Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9

Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9

Joint Birthday Party

Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9 is the best episode of the season so far. It featured the best two girls (Chizuru and Ruka), had some good drama, and was funny. Oh, and we got to see Chizuru doing some yoga right after the OP, so that’s a plus.

This week, it’s Kazuya’s birthday (June 1st, not actually this week). And as is tradition, he celebrates it with his parents and grandma. But, Kazuya’s grandma wants to celebrate Chizuru’s birthday, too, this year. After all, they’ve been dating for over a year now.

The only problem is that Chizuru’s birthday already passed. It was back in April. So, with only one day’s notice, Kazuya’s grandma decides to throw a joint party for both Kazuya and Chizuru. Luckily, Chizuru isn’t already busy working as a rental girlfriend that day. Unluckily, she already has plans to take her own grandma to the hospital.

Chizuru doing some yoga while studying from the anime series Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9
Chizuru doing some yoga while studying

Surprisingly, despite her plans, Chizuru still agrees to attend the party. It didn’t even take any convincing from Kazuya. But, that’s because Chizuru knows Kazuya pretty well by this point — even if Kazuya doesn’t know her all that well.

She knows that there’s no way Kazuya would ask if she’s free the next day unless there was some external reason. If Kazuya’s going to ask Chizuru out, he’s going to do it through the rental girlfriend app. If he does it that way, he can try to pretend it’s not obvious that he likes her.

Of course, knowing Kazuya’s grandma wants her there isn’t the only reason she agreed to go. Chizuru really wants to spend time with Kazuya. Now, I know this series is infamous for Kazuya’s inability to confess to Chizuru. But, I don’t mind if things continue on like this.

Ruka Invites Herself Along

While Chizuru can make it to the party despite her prior plans, she can’t make it for the start. The party starts at 5, but Chizuru can’t be there until 6. And, this opens up the opportunity for Ruka to swoop in once she finds out about the party.

Ruka can’t let Chizuru celebrate Kazuya’s birthday with his family without interfering. If she did that, it would be the same as admitting defeat. The more time Chizuru spends with Kazuya’s family, the closer they become. Ruka needs to show his family that she’s even better than Chizuru.

It would be difficult to compete against Chizuru directly. That’s why the first hour of the party is so important. And, I’m glad to see that Ruka’s finally taking the initiative. I’ve been saying for weeks that she needs to be firmer with Kazuya if she wants any real chance at making him hers.

Ruka calling Kazuya on his birthday from the anime series Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9
Ruka calling Kazuya on his birthday

Once the two of them arrive at the party, Ruka makes quick work showing Kazuya’s family her good points. I’ve said it before, but Ruka’s not a bad option for Kazuya. There’s really nothing bad about her other than the fact that she’s not Chizuru.

She’s cute, his family likes her, and she’s ready and willing to be his girlfriend. This would have been the perfect opportunity to announce their relationship. Ruka tried to, but Kazuya was too afraid of what his grandma would think.

Sure, his grandma would have been upset considering she’s obsessed with Chizuru (too). But, as long as they approached the subject in the right way, she’d probably accept Ruka. All they have to do is not mention that Chizuru is a rental girlfriend. Oh, and don’t make it seem like Kazuya dumped Chizuru for Ruka.

Chizuru Saves the Day

Other than Chizuru’s yoga toward the beginning of the episode, the best part was when she showed up to save the day. I enjoyed seeing Chizuru one-up Ruka in every way possible. She even one-upped Ruka without doing anything.

Kazuya’s grandmother was calling Ruka “Ruka-dono” the entire time. But, when it came to Chizuru, she was “Chizuru-hime.” In case you don’t know, -dono (殿 / どの) as an honorific is more formal than -san (さん). On the other hand, -hime (姫 / ひめ) is the honorific for a princess, though Crunchyroll translated it as “angel.” This is why Ruka comments that “-dono isn’t cute.”

Anyway, back to how Chizuru made Ruka look bad. One of the first things she does in the Kinoshita household is ask to pay her respects at the family altar. As soon as Chizuru did this, Ruka didn’t stand a chance.

Chizuru talking to her grandma about Kazuya from the anime series Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9
Chizuru talking to her grandma about Kazuya

It should be mentioned, though, that Chizuru has a bit of an advantage. Of course, one advantage is that Kazuya’s family (his grandma) already loves her. But, let’s also not forget that Chizuru knows Kazuya’s grandma pretty well at this point. I’m pretty sure Ruka only met her once — maybe twice — before.

So, Ruka didn’t realize that she should pay her respects to the family altar. I don’t blame her for that, though. Chizuru knew to do that because she knows how important the family is to Kazuya’s grandma. She refers to Chizuru as the one to bear the next generation of the family.

Without that context, there’s no way Ruka would know how important paying her respects is. This is why I said that it would be difficult for Ruka to compete with Chizuru directly. Being with Kazuya’s family automatically gives Chizuru a home-field advantage.

Conclusion

What do you think about Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season Episode 9? Was this really the best episode of the series? Should Ruka have told Kazuya’s grandma about their relationship? And, what more do you think she could have done to beat Chizuru? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 10 is available now.

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