[Light Spoilers for the mid-season are implied]
I really did not expect to dislike this show as much as I did. The first few episodes started as a light and fun watch, but as it drags on, the fun starts to wear off. By the third episode or so, the fun is has worn off, and my enjoyment decreased linearly each passing episode. It was tough in the moment to figure out what went wrong, but with a little bit of hindsight, I had the issues pinned down by episode 8 or so.
Comedy is subjective, but this show struggled to make the jokes land as the season continued. Cringe comedy, or comedy from an awkward moment can be funny when written well. But if it ever stops being funny, then the humor is just awkward. And that's how this show quickly starts to feel. This show reminds me of the kid in class who onetime made a funny joke, but then kept repeating that joke over and over again until it was no longer funny. There is only one or two jokes or set up for jokes and the show doesn't diversify its humor in any meaningful way.
But the bigger problem for me was the characters. Its hard to root for either of the main leads in this show. Kazuya in his best moments is kinda dumb. In his normal moments, he lies to and manipulates the people around him. Chizuru isn't much better. At first, she is an unwilling accomplice, and you want to root for her. But as the season progresses, she becomes complicit in Kazuya's deceit.
A protagonist usually can't start out as a perfect character with no room to grow or improve. But from the start there needs to be something that makes following them on their journey feel worthwhile. Here, there wasn't much that made following Kazuya feel like it had any merit. As a person, he doesn't grow and develop in any meaningful way until episode 11. There are a few moments where it seems like his character is about to change, but it usually is undone in the following episode. Chizuru is somewhat better. She does have her own goals and motivations, but those goals aren't given enough attention. Instead, her development falls on the backburner while she deals with Kazuya's mess.
Kazuya does have his own dream, but its not all that interesting. His proclaimed goal is to find a real girlfriend. That's standard for a rom-com protagonist. But the show makes that goal feel scummy. He says its so he can introduce a nice girl to his grandmother to make her proud of him. What he really wants though, is to just get laid. That, again, isn't a problem in all narratives, but, again, this show does a poor job of making that goal compelling in anyway. Generally, that goal is usually a pretty low bar to set for your MC, and doesn't do anything revolutionary to change that.
There are some interesting characters in the show. Mami is an interesting antagonist, for as much as a rom-com antagonist can be interesting. And Ruka is a fun addition to the show's cast, but neither her nor Mami get a lot of screen time. And that tends to be how the show operates. Every interesting character or angle the show has is quickly dropped and left off to the side.
Imagine if, in Quintessential Quintuplets, the only joke was that the Quints run away from Fuutarou when he tries to teach them. Now also imagine if Fuutarou was just a sleezy perv who was only tutoring the Quints to find a date. On top of that, take away the fun dynamics between each of the Quints. Lastly, remove Quintessential Quintuplets' flashforwards and promise any kind of emotional payoff. That is roughly akin to what watching Rent-a-Girlfriend feels like. There is nothing that makes the series interesting to watch once the jokes stop landing. Its a romantic comedy without a whole lot of comedy or romance.
Hopefully, the second season can turn things around, but if it doesn't then it will be an easy enough show to drop.
