Kazuya Kinoshita is a 20-year-old college student who has a wonderful girlfriend: the bright and sunny Mami Nanami. But suddenly, he does not. Without warning, Mami breaks up with him, leaving him utterly heartbroken and lonely. Seeking to soothe the pain, he hires a rental girlfriend through an online app. His partner is Chizuru Mizuhara, who through her unparalleled beauty and cute demeanor, manages to gain Kazuya's affection.
But after reading similar experiences other customers had had with Chizuru, Kazuya believes her warm smile and caring personality were all just an act to toy with his heart, and he rates her poorly. Aggravated, Chizuru lambastes him for his shameless hypocrisy, revealing her true pert and hot-tempered self. This one-sided exchange is cut short, however, when Kazuya finds out that his grandmother has collapsed.
They dash toward the hospital and find Kazuya's grandmother already in good condition. Baffled by Chizuru's presence, she asks who this girl might be. On impulse, Kazuya promptly declares that they are lovers, forcing Chizuru to play the part. But with Kazuya still hung up on his previous relationship with Mami, how long can this difficult client and reluctant rental girlfriend keep up their act?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Stark700
If there’s one anime character this year that I want to punch, one character that I want to throw off a bridge, or one character that I simply want to say ‘you’re pathetic’ to their face, it would be Kazuya Kinoshita. Imagine living in your neighborhood and all of a certain, there’s a hot girl living right next door to you. What’s the first thing you’d say to her? For Kazuya, his first conversation with Chizuru Mizuhara doesn’t exactly go his way. He’s far from an alpha male and his social experience is far from his set of skills. In fact, his girlfriend Mami even dumpedhim from the very first episode. Not more than 10 minutes into the show, Kazuya is single again and he got so desperate that he decided to rent a girlfriend. Talk about being pathetic.
You’re probably asking yourself if Kazuya is worth the time watching at all judging from the first few minutes of the very first episode. If you want to save the time, do yourself a favor and drop the anime altogether. If you’re a curious animal, then Kanojo, Okarishimasu will offer the type of guilty pleasure experience of following the life of Kazuya. It doesn’t take a genius to see that he is a thirsty guy. Even his friends falls into this category with their daydream fantasies. Unfortunately, Kazuya is the biggest culprit of being a pervert. It seems the show can’t go on without a single episode of him dreaming up some perverted fantasy, whether it’s between him or other individuals with some pretty girl. Oh and Kazuya represents the insecurity of a manchild. I could say this more than once because throughout the show, he suffers from a deep inferiority complex. When comparing himself to the girls, they seem way out of his league. He is so insecure that he had to resort to blackmail to impress his friends and grandmother.
Now, watching Mizuhara is a different story. She’s the complete opposite of Kazuya, or at least on the surface. Representing the perfect female role model, she’s beautiful, intelligent, and polite with great manners. But that’s just the tip of iceberg. Deep down, Mizuhara is shown to be a short tempered girl who seems to also be insecure about her own life. I’m not going to lie, seeing Mizuhara’s 180 degree personality change is satisfying. The words she says to Kazuya’s face after her broken façade is exactly what I’d say to him. Their relationship throughout the show is built on lies. It gets to the point where they resort to lying to their families in order to make them happy. In reality, it’s easy to see why since they made their choices. But how long can it go on? Will they take these lies to their graves?
Storytelling also seems to coincide with fate. Kazuya’s meeting with Mizuhara is just one example but later on, he also encounters Ruka, another rental girlfriend. This brings up complicated manners when she decides to be Kazuya’s girlfriend. She even knows the truth about Mizuhara being a fake and it complicates the story altogether. Kazuya himself realizes the hole he dug himself into and has little choice than to comply with Ruka’s wishes. The irony here is that Kazuya himself gets blackmailed after he blackmailed Mizuhara. Kazuya and Chizuru’s relationship also gets more complicated as it takes on a toll for both characters. At first, it’s somewhat easy to feel sympathetic for either of them. But in truth, there should be no pity. They made their choices on their own. No one really forced them to be in a fake relationship. They chose to make their decisions and the consequences of their actions is their own responsibility. That’s some real life drama that can be applied to any relationship. Only here, it just makes both characters look weak and vulnerable.
It’s rather comedic the show is tagged with romance. Of course, the catch is that the romance in this anime is fake built on deception since the first episode. Most characters don’t realize this between Kazuya and Chizuru. Ruka’s entry into the story also adds herself as a rival. Mami, Kazuya’s ex-girlfriend, also shows that she is more manipulative than meets the eye. As such, the series injects many scenes of misunderstandings. Some of these are close calls where Kazuya and Chizuru’s secret almost ends being exposed to public. It’s beyond pathetic to watch some of these scenes although such circumstances naturally fits with this anime’s themes. Still, I do want to admire the show’s integrity to keep up with its main premise. Kazuya and Chizuru represents how two very different individuals manage to come together. They are so different that they’re almost like different species. I’m not going to lie, watching this pair’s strange character chemistry sometimes can be mildly entertaining. And if anything else, Kazuya sometimes makes me laugh unintentionally for just being Kazuya.
Despite the show’s degenerate cast of characters, the artwork style is vibrant with energy. Almost every female character makes the male population turn their heads with their beauty. Mizuhara is the biggest example as she represents the iconic girlfriend, someone who you’d want to show off like a trophy wife. With a slim figure, lavish long hair, and charming smile, Mizuhara serves as the poster girl of the show. Similarly, Mami, Ruka, and Sumi all have their own feminine characteristics that is easily alluring. But if we talk about Kazuya, he just looks like your average guy with his pathetic little smirk and endless fantasies. When applying to the voice acting, I also do applaud Mizuhara’s VA during her personality changes. It’s not always easy to play a character this way but it is convincing. And if we talk about Mami, then she represents the bitch you won’t know what hit you before it’s too late.
If every relationship was built on a lie like Kazuya and Mizuhara, then we would be living in a world of illusions. I hope that’s not the case for you if you’re in a relationship. Fake relationships almost always have its consequences and this anime shows why. Discarding the real life comparisons, this anime itself is one that’s is deceptive to the core. Romance? Forget that because we’re not getting a real storyteller. Every episode makes me despise the main protagonist and he doesn’t get any better. If anything else, this anime taught me not to be like Kazuya.
Marinate1016
Look, I like a lot stuff that most people would consider trash. Some of the many 10s I've given out have gone to series that most of MAL, reddit and the rest of the anime community brushed off as bad. I'm easy to please. So when something doesn't please me, it's gotta be subterranean level garbage. That's what KanoKari is. At least in this first season, I've not read the manga so I can't comment on the MC's eventual development blah blah. What I can comment on is the absolute dumpster fire of a first season that this show got. The only. And I meanONLY redeemable quality of this show is the waifus. I love all of the girls except Chizuru and they carry the show for me.
On its own, the concept of renting a girlfriend due to not being able to get one on your own is actually a pretty cool idea for a manga/anime. The idea of the show is not the issue. It's the execution. You have Kazuya, a 20 year old degenerate who is not only a loser by real life standards, he's a real life loser. I mean at least most harem portags are pretty cool and people you could imagine yourself hanging out with. This guy? I wouldn't go near him with a 10 foot pole. He's the most deplorable, scummy and downright trash MC I have seen in a long time. In one of the episodes he literally stalks Chizuru while she's on a date and people downplay it because of a cute moment at the end of the episode.
Again, I am told he gets better in the manga, but this review is for the first season, yes you heard that right, this garbage somehow got popular enough for a second season, of the anime. I honestly struggled to get through some episodes just because of how cringe scenarios and dialogue was. Despite these negatives, I did enjoy the character designs which I think are some of the best in anime, I did enjoy the girls(except mizuhara) and the series has some type of brightness to its aesthetic that sucks you in. I don't quite know how to explain it.
TL;DR This show is trash, but it's addictive trash and sucks you in. You will like the girls, hate the MC and probably rate it as a mediocre rom com. Still, I'd recommend giving it a go.
