[Secret Droolers is What We Are – MGX Episode 2]
“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity”, Robert A. Heinlein
Jealousy is a strong emotion in people. It drives us to do things that we may not normally do. It wears down our emotions and eats at our souls. And in no other place is jealousy stronger when in comes to our relations with other people. The fear that losing someone who you’re emotionally tied to can lead to some extreme behavior. In last weeks episode of MGX, we start to see the relationship between Urabe and Tsubaki grow. Time has begun to pass on their routine, and they’ve settled down into a particular pattern. But all this changes when people start to come between his best friend and his girlfriend.
Tsubaki’s insecurity takes it’s first hit (this week) when he runs into his best friend Ueno kissing fellow classmate Oka. After last weeks Q&A session, it comes as a great surprise to Tsubaki that his friend has a girlfriend, and a secret one at that! But in a pattern that we’ve seen already, Tsubaki begins to feel a level of insecurity and jealousy that leads him to wanting more from his relationship with Urabe. This constant insecurity forces Urabe to once again teach him a lesson through the power of drool. In a dream brought on a by a special day’s drool, Tsubaki realizes that a kiss is pointless if the feelings between them aren’t aligned. When she confronts him the next day, he shares his revelation with her, and their relationship returns to normal.
But it’s this situation, combined with last week’s insecurities, that we see the biggest fault with Tusbaki. Because their relationship is private, and Urabe at times distant, he lacks any sort of ‘normal’ security that the relationships around him have. And his continued weakness in the face of unknown continually makes his character a bother in the story at times. It makes you want to reach out and yell “man up!”
Sometimes, a little competition can be a good thing. Not in Tsubaki’s case. Another classmate of theirs, Ogata confesses to Urabe, and when she tells Tsubaki of this, he goes into another neurotic worry fit. Not only does she not say “no”, she delays her response until the next day. He spends the night worrying, leaving he a bit tired the next day. But Urabe has a plan to test Ogata and Tsubaki to see which person is best suited to be her boyfriend. She performs the Routine with Ogata, with no reaction on his part. But with Tsubaki, a veritable fountain of blood flows from his nose.
What does it take to trigger such a violent reaction? How about her emotional state from going a full day with no underwear on! This confirms, for her, that her bond with Tsubaki is the right one, that they understand each other’s feelings now. I would venture to say that in addition to that, Tsubaki understands that Urabe is definitely a little different from normal girls.
So in two episodes, what has Tsubaki gotten for all of his insecurity and jealousy? An appreciation for ant-acid, and a clean white pair of Urabe’s panties.
Anime Audiolog 
On the note of Urabe delaying her response to Ogata, did you see @DreamKatari and I’s discussion about, depending on how you view the relationship, she basically cheated on Akira and didn’t tell him about it?
It’s not really much of a defense, but Urabe’s thought patterns don’t really match up with what we consider “normal”. It’s much more apparent in the manga of course, but what we might consider virtually cheating doesn’t really occur to her as such.
I don’t really look it as cheating either, lets see… Something like: your special bond with your wife is tennis, you do it together all the time and you love it, one day she plays tennis with another guy to see how good you really are; sure, that was not nice for her but still it won’t count as cheating unless sexual activity is involved (like kissing or something). This is when the rationality kicks in, their droll is what they both share and is special for them, but for a third person it’s just plain disgusting.
But the ‘sexual’ activity is the drool exchange. Penetration from one person to the next, with an exchange of fluid. That exchange is an emotional and physical bond shared between the two. I can see how this would be considered cheating when taken on a more symbolic level. And Myssa is right, Urabe’s thought patterns are not traditional. She does not see it as cheating. Her mind is in a whole other place.
Men have great trouble handling secret relationships, as far as I know. It irks them to no end that they cannot boast.
It’s not about boasting, though that exists. It’s actually about relationship protection, especially in a Japanese setting. A girl being in a relationship doesn’t make her off limits, but it does set up a higher barrier. Ogata wouldn’t have bothered if he knew she was attached.
