English Dub Review: Rent-A-Girlfriend “Girlfriend and Girlfriend”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After agreeing to share the room, Chizuru warns Kazuya about trying anything with her. Unable to sleep, Kazuya asks Chizuru why she saved him and that he feels like he could change with her. They agree to keep fake dating and announce to his friends that they’re going to continue dating for a while. This announcement spurs on a meeting to lay down some ground rules about their relationship. They run into one of Kazuya’s friends, Shun Kuribayashi, who says he’s got a girlfriend now. Then he suggested that they go on a double date. They part ways when Kazuya bumps into a girl with a blue ribbon who turns out to be Shun’s girlfriend, Ruka Sarashina.

The two couples go bouldering and Chizuru is good at it while Kazuya struggles to climb to the goal. Kazuya asks Shun for some advice on girls and the latter suggests being more confident. Later Ruka asks if Chizuru’s a rental girlfriend which surprises Chizuru who denies it and heads back to the guys. She tells Kazuya who panics as Ruka asks for them to prove that they’re really dating by kissing. Chizuru manages to make it look like they kissed but Ruka isn’t convinced. Kazuya makes an excuse for Chizuru and he tags along with Shun and Ruka to make sure that she doesn’t tell Shun about her suspicions. Once Shun leaves Kazuya tails Ruka who catches him and confronts him.

Our Take:

For starters when Kazuya opens up to Chizuru about how she makes him feel like he can grow into a better person it was a good scene for his development. He was willing to drop all pretenses about them dating to their families. It’s another small step towards him being a better adult. Even though they agree to keep on dating just long enough to avoid hurting their grandmas now, and that the lying has to stop eventually. It’s an important conversation for them to have and it’s a good thing they’re on the same page.

Then Kazuya backslides when he tells his friends that they’re going to keep on dating. It’s unnecessary to their plan which Chizuru points out in their meeting at the cafe which prompts an establishment of some rules for their continuing relationship. He’ll have to keep on paying her for her services to avoid any mishaps with future clients. She even offers to help him find a girlfriend while on their “dates” since his development depends on it. Admittedly I’m getting a little tired of Kazuya saying that he’s trash and not doing anything about it to improve himself as a person like developing better habits. Hopefully, Chizuru and Shun’s advice gets through his skull on being more confident and positive in the next episode.

When Kazuya and Chizuru go bouldering with Shun and Ruka, it’s apparent that Kazuya isn’t good at bouldering like Chizuru, who is also a beginner with the way he’s shown falling down onto the mat and how Chizuru is shown at the top reaching the goal. He sits on the bench moping when Chizuru takes a small break. Kazuya and Chizuru talk about goals and when he inwardly admits to her being his goal. After being encouraged by her, he gives the rockclimbing wall another try which is a good decision for his improvement.

Now Ruka is an unexpected factor to the episode with her introduction and her confrontation about rental girlfriends to Chizuru. I thought her little encounter with Kazuya on the street was cliche to set up animosity with Kazuya and Ruka. Then there’s her sudden question to Chizuru about her being a rental girlfriend, and I hope we get an explanation in the next episode on how she knew since Chizuru didn’t let anything slip in her behavior. Perhaps she’s a rental girlfriend as well? It could explain how she could recognize Chizuru’s behavior, but it could also mean that Shun is renting her out which could open up the possibility of Kazuya telling the truth about his relationship. In addition, her persistence with their relationship is odd. It makes no sense as to why she’s grilling them about their relationship. It’s their private business, not hers, and personally, it’s starting on my nerves the more I think about it.

Overall this episode was okay with Kazuya and Chizuru agreeing to keep on fake dating and taking small steps to his development as an adult. The animations were good with their dread at the sudden situation with Ruka. At this point, I can only hope that Kazuya will have enough confidence to convince Ruka to stop looking into his relationship with Chizuru. However, I can also see Kazuya giving in to the threat of his relationship being leaked to Shun and doing something for Ruka in exchange for her silence.