A year after they met, Kazuya Kinoshita and Chizuru Mizuhara still regularly see each other through the rental girlfriend app. However, Chizuru confesses that she is ready to quit her job to pursue her true passion—acting. Despite wishing to maintain the relationship they have, Kazuya decides to support her dream.
When Kazuya goes to watch Chizuru's anticipated first play, he is amazed by her talent and ability to captivate the audience. At the same time, he is saddened at the thought that she will undoubtedly be scouted by the famous director in attendance.
However, after the show, Chizuru explains that the director recruited another actress, lamenting her lack of talent. Frustrated on her behalf, Kazuya resolves to rent her every week to help her financially. But as Kazuya's ex-girlfriend Mami Nanami lingers around for unknown reasons, hesitance muddles his true feelings, and fulfilling his promise to Chizuru becomes uncertain.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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SingleH
Kanokari really pissed people off when it first came out, but given my exhaustion with oversensitive outrage culture, I completely failed to take the outcry seriously. I only watched season one after it ended, and only then did I realize how badly I missed out. With that said, though, I’m also kinda glad I missed out, because writing for season two means I no longer have to waste time introducing the story and characters, since the audience is already familiar with the premise. And gosh…what a premise… Kanokari, morally, is utterly repugnant, and while that fact really upset me when I first started watching it,I later came to unironically enjoy it, not merely as a guilty pleasure to mock myself for enjoying, but as an actual anime. Given the amount of debauchery real people engage in, at times and in some countries, shamelessly in broad fucking daylight, I personally think there isn’t that much comparatively wrong with being a prostitute or engaging in prostitution if that’s what the pair in question seriously wants to do. What I do find something wrong with is attempting to derive, or presenting it to others as if they should attempt to derive, a positive, stable, forward-looking relationship from the position of a prostitute/client relationship. I mean, I’m not sure I particularly care for the idea of prostitution either way, but what I specifically don’t care for regarding this show is the implication that everything going on is totally innocuous, no one is going to be seriously damaged, and there are no long-term negative consequences. Frankly, girls, you should just do it. Open an OnlyFans today, or better yet, become a professional camwhore on Twitch. There really are no drawbacks. Just ask the women who’ve been stalked across international borders, or the men who’ve sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into parasocial non-relationships. The understanding of these emotionally complex, postmodern social devices is just far too simplistic in the mind of this author, and the manner in which he depicts them I would argue is actively misleading and bad for modern youth. It’s encouraging, or at least tacitly endorsing bad behavior in a way that it doesn’t really need to, and while, luckily, it does suggest via Chizuru that no one really could, should, or would operate like this for long in a perfect world, and those involved should always be trying to decouple and break away (literally the plot of the show), it isn’t direct enough with its messaging, and it excuses itself far too often.
Throughout season one, I was holding myself back from moving to Tokyo, calling the police, and getting this fucking guy arrested. I was admittedly drinking a little bit, but I still don’t think an anime has had me cursing and seething this much since I had to sit through however many episodes of fucking Rottenmeier in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, because—I’m sorry—this is pure fucking DEGENERATE shit. This is encouraging young men to pay for prostitutes with Daddy’s money and catch feelings. This is advice that, if heeded, WILL hurt real, vulnerable, naive people in the real world, and it WILL jeopardize their relationships and careers, both academic and professional. It remains true that the show itself recognizes this is no foundation for a healthy relationship whatsoever, but the messaging still is never direct enough nor does it ever stop excusing its bad actors. Ruka makes public spectacle of drama, cries like a petulant little brat, commits blackmail, and gets exactly what she wants; Kazuya and Chizuru use lies to manipulate the emotions of their elderly and/or dying grandmothers, and that works out swimmingly; Kazuya is caught stalking the woman he (allegedly) loves, and she rewards him with a Christmas present; Kazuya gets a part-time job to pay for prostitutes because his parents’ allowance money wasn’t enough to sustain his spending, and this newfound time commitment doesn’t seem to endanger his education at all; I could go on. I went to great lengths in my failed Mushoku Tensei review to explain how “some fiction are about morals, they’re about learning a lesson and watching role model characters, and others are not. [Mushoku Tensei] is very much in the later category…” Kanokari, however, is very much in the former category. It’s about watching a confused, indecisive young man to whom the target audience can heavily relate learn to (very fucking) slowly but (I assume) surely learn to grow a spine and commit to a relationship with the one he loves. Therefore, since it’s untimely trying to demonstrate self-betterment, the themes and suggestions it presents to its audience should be appropriate and virtuous enough to be presented in front of—and effectively taught to—its impressionable target audience. But this is not at all the case. Indeed, as described, it is very much the opposite. It tacitly endorses all the bad behavior listed above and more, and going beyond even that, what it chooses to actively and openly endorse is sometimes absolutely fucking wild.
I had always imagined that the big turning point in Kanokari’s torturously stagnant, snail-paced narrative would be the inevitable moment when the author finally found the courage to have Kazuya see Chizuru on a date with another man. I envisioned him losing his composure, grabbing her by the arms, and telling her, “I want you to myself. I love you. Quit this prostitution shit and stay with me.” I know—as if a fucking anime protagonist would ever say something that manly—but I wasn’t simply wrong. What happened was the EXACT opposite, because he felt NOTHING. Zero. He’s just like, “Ooo, no! We gotta get out of here before my friends see and my giant fucking pathological spider web of lies finally comes constricting down on my fucking throat, strangling me to death in my own sin and degeneracy! lol Whoopsie daisy!” I seriously don’t want young people to consume this and think human beings work this way, because it’s going to give them bad ideas about society. Kazuya’s reaction to seeing Chizuru with Umi on Christmas was so fucking warped, because he seemed to be suggesting that if it was a “rental date” then everything would be fine and dandy, but if this romantic Christmas rendezvous was Chizuru’s “real boyfriend” then, ooooh no, that would be devastating. BUT THERE’S NO TANGIBLE FUCKING DIFFERENCE! Sure, incels, she might fuck her boyfriend, whereas her clients aren’t allowed to touch her without *at least in theory* getting themselves in trouble with the law, but that doesn’t change the fact this line of work fucks with the psychology of everyone involved. The peak example of this comes when this fucking guy literally PIMPS OUT his girlfriend! Pimping HAPPENED in this anime, and they did it TO SOLVE A PROBLEM! “Sumi is shy and can’t talk to people. That sucks. Oh, wait! I know! We could teach her how to be an outgoing rental girlfriend! Hey, Kazuya, (guy I like) how about you go cuck me and spend the day with this softy, huh? Warm her up to the touch of a man, will ya?” Hard cut to the next episode, and they’ve started normalizing cuckoldry! But hey?! What’s the problem? I know throughout all of human history people weren’t exactly thrilled about people fucking their significant other, but we’re past that. It’s 2022. It’s time to let other bitches fuck YOUR man. So stop being a fucking bigot and embrace the times. Thus, Chizuru, being the progressive woman that she is, sends Kazuya off to Sumi and opens her legs—I mean opens her heart to Kuribayashi.
The ultimate cherry on top, the final chef’s kiss to complete all this contemptible debauchery was at the end of the OP, because we get through our delightful ninety seconds of all these romantic situations, and then the camera just pans down to a fucking check. A fucking BILL for like hundreds of dollars worth in yen, and it just left me stunned, because…what on Earth is happening here?! The commodification of love?! Does human interaction mean NOTHING to these people?! Does it all just boil down to dollars and cents?! Seeing that made me angry, but even more than that, it made me worried, because the viewers watching this need to be pulled aside and told, “This isn’t good. This is bad. Please don’t operate your lives like this.” I’m sorry, but it doesn’t hurt to stress this somewhat excessively. PLEASE, because the target audience here should not be led astray like this. They need to be protected from these suggestions, because they….well, you know…they’re just not that…well…nevermind. I don’t want this review getting deleted. Anyway, by the time I got to season two and had come around to appreciating the little bits of heart and soul the series had to offer, I was much less outraged by the immortality of it all. I mean, that still didn’t necessarily eliminate my reaction to any of it, but it was less shocking. Throughout the second season, I was still continuously compelled to verbally lament, “This is a man who cheats on women.” He’ll be doing something that in any other context would seem utterly sleazy and manipulative, but which is now attempting to be written off as acceptable because of this whole rental girlfriend scheme…which is itself completely unacceptable when they’re involving this much obvious emotion and boundary-pushing, not to mention more deeply intertwining people like Sumi who is far too pure and innocent to safety and healthily work as a prostitute. I’ll just be watchin’ a scene, sippin’ blackberry moonshine like a fucking Greek philosopher, and have to pause the episode, recoil in disgust, and mutter under my breath, “Ugh, what a fuckin’ scum motherfucker…” Ruka is over here like, “Don’t you feel bad asking me to let you cheat?” And he’s like, “It’s not cheating, though!” Implying rental date =/= “real” date, and I’m just bottling up screams, BECAUSE IT DOES! You’re leading this chick on while lusting after some other woman! You are a scumbag who thinks with his dick and has no appreciation for the emotions of the women in his life!
