Great Teacher Onizuka is a series I need to get back around to watching and eventually finishing, the episodes I saw were fantastic.
Mysterious Girlfriend X
This is a series that I first heard of back when it was being broadcast in 2012, but I never got around to watching it. I must admit that this was due to me finding the premise to be a bit... unusual. For those that don't know, it centers around two high school students, Akira Tsubaki and Mikoto Urabe. Mikoto is an unusual girl, she sleeps during lunch break, makes no effort to engage with anyone or tries to befriend her fellow students, and one day she burst outs in a hysterical fit of laughter (later explained at the end of episode 1). One day Akira forgets his lunch box and goes back up to get it, only to find Mikoto still there, sleeping and wakes her up, after she leaves, he notices a bit of saliva on her table and for some reason, proceeds to pick up a piece and lick it. This causes the two to have a bond, which allows them to transfer their emotions via their saliva, but can also make Akira sick from withdrawal symptoms of this "love sickness" if he doesn't acquire said saliva on a regular basis.
So, why is this unusual? Well, the reason why I personally find this to be unusual, is because, besides this "drool bond" (and Mikoto's prowess with a pair of scissors), this series has it's feet placed firmly on the ground, within reality. In most other shows, there would be an exposition early on (probably within the plot synopsis along with the drool bond) that would explain Mikoto's strange behaviour, like being a superhero by night, or an intergalactic space demon or some other zany thing the human mind can think up. But nope, she just appears to be a normal, human girl, and a mysterious one at that.
I have to say, that watching the first two or three episodes, I wasn't really sure if I liked this series, because this series is fairly realistic in it's setting and I wasn't sure if I was really supposed to find Mikoto a sympathetic character given how strange she is with little to no explanation, I was genuinely fearing for Akira's safety more than anything else (any sane person would). But, after watching more episodes, I found a sense of enjoyment that I haven't had from a Rom-Com since I first watched Kare Kano. The relationship is established early on (within the first episode in fact) and from there on in it's about Akira and Mikoto growing together as a couple, Akira trying to become more mature and responsible (he acts like a right doofus in some episodes, episode 8 being a prime example of this, it's not afraid of getting a bit dark at times) and also seeing more of Mikoto's personality as time goes on and her willingness to let other people in her life.
My only complaint is that this series was not long enough and the ending was a bit weak (it blatantly sets itself up for a second season), though I can understand why seeing how many volumes were probably released before the show went into production. It's a shame, because shows like this are generally quite niche, with little to no hope for a second season in sight (I'm still waiting on a Nyan Koi! sequel damnit!), so I guess it's time to go and read the manga to satisfy my needs.
8/10