Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season

Season Overview

Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season (Kanojo, Okarishimasu 2nd Season / 彼女、お借りします) is pretty alright. The biggest complaint most people seem to have about the series is that it doesn’t go anywhere. And that’s certainly a fair complaint. But, I’d argue that Season 2 does build upon the groundwork laid by Season 1.

The 1st Season of the series set up Kazuya’s relationships with the four main girls. In the 2nd Season, we get to see how those relationships develop — at least with 3 of the girls. If you’re a Mami fan, there’s not all that much content for you.

There’s a decent amount of Sumi content. But, this season is really all about Chizuru and Ruka. You know, because those are the two girls Kazuya actually has relationships with. I assume there’s going to be more Mami content in Season 3 (which is confirmed). There was a lot of setup involving her this season.

I’ve been a Chizuru fan since Episode 1 of the 1st Season. But, I have to admit that this season made me like Ruka a lot more. Her character got some much-needed development. I no longer see her as an annoying stalker. She acts like a good girlfriend now.

The problem for Ruka is that she’s competing against the “perfect girlfriend.” Chizuru can seemingly do no wrong. And that’s why their battle over Kazuya heats up in this season. Both girls are trying to outdo each other. Though, Chizuru would never admit that’s what she’s doing.

I mentioned that there’s a fair amount of Sumi content, and that’s true. However, Sumi isn’t a real contender at this point in the series. I don’t know if she ever will be. But, in her defense, she does try to put herself out there a bit more this season.

#RukaGang Rise Up!

Let’s dedicate an entire section to Ruka because I think she got the most development. Well, okay, Chizuru got a lot of background development. But, that doesn’t matter as much to me. Adding background context isn’t as interesting as seeing character growth in the present.

So, what changed about Ruka? For starters, she seems much more confident than she was before. She makes it very clear that she’s Kazuya’s girlfriend. Ruka still allows him to see Chizuru. But, she wants to draw a line between Kazuya’s relationship with both of them. Chizuru is his friend. Ruka is his girlfriend.

Episode 4 was an especially strong episode for Ruka. In that episode, she stayed the night in Kazuya’s apartment. And as I discussed in that episode review, she did everything right. She came prepared for if something happened. But, she didn’t pressure Kazuya into anything.

To me, how Ruka acted in Episode 4 is the best example of her character growth. Back in Season 1, she did things like trap Kazuya in a love hotel room. She doesn’t pull those kinds of stunts anymore. Instead, she focuses on showing Kazuya her good qualities. And I felt like she did a great job of this.

That said, she does sometimes need to take the initiative. Kazuya’s an idiot who needs things hand-fed to him. Despite everything Ruka was doing for him, he wasn’t understanding her feelings. And that’s what led to Ruka kissing him while Chizuru was right in the other room.

Ruka gets that Kazuya has an obsession with Chizuru. So, she sometimes needs to do things like this to make Kazuya notice her. Honestly, while Chizuru is still my favorite, Ruka may actually be the best girlfriend. Is there anything she wouldn’t do for Kazuya?

Better or Worse than Season 1?

Is Kanokari Season 2 better or worse than Season 1? Well, if you go by their average ratings on MAL, the 2nd Season is worse. However, I don’t believe that’s the case. Season 2’s lower rating may be a product of the current climate within the community.

As of the writing of this review, Season 1 has a 7.16 and Season 2 has a 6.86. But, if you’re aware of the current state of the Rent-a-Girlfriend fandom, this makes sense. Readers of the manga have been fed up with the lack of progress for a while.

It seems that this sentiment grows with each passing chapter. This is spilling over and reaching even anime-only viewers. So, we have manga readers who aren’t having a good time with the series. And anime watchers are hearing that the series hasn’t progressed in 250+ chapters.

Now, I’m not going to say the series not progressing in the manga isn’t bad. Complaints about that are 100% valid. But, the anime progressed a lot since Season 1. Okay, Kazuya and Chizuru aren’t officially dating. However, there’s been a ton of development.

I’d say the characters, plot, and spice of the 2nd Season are all better than in the 1st. Ignore the fact that the status quo won’t change for the next 8 seasons. If we only look at the 2 seasons we have, the 2nd is objectively better.

The one area in which I’d say Season 1 beats Season 2 is the OP. The Season 2 OP isn’t all that good. Though, I do like the Season 2 ED (I don’t remember the Season 1 ED). But, the OP aside, Season 2 doesn’t deserve the hate it gets compared to Season 1.

Conclusion

With all that said about Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season being better than the 1st Season, I still gave it a 6/10. That’s the same rating I gave the 1st Season. But, this season is a higher 6/10. We’ll have to wait and see if the 3rd Season can break into 7/10 territory.

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Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Key Mochi for supporting this blog at the Heika and Senpai tiers this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Season 3 is available now.