The best scene to discuss as a segue into season two is also the scene which first started winning me over, the scene which first suggested the show had at least some modicum of intelligence about itself, and the scene which, I think many would agree, simply contained the best writing of the entire first season. This of course is the scene in episode twelve where Mami, having finally figured out about this whole rental girlfriend scheme, takes Chizuru on a date, and the way this was presented, to me at least, felt like real, convincing, not-the-kind-of-thing-you-typically-see-in-highschool-anime drama. When I finally stop talking about themes and emotions and actually at some point begin discussing the plot, I’ll be sure to spend time talking about the comedically ridiculous, parody-level coincidences and contrivances that happen constantly throughout the series, and this was the first scene to truly break that mold, because this is the kind of shit a vindictive ex-girlfriend would actually do. She would stalk Twitter feeds and shit, get in on the gossip, spot certain people spending time together at certain social destinations, put two and two together, and take it upon herself to utterly humiliate the current girlfriend as much as she possibly could for no one’s satisfaction but her own. The scene also works thematically, because, dear reader, if being a rental girlfriend is just a job and nothing to feel funny about, then why does Chizuru feel so claustrophobic in the karaoke parlor with Mami, and why does she feel so grossed out by the things Mami is asking her to do? She’s just singing karaoke, right? Wrong, she’s selling her dignity to someone who’s forcing her to do things she doesn’t want to do and presenting herself as if she’s not feeling the emotions that she’s actually feeling—AND THAT’S NOT NORMAL. The scene perfectly exposed the corrupt and dangerous nature of the rental girlfriend profession to perhaps its greatest advocate in the series while simultaneously forcing me to appreciate that for all its ridiculousness and all its shortcomings, this series had at least one solid cast member. Mami, simply put, is an extremely relatable and believable character. I had noticed this long before that scene, but certain things she would do had always struck me as strikingly well-characterized. I’ve cited this example time and time again, but watching her was like watching Light Yagami twirl his pen around his thumb while contemplating deeper thoughts during class.
Obviously, twirling your pen around your thumb is a sort of habitual nervous tick which many people have developed; it’s not like I thought up until that point that I was the only human being on planet Earth who ever twirled their pen around their thumb in school. But when I first watched Death Note, I was a teenager with a superiority complex just as Light was, and seeing him do that while I was in the process of doing it myself, neglecting the homework on my desk, twirling my pen around as I seriously entertained his utopian ideals in my head…I can’t even describe how surreal of a feeling that was, and seeing some of the things Mami did throughout season one of Kanokari came close to giving me similar feelings. All the moments of Yuuki Aoi sounding completely emotionless and dead inside, all the shots of Mami peeling off away from the friend group to go stand in a corner somewhere and anonymously type angry shit online. She just had so many real-feeling moments of, “Oh, I have done exactly that at some point in my life.” Mami just stood out to me as this socially unhinged BPD psycho bitch that I could really see myself in, and while other characters are certainly less inspiring and much more anime-like—*cough* Sumi—Kanokari still does a better than average job at presenting bits of characterization most other anime of its type simply would not. I mean, even the mere admission that a girl could or would put on a romantic act to earn money from lonely virgins is itself fairly daring when you think about how committed most romcom are to the pure, 100% escapist school of anime writing. While aforementioned characters who stand out as particularly unrealistic definitely fuck with this balance a little bit—*cough* Sumi—it still does a lot for my immersion and my willingness to invest in the main cast when there is a clear and distinct difference between Chizuru as a rental girlfriend and Chizuru as her genuine self, both in animation and in her voice actress’s performance. The character who simultaneously makes and breaks the show is of course everyone’s favorite clinical retard, Kazuya, because as soon as season two kicks off, we’re made to appreciate what I assume is going to be the status quo forevermore: the more honest he and Chizuru are with themselves about the fact that they like each other, the less honest they are with one another, and therefore the more weird fucking shit they do to divert from a direct confession.
The problem with Kazuya is I suppose quite typical, it’s just the excruciating pacing and mind-numbingly stupid contrivances which have become the infamous hallmarks of Kanokari simply make his issues out to be more frustrating than they might be under other, similar circumstances. Kazuya is your average, inexperienced, weak young man; he is a boy with no spine whatsoever who consistently allows both his male and female peers to walk all over him; and, crucially, he is true to form in that if you provide him with even the slightest hint of pussy, then he is on that shit like a fucking police dog. This is all, of course, very much to his own disservice, because any time he stands up for himself or appears even somewhat decisive for even a second, all the women are like, “Wha-woah! D-do I actually like this guy???” I like this approach, because not only does it serve as a lovely lesson to teach its target audience how to act desirably around the opposite sex, but it successfully depicts to the audience why Kazuya’s wavering levels of decisiveness are frustrating to us AND the characters in the story, thereby lending itself some right to call itself self-aware. You see, this guy would do all the things he does and make all the concessions me makes for ANY girl, but no girl wants a guy who would put himself out for ANY girl. They want a guy who would put themselves out for just them—who’s gonna stand up for you, not that other bitch. If you go watch full-on harem anime, the main guy is always presented as being platonically nice to every girl so he doesn’t come across as some weird man-whore, but he’s still nevertheless presented as being able to get all the girls to love him merely by showing these acts of kindness alone—which is fucking stupid, escapist, porno bullshit for reasons we just discussed. Real girls want real attention, not simply platitudinous Mr. Nice Guy shit, so applying this harem logic to a romcom which is trying to take itself somewhat seriously, with female love interests which are for the most part—*coughs* Sumi—characterized believably, is what I would say primarily makes viewers of Kanokari understandably want to tear their fucking eyes out. Seeing Kazuya say or do anything decisive or committed in any form or fashion is such a breath of fresh air, but then it’s choked out of your lungs when the author decides, actually, maybe a hundred, maybe even two hundred, maybe even three hundred more chapters of torture are in order, so buckle up.
Kanokari is a perfect example of a series which is absolutely fine at being exactly what it’s trying to be, it’s just that what it’s trying to be is a mega generic romcom based on a long-running, cash cow manga…which is honestly, above everything else, my biggest single complaint with the series as a whole. It’s yet another anime that feels like it’s based on a manga that was very intentionally designed to last forever. I said this back when I first watched season one two years ago, and I’ll say it again now: there was never any hope that this season was going to reach any kind of satisfying resolution. I don’t know if its popularity will be sustained for future seasons; I won’t read the manga; the final episode does not leave you with any ultimate catharsis whatsoever; and while there might be slight progress and trivial drama which we can discuss endlessly, nothing here is gonna leave any particular impression. At the end of season one, Kazuya does the, “I love you!…………(credits roll and you think real progress was finally made)…………(after credits scene starts)…………uuuuuuuhhh but just as a rental lmao!” And you’re like, “Oh, okay. I don’t know why I’m surprised by that one. I’m gonna go drink bleach, hang myself, and slit my wrists all at the same time. Thanks, anime.” But in episode two of season two, he tells her straight up, “The real you is my ideal woman.” Period. No notes. He just says it outright, and here we fucking are ten episodes later and the misunderstandings are still running strong. Like, the amount of willful ignorance or sheer, diagnosable mental retardation these insufferable children must be afflicted by at this point is through the fucking moon. If you do as I did and simply invest in the characters no matter what fuckshit the story throws their way—or directly your way for that matter—then most of the contrivance nonsense is all stuff that, if you turn your brain off, very easily becomes ignorable white noise that quickly fades into the background. However, no matter the expertise with which I was able to incrementally sip my moonshine to keep a consistent buzz, there was some moments throughout both seasons that were simply too much, and I could feel the alcoholic implosion of my brain significantly accelerated by sheer anime absurdity. I feel now is a good time to warn you that not only did I watch this series consistently buzzed, but also at a leisurely 1.6x speed, so if you watch with neither, then your milage may vary drastically.
