Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Hold on, just checking something out.
*Nitsuj pulls out his phone and types cringe and simp in image search. The first pictures that come up are Kazuya from Rent-A-Girlfriend*
I thought so. As much as I bash on this anime I really don’t hate this series. I really did want to like this series but the main character is so annoying and cringe that it’s hard to watch most of the time. Still with three successful seasons and a fourth one coming soon, now seems like a good time to revisit the cringe. This is Rent-A-Girlfriend S3.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening is “Renai millimeter film” by Halca. It’s a good song, I like it. It sounds like something you would hear in a dating sim game. It shines a good spotlight on Kazuya and Chizuru letting you know that this season is going to be all about them and Kazuya extending his hand out to her.
The ending is “Ienai” by MIMiNARI featuring asmi. Didn’t really care for this ending. Actually I was more interested in the animation that went with it because it looks like something from an idol group. In fact, these four girls would actually make for an interesting idol group.
Episodes 1-4
The season starts with briefly recapping the events at the end of the last season. Kazuya’s crowdfunding projects seems to be hitting a wall as the representatives of the site doesn’t feel like it’s good enough. While he and Chizuru are talking on the balcony, they get interrupted by their new neighbor Mini who tells them to just start dating (yep, this character is obviously a representation of the audience. And zoomer culture as a whole). Embarrassed by her remarks, Chizuru heads back inside leaving a disgruntle Kazuya (I tell you to go after her but you don’t have the stones). The next day, we see that Mini goes to the same college as Kazuya and is a first year. Kazuya gets her to keep her mouth shut about their living arrangements while not spilling the beans about his rental service addiction (seriously, he needs help). That night, Chizuru comes over to discuss strategy and gives him the greenlight to talk about her grandma. After cooking him a meal, she takes her leave where Ruka is at the door to see them.
At the start of episode 2 Ruka misreads the situation and goes on a tangent and crying (way to go Kazuya, you made her cry). They manage to clear up the misunderstanding and Ruka says she’s joining the project. She can’t accept Kazuya and Chizuru alone together so she’s going to help out (make her in charge of make-up or a pledge award). After this, Chizuru tells her grandma about the movie and says there’s no better person for her than Kazuya (actually, there is. He’s the only person she’s brought home so you have no one to compare him to). The site goes live and it’s already off to a good start as they make 120,000 yen in one night (Baron: What did you expect? Put a cute girl in front of anything and watch the money come in). While it seems like they’ll get the money they still need to work on the script which means they need to find a writer (*Everybody stares at Nitsuj* My specialty lies in fiction/fantasy/adventure/action writing). Mini drags Kazuya into her apartment revealing that she overheard Ruka at the start of the episode and got a recording of the whole conversation (well shit. Now we have to kill her. Shame too. I liked her personality). Kazuya tells her what’s going on and she’s awestruck by this whole development (trust me, watching a man simp is nothing to be amazed at) and overjoyed that such a story is happening right next to her (yeah, she’s got some entertaining neighbors. Scene here: https://youtu.be/nDkUkDOiz1g?si=sjYmEky4HjZIbqEp). Mini says that Chizuru is in love with him which Kazuya can’t accept (why not? She’s been with you for almost a year. Plenty of time for Stockholm syndrome to take effect).
In episode 3 Kazuya manages to get a writer and script for the movie. However, they’ve run into a problem, money. There’s only two weeks left and the crowdfunding hasn’t reached it’s goal yet (the momentum died down). He’s 700,000 yen short and doesn’t know how to get the money. Mini shows up saying she has experience with crowdfunding (because of course she does. Damn zoomer). She calls for a group meeting and tells them they need to add in for rewards (of the personal kind) and gain more exposure. In the second half we see the return of Sumi who comes across Kazuya passing out flyers in Shinjuku promoting the movie (and failing at it). In a very moving moment, Sumi fights through her shyness and starts to hand out flyers as well (scene here: https://youtu.be/tz8QXnM4hKc?si=l8htJVHCLPUq0BFx). As for Mini and Chizuru, Mini tries to get the Kazuya and Chizuru train rolling. Telling her what everyone in the audience knows and her not accepting it (scene here: https://youtu.be/CPJlhD4iV08?si=RDb_BjyyY4b_Ck_O. How can you be so blind girl? The guy is your personal ATM and he’s making a movie just for you. How do you not see that he likes you and that you should just make this thing official?. Personally, I would have dumped your ass and put an end to this whole charade).
