" Tsubaki-kun! Here! Your daily dose! "
- Urabe
Mikoto Urabe (卜部美琴 Urabe Mikoto) is the main female protagonist and titular 'mysterious girlfriend' of Akira Tsubaki in the series. She is a new transfer student to Tsubaki's school, and he soon falls in love with her thanks, in part, to a series of dreams, as well as their 'bond in drool'. Urabe seems to live mostly on her own in an apartment, although her parents, especially her dad, are not entirely absent.
Personality
By nature, Urabe is a girl of few words and very little facial expression. To the outside observer she seems to be very stoic and blunt, having very few visible emotions. This, however, is not really the case. In reality, Urabe experiences the same broad range of emotions as anyone else would, although she expresses some of them in slightly different ways.
She can be quite anti-social, not seeking out friends, and in some cases actively trying to reject friendship from other people. This seems to be somewhat linked to her constant tiredness at school, resulting in her taking naps during breaks, and adds to her mysterious persona.
Slightly juxtaposed to her tough and distant demeanor is the realization that she can sometimes think and feel like the stereotypical high school girl. She is shown to get extremely embarrassed at the idea of anyone seeing her naked, or of having to appear in front of a big crowd. She is revealed to have been giddily happy when Tsubaki told her he thought she looked nice in her swimsuit, after that emotion is transmitted to Tsubaki, and then becomes embarrassed when Tsubaki reveals he knows that she was happy, even running away because of it.
She has very defined rules about her personal space, not allowing Tsubaki to touch her - including hugs or holding hands - unless she so wishes. Whenever he tries, she usually ends up getting angry and cutting up a nearby sign or textbook to vent her frustration and to intimidate Tsubaki, reminding him to ask first next time. This is somewhat contradicted when Tsubaki asks if she would be mad if he put his arm around her in chapter 55, and she points her scissors at him as a warning not to. If Tsubaki teases her or makes her feel too embarrassed, it will usually trigger her short temper - this is sometimes preceded by an angry and disarming glare she will give Tsubaki.
Even though she may use her scissors to intimidate Tsubaki when he tries to invade her personal space or otherwise express his love for her, she doesn't ever intend to actually hurt him with them. On two occasions she has drawn Tsubaki's blood via tiny cuts, although the first time was an accident, which caused her to be visibly and extremely upset, a rare occurrence for the normally stoic Urabe. When Tsubaki trips, and tries to avoid falling on her in fear of inciting her wrath, subsequently hitting his head on her bedframe, she thereafter hugs him and lets him know that she'd be okay with a hug, if it would stop him from being hurt.
She occasionally shows a rather possessive personality, getting really jealous when he looks at other girls, including girls in magazines (especially idol Imai Momoka, who looks just like her); in one chapter she went as far as getting into his room to shred all his magazines with two scissors, one in each hand, to prove a point. Her drool makes Tsubaki feel extremely heavy if she suspects he's thinking about other girls.
Despite the short temper, somewhat-tsundere personality traits, and reliance on her scissors, Urabe is completely in love with Tsubaki, and is quite close and very honest to him. She has yet to actually tell him that she's in love with him, but has done so in the manga in her own special ways. She's also sometimes protective of him, as well as seemingly indifferent to him by walking away from him without a word, however, she deeply cares about his feelings.
Apart from her feelings for Tsubaki, she has an immense love for cats, often becoming distracted when they are around. When a cat ignored her once she became so upset that Tsubaki cried when he tasted her drool. She also seems to be obsessed with UFOs and aliens, as seen by her UFO charm on her bookbag and posters in her bedroom. Finally, she really loves the ocean and swimming in it, going with Tsubaki a few times during the summers, over the course of their relationship. In the manga, she has even induced Tsubaki to skip school for a day, so as to enjoy a afternoon at the beach.
History
Very little is known about her and her past life before transferring to Tsubaki's school, but she seems to already be very knowledgeable about the powers inherent in her drool, and the bond it can create. Later, she admitted to Tsubaki that he is her first boyfriend, that she has never been in love with another boy, and has never been kissed by another boy, ever.
When she transferred to Tsubaki's school, she immediately begins to exhibit weird behaviour. She gives a curt greeting when first introduced to the class, soon becomes distant from her classmates, begins the habit of sleeping during breaks, does not eat lunch until much later in the school year, refusing to talk to other girls who want to be friends with her, and suddenly bursting out into a fit of laughter towards the end of her first day, which she refuses to explain why she did so, until much later. Because of this, very few people dare approach her or talk to her, thus allowing for Tsubaki and Urabe's relationship to remain mostly secret.
Shortly after making the transfer, Urabe and Tsubaki form the 'bond of drool' that ties them together as a couple. Later, Urabe reveals to Tsubaki that the reason she laughed so hard in school on her first day was because an unknown 'voice' or premonition told her that Tsubaki would be her first sexual partner. Separately, Tsubaki has a dream that revels he will have sex relations with a girl for the first time, that girl being Urabe. Ever since then, they have declared to one another that they will be boyfriend and girlfriend, in their own special way.
