English Dub Review: Rent-a-Girlfriend “Lies and Girlfriend”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Kazuya gets a job at a karaoke place and after that, he’s back at his apartment and thinks that he’s special because Chizuru gave him a gift. That is quickly proven wrong and when he goes to Chizuru to discuss it she asks if he’s in love with her. Then Ruka sees them and drags Kazuya to a love hotel where she demands answers about his relationship with Chizuru. He explains the situation which makes Ruka insist that she’s the only one who can help him carry the family line. Kazuya escapes to the bathroom to steel himself only to find Ruka gone.
Kazuya and Chizuru meet up with his family for the New Year. Unfortunately, the situation gets complicated when Ruka shows up and claims that she’s Kazuya’s girlfriend. Kazuya comes up with a lie that she’s a pathological liar which leads to Ruka dragging him out and talking to him about it. Kazuya escapes regrouping with his family to head the shrine. Somehow the group loses track of Kazuya’s grandma and Ruka who are together. Kazuya and Chizuru split up to find them panicking about Ruka spilling their secret. However, thanks to Kazuya grandma’s preference for Chizuru, Ruka doesn’t say a word when Chizuru finds them. They get their fortunes and after that Kazuya finds out that Ruka is hired at his workplace.
Our Take:
Kazuya and Chizuru constantly hide behind the fact that she’s a rental girlfriend throughout the series. For Chizuru, it’s her job and for Kazuya, the relationship is essentially a lie because she is a rental. However, it’s clear that they’ve gone beyond that now after months of keeping the charade up for his family and friends. That is why Ruka’s sudden appearance at Kazuya’s family outing on New Years isn’t too much of an annoyance now because it’s time to really define their relationship now that they’ve broken a few rules.
Ruka is a persistent person and that can cause a lot of issues. For example, when she blindfolds Kazuya to discuss the situation with Chizuru in a love hotel of all places. Admittedly, I felt pity for Kazuya when he hid in the bathroom after Ruka’s actions. She’s pushing really hard for Kazuya to date her and it’s annoying at this point with the lack of explanation to result in anyone empathizing with her heart condition. Her persistence and lack of consideration on the timing which leads her to intrude on Kazuya’s family New Year’s outing. However, her confrontation with Chizuru brings that question of whether or not Chizuru likes Kazuya which is a good step for them, but not so much for her.
In contrast to Ruka, Chizuru gets a few subtle moments throughout the series to show that she’s falling in love with Kazuya. It’s true that they could have ended the relationship earlier, and what is really stopping them is their desire to see each other and keep their grandmas happy. The desire to see the other is more noticeable from Kazuya since the series follows him the most. Then there’s her love fortune which was a nice touch on getting Chizuru to think about her relationship with Kazuya.
Kazuya’s grandma is once again a highlight of the episode especially with that scene where she grills Kazuya about the girls. It’s an understandable reaction to that sudden news. There’s also how she wants to know how Chizuru acts around other people that aren’t the family from Ruka. It really shows how much the old lady cares for Chizuru as more than just a girlfriend.
Rent-a-Girlfriend is a decent modern harem series, but it falls short in character growth for Kazuya right now. There are only three more episodes to go for the series and the pink-haired girl from the series poster to introduce it’s going to take a while before we get to see anything romantic from Kazuya and Chizuru.
