I usually don’t watch anime to follow trends, as whenever I watch a show, it’s either because of aligning interests or just simple curiosity. That last part is usually a coin toss, but it’s often not that bad. At worst, I’ll go “not my thing, but I get why people might like it” (like Berserk or Nagatoro). But with Rent-a-Girlfriend, IT.WASN’T.EVEN.THAT. If you’ve been on the internet for long enough, you’ll be very aware of this show’s infamous reputation. At best, it’s just another show to make the usual waifu merch. At worst, it’s loaded with the worst writing along with the worst characters. The former is something I can probably tolerate, but the latter is the foundation of how much I’ll tolerate a show. But this show just made my blood boil with how unlikeable the characters. To put it simply, I didn’t enjoy my time with this show. That’s the lightest TL;DR I’ll give you since, boy oh BOY did I not enjoy my time with this show. It wasn’t “so bad it’s good”, IT WAS JUST BAD. From the MC being the definition of unlikeable to horribly written contrivances with the plot, the stuff I liked about it is so far between. I’m not sure how cookie cutter my opinions will be on the show, but I’ll say this right now, this show is unlike anything I’ve seen, and not in a good way. Before I get into this show, I want to make something clear. I have nothing against the people who like this show, you do you. I’m also not going deep into the real-life logistics of actually renting a girlfriend (yes, you can rent a girlfriend IRL in Japan), since that’s kind of a touchy subject. That, and I’m not willing to go through some random Japan glazing vlog like I used to in the past. Otherwise, here’s my full thoughts on Rent-A-Girlfriend
- Plot:
So here’s how the story goes, a young college student has recently broken up with his 1st girlfriend. To cope, he hires a girl to pretend to be his girlfriend and to have company. However, some circumstances force them to keep this charade up for a while, leading to a multitude of shenanigans and some misunderstandings.
Think Dear Evan Hansen, but with a degenerate college student instead. You’ve seen this type of story before, a simple lie leads to a road of unfortunate events that forces our leads into a position they set up for themselves. And I’ve never liked those stories one bit. Mainly because of the amount of contrivances the force into the story, and this anime’s no different. This show is loaded with contrivances out of the wazoo. Like how both Kazuya & Chizuru’s grandmothers just so happened to be staying at the same hospital. Or how Chizuru just so happened to be attending Kazuma’s college, while also living in the same apartment complex. Look, any story will always have some form of contrivances. That’s just an unavoidable fact in storytelling. But the way this anime handles it is just so bad. Like, even if I dispense my level of disbelief, the amount of coincidences in this show is too specific to even buy into it. So the storytelling sucks, and I haven’t even gotten to the characters.
- Characters:
I’m not joking when I say that this show has arguably one of the worst characters in any anime I’ve seen in my life. There’s so much wrong with them, that I don’t even know where to begin. Like I said in the beginning, characters in a show are a make it or break it kind of scenario. And these characters broke any form of enjoyment I could’ve possibly have in this show.
Kazuya Kinoshita is easily the worst main character in any anime I’ve ever seen. Every problem in this anime happened because of his bad decision making. Like, why did he bring Chizuru to the hospital instead of cancelling the date. That stupid decision led them to the situation of the plot. And I wouldn’t mind it, if the story goes out its way to make him part of a cautionary tale. But the anime wants us to relate to him and feel bad for him. Which again, wouldn’t be an issue, but the problem is that he’s so annoying to follow. He’s such a pathetic wimp that I can’t even feel bad for him. When he broke up with his ex, Mami (who I’ll get to shortly), he “pleasures” himself towards her photos. If you want us to feel bad for the MC and root for him, showing us him beating off his old flame IS A TERRIBLE WAY TO DO IT. And he just acts uncomfortably awkward whenever he’s on screen, where I just want him to shut up. The only times I thought he was decent, was when he actually helped Chizuru when she fell overboard. That was a decent moment. Overwise, he just sucks as a character. Some may say “would you prefer a MC who’s vanilla”. YA I WOULD PREFER A VANILLA MC. I would rather have the most vanilla piece of toast, over this asshole anytime of the fucking week.
And some of you may go, “aren’t the girls of the show supposed to be the main selling point”? Maybe you’re right, but then I’ll have to complain that these are the worst girls in any anime. There’s only 2 girls I can somewhat tolerate, and that’s me putting it lightly. Starting with Chizuru Ichinose, I can at least see what she does in this anime is “understandable”. Like, she took the job as a rental girlfriend because she wanted to be an actress, she doesn’t want her college friends or family to know about her job, and she’s trying to keep it by following the policies. I wouldn’t call her a bad character as I would with Kazuya and the rest of the characters, as there’s a reason why she has this charismatic mask hiding her stern demeanor. My issue is that she, like the rest of the characters, doesn’t really have a character arc. She does grow to care about Kazuya, sure, but she never really develops as a person. Where she learns to show her true self more often or to loosen up a little. Otherwise, she’s not the kind of girl I would like to follow along with. But she’s at least tolerable to say the least. Her chemistry with Kazuya suck though, but I’ll talk about that later.
If I had to pick the only character I actually like, it would easily be Sumi Sakurasawa. She may have only shown up for one episode, but I think she was the most interesting, as she was a shy girl who wanted to be better as a Rental Girlfriend. That’s a really interesting character that would’ve been nice to see.
