Rent-A-Girlfriend is the latest installation in the ever popular RomCom genre. Anime of this nature are often criticized for generally following similar structures and plot progression, so each individual one often comes with its own “quirky’” gimmick in an attempt to set itself apart from the crowd and draw in some intrigue. The one in this anime happens to revolve around rentable girlfriends. That’s right weebs of culture! No longer do you have to suffer through complicated emotions in a fruitless attempt to find true love. All you need to do is click a few buttons (and have enough money to pay her of course) and boom! Instant girlfriend for a day. And the bonus? She’s super cute and will have a perfect personality. Since, you know, she’s payed to be like that. This is the situation that protagonist Kazuya finds himself in after getting dumped by his first ever girlfriend and fapping away his sorrows. And it comes to the surprise of no one that Kazuya and his rental girlfriend Chizuru get caught up in an aWkWArD misunderstanding that causes them to fake a real relationship and lie to their friends and family while truly falling in love along the way…yeah, you get the picture.
So it’s no secret that asides from the gimmick, the narrative is pretty plain. The show goes just about as you’d expect. Kazuya and Chizuru have their share of awkward and funny moments. Other girls, Mami the masquerading home-wrecker and Ruka the eternally ignored short haired girl who’s super dedicated, come into the picture to add a little drama and humor. There’s also this girl named Sumi who makes an appearance in the second to last episode, which I thought was a weird decision to include her so late by the directors. Kazuya also has two friends and a grandma who surprisingly get involved in the narrative, which I liked.
What’s probably the most unique aspect of Rent-A-Girlfriend is the sheer amount of times that it made me cringe. It got so bad that I actually paused the show several times and had to tell myself that it’s just fiction, there’s no need to feel this way. But you know what’s funny? I actually liked this approach. It was clearly intentional by the author and gave the show a little more flavor. I mean, I cared enough to actively facepalm and feel mild discomfort whenever Kazuya did something stupid (which was probably every episode), so that definitely has to be a positive, right?
The plot certainly isn’t the focal point of Rent-A-Girlfriend, but it’s solid enough to let the show’s most important aspect take the spotlight…the girlfriends.
Three of the four main girls in the show start off as rental girlfriends. Chizuru is the first, and she’s the type of girl who can easily change her personality to fit the mood. She’s also a pretty dependable person and provides good support to Kazuya. Some might say that she acts a little TOO nice to him considering the crap he pulls sometimes, but you gotta remember that the guy saved her life and simps for her like crazy with many a cash donation, so her behavior totally makes sense. Mami brings some nice early tension and drama before disappearing from the show entirely until the very end. Ruka ended up being my favorite character because of her great energy and personality. Too bad the short haired girls almost never win. And Sumi…is cute. Yeah, there’s not much else to say about her honestly.
Now one aspect of the show that might turn off viewers is the apparent glorification of the rental girlfriend industry. Each of the girls has a reason for entering the business, and the anime definitely portrays the profession as being beneficial to character development for both the girls and their clients. Now I’m sure people dislike such an industry, but I personally like to keep fiction and reality separate. I mean there’s tons of anime and other media that deal with far worse topics that have plagued society such as pedophilia and slavery. Yes, I’m vehemently against all of these practices, but to me, it’s just a show trying to be different, so I don’t care if the subject material might be a little controversial. I can understand being against it since it seems to glorify an unethical practice, but as long as it plays its role in the show well and contributes something of value to the narrative, I’m generally fine with whatever content is being displayed. And hey, if you just can’t make the separation, then that’s obviously fine too.
Aside from the whole buying a shallow substitute for an actual romantic partner ordeal, the most polarizing aspect of this show seems to be the protagonist himself. I’ve seen Kazuya get a lot of hate for being a mostly wimpy guy who sexually fantasizes about the cute girls in his life constantly. And you wanna know the worst part? Get ready…Kazuya faps! *totally shook* Wow, no wonder people hate him!
Yeah, people probably would deny this, but it just feels like Kazuya is hated for essentially acting like a typical horny dude would. He’s no OP anime hero and, while admittedly overblown in his cringyness (I mean he stalks Chizuru for an entire day at one point), generally acts like a regular guy. But wait, he occasionally has moments of heroism and selflessness befitting an anime protagonist that make girls fall for him, so I guess he’s not completely irredeemable! While far from great, I think he’s a fitting protagonist for this type of show and is an overall positive for the anime.
I mean, the show itself even knows that he’s trash and constantly pokes fun at him by writing things like “He is the problem.” Kazuya being this way is intentional and the anime utilizes his cringyness well.
Getting to the technical aspects of the show, the art is the highlight of the anime. Character designs are on point and the girls are equipped with cutely designed outfits. The cast is extremely expressive and the facial aesthetics really contribute to selling the comedy, romance, and awkwardness of numerous scenes. Even though they’re done by different studios, the art really reminds me of Nisekoi in terms of how characters are drawn when they go all blushy blush, and it’s great. Background visuals are pretty basic and I feel like fluidity could be better in that some scenes just look stiff, but overall the show is pretty good animation wise.
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the great vocal cast. The studio really went out of their way to hire a collection of well known and established seiyuu to voice the four main girls. They all did a wonderful job and really enhanced their respective characters with their vocal performances. The music is fine, though did anyone else notice that one of the OSTs sounds like a remix of Chopin’s Funeral March at the beginning? Just me? Well, I thought it added an extra layer of irony by basically implying that Kazuya was digging his own grave in a lot of these instances due to the cringy situations he constantly found himself in. I also ended up really liking the episode 7 ending theme not just for the catchy tune but also for the clever visual portrayal of Ruka’s backstory. I thought this was an imaginative way to explain her past without it taking up too much space in the actual show. It was quite captivating and effective in my eyes, and was definitely a highlight of the anime for me.
What can I say, I thought Rent-A-Girlfriend was a fun anime. I got decently invested in the show and was smiling throughout most of my time watching. The solid production values combined with the entertaining cast really elevated the show for me. It’s nothing particularly great, but it’s definitely a fun RomCom that I would recommend watching…if you can handle boatloads of cringe that is!
