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

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Kazuya jumps in after Chizuru and they land on a beach. Chizuru is the first to wake up and tries to get Kazuya to wake up only to get nervous and start performing CPR. They are rescued by the coast guard and Kibe hears about their fall so he contacts the group. After Kazuya and Chizuru get nagged at, the two are forced to stay at the hospital for observation. Later his friends pick him up and Mami ignores him and they drop him off at his apartment. Kibe tells him that he won’t tell his grandma about him getting the blues and knocks some sense into Kazuya about love. Kazuya sees the photos from the trip and then jerks off to a picture of Mami when memories of Chizuru flashes into his head.

Then Kazuya goes with his family on a hot springs trip to celebrate his grandma getting discharged. That’s where he runs into Chizuru who realizes that they’ve been set up by their grandmas. They try to consider telling their grandmas about their breakup, but after a chat with Kazuya’s grandma on how the day is special to her Chizuru gives up. They both have dinner before Kazuya goes to sleep in the bathroom when Chizuru says that they could just sleep in the same room.

 

Our Take:

For starters, the scene where Chizuru and Kazuya are washed up on a beach somewhere was good. Chizuru realizes that she not only didn’t take care of herself but her client, and she tries to wake him up. When it doesn’t work she starts the CPR, she questions him on his actions like how he treats her is up to him and why he would risk his life for someone that isn’t even his girlfriend. The professionalism of her role as a rental girlfriend fades in this dramatic scene. When Kazuya isn’t responding she remembers Kibe and Kazuya grandma’s words and goes in to perform mouth-to-mouth. Meanwhile, Kazuya thinks he’s dead and has two regrets, one with his grandma not being able to introduce her to a real girlfriend, and one with Chizuru for always cleaning up his messes. When he starts coughing up water and starts to ask if they kissed, he gets interrupted by the coast guard who finds them.

After their rescue, it was a nice touch to see Chizuru’s high heart rate in the ambulance after her girlfriend mode which Kazuya has to remind himself about that side of her. It’s clear that the life-saving incident had an effect on her. Admittedly I had to suspend my disbelief in that scene where Chizuru heard Kazuya underwater. There’s also her stiff reaction when they met again at their apartment complex and at college with her friends.

Then his friends pick him up at the hospital and while Mami ignores him Kibe knocks some sense into Kazuya with the effect of his actions and how he risked his life to save Chizuru. That’s a big deal and it’s not something a person does unless they’ve got feelings for the other person. Afterward, Kazuya slightly backtracks with the scene where he jerks off to a picture of Mami cause he can’t control his horniness for two days. It was an awkward scene to watch, but it’s clear that he’s starting to catch feelings for Chizuru. His memories of Chizuru are literally more detailed than his image of having sex with Mami.

After that, there are the conspiring grandmas that got their grandchildren in the same room on the hot springs trip. It’s a common trope in faking dating stories, and it’s funny to watch it enfold with Kazuya and Chizuru’s panic to the grandma’s excuses on the room switching. Kazuya and Chizuru try to get another room, but they’re both broke at the moment. That scene made me curious about what Chizuru is spending her money on since her rates are high. Chizuru’s more determined to tell their family the truth, but Kazuya mentions that it would ruin the trip for everyone if they did tell their family. However, Chizuru’s conversation with Nagomi forces her to give up on telling the older woman at that moment. The grandmas’ efforts pay off to an extent when Kazuya sees Chizuru laughing around him. Therefore the two make the most out of the awkward situation and enjoy dinner. When Kazuya tries to be considerate and sleeps in the bathroom to assure Chizuru, she’s the one that stops him with her comment.

Overall the episode was good in showing that Kazuya is falling for Chizuru. The grandmas are a delight to watch with how devious they are the matchmaking. Now that Kazuya and Chizuru are sharing a room and that’s a good set up for anything to happen. Perhaps one of them hogs the blankets?