The contractually obligated Mysterious Beach Episode. But will going with Urabe make all of the difference? What They Say
Tsuabki has finally worked up the courage to ask Urabe out on a date. But when he tries to bring it up, she speeds off. Will his dream of seeing her in a bikini come true or will it just stay a dream.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This is a perfect episode. If the purpose of Mysterious Girlfriend X is to conjure up the excitement and anxiety of a first romance, it’s an unqualified success.
The story is fairly by the numbers as romantic comedy beach episodes go, but it’s really all in the execution. The episode starts out in PE, with the boys kicking the soccer ball a little out of the way, so that in going to retrieve it, they can peek in on the girls at the swimming pool. When it’s Tsubaki’s turn to kick and peep on Urabe, he sees her through the bushes and the chain link fence grabbing her towel to dry off. It catches him so off guard he totally misses the ball and falls flat on his face.
After school they’re walking home, and he notices an alluring scent about Urabe. She catches him sniffing around, and is about to pull out her trademark scissors when it starts to rain. The two take shelter under a tree in the park, allowing them some temporary time pressed up together. He asks her if she’s wearing perfume, and she says no, it’s her sweat. He tastes the sweat (cue hysterical gross out, etc) and sees a vision of her in a swimsuit at the sea. He asks her if she’d like to go to the beach sometime, and she agrees.
Actually asking Urabe out is a bit trickier, as she’s always quick to leave, and it turns out she’s going to see her father’s family over the summer. Tsubaki finally corners her, and they set a date a week later, after she’s returned from the vacation. Tsubaki has surreal dreams in anticipation, envisioning her as a mermaid. He’s so enraptured by the dreams that he oversleeps on the day of the date. He rushes to get ready, waking up his older sister, who’s managed to figure out on her own what he’s so excited about.
There’s a fanservice flavored “punchline” to the episode that I won’t spoil, but more than anything I found this episode to be incredibly nostalgic. The show’s director is Ayumu Watanabe, who’s also helming Space Brothers this season. Before that, he worked as director, animation director, and key animator on 13 Doraemon movies. He has a lot of experience working with nostalgic material, and it shows. There’s a real attention to capturing the natural surroundings in Japan in Mysterious Girlfriend X: the way the waves crest, the way water drips from the tree leaves in the rain, and the changing clouds in the sky. His work really adds artistic merit to a series that otherwise seems to easy to dismiss. So much of Mysterious Girlfriend X is symbolic, with the lemons conjuring up memories of first kisses, and the drool having more prurient readings, but the symbols of the natural world Watanabe includes is able to conjure up my memories of visiting the beach, and my altogether too-brief time in Kyoto.
The other standout, of course, is Urabe’s seiyuu, Ayako Yoshitani, in her first voice role. Aside from singing both the opening and closing themes, she’s also the voice of the most important character in the series, and her work is inspired. Urabe as a character is a girl who is comfortable with herself, so Yoshitani doesn’t add any kind of affectation to her voice. Some chalk this up to Yoshitani’s inexperience, but the choice seems natural. Urabe wouldn’t speak like a stagey yankee or exaggerated shy girl. She is who she is, and her voice perfectly captures this key character trait.
In Summary
This is the best beach episode I can remember, because it perfectly captures the feeling of an ideal first date at the beach. Tsubaki is awkward, Urabe is confidently herself, and the scenery of Japan has a definite sense of time and place. The nostalgia of the piece, and the nostalgia I have for the character designs just make me feel like I’m 14 again. What I would have done to have seen this show 15 years ago.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen
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