preview: http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/7720/ura.png
Great post, Zanibas! One thing, though. Could you tag/categorize it so people can find it with the other Nazo no Kanojo X posts?
Fix’d, thanks ^_^
Really enjoyed the post setup! Its not one that I feel should be liberally applied to the series you cover, but I think its a perfect fit for this one and was an enjoyable change-up. Keep up the great work!
That preview image! I knew there was going to be more licking of body parts!
https://randomc.net/image/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X%20-%2007%20-%20Large%20Preview%2003.jpg
Why i cant hold all this sexyness?
I read most post at work. So even thoguht is innovative using the caps to build the narrative. Is akward for me. I really easy to shrink the browser window size and read calmly without worry of someone to look behind my back and see what I’m doing vs. having to open every single shot to read. just my two cents.
As for Oka hgnnMM if a bikini clan girl like that rides me in bed either I die or her purity was gone for good! Urabe is learning girl tricks from Oka sensei so I think they should stick together for a little while….
Thank you for the input: I’ll make sure to have a normal post whenever I do annotations this way ^^.
https://randomc.net/image/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X/Nazo%20no%20Kanojo%20X%20-%2007%20-%2022.jpg
OMG, I just want to reach into my monitor and hug her…
I have to wonder about Oka/Ueno. It seems that their time together is fairly short and at least part only in flashbacks. I know that this is about Urabe/Tsubaki but Oka seems to spend more time in the present teasing Urabe. Considering his relative unimportance so far, you could write Ueno out and not much would change.
I like how you do the reviews Nazo no kanojo x ^^
emm excuse man … when you’re posting the review of episode 8 Nazo no kanojo x? I would love to see it! please!!!! *-*
Oka, best girl right there people!