Kanokari gets 5 ribbon headbands out of 10.
HellLyter
Everyone really be out here hating on this show for its depiction of a hopelessly perverted protagonist and a morally questionable theme whereas I’m just over here enjoying the heck out of this cute yet cringy anime. Rent-A-Girlfriend is the latest installation in the ever popular RomCom genre. Anime of this nature are often criticized for generally following similar structures and plot progression, so each individual one often comes with its own “quirky’” gimmick in an attempt to set itself apart from the crowd and draw in some intrigue. The one in this anime happens to revolve around rentable girlfriends. That’s right weebs of culture!No longer do you have to suffer through complicated emotions in a fruitless attempt to find true love. All you need to do is click a few buttons (and have enough money to pay her of course) and boom! Instant girlfriend for a day. And the bonus? She’s super cute and will have a perfect personality. Since, you know, she’s payed to be like that. This is the situation that protagonist Kazuya finds himself in after getting dumped by his first ever girlfriend and fapping away his sorrows. And it comes to the surprise of no one that Kazuya and his rental girlfriend Chizuru get caught up in an aWkWArD misunderstanding that causes them to fake a real relationship and lie to their friends and family while truly falling in love along the way…yeah, you get the picture.
So it’s no secret that asides from the gimmick, the narrative is pretty plain. The show goes just about as you’d expect. Kazuya and Chizuru have their share of awkward and funny moments. Other girls, Mami the masquerading home-wrecker and Ruka the eternally ignored short haired girl who’s super dedicated, come into the picture to add a little drama and humor. There’s also this girl named Sumi who makes an appearance in the second to last episode, which I thought was a weird decision to include her so late by the directors. Kazuya also has two friends and a grandma who surprisingly get involved in the narrative, which I liked.
What’s probably the most unique aspect of Rent-A-Girlfriend is the sheer amount of times that it made me cringe. It got so bad that I actually paused the show several times and had to tell myself that it’s just fiction, there’s no need to feel this way. But you know what’s funny? I actually liked this approach. It was clearly intentional by the author and gave the show a little more flavor. I mean, I cared enough to actively facepalm and feel mild discomfort whenever Kazuya did something stupid (which was probably every episode), so that definitely has to be a positive, right?
The plot certainly isn’t the focal point of Rent-A-Girlfriend, but it’s solid enough to let the show’s most important aspect take the spotlight…the girlfriends.
Three of the four main girls in the show start off as rental girlfriends. Chizuru is the first, and she’s the type of girl who can easily change her personality to fit the mood. She’s also a pretty dependable person and provides good support to Kazuya. Some might say that she acts a little TOO nice to him considering the crap he pulls sometimes, but you gotta remember that the guy saved her life and simps for her like crazy with many a cash donation, so her behavior totally makes sense. Mami brings some nice early tension and drama before disappearing from the show entirely until the very end. Ruka ended up being my favorite character because of her great energy and personality. Too bad the short haired girls almost never win. And Sumi…is cute. Yeah, there’s not much else to say about her honestly.
Now one aspect of the show that might turn off viewers is the apparent glorification of the rental girlfriend industry. Each of the girls has a reason for entering the business, and the anime definitely portrays the profession as being beneficial to character development for both the girls and their clients. Now I’m sure people dislike such an industry, but I personally like to keep fiction and reality separate. I mean there’s tons of anime and other media that deal with far worse topics that have plagued society such as pedophilia and slavery. Yes, I’m vehemently against all of these practices, but to me, it’s just a show trying to be different, so I don’t care if the subject material might be a little controversial. I can understand being against it since it seems to glorify an unethical practice, but as long as it plays its role in the show well and contributes something of value to the narrative, I’m generally fine with whatever content is being displayed. And hey, if you just can’t make the separation, then that’s obviously fine too.
Aside from the whole buying a shallow substitute for an actual romantic partner ordeal, the most polarizing aspect of this show seems to be the protagonist himself. I’ve seen Kazuya get a lot of hate for being a mostly wimpy guy who sexually fantasizes about the cute girls in his life constantly. And you wanna know the worst part? Get ready…Kazuya faps! *totally shook* Wow, no wonder people hate him!
Yeah, people probably would deny this, but it just feels like Kazuya is hated for essentially acting like a typical horny dude would. He’s no OP anime hero and, while admittedly overblown in his cringyness (I mean he stalks Chizuru for an entire day at one point), generally acts like a regular guy. But wait, he occasionally has moments of heroism and selflessness befitting an anime protagonist that make girls fall for him, so I guess he’s not completely irredeemable! While far from great, I think he’s a fitting protagonist for this type of show and is an overall positive for the anime.
I mean, the show itself even knows that he’s trash and constantly pokes fun at him by writing things like “He is the problem.” Kazuya being this way is intentional and the anime utilizes his cringyness well.
Getting to the technical aspects of the show, the art is the highlight of the anime. Character designs are on point and the girls are equipped with cutely designed outfits. The cast is extremely expressive and the facial aesthetics really contribute to selling the comedy, romance, and awkwardness of numerous scenes. Even though they’re done by different studios, the art really reminds me of Nisekoi in terms of how characters are drawn when they go all blushy blush, and it’s great. Background visuals are pretty basic and I feel like fluidity could be better in that some scenes just look stiff, but overall the show is pretty good animation wise.
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the great vocal cast. The studio really went out of their way to hire a collection of well known and established seiyuu to voice the four main girls. They all did a wonderful job and really enhanced their respective characters with their vocal performances. The music is fine, though did anyone else notice that one of the OSTs sounds like a remix of Chopin’s Funeral March at the beginning? Just me? Well, I thought it added an extra layer of irony by basically implying that Kazuya was digging his own grave in a lot of these instances due to the cringy situations he constantly found himself in. I also ended up really liking the episode 7 ending theme not just for the catchy tune but also for the clever visual portrayal of Ruka’s backstory. I thought this was an imaginative way to explain her past without it taking up too much space in the actual show. It was quite captivating and effective in my eyes, and was definitely a highlight of the anime for me.
What can I say, I thought Rent-A-Girlfriend was a fun anime. I got decently invested in the show and was smiling throughout most of my time watching. The solid production values combined with the entertaining cast really elevated the show for me. It’s nothing particularly great, but it’s definitely a fun RomCom that I would recommend watching…if you can handle boatloads of cringe that is!
eff-fume
Rental GF is the next entry in my Despair Saga and as usual it has taken a toll on me. If it wasn’t noticeable by the already highly upvoted influx of negative reviews this series isn’t good by any criteria of requirement. The romance genre in anime is vast and popular. In recent years however it seems to have become the trend to adapt more “incel” type stories. Yes, I will not beat around the bush here, Rent a GF is an incel anime. This is not to insult anyone who potentially gets enjoyment out of this series by implying they are such, but the main characteris the splitting image of a self-destructive virgin in denial of their own toxic masculinity that you typically find on reddit. If you have any mercy, a good personality or hope left for humanity, you might go into this show with the potential outlook of character development of the main character, for him to eventually realize his toxic flaws and slowly overcome them to feel worth of a woman’s grace
Well, good luck because you will not find it here.
The show starts out with immediately fishing for sympathy for the main character, Kazuya. After 21 years of his life as a virgin loser his first girlfriend, Mami, dumped him rather ungracefully and now he is in despair. Therefore Kazuya decides to go on a date with one of these “rental girlfriends” – which is an actual service in japan, more or less – to numb the pain a little bit. He does this without actually reading the terms of agreement and using his common sense, which would make him realize that yes this is a professional service and “fake”, he instead decides to go on inner monologues to stroke his terrible self-esteem to even worse proportions and starts shaming himself and the rental girlfriend for doing this. The series sets a certain tone right from the get go with this. Rental GFs are just fakers. It doesn’t outright disrespect the profession and make one or the other social critique on it – which would make the series perhaps better if it had – but instead tortures you with an utterly pathetic display of a main character. Because of dumb anime-circumstances that connect both Chizuru’s and Kazuya’s grandmothers they accidentally present themselves as a couple to them, and therefore Chizuru has to play the actual fake-girlfriend for Kazuya the whole rest of the show. It’s a very typical fanfiction like premise and I promise you the fanfic writers did it better.