My first complete and total breaking point was back in episode six of season one when Ruka firsts shows up, because she arrives on the scene with nerdy, bucktooth, glasses boy and is obviously WAY out of his league. She then accuses Chizuru of being a rental girlfriend, makes herself wildly suspicious by even knowing about rental girlfriends in the first place, AND brings this accusation up to people who are themselves engaging in the practice, and yet they somehow fail to IMMEDIATELY realize she, too, was a rental girlfriend, and that shit blew my fucking mind. That was so beyond outrageously retarded that I was at that moment convinced this was all on purpose. Again, the show is absolutely littered with little plot holes and coincidences that break it from the ground up—things as basic as Chizuru’s double lifestyle not having been found out by every single fucking person in Tokyo, a point which is, in the case of her Ichinose persona, literally backed up by Superman “just Clark Kent with glasses lol who could that possibly be” Logic—but rarely does it hit you with impossible-to-ignore absurdities such as that. It’s riddled with little things, like, “Oh, they just happened to show up there at that time? What a coincidence!” Or, “Oh, they just happened to run into them a this spot? What a coincidence!” Or, “Oh, this person just happened to be right there in earshot or line of sight to them doing this thing that concerns the former in this way and now drama this drama that? W-w-what a coincidence!” All the excuses given by the show to handwave particular contrivances are fucking laughable and don’t make any sense, so if you’re the type of person who can’t really get into, “Okay, this show is pretty trashy. I’m just gonna turn my brain off and get out of it what I know I personally can get out of it.” Then I’d recommend saving your sanity and watching another, much smarter anime. And, now that we’re fast approaching the final paragraph of this monstrosity of a review, I’m slowly realizing the position I’ve put myself in—that of somewhat standing in defense of an anime which every thinking individual seems to rightly despise for many good reasons, all of which I’ve acknowledged and even criticized myself, but none of which I’ve even attempted to outright justify at all—and I’m struggling to find the answer to the question, “How and why did I enjoy watching this show again?” Because, I’m gonna be honest here, the answer isn’t coming to me easily.
This is as good of an adaptation of whatever its adapting as it probably could be, and I don’t think I need to read the manga to say that. There isn’t a whole lot of animation, but the gorgeous character designs and stylish costume designs lend themselves perfectly to the series’ stellar artwork. The author clearly wants you to think these girls are worth money—which, hey, I guess many of them literally are—and he was successful. The colors and backgrounds are solid, and the music is great, especially those in-character insert songs the voice actresses sang for. And if the obvious outpouring of effort wasn’t enough to convince you this production had some soul, I now take this time to direct you to the fucking *zawa zawa* Kaiji reference in season two. Like, wtf?! What teenager watching this trash is going to understand or even catch that??? It’s just one of those baseline inclusions that makes you say, “Well, okay, at least the people making this clearly cared.” But this is all fluff, really, because what truly got me to sink my teeth into this was all that juicy, bloody, red meat shit. That feeling when you see another woman’s purse in your ex-boyfriend’s apartment; that feeling when you imagine your ex-girlfriend hooking up with some bigger, hotter, manlier guy; that feeling when you have to talk to the guy you like the morning after you heard another girl at his place; the feeling of your girlfriend, who you’re not that serious about, having a family who truly trusts you to look after their daughter, or granddaughter in this case. The evolution we see from last season, where Chizuru kicked Kazuya off of her in the hospital bed with that big, over-the-top anime reaction, to this season, where he falls on top of her in an equally retarded fan-service set-up, yet, this time, she instead looks to him vulnerably and tells him to get off in a demure, understated voice, letting him make the choice himself. Realizing Ruka bought condoms, or seeing her force herself on Kazuya because she knows she’s losing the emotional race. Getting wrapped up in the late-night Gossip Girl shit, the drama, investing in the competition, being fucking disgusted with Kazuya; it’s all part of the process. I love allowing myself to get invested in trash like this just so it can frustrate me and force my cold, dead, icy heart to feel literally anything other than passivity and dejection, which I guess answers the question posited at the end of the previous paragraph. I wanted to rewatch and seriously engage with it, so I could sift though all this nonsense and see how much of it was dumb smut, and how much of it actually had a little amateur bit to say about relationships and love. I just made sure to leave myself an out to excuse all my actions as being self-aware, since I never hesitated even for a second to point and laugh…even though I still consciously allowed myself to invest in something undeniably low-brow, because fuck you. I’m lonely and felt like it.
Thank you for reading.
Mcsuper
If I were to assign a purpose to this show, it would be a grim reminder of how far gone some of mankind can be. Why do people seek romantic relationships so much, and get so discouraged when they can’t find someone? It’s simple. Each person has their inner narcissist boiling inside them. Everyone wants to be loved, for people to look at them positively, to be noticed. How do people try to solve this problem? They seek “cheap thrills”, instead of improving themselves. One’s youth has many paths, but some just search endlessly for relationships, instead of doing much more healthy things. Kazuya isa great example of this type of person, someone that no one should aspire to be. Alright, enough life talk, let’s get to this anime!
Welcome back you degenerates! I can’t believe so many of you are back to enjoy the trashiness that is Rent-a-Girlfriend! The worst thing is, we know it’s trash, and still we come back for more. Are we starting to become as degenerate as Kazuya? Oh no…
I can’t believe I have to say this, but I wish Mami showed up more this season. The reason that Season 1 was mildly enjoyable was because of all the drama, and the hate that the fandom had towards her. Her character felt quite watered down this season, and “mild”, which was unfortunate. Without all that drama, this season just felt like a generic romcom built on misunderstandings, and was kind of boring, to be honest. Well, there are some good points as well, (cough cough, Sumi), and it oddly feels like the inevitable next season might inspire just a teensy bit of hope.
My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20
STORY: 3.2/25
The story is a mess, and we expected this. Misunderstandings just aren’t a good formula to tell a story, and watching Kazuya trying to diffuse them was just cringey. It’s hard to understand why the girls even put up with him, but that’s just how it is. Kazuya, you really don’t need to explain everything you do to everyone, unless it’s Ruka, I don’t think any of them care that much about your activities.
It really could have been much better, if more of Chizuru’s ambitions towards her acting career were shown more, and if the emotional moments with her grandma were handled with more care.
ART: 7.5/10
It’s not fantastic, but vibrant enough to look good. No complaints about the animation overall.
MUSIC: 7.6/10
It’s hard to the top The Peggies, but the OP this season did somewhat grow on me as the season went along. The ED was rather tame compared to the hilarious one in Season 1.
CHARACTERS: 3.7/20
The terrible character writing basically makes me want every character to lose in their lives, except for Sumi. I’ll talk about my thoughts about each character briefly.
Chizuru was rather boring to watch this season, to be honest. We knew from Season 1 that she wanted to pursue a career in acting, and we didn’t see a whole lot of that this season. She has her moments as well, since her grandma was in the hospital, which showed her vulnerability.
Why does Ruka even want to be with Kazuya? She was literally thrown to the wayside, but she still clings, and made bold moves this season. I’d feel bad for her, but apart from her love for Kazuya, there’s not much that makes her character stand out.
There wasn’t enough drama this season, because Mami wasn’t prevalent. I know most hate her, but she was the source of entertainment, creating division and discussion. Hope she shows up more.
Sumi’s my favourite character in this show, because she’s what makes the plot advance. She’s a genuinely good companion, and when Kazuya’s around her, Kazuya has to be more responsible, and I believe that Sumi brings out the best qualities of Kazuya. It’s a shame she’s not the main character though.
Kazuya? He’s still trash, most of the time. Sumi, save him please.
ENJOYMENT: 2.2/15
It’s not funny, it’s not trashy enough, and it’s cringe. When Sumi’s on the screen though, it’s awesome.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 2.8/20
I firmly believe that this show could have been so much better if the themes were executed better. If you want to be trashy, do it to the max. If you want to be emotional, do it to the max. Instead, they throw in jokes when Chizuru’s grandma was ill, and whenever there could be a sign of plot progression, it just never happens.
OVERALL: 27/100
I didn’t expect this to be good, but I expected more from this season. It had the potential to be decent, if Chizuru’s acting career took centre stage, and if Kazuya cleared some misunderstandings. Instead, we just got a generic, trashy romcom that was hard to sit through. I do think though, to be a bit more optimistic, that next season (which has been announced), might be better, because believe it or not, Kazuya does sometimes reflect upon his actions, and that could be interesting.
Snapshot426
“Why am I here? Why are you here? Why are we still here? Just to suffer?” Well Miller, I’ll tell you. It’s been a while that I did a full review of an anime that I knew was going to be s**t. Listen, season one had an interesting start but as the season went on and we got exposed to Kazuya more and more with even more waifu bait, combining with an ending that was so on brand with the series, it wasn’t really shocking. It played a lot of rom-com tropes and clichés that it really had little originality besides its premise. Which neverreally got expanded on that much. Season two looked to continue where season one left off (in the wrong direction) and I didn’t really care to begin with since I knew it was going down hill before it even aired. But I watched it anyway and the best way to some up why I decided to watch season two was, “F**k it, why not?” Now after watching it, I find myself asking the question I had earlier, why am I here? I originally planned to do a review on Summertime Render instead of this, but the calls of roasting this show were strong and well, here we are.
