Nazo no Kanojo X episode 9

If I were to say only one thing about this episode, it would be this: it was certainly very interesting. Perhaps I blew my anti-sexism trumpet too hard during my post focusing on episode 7 but, the theme of possessiveness was undeniably present during this episode, and what’s more, it was on both parts- surprising as Urabe’s always been fairly unconventional, you can never usually second-guess her actions but, she actually reacted as you’d expect most girls to react to Tsubaki’s infatuation with an idol, which was a little unexpected in itself…

During this episode Tsubaki’s possessiveness over his girlfriend was emphasised once again when he implored that she go back to her original hairstyle, (in other words, cover up her face) so the other males in their school would stop looking at her- not that he explained this reasoning to her! Now, one can interpret this as being that he’s just looking out for her, knowing full well that the other boys in her class are practically salivating over her but, I’m not so sure. I think the use of colour during that scene says it all really. I’m sure you all know this already, but the colour red is often used in various art forms to represent anger, aggression, danger, etc. And whilst Tsubaki hardly seemed as though he were about to explode with anger over the attention Urabe had received earlier on during that day, the use of red during that scene makes you feel uneasy all the same. Red’s not a colour you’d usually associate with nice, pleasant things, (although, saying that, it’s actually my favourite colour!) which makes me think the producers don’t want us to see Tsubaki reverting Urabe back to her old-self as a nice, pleasant thing either, on a more subconscious level.

But, let us not forget that it wasn’t just Tsubaki who was possessive during this episode, but Urabe also. I have to admit that I could identify more with Urabe than Tsubaki during this episode, for once. I mean, why would Tsubaki bother buying a photo-book of an idol who looked like Urabe because she looked like Urabe when he could just look at Urabe, if you get my drift, which is exactly what Urabe herself seemed to think. Perhaps, like me, she suspected something underhanded, perhaps she also suspected Tsubaki was interested merely for the inevitable bikini shots, (though I did kinda change my mind when he pointed out that his favourite photo was the one where Momoka was beaming at the camera- as a girl that did make me soften up a little- all girls like to think that guys’ favourite feature of a girl is their smile, although that’s probably naïve!) This scene also made use of colour, specifically, the colour green, to show that all this made Urabe slightly jealous (Tsubaki’s pointing it out probably wasn’t necessary- everyone’s familiar with the term ‘green-eyed monster’) so, basically, there’s possessiveness and jealousy on both parts. It all seems pretty unhealthy to me… I mean, possessiveness suggests a need to control due to insecurity in the relationship, but why either of them would feel insecure when neither of them have been given much reason to be is beyond me! I’m not sure where the show’s going with this, which brings me on to my next point.

I’ve been thinking this for a while, what is this relationship about? At points it’s fantastical and bizarre, at others it seems a fairly realistic portrayal of two adolescents’ first-time romance, (what with the mistakes they seem to make in communicating with one another and Urabe’s thinly-veiled awkwardness) Sometimes their relationship is as sweet as a chewed up toffee, but at other times it’s felt really unhealthy, as mentioned above and during my rant on episode 7. Their relationship’s about as bloody consistent as the English weather! And it’s because of this I have no idea what it is the show wants its audience to think about it, and have little idea where it’s going, which is a little disconcerting given that there’s only 4 episodes left ‘til the series’ conclusion! Whereas before I’ve praised Nazo no Kanojo for being quite clever in that it knows what it’s doing at all times, now I’m not so sure…

Oh another, less serious note, we’ve sure had some strange fetishes in anime this year… First tooth-brushing, now this!