Before I start this review proper, it's actually quite interesting to research on Reiji Miyajima's work on Kanojo, Okarishimasu and where he got the inspiration from. Frankly speaking, majority of you living in the West won't understand the Chinese culture and how society has been harsh on festivities (a.k.a Chinese New Year) of guys bringing back girlfriends to "save face" for themselves, so much so that "renting" girlfriends become a viable option. Miyajima-san ACTUALLY went one step further to be a temporary simp himself to understand Japan's culture of rental girlfriends (by "renting" them of course and understanding their jobs), so much so that this creates the concept of a hopeful simp (which is our merciless ball-less Kazuya Kinoshita) and the vastly different types of how these "people" are like in the dating profession and such as we all have seen in the anime. It's a totally alien concept to people living in the West, but for Asian people it's life as per usual. And it's downright cool that Miyajima-san created a unique story that has everyone balls-to-the-wall shocked and negated every step of the way.
SO...WHERE TO BEGIN THIS SHITSHOW? Reddit, MAL, anywhere that this show has been gaining traction for lots of negative criticism.
The hopeless, useless, dumbfounded, sex-loving simp that is Kazuya Kinoshita. Truth to be told, the criticisms are warranted, but for people who've been in Kazuya's shoes before, all is but one and the same formula. So think of like all the exes that you were dumped a long time ago, and resorting to dating apps like Tinder and the such. YES, he is a low lifeform for thinking that to merely get a girlfriend to have sex, but in the heart of the truth, he is anything BUT THAT. In fairness, Kazuya is a family man, and because of the expectations of his health-flailing Grandma Nagomi Kinoshita to have a girlfriend before her demise, and having been dumped by the worst girl ever (that I'll get to further in), the college student has no choice but to resort to "renting girlfriends" just to make his grandmother happy. Another point to note is that, he's a college student, and we've all been in his shoes before to unconsciously make too much irreparable mistakes. As a result, he's learning what it means to be an adult, and even true love itself, because young days are days of growing maturity and discovering more of yourself before the harsh realities of life, and Kazuya does this unwillingly and frantically in the most stupidest of ways, but remember this: Kazuya has a heart that's just like us, love it or hate it.
And onto the girls, which are the selling hotcakes of the show:
"Until now, I've always had a five star rating! Give me back my five star rating right now, got it!?"
― Chizuru to Kazuya
The model girlfriend that is Chizuru "Mizuhara" Ichinose. Pretty, neat and full of unparalleled beauty and glamour, along with cuteness, and fitting an overall image of Madonna. The sharp-tongue, calculative and brash behaviour that is her true colours when she finishes the "rent-a-girlfriend" daily business, and clearly showing off her likes and dislikes. Her relations to Kazuya are two-fold: the rental girlfriend business, and an unlikely source of old women BFFs, meaning that both Kazuya and Chizuru MUST constantly "show face" towards their grandmothers and not divulge the truth out. Following their harrowing journey of near misses with friends and business colleagues aside, these two IMO are the perfect pairing of one another in terms of family relationships (that although is not shown in the anime, the manga really goes in deep). If you need someone to count on to protect and stand up for, this perfect woman is it.
“New girlfriend a month after breaking up? Is he trying to get back at me or something? What was her name again? Chizuko? Tsuruko? Can't remember. Can't believe he sided with her against me. I'll make sure they break up."
― Mami to herself
The bitchy ex-girlfriend of Kazuya's, antagonist Mami Nanami. A stereotypical mind-game player of feelings and emotions run wild, she is constantly seen as the one that most people will NOT want to be with, a control freak to put it simply and wreck Kazuya's life every step of the way. She holds the facade of being a kind, caring and supportive girl, but her reality is way more scarier in that her petty and manipulative character will often desire ominous dark clouds of darkness, aimed squarely to swear and mock her mortal enemy (that is Kazuya) to a possessive-aggressive point of satisfying her own ego. You'd better watch out if Mami is stalking anywhere near you!
"I can't stand it anymore. Even if you think I'm weird... Or cringeworthy... just being like this makes me happy enough to shed tears..."
― Ruka to Kazuya
The serious girlfriend player, Ruka Sarashina. The girl that has a heart that beats slower than the average person and seeking a lover that will help her cope with her condition. Often referred to as a character who's being straightforward and passionate person who is honest with her feelings, it can come off as pushy and possessive, resulting in her fixated focus on the idea that getting a boyfriend would help her in having a faster heartbeat. To make matters even worse, she is stubborn to realize her faults and will often push to shove then things get difficult. She is a real handful to handle, and Kazuya's constant runaway has proven more than not. Serious, but very clingy.
"Kazuya! See you again!"
― Sumi to Kazuya
The newcomer into the "rental girlfriend" business, 1st year college student and simultaneously working in Chizuru's agency, Sumi Sakurasawa. The extremely shy, introverted, sign-language-ful person of communication, she's a real hot cutie, AND SHE MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS. She's the only rental girlfriend that has LESS screentime than the others, but she has a heart of determination to follow up on things that she can improve in a.k.a Kazuya's mock-up date with her for Chizuru's hand of help. As such, she is one of the series' most coveted characters, and her introverted side will have many guys squeal at her cutesy blushing (mine included).
Of all the girls that If I had a choice to "rent":
- Chizuru is at the top of the food chain, so maybe on an occasional basis.
- Mami? HELL NO, she is SICK BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY.
- Ruka is somewhat of a chore to handle, and I personally don't like clingy girls, so she is 50/50.
- Last but not least, Sumi, which is A DEFINITE YES, because I can relate to her character the most, and who doesn't like a shy, young girl to hang out with?
The difference with Miyajima-san's manga is that Kanojo, Okarishimasu is done digitally, as opposed to the hard-working paper and pencil figure, so putting this into consideration and translating into animation isn't such a chore. And TMS Entertainment did a good job in the translation of the manga into some good ol' animation and vibrant art that I can afford to watch for days on end. The manga art was quite yielding to the standards of when Miyajima-san started (and entered into serialization), but to see all of it animated was such a blessing that I'd not think to see the light of day.
On the music side, the peggies are back, and "Centimeter" is such a good ol' boping OP that's a straight banger through and through. Halca's ED of both the general and Ruka's backstory are also great songs. For a series that everyone have divisive views on simping, at least the OST was a nice accompaniment to add onto the messy phase of switching girlfriend after girlfriend.
Look y'all, many of you may hate this show to oblivion of the source materials and such, but I'd feel like I need to offer my no-frills review of a love-hate relationship between the MC Kazuya and the various waifu girlfriends (well, mostly for Chizuru and Sumi only) from an anime-only perspective but with the knowledge of the manga and how it became to be. My reason for creating this review is to break the stance of haters, and a huge thanks for reading through a long-ass review that I truly mean my whole heart with.
HERE I COME, SEASON 2! I'd really wish this series would continue and make my heart flutter like butterflies.