The show takes place right after season one, where it ended in a way that helped returned to the status quo. After that, Kazuya goes back to his usual routine of thinking how to get with Chizuru, overthinking everything and wa**ing to kingdom come (no pun intended). That’s it really. There is no major plot development happening as it pretty much follows what it did in season one. For better and for worse. Season two makes me question what exactly is the plan here? It very much feels like we are going in circles here with Kazuya and Chizuru’s relationship and pretty much goes for a, “will they or won’t they?” approach when we pretty much know they will, they are just dragging this obnoxiously long because it’s so obvious; also taking in the fact as to how tropey this show is as well. This all leads to a lot of boredom and frustration because despite we already know the obvious, it doesn’t go anywhere. It tries to lead these little threads dangling like something will change or surprise you but it just fails to fool you. It fails to subvert your expectations because trying to go against the tried but true formula will hurt its marketability. This was becoming a problem by the end of season one and it’s only been exasperated here.
The main reason though I and I’m sure many other people, hate this series is our main protagonist, Kazuya. Kazuya was already feeling like one of the worst protagonists in rom-com anime but this season all but confirmed that not only the worst rom-com protagonist in anime, but one of the worst protagonists in anime period. Almost everything he does is infuriating as he continuously digs the hole he dug himself into and continues to dig. His constant doubts, constantly overthinking the situation, his complete obliviousness, constantly trying to lead Chizuru on, even though she ain’t biting, constantly leaving Ruka hanging that she may have a shot. Think every harem protagonist cliché and Kazuya is bound to have it. He does things that continuously infuriate me and the way treats other girls makes me question what they see in him. He’s also hardly straight with them and refuses to try and set those things straight as doubt constantly creeps in and before you know it, the hole is getting deeper. Mate, look, I know rejection is hard and you have already been through it, but you not just coming out and saying it is only making it worse for not only yourself, but the people around you. He’s just keeps digging and digging until he has become ingrained. He has become ingrained into the hole and cannot escape. He does try at one point to change things but plot convenience means he’s still stuck in that hole.
But it’s not like the girls are innocent in this too. Chizuru was a hardcore tsundere in season one and her tsundere tendencies have died down in season two but they have left a void in her personality to a point where she shows little personality for the majority of this season. She normally reacts to things with a shrug expression, acting like even she doesn’t want to be here as well. Yeah sure, she reacts in the obligatory, emotional scenes to get a tear jerk reaction but for most of this season, she is devoid of emotion. Ruka seems to be more clingy this season as she forces herself onto Kazuya even though she knows damn well he likes Chizuru more. Granted, it doesn’t help that Kazuya is leading her on to think she has a shot. Now if you were to ask me what camp I would stand for this show, it would be camp Ruka. After this season, not so much. She has become more irritating and should really look for someone else because her constant obsession to get Kazuya to love him back is not going to work and we, the viewer, know that. But she goes so far as to blackmail Kazuya to get what she wants, fully aware that it hurts the people affected, INCLUDING THE PERSON SHE IS TRYING TO DATE. So it just comes across as annoying and act as the other option. Again this isn’t strictly her fault, but to say she’s not innocent is wrong as she tries to sabotage things so she can have Kazuya all to herself.
Sumi is just there, again. She arrived late into season one so we didn’t really know much about her except that she is really shy. In season two, it’s pretty much the same, she’s just there to be a cute face. I’m also joining her camp now because she hasn’t done anything wrong, YET. But to be honest, I believe she will continue just there to be cute so I have more confidence in my choice. Mami’s screentime is reduced from season one as she makes infrequent appearances and it’s usually only to stir trouble by checking on Kazuya and see if she can try to belittle him for what he is doing, even though SHE’S TOTALLY RIGHT. The problem is that she comes across like a complete b**ch while doing it, so she becomes just as hateful as the people she is belittling. Another problem is she has nothing to do with Kazuya any more since breaking up with him so why she going out of her way to do it? Is she merely a plot device to see what Kazuya is doing is wrong? Or is it to take out her problems on someone else? If either both are so, it doesn’t feel like the message is coming across well. She played the, “character you love to hate,” mould well but then you see Kazuya on screen doing more and more bad s**t, her main defining trait doesn’t lead much of an impact so she still acts as a b**ch but not in a meaningful way.
All these girls besides Sumi have had their problems as characters grow and they seem to be developing new ones as well. It continues to get more and more degrading as time goes on. Not helped by the fact that Kazuya continues to be a piece of s**t and doesn’t fix the problems that he, himself, has created. It goes on and on to the point where the narrative basically boils down to how far does the hole need to go? Who in their right mind thinks that characters performing actions that only make you dislike them (and not in a good way) and not sensible humans would make for an interesting narrative? Can someone please get Sumi out of this s**tstain of a show before she might become a disliked character as well.
In the animation and sound department, nothing really has changed from season one. The animation is still mediocre at best but the character designs for our female leads are still very pretty. Say what you want about their personalities, at least they are designed to be drop dead gorgeous, with good fashion sense as well. Soundtrack still remains good in my opinion (one of the very few high points) with it trying to capture these emotional scenes better than the characters, but feels wasted in a show that fails to invoke any emotion other than hatred and apathy.
Which leaves the opening and the ending. The opening from season one was actually a really good opening with it being visually solid and gave you the impression that this would be a fun show full of lively characters. While only half of that was sort of true, the OP was still a fun one. Season two’s OP however feels like a poor imitation of season one’s OP. Titled, "Himitsu Koi Gokoro" by CHiCO with HoneyWorks, it pretty much follows the same beats as season one’s OP, except it’s not done as well. It’s not as lively or catchy, nor is there much energy into it. It reuses the same scene when the chorus kicks in and uses a scene from season one to, I guess, match up the lyrics for the song but fails doing so. This feels so inferior that it actually matches the quality of the show.
The ED is just a collection of still images having the four main girls be centre stage. Titled, "Ienai feat. asmi" by MIMiNARI, it feels like a wasted vocal performance of an ED that just looks quite bland in what I can only describe as an alternate universe where Kazuya doesn’t exist and the four girls get along because of it. Granted, it does bring out the girl’s cuteness so I’ll give them that. It is better than season one’s ED where Kazuya was figuratively jacking it (unfortunately not in San Diego) because the only thing good about that ED was its symbolism.
This review was honestly a review of not just season two but also the building gripes that I had of season one and it honestly felt like a review of both season one and two. Season two seems to take season one’s problems but only increases the intensity of them while also creating new problems that this season created. It slowly becomes a rabbit hole of aimless story direction and unlikeable characters that only gets worse the more you think about it. With that in mind, I just want to say this:
I’m done.
I’m done with this s**tstain of a protagonist that treats the people around him poorly and makes decisions that only get worse.
I’m done with a plot that contrives its way to keep the girls around this pathetic protagonist while having no idea what it wants to do next despite knowing where it wants to end.
I’m done with these girls that do things that only make you want to hate them and are simply pretty faces used to sell waifu figures.
I’m done with a series that treats its audience like f**king simpletons by appealing to the lowest, degenerate graphic through clichés and tropes that they know work but don’t do anything to subvert or change to make it feel more unique.
Listen, I’m not saying that I’m above it and I’m not a degenerate. Far from it, I have recently watched Monster Musume. I’ve sat down and watched episodes of Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World and Vermeil in Gold this season. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t try to be anything but appealing to the lowest common denominator that it knows we can be suckers for. Hell, it got me to watch this s**tshow again, but that was because I wanted to see if it would get worse and it did. From what I can gather as well, it would seem that it is going to get worse from here. We’ve still yet to reach THAT CHAPTER yet. You know the one, the one that exploded on Twitter and it ending with Kazuya posing for the cover of the next Nirvana album. That will probably bring me back out of sheer curiosity to see how it gets animated. But for now, I’m done. If you are still able to sit through and watch this series beyond this season, well more power to you mate, you clearly have a higher tolerance to this than I do. But I will be one of those people who will wash their hands and say, “I’ve had enough.”
Story: 1/10 (A story that feels aimless and is trudging through mud at a ridiculously slow pace with what feels like little progress.)
Characters: 2/10 (Sumi is the only you can like because she hasn’t done anything that would make you want to punch her in the face for being a bad person.)
Animation: 5/10 (Animation is still painfully mediocre but the character designs are still on point.)
Sound: 6/10 (Soundtrack is still good but hampered by a slightly worse OP but a slightly better ED.)
