The new anime season is underway, and between Anime Expo and being in sunny San Diego, I’m already way behind on my anime watching. Time to pick up the slack with season 2 of Kanojo, Okarishimasu, aka Rent A Girlfriend, a series that’s made quite a mark on anime fandom and given us plenty of fun products to obsess over.
All Our Favorite Rental Girlfriends are Back!
It’s time to celebrate the return of Kazuya and his harem of rental girlfriends: Chizuru Ichinose, the calm and competent girl who uses the girlfriend rental agency to earn money for acting school; the aggressive Ruka, who wants to date Kazuya so she can get her heart rate up and feel like she’s living her life; and Sumi, the ultra-shy girl who became a rental girlfriend in order to conquer her social anxiety. Oh, and Mami, the only actual girlfriend in the story, and one of my favorite characters for the chaos she brings.
It’s great to have everyone back in the familiar roles. Kazuya, is a university student who works hard to make money so he can go on “paid dates” with his harem. Chizuru is usually so self-confident but starting to show a human side to her finally. Ruka and Sumi, love Kazuya from afar while they wait for episodes focusing on their stories to arrive.
Some People Hate Rent a Girlfriend. Why Is That?
One thing I’m interested in is the way certain shows became “hate magnets” from certain fans, and Rent A Girlfriend has generated more than its share of online drama. This isn’t the usual Twitter/Tumblr crowd pretending to be anime fans as they form an online bandwagon to trash some “problematic” show because it had the audacity to depict a diminutive university student with large breasts. No, this is a special kind of negativity usually reserved for NTR haters, it seems to me.
Here are some valid reasons why some fans might dislike Kanojo, Okarishimasu:
- They hate the MC for being an unlikable and indecisive “simp” — the word 80% of haters seem to use when describing Kazuya — especially at the end of season 1, where he confesses to Chizuru then gets cold feet and “un-confesses” soon after.
- Fans love to hate on Mami, Kazuya’s ex-girlfriend, though I think she’s got some of the most interesting story arcs. Like NTR haters, I generally feel fans are being overly sympathetic with the MC and experiencing his pain through “self-inserting,” which causes this visceral reaction to the character.
- Some fans dislike Ruka for being the “comic relief stalker” in the story, or for having no good story arcs once her character is established.
- Other fans are frustrated with the pacing of the manga and want more character development and progression.
In the end, Rent A Girlfriend has great animation, great waifus, reasonably good plot progression, and a story that fans love to make memes out of, which means it’s okay in my book. Any anime that can generate this much energetic debate and discussion is certainly doing something right. And least this is a competently-told story from a professionally trained manga-ka and not based on a series of never-ending Narou-kei online novels, so hopefully the story will continue to entertain us going forward.
Another Reason I Love Rent A Girlfriend: Merchandise!
As an anime retailer, I’m fascinated at how many series are extremely popular with fans, yet we generally get very few figures or other fun things to buy (*cough* Toradora *cough*). Happily Kanojo, Okarishimasu has brought us many amazing figures to drool over, as well as sexy doujinshi and even a popular “Rental Uterus” stress toy. Because why not?
Who’s Your Favorite Girl in the Show?
Which girl are you rooting for? The elegant Chizuru? Shy-but-getting-better Sumi? The only-slightly-manipulative Ruka? Or do you like the “creative destruction” offered by Mami? Post your pick in the comments below, or share them with us on Twitter!
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