Urabe likes to take her new relationship very slowly, either waiting for Tsubaki to try and push it forward or generally not too bothered to force anything. Due to having a little trouble communicating with Tsubaki verbally, she tends to rely on her drool to properly convey her true feelings, and to sometimes understand his.
She becomes friends, albeit reluctantly, with Ayuko Oka after she accidentally forms a bond of drool with her when they share a bottle of water. This had been Oka's plan all along, probably because Urabe had repeatedly declared to Oka that she does not need any friends, but since that time, they have eaten lunch together, as well as hanging out together during the gender-segregated P.E. classes. Oka is not as intimidated by Urabe as Tsubaki is, and becomes somewhat of a confidant to Urabe, who will sometimes tell Oka first, the things that she plans to talk to Tsubaki about.
After visiting the Tsubaki's home a couple of times under the pretense of giving him handouts from school, his sister Youko Tsubaki recognizes Urabe on the street and became friends with her. Although they see each other rarely without Tsubaki present, Urabe usually ends up secretly discussing her relationship with Youko. When she finally reveals to her that she is dating Tsubaki, Youko is at first very supportive of this, but then relays to her the story of her first boyfriend in high school, which didn't last long after they graduated. Despite this, Urabe seems happy to continue on with her relationship with both Youko and Tsubaki, without apparent conflict between the three of them.
Throughout Urabe's relationship with Tsubaki, she's constantly having to prove to both herself and to Tsubaki of their love for one another, sometimes by intimidation, and that they are still going on as boyfriend and girlfriend, due to the series of girls that fall for or want to use him in a romantic way. She's managed to win out in the end every time due to the strength of their drool bond, and Tsubaki genuinely not wanting to leave her, but in the process has been made to stand in for a famous idol, perform with the school track relay team and swim team, and also star as an antagonist in a movie that resembles her relationship with Tsubaki.
Her relationship with Tsubaki has changed her bodily sensations in some ways. After years of doing so, she can now no longer sleep naked in her bed without having erotic dreams, and she soon switches pyjamas for a shirt Tsubaki left her as a substitute one day. A major change occurs when Tsubaki loses control one day when Urabe allows him to touch her boobs. He then decides to go farther, by pushing her to the floor and licking her ear, and even then attempting their first kiss, thereby causing her to tear up and cry. Apparently, though, it was actually a pleasant sensation for Urabe that gave her the tears of joy, soon replicated by massaging her earlobe herself later the next day. However, she admits to herself, as well as confiding to Oka, that it was an experience that she had never felt before, possibly being her first feeling of preliminary foreplay.
Towards the end of the manga, her and Tsubaki's feelings begin to align regarding finally kissing. They are interrupted numerous times until the very last chapter when she gets him alone and asks him to kiss her outright. She reveals that once they begin to kiss, that action would replace their 'daily routine' completely. Tsubaki in the end refuses to do so, saying they should wait until they graduate so that they can preserve their daily routine throughout high school. Whether Urabe believes they will drift apart after High School like Tsubaki's sister warned her is unclear, but for now she genuinely wishes to stay together with Tsubaki forever - although she doesn't have the courage to tell him that yet.
Physical appearance
Urabe is a girl of average height characterized by her unruly thick black hair which falls over half her face. Under all that hair though she is very beautiful, to the point that it causes quite a stir among the boys at her school when she has her hair done up for one day in a twin tails hairstyle by Oka, thereby reveling her full, uncovered face.
Despite her age, she is shown to have a very developed figure. On multiple occasions she seems to have quite large breasts and a physically fit body. Tsubaki has often commented on how nice her body looks to him, although the author himself has mentioned this might be because we're seeing Urabe through Tsubaki's eyes. When she is not in her school uniform she is seen to dress very nicely, although somewhat provocatively showing her long, slender legs. She tends to wear dresses and mini-skirts, because they still allow her easy access to her panty scissors. She seems to prefer to wear bikini swimsuits to the beach, much to the delight of Tsubaki. During winter, when it is cold, she wears a garter belt and stockings for warmth, but still wears skirts so that she can still keep her scissors hidden in her panties.
In the original manga one-shot chapter, her hair was shoulder length, but by the time the manga became serialized, her hair was much shorter. This story of how she cut her hair is told with an omake chapter in the manga, where she cuts her hair blurring fast with her scissors, with questionable results. In the anime, her hair is already short, and not longer, when she first transfers.
Powers
- Main article: Drool
According to chapter 28.5: Special Moves Report, Urabe has six special techniques:
- Special Move 1: "Panty Scissors" (although Urabe dislikes this term and insists her 'Panty Scissors' or their attack does not have a name).
- Special Move 2: "Mysterious Burst of Laughter". Urabe's laughter in chapter 0 when the 'voice' or premonition tells her she will lose her virginity to Tsubaki. It has the ability to scare off her classmates, according to Tsubaki.