My Personal Enjoyment: 1/10 (I’m done)
Overall score: 3.0/10 Recommendation: Don’t F**king Bother
_noitamina
Reading several reviews I couldn't help but think how unfair they are, they criticize Kazuya to death, although some of the situations are cringe and unreal, his character is one of the most real you can find, if you are a person who has lived long enough you will understand. Despite being loaded with ridiculous situations, at the end of the season with the plot of grandmother Sayuri and Chizuru's dream, you can appreciate Kazuya wanting to change and leave behind his own weakness, be honest with what happens and stop hurting and lying to his grandmother and Ruka, that was a very difficult decision tomake and that requires some courage.
From what we saw in the first season to this one, the evolution of the characters is remarkable and we learn more about them, if the first part was a cringe fest, this one leaves a good taste and an honest desire to know what happens next.
Wanting to help someone you love makes you get a strength that you yourself did not know, although many times you are powerless against what happens.
It may be that no matter how many sacrifices you make and no matter how hard you try, you will not get what you want, but as Chizuru herself says, the important thing is not to regret anything.
More a general opinion about the season than a review as such, but I wanted to comment even if it was not easy to express myself in English...
The story is not worthy of such negative reviews that seem to only see the personality of our protagonist and ignore everything else that presents and at least in this season, gave us much to think about, with the loss, the weakness of oneself and how important it is to have someone to lean on because it is never easy to carry everything alone.
GG-WP
Watching KanoKari is like doing drugs or smoking weed. You know it is bad for your health, but you can't stop wanting more and becoming addicted once you're hooked. If you thought S1 Kazuya was cringe-worthy, wait until you see S2 Kazuya which is 100 times worse (Of course, this is an exaggeration, but you get my point.). In all honesty, who watches this show for Kazuya? Nobody, right? Kazuya literally manages to turn a heartwarming and sad scene into something absurd, from his annoying voice to his horni thoughts to his obsession with Chizuru, in the sense that no matter how good a situation maybe for him, he manages to fuck it up with something stupid.
Chizuru, on the other hand, is constantly leading Kazuya on. Then, when the occasion arises, she fails to express her true feelings, a trait of her that I dislike and which is prevalent in S2. It is as if she keeps him as a backup/assurance in case something goes wrong.
I don't have much good to say about Kazuya other than that he's there to be cringe and annoying, but you can see him trying to change for the better, like actually wanting to correct his pathetic display and genuinely express his love for Chizuru. Ruka is a depiction of someone who is obsessively possessive of his boyfriend / husband and would go to any length and by any means necessary to subdue his lover, even if it meant destroying her own image. Sumi is a depiction of someone who is shy but wants to conquer her shyness problem and finally proclaim her love to the MC; she never fails to steal people's hearts with how cute and sincere she is. Despite how unlikeable and spiteful her persona is portrayed, Mami actually aids in the progression of the plot. You can see by the way she acts that she's the obsessive sort like Ruka, and despite the fact that they've broken up, she's still obsessed with Kazuya and is using all means possible to do research on him and make him hers.
After all is said and done, KanoKari is a good show with realistic romance, good art and sound, a story that's fairly unique and not generic in other romcoms, and despite being very cringeworthy, actually has its selling point of waifus and storyline that constantly hook the viewers into wanting more. We can shittalk and mock the show all we want, but we can't deny its impact on mainstream media and how it continues to attract new fans and haters alike, such as Demon Slayer. Despite constantly complaining about it, I would recommend it, and I enjoyed it more than I expected.
SpRayquaza11
4/10 Full disclosure I have only read the infamous chapter “218” but otherwise am an anime-only, I did my best to remain bias free. But still due to the knowledge of this “chapter” and having watched this shitshow of a season 2 I can for sure say that this is now a harem, between, rental Kanojo Mizuhara. the used-only-for-Cuck-ing Kanojo Ruka. ex kanojo Mami who is being saved for another dragged-out plot point perhaps. or maybe even the….. I-will-like-him-because-the-internet-thinks-I'm-best-girl-hence-my-ship-boosts-sales kanojo SUMI. the anime-only watchers deserve to know this much If one is still watching this, hoping it'll get better? It won't.There was massive praise for the second arc of kanokari before the “218” days, But it turns out, that the series is just taking the predictable harem-teaser yet fateful encounter-driven ecchi show that drags on and on while keeping the slim chances of each girl always alive with some bogus last-minute bullshit that only the word ANIME LOGIC can explain.
I'll be straight, flawed protagonists are actually pretty good, If one is able to develop and make their growth seem worthwhile it makes for a really satisfactory ARC, I witnessed Kazutrash in s1, and won't say I liked him, but still gave this show another shot hoping for his development, hoping to see him change due to his, uh…… girls?
Plot (4/10)
The whole plot is basically rinsing and repeating, the misunderstanding almost gets resolved and boom new problem has appeared! The entire show is mostly always just filled with kazutrash monologue and it doesn't mean its bad, Death note was pretty much all monologuing too , but in the case of kanokari the whole point of monologues is KAZUTRASH BEING A DIRTY Piece of crap that LEWDS every action of any girl, even the girls he is SUPPOSEDLY not interested in.
Characters (3/10)
The crap about Mizuhara being actually good is completely BS, she is kind of half the trouble, she keeps meddling with Kazuya's life even tho she should not as a professional, she forces it upon him to accept Ruka but then keeps giving false signs that she is jealous of Ruka making kazutrash really believe that he has a chance with her, kazutrash and Mami need no explanation, Ruka is a spoilt little kid who is an attention ho. Sumi who was the only decent character was so since she mostly was silent and actually cute, and suddenly she wants him too, and kazutrash starts to show mild interest. What the actual fuck? Has the author seriously decided to go the harem route? Or just wants us to feel bad for Sumi wtf is even happening?
VA and sound (8/10)
The OST is actually not too bad, the VA of kazutrash regrettably so is actually top-notch (what a waste of talent). The OP is also quite good. ED is acceptable but tropey.
Art and animation (6/10)
Art is good but only during important scenes and hence not very consistent, animation when required is given a huge boost too, but is also never consistent, the above-average art in the OP and ED actually warrants some praise.
If you hated S1 or were sadly a victim of the manga please don't bother, but if you are a harem fan, you may actually find it enjoyable since each girl gets their moment and there is no clear winner even to this date XD.
Uji_Gintoki_Bowl
"Hey, that was so entertaining!" *gives it a low rating* Sometimes, I feel like I’d rate the Rent-A-Girlfriend hentai doujins higher than their anime. I get to see the same borderline pornographic shit (well, not borderline), but I also get to see Kazuya not be a little bitch. Watching Rent-A-Girlfriend’s second season, I did not feel liberated. I felt hopelessly shackled to the “flee all” mentality of one of the worst protagonists in modern harem history. Let me explain. I think that Kazuya’s grandmother has actually traumatized him into being the wimpy, pathological liar that he is now. Ironically, she’s now on the receiving end of his dumbasslies, so whatever goes around comes around. The only plot-productive thing that Kazuya has ever done in his whole life is help Chizuru out with her acting confidence once. Literally everything else that comes out of his mouth is a lie, an insensitive slip up, a self-deprecating statement, or some horny ass monologue about how "Mizuhara‘s thighs look like they could be used as a bouncy house for little children" or something.
There is literally nothing redeeming about the way he acts around his friends and family. Yet somehow, our lovely heroine is hinted to be somewhat conscious of him. I think there have been more than 3 instances just this season of Chizuru sitting right behind her front door, blushing because of something Kazuya said or did. Why? Because he’s the main character, of course! This logic is probably the part of the show that pisses me off the most. There’s absolutely no reason for Chizuru to put up with or like Kazuya, but the narrative portrays their shitty relationship as some kind of necessity to both of them and their families.
The visuals are as clean and poppy as the last season (though the chibi shots are a bit annoying), so overall, the quality is high. There’s nothing to note about the soundtrack in particular, apart from it adequately fitting scenes when it’s important (like the Ruka scene lmao).
All complaints aside though, I won’t pretend that it wasn’t entertaining as hell to watch a new episode every week, anticipating every misunderstanding, slip-up, and down bad scene with the joy of knowing that “at least it’s not as bad as the latest arc of the manga”. In terms of enjoyment, this season of Rent-A-Girlfriend is just as strong as the last, though it’s definitely beginning to feel a little bit old at this point. Knowing that the next season will be better, I advise anime onlys to keep your heads up and buckle in for the long run because we all know that this romantic train wreck is going absolutely nowhere!
