Rent-a-Girlfriend

The MC is dog. He was given so many opportunities to get the hot chick. But he crumbles up like a little baby. But it was still a good anime lmao. Apart from the MC.

As the title suggests, this is an episode about borrowing money from your girlfriend. In Japanese culture, there is a word called "papa katsu". Instead of paying money, you go on a date with a man or woman worth the money. Of course, the more money you pay, the more sex you can have. First of all, this story is about a man with a strong sexual desire who wants to have a girlfriend. But does the woman keep approaching the main character? When it comes to a man's charm, it's just ordinary. Ordinary isn't the problem. A character who likes you when you save him, or a character who likes you even though there is no reason, or a character who gets jealous after you break up... It gets worse as the story goes on. So when we look at this work, we only feel jealous. But the production company continues to release series. That was also our goal from the beginning, using a famous voice actor.

Rent-a-girlfriend is a really honest anime. It is cute, relatable, and engaging. I did not mind it but honestly it struck me as a little frivolous. I have seen many reviews saying it is not for you if you like serious storylines. However, there are some moments of sincerity that even a comic story needs which only makes it human. So many moments for me were destroyed simply because the backing track changed into something comical and the expressions too. As light-hearted as it is supposed to be, a little realism here and there would've only made it better.

I think the anime itself is awesome, but the fact that Japan actually has these is very sad. Japan isn't exactly the best place in the world, along with the birth rates it just makes me kinda sad.

This one, oh boy. It is about Kazuya Kinoshita who is about to enter college only to discover that his girlfriend Mami dumped him after dating him for about a month. Distraught over that, he discovers a rather shady app where he can rent a girlfriend. So, he ends up meeting the seemingly perfect Chizuru Mizuhara. After their first date, Kazuya, despite knowing that this was a job, grows suspicious of Chizuru and gives her a low rating. Which makes her angry.

To make matters worse, Kazuya's grandmother collapses and she has the misfortune of meeting Chizuru, so they have to keep up the facade a little longer.

Characters. Kazuya himself isn't really likable. He's a pushover who everyone throws shade at. Everyone, including his own family. He can't stand up for himself; he's pretty much a loser. I get him wanting to have a real relationship, but as Chizuru pointed out to him, what she did was her job. That outburst in episode 1 was really unnecessary. He's borderline insufferable as a leading character. But a lot of that is intentional, so I can't really completely blame him for that.

The other characters are hard to really "like." Chizuru herself at the least is shown to at least see that while Kazuya can be foolish and an idiot at times, there are at least some good qualities about him. It is also good on her part that, while she is overly critical with Kazuya being the doormat he is, she does assist him with upcoming the visage of a relationship. She even stands up for him when Mami was talking smack about Kazuya. Which perfectly segues to...

Mami. Oy vey, Mami. What can I say about her? Out of all the shows I am watching this year, she is hands down the worst character in the show. On the outside, she looks bubbly and friendly almost like an angel. But on the inside, she is an utterly petty borderline sociopath.

For starters, she finds herself insanely jealous of Kazuya and Chizuru's "relationship" despite the fact that she herself dumped him in the first place under the claim that she met someone else she loved. It's her actions that led to him finding the rental app and yet she wants to destroy the (fake, but she doesn't know) relationship between the two because she cannot stand that Kazuya appeared to move on after her. She is a manipulative, verbally abusive young lady who tears Kazuya down with her words. While the show treats him as a punching bag, nothing about what she says is funny as not even the other characters humor her for it. Worse, she even forces Kazuya to apologize for her when she gets called out for her actions.

The worst part of her plot had to be when she was trying to tempt Kazuya when Chizuru was in a position where she likely would have died had it not have been for Kazuya's quick intervention. This just goes to show how much of a ruthless sociopath she is where she does not give a crap about whether someone lost their life because of her. Unlike with Chizuru where she has her own softer side, Mami doesn't have anything remotely redeeming about her. It's really because of her presence that the show feels especially cruel and I'd think that it would be better if she was written out. Maybe die in a car accident or some freakish scenario. She is trash plain and simple.

The friends of Kazuya are mostly one-note except for his childhood friend who does acknowledge that there are some good parts to Kazuya's behavior such as his determination. Kazuya's family...don't like them. His grandmother to me comes off as especially bad partially because of her trying to dip her hand between Kazuya and Chizuru. She has that snooty attitude as well which also makes her hateable in my eyes. Otherwise, characters are hit or miss.

Voice work is also fine as is the animation. It isn't amazing by any means, but it services the show well. Comedy is hit or miss because it revolves around the misgivings of the MC and if you don't care for that kind of humor, it can come off as painful.