- Special Move 3: "Urabe's Instant-Death Look". The stare that Urabe will regularly use to disarm or dissuade Tsubaki. He calls it the 'Medusa's Gaze' as well.
- Special Move 4: "Urabe Tornado". Urabe will spin on the spot, like how a female ice skater spins in one place on the ice. Tsubaki surmises it is used to concentrate the feelings in her drool, however he does not think that later on, she does it when angry, and before unleashing a scissor attack.
- Special Move 5: "Urabe's Drool". The mysterious drool that Urabe produces. Her drool seems to come in two forms, the 'usual' dose for everyday use, and an 'enhanced' dose that occurs when she is naked, or produced when she is in an alternate stimulated form.
- Special Move 6: "Drool Spout". The name for when Urabe is overflowing with drool, and that occurs when she is made extremely happy in chapter 0/episode 1. So much of her drool is produced, that she seems to be vomiting.
The chapter is presented as a bit of humour, so the names and explanations are to be taken as a bit of a joke.
Scissors
Panty scissors as seen on the cover of the first volume
Among her many other quirks, Urabe keeps a pair of scissors in her panties that Tsubaki calls her 'Panty Scissors'. Urabe is extremely proficient with the scissors, and can use them to very accurately cut objects at high speed, like making a nearby hedge resemble Tsubaki or shredding a nearby sign. The scissors are used as threats, displays of anger or frustration, and as a defensive measure. One time Tsubaki objects to Urabe showing her white panties to him as she accesses her scissors. Urabe states that if it is only Tsubaki that is seeing her panties, than she does not mind at all. This is but one of the factors that keeps Tsubaki from being more forward and aggressive with their relationship, although he seems to be generally fine with following Urabe's slower pace.
Urabe unleashing her scissors in the manga, but not actually cutting Tsubaki
While she generally keeps them holstered in her panties, in the winter she will wear a garter belt that allows her to wear stockings for warmth, and still wear her winter school uniform skirt, as well as keeping her scissors on her person. When she forgoes underwear on a windy day to produce and 'enhanced' drool, to prove her bond with Tsubaki by offering her drool to another boy who asked her out, she kept her scissors in her school bag. Then when Tsubaki annoyed her, she forgot they weren't in her panties, and had to reach into her bag to grab them. By the time she remembered where they were, and got her scissors out of her bookbag, by then her initial anger from the moment was gone, she merely taps Tsubaki on the head with them.
On a very warm day, when Urabe was still wearing her warmer winter school uniform, Tsubaki comments to her that she is sweating like crazy. Urabe begins what looks like a reach for her panty scissors by lifting up her skirt. Then Tsubaki quickly becomes quite agitated, expecting to see her scissors flash, only to realize that Urabe has both a pair of scissors and a folded up fan holstered by her panties, and she retrieves the fan and opens it to cool herself.
She was once seen using two scissors at once when she had a lot of cutting to do, suggesting she is ambidextrous with her scissors. Otherwise, she uses her right hand while cutting.
When she found Imai Momoka knocking out Tsubaki with a high kick, she immediately rushed in with her scissors for an attack. Her scissor skills seem an even match for Momoka's devastating high kicks, shredding her dress in one instance before being knocked out herself.
She has also used her scissors to cut and peel vegetables for a curry she made Tsubaki - whether this is her normal practice or something she did just for the meal she made Tsubaki is unknown.
In the preview for episode 3 of the anime, Urabe says her scissors can cut 12.6 cm deep, which is apparently common for most scissors. In the extra chapter Special Moves Report, Tsubaki says her Panty Scissors Attack is more powerful than the finishing moves of Ultraseven and Mazinger Z, named Eye Slugger and Rocket Punch respectively. In canon this is likely untrue, but he also goes on to suggest the spinning she does with the scissors is supposed to represent the way a gunslinger in Wild West movies would twirl their gun.
In the manga, after Oka finds out that Urabe carries scissors in her panties, and can fire off a panty scissors attack in an instant, Oka remarks how sexy that must be. Later, Oka, with her boyfriend seated with a sheet of gauze held up between his hands, tries to quickly remove a pair of scissors from her panties, spin them around her finger, and cut up the sheet of gauze, much to the horror and apprehension of her boyfriend.
The Mystery Of Urabe
On the surface of the story, the mystery of Urabe seems to center around her drool powers, her constantly absent parents, her unknown background, her physical skills including - but not limited to - her scissors, her constant tiredness in class, her appalling lack of social skills, and her repeated desire to have no friends whatsoever.
While many fan theories persisted throughout the years on whether she would be revealed to be an alien, robot, magical girl or something else fantastical, Riichi Ueshiba has said that this may not be the case. While originally wanting a supernatural aspect, like in his previous works, an editor pointed out to him that, to a teenage boy, his first girlfriend represents one of the greatest mysteries of his adolescence.
In the end, not much is explained about Urabe's nature, 'powers', or background, leaving the reader or viewer to make their own interpretations.
Trivia
Height: 162 cm (5'3"), Weight: 53 kg (117 lb), Hair Color: Black, Eye Color: Dark Green