I shed a tear to Rent-a-Girlfriend??? What has the world come to? Is this reality?
Rent-a-Girlfriend is at the butt end of a lot of jokes in the anime community, and hated by many, understandably so. You might ask, then why are so many of these losers watching this absolute joke of a show? There’s a simple answer. We eat unhealthy foods all the time, we have fast food, instant noodles, sugary junk, that we all know is bad for us, but we still eat it anyway. If anything, RAG does a nice job in keeping the fools coming back for more, by sprinkling in some of that MSG. Say that Chizuru is asked if she likes Kazuya, and you know she can’t say yes, because that wouldn’t drive the story along, so she says she doesn’t like him, but doesn’t dislike him. That last line is so frustrating, but it’s that MSG that keeps you coming back, because at this point, we’re all so deep into this rabbit hole that we can’t escape, just like many can’t escape the clutches of junk food. We all say we hate RAG, but how much do we actually hate it if we’re coming back for more? To you manga readers, I salute you, for getting through three hundred chapters of this dumpster fire. You all must be the soldiers of the god that is Reiji Miyajima.
If you’ve been paying attention to the animanga community, most people have said that this arc is the peak of the story, and compared to the previous two seasons, I would have to agree with that sentiment. For RAG standards, this is honestly really solid, but compared to the rest of anime, it’s fine, though there were some great moments this season that caught me a bit off guard. There is a level of development for Kazuya, the main character, although he is still the guy that he always was, but unlike the previous seasons, there seems to be a better sense of narrative direction, as Kazuya attempts to produce a movie for Chizuru and for her grandma to realize her wish to see her granddaughter on the big screen in a film. In the process, the lie of Kazuya and Chizuru’s relationship is finally tackled, something that dragged on for far too long.
A nice addition to the cast this season is Mini Yaemori, a bundle of fun energy, and she boasts one unique trait, the fact she isn’t in love in Kazuya, and was the supporter for Kazuya and Chizuru’s relationship. She brought in some nice humour, and was definitely one of the best parts of this season. Chizuru has long been a very boring character to me, as she’s just seen as the “perfect girl”, which to me, is just very uninteresting. However, as she’s the main female character, the story direction must revolve around her a bit, and some of the developments this season certainly elevated her character to somewhat greater heights. Sumi is as wholesome as ever, and Ruka is just… there, though she had some nice moments as well.
It’s junk food in the end, but at least this time, it was more palatable junk food, and as much as we love to rag on this anime, let’s be real, you’ll probably be back for that eventual Season 4. Let’s not lie to ourselves, yeah? See you then.
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