To come back to Kazuya’s behaviour towards Chizuru for a moment, he does get put into his place after he goes on several rants in front of her by complaining how fake it all is and other incel nonsense, but the series doesn’t commit to this in the long run. Chizuru scolds him a few times at the start of the series, making valid points all over the place, calling him out on his unprofessional and disrespectful behaviour towards her, but she sadly also is just a victim of the narrative and the narrative demands her to become dumb and meek and eventually fall for him for no reason whatsoever.
Rental gf does nothing exceptional in the romcom category whatsoever. It’s not that funny, the MC is not likeable nor does he grow or redeem himself over the course of the series and the rest of the cast is nothing to write home about either. Kazuya stays a piece of shit and the show lets you know it. He runs around in circles in his inner monologues how he is not deserving of a girl like Chizuru (he isn’t) but it’s so clearly presented as sympathy fishing it actively offended me.
Rent a gf is one of the few shows where sex is an active motivator and characters are “shown” to participate in sexual activities, only in Kazuya’s fantasies though, but it is present. In other series characters doing or wanting to do the deed is generally something I consider a positive, in this show however it feels more like a torture method. Kazuya gets left by his gf at the start of the series and after a while he starts fantasizing on how she might be fucking other dudes by now because he didn’t get to fuck her yet, this makes him jack-off. Yes, we kind of see this dude jacking off. And even when we don’t, most of the time when we get introspective shots into his apartment, tissues just lie around all over the place. The show’s direction actively point your eyes towards this as well. It keeps focusing shots on used tissues and I’ve never felt so grossed out in my damn life. It’s not subtle at all. It’s not even implications. It’s just what happens.
And even though the show is not categorized as an ecchi series, some of the shot compositions reminds me of such. Sometimes shots are flat out pointed towards breasts or ass (typically ass) Legs too. It’s almost always distracting. But I understand that it is shot this way to really show off how hot the girls are which is… depending on the taste of the sight of the beholder.
Chizuru is by far the only decent character in this show. She declines in character writing later too but she is the most bearable and by far the prettiest character. Which the show will remind you of constantly. The girls in this are specifically glossed up at all times. I have to give it to the production team, while the show lacks in various areas, the character art at least in close ups is pretty gorgeous especially the eyes. There was some effort put in there and the character artstyle in general is pretty cute. The coloring is kind of eye-candy as well but there is a certain problem.
The show is ugly. Which sounds contradictory from what I just said but I will explain. It is true that the character designs and art especially the fashion sense (except Kazuya which you might expect) is pretty sleek, well drawn and nice looking but the moment the shots shift away from close ups to more far distance shots it becomes an offense to art. The backgrounds especially have to be among the worst I’ve ever seen in my life. The outlines are so shaky it feels like they commissioned someone with Parkinson's to draw them. The art itself isn’t good. They aren’t well drawn. They don’t fit well with the characters. When there is a wide shot, the characters pop out like paper cut-outs. If your production is actually good, this wouldn’t happen.
But not just that, the moment the characters are in a wide shot their heights and proportions are just fucked. I hardly ever notice height differences feeling off putting, but this show managed to make me notice. The character art also becomes the exact opposite of sleek, well drawn and nice looking. It’s clear to me that the production struggled with these rather taxing and demanding character designs even though the last episode was among the best looking ones, which only other one would really just be episode one. It’s not good.
The OST is also to put it bluntly: Fucking garbage. Except one track which I like to call “the sexy saxophone” one, the OST is more geared towards a video game like sounding one, which is confusing because nothing in this show warrants this type. The tracks are always distracting and loud, overplay scenes and are unintentionally hilarious. A character will scream at another one and a Tetris type beat will start invading your eardrums. How am I supposed to take this seriously? The answer is I don’t.
Rental gf is just full of problematic writing. Mami turns out to be a femcel and talks shit on her private account on twitter behind Kazuya’s back while leading him on here and there for her own self-satisfaction, semi-implying a typical incel “all women are out to betray you” type relationship which kind of gets shafted less than halfway through the show. Which is funny because it is honestly the only interesting subplot this series has to offer.
Chizuru gets roped and black-mailed into a fake relationship-turned professional relationship against her will, gets stalked by the main character for an entire day, even his grandmother tells another rental girlfriend that she has fallen in love with Chizuru. Literally. Not to mention the various times of accidental sexual harassment, like how he flashed a boner because he hid with Chizuru under a blanket in episode 1.
The other later introduced rental girlfriend, Ruka, who is underage by the way, meets Kazuya by all typical-anime-bullshit running into him and flashing her panties. This however makes her heart rate go up and therefore decides that she is now in love with him.
There is a whole backstory montage rushed in an ED explaining how she has a heart condition and it has to be among the dumbest backstories I have seen in all of time.
Besides that, even though Ruka shows clear romantic and sexual interest in Kazuya he continues to ignore her because of his now crush on Chizuru. He does this by gaslighting Ruka consistently, even telling his family that she is a pathological liar (pretty hard accusation) and they just believe him. Even though Kazuya is so pathetic and everybody knows it he gets away with so much crap it would make anyone with common sense rage.
This all wouldn’t be such an issue if there was actual character development of Kazuya. But there just isn’t. If anything, he gets worse over time since he just gets enabled left to right by basically everyone. Chizuru even humors the thought of him just being a sadboy, misunderstood “nice guy” by the end of this season. Even though you know… disrespected her profession, stalked her, sexually harassed her and all that. It hurts to watch.
There is so much crap in this, ranging from a bad production to toxic relationships. It is not a good time. All this show has to say is that no matter how big of a piece of shit you are, if your ideologies and personality are somewhere in the “nice” area, you pass.
Spare yourself.