Nothing much happens in episode 4. They manage to get the 700,000 yen thanks to the handsome guy from Chizuru’s theatre trope who directed his followers to the page in exchange for Chizuru going on a date with him. Chizuru doesn’t think nothing of it because the guy already has a girlfriend, but he reveals he dumped his girlfriend and wants to start dating Chizuru (WMD. Woman of Man’s destruction). Chizuru turns him down because she obviously loves Kazuya (but doesn’t know it yet. Scene here: https://youtu.be/-IoFfW2Cuv8?si=nZFA51BAWDYn1W_5).
Episodes 5-9
It’s summer vacation in episode 5 and the filming has begun. It’s a major success as they were able to film everything within their budget and are now down to one last scene they have to shoot in another city. The filming team have their own project they want to focus on and leave the final scene to Kazuya (and this film is doomed). Nervous about going on a trip with Chizuru by himself, he invites Ruka and Mini on the trip (there’s shooting yourself in the foot and then there’s shooting yourself in the head. This is shooting yourself in the head). On the day they leave Mini plays wingman and bails out of the trip. Even tricking Ruka into thinking they changed the schedule to make her miss the train. With no other option the two go on the trip alone. While Kazuya is nervous Chizuru seems unfazed by this development but in truth she’s nervous as well (scene here: https://youtu.be/ojW4Q55Kwa4?si=S1vY_xC0NjLzC7YQ).
So they shoot the final scene in episode 6 and have to share a room together (Mini thought of everything). We see both Kazuya and Chizuru are blushing over their feelings for each other (the difference being is Chizuru has a better poker face). They finish the shoot in one day and then set out to return the next day only for Ruka to show up (oh Lord, I don’t know who the homewrecker is in this situation). She managed to get Mini to confess everything and she’s rightfully upset about this. Kazuya tries to calm her down but has no luck until he promises to be with her on her birthday and do anything she asks.
The day of Ruka’s birthday comes in episode 7. There’s really not that much that happens on the date. They go to a waterpark (where I’m not gonna lie Ruka looks good in that swimsuit) and she gets to call him Kazuya (she’s taken a short lead). In the other half, Chizuru goes to visit her grandma with Sumi and she brags about everything Kazuya did to make the filming a success (scene here: https://youtu.be/1dkhrzXNSTc?si=YJYYuLYmTM4FBayY, and you still deny your love for him).
Tragedy strikes in episodes 8-9 as granny Sayuri finally dies. She does get a private showing of the movie in her hospital bed but she becomes unresponsive after the first 10 minutes. Chizuru decides to tell her truth about her relationship with Kazuya (he’s her personal ATM) but can’t do it and Sayuri passes away. After this, they have the funeral where Chizuru puts on the strong face for everyone and Kazuya doesn’t know what to do (if you have to ask that question then you truly are a dumbass). Does he have the right the help her despite their relationship being fake (boy, with all the money you poured into this fake relationship I think you have the right to get involved with her life). With the encouragement from those closest to him, Kazuya decides to take a chance.
Episodes 10-13
Nothing much happens in episode 10. Kazuya tells Sumi about Sayuri and she helps him feel better by taking him on a trip and encouraging him to help Chizuru.
In the final two episodes, Kazuya sets his plan into motion. He gets an advance pay from his boss (the stupid balls on this kid. I don’t think businesses do that anymore) and sets a date with Chizuru. On the day of his date Chizuru shows up in girlfriend mode where she seems fine and even catches on to Kazuya’s plan (not the hardest plan to figure out). She swears she’s fine but allows Kazuya to continue their date where they do have a good time. They go rock climbing again, eat some crab, and then play with sparklers where Chizuru finally starts to cry but she hides her tears from Kazuya to continue playing the perfect girlfriend (you have got to admire her work mentality). Kazuya goes for broke and tells Chizuru what his ideal girlfriend is like (basically describing her) and this finally causes the dam to break and Chizuru allows herself to be vulnerable and openly cries. The next day Mini tells Kazuya to move on to the next step and ask Chizuru out on a real date. Meanwhile, Chizuru seems fine and is unphased by what happened last night (that poker face of hers is something else) but we see she’s really happy to have Kazuya in her life.
Final Thoughts
What can I say about this season? It’s cringe, there’s not much progress, and once again has an annoying lead who gets on my nerves. Still despite all of this apart of me can’t help but cheer for this idiot. To the anime’s credit the death of Sayuri was sad and Chizuru’s breakdown in the final episode was warranted and handled well as she needed this. While there isn’t much progress in their relationship it’s obvious that Kazuya and Chizuru can’t deny that they’re in love with each other and are moving away from their rental relationship.
Final Score
My final score for the third season is a 5.5/10. I like it a little more than the previous season but it’s still a cringeworthy anime to watch. There’s obviously going to be one more season to finish the story and if it’s any consolation it does feature the best scenes in the manga so I look forward to that. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.