Rent-a-Girlfriend – Ep. 5

Turns out who saving who would end up being mutual. Kazuya rescues Chizuru but he also almost drowns himself, leading his “girlfriend” to resuscitate him with CPR (which is treated as a kiss because of course it is). I kind of like the complications that arise in the aftermath. Kazuya can insist he’s “breaking up” with Chizuru all he wants, no one is buying it, especially after what has just happened. On paper, rescuing someone from drowning sounds very romantic. But it’s not just that, there’s also our two leads’ feelings on the whole matter.

Last review, I was a bit resistant to the idea of Chizuru falling in love with Kazuya after he saves her. It just sounded like a potentially easy and inorganic way to get that ball rolling. But I also had a feeling we’d be going there and surprise: we are indeed going there. To the show’s credit, it doesn’t make Chizuru swoon over Kazuya completely. She develops an attraction of some sort but she also seems to know that she’s feeling this way from the spur of the moment. There’s an inner conflict going on now and that makes it easier to buy into Chizuru’s new feelings.

Kazuya learns his own conflicting feelings the hard way and I do mean the hard way. He tries jerking off to a picture of Mami and ends up thinking of Chizuru instead. It’s a really awkward scene that’ll scream “TMI” but it does paint a very clear picture of where Kazuya’s love life stands. Something worth noting is that he imagines having sex with Mami but recalls actual memories of Chizuru. That says a lot about how he’s attracted to each woman. With Mami, it’s purely her looks. With Chizuru, even considering her acting, her personality still leaves an impression on Kazuya and it comes to his mind before her attractiveness.

It’s not too long before the two main leads come face to face again as Kazuya and Chizuru go on family trips to an inn and their grandmothers book the same room for them. While I do think these two elders are really pushing it with their comedy routine (did Kazuya’s grandmother really need to grope Chizuru?), we do need to see the two leads confront their feelings. And there is a noticeable shift in attitude with Chizuru. She still acts a bit annoyed with Kazuya but she also decides to enjoy the night however much she can and tells Kazuya she doesn’t mind his company. I do expect the next episode to divulge in more sensual antics though hopefully, more genuine development will still happen.

What really puzzles me is Mami. When Kazuya tries to clear things up, Mami gives him cold feet. There’s a couple ways to look at that. Maybe Mami is calling it quits which if that’s the case, I call bullshit considering how far she’s gone with her plan. Like, now she decides it isn’t worth anymore. Another possibility is that Mami has read the mood and can tell that she’s at a severe disadvantage with everyone thinking Kazuya and Chizuru are still together. All I hope is that this isn’t the last thing Mami gets to do in the show (the manga is of course a whole different matter). The next episode preview teases the third girl and while I’m curious about her, I’m worried that’ll entail Mami getting sidelined.

Thanks for reading!

Watch Rent-a-Girlfriend on Crunchyroll

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