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For me this has been a long time coming, or at least it's felt that way. Like a lot of people, I only began to read the MGX manga after watching the anime; I needed more of the very sweet and honest relationship I'd become obsessed with in the day it took me to marathon the series.

I've never cried before while reading or watching anything until I read MGX. I have never been as emotionally invested as I have in a piece of media before.

I picked it up at a weird time. The second (and final) major arc had just ended, allowing me to steam ... through this and the other arc without the mental and emotional anguish involved in waiting YEARS for plot points to conclude.

Everything that occurs right up to the first major arc is basically perfect. We have the mysterious and fully three-dimensional girlfriend Mikoto Urabe's adventures with main protagonist Akira Tsubaki as they explore their unique relationship, subverting a lot of usual Japanese media tropes. Their relationship advances at a steady pace, confronting their feelings and dealing with them.

This is aided by the special bond they share via drool. She licks her finger, he sucks it. It's a definite hurdle to get over for any reader, but after the first few chapters it's very much downplayed. They can use it to share feelings, a great communication tool as the two are generally unable to open up to each other.

It's all very sweet, lovely and most of all it's honest. The only real mystery is a teenage boy trying to figure out the feelings and desires of his slightly odd teenage girlfriend. She's a human being with her own wants and needs and insecurities, and by the first third of the manga we begin to understand her just that little bit more.

Then the first arc happens and a lot of her character and development is changed or just thrown out the window. A preposterous beginning that suspends all disbelief results in an ill-advised plot which changes the dynamic and nature of the relationship almost irreversibly.

It took a long time for the manga to recover (it seems like the release of the anime kicked the author Riichi into gear), and even the return of the single chapter storys had changed in the process. The relationship felt more like a battle between the two than a shared experience, save for a few genuinely excellent chapters that captured the feel of the pre-arc series.

Pushing through this down period is in some ways worth it though - having re-read the entire run so I could finish it properly, it seems like Riichi had been thinking about wrapping up the story for about two years before it ended. Switching from weird fetish of the week back to actual relationship development began to save it towards the end, with the last six months building up to a fairly monumental moment.

Unfortunately, in a lot of ways the finale doesn't deliver. It seems a little rushed, especially after how much it seemed Riichi had been milking the series at one point. Perhaps there were outside forces beyond his control on the series' cancellation but at the very least he left it in a way that implied their relationship would go on past what the reader was aware of.

It does leave a sense of lack of closure though, wistful and a bit sad, which aren't really the right emotions to have when leaving a wonderful romance story behind.

I've given it a high score but I feel it's... difficult to recommend. First of all there's the whole drool aspect. It does take a bit of getting used to. If you manage to get past that hurdle, there's the problem that it's only up to chapter 36 that I truly recommend reading to. Unfortunately, by that point you'll probably have the urge to read more. The anime does a good job of taking the very best parts of these 36 chapters, changing a couple small things for the better and leaving out some of the less interesting plot points, so watching that may be a better idea, as it also has an 'ending' to stop at as well.

Now I have to go and try and forget about this series so I can go back to living a normal life.

The OVA for Mysterious Girlfriend X is here, and includes an original story not seen in the manga. However, it still includes the characters, concepts, and relationship development you'd expect from an episode of MGX.

It slightly misses the high bar set by the full series though - Urabe and Tsubaki must overcome a wholly supernatural phenomenon that goes beyond the strange nature of her drool which feels slightly out of place. It is only temporary though, and serves not only slightly further their relationship, but to also have cameos recognisable by fans of the authors' previous works.

The relationship pay off didn't seem as important as ... others in the show though, even if it was arguably one of the more important developments that has happened. This may be due to the original nature of the story, but at the very least it's still in the spirit of the show.

Here's hoping for a second series

If you've got this far, you know the show's synopsis. Your standard anime transfer student doesn't quite fit in, as expected, but due to a series of events ranging from ordinary to a bit weird, the show's main character ends up falling for the weird transfer student. All this made possible due to the strange effect her drool has on him, creating a bond between the two that makes him physically ill if he goes without it.

While this may not sound all that interesting, and perhaps down right gross with the drool aspect, Mysterious Girlfriend X stands out as one of the most unique and ... charming romance anime's I have ever seen.