Overview
Story: 1/10 – Absolutely terrible
Art & Animation: 4/10 – Ranging from good eye-candy to ugliness incarnate
Sound: 5/10 – The OST is terrible, the voice acting is really good, the general sounddesign is competent to say the least
Character: 2/10 – Awful
Enjoyment: 1/10 – I do not enjoy a single minute of this show
Overall: 2.0 (range: 1.5 -2.5, light 2)
BadGuyBoog
This is a show I get surprisingly passionate about. I honestly thought about putting it higher simply because of how much of a reaction I get out of watching it. Unlike many other shows on this list, it’s not boring and there was never a dull moment. I wouldn’t say I was invested in it, but it always had my full attention when watching it and I plan to continue watching it because of masochism or something idk. That being said, what sounds like a complement in actuality is what I hate most about this show. This is a dumpster fire that I simply cannotstop watching. This is a show that makes me irrationally angry. It’s not even ironically good either, this is a pain to watch through and through. I despise everything about this show. Nothing else has made me more upset than watching this shit. I have thrown my phone or things at my phone at least 15 times throughout its runtime. I have audibly yelled at the screen, fantasized about beating the ever living shit out of the characters (no joke), and it makes me want to commit unspeakable atrocities. This is everything I hate about anime (especially anime Rom Coms). Before we get into the meat of what makes this show so bad there are a few things on a technical level that really rub me the wrong way. The first is the music. The love motif isn’t bad, however it is excessively overused. The characters don’t even have to do anything, they can just be in the same room and the theme would play. The other music is annoying and distracting. Like most rom-com anime, there is nothing visually interesting to latch onto. It’s as boring as the camera can get. The anime noises are annoying and excessive, the dialogue is written incredibly unnaturally and the fan service (also annoying and excessive) is obviously where most of the effort was put in animation-wise. All of the anime trademarks are there: the ‘in-love’ sparkling background, the annoyed tick mark, the overexaggerated sweat, the simplified chibi drawings for humor etc. It’s as basic and lazy as it gets. Even Uzaki, which I consider to be the blandest, most copy and paste modern romcom I ever saw, wasn’t as excessive when it comes to these anime trademarks. But this is all trivial compared to what comes next. “Half of romcom anime problems could be solved if the characters just explained the situation”. This sentiment has never been more true than in this anime. These types of shows thrive on contrivance, coincidence, and stubborn misunderstandings but this show takes it way the hell too far. In fact the premise of the show is based off of these. This guy goes to visit his grandma in the middle of his fake date and the Rental Girlfriend goes with him but surprise surprise, her grandma is also there to, is best friends with his grandma and now both families think they are a couple and will probably commit terrorism or something if it turns out they're not (other than them being disappointed I really don’t know why they can’t just tell them). First it off, coincidence on how their grandmas are best friends, contrivance on why she went with him in the first place and misunderstandings that they refuse to clear up. This drives the plot and it all happens in the first episode. The coincidences are way too forced and they happen all the time. This man could move to America in the most desolate town that isn’t even on the map somewhere in the desert in Arizona and he’d still somehow be neighbors with one of the girls. And I wouldn't be surprised. They just appear out of nowhere with no rhyme or reason for no other purpose than to misunderstand something and/or spawn even more bullshit. The plot is nonsensical and even worse, it never progresses. The problems keep piling up and get more complicated but it never feels to get any worse or better. Things just happen and his situation never actually changes. If someone is trying to say something to break the lies, you can bet your ass some unbelievably convenient coincidence is going to stop it. If he confesses he’ll just cover it up. If something happens the next episode will resolve it in two seconds. So much shit happens but none of it matters because the situation stays the same anyways rendering it all pointless. It’s repetitive, it’s tiresome and it’s frustrating. And it doesn’t help that the stuff that does happen is stupid as shit.As far as the episodic ‘plots’ go, this show’s drama is: Should I add her as a friend and get her contact info? (been together for a year). Should I make her wear a cute outfit? Should I tell her I went to her play? This girl forced herself to come over, how do I not get raped by her and then how do I convince other girl that I did not have the sexy time? Wow my friends or family are about to find out I’m a fake and get no bitches, how do I dig myself into a deeper hole and/or hide like Solid Snake? All this dude does is lie and he’s not even good at it. These fuckers are just gullible and def. It’s just as bad as it sounds. And it’s all held up by the truly worst part of the show: The characters. These are the most annoying and terrible people in anime. Kazuya is the worst protagonist of any show. Beta male is not low enough to describe him. He is the world's first Omega Male. And he doesn’t need to be an Otaku to do it. He is the lowest of the low. This is the guy who jerks off to his ex’s instagram. Everytime Chizuru is on screen he talks about how attractive she is. He gets excited way too easily. Literally she was just taking out the trash and this dude made a huge deal out of it, blushing freaking out and probably got a hard on. He is so fucking pathetic. And that’s not to say you can’t make a pathetic character interesting. Shinji from Evangelion, Onizuka from GTO, Sato from NHK. These are all pathetic but interesting characters. Kazuya is just frustrating and creepy. He at one point stalks Chizuru and he finds out he’s in love with her through, I kid you not, a jerk off scene (fuck this show for making me watch that). I want him to get better but he never will. Why do any of these girls like him? Speaking of the girls, let's start with my favorite character of the show, Sumi. She’s shy, quiet, cute, but most importantly, completely fucking pointless. She’s in about 3 episodes total. She literally cannot speak and has about 2 lines throughout her entire runtime. That’s why she’s my favorite. Because she doesn’t do anything to annoy me. She’s automatically the best girl only because she’s not an outright bitch. That’s all it takes. She’s not even a good character, and I’m afraid if they give her more screen time they will make her a bitch. Some other decent characters include the grandmas, who cause 30% of the problems but are the only source of decent humor, and Kibe, who had a great scene that made him seem like a chad but then they remind you that he’s friends with Kazuya. Chizuru wouldn’t be so bad, she’s hard working, kind and doesn’t like complications. But she is way the hell too distant. Like you’ve been wrapped up with this guy for about a year, can’t you at least consider him a friend? I mean I get it, he’s Kazuya, I wouldn’t want to be friends either, so then you should be finding a way out of it. Either admit to yourself like him and talk to him like a normal human being or stop leading him on. All this ‘professionalism’ bullshit just gets annoying after 2 episodes, much less the entire runtime. I don’t mind her setting the ground rules and explaining it’s never going to happen but she can at least show him human decency (not that he deserves it but when he’s the protagonist that means we have to deal with it too). That coupled with the fact that she goes on fake dates for a living (they try to justify this and it’s stupid) and you got yourself a certified bitch. Though she’s not nearly as bad as Mami. Mami is Kazuya’s ex who dumped him for apparently no reason (not that he doesn’t deserve it, it’s just they never explain it) and is now meddling in his life for no apparent reason. She goes out of her way to ruin his relationships and investigates his situation and for what? She has no motive. If the motive is she still likes him then that is just stupid and she certainly doesn’t act like it. She does nothing the entire show except pop up out of nowhere and question everything and to be a bitch. She is a nuisance meddling in her ex’s affairs whilst being condescending the whole time, all without a reason. But she still isn’t as bad as Ruka who is by far the worst character in the show and it makes me mad when people defend her. Ruka is the girl who is most actively trying to get with Kazuya because he was able to raise her heart rate (it’s as dumb as it sounds). She is loyal, devoted, obsessive, manipulative, scheming, selfish, jealous, near-psychotic, entitled, creepy and of course, a certified bitch. Reverse the roles and think if a dude did this to a girl and tell me if it’s alright with you. Ruka becomes his “girlfriend” through blackmail even though she knows he is in love with Chizuru. She’s trying to convince him to have sex with her and forcefully kisses him and forcefully stays at his house. At every opportunity she attempts to sabotage his relationships and ruin his life. This dude is having a family dinner with Chizuru and she stalks him and introduces herself as his girlfriend even though she knows, that’ll ruin his relationship with his family. She is a selfish entitled brat who doesn’t give a shit about Kazuya. People defend her by saying ‘she’s loyal’ but Rem from Re:Zero is also loyal but she respects Subaru's feelings and accepts her loss. She supports him nonetheless because she cares for his happiness. Ruka doesn’t give a shit about Kazuya, only herself. She is a selfish, certified bitch. Everyone in this show sucks. This show sucks.
Faara
Honestly i didn't expecti this show to be this good, def my new favourite, better than berserk, whoever wrote this story is a real master, those characters are the best ones i've ever seen, their writting is flawless and the plot is perfect. The story is very unique, i've never seen something similar, it surprised me in every episode, and its deepsness is amazing. The characters are, as i said earlier, amazingly written, they're very human and complex, all of them have a perfect development an deepening. I think this is actually the best fictional story i've had the pleasure to experience. The onlything that i consider that could make people dislike this show is that it's very deep and complex, and everyone who throws hate to it are people who didn't get the real point of the story. It's hard to understand, but, if you do, it's really a lifechanging experience, i don't see the world the same way i did before i watched rent a girlfriend
tjrq
Rent-a-GF, I really wanted to like you because you had good art, had a banger of an OP, and had stellar waifu designs, but I just couldn't. You were a toxic relationship, and one that I want to forget as soon as possible. Rent-a-GF has a unique story I guess. You rarely encounter "romantic comedies" where a guy conveniently rents a girlfriend to get rid of his woes after a break-up. However, this novelty was all I enjoyed about rent-a-GF because although the plot was passable in its own bizarre way, the characters weren't. Chizuru was an odd character and one that I didn't reallylike up until the end. She started of as a professional in her part-time job (i.e. a rental girlfriend), but slowly diverged from this professionalism and became a lot more intimate (in her unique way) with her client Kuzuya. She acts cold and harsh towards him but also spoils him on the side. It wasn’t until the last episode that it became apparent to me that she really cared for him despite Kuzuya being a horrible person. Chizuru's ability to accept Kuzu for who he truly is made her likeable.
