RENT-A-GIRLFRIEND Light slice of life, Drama?

Kanojo Okar

Kanojo Okarishimasu is quite a fan favorite anime airing this summer 2020. While the anime started off with high expectation from its fandom, the adaptation has received its fair share of criticism, over its 12-episode run.

Kanojo Okarishimasu or just, Rent a Girlfriend is a Shonen Romance anime that has somehow managed to put itself apart from other harem anime in the genre, with a story filled with soo much the realism that even the hardcore anime fans have started to take their hands off this anime. So, let us take a deeper look at the anime and see what makes this show soo appealing, yet soo much perplexing at the same time.

Plot:

Kanojo Okarishimasu starts us off with a college student, Kazuya Kinoshita, who just lost his first girlfriend. So, like any other chad in his situation, Kazuya decides to order a rental girlfriend through a mobile app.

He meets his rental Girlfriend, Mizuhara Chizuru, at a subway station and then goes on a date with her. Kazuya here gets charmed by Chizuru, but after reading her reviews on the app, where all her dates went through the same emotions as him, Kazuya leaves a bad review and, being a scum that he is, Kazuya hires Chizuru again for another date.

Chizuru, feeling insulted by Kazuya's bad review goes on a second date with Kazuya, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, she gets introduced to Kazuya's family as his girlfriend, and now they have to pretend to act as fake lovers.

Now, with the plot out of the way, let's take a look at other aspects of this anime!

Animation and Art Direction

When TMS Entertainment announced the anime adaptation of Kanojo Okarishimasu, the fandom was overjoyed because the studio is known to produce excellent anime-like, MegaloBox, ReLife, Orange, etc. And surely, the animation quality of Kanojo Okarishimasu did not disappoint. The anime correctly adapts the manga, panel by panel, in quite an adequate manner. Director Koga Kazuomi actually made the anime into a visually appealing masterpiece.

But where the anime adaptation of Kanojo Okarishimasu actually suffers is that the story that the manga follows in quite painful. As someone who read the manga before actually watching the anime, the animated scenes are some of the most painful scenes in the franchise and they hurt even more than in the manga. But other than that, the anime is a work of art that correctly adapts the beloved manga series and adds in the expected animation flare, which not only adds more value to the franchise and just makes Kanojo Okarishimasu a painful joy to go through.

 

 

 

Music tracks

Kanojo Okarishimasu has some of the best tracks in the currents seasons lineup, which, combined with the great choreography in the opening and endings, sets a delightful tone to the anime and makes it one of the best animes to go through in the summer line up. Other than the main opening and ending, the in episode compositions that set the tone for the ongoing events on the screen is just great. The anime seamlessly transitions from one scene to another, and the soundtracks follow suit with flawless mastery. Takakuwa Hajime, the sound director, has really outdone himself in this anime.

Characters:

Although Kanojo Okarishimasu has two main characters, the series focuses more on the relationship between each character in the anime and how they then grow through those interactions. So just focusing on the two main lead will not do us well, so let's take a look at Kanojo Okarishimasu's main cast and some important key characters in the anime.

Kazuya: Starting off with our male lead, Kazuya is by far the most hated harem protagonist in a harem anime. Although Kazuya acts quite normal and somewhat relatable in some sense. But his actions later on in Kanojo Okarishimasu were scummy and crossed multiple levels of human degeneracy, to say the least.

Kazuya is just the most difficult character to watch in the whole show and is one of the most depraved characters you could ever come across any anime.

Chizuru: Mizuhara Chizuru, unlike our previous entry in the show, is quite the likable, lovable character in the series.

She is like an angel godsend, but she still wants to complete her education above everything else. Chizuru is a strong female main lead in the anime and has standards.

 

Manami: Next, we have Kazuya's ex-girlfriend, who basically dumped the scummy Kazuya just a month after dating him. But she just does not stop there.

After finding out that scummy Kazuya is getting along with Chizuru, Manami tries to break Kazuya off in a terrible move and is just another hard character to watch in the show.

 

Ruka: Now, let us talk about one of the most cute characters in the entire anime. Ruka is a girl whose heart beats slower than a normal person, and she is looking for a lover who can make her heart beat faster. Making Manami quite straightforward and honest with her feeling, her tendency to do so can seem a bit clingy and possessive. But the good thing about Ruka is that she is an honest character and is not scummy like Kazuya and is neither idiotic like Manami.

 

Sumi: Another pure soul, Sumi, is quite the shy yet determined character in the show. Despite her tendency to no speak much and stay quiet, Sumi's introvert personality leads her to overthink matters and get herself lost in her endless monologues. But still, she is one of those characters that you can't help but fall in love with. Sumi is just soo sweet to have any malicious intentions like the scummy Kazuya and well Manami.

Final Thoughts

Kanojo Okarishimasu is an anime that is although difficult to watch because of the degenerative behavior of some of its characters, but once you get over that, the anime becomes a lot more enjoyable and even a masterpiece in terms of animation and story progression that you should definitely check out. The anime, because of its initial barrier, is a 7 out of 10 for me. And if you can ignore that, Kanojo Okarishimasu is definitely a 9 out of 10. 

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Also if you ever wanted to go to a world like Rent A Girlfriend check out my Guide to another world article