Tsubaki is trading a level of social anxiety for a lack of basic relationship security, in keeping it quiet. This just goes with the choice. And given how mysterious Urabe operates, there are bound to be a lot of confusion.
A lot of guys want to boast about their relationships, at least in a western setting. But SQA has a point about things are a little different in their cultural setting. Being secretive and mysterious only leads to awkward situations with these two.
Boasting really only works if you have a hot girlfriend. Some guys might otherwise, but, even in a Western context, that’s not terribly interesting. Even for most 15 year olds. (They’re first year Japanese high school, right? Which makes them 15/16)
While having the relationship out in the open does actually contain a limited level of relationship protection (in a more rigid social system like Japan, especially), as it limits the number of guys that will approach Urabe, the truth is for Tsubaki that the social consequences would be pretty rough. He’s dating the girl that spends every break drooling on the desk. Would you want to deal with people bothering you about that daily? He trades one thing (limiting guys that would intrude on the relationship) for another thing (lack of social ostracization). I think it’s probably the smart choice, given the situation, but it’s still a choice that has consequences, like with Ogata.
I truly believe that this girl is nothing but trouble to him. Also him being so inexperienced with love and relationships period, he’s being disrespected and doesn’t even know it.
He is normal. He has normal views on relationships. From what I’ve seen in the show and his reactions to their relationship. He thinks its normal for a boyfriend and girlfriend to hold hands, kiss or hug. Dismissing how he feels about his relationship because she isn’t normal is wrong and most definitely unfair.
She’s making him give up and change everything about his views to hers. She hasn’t compromised yet on anything. But she keeps sticking that drool in his mouth.
I totally understand, boyfriend and girlfriend don’t mean husband an wife, but Im pretty sure no matter what culture your in, you dont date other people while youre someone’s girlfriend or boyfriend. In that case, you can just remain single.
In this episode she completely violated his feelings and their relationship by her actions. Sticking her drool in another guys mouth is a most definite no no. That’s cheating. No if’s ands or buts. She understands what being a guy’s girlfriend means. But she also does whatever she wants and never compromises on it. Why does she even care if another guy reacts to her drool? She’s taken. She shouldnt be wondering or giving anybody else a chance to see. If she wants to do that, she should break up with Akira. Their bond is that drool and she shared it with someone else. I bet you she’d whip those scissors out on him if she caught him drool tasting with one of her female classmates.
It’s cheating. Period.
Sorry for the late response, but her goes.
I see two very different character types in their responses to the relationship. His views are more traditional; holding hands, going to movies, etc. Her views are not.
After reading the manga, it almost seems as if there is an subtle message about the routine of the drool exchange. It almost comes to represent the act of sex. Penetration from one person to the next, with an exchange of fluid. The emotions that come with that act. That exchange is an emotional and physical bond shared between the two. I can see how this would be considered cheating when taken on a more symbolic level.
If you begin to look at things that way, than instead of being a conservative story about two kids working out their feelings for one another, than it’s actually a story about a girl and boy working out their sexuality with themselves and others. They end up being in a promiscuous relationship, learning about sex and emotions.
I don’t think exchanging drool is considered a form of sex. It’s treated more as if it were a kiss, since it has the magical power to tell each other their feelings, not to mention that by kissing there is an exchange of drool (without it being exposed to dirt and external microbes though).As such
(besides the ironic implications), what she did is in my view a form of cheating, since she basically tried out to see if the other’s feelings were true rather than refuse on principle.
On the other hand, it’s notable that the gender roles (or rather, the usual expectations) between the couple are reversed, as shown when it’s Tsubaki the one who mentions that others kissed to trigger some sort of jealousy or competitiveness on Urabe’s part, so confirming the theory posted on the thread for the previous episode.
Finnaly, doesn’t it seem like the show is being too formulaic, despite the relevant aesops?
I expanded on this in the next post. Come check and out and see what you think.
I think you’re right, there is a formula for now, but as the show progresses, I think we’ll start to see things mix up a little bit.
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