Mami was your crazy ex that dumped you for no clear reason, but when you find someone else, decides that she was wrong and wants you back in the most indirect way possible through stalking and sabotaging your current romance.
Ruka had the best design out of all the waifus (in my opinion), but she became pretty clingy in a heartbeat and became too fixated in the “love” that she was feeling. I mean, how can you still be friends with a person that basically embarrassed you in front of his family by calling you a pathological liar not to mention wanting to be that person's girlfriend?
Sumi was the only decent character of the series. She’s just a really shy and awkward girl that wants to better herself. Yeah, you could argue that her being unable to speak with other people is a kinda a drag, but at least she acknowledges her weakness and tries to work on it.
Then finally, we have Kuzuya, the star of the show and the most annoying character I have ever gotten the displeasure of meeting. The dude has some good points, don’t get me wrong. When he saved Chizuru and stood up for Sumi was great. However, as soon as he does these “heroic” deeds, he equally reverts to being a lying scumbag. As mentioned, he embarrassed Ruka, he "faked" a confession with Chizuru and the list goes on and on that, I would rather not elaborate because it will come off as ranting. The dude is way too immature and indecisive for being a college student, and I feel there is no means of salvation from his scumbaggery.
Overall, rent-a-GF was a show that I thought would get better with time. I acknowledge how good the art and music were and the plot in itself wasn’t really bad. However, most of the characters were unlikeable and the comedy was a fiasco of cringe and awkwardness.
xBadxApple
This one's a bit of a headscratcher. I was discussing the anti-popularity of the series with my girlfriend and we couldn't come up with a solid reason why 'Rent-a-Girlfriend' gets SO MUCH flak. Don't get me wrong - it's a flawed and rather generic series. The characters are meh, the visuals are great, and the premise is just alright with its edginess. 'Rent-a-Girlfriend' can be summarized as a gorgeously animated rom-com with a shitload of clichés, chronically dumb characters, and rather cheap drama. That applies to so many other series, though. And by some law of contradictions, it's exactly these hilariously bad aspects that make the seriessomewhat enjoyable. Yeah, it could be way better if the story/characters were better too. And yeah, I've heard about the non-existent plot progression; I sure as hell won't be devoting the time to read a 200+ chapter manga for what 'Rent-a-Girlfriend' constitutes.
However, as far as Season 1 goes, this dumpster fire was pretty decent. It has its awkward moments, its outright cringe episodes, and young people with raging hormones making hilariously shit (and sometimes unethical) decisions. Life's like this when you're a college freshman (and not only) sometimes.
I dunno. I guess the MC being a total wimp didn't phase us that much, I guess? In a way, he's more interesting than Self-Insert #N+1 you'd see in most rom-coms. The same applies to Mami being a bitch, Ruka being a pushy brat with a 'convenient' plot device justifying her obnoxiousness and Chizuru being, dunno, a semi-augmented Mary Sue I guess? All of these are generic approaches to plot building/character shaping but they weren't that atrocious.
If anything, the most irritable character is the grandma who is as toxic as a family member can get.
In any case, the first season of 'Rent-a-Girlfriend' was a solid 5.5 to 6/10. Perfect for whenever you have some downtime or want to watch something that doesn't involve a lot of thinking. I can't help but feel that quite a bit of the 'anti' reactions are slightly knee-jerky in nature.
KANLen09
Mangaka Reiji Miyajima, our greatest author for simping and simultaneously A MAN OF CULTURE. If you haven't watched Paolo fromTOKYO's YT video "Day in the Life of a Japanese Manga Creator" featuring Miyajima-san, I HIGHLY implore you to check out the video. Now, back to the anime review. Before I start this review proper, it's actually quite interesting to research on Reiji Miyajima's work on Kanojo, Okarishimasu and where he got the inspiration from. Frankly speaking, majority of you living in the West won't understand the Chinese culture and how society has been harsh on festivities (a.k.a Chinese New Year) of guys bringing back girlfriends to"save face" for themselves, so much so that "renting" girlfriends become a viable option. Miyajima-san ACTUALLY went one step further to be a temporary simp himself to understand Japan's culture of rental girlfriends (by "renting" them of course and understanding their jobs), so much so that this creates the concept of a hopeful simp (which is our merciless ball-less Kazuya Kinoshita) and the vastly different types of how these "people" are like in the dating profession and such as we all have seen in the anime. It's a totally alien concept to people living in the West, but for Asian people it's life as per usual. And it's downright cool that Miyajima-san created a unique story that has everyone balls-to-the-wall shocked and negated every step of the way.
SO...WHERE TO BEGIN THIS SHITSHOW? Reddit, MAL, anywhere that this show has been gaining traction for lots of negative criticism.
The hopeless, useless, dumbfounded, sex-loving simp that is Kazuya Kinoshita. Truth to be told, the criticisms are warranted, but for people who've been in Kazuya's shoes before, all is but one and the same formula. So think of like all the exes that you were dumped a long time ago, and resorting to dating apps like Tinder and the such. YES, he is a low lifeform for thinking that to merely get a girlfriend to have sex, but in the heart of the truth, he is anything BUT THAT. In fairness, Kazuya is a family man, and because of the expectations of his health-flailing Grandma Nagomi Kinoshita to have a girlfriend before her demise, and having been dumped by the worst girl ever (that I'll get to further in), the college student has no choice but to resort to "renting girlfriends" just to make his grandmother happy. Another point to note is that, he's a college student, and we've all been in his shoes before to unconsciously make too much irreparable mistakes. As a result, he's learning what it means to be an adult, and even true love itself, because young days are days of growing maturity and discovering more of yourself before the harsh realities of life, and Kazuya does this unwillingly and frantically in the most stupidest of ways, but remember this: Kazuya has a heart that's just like us, love it or hate it.
And onto the girls, which are the selling hotcakes of the show:
"Until now, I've always had a five star rating! Give me back my five star rating right now, got it!?"
― Chizuru to Kazuya
The model girlfriend that is Chizuru "Mizuhara" Ichinose. Pretty, neat and full of unparalleled beauty and glamour, along with cuteness, and fitting an overall image of Madonna. The sharp-tongue, calculative and brash behaviour that is her true colours when she finishes the "rent-a-girlfriend" daily business, and clearly showing off her likes and dislikes. Her relations to Kazuya are two-fold: the rental girlfriend business, and an unlikely source of old women BFFs, meaning that both Kazuya and Chizuru MUST constantly "show face" towards their grandmothers and not divulge the truth out. Following their harrowing journey of near misses with friends and business colleagues aside, these two IMO are the perfect pairing of one another in terms of family relationships (that although is not shown in the anime, the manga really goes in deep). If you need someone to count on to protect and stand up for, this perfect woman is it.
“New girlfriend a month after breaking up? Is he trying to get back at me or something? What was her name again? Chizuko? Tsuruko? Can't remember. Can't believe he sided with her against me. I'll make sure they break up."
― Mami to herself
The bitchy ex-girlfriend of Kazuya's, antagonist Mami Nanami. A stereotypical mind-game player of feelings and emotions run wild, she is constantly seen as the one that most people will NOT want to be with, a control freak to put it simply and wreck Kazuya's life every step of the way. She holds the facade of being a kind, caring and supportive girl, but her reality is way more scarier in that her petty and manipulative character will often desire ominous dark clouds of darkness, aimed squarely to swear and mock her mortal enemy (that is Kazuya) to a possessive-aggressive point of satisfying her own ego. You'd better watch out if Mami is stalking anywhere near you!
"I can't stand it anymore. Even if you think I'm weird... Or cringeworthy... just being like this makes me happy enough to shed tears..."
― Ruka to Kazuya
The serious girlfriend player, Ruka Sarashina. The girl that has a heart that beats slower than the average person and seeking a lover that will help her cope with her condition. Often referred to as a character who's being straightforward and passionate person who is honest with her feelings, it can come off as pushy and possessive, resulting in her fixated focus on the idea that getting a boyfriend would help her in having a faster heartbeat. To make matters even worse, she is stubborn to realize her faults and will often push to shove then things get difficult. She is a real handful to handle, and Kazuya's constant runaway has proven more than not. Serious, but very clingy.
