Is Rent-A-Girlfriend worth your time? A Complete Review

Rent-A-Girlfriend (Kanojo, Okarishimasu) is based on a young college student who finds love when he discovers a rental service in which people pretend to be family members, friends, and significant others for a price.

The series is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Reiji Miyajima. An anime television series adaptation by TMS Entertainment premiered in July 2020 in the Animeism block.

The show introduces an app that lets you rent a girlfriend shines a light on the wonders and also ridiculously easy ways to find yourself a girlfriend in the 21st century.

1.Quick Review

Kazuya Kinoshita is dumped by his girlfriend. Emotionally shattered, he attempts to move on through a rental girlfriend from a mobile app.

That’s when he comes across Chizuru Mizuhara. At first, she seems to be the perfect girl with everything he could possibly ask for great looks and a cute, caring personality.

Upon seeing mixed opinions on her profile after their first date, and still tormented by his previous relationship, Kazuya believes that Chizuru is just playing around with the hearts of men and leaves her a negative review.

Angry at her client’s disregard towards her, Chizuru reveals her true nature: loud-mouthed and hot-headed.

Chizuru turns out to be the complete opposite of Kazuya’s first impression of her. Their story takes an unexpected turn when Kazuya receives news of his grandmother’s collapse and is left with no option but to bring Chizuru along with him to the hospital.

While Kazuya’s grandmother’s condition turns out to be nothing serious, she is ecstatic to see that Kazuya has finally found a serious girlfriend, which had always been her wish.

Unable to tell her the truth, Kazuya and Chizuru are forced into a fake relationship which leads to acting as if they are really in love.

This is a series a slapstick comedy filled to the brim with fake dating, multiple personalities, possible love quadrangles, and of course the quest of playing cupid to get Kazuya a girlfriend who he can introduce to his grandmother for real.

2. Info Card

3. Is it worth watching?

Rent-A-Girlfriend is worth your time if you’re a fan of romantic comedies. The art is absolutely gorgeous and the characters are obviously adorable as is expected out of a romcom.

There is a semi-realistic romance story in this anime. Everything is extremely well-thought-out, including the characters and plot.

I. Plot

Kazuya Kinoshita is dumped by his girlfriend after dating for about a month. He feels lonely and decides to use an online app to rent a girlfriend named Chizuru Mizuhara, a beautiful and attractive girl.

However, something appears to be too perfect about Chizuru and he gives her a bad review.

When Chizuru reprimands him for that, he realizes she is meaner than he expected. However, when Kazuya’s grandmother collapses in the hospital, he brings Chizuru along and his grandmother is smitten with how wonderful she is.

Kazuya continues renting Chizuru in order to keep up appearances with his family and friends, but things get complicated when they discover they are next-door neighbors and attend the same college.

Later, other girls from the girlfriend business are also seen to be joining in the narrative and dating and showing interest in Kazuya.

II. Characters

The protagonist of the series is twenty-year-old Kinoshita Kazuya is lonely and desperate to move on after being dumped by his first-ever girlfriend.

He spontaneously downloads the app Diamond, where you can pay for dates with a girl of your choice.

The fake dating routine threatens to extend beyond the agreed time slot, however, when he and his rented girlfriend are mistaken for a real couple by their respective grandmothers.

Kazuya sways towards the “lovable loser” type of character who is described as the happiest guy on earth until his girlfriend dumps him.

His Rent-A-Girlfriend is a college student who moonlights as a girlfriend-for-rent for the Diamond company. She is proud of her exceptional ratings in the service but becomes annoyed and abrasive when Kazuya embarrasses her and gives her a bad rating.

At school, Chizuru has a nerdy appearance with large dark-framed glasses and braided pigtails. We soon learn that both the characters are next-door neighbors in their apartment complex.

III. Setting

The setting of Rent-A-Girlfriend is pretty ridiculous and overly dramatic. It is set in Japan in the 21st century where you can rent dads, mothers, children, and even a girlfriend.

IV. Theme Songs

The opening theme song for the series is “Sentimental” by the female rock band The Peggies. It’s a very catchy song and the visuals give you a rundown of all the characters and their diverse personalities.

“Kokuhaku Bungee Jump” performed by Halca is the ending theme of the song.

4. Grade

5. Final Thoughts

Rent-A-Girlfriend revolves around a sweet but lonely boy who meets a cute but ruthless girl in this 21st-century manga rom-com.

Day in the Life of a Japanese Manga Creator

There is potential for interesting character development and social themes amidst the comedy with the discussion of topics such as modern apps that let you rent almost anything that you fancy.