Rent-a-Girlfriend - Reviews

TMS Entertainment’s 2020 “Rent-a-Girlfriend” (Kanojo, Okarishimasu) relies on a few well-worn tropes to kick it off: the main (boy) character (Kazuya Kinoshita) has a pretend girlfriend (Chizuru Mizuhara) who he accidentally introduces to his family. They all get the wrong idea and granny starts planning for wedding bells – especially when she learns that the lucky girl is the grand-daughter of her best friend. Most of the early collection of episodes rely upon a typical mix of embarrassing coincidences and farce to propel the (very slim) story along. Kazuya desperately needs to drop the pretend girlfriend in order to get back with the true object of his desires, his ex, Mami Nanami, but his friends get so invested in their fake relationship he finds his exits blocked at every turn. What is worse is, he has to pay for Chizuru because she is a “rental” and his bank balance is running pretty low.

If this was really all this story has to offer then it wouldn’t be worth a review. However, “Rent-a-Girlfriend” shifts up a gear about half-way through. Kazuya’s best childhood friend persuades Chizuru that her “boyfriend” may not be quite the loser he appears to be. Then, in one dramatic moment Kazuya and Chizuru are thrown together into a life-or-death situation that force each to re-assess whether their relationship really is all about money or whether something deeper lurks there. Just to add spice to the story Mami is jealous of Chizuru and will do anything to break up the fake couple. This causes a friction between characters that throw up natural defence mechanisms with unusual results. Can Chizuru keep her “rental” status from Kazuya’s friend and family long enough to reach her true calling – to be an actress? Can Kazuya win back Mami? Is that what he really wants? Just to keep the audience on its toes two new rental girls appear in the story – Ruka and Sumi – who are about to make everything far more complicated and crazier.

This is not a story to be watched with a younger audience. There are numerous (if comic) references to Kazuya masturbating which, quite frankly, for anime is quite surprising. Just watch the entire end credits. You get the picture. Chizuru is a prickly character that Kazuya quickly figures is far more mature than him despite her being his junior (he is 20, she is 19). He envies her and hopes to become as adult & wise as she is. Season 1 shows their growing relationship over a year as he matures to better deal with the dilemma he is in (even if he remains too sensitive to events). She, too, grows from cold ice-queen to a softer and kinder rental. We all know where this is heading. Can he overcome himself to tell her how he feels? Can she overcome her heart-of-stone to admit that she is fonder of him than she is willing to admit? Despite the rather too-obvious story setup, the main narrative arc manages to avoid some cliches. The plot twists work well. It grows into a study of how the genders feel about each based upon how their partner’s friends and family react to their relationship. If the story had just been about boy-and-rental if would have been less of a journey for the audience. There is a lot to absorb here and the audience no doubt will end up thinking this one through long after the final credits roll. Season 2 will come out in 2022 which is a reflection of its popularity. Quite how much life is left in this plot remains to be seen. Let’s hope for a happy ending.

good It was a good anime at the start but now it's just not it

[Very little spoiler alert]

At the beginnig I would like to say that in my opinion anime is pretty good.

I especially like the animation because it makes the girls look more delicate and sweet. Each of the characters has its own distinctive personality and, above all, appearence.

Chizuru looking very inconspicuous and delicate, but in one of the first episodes we are surprised by her more aggresive and firm side. Or, for example, Sumi - very quiet and shy from the beggining, but still very memorable. I believe that a very good move by the author of "Rent-A-Girlfriend" was to give each of the girls a leading color. Rika, who we associate with blue, Mami - whose blonde-pink hair attracts attention, Sumi whose main color is pink and most importantly Chizuru - very modest with brown hair, dressed quite modestly and simply.

Plot is generally very original. It seems to me that you rarely hear about a series in which the main character has a full body of girls to rent. For some, the storyline can be devastating because you could argue that Kazuya treats them all as an object, but this is anime. Anything can happen. The anime has a lot of romantic threads and I am also glad that the series is not longer because I think then watching "Kanojo Okarishimasu" could get a little bit monotonous.

However, what captivated me the most was the opening! Cute, dynamic and very catchy. It stuck in my memory incredibly unlike ending.

There are a lot of romantic threads in the anime, so this series is not for everyone. But actually the love scenes are very funny so you don't have to be scared it is very bad or something.

I also wholeheartedly recommend the manga as someone who is not interested in watching and prefers reading.

Remember that this is just my personal opinion so if you don't think the same i'm totally good with that but please do not write rude thing and hate me :>

This has a combination of romance and comedy and I am living for it. I didn't expect to enjoy this series as much as I did, but I was constantly laughing and wanting to keep watching more and more. The sudden and random plot twists also bring fun and enjoyment. I can't wait for season 2 :)

Warning alert spoiler alert review

My knowledge is from anime only

so kazuya girlfriend mami broke up with him because she probably sense how pathetic his offspring would have been. So kazuya imagine his ex girlfriend having sex with someone else so he decides to pull out lotion-kun to masturbate to it because that what get him off being a complete simp

Even though chizuru is not a hooker or a prostitute she's a lady escort who accept money from man by having dates with them kazuya gets mad at her questioning her morals on taking money from strangers to entertained them it's like getting mad at a prostitute when you ask her did you satisfy her sexually and she honestly answer no

Chizuru go out on two dates and out of the two dates with kazuya. Kazuya lies to his family telling them that chizuru is his girlfriend putting her on the spot and causing her to lie to her family as well Chizuru it's not in the clear either for following him and going going along with his antics 

kazuya slowly but surely starting to get over his ex and he is starting to like chizuru this guy is simping so hard for chizuru he is listening to her take a shower and pulling out lotion-kun to masturbating to her chizuru goes out with a guy friend of hers from acting school and kazuya is in full stalker mode

and you think to yourself wow how can it get any worse with kazuya so this guy is thinking to himself like I could save up my whole entire check and give it to chizuru just so she could be in my presence. But he ends up giving her the money to go out with his friend only for him stalking them on their dates as well

if chizuru told  Kazuya she let him drink her bathwater if he gave her his entire pay check he do it with a smile on his face in a hard-on

so kazuya save Ruka from falling down some stairs so she confess to him kazuya is all
wishy-washy so she calls him out on this. Ruka asking him hey do you plan on lying to your family forever do you plan on spending money with this chick. To the point of having her pretend to be your girlfriend even when you're old. he's really considering this

But I have to question why ruka like kazuya when her liking him is purely childish because of a app on her phone

oh yeah keep in mind that kazuya been paying this girl to be his fake girlfriend for a year straight when there is a girl who wants to be his real girlfriend for free even though she herself is mentally unstable

Kazuya is a pathological liar and a stalker and creep and a manipulator mentally unstable. he would knowledge that he's doing something wrong and still continue to do the wrong thing anyway and the list goes on

Ruka is mentally unstable and is a stalker but still got more common sense than kazuya

Chizuru she's stupid and is an enabler allowing kazuya bad behavior his stalker tendencies pathological lying go unchecked 

Mami is vindictive mean and a manipulator and somewhat twisted it has some stalker tendencies

Sumi I don't know her damage but I'm going to take a guess and say she got a few screws loose if she likes kazuya I can forgive her for liking him because no one told her that he is a creep and a stalker and a liar

Kazuya friends are terrible he don't need enemies with them

The waifus have cute designs and ugly personalities

this anime taught me something that something is simping is wrong this anime should be a public service announcement for those who are simping