"Kazuya! See you again!"
― Sumi to Kazuya
The newcomer into the "rental girlfriend" business, 1st year college student and simultaneously working in Chizuru's agency, Sumi Sakurasawa. The extremely shy, introverted, sign-language-ful person of communication, she's a real hot cutie, AND SHE MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS. She's the only rental girlfriend that has LESS screentime than the others, but she has a heart of determination to follow up on things that she can improve in a.k.a Kazuya's mock-up date with her for Chizuru's hand of help. As such, she is one of the series' most coveted characters, and her introverted side will have many guys squeal at her cutesy blushing (mine included).
Of all the girls that If I had a choice to "rent":
- Chizuru is at the top of the food chain, so maybe on an occasional basis.
- Mami? HELL NO, she is SICK BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY.
- Ruka is somewhat of a chore to handle, and I personally don't like clingy girls, so she is 50/50.
- Last but not least, Sumi, which is A DEFINITE YES, because I can relate to her character the most, and who doesn't like a shy, young girl to hang out with?
The difference with Miyajima-san's manga is that Kanojo, Okarishimasu is done digitally, as opposed to the hard-working paper and pencil figure, so putting this into consideration and translating into animation isn't such a chore. And TMS Entertainment did a good job in the translation of the manga into some good ol' animation and vibrant art that I can afford to watch for days on end. The manga art was quite yielding to the standards of when Miyajima-san started (and entered into serialization), but to see all of it animated was such a blessing that I'd not think to see the light of day.
On the music side, the peggies are back, and "Centimeter" is such a good ol' boping OP that's a straight banger through and through. Halca's ED of both the general and Ruka's backstory are also great songs. For a series that everyone have divisive views on simping, at least the OST was a nice accompaniment to add onto the messy phase of switching girlfriend after girlfriend.
Look y'all, many of you may hate this show to oblivion of the source materials and such, but I'd feel like I need to offer my no-frills review of a love-hate relationship between the MC Kazuya and the various waifu girlfriends (well, mostly for Chizuru and Sumi only) from an anime-only perspective but with the knowledge of the manga and how it became to be. My reason for creating this review is to break the stance of haters, and a huge thanks for reading through a long-ass review that I truly mean my whole heart with.
HERE I COME, SEASON 2! I'd really wish this series would continue and make my heart flutter like butterflies.
SBW_Naru
Don't waste your time with this garbage like I did. Watching Kanojo, Okarishimasu was the worst experience I have ever had the displeasure of in anime. Every single episode was painful to sit through; the characters are worthless; others might praise the animation but I found it rather bland and uninspired. Not only is it full of fan-service, the plot is devoid of any logic, the music is forgetable and to be honest this anime is so bad it makes me want to forget about it. I sincerely suggest to anyone reading this, do not waste your time watching this, you can spend your timeexperiencing much better media (almost anything is better than this anime).
SoldierDream
Rent-a-Girlfriend is a controversial series that has earned a place as one of the worst popular anime series in recent years. Constantly trashed and treated almost as an offense to human dignity, it has become for a myriad of reasons and without much debate in one of the preferred titles for many when it comes to choosing something hot to easily hatewatch and thus be able to "prove their good taste” to the rest and fit. It is in this sense -so far- to the 2020s what titles like Elfen Lied and Sword Art Online were to the 2000s and 2010s respectively. However, I can’tdisagree more with this general rejection it has been victim of since, quite the opposite, to my eyes this is one of the most outstanding and memorable modern proposals of recent years (and probably, even the last decade) and as such deserves much better treatment than the one it has received. Now that its third season has just premiered, I thought it would be a good idea to briefly explain why this is.
(Note: what I’m going to point out here refers mainly to the first season, which is in essence only the introduction plus some early development of the series and then should be judged as such and not as a finished work).
To start, it must be remembered that this is at its core a romantic comedy, more generally a comedy and as such its fundamental mission is to make laugh or awaken feelings of joke within the viewer and provide it a fun experience, something in which the series succeeds in both a remarkable and original way. It takes and revolves around an absurd and unrealistic concept or idea such as “renting a girlfriend”, which may be an activity that actually exists in certain parts of the world but for the common people it is perceived as something simply silly, ridiculous and unthought-of, and is presented in the universe of this series as something real and normal, which is flashy enough to consist in a good hook and makes it worth having a look at. It works with it both smartly and carefully and plays with it dumbly to create unbelievable situations that are hardly seen in real life and bring on reactions of disbelief. However, the absurd and unreal is necessarily something distant, and the series would not work entirely well if it didn’t incorporate into the mix a more realistic component that provides the closeness or identification. This it expresses it through the protagonist, Kazuya Kinoshita, a “loser” college student with low self-esteem and a frustrated romantic life who resorts to renting a girlfriend out of despair after being dumped by his ex-girlfriend after just a month of relationship. It may be that one does not identify with him and his anxieties, but whether or not this is the case the truth is that the series does a very good job at putting us in his shoes, make us feel empathy for him and make us laugh both of him and with him with the series of misadventures and funny situations the series creates for these effects and that he suffers after deciding to present his rental girlfriend as a real girlfriend to his family and friends and refusing to tell the truth. The series works exceptionally well because it takes these two ends of the spectrum, where each is not enough by itself when it comes to delivering a highly effective comedy and combines them in a balanced way to build an exceptional, hilarious, memorable (and maybe even cute) story and experience to the audience as a joke or a game, that doesn’t take itself seriously and that makes us laugh at life and maybe why not, ourselves too. While the unrealistic component provides the interest, the appeal, the realist one provides the familiarization and emotional connection.
For apparently yet another silly and light romantic comedy, the plot and its development are surprisingly outstanding. I won't go into specific details or examples to not spoil, but another of its strengths lies in that it knows how to identify very well and make the most of all the potential that its premise and chosen tone offer, in terms of all the possibilities that can take place, what can emerge and what can be done with it, through the introduction of new characters, unlikely, tense, uncomfortable or embarrassing situations and/or well-thought-out misunderstandings that are not only very funny but also complicate and make the whole mess in which the protagonist falls increasingly intriguing, making sure at the same time not to stray from its absurd and silly conceptual framework, thus remaining consistent with its own objectives and nature. Thanks to this, it keeps you constantly surprised and stunned from beginning to end of how far the muddle goes seeing how it evolves and becomes more complicated, how everything spirals out of control and how all the involved react in regards to it, and manages as well to keep you permanently hooked interested to know what will happen next and where the whole accumulated mess will end in a genuine way without any effort requirement, which is something that any series should always try to achieve. While admittedly it’s true that the series resorts to hardly believable conveniences, that most of these mentioned situations are somewhat forced and that the whole plot itself originates from a markedly forced event (the fact that Chizuru had decided to follow Kazuya to the hospital when she didn’t have any reason to do it and it is what sets the whole mess in motion), the fact that this is an absurd series allows all this to be easily acceptable without major problems (the case would be evidently different if it were something that targeted to something more serious, but it's not), and furthermore, sometimes it becomes something inevitably necessary to allow a comedy to develop its points and obtain the desired comic reaction from the audience, which is the idea and what the series intends to achieve.