Otherwise, the other 2 girls completely sucked ass. Ruka Sarashina was really annoying, as she tried butting in at the worst times and took Kazuya from Chizuru through blackmail. And her reasoning is because…her heartbeat gets heightened when she’s near Kazuya. Why didn’t she take on an exciting hobby instead? And her being a rival rental GF never plays into the plot, as the anime never acknowledges it beyond that one time. Having a rival rental GF would’ve been interesting honestly, as it could’ve added some drama, but this anime wasn’t brave enough to do so. However, the worst character in the show is easily Mami Nanami. I’ve heard so many warnings about her, but nothing could’ve prepared me for how unlikeable she was in the show. When she learned that Kazuya was dating again, she didn’t hesitate to steal him from Chizuru. It gets worse once she learns that Chizuru is a Rental Girlfriend, she tries to blackmail her. This honestly could’ve been interesting if she had an established motive or backstory, but she doesn’t. Instead, she comes off as CW’s Iris West, where she didn’t want to date the MC but also didn’t want the MC to be with another girl. I don’t need to tell you why that’s annoying.
I think the worst thing about all of these girls is that they have no chemistry with Kazuya in any way, shape or form. Chizuru is only pretending to date him because of the situation their grandmas put them in. Otherwise, none of them have anything to latch onto with him. Mami is his literal Ex, so moments with him are cringe AF. Ruka is a nuisance more often than not & the fact that she’s only with him to “increase her heart rate” make their relationship more fake than the literal Rental Girlfriend.
I’ll say other harems at least has you understand why the girls like the MC. In Monster Musume, Kimihito Kurusu at least helped the girls in that show; Miia with a place to stay, bought Papi ice cream, help Centora catch a robber, & saved Mero from falling in front of a pole. Kurusu may be a blank slate, but at least he does the work to earn the girls respect. “You can’t compare Rent-A-Girlfriend to Monster Musume, that’s a real harem”. IDK what defense people will come up with, but since I know it’ll happen, compare Rent-A-Girlfriend to Sword Art Online (technically not a harem, but hear me out). In that show, Kirito may have only fallen for Asuna as they both connected throughout the series, but he help Silica revive her pet, Lisbeth open up more, reconnected with his sister Suguha after 2 years of isolation, and help Asada through he PTSD. But I hope you get my point, Rent-a-Girlfried is just bad at being a harem with how the girls interact with the MC. If a show is failing at being the genre it was conceived as, that show IS NOT LOOKING AT A GOOD REVIEW. No way in hell.
While watching this show, I was screaming in agony at the screen at every decision made by the characters. But once the show ended, I sat there in dead silence, wondering what the hell I just watched. I could’ve dropped this show any time I wanted, but I was determined to finish it. And I did it, I finished the 1st season of RENT A FUCKING GIRLFRIEND. So I have every right to state the obvious. This is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen in my life.
No, I take that back, Rent-A-Girlfriend IS THE WORST SHOW I’VE EVER SEEN. What does practically every show have in common; from your Batman: The Animated Series to your Sword Art Onlines of the world, your Toradoras to your Regular Shows? Stories that progress with characters developing while facing new challenges (like new antagonists or personal conflicts). The story of Rent-A-Girlfriend has no progression whatsoever. Any potential drama introduced immediately gets forgotten, and characters end how they started. I have never seen, let alone discussed such a nothing show on my time on the internet.
This is a new low that I must criticize all media by at this point. I don’t usually give number scores to the shows I talk about, as my opinions may differ from one person to another, so I look at anime at certain tiers; S-tiers being on the top, followed up by A-tier,B-tier, C-tier, D-tier, and E-tier.
- An S-tier anime are all time favorites of mine, shows I can watch till the moon turns blue. Any issue I have is minor at absolute best, as I love the show that much (Ex: Gundam 00 & Gundam Unicorn)
- An A-tier show is a show that is amazing and perfectly earns my praise, has a few flaws that prevent it from being my all time favorite (Ex: Psycho Pass & Girls Und Panzer)
- A B-Tier show is a just a really good show. May be rough around the edges, but are still fun to watch (Ex: SAO & Uzaki chan).
- A C-Tier show is a show that has quite a few issues and is divisive, but I still enjoy it (Build Divers and Captain Earth).
- A D-Tier show is a show that I have a lot of personal issues with and have a hard time watching, but is still beloved by the fandom in some form (Witch from Mercury and Nagatoro).
- And E-Tier show is just a straight up bad show, as any redeeming qualities are so minimal, that it’s just straight up bad (Aldnoah.Zero & Twilight Axis).
Rent-A-Girlfriend, now becoming the worst thing I’ve ever watch, leads me to form a new tier; THE F-TIER. This is for the lowest of the low, your Boku no Picos, your Mars of Destruction. Anime that is so unwatchable, that defines comprehension. And that’s how I would describe RAS, a mindless slog that wastes your time with false promises & little to no hope of things improve. I don’t care how the other seasons are, if I hated this season alone, what do you think the other seasons can do to change my opinion? I hate this show, and has now earned the crown of my most hated anime of all time, even beating out Macross Delta. It is THAT BAD.