ApplePieHunter
I will proudly admit that I really enjoyed the first season of KanoKari. I understand why most of the anime community dunked on it with memes and harsh reviews, however, I thought there was a lot of potential for a well-executed, character-driven story. So going into season 2, my expectations were set high and I was hoping for a RomCom that would blow critics away. Instead, what I got was a story that began tearing itself apart from the inside. So this review will dive into how KanoKari threw away all the potential it had in exchange for milking a money-making concept to near death. STAKES- Set them high, then make them disappear.
The main conflict at KanoKari’s heart is having Kazuya overcome his low self-esteem and maidenless behavior in order to confess to a girl out of his league. What I really enjoyed about the finale of season 1 and the first half of season 2 is how they set a ticking time bomb for Kazuya to make this confession. We saw in season 1 that Chizuru is an actor hoping to make it big within the next year or so, which would mean Kazuya won’t be able to “date her” anymore. In season 2, we also turn up the heat with Ruka and Mami where both girls add far more tension to a fake relationship than any grandma or childhood friend could do. In a nutshell, all this pressure is screaming at Kazuya to wake the fuck up and make some actual progression.
The problem is, when Kazuya does finally come to his senses, the show suddenly removes all this pressure and even forces him to maintain this facade. In fact, the author uses the same excuse from season 1 to justify this odd development… keeping the grandmas happy. It’s such a huge step backward in character development when the character finally comes to the right conclusion, but suddenly the whole world is telling him to keep doing the dumb shit he is doing, so he now plays along and starts the whole cycle over again.
COMEDY - Down Bad + Maidenless + No Bitches + Seek Help
The comedy for season 2 was definitely a downgrade from season 1. In season 1, the audience is laughing with or at Kazuya when he acts like your average horny teenage boy or a cringy loser, but that’s because the punchlines are diverse and well-timed. This changes for the worse in season 2 when dirty jokes seem to be the only thing the show can make. Kazuya must have been more bricked up than a chimney because at one point he couldn’t stop seeing these girls as sex dolls wanting to do the hot, sexy SEX with him. Every 30 seconds was “look at her thighs/tits/ass/face/clothes, it’s like a walking fuck toy.” Do you get it, dear reader? Kazuya is REALLY horny, and the show makes it REALLY clear to you. On top of this, it was extraordinarily painful how bad Kazuya was at hiding this fact, even in public or during interpersonal sharing time, which gave me huge second-hand embarrassment.
GIRLS - Started okay, got worse with time.
One of the biggest questions and criticism this show got was “Why do any of these girls like Kazuya?” Just like a clickbait YouTube video, I watched to get my answer and ended up getting absolutely nothing. While you can make the argument that Chizuru likes Kazuya because he’s kind-hearted to her, a lot more would argue he is just a simp with no redeeming qualities. Kazuya also treats Ruka like garbage and yet she is still obsessed with him, even more so than she was in season 1. Even Mami is trying to wrap Kazuya around her finger again. But for the love of god, can this show explain why they all care about him??? What do 10/10 lookers find so attractive in an average or less-than-average guy who does nothing particularly significant? Fuck, I wish my dating life was that easy.
Overall, I felt like this season falls into the “what could have been” category of anime. While I will check out the third season, if it ever comes, I’m not looking forward to it based on what I hear about the manga. Unless you have a special attachment to one of these characters, I would think carefully about whether or not you want to continue watching KanoKari.
Marinate1016
Kanokari is like cocaine. You know it’s awful for you, but damn does it feel good to consume. At this point, we all know it’s an unequivocal train wreck with arguably the worst mc in the history of the medium. Yet, we keep coming back to it. Why? That’s a subjective answer that will vary from person to person. For me it’s down to the waifus, particularly Mami and Ruka. At times it almost feels like the girls are the main character(s) and with Reiji literally coming out and saying he’s in love with Chizuru, his own creation, that probably is the case. Kazuya is onlythere as a tool for us to see our waifus do cute things and to self insert, imagining scenarios where we would react like a normal human instead of a loser. There are also some among us who just want to watch the world burn and see how bad the show can get.
Mami and Ruka are the literal only reason I continue to watch this show. Say what you will about Ruka. Many people will call her annoying, but her personality is perfect for me. Mami, one of the most hated waifus in recent memory, but she gets so much hate because she is the only normal person in this series. My love of these two characters is enough to keep me invested in the series.
From a technical aspect, the production continues to be mediocre with the only substantial quality animation coming from THAT Ruka and Kazuya moment, The OST seems like it alternates between at max 3 songs and has become so incredibly repetitive at this point that I damn near want to mute the show when watching it. On a positive note, I do legitimately love the character designs in this series. I love the colour palate as well.
Kanokari season 2 is more of the same old garbage from season 1, but arguably even worse because of less Mami this season. If you liked season 1, you'll continue to enjoy it and if you didn't like season 1, well you'll probably hate this even more. The show has done absolutely nothing to attract new viewers or change existing impressions, instead devolving further and further into a cesspool with no purpose or ambition and with a 3rd season announced, I see absolutely no reason why this will change.
Kanokari s2 gets 3 out of 10.
Stark700
Remember two years ago when we witnessed the fall and rise of a 20-year old guy named Kazuya Kinoshita? Time flies fast and 2 years later, we meet him again in this sequel. There's no way to spin around it but this anime seemed to be destined for a sequel. Watching this continuation felt like the same sour experience as I had remember. But what the heck, this is only a 1-cour show and life isn't always money and honey. Taking place directly after the first season, it's actually quite important to watch it if you want to get the full juicy scoop. Like manysequels, this season attempts to build off of established characters such as Kazuya and Mizuhara. Out of curiousity and somewhat commitment, I took the gamble and decided to give the sequel a chance. I mean, what do I have to really lose besides some hours of my time? Nonetheless, this series takes off showcasing how wonderful Chizuru Mizuhara is as a character on the surface. Like a graceful flower, she takes on the role of a kunoichi in the first episode and awes the audience with her spectacular performance. This anime is not shy of giving every chance to showcase Mizuhara' talent and beauty so the first episode had to make that impression. Meanwhile, Kazuya is still the same dull doorknob protagonist as we remember. Nothing remotely has changed about him mentally or physically.
One of the main problems I had with the first season is the lack of an interesting character cast. Kazuya stands guilty as the worst character in the show, with all his character flaws. Sadly, his character doesn't improve as he struggles to be himself. Watching his interactions with Mizuhara, Ruka, Mami, and Sumi almost felt like psychological torture. It speaks for itself when every episode puts into him into the position of a wish fufilling male. Kazuya's chemistry with the female cast often ends up being extremely awkward. The main reason is how the cast is way out of his league. The only person who seems to acknowledge him more than just a dull guy is Ruka. Surprisingly, she takes aggressive action this season by forcefully kissing him and even offering sex. Why Ruka wants to lower herself to that is anyone's guess but of course, Kazuya rejects her offer. And trust me, it's not because he isn't tempted.
We also can't forget our two remaining female members Mami and Sumi. Comparing the two is like apple to oranges. While this season focuses mostly on Kazuya and Mizuhara's relationship, it still manages to find time to bring out those two's personalities. Mami in particular retains her replusive and manipulative personality. This season doesn't full explore their relationship but you can see where it's coming from. She hasn't changed since day one when she appeared in this show. On the other hand, there's the sweet Sumi Sakurasawa who manages to secure dates with Kazuya this season. Does she truly have feelings for Kazuya? That's up to anyone's guess but by the looks of it, she seems to appreciate his presence. The anime loves to throw the two together in embarassing moments while exploring the innocence of their relationship.
Ultimately, it feels like this season suffered a major flaw that couldn't redeem itself. It really had no direction for a plot. Every episode feels like a loop where characters lack development. The main story appeals to its genres and premise but can't find its true purpose. Why does the show continously pair up Kazuya with these gorgeous ladies? Why do they want us to watch him suffer? Bear in mind that with about 24 episodes across two seasons, there shouldn't be much excuse for even a little bit of character development. But no, Kazuya is still an idiot goofball that no guy should be like.
Reinkast
--- ENG --- From the first season I was bothered by the behavior of the protagonist "Kazuya". The series begins with the end of the relationship between him and Mami-chan, who is fed up with his attitude but who wouldn't be? Kazuya is shown from the beginning as someone needy and desperate, who couldn't stand being single for more than 5 minutes from the first episode, renting a rental girlfriend. But, that's just the beginning of the anime and you can't judge the protagonist for it, for this reason I continued to watch it. My hope was that there would be personal growth regarding Kazuya's character,but after the first and second seasons, it's disappointing and boring to see that he does NOT change... having fantasies with all the girls in the series and changing by not rejecting any and looking good with everyone, trying not to bump into each other or even feeling sad when Ruka trains Mami, since she would lose the opportunity with her ex-girlfriend. It's a pathetic harem anime... where all the girls revolve around the main character, who has nothing to rescue.