The protagonist certainly explains a large part of the antibodies that the series generates (if not, all of them). Hated for who he is and what he does, his attitudes, decisions and behaviors (in particular, for doing something as human as masturbating), many consider him to be one of the worst protagonists the media has ever seen, treating him as pathetic, insufferable, simp, perverted and cringey, among many other negative adjectives, and that because of him the entire series is unworthy of anyone's time, something that results curious to me because from this it is inferred that apparently in order to be a good series then the protagonist must be the closest to a perfect human being as possible, something that, by default, does not make it a very interesting protagonist to follow (and would also imply that any series about villains is immediately bad, which is obviously, nonsense). If the series turns out to be more appealing than several others in the genre, it is precisely because it has a protagonist indeed more interesting. He’s not the ideal man, Prince Charming, an alpha male no woman can resist, a womanizer, the popular athletic guy in college, an edgy guy shrouded in mystery who comes off as imposing or intimidating or someone who enjoys a lot of success in life in some area and is both attractive and admired because of that, but a very ordinary guy with quite normal attitudes for his age and social context, insecure of himself, immature, inexperienced, with inferiority complex and sentimentally failed, but all this not to a diametrically opposite degree either because at the same time he does not represent an extreme case of a “loser” and he is not a complete nobody either, which makes him a character far more human and relatable to the majority than virtually all the stereotypes mentioned above. On the other hand, as mentioned before, if the series works well (this is: to be funny) it’s also thanks to him. Together with his characterization that makes him a realistic character (and as such, provides empathy), his particular attitudes, comments, expressions and reactions to all the chaos that he experiences after deciding to rent a girlfriend explain immensely how funny the show is. Finally, some claim that he is a static character who does not show any progress or learn from his mistakes, which makes me wonder if they actually watched the series or not because that is just not the case. Towards the end of the season he becomes more aware of his mistakes, the events that he has lived through after deciding to rent a girlfriend make him reflect on the consequences of his decisions and with this he grows as an individual. Also, it's not like the series finds its ending in this season, so expecting realized characters this fast is both rushed and a mistake.
And of course, the series wouldn't be called Rent-a-Girlfriend without the group of girls surrounding the protagonist. While not all of them may be equally important in terms of the impact they have on the story, each of the four sets apart from the other in terms of personalities and motivations, each of the four complicate the protagonist from a different and unique angle, each of the four has a very clear different and defined role to exploit or work with some aspect of it in a certain tone, and each of the four to a certain extent thus contributes in keeping the series versatile and appealing from various perspectives, they complement each other and enrich the story each in their own way. Most of them add to the unrealistic side of the series, in the sense that in real life none of them would place her eyes or be as nice or helpful to someone as Kazuya. (In relation to this, it is noteworthy to see how, for example, the artistic style of their designs is quite different from the masculine ones; while they all look like perfect beautiful dolls, the men have features that are more similar to those of real life). If there's anything wrong here, probably what I would have liked is that they could have been somewhat less supportive and made it harder for the protagonist to get away with his lies and save his ass all the time (especially Chizuru, where the plot demanded her to consent to everything that Kazuya asked or proposed to help him or rescue him from some trouble) since this was perhaps pushed beyond what was needed for the plot to work, but not to the point to make it unbearable either.
Finally, I cannot not refer to the criticism that the series receives in relation to the moral issue of its premise. Many felt offended by it because of presenting the girlfriend-renting service as a normalization of an immoral or unacceptable business and it is wrong that it treats it so lightly only for the lowest class of entertainment purposes instead of addressing it more seriously through a socially critical approach, and some even go as far as accusing it of normalizing and/or promoting prostitution. The truth is, that all this ethical controversy is artificial, pointless and should not suppose any problem, due to the fact that whether renting a girlfriend (or boyfriend, whatever) and everything that the activity implies is something right or not, is something that necessarily depends on the viewer's own values and culture and has no bearing with the internal quality of the series; it is something external to it and then the moral angle is not a criteria to judge it. This becomes more evident when remembering that it is essentially a comedy and an absurd one; by not taking itself seriously, the ethical issue loses all relevance, and had it wanted to explore it, it naturally would not have chosen to be a comedy in the first place. Not to mention, that the series makes it quite clear that the rental service has its strict rules and limits and only consists of offering girls who will accompany their clients on a date in public spaces for a limited time, they will make them have a good time but without getting intimately involved with them and expressly prohibiting all kinds of sexual class interactions, so confusing it with prostitution is not only going too far but is also baseless.
Overall, Rent-a-Girlfriend is an unfortunately underrated, unfairly criticized and misunderstood romantic comedy that has been victim of prejudice, wrong interpretation, insecurity and hate bandwagonism, factors that stop people from enjoying the series for what it is and make them criticize it for what it isn’t and never attempted to be. Regardless of its further development in next seasons, the first season in particular works very well as an introduction and early development by both hooking and keeping engaged the viewer with an original and interesting concept, fun and relatable characters, an addictive direction and in the end executing an exceptionally funny experience based on the absurd, and acknowledging that you enjoyed it will not make you a worse person, won’t make you look immature or pathetic neither some kind of second-class citizen. The season is not a finished work and as such can’t get a higher score, but within its own class and specific comedy objectives, it is highly effective and memorable, very recommendable and deserves a much better treatment than the one it has received. 7.5/10
Kushikime
I had to be forced to look through these absolute dogshit reviews from people who either A. Have never had a bad breakup in their life or B. Not willing to admit that keeping up the appearance of being happy to friends and family, using a rental girlfriend to overcome your depression as well, is something some people do. I'm pretty sure these reviews that slam the main character are written by people that use OnlyFans, doujins, and simping vtubers as their sexual gratification so I know for a fact they can't connect with the character. They actually jealous the man is paying to fighthis depression. The MC literally saves her from drowning in episode 4 it's not like he can be compared to the typical harem MC that has pussy fall in his lap and he acts oblivious. And even when another girl throws herself on him he doesn't want to get back in the saddle and date someone because he isn't over his ex. He actually doesn't say he gets over her till the last episode.... did people even watch the show?
valoon
The story is pretty unique, we have a simpy main character who turns everything into a mess and does so many cringe things, but it is certainly interesting to watch his train-wreck life and how it will turn out. On the other hand we have the perfect Girlfriend Mizuhara, who for me was the waifu of the season. Every gesture of her is just perfectly done, the animation studio did great work there. Same with the other girls, without spoiling too much. There are lots of interesting scenes and also some nice cliffhangers that made me want to watch the next episode. Yes, it is silly andyes, the main character is very dumb, but that's what makes this show so interesting.
Certainly not everyone wants to cringe while watching anime, but I was very well entertained and that's why you shouldn't be scared off by the bad reviews but just give it a try. The anime will not be for everyone, but the other half will surely enjoy it.
I looked forward to every episode which I also enjoyed, hence I give this show a 9/10.
Syureria
I'm sure they actually want to sell waifu, not stories. This story just getting more complicated. In anime, a plot like this with coincidences is very familiar. Making convoluted stories is a mainstay in the romance genre. Especially to increase the breath of the anime so that it can stand a long time. However, the dose given by the studio is very overdone. Even though it got a lot of blasphemy, I actually like this anime because KanoKari has a unique theme that has never been in any anime. Besides that, why is this anime so hated, I will give another example. One of theworst MC ever in anime history.
If in this season there is a cowardly Hachiman then Kazuya is the same, look a like a sibling from the neighboring anime. Kazuya is not a poor student whose life is difficult. He is quite a rich kid. If he is not rich how can he rent girlfriend not once but many times. Even so, he is acting strong by trying to work part time while in college.
When Kazuya already had Chizuru who was recognized by his family, but he still tried to get back with his ex girlfriend. It's not enough to stop there, in the middle of the episode a new heroine (call it Ruka) appears who is in love with Kazuya and forces Kazuya to date with her. Even though he already has a beautiful Ruka that is not inferior to Chizuru, Kazuya still wants to maintain his relationship with his rental girlfriend.
Kazuya also often has perverted thoughts about the female characters here. But when he was offered to do that, Kazuya ran away. This is what makes the audience emotionless seeing the MC's behavior on this one. Really, he's ugly bastard.
Unless you are strong enough, don’t watch this anime!
This is a comedy romance story, although it is often blasphemed. Tbh, I thid this anime. Even though Kazuya is considered trash but believe me Kazuya is not so bad.
Everyone have weaknesses. It all depends on how we see it.