I'm not going to beat around the bush - the drool part is a bit disgusting to begin with, even if it's generally limited to licking it off fingers. The first episode serves to set up the circumstances and plot of the rest of the show, and while it's mildly intriguing to begin with, it's not until the end of the episode that you get the first glimpse of the more honest approach the show takes with young and/or first loves.

This is the first hint that MGX is going to be different from most other Anime. Love and relationships with teens is usually dealt with in love triangles and harems/reverse harems, with the entire show mostly having unresolved sexual tension for either Japanese cultural reasons or just because it's the done thing. A lot of these and other relationship tropes get subverted throughout the show, and it doesn't get preachy about the romanticised pre-conceptions of love in media either.

You don't have to wait long for any of this to start though, as the second episode is when the story really gets going. By the third you'll probably have gotten used to the drool aspect, and by then you'll be hooked. The drool is just a mechanism for the two main characters to understand each others feelings, both emotionally and physically, and aids them in the developments of their love life. Understanding is a big theme in the series, and leads to some genuinely tender moments.

It's not just about the two characters getting to know each other, the viewer themselves is in on the process of getting to know the protagonists and the meaning of the show. While Akira Tsubaki, our eyes into the world, is portrayed as a fairly normal and relatable guy, Mikoto Urabe, his girlfriend, is a mystery. As the name of the anime suggests. However, while she has the almost supernatural drool, an odd manner, and is freakishly adept with a pair of scissors she keeps in her panties, it all seems like an allegory for the mystery and unknown of being in love for the first time.

There is a bit of ecchi in the series as well - with the two main girls drawn as being quite busty. I honestly think this is commentary on how teenage boys see the world, and how love can sometimes alter your perceptions of your partners. Which in this case is shown by giving the girls big tits, as you do. The art style in general though is a little retro, which fits the atmosphere of the show a lot better than spindly limbs or soft moe features.

Compared to the manga, it's usually very spot on, and any small changes made to the story, whether they're chronological or characters reactions, mostly better the flow of events. Due to the short nature of the anime, and the fact the manga is still ongoing, some stories have been dropped or blended together. However nothing feels rushed, forced, or out of place, and it at least means there's probably enough material for a second season if it gets that far.

There are a few words that have been tossed around in this review that do manage to sum up the show better than others - that it is a charming, sweet, honest look at young and first loves. I hope they make more after the OVA.

Obviously it's not every year that Gainax pulls out a Gurren Lagann or a Panty and Stocking, but this latest offering is fairly dull and predictable.

The main problem with Medaka is that it's yet another Anime about high school, yet another Anime about some sort of school club, and the characters themselves are boring tropes of the genre. Everything about the show is so overplayed, and probably being done in any of the other 10 or so high school shows this season.

Credit where it's due though, the voice work, sound design, and artwork is pretty good...even if there's a bit of OTT character designs for ... fanservice reasons.

Admittedly I've only seen two episodes, and it's not awful by any means. Just...boring

One of the worst Animes I have ever seen.

The premise is that young girls wearing flying boots modelled off of WWII era aircraft are the only things on this alternate version of Earth that can consistently defeat the attacks of an unknown invading force hell bent on razing the planet for unknown reasons.

Lets get the 'good stuff' out the way. The art isn't all that bad, generic character designs and such, but the boots modelled off of WWII aircraft do look good. Also the designs of the Neuroi enemies based on prototype aircraft were also pretty good.

The sound wasn't terrible. The OP and ED weren't ... very memorable and the actual sound design didn't really have any faults.

The story is full of plot devices designed for fanservice. Only gender with magical powers are women, and they 'reach their magical peak' at 18 years old. The lack of trousers and skirts is put down to the girls needing to be ready at a moments notice to sortie, although in this version of Japan, it seems young girls generally just only wear underwear.

The actual plot is full of rehashed ideas and tired cliches borrowed from a variety of other anime. Unassuming young teenage protagonist is thrust into a world of magic and/or battles against mysterious and powerful enemy, and suprisingly has great untapped potential. Each episode revolves around some plot point for minor character development which is resolved in the end by usually overcoming a challenge to destroy a bad guy. The required forseeable plot twist near the end is also present.

Character development is incredibly minimal for characters outside of the protagonist Yoshika, which leaves the show with a cast of one dimensional stereotypes with different body design to appeal to varying fetishes.

All in all, its a terrible show, and only for those who need more loli fapping material.