--- ESP ---
Desde la primera temporada me molestó el comportamiento del protagonista "Kazuya". La serie comienza con el término de la relación entre él y Mami-chan, quien está harta de su actitud pero ¿quién no lo estaría? Kazuya se muestra desde un principio como alguien necesitado y desesperado, que no aguantó estar soltero más de 5 minutos desde el primer episodio, rentando una novia de alquiler. Pero, eso es solo el principio del animé y no se puede juzgar al protagonista por ello, por esta razón lo continué viendo. Mi esperanza era que existiera un crecimiento personal respecto al personaje de Kazuya, pero transcurridas la primera y segunda temporada, es decepcionante y aburrido ver que NO cambia... teniendo fantasías con todas las chicas de la serie y cambiando por no rechazar a ninguna y quedar bien con todas, intentando que estas no se topen entre sí o sintiéndose incluso triste cuando Ruka entrenta a Mami, ya que perdería la oportunidad con su exnovia. Es un animé harem patético... donde todas las chicas giran en torno al protagonista, quien no tiene nada que rescatar.
MxS7HGS
The second season is better than the first. Kazuya's character growth in the second season was remarkable. He becomes a more likable romantic comedy lead. Kazuya starts to support Chizuru in meaningful ways, acknowledging her talent and hard work towards her dreams. He honors her as a person and wants to assist her in achieving her objectives without any hidden agendas. Seeing a person like him in their relationship was heartwarming. I understand why Chizuru was distant towards Kazuya in the first season. Still, her behavior towards him changed in the second season. Their feelings for each other and their relationship transform and progress. However, overcomingtheir first impressions and how they treated each other in the past is still a slow process. Initially, Chizuru saw Kazuya as spineless, crybaby, selfish, and creepy, but he has made significant progress in overcoming these flaws. I enjoyed watching the two main characters and the direction of their relationship in the second season.
The supporting characters are a mixed bag. Mami is a good antagonist, but I'm not sure what motivates her. Ruka is a bit irritating and doesn't fit the show's narrative well. I don't understand why she loves Kazuya, apart from the fact that he makes her heart race. She doesn't play a significant role in the story, and I think her character could be removed from the show without affecting it. Sumi is a nice addition, but she hasn't played a significant role in the story yet.
Overall, the second season was great. However, I'm concerned that the story will drag on for too long and not make any progress. It's difficult to imagine them dragging out that storyline for another three or four seasons. This worries me a bit, but hopefully, the story will take a different direction, and everything will work fine.
The show pleasantly surprised me; I initially thought it would be terrible.
lukacat
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Rent-A-Girlfriend returns to prove that it’s still a series whose only whole-hearted effort it insists on making is its absolute commitment to not allowing any growth or development—character or otherwise. Pretty much every time I get my hopes up and convince myself that it might actually do anything besides spin, and spin, and spin its old web of lies, bafflingly stupid conflicts and empty promises rehashed solely for the sake of keeping the marketing machine rolling, I’m slapped in the face with another repugnant helping of Kazuya Kinoshita—our cipher of a lead’s endless moping and perpetual internal monologues.At the core of the concept, the constant clash between him trying to maintain the facade while simultaneously attempting to forge a genuine relationship with a rental girlfriend, of all people, makes for scenarios I admittedly love to indulge in—even if handled in ways straight-up frustrating by design. Some of which would make even the most stone-faced viewer physically recoil in their seat with cringe or even outright yell at the screen.
At this point, it’s honestly impressive how much of a degenerate Kazuya allows himself to be as long as it’s in service of the idea that he’s doing it for his grandma, which doesn’t even matter anyway, since she would obviously rather just know the truth. The headache-inducing romantic (and I use that term lightly) hijinks he somehow always manages to find himself in are not only a result of the increasingly pathetic, never-ending web of lies and misunderstandings he’s wrapped himself up in, they’re a result of his widely agreed status as one of the most utterly hopeless, downright embarrassing main characters around, only driven by his inferiority complex and general victim mentality. I mean, no one with a sliver of self-respect would have found themselves in the predicament Kazuya did in the first minute of episode one in the first place. How someone like him could feasibly manage to successfully guilt-trip a rotation of women who ought to be modeling for magazines into liking him is a feat in itself; better yet, swapping from girl to girl each episode. All the while lying to his friends and family about every aspect of his life. It’s painfully apparent that he’s the author’s own self-insert, which makes it that much worse.
Way too much of this show is wasted spent inside of Kazuya’s head, detailing every redundant thought and flagrant misunderstanding that accompanies them. But to be fair, we do get hints of a few nice ideas this time around—Chizuru's confidence turning to genuine heartbreak over missing her big break because the director of that play she gave her all in chose to recruit someone who was clearly less qualified for the job, solely out of favoritism, caught me off guard. It was a much needed moment of development outside of her just being viewed through the filter of being Kazuya’s crush. Comparably, for as cringeworthy as he can be, Kazuya's earnest offer of support to Chizuru was something I was pleased to see, even though I knew it ultimately wouldn’t lead anywhere. It's nice to see them have a real conversation and get to know each other better, and I’m glad she gets to be an actual character in her own right, even if what little growth is granted to her instantly makes her the only one with some honest thought spared to them—besides Sumi, of course, who’s still the best character in the show. And I don’t just say that out of waifu loyalty–she’s literally the most likeable character at this point, just by virtue of having a respectable personal objective.
Seeing her conquer her debilitating social anxiety to be the compassionate friend Kazuya has somehow been for her brought a genuine sense that these characters have grown for the better through their healthy chemistry together, which may well be a first for this series. The few episodes that put the spotlight on her are a pleasant, much-needed step back from the mildly entertaining degeneracy, which I’m so glad she’s never overtly been inserted into. Well, not yet at least. She’s endearingly purehearted, far, far sweeter than this show deserves, and the only character who brings out what few positive aspects our cipher of a lead has. Rather than the idealized Girlfriend Experience the show so often endorses, Sumi offers the sort of sincere, unconditional emotional support you would actually want from a romantic partner. It almost makes it feel as if the show itself acknowledges the fact that the rental girlfriend service is no foundation for a real relationship whatsoever. But these flickers of substance are few and far between, and the trudge to get there is so unrewarding that the only thing that might make the whole thing worth it is seeing Kazuya actually grow a pair and ask Chizuru out for real. We both know that’ll never happen, though.
And while the new OP is definitely an unquestionable downgrade from The Peggies’ delightfully catchy single which practically made the first season, as far as visuals go, it still feels like this is as good of an adaptation as this series could get. There isn't much animation, and the backgrounds frequently leave a lot to be desired; however, the individual shots are beautified, and the vibrant colors almost make up for the show's dull construction. The character art is always on point, and the show's eye for fashion continues to deliver. I’m honestly convinced the author just flips through the latest Japanese fashion magazines and picks out the most popular outfits. All the girls dress like magazine models, aside from Chizuru, who dresses sliiightly more classy than her other rental girlfriend counterparts. None of them has a particularly unique taste or flair, and so you get to see lots of stylish outfits in the show, but I always feel like I’ve literally seen this while scrolling through Pinterest or something. Not to say that these girls wouldn’t wear these kinds of outfits; obviously they would because their job literally depends on them looking, dressing, and acting their best in every facet of their presentation. I guess I'd rather their outfits reflect their personalities more or be discernibly unique from one another, rather than always looking straight out of the latest fashion catalog. I realize I’m probably talking out of my ass here, since this IS the Asian style capital of the world we’re talking about, but still.
At the end of the day, I still unironically enjoy this show way more than I probably should. I’m not sure what that says about me as a person, but I’m willing to be fairly generous and give it a 4—the same score I gave the first season—because upon taking a step back from the moral bankrupcy of it all, I've realized there may well be a tiny crumb of merit in a socially stunted lost soul like me indulging in it, indefensible construction and all. Rent-A-Girlfriend is immensely popular—but for all the wrong reasons, and as a result of the astronomically infamous (and whole-heartedly deserved) reputation this series has built for itself, most come away from it instantly casting it off as fundamentally ill-conceived romcom filth only appealing to the lowest common denominator. A show that has nothing to say about anything. And while I no doubt agree with the former, I think those who believe the latter are too blinded by the cringe to notice what little hints of self-awareness suggest otherwise, because I'd say there’s at least one noteworthy element under the trash heap; the show’s depiction of social dynamics.