Timz0r
A lot of the reviews of this show that I've seen have been largely negative and I know exactly why that is. They're just like Kazuya in a way. Full of raging hormones & almost no treu life expierences. I should say what I think about it. However, keep in mind that I've seen plenty of these romantic comedy before and I'm also on average a bit older then the average user on this site so keep in mind I'm seeing it through a lens that's possibly different to some of the other users here. Keep in mind I'm trying my best not going intospoiler territory.
Story: 6/10 (Fine)
I've liked this show's story a lot. It's setting is reallistic per se. The author even admitted in renting a girlfriend to get some idea how this process even goes. Yes, in Japan you can rent a mom, a sister or even a girlfriend just for all those lonely hikikomori overthere. But keep in mind; there's no sex involved. For that you need to contact someone else. In overall the story's as a set-up pretty accurate if you're following a young fellow full of raging hormones that's going through a break-up. I've expierenced quite similair harsh expierences when I was a lot younger. Is it a bit ridiculous? Yeah, I gotta admit over the course it gets a bit ridiculous, but hey, that's anime for ya.
Art: 8/10 (Very Good)
The art in this show is really good. The character designs are cute and fit their personalities well. The animation is as good as it needs to be, and everyone is really expressive. It's obviously nothing crazy or super impressive, but it does its job really well. Where I think the show especially shines is in its background art. The playful, hand-drawn style is really done well and gives the show its own unique flavor.
Sound: 9/10 (Great)
There isn't much to be said here. Centimeter is super catchy and I find myself coming back to listen to it often. The background music is great as well, but the use of Funeral March is a little cringy in my opinion. In terms of voice actors this anime is nailing it for me. We have Nao Touyama (Karen Kujou - Kiniro Mosaic), Sora Amamiya (Aqua - Konosuba), Aoi Yuuki (Noël Kannagi - So Ra No Wo To) & Rie Takahashi (Megumin - Konosuba); all voice actors I can appreciate very well. Those four voice actors alone made me a though decision in iethjer watching this anime or not, because originally I was not really interessed in watching this anime in the first place.
Characters: 8/10 (Really Good)
I think the show's characters are where it really shines. After seeing almost all of them in action, it's obvious that they each have their own nuance, and they all feel quite natural, seeming to be equally well-thought-out for the most part.
Kazuya is a dumbass, yeah, but can you blame him for making impulsive and reckless decisions after clearly not taking a breakup well at all? He's under a lot of pressure throughout the show, and I think his often thoughtless actions reflect that. Do I hate him? No, because honesty; in the past I used to be very cringeworthy myself. Especially around woman and over the years sure do ave learned a lot from my mistakes. I do hope Kazuya eventually will learn from his own mistakes.
It's hard talking about Ruka without getting into spoilers territory, but her motivation is something I can understand afterall. For me she's the best charather of the show, but then again that's just a personal opinion.
Mami is... well, she sure is Mami. She knows how to manipulate Kazuya exactly where she wants him and it's clear what kind of effect this has had on his self-esteem and behavior. If I could warn Kazuya, I really would tried telling him he derserves better.
Chizeru is also a fun charather, but over time she starts to show her real treu nature. She doesn't really care about Kazuya at all. She's good looking though, but a well informed man knows a woman having good looks doesn't mean anything. Those looks fade over time anyway and then what?
To bad there's not much to talk about with the other one named Sumi. She's a very shy and without going into spoiler territory, that's pretty much the most I can tell about her. I just wished there was more screentime with her.
Enjoyment: 7/10 (Good)
The show has overall been pretty enjoyable for me. Heck, I'm even surpised myself I could enjoy this one. Most rom-com who's the best waifu anime just end up being pretty bad in the long run. Maybe it's because I used te a young myself with zero self-esteem and zero life expierence with woman and I can tell why people might have isseus with this show diue it's uncomfortable and sometimes ridiculous moments that this show has to offer that I actually can relate to Kazuya if I look back at my cringeworthy past. I can't say I've become particularly attached to the show or its characters.
Overall: 7/10 (Good)
I can't say much here that I haven't said already, but what I definitely can do is recommend this show. It's not for everyone, especially those who are uncomfortable with ridiculous and/or awkward moments. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two on how not to do things in life when you're young. Or you can just like me look back at your cringy past how cringeworthy you actually were and how much you have learned during those years.
Looking forward to season 2!
Weebestra
kanojo Okarishimasu is stupid It felt like torture watching the whole series. Absolutely Pathetic, Has no good Story at all. Characters that I'm desperate to beat the shit out off. All round I expected something at least some form of Story but nope just a cute girl And A desperate boy. One of the most useless animes I've watched. Just a waste of Time if you're expecting something good. Rent A Girlfriend has been on my radar for a while Since a lot of fuss about her being best waifu (she's not) At my desperation and boredom i decided to watch it. At timesi think of this show as A great way to get my mind off something and Think about how shit it is. it all starts with Kazuya. One of the most annoying characters I've seen in my life, There have been way too many times where i want to hit my monitor hoping to hurt him in real life.
Story was a unique idea i give you that. "rent-a-girlfriend' isn't something you'd see on a daily basis.
Being the shit show it is it gets "better" when Kazuya starts to fantasize how his ex-girlfriend is having sexual relation with her new boyfriend. However, from all the feelings that any normal human being would have, for example: rage, grievance, indifference, what he feels is sexual arousal. like what part in being dumped do you find sexual?
He says his family is poor but They suddenly have the money to "Rent-a-girlfriend'
. The only character i can respect is Chirizu as she's the only character where they put effort in.
In the end, If your looking for a show to really wanna beat somebody or just plain torture this is show for you. If youre looking at watching it as an actual show, Don't its one of the best Ways to WASTE a few hours of your life
AsmodeusX
i have never written a single review in all the 1400+ anime i have watched in the past years. Yet i have felt compelled to write one now to express how much i hate this anime. The MC is trash, literally the most trash of any you will ever find in any anime ever created. and rental girlfriend? really? PG version of prostitution? none of the characters are likeable, none of them can even speak their mind clearly characters: Some characters are cute, but that's all whats going for them. It really surprises me to find an anime where i can hate every single character introducedever, yet here we are.
story: what story? there is one? where? error 404 story not found. lying to his grandmother to make her happy? then spending all of his college funds to rent out a girl just so that he can keep up a lie to his grandmother.. can this get any more stupid than this?
3/10 for me
STAY AWAY!! you've been warned
blrzy
The best anime to ever exist. The plot is utterly unique and leaves me speechless and the desire to keep watching more episodes as time passes. I can't believe it took me this long to find such a masterpiece of art and display. This is utterly the best anime in existence and no opinions are validated to me. I do not care what anyone has to say, because this anime has the best waifu in the world, the best plot in the world, and the main character is very relatable. Before I started watching Kanojo, Okarishimasu. I was a lonely piece of shit. I wasn'tsatisfied or happy in life. I was always depressed and nothing (games, friends, family) helped me. I was always a loner and I didn't have fun doing anything. Until one day, I stumbled upon Kanojo, Okarishimasu on my Instagram Feed (imagine being owned by meta bro). It was the clip shown where Sumi Sakurasawa (one of the rentals from Kanojo, Okarishimasu) says "Kazuya-Kun! See You!". That sentence gave me butterflies in my stomach and I knew instantly I had to watch it. Kanojo, Okarishimasu saved my life, and I suggest that if you felt the same way that I did, I strongly recommend this anime. It is indeed a lifesaver. I will forever be grateful for Reiji Miyajima for creating such a masterpiece.
trexmochi
never has an anime my my blood boil over a single character,, before i started watching it, i didnt understand why everyone was trashing mami so bad but now i know and i had to refrain myself from punching my monitor multiple times. besides her, i felt as if the plot of it was being dragged out for why too long and every episode felt like it was repeating. also, majority of the things that came out of kayuya's mouth was questionable, i get it's apart of his character but it contributed to the repetitiveness i mention before due to amount of lies and excuses thatjust came spewing out every episode, was also a punchable character. but i love the art style though!