From Ruka believing that just because she’s an attractive female she has the right to be relentlessly over-the-line and all over people without permission, to how Mami is a cold and calculating, BPD-ridden social manipulator who presents herself as this bubbly, good-natured angel who can do no wrong, or even Kazuya and his pathetically pussywhipped, beta-orbiter nature, which is a look in the mirror for a concerning portion of young males in our current generation. Many of whom would be quick to clown on him, not even realizing the irony of the sentiment.. Now, I’ve been alone and loveless all my life, but, be that as it may, I know for damn sure that there is no shortage of people this superficial, two-faced and socially reprehensible in the real world. Anyone could very well be unfortunate enough to know or happen to have been in a relationship with a Ruka, or a Mami, or a Kazuya. Lord knows there are plenty of the latter two out there. In no way do the characters themselves escape from falling snugly into place of the archetypical cookie-cutter harem or romcom dynamics. However, the way Rent-A-Girlfriend portrays the interpersonal relationships therein could genuinely be seen as a cautionary tale, if anything, for more inexperienced viewers who don't know how it really is out there; a perfect example of how NOT to approach relationships in general. And, for what little that’s worth, I think I can surprisingly say there’s a smidgen of merit to watching this stagnant, ceaseless dumpster fire that I just can’t look away from.
Story: 5
Animation: 7
Sound: 7
Character: 5
Score: 4 | Enjoyment: 8
hb1_zkn
This is an anime that I least expected to have a continuation, yet for some reason, it did. The main character overthinks way too much and often talks to himself when he meets the female lead. There are many awkward moments, making the romance feel slow, especially regarding their relationship, which remains unclear. Perhaps because the initial theme was about a rental girlfriend, the romance feels sluggish. I'm curious about the progression of their romance, but the story moves so slowly that I'm speechless. This is just my personal opinion; I watched it only to complete my list of watched anime. This is the firsttime I've expressed my frustrations here and given a poor rating.
YeeYeeAss
Welcome to the bruh moment simulator 2022 I have no idea what I saw in this show when it first aired. It was hot garbage but entertaining, but this season not so much. It is fun to watch with a friend since you can comment on Kazuya and the absolute stupidness that is this show. The good: It looks absolutely stunning, the art, the animation and the music are all above average and just look fantastic. There are genuinely heartfelt moments. Of course this show can offer all kinds of waifus for all your needs. We have the beautiful and confident Chisuru. The cute and outgoing Ruka.The Adorable and Shy Sumi and the spawn of Satan and the only girl for the bruh moment that is Kazuya, Mami.
The Bad: Kazuya. There is not much about the man you can say. He is very awkward around women, he is a bruh moment of a man, he lacks any good sides to him. You could say he represents the average enjoyer of Rent A Girlfriend or anime in general, but he is pumped to 100%. He should have told his Grandma the truth about him and Chizuru and choose one of the girls who actually love him and not chase the one girl it makes no sense for him to get even though the source says otherwise. Mami is the spawn of satan who really tries to stop Kazuya getting anywhere. Two faced, manipulative, stalking and a bitch. Perfect for Kazuya
Conclusions: You can watch this if you want, you might like it for what it is, but this is more like popcorn entertainment while you watch it with a friend.
Anima_Paradise
A majority of people hate this show because of how cringy and degenerate the main character is. This 2nd season highlights his indecisiveness and overthinking. Not only does he take actions that only lead to infuriating the audience, but he’s also overly sensitive, has a fixed lame mindset of not improving himself leading to him becoming more and more attached to simping. But to this day I still question myself why I binge-watch this anime. Well, I think it’s almost the same as asking “Why are you watching failure/cringe compilation videos even if they suck?” I believe it’s because this anime complements all the decent romcomsout there. We encounter typical tropes dealing with various situations which allow main characters of any personality types (whether badass, introverted, outgoing) ignite a sense of character development. That is something the audience usually find pleasing. But in this anime, it feels like there is no character development at all. Instead, we are compelled to dig deeper in a garbage dump just so we could understand more of the obnoxious personality of the MC, but I think that’s what has made me finish this show.
Kazuya’s terrible and pathetic nature kept me engage. It doesn’t feel intense or heavily impactful everytime he makes a terrible decision or action. It’s not as if the plot will break or twist completely once he does something cringy. The flow just feels light and it isn’t meant to be made a big deal out of it.
The art is indeed vibrant and high quality. The character design is something I find exquisite and lovely. They don’t feel generic or randomly generated to fulfill the roles of romcom waifus. Music is nothing extraordinary, but it’s decent. OSTs sound really colorful, the rhythm and melody is adequate to the art design and tone of the scenes.
I imagine if the MC becomes an exact opposite of what he actually is. Suppose he’s now the popular type, outgoing, does well with academics, just a normal functioning human being. Then I believe this show still wouldn’t sell out because of the concept of prostitution. Well then let’s erase that concept. In the end, this is gonna come off and get criticized as another generic romcom, a bland, typical, harem-type.
To put it simply, I’d rather watch this anime because of its abnormal concept than watch a typical, generic romcom attempting to please its audience out of conventional romcom premises.
carly0v0
Having watched season 1 of Rent-A-Girlfriend which wasn't so bad, it had some funny moments, season 2 is a complete disappointment. As someone who loves the Shoujo genre of comedy romance, it's rare for me to see a main character such as Kazuya with absolutely zero personal growth throughout the whole show. He is so obnoxious and wishy-washy that makes this anime insufferable. While having a huge crush on his rental girlfriend Chizuru, Kazuya is also dating his "real girlfriend" Ruka whom he doesn't like at all. And Ruka is completely fine with it, and actively chasing this loser of a main character. It just doesnot make any sense, and the way Kazuya treats Ruka is vile, just don't lead two women on. Again, main character is insufferable.
It just feels like author is deep in his Harlem fantasy, and while sometimes a show like this could be fun, the characters in this show aren't lovable for the audience to adore them nor make sense of it all. The only funny moments in this season are when the two grandmas show up, and those few episodes finally come across as heartwarming than pervy and annoying. Do not recommend this anime, if you like a cute funny Shoujo comedy, there are much better options out there.
rikiki109
‟This anime is trash, but like a golden trash” -I forgor where it was from Rent-A-Girlfriend has always been a very polemic anime, one of the worst non-existent story and worst main character, right ? Obivously, if you're there, you watched the season 1 and want to know if the season 2 is worth your time. If you were weird enough to have, then great news, it's more of the same ! Personally, I find Rent-A-Girlfriend very fun to watch, Kazuya being the least good with women ever mixed with the biggest cringey aura makes it hilarious for me. The waifus are very fun too. Every Friday,I was actively waiting for the next episode, to see how stupid it was, the name of the next episode that's gonna air next week was taunting me and I was asking to myself, how the fuck will it happens.
So either way, I really liked season 1, and I really liked season 2. The story gradually advances in a way (even thought manga readers who are at chapter 243 at the moment this review is being written says that it's still the same thing, and I believe them), for now it's fine, it might get a bit too long after 6 seasons LMAO. All four waifus are shown in a good amount so everyone's favourite is there, the animation was probably slightly better than season one, probably because they had a lot of budget after it went viral. Kazuya still cannot tell anyone that Chizuru is a rental girlfriend and he hates himself for it, like everyone who's watching it. The number of times Chizuru said baka is also way too high for an anime. Basically a very troublesome mess that's so bad it's addicting to watch, and I was too fucking weird to like it to.
If you're still there, you've have found this review very funny and the season 1 interested you, run and go watch the season 2. I'll be waiting for the season 3 in the meantime, I am stuck watching this anime for the next decade.
algoPotaku
This anime is a joke, I don't understand why I saw it, I will never see a character as homosexual as the protagonist. Keep paying so they want it, it's not all very bad, don't torture yourself, don't watch this disastrous anime. I don't understand the main characters if you're a jerk off, you have to be thoroughly like what you want most is to have sex, have sex and then we'll see what's up. Who the hell cares if you're in love or not.Cogete a todas las putas, porque TODAS PUTAS. I do not understand why this work is so popular there isliterally no progress, no progress in the characters, very boring.
En español:
Es una poronga este anime, no entiendo porque lo vi nunca voy a ver un personaje tan pero tan homosexual como el protagonista. Sigue pagando para que lo quieran no es todo muy malo, no se torturen no vean este anime nefasto. No entiendo a los personajes principales si sos un pajero, tenes que serlo a fondo tipo lo que mas queres es tener sexo, tener sexo y despues vemos que onda. Quien mierda le importa si estas enamorado o no. Cogete a todas las putas, porque TODAS PUTAS. NO entiendo porque este obra es tan polular literalmente no hay avance, ni progreso en los personajes muy aburrido.
